Sharing Interests [Shitai]

Neru was still staying in Aerogakure and was exploring the streets in search of something to do. As he walked for an hour he stumbled upon a glasshouse filled with plants, but it wasn't a greenhouse. Neru got a closer look as he smacked his face onto the glass. He saw a group of audiences watching a match between two insects and their owners. It looked like the insects or rather Rhino beetles, fighting eachother. Neru could hear the crowd yell and bet on which insect was going to win. It was rather strange, as the place was open and you could see it from the outside. "Hmm. I guess it was ok with the police?" Neru thought. He turned around and noticed there were stalls filled with different insects. "What a strange place..yet, I don't feel bored nor excited.." as Neru was thinking he accidently bumped into a man.

A kid bumped into me, or at least I thought it was a kid. Unlike the majority of the shinobi up here in the clouds this guy was only a few years my junior rather than a full decade or so. I gave him a nod, "The fights catch your eye as well?"

"Uhh yeah, why are you here? And nice eye patch, suits your..other eye. Hmm" Neru replied in a neutral way, he didn't have his smirk on, he just had a small frown on his face. "I don't normally say this but, sorry for bumping into you and what brings you here? Roaming around like me?" Neru asked with the same expression, though he started to feel a bit more energised after meeting someone. The man wore a white labcoat, something Neru had never seen before. His outfit was a bit odd to him but it did suit the man. "Hmm, you seem quite interestin, well by your clothes. The name is Hikari, Neru. Pleasure to meet you." Neru stated as he raised his hands for a handshake. Little did he know what Shitai had up his sleeve. Literally.

I chuckled, he asked what brought me here when the answer was literally in front of him, "Name is Shitai, and Im here for the matches. Fascinating to see how some people can control insects really, even if the practice is a bit barbaric I think." I then pointed my thumb to the small arena where two large beetles were tearing each other apart, a cringe stuck on my face as I watched.

"Hmm, you don't seem to like the fight, eh? Are you with the insect rights group? If so, I'll be happy to help you. Unless you came to fight with your insects." Neru quickly darted his eyes at where Shitai could have possibly put his beetle, he found a pocket big enough to hold a beetle. Neru after days finally took out a grin, "Are you going to stop their act? You do seem rather annoyed by the fight."

I chuckled as he asked if I was going to stop these men, "Actually I was going to beat them at their own game." A poisonous kikaichu crawled out of my sleeve and onto my finger as I held it out to him, "I happen to train beetles myself."

"Oh my, this is going to be interesting." Neru watched as he saw the beetle crawl out of his sleeve and onto his finger. Neru noticed the beetle was smaller than the much larger Rhino beetle. "You're going to fight with that? Ha. Don't make me laugh." Neru snorted. Although, Neru did have a thought the guy was kidding, due to how calm he appeared. It looked like he was certain his beetle would win.

I chuckled, "How about this, if I win the matches I join you treat me to lunch. I lose I do the same for you. Cause Im fucking starving." I kikai flapped its wings a bit as it took off to fly around my head and observe the competition. Telepathically it relayed confidence about the opponents, these beetles were old and badly maintained, able to give off a good show against each other but one swift attack from a younger beast from retirement.

"Fine, it's on." Neru replied raising his hand towards Shitai to settle the deal. He had a second of hesitation, for two reasons, one, he made the challenge into a bet which assured how confident he is and two, why did he think his smaller beetles could win? Neru decided to see for himself. "Hmm, Interesting, let's see how he wins this."

I nodded and stamped my cigarette onto the ground before walking over to the arena. "Alright boys move over, got some fresh meat for the circle." The loud mob of people around the beetles grew silent as I held out my hand and the kikaichu crawled out onto the tip of my finger, the insect was barely a tenth the size of the normal bugs that fought which resulted in everyone laughing. I laughed as well but then gave the signal and my insect got on the arena floor, "Ill take bets now, who wants some easy money?" Everyone started tossing ryo down on the table next to the arena and I gave a nod, looking at the rhino beetle I could also see how exhausted it was, out of pity I knew what had to be done so I dropped to my knees like the owner opposite me and started beating on the side of the ring as everyone got into a roar of excitement.

Neru frowned as Shitai seemed to ignore his handshake. Nevertheless, he forgot about in a second as he saw Shitai enter the place. Neru watched at first from the window, then decided to enter the abandoned area as he heard the crowd go crazy over the fight. "Man, some people have nothing better to do." Neru sighed as he tried to get a closer look at the fight.