"You had taiyaki," Ginta pointed out helpfully. "Half a plate of them. But I didn't realize this was a date. Should I have brought you flowers?" He angled a grin up at Asuma, bright eyes twinkling with glee. Asuma's own expression clearly implied he thought Ginta was under the influence of some highly questionable substance or other. Civilians flowed around them, casting curious glances at the pair of ANBU and their none-too-delicate conversation. Ginta raised his voice just a little, for the sake of the eavesdroppers.

"I wasn't talking about my equipment in particular. Well, maybe I was. But I mostly meant it in the abstract. And anyway, the thing about Grandmother had nothing to do with incest. Grandfather was so in love with her femaleness that he couldn't get his head around the concept of me not being straight. Of any guy not being straight. It's one of those things where the abstract didn't make sense to him, but he could ignore it until he had to face the concrete example of me." He grinned proudly. "Grandmother still thinks if I just meet the right girl, I'll convert. Like the right vagina pheromones will fix my poor broken brain."

A woman with two children in tow gave them a dirty look and hurried away. A teenage boy with a fighting cock in a wicker basket snorted and elbowed his friend. "Bet the little one's the chick."

"Bet he can hear you, too," Ginta sang back.