Genma looked at the note. If you like these, they are really cheap at the market on the corner downstairs, it said. He laughed and grinned at Hoshi. "Thanks! I'll pick some up when I head home." He was careful to enunciate, relieved when the light in her eyes said she'd understood him. He had no idea what it would be like to be deaf and lipread, but lipreading was a ninja's skill, too, and Genma was... well, not very good at it. It was so much easier to cast a sound-enhancing jutsu to eavesdrop, than to try to do it all by sight. Although some people really had the skill. He supposed if he lost his hearing he'd have to pick it up. He hoped that never happened.


Haruichi seemed a little lost in his own thoughts, and Genma was about to drag him back into the conversation when a kestrel with a message scroll tied to its left leg hopped onto the edge of the balcony's rail and pecked at the glass.

"Oh damn. I thought I was off missions. And I know you are. What do you suppose that is?" he asked, indicating the bird.