Commodity Zone - A Coincidental Friendship (Praise & Diana)

This girl was rather interesting, to say the least, I can see why Diana was attracted to her. Vivaan thought as he finished up what was left of his toad dumplings. “Well since you obviously have a brain I won’t have to tell Diana to stay away from you” Vivaan stated before moving over to the pitcher of water to get a drink. “There are summons that has enemies but that’s mainly due to the alliances they keep, the salamander don’t see the need to form alliances with the others since we’re pretty strong on our own as such we have no natural enemies. I personally dislike a few contracts but that’s a personal thing that doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.” Vivaan ended before diving inside the pitcher of water.

While they were busy having a conversation, Diana had silently finished her meal and was actually stuffed. “If you’re still hungry you can order some more food you know, I have enough money.” Diana said with a smile as noticed that Praise didn’t seem satisfied with what she had. She was a growing girl so she wasn’t surprised, to be honest.

Praise would smile as she was glad he approved, and found the fact that the salamander's didn't really have enemies to be pretty interesting which makes sense that they would choose to seemingly ally with a shinobi clan rather than with other summons. "Heh thanks, I like ya too." Praise said before hearing Diana's comment and an odd gleam would appear in her eyes before she would shake herself out it and smile gratefully at Diana. "I know I eat a lot, but it's mainly because of my Kekkei Genkai, using the Dead Bone Pulse takes up a lot of energy and if I don't eat enough well it'll stunt my actual growth." she said explaining why she seemingly ate so much feeling that she at least owed it to her friend to trust her with such a thing. Still she would order 2 more of what she had previously and a refill of her drink before proceeding to chow down. Still she was a small person and her alcohol tolerance wasn't nearly as high as she thought it was.

Vivaan would shake his head as he watched the girl order two more of what she just devoured. He didn’t know much about this dead bone pulse thing she was talking about but it just seemed like she was just a glutton and she was using her Kekki Genkai as an excuse. Though he eating habits were a concern she was a good kid and thus he approved of her, the only problem was she even into Diana like that? Only time would tell.

“That’s fine Praise, I still owe you for rescuing me from the Island of Lost Beasts so eat as much as you want.” Diana said with a smile before advising the waiter that she wasn’t interested in having anything else, not because the food was bad, it was actually quite good, it was more due to the fact that she was full. “You know, you never did tell me much about your family/clan. You know I’m an Erlang and that I have cool eyes but I don’t know much about your special abilities, barring the cool bone thing ofc.”

Praise would manage to finish eating one plate and would wash it down with some ale before answering Diana's question perhaps due to the booze and the fact that she was in a great mood due to the food and the company. Well I don't really like talking about them mainly because I like to have people think of me as Praise, not me as Praise insert last name. Well, technically as my mom calls it, I'm a mixed breed, my father is from the Fantom Family and my mother is a Kurogane. I've never actually met anyone from my mother's side of the family so for all intents and purposes I'm a Fantom. Still I really don't want anyone to know about my heritage so if you can please not tell anyone that would be great." Praise said looking at Diana with pleading eyes and if she agreed then she would give her a quick hug before resuming with her meal.

It wouldn't take long before she finished and she would finish her ale before covering her mouth as she let out a belch and would promptly sigh as she was finally full. "As for what my family can do we all have something known as the Fantom Gene, we can utilize abilities from beyond the grave. I rarely use them though the majority of time I've been practicing to master my Kekkei Genkai as I wanted to keep those abilities of my family as an ace in the hole. But I trust you so that's why I'm telling you all of this." she said and it was honestly true as even though she sparred with others she hadn't even bothered to reveal that she was a Kurogane much less that she was from the Fantom Family. She mainly relied on physical techniques during spars and to those who didn't know her they'd just take her as another physical bruiser especially with her use of the Eight Gates. This meant when she eventually fought people for real in the Chunin Exams she would be able to completely throw them for a loop as her main combat specialty was typically used on a strictly support basis.

Diana had never heard of a Fantom or a Kurogane before but that was mainly due to the fact that she never really paid attention to the other clans around and truthfully if she wasn’t constantly dragged along the Erlang Clan headquarters and support groups by one of her guardian’s girlfriend, she wouldn’t even know the difference between a Raidengan and an Itsugan… if there was a difference between the two…well that didn’t matter. It was interesting to know that she was a hybrid like herself though it was obvious that she was a bit more special than Diana was with all that ghost stuff. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me! Sadly I don’t have much to secrets to tell you myself, well besides the fact that my guardian has a girlfriend from every major village and they somehow don’t know about each other even though they all are high ranking and respectable kunoichi.” Diana said still trying to wrap her head around that entire scenario.

“That’s because he’s a womanizer and a pretty decent liar. They normally eat up whatever he says because he’s pretty manipulative, surprised he hasn’t gotten you wrapped around his finger as well. Then again he did promise to keep you safe.” Vivaan said climbing out the empty pitcher and standing between the two girls. “Though I respect your attempt of holding a trump card don’t you think that if people really wanted to find out about your background they could? Don’t you humans hold records of everything and everyone?”

Praise was actually kind of shocked by the revelation of such blatant womanizing and secretly she worried whether her sister was one of those women who had fallen under his spell. "One of his girlfriend's doesn't go by the name Adore Fantom right? Because that's my sister and it would really suck if she was being led on by such a playboy. Um, no offense." she would tack the bit at the end just in case Diana felt a way by her comment, she didn't really want to offend her it was just she didn't want her sister to be involved with that sort of person. She was sort of a one relationship type of girl, not that Praise was any different even if she had never been in that sort of relationship before. But she did know that Diana would be her only best friend, since it made no sense to have multiple best friends since that completely defeats the purpose of having the "best" word before friend.

"Well, I know this but typically no one our age has that sort of clearance so only their sensei's would and usually they wouldn't talk among themselves about their respective students. I fully expect some of what I can do to be revealed in the exams but until then I feel like it's best if I don't just advertise what I can do that way it'll throw people off and make me be underestimated. After that then who knows, I don't think I'll need to keep as much of a lid on my abilities unless I get drafted to the ANBU corps or something."

“Adore? That’s such a cute name! But no she isn’t one of his harem. Ironically they all know he’s a scumbag but they all seem to either don’t care or just try to constantly one-up each other for his affection even though they complain about his womanizing ways. Even though he exhibits behavior I don’t approve of he’s really good to me and has made a lot of personal sacrifice for me and I am truly grateful.” Diana said trying not to make him seem like a prick, well he was but he was a prick with a heart. Unlike Praise, she didn’t have a family she could relate with or spend time with, she only had Zhao who wasn’t even related to her by blood but treated as if she was. “When you meet him you’ll see he isn’t all that bad, he just likes variety in his life, well, that’s what he says.” She said with a smile.

Vivaan would nod in agreement with Diana’s words as Zhao was indeed a good “father” to the young woman. “Hm, I suppose you’re right. Well, your secret is safe with us so no need to worry though I do look forward to seeing you in action at full power.”

"Thank you, most people find the naming sense of my family weird since they are pretty abstract. I'm just glad I'm not a boy otherwise it would probably be something like Rebuke or something negative like that, girls get positive names which are more cute. Praise said taking the compliment with a blush even though it was for her sister but she appreciated the fact that Diana appreciated the naming sense of her family as it was one of the few things that she intended to keep if she ever did have kids. She thought it was unique enough to let them stand out after all most people had actual names rather than some abstract word used to designate their identity. "Well, that's good, I figured he couldn't be all bad if he could raise someone as wonderful as you." she said with a smile and honestly he reminded her a bit of both of her parents since they had numerous flaws but at their core were good people.

She would stretch a bit before looking over to Diana and wordlessly gesturing to the door as a sign of wanting to get out of this place. Of course it meant her friend had to pay for the food but once that was done she wanted to take her some place that she liked to frequent when she wanted to be alone. It was on one of the buildings within the commodity zone but it had a really nice view of the village and the training grounds and just enough room for three small individuals to sit on it so look at the town.

Diana wouldn’t know how to respond to Praise’s comment about her being wonderful. Deciding it was best that she didn’t say anything at all out of fear that she said something she might regret or that might be embarrassing so she just paid the bill, got up and left along with her friend. Today was possibly the most fun she ever had and even though it was obviously coming to an end she was thankful for all of this.

“Oh, this is an amazing view!” Diana exclaimed having arrived at their destination. She didn’t know if it was her mind playing tricks on her but it did have a romantic feel to it. It was just them all, with such a beautiful view before them, now she was starting to feel a bit flustered. “As much as it was fun hanging out with you lot I should go, I got shit to do.” Vivaan said seeing how flustered his partner had gotten and decided to just leave the two alone, she probably wanted a little privacy anyway and with that, he would disappear in a cloud of smoke.

“This is a nice way to end the end the day.” She said with a smile before sitting on the bench that was around.

Praise would nod as that was the whole reason why she had brought her best friend here as she wanted to show her that even a dusty old village like Kohaigakure could be beautiful if you look at it the right way. She really did love the geography of her village, she felt like other places were just too green and the temperature was too mild for her to be comfortable. The extreme temperatures of the desert suited her just fine though she knew most people didn't feel that way and she would look over to Vivaan when he said goodbye. "It was nice to meet ya!" she said with a grin before the puff of smoke filled the air and she would focus on Diana just to see how she was enjoying the view. "Heh I could think of a couple better ways." she said thinking about a nice full contact spar as that was in her opinion one of the best ways to wind down one's day.

"But sitting here with you, it's pretty nice too." Praise said sitting next to Diana with her hands holding up her head as she slouched forward. Still now that they were alone she thought back to what Vivaan had said and would turn to regard Diana opening her mouth to say something but then thought better of it and instead would return to staring out into the distance with a slight dusting of red covering her cheeks.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way.” Diana found herself saying in response to Praise. Why? Why did I say that? Diana thought feeling a bit embarrassed by her words. This was getting a bit uncomfortable for Diana as she felt that whatever she said it would either be taken out of context due to the situation or it would exactly what she wanted to say which was bad, like really bad. Letting out a soft sigh she would close her eyes and took a silent deep breathe as, she didn’t want Praise to notice that she was freaking out, and tried her best to relax. “Is there something you wanted to say Praise-chan?” Diana said noticing that Praise had something she wanted to say but didn’t.

Praise would hesitate before thinking to herself that she wasn't a punk and thus would end up blurting out what she was thinking rather than keeping it in. After all there wasn't a reason for her not to speak truthfully and she was curious as to why Vivaan had said the things he did. "Well, I was just wondering like whether or not to consider you my best friend or my friend? I've never had either before so I don't really know the difference between the two. Like if you are my only friend does that automatically make you my best friend?" she said slightly embarrassed at her admittance of that fact that she didn't have friends. Sure she had squad members, acquaintances and comrades that she met through sparring but honestly Diana was her only actual friend. Then there was the whole point that Diana smelled a bit differently than other girls, sort of a mixture of the two but the pheromones she gave off seemed to originate from her body so she didn't exactly know what that meant.

Unless that has to do with why Vivaan referred to me as her girlfriend?" she thought to herself resolving to ask her mom what it meant before telling Diana about her scent as she remembered the lecture her mom gave her about doing that. Apparently it was considered rude to point out what someone smelled like just because she had enhanced senses and could pick out an individual from a crowd it didn't mean she could tell everyone about it. She had already gotten lectured repeatedly about it since in her mother's youth she had accidentally pointed out that a noble's mistress was actually a man and embarrassed him during an escort mission. But she didn't feel like that was one of the cases since she would definitely know if Diana was biologically male like Qeynan, or Female like Kotone.

Spoiler:

Diana would pause for a moment while she contemplated Praise’s question. These kind of questions were difficult for her as she wasn’t a social butterfly or someone who was outgoing so these things were kind of foreign to her but based on what she had observed from others she understood the difference between the two, sorta anyway.

“Hm, it depends. Friends are people who you naturally share a bond with but as humans or whatever race you are. You’ll naturally have a stronger connection with certain people and thus become closer to them as a result. Truth is I don’t have any friends either and everyone who I’ve come across thus far was either a complete tool or someone who just there with no real significance to me. Expect you that is. From the moment we met, I felt as if there was something that was pulling us together and we immediately started to click. It felt like…destiny.” Diana said with a smile on her face as she looked out into the horizon seemingly lost in her own thoughts. “I guess that was a bit too dramatic but you get what I’m saying right? I don’t think there is some sort of list that you meet the conditions then consider someone a best friend it just happens. I wouldn’t mind calling you my best friend and I hope you feel the same.”

Praise would nod as she realized that both of them were similar in that way, sure she was confident enough to attract attention and seemed like an extrovert on the surface but she wasn't all that good at forming bonds with people. It was one of the things that worried her actually since her mother said that a Kurogane was their strongest when they were able to form lasting bonds with other individuals since those bonds would propel them to even higher levels of strength in order to protect their precious people. Unfortunately she didn't have anyone precious to her that couldn't already protect themselves, and she didn't really feel like the adults in her life needed her as much as she needed them so it wasn't the same. She didn't have anyone, that is until she met Diana and felt an instant connection which is why she went out of her way to keep in contact with her despite the fact that they lived in different villages.

"No I don't think it's dramatic at all. I really do think out meeting was destined, and I'd be glad to call you my best friend." Praise said sitting up so that she could look at Diana and taking one of her hands in her own. "Ugh I really wish you were on my squad instead of those boys." she said with a pout as she could imagine how much nicer it would be to be on a squad with her best friend. "Though I don't know if you'd fit on a support squad, what does your squad focus on?"

She was glad that Praise understood what she meant and didn’t think she was a crazy person talking out her ass. The moment Praise held her hand, she would begin feeling butterflies in stomach reminiscent of the feeling she had earlier during the day, albeit it being stronger than before. After a few deep breaths, she was able to keep herself calm and would muster a smile. “I’m glad you’re my best friend too.” She said as she shifted her hand so that their fingers would intertwine. “Trust me, even if we weren’t friends I’d rather have you on a team than those two I’m currently with.” Diana said with a frown as she was forced to recall the few meetings she had with her team members and sensei. “Our team is supposed to be combat focused. But with no sensei to guide us we’re all over the place honestly.”

Praise felt pretty comfortable, maybe it was because she had eaten a lot and was starting to get tired, or maybe it was because she felt safe but she would lean her head on Diana's shoulder and close her eyes. "Yep, in a perfect world we would be on the same team, and would have sensei who actually teach us things instead of people who are just around to babysit us." she muttered before yawning and moving a bit so that she was more comfortable. "Then we could kick ass together, and we'd of course live here because no offense but the Land of Malice is way too dangerous and that's coming from an andrenaline junkie like me. You guardian would meet my family and we'd be able to hang out all the time and our third teammate would be a boy who wasn't annoyin.. She would drift off to sleep before she could finish her sentence and it was unfortunate but Praise was kind of a heavy sleeper.

(Praise "Exits")

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