Private Finished Of Cats and Fireflies

Tomo laughed when James looked flabbergasted at the prospect that Tomo would've dropped the issue if he bought her sushi. Tomo gave a sly grin and she almost regretted she couldn't partially shift, because this situation would've been perfect had she had a tail to slowly sway behind her.
"I'm a cat, aren't I? Fish is my jam."

James didn't seem to be stupid, but he wasn't exactly a genius either. The water jug was good thinking, but if the fire from just now had been any bigger it wouldn't have been enough to get it under control.
"You know..."
Tomo said and hopped down from the barrel, looking at James with one brow raised.
"The teachers in this academy can be pretty lenient, aka. insane. Especially the ones that are in charge of teaching ability control. Did you actually ask a teacher if you could start an out of control fire in a gym? 'Cos I know at least one teacher who'd allow it. If you're new here you wouldn't know the right channel to go through, or if you're not then you've just never figured it out."
Tomo was preaching, she knew, and the old her wouldn't have gone out of her way to give advice. But James seemed like a decent enough guy and Tomo didn't feel like turning him in. Had he actually been an asshole or not remorseful or just a plain idiot Tomo would've given him up in a heartbeat. But he had hope, for now.

Ah, so James didn't exactly trust teachers. Well, Tomo didn't blame him, she didn't trust anyone who was in a position of power unless they proved themselves to be worthy of her trust. Few teachers had done that.
"There is literally a chick in this school who almost burns down the school once a week, you got nothing to worry about."
Tomo commented, tilting her head a bit and giving James a knowing look.
"But if you'd rather get arrested for arson than swallow your pride and ask a teacher then you're free to do that. I gave my advice, follow it or don't, I lose nothing."

"You haven't seen me around?"
Tomo smirked and walked a bit closer to James, slowly circling him as she peered at the guy.
"How do you know I just didn't let you see me? I can be pretty sneaky."
Tomo snickered, she wasn't lying, but in this case James had a point. Tomo had been a pretty famous prankster around the school before she left, she just hadn't gotten around to rebuilding that reputation. Not sure if she wanted to, in the first place.
"Jokes aside, you haven't seen me because I wasn't here. I was away for a while. And one of the first things I run into after I come back is a delinquent. Can you believe my luck?"
Tomo laughed and stopped her slow circling.

"You got here right in the middle of the shit storm, huh?"
Tomo remarked, remembering the messages Shiro and Tadashi had sent her during that time. It had seemed to be pretty chaotic, to say the least.

Tomo snorted when she heard James' stomach rumble. She was close enough and the sound was loud enough that even Tomo with her busted hearing could make it out.
"You could wake the dead with that stomach."
Tomo teased and lifted her hand to her ear in order to fiddle with her hearing aid absently.

"I'll tell you only if you're paying for my food too."
Tomo bargained with a small smile. The topic had completely shifted, but whatever. Because Tomo was hungry too and if she could get this guy to buy her sushi then he could live to see another day as a free man, for all Tomo cared.

Tomo followed along with James, as he agreed to pay for her food in exchange for her not busting him. Tomo grinned, she had tried to stop with all the blackmailing but she swore that this would be the last time. It was for the sushi.
"Sure sure, deal. I won't tell a soul."
Tomo said with a wave of a hand, then pulled out her phone and showed the screen to James. It was a picture of him, with a twisted and funny-looking expression since it had been taken in a hurry.
"But I'm almost tempted to keep this pic, it cracks me up."
Tomo teased and snickered.

James looked around like a fugitive on the run and Tomo rolled her eyes a bit. So paranoid. Where had that paranoid spirit been when Tomo had sneaked up on him so easily?
"Follow along, it's a pretty long walk."
Tomo said and started walking towards the city centre.

Tomo wouldn't have really minded walking in silence, at this point she was immune to awkwardness because she just ignored it. But apparently James wasn't as resistant as Tomo and asked her a question. Tomo hummed a bit in thought while balancing on the edge of the curb.
"Guess for a sushi place it's not that expensive. Or we can try to eat and run. Live dangerously. Shouldn't be too hard since arson is already crossed off your bucket list."
Tomo sent James a grin, there wasn't really an edge to her teasing since she barely thought of what James had done as arson. Especially since Tomo herself had set a trashcan or two on fire back in the day, she had no right to judge.