[Footsteps slow down to a crawl at the word ninja. Was he playing along? Pretending, like she did with her friends. But the look on his face was the same! Hatoko looked up at him intently, trying to decipher the truth.]

Wouldn't there be crime anywhere?

[She begins at the end, and the most practical subject to tackle. Her tone is a bit bewildered, unsure if he was implying there weren't any criminals in need of capturing or if this was part of their story-telling game and she should go on with a dramatic enactment of a supposed rescue mission in progress.]