Shopping for Tea and Other Necessities (Sashine/Open)

[Osuteno]

Spoiler

Osuteno had mixed feelings about all the off days he had lately, particularly since he wasn't supposed to be training. He wasn't technically even supposed to be on his feet but that was too stifling of a restriction for him to stick to despite being a doctor himself. Maybe it was because he was a doctor that he stubbornly believed he knew his body's limit and how far he could go without risking further injury. Doctors were notorious horrible patients afterall. Regardless Osu was out and about shopping in the Susukino District for some specialty tea leaves and other such necessities.

As far as he could tell there was some sort of event going on in another part of the district but he had a decent sized list of items today to go through before he could think about festivities... Unless it involved a sale. Despite living very well off now, up until he was almost nine he didn't have any sort of family and had become rather thrifty for a child. While he could afford and in fact owned much finer things than he thought he ever would, he still couldn't help but love anything he thought was a bargain.

So far today he had a great haul. A new calligraphy brush, some fabric he liked, a new stethoscope with an end shaped like a rabbit, a map from 40 years before which he found interesting based on how much had changed, a tall container filled with danko, an engraved scalpel set and some wood carving tools for him to practice making prosthetics with. He even had bought a new set of medical encyclopedias but those would be delivered to the estate the next day. Now he was heading towards a new and possibly the most important goal of the day. He had heard a tea shop somewhere in this neighborhood just received a shipment of imported herbal tea all the way from Stone country. Not only was it a tea he had yet to have, it was medicinal in nature. It was supposed to help with blood flow to be precise and that very much interested Osu.

Osu did happen to notice a good number of people staring at him but he couldn't make the connection that they were staring at what they thought was a little girl with solid red eyes carrying a seemingly precarious stack of packages taller than she through the marketplace and managing to skillfully walk through traffic unhindered despite not being able to see beyond the stack. There were some advantages to being able to hear blood flow after all, it helped knowing where living beings were when one couldn't see.... but that didn't help when the obstacle was a streetlamp.

Osu managed to keep a hold on the dango box but the rest of them crashed around him. This was unfortunate because most of the packages fell open and there were some dangerously sharp things now laying in the street as well as getting dirt in his new fabric. What a mess this was turning out to be. He should have let some of the maids come along to help him but he, being a ten year old, wanted to do everything he could himself. He set about picking everything he could find up. It wouldn't do if someone stepped on the tools or even worse the scalpels. Oh why did the fabric have to land in mud? This was turning out to be a terrible mess.​

 

[Sashine]

Sashine had recently found that her wardrobe was not the most optimal when it came to both training and fighting. Just the thought that her favourite outfit was not the best made her angrily stomp the streets. Despite being a shinobi who was supposed to be a master at stealth, Sashine stomped down the crowded streets like a bear, each stomp heavy and vicious. If Sashine was an adult, she imagined herself pushing all these people out of the way to relieve her anger. they'd domino each other and fall down in clumps and it'd be funny and untraceable to her when there were so many people around and she was so small. She put her arms on the stranger's back. He was walking in front of her and had probably been groped before, especially in this street so to have someone slightly push you forward to move the traffic along was not uncommon. She could do it now, put her force into it and they'd all fall.

The man turned his head slightly and Sashine's smiled up at him, keeping her hands on his back, putting little pressure into the action. If she removed them the second he turned, it'd seem like she was doing something wrong and was chastised but if she politely smiled at him, he'd ignore the touch and keep walking, probably happy that someone had touched him today. She had had enough of people today. At home, her sister had been teaching her about using daggers and as an example, had thrown a dagger at the edge of her skirt as she moved to prove a point that her clothing was a hinderance. One of her brothers who enjoyed Taijutsu had done something similar during the week, pulling on the trimming on her dress to make a point that the attire was a handicap. Obviously, she scoffed at them both but now, she would have to look for something else or at the very least buy the materials for something else for emergency situations as well as something to replace her current dress until the dagger hole on it had been fixed.

Spoiler

Today, to make up for it, she was wearing a black dress with very dark lace and smaller bows than usual. this wasn't her usual color but she couldn't wear something ripped. Not now, not in public. A sound louder than Sashine's stomping was heard and to her surprise, it was a very cute girl carrying a lot of items. It wasn't the clothing that made the girl look cute either, it was her face. Her clothing was okay but the colors just seemed... tacky. Who wore a color that brightly pink? Sashine walked up to the poor girl who would likely get stomped to death and spoke in a demeaning tone, as if she was the girl's instructor or elder.

"That's a bad form you have there. When you're carrying so many bags, you have to put the tall objects at your sides, not in front of you, even though it's easier to carry them if they're in front but I guess you need to work on your muscles.", Sashine bend down to prod the girl's thin arms. She extended her glove to help the girl up and off her butt. Hopefully she wouldn't get her gloves dirty but based on the price of the items she was carrying, this was probably someone who had etiquette and would know to keep clean, even when falling.

"Hey, let me help you carry these things and in exchange, I want some advice.", it had not been phrased as a question at all, rather a demand. Sashine bent and picked up the wood stuff and the sharp stuff, putting one bag inside of the other one to reduce the space it consumed and also the efficiency of being able to carry them. If there was a science to carrying bags, Sashine was a scientist. She took the map and the stethoscope, putting it around her neck as her hand was already at maximum. The purple haired girl could pick the rest of the stuff up and continue walking with no problem.

People had started to walk around the objects for the first few seconds after the purple haired girl had fallen but now that the mess was more or less under control, a man continued to walk where the objects had been, stepping on the fabric and making it worse. Sashine's eyes furrowed and she yelled out to him. "Old Man! Watch where you're going, maniac! That fabric costs 750 yen a yard!", she picked up the fabric as the man turned around to either check if he had done it, apologize or make a rude comment at the children but Sashine beat him to the punch (of whichever action he would choose), sloshing the mud toward the man as well as the people walking near him. "Come on, blind-o, we've gotta go.", with both her hands occupied, she moved past the girl, the objects in hand and began to run in between the people, making sure the other girl would stay in range as she tried to avoid the man and ran into the clothing shop where she hoped the girl would follow.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WC: 879

 

[Osuteno]

Osuteno was surprised when a girl about his age marched up to him and began chastising him. She was right about the stack of course, but it had been a terribly awkward load to carry at his sides and he hadn't thought about inanimate structures when he came up with the idea to use his hearing to make it through the crowd. That had been a rather out of character oversight on his part. She may have also had a point about his arm strength. They were not really things he used that often even when performing taijutsu, he hardly even used them to perform much ninjutsu outside of healing techniques. Perhaps that was a lack of discipline on his part. Perhaps the next day he would start doing push ups, a hundred a day at first would probably be a good start... wait no that might put too much strain on his injured leg... pull ups then.

Sashine wouldn't be disappointed as Osu gratefully took took the hand offered to him, his hands were very clean. Even though he was currently able to walk through the pain, standing up from such a low position was... well it was currently a rather humbling sight for him with every bone in his left leg still broken. Rather he almost couldn't do it and involved a good minute of fumbling around and simply struggling to get on his knees first. Sort of why he wasn't supposed to be outside doing anything anyway. "Thank you for your assistance," he said formally and respectfully with a small bow.

It seemed before he even finished doing that though she was helping him pick up his dropped items and offering to help him carry them. Goodness it was rather kind of her and while he would normally insist it was unnecessary he honestly needed the help. He really should have let the maids come along to help him but he always felt odd about even having maids. "That is very kind of you and I would be more than happy to return the favor," he began but the girl had started yelling at a man who had accidentally stepped on Osu's fabric. "It's fine," he began but then the girl aimed some mud at the man before storming off with most of Osu's things. He... wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do in that situation, so he did the only thing he could think of. He shouted an apology at the furious man she flung mud at, hastily picked up the rest of his stuff and hurried on after her exposing a limp now that he was moving quickly.

As he stepped inside the clothing shop he took a moment to breathe a deep sigh. That could have gone better. He heard Uso laughing in a distant corner of his mind showing how she viewed the situation, Either that or she simply found anything that he found bothersome entertaining, It was always a possibility with her. At some point it was going to be her turn to take the wheel so he needed to get through this shopping trip a bit faster but he did owe her his opinion on something for helping him carry his purchases so the tea could wait.

He approached the girl a bit hesitant on how he should go about this considering that she seemed a bit prone to rash action. It was rather concerning for him and once more he felt approval and humor coming from another part of his mind. He hated when Uso did that, she made his own mood feel contradictory. He approached the girl, hesitating only briefly before saying, "You said you needed advice about something?" While it was said gratefully he felt that if he didn't exit stage left soon it was going to be one of those days when he got into trouble.It was happening more and more often lately and the harder he tried fighting against it the more common trouble seemed.Yes if he stuck around this would certainly end up to be a troubling day."Does it have anything to do with this clothing store perhaps?" He did agree to help her afterall. It couldn't hurt to stick around a little longer.​

 

[Sashine]

"That man was so horrible but don't worry, I'll protect you. ", she smiled confidently at the boy... girl... Osu. The stranger child seemed to be shy but Sashine was confident she could bring out the confidence in others. She reached out for the other's spare hand and tried to swing it back and forth to the background music that the shop had going on. It was a very pop-y song probably made by one of those circus people. They seemed to be all the rage lately but considering this girl was dressed well and had taste, she doubted that she had another Mochizuki Troupe freak member in her hand. they simply overcrowded the place. Everyone wanted to be the star and at the rate they'd be going, they'd have too many stars and not enough astronomers... or was it astrologers? The girl seemed to be getting more nervous probably from the thrill of meeting someone new. "Yeah, I need your help with something.", Sashine turned from where she stood and walked straight to the cash register, pulling along the fair Osu maiden if the hold on her remained.

"This store is so great.", she put her hand out to feel the fabric of the on-sale dresses, pants and shirts as she walked up to the cash register, handing the woman at the counter Osuteno's belongings and receiving a card with a number on it. "You have to leave bags out here so that you don't sneak out items. There's a lot more handsy people than you'd think.", Sashine recalled being inside the store when a man robbed the sale rack closest to the door using only his shadow. Now, stage lights were all around the store, the cameras catching any shadow tamed or untamed. Handing off the items that didn't belong to her anyway let her easily ignore whether they were tended to well or not as Sashine turned toward the women's section of the store with the boy in tow, hopefully. She did have the number card with the rest of his stuff so he had no choice but to follow unless he wanted to leave more than half his items with some stranger.

"It has very average clothes on display but they have a tailor that lets you add touches and change the style of the clothing. It might not be important for all those people who only wear black tights and blue stretch shirts...", she rolled her eyes walking past the women-sized outfits, thinking of almost any and every shinobi she had ever seen at the academy. "...but you..." she turned back to look wherever Osuteno was, "...I can tell you're different.", Sashine gave a smile and began to skip over to the dresses. She loved dresses most. The way they twirled, how free they felt, the variety in silhouettes, styles, colors.

"You'd look so cute in something like this!", she pulled out a yellow dress with a canary on design on the shoulder strap. It was very formal and had purple swirls around the bottom hems. It was easy to imagine this cute stranger in almost any of these dresses. She was sure that kind of face could pull off anything and look cute, if only someone taught her how to dress. without seeming like a middle-aged mother dressed her.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have the cutest face?", Sashine almost squealed like a fangirl as she said it, her face moving closer to Osuteno's to inspect it closer. "Hey, what's your name?" While Osuteno was in a hurry, to the pink fluffball, it only seemed like the adorable human was nervous and so, she had no need to hurry the process along. At all.

--------------------------------------------------------
WC: 621

 

[Osuteno]

"Now now I wouldn't say he was horrible," Osu began but was interrupted when the pink haired girl grabbed his hand and starting swinging it back and forth as she pulled him further into the store. Yes she certainly was one of those impulsive types he had a knack for finding. He simply let himself be pulled along and listened as she began to speak about the store and its anti-theft policy concerning bags. He nodded acknowledging that in a shinobi village the thieves that weren't caught quickly were typically above average people themselves and the necessary precautions certain establishments might have. He handed the rest of his belongings over to receive a number card himself.

The items in this store certainly did appear to be of a slightly above average quality, but had fascinating patterns and appeared to be very comfortable and the idea of personal modifications intrigued him. He actually had an entire closet of specially made kimono that would fall apart when he tugged on a cord just in case if he needed to switch to his combat gear that he would wear underneath though oddly the seamstress appeared scandalized through the entire process and mumbling something about young girls these days or the like. Oddly he remembered one of the maids fainting from a nosebleed when they went to go pick the clothing up...

Osu thought back to his own short period at the academy as the pink haired girl seemed to lament over the fashion choices of her classmates. He understood where she was coming from but in the midst of battle practicality did take precedence over appearances. That was why when he was at work or on active assignment he wore his combat clothing though he was too attached to his bunny ear hoods to let those go. He simply wore things like his current outfit when he had downtime or when he was supposed to hide his status as a shinobi.

He raised an eyebrow in confusion when she said something about him being different. Then without really any explanation of precisely whether that was a positive or negative comment she skipped over to the dresses. Dresses, they were an increasingly popular form of clothing from western styles. He initially didn't care much for them and didn't currently own any fully western style dresses himself. The kimono he wore now had western influences with its frills and such but originally he thought of it as an abomination that just happened to catch his attention before he warmed up to it. Still no match for a classic kimono of course... It was just easy to move around in.

Osu stared at the dress that he would apparently he would look cute in and began shaking his head with his hands raised up palms towards her. There is no was I could," he said a bit shocked. Among the many things he didn't understand about western clothing straps were among the more scandalous to him. There was no way any clothing held up by those things could be decent for public wear.

Then the pink haired girl moved her face far too close for fresh acquaintances and commented on how cute his face was, causing Osu's face to turn a bright red in embarrassment and general shyness. "Oi! Baka," a very unpleasant voice from inside his head called to him with a hint of mirth. "Look there you pretty idiot, I think you are being hit on by this girl haha. Woo! Young girls are rather forward these days aren't they?" his brain's other occupant called out into his thoughts in an attempt to tease him which was working spectacularly... Was he being hit on? He had heard of such things but had never directly experienced it before to his knowledge. What would the most polite way to respond be.

"Hey, what's your name?"

Osu stared at the girl in confusion, her face still much to close to his and he was frozen on the spot because for all he knew backing up might be considered rude. "Chi-Chigokai Osuteno of the medical branch though many simply call me Osu," he said in a high pitched and nervous voice which made him sound even more girlish than normal. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance uh… I am sorry I don’t believe I received your name?” His voice had been becoming increasingly high pitched as he was no longer able to focus on anything but the embarrassment of being so close to another person's face particularly when he reflexively began to bow when offering his name just narrowing the gap a bit more. Uso in the back of his mind was having a good laugh about it but he was going to need to back off himself before he burst.

MFT WC: 805

 

[Sashine]

Chigokai... Sashine felt she knew what that was and recalled the red masks she had seen at the masquerade ball. Thoughts and fragments came back and she recalled a lady who enticed her to always seek power even if it was in alcoholic substances, a purple dressed lady and a purple haired girl, a boy and a dog. That must have meant, this girl was part of the main clans. Sashine tended to feel she was a neutral judge and things like titles and family names meant nothing, really. There were people of strong clans with bad upbringings and weak clans with wealth, a family name was only worth praising if you were the head, otherwise, you were just a piece of a puzzle, just like any other family, community, government and world. Sashine decided it would be best if she didn't mention the slight encounter as this poor girl seemed to be so panicky that she barely paid attention to her surroundings, it was a wonder how she could be part of the medical branch but then again, it was easy to imagine having to force yourself to be focused when someone's well-being was on the line. "Nice to meet you, Osu-saaaaan~", now that she noticed, this girl's voice was so pretty and fitting for her looks. "Oh goodness, your voice is so cute as well.", she grabbed the stranger's cheeks and moved them around to see if there was a way to make her face less cute but no matter how she attempted it, she only got cuter and there was a slight ringing in the air as a soft extended fangirl squeal came from the pink powderpuff.

"Heh, you're adorable. I'm Ueno Sashine.", she wasn't sure what to add after that as her occupation so she paused as she thought, her hands falling off of Osu's face. "I'm about to take my Genin exam and I'm pretty sure it'll be beyond easy so who knows! You might be seeing me around in the future.", Sashine didn't stop to think longer about the fact that this small girl seemed to have already spent some time outside of the academy and was likely strong or at least intelligent in her area because it would interfere with how she viewed little miss sunshyne.

"Anyway, I've been told my clothing choices can and possibly will be a problem in the future so I wanted to look for an alternate in case my other battle dresses were at the tailor's.", as she spoke, Sashine had turned back to the racks of clothing as well as the displays on the walls, flipping through them like a 6-year-old would turn a picture book, skimming through the details, taking in the colors and turning to the next. "As you can see, I like western dresses andddd.... I like the color pink. Anything you think would look cute on me, pick it out and we'll try it on even if it's different from what I'm looking for.", Sashine pulled out one dress and threw it where Osu was standing, using her as a helper in her little shopping spree.

"Oh hey, Osu-saaaaan~, this would look cute on you, I'll pick it up so you can try it too!", Sashine held up a dark blue/purple feathery jacket. "You know, it's cold for a cutey like you to be so bare.", she tossed it into the air for Osu to catch, throwing a pink and black vest for herself. "And this one for you to match.", she picked up a black kimono with lilac accents around the hem that highlighted the curve of a girl's body. Sashine walked over to Osuteno for this one, looking down at his waist and checking if it would look up on her. "Hmmm...", she pondered, staring down at her new friend's waist. "Let's just try it on, come on!"

Sashine hooked her arm on the girl's since her hands would likely be occupied and lead her to the changing rooms, Sashine walking the pair into a dressing room. "Okay, just drop those in the little seats and help me unzip this thing.", Sashine turned to show the zipper of her dress. Something felt odd though, despite the conversation and friendly demeanor, the girl next to her seemed or rather, felt uncomfortable. "I can help you with your clothing if you feel more comfortable.", Sashine shimmied her dress down, reaching around to unzip herself, the dress still in place but the fabric open, showing her body in the pieces that were revealed. "Kay, let's help you now.", she reached over to Osuteno's kimono and started to undo it.

-------------------------------------------------
WC: 776

 

[Osuteno]

She was touching his face now. When did people start becoming this friendly so soon after meeting a complete stranger? Osu was quickly becoming concerned as she started pulling on his face and making strange squealing sounds for reasons beyond him. And why was she being so insistent about his physical attributes? Osu was very uncomfortable having his personal space invaded so readily and was looking for any chance just to get a foot or two between them so he could regain some composure. Which is just what he did when Sashine gave her name and shared that she would soon begin taking her genin exam which brought a grimace to his face. He hoped for her sake she did fine. Most students these days just weren't making it out of the academy. "Indeed Ueno-Chan, I wish you luck in your upcoming trials."

Osu nodded at the problems with casual wear and the battlefield. He considered commenting that maybe it would be best to go with something that allowed for easier legwork and less visible than a pink dress for while on duty but was interrupted before he could begin when a dress was thrown at him. Osu then found himself staring at a feathered jacket and trying to figure out just what in the world she meant by looking cute in the flashy thing, and then picking up a black kimono that reminded him of funeral wear and the clan's formal kimono. While rearranging the items in his arms he found that Sashine was staring down at his stomach it looked like.

Suddenly they were off to the changing room while Osu was being pulled by the crook of his arm making an effort not to drop the clothes. As he was pulled into a dressing room he realized something was off. He put the clothes in the seat and started to comment, "Wait what about your zipper... Wait, wait, wait, wait! Why are you undressing!?" Osu exclaimed after he turned around to see Sashine doing just that and his face turned as red as his bloody eyes. Now suddenly she was trying to undress him! Osu clung tightly to his kimono and backed-up to the corner while squeezing his eyes shut. "I have nothing on under this! This is indecent! Please stop and cover yourself!" Osu's embarrassment meters were going on overload now and it was strong enough that it was leaking over to Uso."Stop this you are getting me worked up! If you don't get this calmed down now I will be demanding the helm. Seriously, can't you handle the advances of an academy student?"

"Not without hurting her!" Osu thought back while panicking. This great increase in shyness had been a continuing problem for him lately though up until this point he mainly only had to deal with it when the maids tried to help him wash or change. Now even outside of his home he was finding that the world was happiest when he was in distress. At this point should Sashine attempt to take his clothes off again she would find herself being (harmlessly) ensnared by a crimson cord (Crimson Whip) though if she complied he would simply excuse himself to stand right on the other side of the curtain. Anything else most likely would be met with Osu putting a wall (Crimson Shield) up between them and speaking to her as if he were a turtle hiding in its shell until she was finished changing.

MFT WC: 581