Something To Give Some Oomph [Open]

[Kazehi Ren]

Wandering down the street was both exhilarating and nerve wracking as all get out for the young girl skittering about in search for a clothing shop. She was searching for someplace that wouldn't cause her to go broke, but would also help give her the airs she wished for. Ren has woken up today, seen a reflection and physically recoiled at just how unfeminine she felt. Her eyebrows too large and imposing on her face, her hair a tangled rough mess, her lips too thin, her nose too big. Everything just felt wrong, and her clothing didn't help matters one bit.

Her mission today: buy some girly and sturdy clothing, because her parents were not to be depended on when it came to such matters. Her father still had a hard time grasping everything regardless and still attempted to just pawn his old patched up clothing down to Ren, and her mother had a habit of going over board with the girly, forgetting that thin silken threads and fragile dresses were not proper wear for a kunoichi in training.

Still it was nicer than nothing and she wouldn't dare complain to their faces. Instead she was set on earning the money necessary herself, which she had, and finding a store on her own, which she was attempting to do now, and buy herself a new wardrobe proper for a young kunoichi, which she would do once she found a store!

Her self consciousness was getting in the way of her finding a place quickly though, because every part of her was internally screaming for her to check over her shoulder every few moments, or to bolt home and forget about the business entirely until she could go in a group with someone who would make sure she felt safe. But instead she scolded those screaming bits of herself into submission and fought valiantly to not turn her head. She was so busy doing this, that she hardly had enough mental power to spare to actually look for the right shop.

She was hopelessly at a loss, and perhaps just a little bit lost on top of it all.

 

[Murakami Reizo]

Reizo hated his sisters sometimes. And his uncle. And his grandparents. But more than them, he hated his mother at the moment. Now, of course, he knew it wasn’t fair to hate her. But that didn’t do much to deter him, unfortunately. Oh! Takauji! I forgot to pick up some things for dinner tonight, would you mind running up to Adventurine Street and picking them up for me from that little shop? You know the one! Here, I’ll make you a list, dear. the words echoed rather loudly in his skull. Kaori had pulled him aside and told him to just go with it. It was better for everyone if he were to just pretend to be their father when mother got like this. Hyotaru had agreed with her.

Hitomi had gotten a scrap of paper and written the ingredients she (more like Kaori) was missing in her small, somewhat flourished script, and the paper was now tucked away in a pocket. Of course, she had never said which grocery, and if he came back with a bag from the wrong store, it would likely send Mother into another of her fits.

He sighed and closed his eyes, taking a moment to lean up against a storefront. She had even kissed his cheek before he left. Like he really was his father. In annoyance, he hit the glass behind him. Not hard enough to break it, but enough to rattle it. He pushed away from the glass a moment later, opening his eyes once more and immediately smacking into a girl walking down the street. Reizo stumbled a few steps back.

”Ack! Uh. Buh. Sorry. I did not mean to hit you…” He stuttered, soft voice very nearly lost in the crowds, but pitched so that it sounded distinct enough from the general chatter to be picked out. He looked Ren over for a moment, ”Just a little bit… distracted....” He tilted his head to the side slightly, ”You seem a little anxious and distracted yourself. Is there something wrong?” He thought he recognized the girl from the Academy, but he wasn't particularly good with faces. He'd been mistaken up here in Maruishi before, and wasn't about to repeat the mistake any time soon. It... hadn't gone too terribly well.

[MFT]

 

[Kazehi Ren]

"I'm not anxious!"

She practically shouted when she answered, voice squeaking from the suddenness of being ran smack into, but she grimaces and face palmed.

"Sorry... You just startled me was all. I didn't mean to yell like that."

She took a look at the kid in front of her. He seemed vaguely familiar but she couldn't place it. He probably went to the academy, seeing as she never got out to socialize with other people outside of that.

"..." She took in a breath and sighed before talking, "I'm a bit lost to be entirely honest. I'm trying to find a clothing shop to get some proper clothing for training and otherwise, but I can't seem to find anything."

She rubbed the back of her neck nervously and looked to the kid again.

"Really am sorry about the yelling, I get jumpy out in public on my own."

She looked around awkwardly, not really sure how to go about the situation. Does she keep apologizing and then leave? Does she offer to assist him? She instead latches onto something he had mentioned to continue rambling anxiously.

"What do you have to be distracted by?"

She cocked her head to the side curiously.

 

[Murakami Reizo]

Reizo jumped when he essentially yelled, taking a step back and fidgeting a bit. One hand vanished into the long sleeves of his hoodie to fiddle with the edge as he spoke, "Alright, alright. Not anxious, I got it." Then gave a little shrug when she apologized, "It is fine. As I said, I am sorry for running into you like that." He looked rather sheepish, in fact. And was definitely hoping the older kid wouldn't decide that he'd make a good punching bag for something as silly as running into her. He hadn't brought shinobi tools, he didn't think they were necessary for something as simple as a grocery run.

He tilted his head to the side slightly as he listened, then gave a little nod, "It is alright. Aventurine street is not the best place to find proper training attire, unfortunately. The shops best for it on this particular street are hidden away in not-so-obvious places, so it takes more effort than it should." He tapped his foot a couple of times and closed his eyes once more, considering where he got his own attire. Then gave a little nod, "Hn. I could show you where I get mine, if you think it would help. I believe they have attire for kunoichi as well as male shinobi... though I do not know for sure. I have never had a reason to look for girl's clothes..." the last little bit there sounded far more like you'd expect from an 8 year old for sure.

He continued fidgeting with his sleeve for a moment, then pulled the scrap of crumpled paper from his pocket, unfolding it and smoothing it slightly as he turned it to show Ren. "I am suppose to find a grocery along this area, and I do not recall the name of it, and my mother will not be particularly pleased if I come back with a bag from the wrong place. Of course she did not manage to write down or remind me of the name of it before I left," he sighed softly and shook his head, "But. Perhaps if I were to show you where I get my training attire, I might spot the shop on the way and that would take care of both of our problems?"

 

[Kazehi Ren]

"Oh! That would be really helpful actually... Yeah."

She smiled and nodded, motioning for him to lead the way. As they walked she took in the sight of this small kid, although he couldn't be that much younger than herself. Still a kid all things considered. She pondered the fact that his mother would be upset if he went to the wrong store. All food is essentially the same at the end isn't it?

"You know... If you don't end up finding the right store, we could always ask all the shops to give us just an empty bag and then you can have the right bag. Oh wait, how would you figure out which one to use? I guess that was sort of a bad idea, whoops. Hmm."

She hmmed and hawwed to herself a bit as they walked, her mind taking on the challenge of figuring out how to assist the one who by all rights was assisting her more so.

She shrugged after a time and looked around more candidly now at her surroundings, the tension in her body slowly melting away, purely for the fact that she was walking with someone else, even if she hadn't caught his name yet.

"Oh! I'm Kazehi Ren." She laughed softly, "I was so startled I didn't even introduce myself."

 

[Murakami Reizo]

Reizo nodded and turned slightly, making a little motion for Ren to follow him as he stuffed the scrap of paper, which may as well have been his holy bible at this point, back in his pocket. Even taking a moment to look down and make sure he didn't miss his pocket. Which was an entirely real possibility, unfortunately. He was scrawny, yeah, but somehow managed to be a couple of inches taller than Ren, but his face still looked just a touch too young to pass him off as older than her, even with the added height. He tilted his head to the side slightly at her words, adjusting his stride so he was only slightly ahead of her, still able to speak easily. "I had not thought of that myself, honestly. It would be actually very useful, if only to see every grocery because then I might remember which one I am supposed to be getting food from..." he mused softly.

He walked with purpose, obviously knowing full well where he was going. He had tried buying training attire from other shops, but none had held up as well to he and his sisters as the stuff from this particular shop, even if it was a little out of the way. He tilted his head to the side again, head whipping around suddenly when she spoke again. "Ah! Buh. Sorry, I should have introduced myself first. It is polite. I am Murakami Reizo," he actually paused to give a little bow. Not a full one, but still enough of one to be notable and polite, or at least somewhat polite. He offered a slight smile, then pointed to a shop a little further down, "That one there is where I get most of my clothing. They are not very expensive either, fortunately..." He picked up his pace a little bit, reaching the door and pushing it open ahead of Ren, "Also. It is nice to meet you, Ren. Go ahead in."

[MFT]

 

[Kazehi Ren]

She looked towards the shop that he had pointed out to her and smiled at him, returning the bow, dipping ever so slightly down more so than he had as a sign of gratitude for his help.

"Thank you a lot, Reizo."

She grinned at him opening the door for her, it wasn't often she was treated so politely.

"Oh! Thanks."

She went inside and looked around at all of the clothing, a bit intimidated by the sheer amount of clothing that was nothing like the clothes her parents attempted to push on her, each in their own idea of taste.

"Wow." she breathed, grinning even wider than before, "This place has so much more than I expected!"

She turned to speak to him and stopped, thinking for a moment. Would he tag along for the whole time? Did he feel he had to because she had been so lost? Should she return the favor he's paid her and tag along to all the grocery shops and help him in his endeavor? Suddenly Ren remembered why it was so hard for her to interact with people. She could have entire family trees memorized and able to spit out each member and what generation they were, she was average at all the standard ninja training and could recite things said to her years ago, but she had no idea how to properly interact with other sentient beings. The only person she was truly able to relate to was her cousin, and he wasn't a shining beacon of socialization either.

All of the previous calm confidence fizzled and drained out of her, it was almost physically tangible, as she seemed to draw in on herself, cautious and unsure and lost, all over again.

 

[Murakami Reizo]

He offered a smile in return, a little more reserved than her own grin, but a smile nonetheless. "Not a problem at all." And stepped into the shop behind her, letting the door close. He glanced around the shop himself for a moment with a soft, thoughtful hmmnn of consideration, his eyes drifting to the more "male" styled clothing almost immediately. The entire place was intended to cater to shinobi students, not adults, which was pretty nice. There were two "distinct" sections, with a third that bled between the two. The left side held more feminine items, the right more masculine, and the middle a rather satisfying blend of the two. "Yeah. There are a lot of academy students with a lot of different tastes. Even some not shinobi shop here, and I see fresh genin in here sometimes too," he remarked, stepping up to stand beside her. Absently, he reached into his pocket to check his own funds, separate from the money his mother had handed him for the groceries.

"Hn... I have a little extra pocket money..." he mused softly, looking up from the collection in his pocket, only to see Ren drawing in on herself. He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side a bit, sliding around to stand in front of her, tucking his hands in his pocket and leaning forward slightly, just enough to be precisely at eye-level. "What is wrong, hm?"

 

[Mizutsune Mira]

Fukkatsu always hated going out into a public place, each and every time all of those eyes. He stood 7 feet, 2 inches tall, and with that height he was at least a foot above normal height. Unfortunately his other features stood out even more, the softly glowing crimson crown of flesh ripping out of his collar bones and chest would gather even more attention then his height. However the feature each and every person stared at the most was by far his floating clothes. They held runic markings of the most daemonic origin, the Dark curse marks. They were elaborately displayed, if it was not for all the rips and tears exposing his albino skin. He did not mind attention if it was interest of good will, but here he was an outsider, no wonder he lived in a forest.

The best place for discounted material ironically was for shinobi students. It may seem a bit creeperish from his adult-like looks, but he still was a teenager. He entered the store with some spacious difficulty, but still made it inside. The juggernaut of a man processed what few changes there were since he last visited, and wandered off into the girl's section, hoping to maybe find some good scarfs. Why did female clothing always have to be made from a softer material then male? He found a small area for what he was looking for, and began to examine what ever he could find in his interest.

 

[Kazehi Ren]

"a-ah..."

She stammered for a moment, not expecting him to offer her money, and then caught once more off guard just by the fact that he seemed to be sticking around longer than she had thought.

"Oh gosh no, no you don't need to give me any money I've got that. If anything I should pay you for helping me!"

Smiling and shaking her head she stood a little taller and glanced over his shoulder as she spoke, too spooked to talk right at him quite yet. She was jittery now and had to let it fade before she could be as she was before. She continued to smile meekly.

"Sorry... I get kind of. I don't know how to explain it. Um. Are you going to stick around? You dont have to if you don't want to! I just meant. Um. Do you want to. Hang out while I. Do this. The shopping"

She waves vaugely towards herself and the store.

"And then I can, I can come with you to all the grocery stores? If you want! Just ah. Yeah let me, let me know?"

She ducked her head down and rubbed the back of her neck, glancing up towards him only to stop and blink, met with the view of someone hugely tall and, just all around strange looking in her opinion.
Not a bad strange mind you but it's not every day you seen a person with floating hair and clothes wander into a store and walk straight over to the girls section.
Ren gulped, a bit intimidated by just the sheer height of the guy, and he was right smack dab in the middle of the section she had planned on checking out. She realized she was gaping and quickly looked away, as to not be rude and looked at Reizo instead.

"Have you ever seen clothes that float like that because that's something I have never seen before in my life." She whispered softly, curious suddenly instead of scared.

Distractions will do that to a person, replacing the anxiety with an overwhelming need for knowledge, or at least, that's how Ren worked. And she really wasn't scared of this new facinating person, she was curious. How did the floating even work.

 

[Murakami Reizo]

Reizo blinked, looking completely lost for a moment. Then understanding dawned on him, and he shook his head a little bit, "No, nono! That wasn't what I was-er. That was not what I was trying to do. I was mentioning that I had some pocket money and that I could get something new for myself while we were in here," he stammered slightly himself, rubbing at the back of his neck and ruffling his own hair a little bit. He tucks the money quickly into his pocket, "I did intend on sticking around though, mostly because I did have the extra money to replace a couple pieces of my own clothing... I would not have any problems hanging out with you, though, while you do your shopping. And while I get my grocery shopping done. It is early enough that it should not be a problem..."

His gaze snapped to Fukkatsu as the older individual walked passed Ren and himself, tilting his head to the side slightly and watching curiously. "...No, I have not..." he murmured, "It is... interesting..." He was looking a bit more closely at the reddish flesh glowing on Fukkatsu, then pulled his gaze away to look at Ren once more, "Well. Would you like me to go into the girl's section with you? Maybe you could ask him about it...?"

 

[Mizutsune Mira]

Fukkatsu lifted up a female Kimono, the bright and colorful robes easily catching the eye. Damn, he needed more dull colors, and today it was barely filled with any dull coloring with its great design. It was beautiful for its own design, but by the nine hells he had no use for it! He folded the Kimonos back up, and rested it back on the shelf. He found exactly what he wanted though, a Yukata! The robes commonly worn after taking a bath, and it was build from fibers of cotton. Hmm, there were a few there, and he could easily turn these into towels, or some padding, maybe even one of his large shirts. He raised a basket up, dropping three Yukatas into the basket. He stalked the store, finding any simple clothes he could find, and plopping them into his basket. All the clothes around him seemed to grab onto his chakra, and they began to flow gently to. Only clothes that were not weighted down moved strangely, while the air seemed to freshen around him. It suggested wind ninjutsu, but can one ever be truly sure?

 

[Kazehi Ren]

Her face flushed deeply as he stammered, realizing the misunderstanding and ducking her head down as he spoke. She smiled and glanced up at him though at the mention of sticking around and nodded a bit too quickly.

"I'd really appreciate that! It's nice, walking and not, you know. Walking alone."

She coughs softly and then looks back over to where the float-y ethereal looking guy was. She glanced back over at him and took a breath, standing up straight.

"No, it's okay. You look for what you want and come over if you want to after wards. I'll look on my own."

She smiled and then strode over to the feminine side of the store, deflating mildly as she took a moment to look around and realized she had no real idea of what would begin to even fit her. But she was determined and she squared her shoulders again before grabbing whatever caught her eyes and sized them up against her body, trying to figure out the sizes and what they translated to, measurement wise.

"You got this Ren, how difficult can it be to buy clothes? Everyone does it eventually..." She muttered to herself as she glanced over at the man who flitted about dumping Yukatas into his basket as if on a whim.

He seemed calculated and confident in what he was doing, and if he could stalk about in the store like that then well by the five Ren could figure out how to pick out a weeks worth of clothing on her own if she had to take an entire day to do it!

[MFT]
[WC = 270 words 1424 characters]

 

[Murakami Reizo]

Reizo continued to watch Fukkatsu out of the corner of his eye, not quite sure what to make of the tall man. Most of his attention was on Ren, however. He smiled in return, soft and a touch reserved though. ”Yes. I understand completely. I did not want to spent my entire time looking for the right grocery store alone either. It ends up sort of boring. It is a lot more interesting with someone else around,” the smile split to a full grin for a moment, before fading in intensity once again, ”And alright. If that is what you would like to do, I am okay with that.” He wouldn’t admit aloud that he would have had absolutely no clue what he was doing in the feminine section, and probably would have just followed Ren around like a lost puppy…

Instead, he turned to walk towards the more masculine section of clothing, immediately walking to a series of shelves containing folded shirts that clung just so to one’s body. He picked one up and stretched it experimentally, checking the size and material. Determining it to be acceptable, he put it over his arm. While Ren fumbled around slightly, he proceeded to find a new pair of pants, as well as a new scarf that caught his eye. It was patterned more like a kimono than his usual attire, Light blue, with white and pink flowers seeming to drift down on either end. He smiled at the fabric, running it between his fingers several times, then went about finding a dressing room to try his new clothing on. While he was fairly certain it would fit, it would be good to make sure...

 

[Mizutsune Mira]

(You can guys can skip me for a post rotation, Fukkatsu is still searching for usable material)

 

[Kazehi Ren]

A dusky pink outfit caught her eye and she grabbed that, along with a few outfits that were just dark deep rich browns and tawny tans. The earthy colors made her smile, but she went to the changing room with her haul and carefully changed. After each outfit she would burst out of the changing room to use the mirrors to see herself from all angles. Sucking in her stomach here, twisting entirely around to see what she looked like from the side and behind, she grinned happily as she realized that these clothes really did make her look much more like the girl she had hoped she could look like.

She felt pretty for once. She smiled madly each time she saw that each outfit she had picked out looked more amazing than she could have imagined, but realized a bit too late that she couldn't buy all of them. She would have to pick out three and be content with that for now. Tapping the side of her nose she frowned and looked at the pile of clothing she was forced to pick from.

"I really like that pink one... but I wouldn't wear that out into the field.... The darker brown one is really nice and versitile.... But the tan one looks really nice with my skin....Hmmmmm."

She glanced up to seek out where Reizo was, to ask him his opinion.

 

[Murakami Reizo]

(I’m sorry we haven’t been interacting with you really, Fukkatsu. I know Reizo at least doesn’t have a clue how to approach a floaty-clothed older shinobi…)

Reizo had finished out his own shopping relatively quickly and already purchased the items he had picked out. A couple pairs of pants and shirts, a vest, and his new scarf, all tucked away in a bag or two. By the time Ren was looking for him, he was already standing and fidgeting a bit. He had been here enough times that finding the appropriate attire didn’t take him very long.

Meeting the girl’s gaze, he tilted his head to the side a little and walked over, ”Hum? Did you find things you liked, Ren” He set his own bags down in front of him, at his feet, and started picking through the clothing she had picked out, ”Huh… are you just looking for things for mission-wear, or general wear too?’ he asked, still poking through. The dusky pink outfit caught his eye for a moment, ”You should get the pink one for sure, sometimes you need to look good for clients…” He smiled, perhaps also just offering a reason for her to get something she seemed to want.

 

[Mizutsune Mira]

Fukkatsu finished with a bloated dual basket's worth of clothes. The materials would be extremely hard to find the wild, almost impossible for the Petrified Redwoods. The monster of a man lumbered up to the counter, his clothes floating gently. He remained silent as he was rung up, each and every item marked down with ink and quill. He watched as the man at the counter had to flip the note-pad, writing on the back of the paper to counter all his items. His eyes opened wide, looking at Fukatsu almost as if he was trying to walk around a mine field. Fukkatsu just gave a almost shy smile, not even realizing it held the shy frame. He made a few hand-signs behind his back, and shot a tiny string of chakra into the floor. The thread vanished, while Fukkatsu rumbled through his pockets to find payment. Expertly crafted material was dropped on the counter, trying to reach the steep yen cost that was placed down in front of him. Even WITH over 35% off, he had well over 20,000 yen listed in front of him. He silently pulled out a raw crystal cube, a ruby arm band, and even more things just kept on coming.

A few streets out, eight nuns wearing pitch black cloth, completely hidden from the sun, dragged themselves to the store. It would take them a few minutes, but they held very little suspension other then their faces being almost deadly pale. EAch of them had false curse marks burned into their cheeks, letting those around know these 'poor souls' had been marked by a 'evil' dark sage.

 

[Kazehi Ren]

[Very Very sorry about not posting sooner, college caught up with me all of the sudden,]

She shrugged but smiled and picked up the pink outfit and the darker brown outfit before setting the rest back on their racks. She was in the middle of returning the excess when the man started to started to drop jewels and bonafide treasure on the clerk desk That was enough to make her jaw drop down to the floor, but she almost fainted in bewilderment as the eight women suddenly entered the store as well. They looked like death itself and everything about the entire situation was making her lock up from pure confusion.

She wasn't scared, far from it. She was burning with the need to know what in the world was going on in this non-descript little clothing shop that she had been lead to, and looked to Reizo with one large eyebrow elegantly arched as if demanding he explain what was happening right in front of their noses.

"Have you ever seen anything like this before when you visited the store previously?" She whispered to him as she slide up beside him, perhaps seeming as if she was hiding behind his taller form. Of course she wasn't, she wasn't scared.

But she was standing behind him peering around his shoulder as she narrowed her eyes, taking in everything that was happening and committing it to memory for later reflection. This journey out to get clothing was turning out to be much more interesting than she could have ever hoped for it to be. She had made a friend, as least she thought so, she had gotten the clothes she wanted, or at least picked them out, and now this strange procession of dark nuns were trailing through and seeming to head straight towards the exceedingly rich and floating<i></i> guy paying for a basket full of the most simple clothing possible.

"If it does then I want to come along every time you get clothes." She murmured as she ducked down and peeked over his other shoulder, popping up near his right ear this time.

[MFT]
[WC=338 words 1861 characters]

 

[Murakami Reizo]

He smiled in return to Ren, before it faltered a little as he followed Ren's gaze to the floating guy. He tilted his head to the side at the jewelry as it was set down on the counter... only to have his attention then drawn to the women that walked in shortly thereafter. This was... weird. More than weird, it was unsettling. Maybe the treasure is how the village was paid for his last mission and that is how they paid him in return... he considered. It was a very valid conclusion, at least in his mind. His eyes traced the marks on the women's faces, not recognizing them in the slightest. But then again, Reizo knew nothing of dark sages or curse seals at this point in time...

"...No," he finally answered. "It is usually empty, and I walk in and get what I need, then leave. This is very... unusual..." his voice was soft and a little... tentative. He rubbed at the back of his neck, shifting the bags in his hands. If Ren wanted to check out, they would have to walk up to the counter and pay. Where the floating-clothes guy was standing. And pulling out treasure. It was enough to make his head spin.

"No. it is usually far more mundane, Ren... I think it may be best if we just keep watching for the time being?" he suggests.