Open This Street is Cold

[Toraono Michino]

Being homeless sucked. It wasn’t something Teng was used to, having lived a rather decent life until recently. He had fallen pretty hard in the last month or so. It had all started with a television set breaking down, and now he was in a brick alley somewhere with his back to the wall; sipping on hooch. Cheap, stuff too. It made him recoil every time he took a sip, but, it kept his brain a nice numb to keep from thinking about the recent failures of his life. Most perplexing, even now some two weeks later, was the Hyuuga who had nearly killed him. His heart still ached to be near her side again, but, knew what an impossibility that was. Besides, he doubted she’d be swayed to keep him alive after seeing like this.

The cold air forced the Chuunin to wrap his cloak a little tighter. Yeah, all it would really take is gathering himself together and completing a few mission and he’d be back on top. Nothing he wasn’t capable of doing sober. It was finding the motivation to do it that was the problem. Ever since his father explained him to be tied to some sort of weird prophecy, one that was dumped on his lap like hot coffee, Teng was finding it harder and harder to care. He had been wrong about the shinobi life, and now that he wanted to step out and do what…the rest of his family did, he had to stay with the military? Become even stronger to face off against a possible world-ending creature? Nah, screw that noise. Too complicated.

The bottle touched lips again as Teng chugged.

 

[Momo]

Suddenly there was a random explosion. It was loud and caused a rumbling of both the gravel and still things that laid undisturbed until just now. It wasn’t obvious at first as to what had happened or what was going on. From the sound, it was relatively close to the alleyway where the man was dwelling. Suddenly, a small girl with blue hair came sprinting down the ally in a panic. Trailing behind her were several angry looking men much older than she was. The mob would catch up to her just as she as she neared the alley dweller, one of which kid her in the back causing her to fall into the man who was just having a drink and minding his business. She’d fall into the man and then onto the ground. Scrabbling to get up she would crawl to his side, using his leg as a barrier from the others. She then plead to the man, “Please Mr. Hobo, can you help me out?” This seemed to anger the mob greatly. There were three of them to be exact. They were obviously part of the local gang as their tattoo affiliation would suggest. One of the men would grin before pulling out a switch blade, “Step aside man, this ain’t got nothing to do with you.” The others would crack their knuckles to flex. The small girl would continue to hide behind the ally dwellers leg obviously fearful of doing anything else. She had blue hair and purple eyes. Even more odd for a kid her age was that on one of her arms was a sleeve tattoo. The tattoo were of clouds raining bullets. The men would give the alley dweller a chance to step aside but if not they would attempt to move him by force.

[mft]
[topic entered]

 

[Toraono Michino]

The explosion shook the building behind Teng, causing the Chuunin’s eyes to widen with surprised as the ground rumbled him over almost to his side. The alcohol he had been sipping caught in his throat, causing a small coughing fit that forced him to neglect his surroundings. By the time he was done hackin’, he caught the girl darting down the street, crashing and shooting behind him as three goons came swarming through shortly after. Her voice was small and sweet, but the wild color of her hair and, was that a tattoo?! Seriously, who did this sassy child belong to? It all told Teng that she wasn’t likely a chitlin that could be trusted, but then again Teng knew for a fact that the men seeking her out were ner’dowells; at best. He saw the tattoos they all mirrored, barely hiding on their inner wrists, and recognized them as the same gang members who had harassed the Hyuuga Princess that had stolen his heart. There was a personal vendetta the Chuunin had with these guys, rather or not the girl who had led them here knew it. He didn’t like the looks of that switchblade though, so, Teng did as he was known for doing. He stood up, flipped the bottle into a reverse grip to use it as a weapon, and…

Walked away.

He wholesale walked right past Yugi, not even so much as batting an eye at her, and turn the corner out of the alley so hard you could nearly smell the fear on him; or maybe that was homelessness. Of course, right as he turned another corner, his feet found their way up the wall and to leer back down on the three goons from the roof. In apprehension he had hoped maybe they'd yell at her and send the girl packing, buuuuut, the guy with the knife didn't look particularly friendly. In any case, if they made a move to grab the girl, he'd do something - Teng decided.
The moment they started to advance as a group, he knew something was up, and hopped off the roof and back down behind them, silent as a cat. The drunk Chuunin reared the glass bottle back and shattered it over Goon One’s head. The second guy would receive a friendly elbow to his Adam’s Apple, and the Third, a swift knee to the groin; all in about a second and a half. After Teng was sure the guys weren't going to get up immediately, He took a few steps forward and offered a hand,

“Sorry about that. I hate fighting. You should probably still run, though, I doubt they'll stay down long.” He still reeked of booze.

 

[Momo]

The blue haired punk rock academy student couldn’t believe that this obviously semi sober hobo would be so cold hearted as to just walk away when there was a child in need. To her she was an adult, even if poor life choices brought him to rock bottom. She sincerely didn’t see this coming, nor could she had predicted what came next. Abandoned for the time, the men grinning with malicious drew closer... “Hey, um no need for violence! We can just talk this out, heh hey!” The small child in tattoos would curl up but would find saving grace when the hobo swooped in like some sort of superhero. Perhaps not the kind of hero who wore a cap but a hero she needed. Yugi’s face would light up as he made short work of them. They didn’t really have time to react and neither did she. Next thing she knew, they were all on the ground and the hobo was offering her a hand. With glee she took his dirty booze reeked hand and stood to her feet. She’d look down at the men groaning on the ground before looking back to the hobo, “Sorry about that. I hate fighting. You should probably still run, though, I doubt they'll stay down long.”

She didn’t budge. How could she run after seeing something so spectacular. She was starring at him in amazement before she finally burst, “Wooooah! That was so cool! You were like bam and they were like what? And you were like bam boom bam! It was epic! You’re like some kind of super ninja hero hobo or something. The way you swooped in all stealth like, man!” She was very animated in her account of the situation. At the end, Yugi went in for a hug but the smell of booze was like a force field that halted that action and so she settled for a light playful tap at his abdomen. “Wow like? I’m Yugi! What’s your name?” Yugi gave no indication that she was going to flee. She was much to amazed and fascinated by the past couple of seconds. If anything, the hobo just gained a fan.

[mft]
[ooc: sry for lateness, got busy lol]

 

[Toraono Michino]

Teng stood there, flabbergasted. Praise was something that hadn’t been heaped on the Chuunin since he was in the Academy. He had always did well with his studies and was a top specialist in Taijutsu when he was in his prime…but now…
Yet here Yugi was, praising him for being a coward. All he did was walk approach from a less confrontational manner. In fact, he was certain there were plenty of people who would of seen what he did as cowardly in it’s biggest form. Yet…

The bum couldn’t help but feel like he had done something right for once. The first time in weeks he had actually stepped up and did something to keep it right. He was a little sad now that his cheap hooch was all over himself and the ground after shattering over a dude’s head, but, the praise was worth it. The girl even went in for a hug and wisely decided against it; even Teng knew how badly he smelled. It unleashed a torrent of thoughts about how he was living his life. Not for the first time, but perhaps a first sober, the idea that his Dad was crazy crossed his mind. He had been forced into a lot in a short period of time. Swing romance, world ending destinies, alcoholism from the stress of those two things plus his favorite soap opera being canceled…it was a lot to take in at once. Maybe there was some hope for him after all…

With a sigh he smiled a little sadly and replied to the wild colored hair child,
“Tengoi. Most people just call me Teng though. So…why the hell were these guys chasing you? And seriously, we should be moving. Go, go, go.” He said as he tried to turn her away from the alley and back out onto the open street where they would be far safer.

 

[Momo]

“Can I call you Ten Ten?! Oh never mind not important right now, we gotta run! Oh I know! Follow me to my secret hideout!”

Yugi would escort her new companion across town. The two were very conspicuous to those along their route of travel. A hobo and a small child with tattoos and vibrant blue hair was hard to miss. Yugi did well to deflect the question as to why those thugs were after her. She’d either make light humor and or stress the importance of the two getting somewhere safe first. That safe place being Yugi’s secret hideout. In truth, Yugi actually had a secret hideout. It was easy to dismiss a small child making claims of a secret hideout as nothing more than pure immigration. However, the two stood before a rather massive workshop. The name on the building was as flamboyant as Yugi’s appearance. It read “Imagine Taggin”. The building held a beautiful resting hill roof of dark rounded tile using the timber jointing system. The upturned roof design was a marvelous sight compared to the adjacent establishments. There was a moon crest of a golden bronze material that rested between the hall frame and the roof. Red beams supported the circumference of the structure as did the beautiful red walls. This place, however, was a sight for soar eyes. It was tagged with very artistic messages and drawings using a variety of vibrant spay paints. Yugi would take Teng by the hand and run inside leaving him little time to take it all in. “Welcome to my hideout!” Inside Teng would find what looked to be a workshop of some kind. It looked as if Santa Claws was making toys hear except these did not look like toys. Well some did but more like shinobi puppet parts, strange objects with buttons, gadgets and gizmos. Yugi would place her hands on her hips and smile from ear to ear. “So! What do you think? Pretty cool right?!”

[mft]