Crunch! [open]

[Masuta Kurokku]

In a small book store near her grandfather's apartment a small auburn haired girl in a lovely lavender dress trimmed with white lace sat at a table with a stack of books of varying topics. One book was open in front of her titled The Chakra Coil and its Purpose and she was leaned over it, reading it intently. Her ever present, brass colored, clockwork rabbit was sitting beside the stack of books. The only sounds in the small store were the pages of books turning and the soft ticking of Kay's pet as the gears inside it turned. Ever since her grandfather had convinced her to join the ninja academy here in Sunagakure, Kay had decided to dedicate herself and learn as much as she could to make her grandfather proud. So far she had learned much about how the Chakra Coil inside her body worked, though she hadn't put much effort into trying to use it yet, it was still a foreign idea to her.

Leaning back in the creaky wooden chair she sighed, turning her ice blue eyes to look at her pet and smiled and in a strange way it seemed to smile back. "Let's go Usagi, I wonder what Oji-san has for lunch!" Her voice was quiet, with a definite sadness to its tone. Standing up, Kay stretched a little before smoothing out her dress and brushing her auburn hair away from her shoulders. Gently, she lifted her pet from the table and set it on the ground beside her. As she made her way to the front of the store the clockwork rabbit followed her, somehow maneuvering easily around stray piles of books. At the front of the store, Kay stopped at the counter with a small smile for the elderly woman that owned the store.

"Did you find what you needed Kay-chan?"

"Mmm," was her only reply. Kay wasn't much for talking to people, though she was grateful to the old woman for allowing her to read in the shop without buying anything.

Stepping out into the dim roadway she held the door a moment for her rabbit to come through the door before letting it shut, a quiet chime of the bell that hung from the inside of the door sounding. This particular street was fairly empty, but even so she looked around cautiously before heading off toward her grandfather's apartment.

She hadn't made it far when she noticed a group of teenagers running down the road and she stepped to the side to get out of the way but Usagi wasn't fast enough and the girl that was running didn't see the small creation on the ground. Her foot fell on the clockwork rabbit and Kay heard the crunch.

At the sound Kay's breath caught in her throat - the rabbit was her only friend here in this new city - and as she turned her blue eyes down to the ground to look at the broken heap of brass her eyes began to water and a sob escaped her mouth. "U...sa...gi..." she whispered, tears streaming down the small girl's face as she knelt on the ground to pick up the pieces of her friend.

 

[Mienai]

Shira had been walking through the street, her doll grasped lightly in her arms. Kokoro hadn't spoken to her in some time, she wondered if this had something to do with the confrontation she had had with that little snot nosed brat that her mother kept refering to as her 'foster brother'. Shira was rather depressed that Kokoro hadn't spoken to her. Shira wondered if there was some way she could make it up to her best friend to get her to forgive her. Shira's gaze turned to see a girl nearby, walking down the street just the same. The thing that caught Shira's attention was the rabbit that followed her. Glancing down at her doll, Shira wondered if perhaps the other girl was in a similar situation as she. However, before Shira could turn her attention back to the girl, she heard the distinctive crunch of parts. Shira looked up and saw a group of older kids running down the street. Then when she looked closer at the girl, she could see tears in her eyes as she knelt next to her now broken rabbit.

Shira felt a tug in her heart. The silver haired 12 year old clutched her doll closer, knowing the same pain the other girl must have felt for the rabbit. When Ko had thrown Kokoro, she had been so furious and scared that he might have broken her. Shira was lucky enough for her doll to still be in near flawless condition. "Go.<i></i> Shira gasped and looked at Kokoro, the doll had finally spoken again. Shira nodded and hesitantly walked over to the girl. She wasn't that great with interactions with people, but she would make an effort in this care. Shira knelt down next to the girl, examining the broken pieces with her red eyes. "I'm sorry about your rabbit. I know what it feels like when other people have no consideration for items that hold such high importance. But, maybe it isn't all bad. Do you think it can be fixed? I'll help you if you like." Shira gave the girl a slight smile, given the circumstances she wasn't sure the auburn haired girl would return it.

 

[Masuta Kurokku]

Once Kay had all of the pieces off the ground she stared after the group of running kids with an angry scowl on her face. They didn't even stop, much less look back to see what they had destroyed. How inconsiderate were the people in this sunken city? Kay had just begun to get some hope that she might be able to find some semblance of happiness living here with her grandfather.

Just then she heard a comforting voice and she looked up at the girl who had spoken, surprised at first by the smile on her face, then she looked at the doll in her arms and a small smile sneaked onto her lips, perhaps this girl did understand. "I...I'm not sure, I think I have more parts to replace the broken ones though,"<i></i> she said, looking down to appraise her broken friend further. Usagi had been needing an upgrade anyway, his parts were becoming a little rusty and he wasn't running quite as smoothly as he had been when she first built him so perhaps the incident was some sort of a blessing in disguise, however, Kay was still upset that it had happened in this way.

Remembering her grandfather's advice to try and make some new friends she sighed softly, "Some help might be nice, thank you."<i></i> Kay had a feeling that the girl wouldn't really be able to help much, clockwork was fairly difficult and it took a large amount of concentration but maybe having someone that understood the importance of her friend there to talk to and bounce ideas off of would make her rabbit even better than before.

"Um...I'm Kurokku..."<i></i> she said as she tucked her broken rabbit into one of the pockets of her apron before extending a slightly shaking hand to the girl, "You can call me Kay."<i></i>

 

[Mienai]

Shira was happy the the girl returned her smile. Any positive interaction with someone was a good sign in her opinion. She also thought it good that there was at least hope that the rabbit could be fixed. Shira looked closer at the parts and wondered what exactly she was looking at. It wasn't like she had really worked with, well, metal parts.

"That's great that you have spare parts. So you're some kind of inventor then? I've never seen anything like that rabbit before." Shira thought of the doll in her arms and the process that it took to make the doll. Her mother was the one that made Kokoro, so Shira couldn't really claim to have made her, but Shira was taught to maintain upkeep. Shira thought about the possibile similarities there might be between fixing wooden dolls and fixing robotic creatures. When the girl agreed to accept her help Shira's smile grew. She was usually the one that was turned away. "Thank you for allowing me to help! Though, I must admit, I've only ever worked on dolls. Still, it wouldn't hurt to try right? They can't be all that different."

As the other girl's hand reached out to shake hers, Shira questioned the gesture. Still, she simply shifted the doll to one arm and shook the hand politely. "Hello Kay, I'm Shira, and this is Kokoro. It's nice to meet you." As Shira drew her hand back and was once again clutched close to Shira's chest, the doll lifted up it's own hand and reached out for it also to be shaken. "So, is there someplace we can go to work on your rabbit?" Shira turned her head to look down the dimly lit street. She supposed if there was no other place to go, she could also offer up her own work station at her home. The problem would be though that she wasn't sure she would have the things necessary to make the adjustments on the metal creature.

 

[Masuta Kurokku]

[[Sorry I haven't posted in a few days, I've kinda had writer's block plus I've been working/tired >.< Off the next two days though so my post time should be better.]]

"Yeah, I guess you could consider me an inventor,"<i></i> Kay had never thought of herself as an inventor, clockwork was really more of a hobby for her, but she liked the title nonetheless. Smiling a little more, she wiped the tears from her cheeks and took a deep breath. Usagi could be fixed, and rather easily at that. He had been a simple childhood creation, and she knew that now was the best time to make the improvements she had been planning to make for a while now. "No, they probably aren't too different, clockwork is a little more complex, but it's really just putting parts together in much the same way you would a doll."<i></i>

As the girl introduced herself and her doll, Kay smiled more. She was actually happy that she had made herself a friend and she knew her grandfather would be happy as well. "My rabbit's name is Usagi, and we can work at my grandfather's house. He's set me up a work station in my bedroom, we could go now if you want, it's just down the street and my grandfather should have lunch ready too."<i></i> Kay hoped her grandfather had made a little extra - he usually did for the sake of leftovers - but there was always the off chance he had made just enough for two.

 

[Mienai]

[It's fine. Everyone gets writer's block from time to time. My apologies from the short post.]

Shira smiled, glad that her new friend was at least cheered up somewhat now. Hopefully that was a step in the right direction if nothing else. After hearing that the rabbit had a name, Shira grinned. So she wasn't the only one that named things. How can one have an identity without a name after all. She was about to suggest her own place when she heard Kay make mention of her grandfather's house. Perfect. Shira gave another light smile and nodded. "Great! Though, I don't mean to intrude. I'm just glad to assist. Shall we go then?" Shira looked down the dimly lit street from both ends, having no idea where to go. She figured she would just follow behind Kay then.

If the girls started to walk towards their destination, Shira would pose a short series of questions to hopefully get to know the other girl better. She needed to prove to her mother that she could sustain normal relationships with other people if she ever wanted to avoid more doctors visits. Mother Suna knows she's had enough of those already. "So, are you from around here? My foster brother isn't; he's actually from the land of snow. I don't think I can recall you from the Academy either, are you a student there?" Shira hoped her light conversation wasn't awkward. She really wasn't sure how socializing with people was supposed to work.

 

[Masuta Kurokku]

[sorry again!! I've been super distracted by lots of things lately...]

"No, it's no intrusion...my grandfather has been bugging me to go meet some kids my age anyway."<i></i> Kay insisted as she headed in the direction she had already been going. It was only a few blocks to her grandfather's small home, even still it was always good to have a conversation going, but Kay was terrible at making small talk. Several questions came to her mind, but they all sounded ridiculous in her head so she was glad when Shira struck up a conversation, asking where she was from.

"I lived in a small village between here and the Fire Country with my parents...."<i></i> That was where she stopped, not quite comfortable with the story of her parents yet herself, instead, she continued by telling her new friend about moving with her grandfather. "...But I moved here to live with my grandfather a couple of months ago, so far I'm liking the new area, it's so different living in a city as big as this one."<i></i> She added with somewhat of a forced smile, it was hard to think about her parents, her father having passed away and her mother who was now in a mental hospital. Swallowing back the heartache, she continued with their conversation. "I just joined the academy, I just need to go get my schedule set up and then I'll be starting my classes."<i></i> It was easier now to push the painful memories from her mind when she didn't want to think about them, it had taken a long while for her to be able to concentrate on anything without thinking about her family.

Turning her head to look at her new friend as they walked she reciprocated the question with a smile on her face. "What about you? Are you from here?"<i></i>

She could see the door to her grandfather's apartment now, and she thought she could almost smell his cooking. He made the best Noodle Soup she had ever had.

 

[Mienai]

[Finally got around to posting. Again, sorry for the wait. I'm feeling better now.]

Shira wondered what it was like in the other countries. Hearing that Kay was from Fire Country really made her wonder why she came to Suna in the first place. Suna surely didn't have that much to offer a person. The same could be said about Ko, though she didn't really care about him so what interest was that to her? Kay didn't seem to mention any more about her parents when she mentioned the move. Perhaps something had happened. Shira did not feel obligated to ask, considering she didn't have enough facts to determine a reaction from her, let alone any situation that surrounded it. Anything was possible after all. "Well, it's nice that you like it here. I'm sure it's been a big change." Shira had only recalled her mother mentioning a few things about other villages, she wished she was able to understand a bit more.

Shira gave a grin when she heard Kay mention she was in fact in the academy. She would at least have one friend besides her doll that would be there. It's always nice to have one person. "Maybe we'll have some classes together then." She thought about the possible classes she would even want to take. Maybe she could ask her mother about that later. Shira hadn't realized she had zoned out until Kay asked a question. Shira turned, seeing her friend's smile and gave one back. She waited a moment, trying to determine how much detail to really give away. "Well, sort of. I was born here, so I guess you could say I am from here. My mother seems to think I am not though, my father did too. I don't exactly understand." Shira frowned a bit, feeling a bit insecure about her family's past. Something was being kept from her and she knew it. Shira realized she probably sounded a tad crazy. With a flustered expression she shook her head and apologized. "Oh, I'm sorry. You're probably just wondering about this place and here I am rambling. Suna's great, once you get past the lack of sufficient light and some of the creeps that live here." Shira let out a sigh. Way to go. You're really on a roll here. Just stop talking, idiot. Shira shifted her eyes to Kokoro and looked back up, clearing her throat. "So, uh, how much further?"