Daddy's Little Helper! (open)

[Hyuuga Mirame]

Mira had to work today, and not the ninja kind either. Her father owns a small thrift shop of sorts, he is a collector and vendor of ancient artifacts ad weapons. He says that anything can be learned from a piece of rubbish, or rather "treasure". Mira didn't really care. The store looked like some abandoned warehouse on the outside and on the inside it was more like a yard sale. Things everywhere but not a single price tag in sight. The entire store was up for haggling. If you were good a compromising the prices were reasonable, but if you are a sucker then you will be robbed blind. Mira hated this method of trade. She was a fan of deceit, and she hated taking money from unknowing strangers. The relics were gathered in sections, weapons in the back and random trinkets near the door. At the register there is a glass shelf containing the more valuable/unique relics. This included odd pieces of pottery and some smaller weapons.

Mira had her hair up in her usual pigtails and she was wearing a cute little uniform. She was in a black blouse and skirt with a white apron on, similar to that of a maid's or a waitress's. Her shoes were shiny black with little heals and a large buckle. She was walking through the store with a little feather duster cleaning the section of scythes and halberds. She was humming a little song as she cleaned the weapons with smile on her face.

"There all better!"

 

[Kumori]

Alone at last. Miko was trying to laugh it off as if it was something that didn’t really matter, but ever present in the back of mind, concealed from any physical expression that may declare his intentions, the boy couldn’t stop thinking of the event that would eventually come. He walked alone, his head hanging low awkwardly with his eyes fixated on the ground, through the streets of the Suzukino District. Those who knew him would probably think it was weird that his twin brother, Jun, was nowhere around, but Miko was ready to deal with anyone concerning the fact; he had left ready.

Finally after an hour of walking around, getting lost through alleyways in the maze of a village, he arrived at the single shop in the entire place that had caught his attention. Miko had seen this shop a while back when returning from one of his midnight walks through the park, a shop that sold antiques that were visible through the glass that separated the property from the street. It was rather daring, he thought, to have nothing but a glass separating the expensive-looking artifacts from the common thugs; it was none of his concern though.

“There should be someone walking around handing out maps… I really don’t get how visitors get around.” – He though.

The boy entered the shop, whose name he didn’t knew for he was too focused on the items that were visible through the window and had little care for what the place was called. He went down a hall where a girl was cleaning weapons that were placed safely in racks, unsharpened – hopefully. Miko glanced at the girl, and before she could look back or even notice he was looking at her, he continued on his trail losing interest in her. He had never seen such a girl before, even though he had already been one year in the village. He wondered why a girl, who seemed to be around his age, would not join the academy, considering she had the privilege of living in Kumogakure from a start.

Miko continued his search for an item of interest, and it wasn’t until he had searched the whole shop that he wandered into an aisle which contained a row of objects that interested him. He just stood there for a second, looking around and walking forward slowly. There they were, at the height of his waist, three peculiar looking mini-shrines, probably made in honor to a deity, and next to them – an old book that, too, had caught his attention.

“Maybe these hold an answer?” – He was starting to get excited just from thinking of the stories and secrets those shrines and the book could hold. He extended his hand, daring to touch them, and slowly proceeded to move it towards the book. Perhaps the act of touching the unknown would grant him powers, or maybe – it would summon someone from the shop’s staff.

 

[Hyuuga Mirame]

Dust fluttered through the air and Mira let out a little cough as the door opened. She paid the little boy no attetion. Her normal customers were old men in suits looking for something to add to their "collection". Sometimes she wondered if these men believed her daddy's shop was some kind of black market. They had all of the required licenses and what not to carry out this business, but these men were still sketchy to make deals with. The little girl smiled at her work and pointed a single air into the air She wiped her finger down the edge of a blade to check for any remaining dust. She looked closely at her finger with a concentrated look on her face. She smiled and placed the duster into a pocket of her apron. She patted down her outfit and smiled. It was time to go talk to the little boy that came in today. She made her way over and stood to his side.

"Can I help you with anything?"

She had a smile on her face as she curtsied to him.

"My name is Mira, if there's any... Oh? What's this?"

The little girl leaned in to see the weird little book. She smiled and pulled a little book from her pocket and flipped through a few pages. She smiled before explaining the different shrines to the boy.

"This right here is a shrine to the War Spirit Bishamon. It's said that he wears a full suit of armor like that of a samurai, the armor itself is said to live, the abdomen and chest depicting a face of a demon eating the souls of those who Bishamon defeats in combat,"

"and this one is for Mother Suna the Desert Spirit. She is depicted as taking many different forms but in all of her stories she is said to have helped the First Men of the Wind Country establish Sunagakure which is why there is a city thriving in the desert."

"This is a rare find. This isn't a shrine to one of the Great Spirits but to a god of a dead religion. His name has been lost but he was the God of Fire, Blood, and Steel. It's said that he blesses whomever gives him a gift of blood the ability to withstand his fearsome flames through life."

She turned her attention to the book this time. She raised her eyebrow and looked through her catalog.

"This one must be new. It's not in my catalog."

She shrugged and thought nothing of it. She looked over at the white-haired boy and smiled.

"So, are you interested in anything?"

 

[Kumori]

Time was going by slowly for him; it seemed as if about fifteen minutes had already passed from the moment he entered the shop, which was double the actual time. He stood silently looking at each of the three shrines, inspecting them carefully and running his index finger through its rough structure; he was a kid – after all – and couldn’t stop himself from breaking the “no touching rule”. After about a minute - the girl from before showed up. At first he didn’t notice her, but as he retracted his finger from the artifact, he was startled by sudden appearance of the girl. Immediately – she explained what each of the shrines were.

The first belonged to the war spirit, Bishamon. Miko had heard about him.

The second belonged to the desert spirit, Suna. Miko had not heard about her, but he didn’t really care anyways.

The third one was the only one to raise his curiosity, along with the book – which she didn’t explain.

“Do you believe that?” – The boy said as soon as she was done explaining. “That if you drop blood on it, it’ll give you powers…” – He said all of this without actually looking at the girl, in all that time he hadn’t taken his eyes off of the statues.

For the second time, he glanced at her, at once noticing a few features that made her stand out. Her eyes were pale white, something Miko had never seen before. “Perhaps it runs in her clan?” – He thought, comparing them to his own, which in contrast to a single color – were an explosion of rainbow that resembled a nebula, or for that sense - the northern lights. As she handled her little book, Miko noticed something else: her palms were rough, scared, as if she used those for battle instead of her fists. “Peculiar…” – Miko tightened his own hands in the form of a fist, hiding the extra set of mouths in his grip.

 

[Hyuuga Mirame]

((Sorry for the delay, just moved back into school so... yeah here we go ^^))

The little girl closed her eyes as her smile stretched across her face. She laughed a little bit at the boy that had beautiful rainbow eyes. She was suprised that someone his age would actually be interested in something so dull, but her job was to sell the idea of the merchandise. Mirame's smile became more like a face of thought and pondering. The catalog would be closed and moved back to her side as she began to answer the boy's question.

"Well, I believe that with faith many people believe that anything could happen, whether or not that this legend is true I don't know."

The girl stopped and looked at the relic.

"There are many ancient pieces like this one with no true explanation, many theorize that these old traditions were early Chakra manipulation, but who knows for a fact? Anyway, this book is rather odd. My dad personally makes sure to research on every item that comes intot the store for the catalog, but nothing is here on this item."

he girl reached for the book and opened it to the first page. She looked over it and pondered before handing the book to the boy.

"By chance do you know how to read Ancient Kumo?"

The words on the page seemed off and she felt as if something was wrong with what was in this script. Mirame felt as if there was a darker force present in the words themselves.

Τα βασίλεια των παλαιών έρχονται και παρέρχονται
αλλά οι άνεμοι και οι θάλασσες έχουν ζήσει τόσο πολύ.
Οι άνδρες και οι γυναίκες έχουν αλλάξει ποτέ
αλλά το αίμα που χτυπάει παραμένει το ίδιο.
Ο Χρόνος και η μοίρα έχει πει
ότι οι καρδιές τους μπορεί να είναι κρύο.
Εκείνοι που επιθυμούν να δουν το gore
θα είναι καταραμένοι για πάντα.
Αν εσείς ακούσει την προειδοποίησή μου μέσα
εσείς θα ξέρετε ότι αυτή η κατάρα είναι αλήθεια.
Αν ακολουθήσετε το μονοπάτι του αίματος
ο θάνατος θα έρθει σε μας σαν μια πλημμύρα.
Με το δώρο της συνεχούς λάμψη
θα παύσει οποιαδήποτε οποίους συγκεντρώσει.
Θησαυροί και η γενναιοδωρία θα είναι πάντα για σας
αν εσείς να ανακαλύψετε τις κρυφές πόρτες.
Τοποθετήστε το ρουμπίνι από τα πραγματικά μάτια
στο θάλαμο της εξαπάτησης και ψεμάτων.
Οι εξετάσεις και οι δοκιμές θα ξεκινήσουν σύντομα
όλοι εσείς πρέπει να κάνετε είναι η μετάνοια.​

<i></i>

[MFT:244]

 

[Kumori]

(((OMG I’m so sorry for the late post, I didn’t notice yours! I was just about to leave for inactivity when I noticed that you posted like 8 days ago! Won’t happen again!)))

It was a weird book indeed. Filled with information that couldn’t be read, but that served only to raise the boy’s interest. He wanted the book, he wanted to read it, he wanted to decrypt every single word in it and find out what secrets it could tell. The girl spoke of faith, and how anything could happen if you just let yourself go, and fill yourself with fake hopes. Truly, hope was a powerful force, but there was no use in having hope that could never become a reality. Things were meant to be tested, and that – the boy did.

He extended his index finger, and touched it with the same on his other hand. A miniature explosion went off, sounding almost like a firecracker, but not hurting even as much. It was way smaller, so small – in fact, and contained, that it managed to draw a drop of blood form his finger. He let the drop fall on top of the statue, staining the stone of which it was made.

“Well… there’s only one way to find out.”

He looked at the girl, trying to decipher what she would do in response to his little act. He hoped she wouldn’t make him pay for the statue; after all – it was only one drop of blood, which would be easy to clean. Miko turned his attention back to the book.

“No… not yet at least.” – he paused for a moment. “How much is it worth? I like it.”

 

[Hyuuga Mirame]

(Sorry for the delay as well, I just had no flow going for this post)

Mira chuckled as the boy nicked his finger with a little bomb like jutsu and dropped the blood on the statue. Nothing happened of course due to the legend just being a legend. She placed her hands on her hips and shifted her weight slightly. An eyebrow would be raised at the boy with a jokingly angry face.

"Thanks, now I'm going to have to clean that!"

She chuckled a little bit before opening her book once again to skim through the back to find a reference price for the book. She made her way over to the register and hit a couple of buttons and smiled. She closed her eyes and waived the boy away.

"It's far to much for a kid like you to be able to afford."

She hoped over the counter with a small receipt and swayed her way back to the little boy. She had a devilish grin on her face. Dropping her hand lower so that the boy would be able to see the price she winked her eye and tilted her head.

"That'd be about 1,500 yen before taxes."

She laughed and brought her hands to her hips again.

"So kiddo, still want it?"

 

[Kumori]

Nothing happened.

It was to be expected. Of course nothing would happen if you dropped blood in a miniature statue. Now the girl was mad at him, and he was left with his hurting finger. The boy didn’t carry that much money with him, and when the girl mentioned that he probably wouldn’t be able to afford it, he couldn’t help but agree. How much could that book be worth? She didn’t even know what it was, after all.

Mirame got behind the counter and started pressing a bunch of buttons which only served to confuse Miko even more. He had never seen such a machine, the boy had traveled for long, and had entered many stores, but this was the first time he would actually buy something. Jun always did the deeds.

"That'd be about 1,500 yen before taxes." – the girl grinned.

She gave him a hypothetical price. That couldn’t the real price, it couldn’t be; her grin was too big for it to be real. She probably thought it was a scam; maybe didn’t even know the real price. It wasn’t much anyways; 1,500 yen was nothing for an old book that, for all he knew, could hold unthinkable secrets. He wanted it, and he was prepared to pay the 1,500 yen price. She probably didn’t expect his reaction.

“Yes!” – Miko jumped. “I thought you were going to charge me way more than that!”

He had gotten a bunch of money from his mission for the nobleman. It was worth getting kidnapped, beaten, and sleeping around twenty-seven dead bodies inside a plagued cell, inside a plagued sector, inside the slums, in order to rescue a little girl; but most importantly in order to get the 1,000,000 yen reward. The boy felt rich, and he was rich, even though 1,000,000 yen wasn’t much pay for an adult, it surely was for a child with nothing to spend it on. Besides, Mirame was literally charging the same amount a bookshop would charge for a novel; so much for a merchant.

“I’ll take it.” – the boy said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a crumbled ball of cash. There were about 5,000 yen in there. “Here, this should be enough.” – he smiled, handing her the money.

((( OOC: Just so you know: 1,500 yen is about $15 and 1,000,000 is about $10,000. )))

 

[Hyuuga Mirame]

Mira smiled as the boy said he would take it. Because it wasn't in the catalog that means her dad hasn't priced it yet, which in turn means it isn't in the actual inventory list. She was craving a frozen snack from down the street that was about 1,350 yen and she didn't want to use her money. The little shit got rid of her dad's stupid book and could now go get her favorite snack and still have some spare change. She walked over to the boy as he pulled out 5,000 yen. A bigger smile appeared on the girl's face. Now she could treat her friends Kyou and Ren to a barbecue diner. Swiping the money from the boys hand she quickly counted it before putting it in her pocket. She placed one hand behind her head and let out a devilish chuckle.

"What'da'ya say we leave before my old man gets here."

She walked towards the front door and flipped a little sign around to say closed. She pulled out some of the boy's yen and waived it a little.

"let's go get a treat. On me!"

((Oh I know, I was expecting that kind of reaction. Mira hates the shop and wants to get fired....))

 

[Kumori]

He was ready to pay the intended price of 1,500 yen when the girl swiped the whole ball of cash from his hand, not only leaving him without any money for the day, but exposing the ugly hand-mouths he was so ashamed of. Miko just stood there astonished by the fact that he was just mugged by a little girl, probably a year younger than him and without knowledge of chakra; although her eyes were pretty. He wasn’t the type of guy to fall for anyone, not before, not now, and not in the future, he believed himself to be too dangerous to have people close to him, and his emotional state too unstable. Still, even though that was all the money he had for the day, he didn’t mind giving it to Mira; maybe he could make a friend, for the second time, without Jun.

His life was a little depressing, but since he arrived at Kumogakure to follow his dream of learning the chakra arts, it had taken a turn for the better. He had made his first friends, Hotaka Kyo, Hayabusa Yukiko, and Naoki Yukimura; all who saved his life at least once. He now understood the reasoning behind the cheap pricing. As the events were unfolding, maybe if he gave money to the girl, she would become his friend; the first one to not accompany him in a life-threatening situation, a normal friend. The boy didn’t mind if she took his money, as long as she bought him something to eat. Miko was starving.

“Let’s go get a treat. On me!” – the girl said as the made her way to the door, opening it and then waving the bills at Miko, as if taunting him to follow. It worked, and Miko did as she said.

“I’m Tanaka Miko by the way.” - he said. "And I hope you're taking me somewhere I can get food. A barbaque would be nice."

He smiled.

 

[Hyuuga Mirame]

((OoC: sorry it took me a while, I've been preoccupied))

The girl paid no attention to the boy's odd mouth hands, she wasn't really concerned what was there. Tanaka Miko. She smiled as he began to follow her out of the shop. The sun was out today and the sky was clear. She smiled as she blocked the light from her eyes as she waited for the boy to leave the shop. She turned around and locked the door to the shop. The girl flicked a sign to have it say "Closed". The little girl stepped back up to the boy and began to walk to her favorite place to eat. It was owned by a family friend that worked down the lane.

The city seemed busier than normal today. There were people everywhere. She reached for the boy's hand before stepping quickly into the direction of the store. Whether or not she actually grabbed his hand had no importance to her, she just wanted to let him know that she was leading this date. She turned around and smiled at him as she briskly made her way through the streets.

"I'm Mira."

She turned back around and turned down what appeared to be an abandoned alley. She walked up to the wooden fence that stopped the way. She turned back around and looked about as if making sure it was clear. A grin appeared as she reached for one of the boards. She pulled it and a passage could be seen. Mira waived towards Miko gesturing him to go through first.

"We're almost there Miko-Kun."

[MFT:256]

 

[Kumori]

Everything had been weird from the moment he stepped into the antique store. The girl, about his age and size, was as friendly as one could be. Except for the money swipe of course. Either way, the rest of the money would be in good hands, to be used for a good purpose; to fill their stomachs with tasty food. The little girl, Mirami, opened the door of the store for Miko, and once he was outside, she proceeded to close it, lock it, and turn a sign that read “closed”.

She was leading the date. Even though he had always been the kind of guy to lead, and resist following anybody, he was okay with it this time; after all, he would get them lost, like always.

They kept walking for a while, until they reached an alley; not so close, but not far to the store. It had taken them about fifteen minutes to reach it. The place didn’t look as good from the outside, and Miko couldn’t help but wonder what she was planning. Maybe she was leading him somewhere where a thug would be waiting to mug him. Did she think he had more money?

No.

Miko trusted the girl. For some reason.

She looked around, with a nervous grin in her face, like that of a child ready to cause mischief, and then proceeded to walk towards a plank-gate that covered the entrance to another place. She reached to one of the boards, and lifted it, revealing a passage. Miko didn’t hesitate to go in; that’s what she wanted, after all. If there was a mugger on the other side, he wouldn’t hesitate to cause harm. A radiated explosion around him, and no body would be able to withstand his next blow.

What laid on the other side caused him to raise a brow.

 

[Hyuuga Mirame]

Mirame smiled as Miko went through the hole in the fence. As the boy proceeded through she decided to follow after him, and upon making it to the other side she giggled slightly and took a couple of steps forward. Turning around to face Miko now she gestured her right index finger to say follow me. With a skip in her step she quickly turned around and began to make haste towards the unknown destination. The little girl made her way down the cluttered alley with ease, tossing herself over dumpsters and diving through gaps in stacked boxes that blocked the walk way. As she made it to the other end she turned around to see if her "date" was still with her, whether he was or not she didn't really care. At the end of the alley she popped her head out and onto the main road. With a gleeful chuckle she whispered to herself semi-quietly.

"We're here."

By this point she had made her way to the more rundown section of the Susukino District, but this place had the best restaurants to eat at. She began to walk casually up to a little street vendor with a smile on her face. If Miko was with her this would be when she would let him know that this was were they were eating. Tsuchi's Chicken. This little open faced restaurant was amazing, they could make you almost any chicken related meal. Mira took a seat at one of the bar stools and placed her hands on the counter. A rather boarish woman came out from the back with a piece of paper and a quil. The lady stuck out her tongue revealing her Ink Chakra property and dipped the quill into her black ink like saliva.

"What can I do you for?"

"Hello Tsuchi, may I have an order of Teriyaki Dry Rub, and a side of Kitsune Udon? I'm with him, so be nice."

The little girl laughed as beat of a woman wrote down her order. She turned to face Miko before she raised an eyebrow at him in a manor which screamed "speak up boy."