Patrol

[Kisho]

Kisho, while kneeling down in a rare patch of grass removed from a main walkway, tossed a rock towards a discarded bucket, whose previous contents had stained it a dark auburn. Not particularly interested in the result, he reached for the last rays of light, stretching out his limbs wildly. Behind him the soft thud of rock hitting stone announced the result of his usual pre-mission endeavors though today’s routine was uncharacteristically tame; a drop in the bucket one could say. The world was full of such lovely distractions and Kisho, uselessly weak to the temptations of lust, often indulged himself in all of its offerings. Tonight, however, on the eve of his first patrol, there was a need for increased vigilance and he would respond accordingly.

“Outside in, inside out,” he said softly, repeating the words of the mission giver. The mission was a standard patrol of the alleyways. He would be working his way from the outside of the avenue, eventually penetrating its depths only to make his out again. There was to be no lethal force used and if attacked, he was to only flee, leaving more experienced ninja to handle the matter he assumed. He was strictly a show of force; merely a presence to deter any crime.
Of course he had heard the tales of the deeds performed here, some of them good, but most bad. He didn’t exactly fear the area, however, even with the weakened rules of engagement. It would nothing but an extremely long walk, with a few interesting people waiting to be met along the way. It was definitely an easy mission for him.

[MFT]
[WC = 275]

 

[Sugawara Hikari]

The thoroughly bundled Hikari waddled like an overstuffed sausage with outstretched hands carrying a book when she found herself turning a particularly sharp and strangely existential corner. Before the (to the relatively untrained) eye could perceive it, she found herself slamming straight into another figure before she tumbled gently to the cold hard ground. Hikari looked up at the familiar sky with a mildly surprised look wondering when her life was going to move beyond the painfully predictable pratfall stage and into the melancholic teenage angst stage. The deceptively tiny girl managed to roll up from her prone position and slide her blue framed glasses back up her nose before she began to wonder which iteration of “sorry for being a klutz” she was going to use today.

Yet once again, as suddenly as she found herself strategically retreating on the floor, Hikari found herself in the midst of another dastardly and extremely predictable character arc. She watched as her new copy of Mei no tenkū no oka, Volume Seven floated in the air in an arc that would inevitably end at a puddle or a particularly aggressive pile of dog doo. Hikari couldn’t help but watch as time had slowed to a crawl. Her mother had overdone her adorable get up this time around and she was unable to react quickly enough to save her beloved book from its almost assured fate. Her gentle expression turned into one of girlish terror as she suddenly shrieked in horror.

”Somebody save my book!”

[WC: 250]