Something To Give Some Oomph [Open]

[Murakami Reizo]

Reizo tilted his head to the side once more, pulling a little to help Ren to her feet. He smiled in return to the girl, ”Thank you, Ren,” his voice soft and genuinely grateful. He turned his attention to Fukkatsu for a moment, examining him and his floating clothing once more for a moment. Then Ren dropped his hand and he nearly jumped, looking down and blinking. Right. I was still holding her hand… oops… he shook his head a little bit, then looked to Fukkatsu once more.

”Well. It looks like it has been decided. I may go visit you at the hospital or redwoods another time. It sounds like you have a lot of knowledge that might be good to know,” he smiled, ”Thank you again for paying for Ren’s clothing, and for sharing the information you have, as well as the offer of your services. If I run into a situation where they would be useful to me, I will certainly let you know, Raito-san.”

And with that the boy, too, bowed and turned from him, following Ren towards the sidewalk. He hesitated a moment, looking both ways and debating the easiest route to the grocery he would be looking for.

Then, he picked out another route, ”This way,” he said simply, and started off.

 

[Mizutsune Mira]

Fukkatsu silently waved to the both of them, then yelled out, "See you later!" He vanished into the darkness, riding the wave quite literally away.

(Topic left)

 

[Kazehi Ren]

She grinned and shouted back a goodbye as Raito left. She followed Reizo and chattered at him as they went on their way.

"I think I'll find him again soon and get one of the curse seals. It would give me an edge, and I need all the help I can get to be better than just average."

She smiled widely, swinging the hand with the clothing bags in a wide arch as they walked to the shop.

"I just want to be better overall, the Lunar seal seems like a good one, doesn't it? I wonder if he can learn even more seals in time... OH gosh, what do you need to buy anyways? I know it's food and all but will you be able to carry all the bags on your own? I can tag along enough to help you bring everything home if you need."

She tilted her head back and forth as they went, swinging her hair like pendulum.

 

[Murakami Reizo]

Reizo waved, a bit belatedly, behind him towards Fukkatsu back down the alley, then turned his attention back to Ren as the girl started talking. He tilted his head to the side slightly, another little frown creeping onto his features.

”...well… the Lunar seal would give you an advantage in ninjutsu, right?” he said slowly, ”But… I don’t think you could have more than one seal… so you’d always be better at ninjutsu than everything else, at least when you activated the mark…”

He tugged a little at his scarf, adjusting it some and knocking some of the dirt from his hoodie as they walked, easily slipping between people as necessary and keeping just barely half a step ahead of Ren, just enough to be barely leading her in the correct direction. Though it could also be seen as the incorrect direction, as he had purposefully taken a slightly longer route than necessary.

He didn’t know Fukkatsu. Neither did Ren. Neither of them knew much about Dark Sages, or Spiritualists, or the Curse Marks themselves, it seemed. She is too eager for it… without knowing the potential consequences beyond what someone we both barely know said… not that she knows me any better than Fukkatsu… but. I know me better than I know Fukkatsu...

Her words brought him out of the thought processes and he shook his head slightly, ”Ah. Nothing too heavy, and not too much. Just some things to make dinner for my mother, grandmother, grandfather, and two sisters. Oh. And me. Mostly vegetables,” he answered, still distracted, ”I could probably carry them myself, but the help would be welcome.” His hand dipped into his pocket once more, pulling forth the crumpled paper and flattening it out against his hand. ”They were missing the mushrooms, ginger, and carrots. Nothing too big, until you do not have it,” he offered a little smile.

 

[Kazehi Ren]

She hummed softly under her breath as he pointed out the fact that the Lunar Seal was only ninjutsu oriented.

"What was the seal that boosted everything? Maybe I should just try to go for that instead of settling for something smaller like the Lunar Seal..."

She nodded when he listed the supplies that he needed, grinning back at his small smile.

"You've got quite the family going on in your house. Is it fun having everyone all together like that? I've only got my mom and dad at home with me. Ryu has his own house, obviously. Is it nice having siblings?"

She bombarded him with questions as she walked with him, not even noticing the fact that it seemed to be taking them a little while to get to the store. She just assumed the shop was far away, though she was glad that he had remembered which shop to go to, instead of them running to each and every shop to check out what bags they used.

 

[Murakami Reizo]

Reizo taptapped his fingers against the list a couple of times as she asked about the seal.

”...Heaven, I think?” he said slowly, ”Yes. Heaven, I believe. Which Raito said he could not scribe.”

He briefly considered what would result in one being unable to scribe a mark. Perhaps just lack of practice, or lack of knowledge as to what chakra had to go into the seal’s construction. More things for him to question and ponder later…

”I do not much enjoy it…” this response was also slow in coming. He folded the paper and put it back in his pocket, fidgeting once more with the ends of the sleeves of his hoodie, ”Oh. Hyotaru, my uncle, lives there too…” The entire thing was a little on the complicated side, ”My sisters are generally too busy to have much to do with me. Kaori helps take care of my-er… the house… and Satoko is working on becoming a shinobi too. She is suppose to become a genin this year, and then will probably move to the barracks.” There was a slightly envious tone to his voice, though the straightforward Kazehi might miss it.

 

[Kazehi Ren]

She nodded and set aside the thought of the Heaven Seal for later. If Raito couldn't do it now, well maybe he could learn how to do it later. She cocked her head to the side at his slow answer.

"Oh gosh, so many people all in the same house, and you said you don't like it much. I imagine it has to be crowded or hectic. You must want to get out on your own to have your own space, huh? I know sometimes I wish I could live on my own, just so I could say the space is mine and mine alone, you know?"

She raised her arms up and set them behind her head as she walked, bag jostling and crinkling as she did so. She had caught the envious tone but didn't quite get the reason why on the nose. She was no stranger to being jealous, that much was for certain. She was jealous of quite a lot of people, even if she didn't really hold it against any of them. It wasn't the people so much as the skills she envied.

She looked over at him as they continued their trek. "I hope to become a genin soon. Heck, maybe we can try to go and become genin at the same time. I'm sure we could manage it. Then we can even try and go for chunin later on!" She grinned ever wider at the idea of having someone there when she went in to move up in the world. She was bound and determined to have Reizo as a friend.

 

[Murakami Reizo]

Reizo smiled. He felt, at least somewhat, relieved when she seemed to drop the mention of the seals for the time being. It would give him time to figure out what he ought to do, if anything about it. The marks were something serious. And Raito had called himself a Dark Sage. I promised I would not tell that he was a dark sage. I do not know if only dark sages can scribe curse marks though... Another thought to wrestle with.

"It is rather chaotic. But, that is how it is," he gave a little shrug, "I will be very grateful when I do not have to live with all of them any longer." It will make everything much easier...

He tilted his head to the side at her words about the genin rank, then offered another little smile, "Yes. I am fairly sure we will both become genin without too many troubles, though chuunin might be a bit harder. And then, I will be able to live in the Barracks instead of with my family, and you will know that you are at least better than those that do not make it even to genin."

 

[Kazehi Ren]

"If you ever want to get out of the house for a little bit I'm sure I could have you over to my house for a night or two! My parents hardly pay attention to what I do for the most part, I don't think they would notice if I hid you away in the guest bedroom." She laughed softly, thinking back to the time when she had hidden two stray cats for a week before getting found out. Yeah, her parents would be too busy to notice someone hiding out in the guest room.

She nodded and stuck her tongue out playfully. "We'll make it all the way to Chunin and even better, I can feel it. We're awesome!"

She looked around a bit, mildly confused as to how they didn't get to the store yet. "Are we getting close? I don't know which store it was you remembered you'd have to go to. We should buy some snacks with the extra money I have now! What kind of thing do you like to eat? I personally love chocolates." She looked overjoyed with the idea of buying snacks and a bounce was added to her walk, she was practically skipping along beside him.

 

[Murakami Reizo]

Reizo chuckled at the idea. "I think my family would notice if I just left," he remarked, the little smile staying on his features.

"Considering who your cousin is, you better make better than Chuunin. You will probably steal his spot eventually, even," he smiled wider, tone completely genuine. There was no reason, in his mind, that Ren couldn't take over as tsuchikage when Ryu's time in the role was done, "I do not think that I will ever be quite that good, however. I would be satisfied with jounin perhaps some day." Not that he thought it would occur overnight, or even soon. He would continue working at it, however.

At Ren's next comment, Reizo tilted his head to the side, "We are riiiiight..." he paused long enough to take a couple more steps and disappear around the corner of the alley they had ended up in, then poked his head back around it, "Here." He stuck his tongue out in Ren in return, though it was a slightly more shy and tentative gesture. As if he were not use to doing it. Which he wasn't.

"Snacks would be nice. I like pastries. Almost any kind you can think of. And green tea mochi. Or strawberry mochi... or the little jelly-filled ones that are kind of gummy? Those are delicious too.." he paused, "...so... any sort of mochi you can think of, I think. Come on, let us get what I need then we can see about snacks."

He slipped inside the store, a small one run by a small family. Nothing particularly notable, and held the door for Ren once more to come inside before moving to collect up the vegetables he needed to acquire.

 

[Kazehi Ren]

Her smile turned mildly shy at the idea that Reizo thought she could be Kage one day, but she shrugged softly all the same and glanced away.

"But would that be seen as it's own accomplishment or just me riding on my cousins reputation?" She murmured softly, and jumped an inch when Reizo disappeared and re-appeared, tongue out.

Laughing in surprise she shook her head, loosing a few more strands of hair in the process, and followed, clapping her hands a bit at the mention of mochi.

"Oh I love Mochi, I know the perfect thing to get then, I'll go get it!" She said, running off to find a sample platter of mochi.

She knew most places had them, because it was a great way to show what flavors a store had to offer in bulk. She hummed to herself, dancing to her own beat as she scanned the area, trying to decide on which identical package of mochi sampler to pick up. They all were literally the same, but she felt like the ones in this one looked just a little bit bigger than the rest of them, but then again this package looked like it had a different color than the rest of them did.... Hmmmm.

She looked back and forth from the two packages she had narrowed the choice down to, and she looked pretty comical, her head turning side to side as she stared intently at the food.

 

[Murakami Reizo]

Reizo didn’t catch Ren’s murmured words, though of course he would have tried to reassure her if he had. That opportunity wasn’t present, however. Instead he watched Ren rush off at the mention of mochi and gave a little content almost wriggle, though it might have technically been closer to a full-body shiver of pleasure at the idea of the tasty treat. There were a couple of other similar sweets that he enjoyed, but mochi was definitely his favorite. It wasn’t actually due to the fact it was ice cream (he wouldn’t enjoy the jelly-gummy mochi as much if that were the case), but actually the mochigome used for the outside of them.

He gave a little contented hum at the thought as he moved through the vegetables, looking carefully at the button mushrooms (specifically the brown ones, he wasn’t sure why his mother was so picky about always using the brown ones, but she was), and picking out enough for the meal. Then moving on and selecting carrots just as carefully, and the ginger root even more carefully than that. Once he had selected his vegetables, he grabbed a bag of little mandarin oranges as well, enough that he and Ren could eat a few, and some would be left for dinner back home.

Then he wandered to find Ren, figuring that she had run off to find mochi. He snickered softly as she looked back and forth, stifling it quickly and walking up behind her.

”Cannot decide between them?”

 

[Kazehi Ren]

She jumped a little at the voice that broke through her intense concentration as she struggled to pick between the two packages and whirled around to face....Reizo. Her arms had come up and she had lifted a foot, ready to flail as soon as she had been startled and then sighed with relief when she realized it was just her friend. Laughing she returned to a more normal stance and nodded, holding the packages up for Reizo to see them clearly.

"Which one do you think looks more appetizing? Both of them have pros and cons." She smiled as she held the packages up, doing a small sort of human scale movement, one box going higher than the other and then switching, as if if she did this enough times it would make him choose one faster.

 

[Murakami Reizo]

Reizo had taken a step back, to position himself just out of range of the girl if she had decided to flail and kick and/or punch him for startling her. Instead, he ended up with that little soft smile that Ren would eventually come to recognize as a common expression on his face. He then tilted his head to the side looking at both packages of mochi.

"Both look delicious," he murmured, wriggling very slightly in place, "But. This one looks a little brighter than the other." He pointed to the one that Ren had thought had a different color, "That probably means more flavor. And more flavor is a good thing, I think." He grinned for a moment, "So. I think that one looks more appetizing." He set his hand on top of the platter and pushed it down very slightly, so it ended up "down" on the scale. In his mind, as if it were the more valuable of the two.

 

[Kazehi Ren]

She smiled and set the other package down before turning to Reizo and cocking her head to the side.

"Do you have everything you need?" She asked, checking out the things he had gathered so far.

She bounced on her toes a little, before grabbing two chocolate bars and a bento box. She shrugged and looked towards him again.

"I'm all set. I'll use the bento for tomorrow but we can share everything else!" She swayed side to side as she followed him around and hummed softly under her breath.

"Today has been just full of excitement so far hasn't it?" She asked suddenly once they had bought everything and were heading out of the stores doors.

 

[Murakami Reizo]

Reizo gave a little nod, "Mhm. I have everything," he confirmed, then headed towards the check out, pausing to let her grab the bento box and two chocolate bars. He blinked at the offer to share, then gave a little smile and rubbed the back of his neck some, "That sounds okay with me." He paid for the vegetables he had been asked to pick up without a problem and had nearly gotten lost in thought by the time Ren spoke again. He jumped slightly when she spoke, head swiveling to look at her once more, "It has been much more interesting than most days I am sent for groceries for dinner," he said with a small smile, "In some good ways, and others not so good."

He pulled out the scrap of paper that he had been referencing before, double checking it against what he had picked up at the store before giving a little contented nod, "I do not think my family would mind if you came home for dinner with me, if you want to," he offered after a moment's thought. Everyone but my mother would likely be excited, and she will probably be too... distracted to notice... everyone seems to think I am not friendly enough, "Although I will tell you that dealing with my family is not always easy."

 

[Kazehi Ren]

She looked at him, a little surprised by the invitation but smiled widely and nodded her head enthusiastically as she handed him a chocolate bar, and swung her bag of goodies with her arm as she walked.

"If you think they won't mind me too horribly I'd love to! And then we can share the mochi afterwards, wouldn't want to spoil dinner after all." She said happily.

She shrugged a little at this comment and glanced over at him.

"Well if they aren't easy to deal with then we can split the difficulty and help each other out. Then they will only be half as not easy as usual, especially for you seeing as I'm the new person you're bringing around." She stretched her arms over her head as she spoke, until she heard a satisfying pop and rocked on her feet for a moment before catching up to him again.

"My parents won't even worry, I'm always out either with my cousin or training and I eat whatever they have leftover from dinner if I don't make it in time so nothing to be worried about on that end. You sure your family won't mind a sudden dinner intruder?" She laughed softly and nudged him softly with her shoulder as they walked.

 

[Murakami Reizo]

Reizo shrugged. The chocolate bar, for now, was tucked away and he continued walking along side her. "I do not think that they will care too much. They have been of the mind that I need to develop closer friendships than I have been thus far anyways," he said softly, "and my grandparents would find it impolite if I did not ask you after you came with me to finish my shopping." He lifted the bag with his own purchases slightly, then let it hang back at his side, "Anyways. The mochi will taste much better after dinner." He definitely enjoyed the gooey-sticky outsides of the mochi much more after he had already eaten dinner, and the cool inside was even better as well. He fiddled with the wrapper of his chocolate bar, however, "I think I will not wait for chocolate though. It is delicious," and with that opened the bar and started nibbling at it. So he might be a little impatient, could anyone blame him?

He led the way towards his home for dinner with Ren.

[Topic Left, if that's acceptable to Ren]

 

[Kazehi Ren]

She grinned as he ripped into the chocolate and nodded in agreement. Also grabbing her bar she opened the package and broke a piece off to roll around in her mouth. She hummed happily as she followed her new found friend.

"I forget that you said you had so many people all in one house. It's just my parents and I at home, I can't imagine what it must be like with so many."

[Topic Left as well.]