Tomo's Troublesome Twin [pm for permission to enter]

[Tanuki Rinko]

Tomo walked down the street, scanning the different shops. Tama had promised to wait for him after class, but big surprise, she ditched him. Knowing that this was one of her favorite places in the village, Tomo thought he would begin by searching here. A delicious smell drifted his way as he slowly passed a ramen shop. Suddenly a loud voice yelled at him from behind.

“There you are! You’re going to pay for all the trouble you caused me!” Tomo turned to find a burly woman in a smock. She was the wife of the ramen shop owner. With her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face, she reached Tomo. She pushed her chest up and out to seem more intimating. “You, little missy, are coming with me.” She grabbed Tomo’s arm and proceeded to drag him towards the ramen shop. Tomo ground his teeth. Tamaaaaaaaa. Tomo sighed. Many a times since he had come to the village, people had confused him for his sister. Usually they find him after she had done something bad. He would always try to explain that it was his twin sister, but he was always ignored. He knew it would be the same for this lady. He could already hear her saying ‘I’ve heard that before.’ It was easier for everyone if he just did what he was told.

The lady brought Tomo to the back of the shop and placed him in front of some broken crates. Apparently ‘he’ had gotten them smashed after jumping of a roof, grabbing a laundry line, swinging down from it, and landing in the fountain. Tomo had to refrain from face palming. Tomo was ordered to fix the crates and repackage all of the stuff that had fallen out. Tomo got to work, hammering away. While he did it, he started to calculate how much money he was going to dock Tama for making him clean up her mess. He quietly mumbled to himself. “This will at least take an hour…multiply by five crates…add the time of day…”

Tomo wiped his brow after he had finished the last crate. The back of the shop was surprisingly hot, but he had finished in less time than he planned. He left the storeroom and found the lady. “I’m finished Tenshyu-san. I am sorry for the trouble I caused you.” Tomo bowed. The lady softened a bit and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Well, you did fix what you broke, so I guess I understand. However…” The lady handed Tomo a sign. “I’m afraid the kid that stands outside to promote the shop twisted his ankle in the chaos. Therefore, we’ll be even at midnight.” Tomo stared at the sign and felt his eye start to twitch. Midnight wasn’t for six hours. Tomo took a big breath and exhaled. He walked out to the front of the ramen shop and held the sign. Tomo kept a smile on his face, but there was only one thing he could think about. The next time I see her, I am going to lecture for hours.

 

[Keiji]

Keiji had taken a break from his training.
He still had a few more days before the academy classes of his were in session, so he simply kept training as he usually did by himself.
He was feeling a bit hungry so he was looking for a good place to grab a bite. His walk took him through the plaza. Both his leather gloves was packed in tightly in his side pouch.

As he walked through the plaza both his hands was held up behind his head, his eyes scouting to each side looking for a place to eat, every time he saw a place he re-affirmed with his stomach if he was feeling up to the kind of food being served at the place he looked at, and every time he looked his mouth was filling up with more saliva.
Hmm~ maybe some Teriyaki?, nah.. Yakiniku?, hmm.. Maybe later.. Uh, maybe some Kabayaki?.. Hmm nah..

Hmm.. I wonder if that noodle place I ate at few nights back is still there..
As he turned his head to look towards the shop, right in front of his face was another person’s face, a face he had never seen before, his movement stopped, and he just stared. Definitely never seen this person before.. His thoughts started to twirl around in his head and no words could be protruded from his mouth..

 

[Korikawa Ai]

Ai down-troddenly slinked home from the kimono shop he had been at previously that day. He should have known that his mother and father would never let him avoid a new kimono so easily. While pleased that he took to the path of "the willow" so well, they were in no way distracted from the fact that he was still down a kimono.

A small package once more in his hand, his coin-purse quite a bit lighter due to his parents forcing him to buy this kimono with own allowance, Ai continued along his path. Smiling slightly as he passed the fountain where all the commotion had happened earlier in the day, Ai double-taked as he saw a familiar head of blue hair - one that seemed to be having quite the romantic moment if intense stare of that strange green-haired boy was any indicator-.

Smiling widely he murmured to himself "looks like the winds fly favorably for me today." Approaching the figure Ai snickered softly to himself as he contrived various half-baked plans to once again "donate" a kimono to what he thought was the girl he had met earlier. It wouldn't be the best use of the money he had spent on the piece of clothing, but it was infinitely better than bringing the damned thing home.

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

Tomo had been zoning out like usual. He was calculating how much money his uncle wasted on quality alcohol. Tomo couldn’t understand the appeal of such a beverage. Whether it was delicious or disgusting, it wasn’t like the person would remember it anyway…well, that’s what Tomo assumed anyway. Because Tomo was busy lost in his thoughts, he failed to notice the boy in front of him. It wasn’t until Tomo felt like something was amiss that he finally focused in…only to find himself nose to nose with a medium-skinned boy. Tomo blinked a few times, waiting for the boy to say something. However, it seemed that ‘dreadlocks’ had been shocked speechless. Tomo tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. Still, the boy seemed to be staying perfectly still and silent.

Tomo felt a little awkward, but he had to do his job. He straightened up and began to speak in his manager mode. “Hello sir. May I interest you in some noodles? The ramen here is simply to die for. The broth is a secret recipe known only to the owner. Just one taste will send your taste buds reeling into a state of pure bliss. Heaven pales in comparison to this ramen. Don’t believe me? Go in for yourself and experience the pure pleasure of our ramen.” Tomo stepped back slightly and bowed. “And now, if you’ll excuse me.” Tomo turned around and made his way back to the ramen shop. Tomo figured the owner should know how he was promoting the ramen. He entered the shop and headed towards the back.

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

Tama sighed in frustration as she was led back through the Susukino District by her elder sister, Kimiki. Kimiki was shorter and more child-like in appearance than Tama or Tomo, but had a policy of acting cute while using brute force to instill obedience in her younger siblings. Tama had been pile-drived by her enough times to know she couldn’t directly disobey her and get away with it, at least not yet. Tama’s punishment for her indiscretions was to find everyone she had wronged, apologize to them, and then do them a favor to repay them for their troubles. Kimiki had a list of people and places Tama had to go, and was enforcing it strictly.

Kimiki led Tama to the ramen shop whose property was damaged by Tama’s antics earlier that day, on the way they passed by a person Tama recognized from earlier, the girl that had given Tama that beautiful green kimono. Unfortunately, Tama was quickly pulled past her by Kimiki. Another boy was standing seemingly speechless in front of the shop. Tama thought he was strange, just standing there staring at the shop entrance. Kimiki went into the shop, stating that she would find out what Tama had to do here, leaving Tama standing outside the shop with the silent boy, and the approaching girl from earlier.

Tama was wearing an outfit identical to Tomo’s, one that she had secretly made for her by her mother. It was supposed to never be worn in public, lest people discover her secret admiration for her brother. Her feelings weren’t romantic in anyway, it’s just that Tomo was the one person who knew her the best, and vice versa. From birth they had been inseparable, although that was more thanks to Tama’s penchant of making sure wherever she went, Tomo followed.

Unfortunately, all her other outfits had been taken by her mother to be cleaned and repaired, leaving only this for her wearing pleasure, or the kimono. As much as Tama, would have loved to continue wearing it, the kimono would be impractical when it came to doing her reparation work. So with no other feasible option on hand, she had donned her copy of Tomo’s outfit.
Waving her hand in front of the boy’s face, she called, “Hello? Oi, space-boy! What are you staring at?”

 

[Keiji]

Keiji's eyes squinted. He felt his eyesight betray him as that person who had just given the selling speech, which caught him a bit by surprise as his intentions were to say hi, and get to know the person, as the person seemed interesting, not on any romantic level in any way. Just interest. But may just as well be misinterpreted. He knew the shop well, he'd eaten there a few times, although the owner always looked weird at him since he always ate wearing leather gloves.

Keiji sighed to himself when he saw the person run off into the shop. "Darn" he thought to himself.
Although for some reason his face, and posture remained the same, he only noticed this when he heard a voice and saw a wave in front of him "Wha-? Huh? Oh sorry I got lost in thought." when he had cleared his head and blinked a few times he looked clearly at the person talking to him and noticed.. The face looked familiar.. The same.. It must be the same person. But no sign. Keiji sighed happily.
He smiled and replied. "Hi!, Umm. Your question?, well I was. Umm.. Staring at you?." He looked nervously to the side "I. Think?"
Suddenly his mind felt cold again for a bit. He had no idea what to actually properly answer, since he thought the person had at least noticed him, and this person seemed. Way too similar, and apparently had no idea what it was happening.
At this point he felt his stomach rumble for a bit and he again, realized he was standing in front of a Ramen shop.

 

[Korikawa Ai]

Ai stopped midstep, halfway to the ramen-stand that the girl he had met earlier before seemed to work at or something, or... maybe not. Gifted with a further viewpoint, and the ability to hold conversations without randomly spacing out, Ai was able to clearly see the person he had thought was the girl from the fountain, Tama he thought the name was, walk into the shop and then this other person (or maybe this was Tama, and the other one was someone different) walk up from a completely different direction, in the same outfit!

Hearing a boisterous cry of

“Hello? Oi, space-boy! What are you staring at?”

Ai quickly deduced that the person now in sight in front of the stand was most definitely the same girl he had had the "pleasure" to meet before. Then that meant that the girl inside the shop

*here his mind grinded to a stop, before rebooting slightly*

Twins... Twins, and one of them already had a kimono meant for a geisha! Perhaps it was a bit to early to abandon his plans involving the girl. No matter how uncultured he was sure that the unique attraction of having a twin would be useful at the Ochaya.

A smile sliding its way across his face Ai hurried to the ramen-stand, dastardly plans of conscripting the two girls and training them to be the second-best Geisha in the land roiling about his mind! (the top spot was reserved for him of course). Approaching at the stand a a fast but still graceful pace, Ai softly remarked "Ohayo Tama-chan. How nice to see you again! Are you making good friends with this young boy?"

OOC:
((Ai thinks Tomo is also female, and so I will refer to him as such until Ai finds out otherwise, also sorry bout getting your hair color wrong Keiji! I totally thought I saw an avatar with green hair somewhere near your post))

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

"Wha-? Huh? Oh sorry I got lost in thought." "Hi!, Umm. Your question?, well I was. Umm.. Staring at you?.""I. Think?"

"Well, why wouldn't you be staring at me?" Tama asked rhetorically, as if it was completely natural for people to simply stare at her. "Well, feel free to stare, although I probably won't be very entertaining at the moment." How she wished she was onstage at the moment instead of forced to do these menial tasks. Or she could be holed up in her room, playing with the new kimono now in her possession. Basically, she would rather be anywhere than here, but thanks to Kimiki, if she ran it just mean more trouble than it was worth.

"This sucks," she sighed to herself, while waiting for Kimiki to return with the punishment.

That was when she heard the voice of someone familiar, she turned and saw the girl from earlier today. The one who had supplied the kimono seemingly out of charity, but then asked to be paid for it. The girl had a wicked smile upon her face now too, the same one she had on earlier. And once again, Tama was inclined to oppose whatever plan she had in mind. "Why hello there, Audience Member #2! Thanks for the kimono earlier, it really helped me to stand out onstage." She then went on to say, "Though I doubt there will ever be another situation where a spare kimono would come in handy like earlier."

 

[Keiji]

Keiji scratched his stomach in remorse of his hunger which remained unsatisfied.
Keiji eats very little normally, but since he's taken up a heavier training schedule his food amount has been increasing significantly. Resulting in him going out of the house more often to eat than ever before.
Coincidentally one of the more frequent places he visits is the ramen shop he finds himself standing in front of at this very moment, which made his stomach rumble all the more.

"Well I can't say no to such a pretty face!" He says, although as he says it he feels a nagging reluctance eating him up. Primarily sourcing from his immediate hunger.
As he said it he looked and smiled warmly at the person standing in front of him, when he saw the person direct her attention to another apparent girl in a beautiful Kimono, his attention swayed slightly in the other person's direction, but his body stayed in it's previous position, like a slight gaze, but alas his interest lasted not for long and his attention returned to the girl of which he had found himself talking to earlier.

"So. Do you find yourself often around these parts?" He inclined at the girl. His intentions were of no ill will, and he merely wanted to show interest, reluctantly, but out of kindness, and he's not the kind of person to back out of a conversation or a confrontation for that matter.
So he decided to stay and see where this conversation might lead, for good or bad.
Although he had a nagging feeling, the bad is just around the corner.

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

Tomo found the lady quickly and relayed his exact words to her. It seemed unlikely that this would cause any true problems, but he wanted to cover his bases. If something bad were to happen, he would get blamed for it, which would result in even more unpaid work. Tomo was not a fan of working for free. On his way back outside, a familiar face entered. It was his older sister, Kimiki. Tomo instantly walked up to her and sighed. “Big Sis, I take it you are here because of Tama’s misadventure?” Kimiki nodded and relayed everything to her younger sibling of the past few hours. Tomo felt his eye begin to twitch. At least Kimiki had some control over Tama. Of course, she also had control over Tomo. Kimiki began to lecture Tomo about not keeping an eye on his problem child of a sister. Tomo just closed his eyes and began calculating the pros and cons of disobeying his parents and just leaving the ninja life. Of course, the cons were far too great, but he could dream.

With Kimiki’s lecture drawing to a close, Tomo began to pay attention in time to hear her last sentence. She was leaving and now it was Tomo’s job to watch Tama. Tomo was about to stop her until she gave him her traditional menacing look. For his older sister being so short, she was surprisingly scary. Tomo sighed and nodded. It was no use, he was stuck with Tama. Kimiki left the shop and turned towards home. Tomo gave one last sigh before exiting himself.

Before him were now three people total, one sadly was his sister. The boy was still out here and seemed all to happy to stay for the conversation with Tama. Oh the poor unfortunate soul. The newcomer was kimono clad, and quite cute, whether boy or girl. She…or he…Tomo never assumed… seemed to have a slightly refined air, much better than Tama…much, much better. Tomo decided that the best course of action would be to join in the conversation so that Tama didn’t get into even more trouble today.

He walked up in time to hear a question from the boy asking whether Tama came to the area often. Not wanted to give Tama a chance to respond, Tomo entered the discussion with his not-so masculine voice. “This is one of her favorite spots actually. However, I should advise against being here when she is. She likes to cause…disturbances.” Tomo placed himself beside his sister and gave her a glance, one meaning that she should do her best to behave. He gave the others a slight bow of his head. "I am Mochizuki Tomo of the Mochizuki Troupe. This bundle of humble is my sister Tama. I only ask you two not to fuel her ego flames or she might cause even more destruction today."

 

[Keiji]

Keiji stopped dead in his tracks as the words came out of Tomo's mouth, as surprised he was alone when noticing they looked exactly the same Twins. Of course!
"Ah! I see, hm." Keiji said with a pause. He raised his hand flat out facing Tomo, and Tama. "I'm Suzaku!" he then pointed at his stomach with his thumb as he smiled proudly. "Suzaku, Keiji." he moved his hand down and nodded his head acknowledgedly towards Tomo and Tama, and again towards the other apparent girl which had approached the scene and had begun talking to Tama "Very nice to meet all 3 of you." He smiled, and kept thinking about the delicious food that was just waiting to be ordered for him.
He thought over the words of Tomo, in regards to his sister liking to cause trouble or 'disturbances' as was what he heard in his mind. Keiji scratched the back of his head and said with a worried smile; "I'm no stranger to trouble, heh" he let out a slight laugh with his breath.

((OOC: Wb Tomo!))

 

[Korikawa Ai]

Tch! A nerve ticked on Ai's face as he regarded the young girl.

Grinding his teeth somewhat Ai sighed as his thoughts tumbled over themselves in his mind, 'Audience Member 2? Forget unrefined this girl is plain rude... egotistical, absorbed with herself to the point where everyone else is nothing but an audience member to her damned prancing about!"

Forcing a smile to his face, a bit harder now that he was not in a business environment Ai remarked "I suppose not, but you never know about these things. Who knows maybe your sister would want one."

Inside Ai was on the verge of growling, sadly admitting to himself 'This girl would never make it as a Geisha... the only hope is that her sister isn't quite so rude. I may come out of this with a worker for the Ochaya yet.'

Turning his attention to his new target Ai bowed slightly giving a warm smile as he remarked "What a pleasure to meet the sister of Tama-san, you seem to be far more level-headed I must admit."

If he were in an anime Ai's eyes would flash mischievously as a sudden plan occurred to him. Smiling his benign grin Ai offered "It seems like it's getting a bit late and I'm sure the shops will be closing down, I'd be more than happy to entertain you all at the tea-shop my family will be opening just down the road, I do so love meeting new people."

With his net set Ai waited, seeing if he could snare any of the people before him. Although knowing his luck the only one interested would be the male... the only one with 0 chance whatsoever of aiding the Ochaya in their search for new Geisha.

OOC:
((Sorry this took so long, didn't realize it was my turn since Keiji's name was up there and not Tomo's. Post is up now and hopefully the rounds can continue quicker now.))

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

[OOC: Firstly, thanks for staying in the topic despite the rather long hiatus it has been on, I'll work to bring posting back up to speed. Secondly, since Tomo will be unable to reliably post for the next three weeks, I have been given permission by Tomo to write as Tomo in this topic. She doesn't wish to hold the topic up anymore than I do. I am checking with Tomo before I post in order to make sure I stay true to the character. And now that all that rigamorole is out of the way. Here is the post.]

Of course her brother was completely correct; Tama was a bundle of humble. So was so humble that even though she knew that she was one of the most talented human beings ever to grace this mortal coil, she’d never say it out loud. After all, actions speak louder than words anyway.

“Nii-san, they’re not disturbances, they’re performances!” she retorted. “Free ones, too! People should be glad that they aren’t being charged for the utmost honor of watching the star performer of the Mochizuki Troupe in action. Sometimes props get broken, but doesn’t that mean they were of poor quality and should have been replaced. So in a way, I was doing them a favor.”

Space-boy said something about being used to trouble. “What is with you people, it isn’t troubling! My performances aren’t troubling anyone at all.”

Whilst Tama was stewing on the fact that just about everyone seemed to consider her a nuisance, Tomo responded to Ai’s query. “While I’d love to go see your family’s ochaya, I have to stay here, at least until her advertising work is finished,” he said straight-facedly, indicating the fuming Tama with one hand.

Then an idea struck Tomo, if he could get Tama to work willingly, the job could be over and then he would be free to go to this tea place. Granted, Tama would still probably be with him, but at least he could sit with some tea in a relaxing environment, and with luck Tama would get bored with the place and leave him alone for a bit. The only question was how to get his twin to willingly do work.

Putting on a serious face, he grabbed his twin by the shoulders, startling her from her self-centered musing, “Tama. We need a performance, and since you are the best performer in our troupe, no the entire world, I need your help. What should I do?” Obviously, he didn’t mean those things. Tama was extremely talented, but definitely not the best. But as he had learned from watching his other family members, especially Kimiki, the easiest way to get Tama to do anything was to appeal to her ego. It also didn’t hurt that Tomo could be extremely mesmerizing when he felt like it.

Sure enough, Tama quickly rebounded from her previous slump. “Oh, you shouldn’t say that out loud, Nii-nii, even if it is true.” She paused for a minute to think of something.

“Nii-san! We’re doing that dance we practiced! Along with the song!” She was clearly enraptured with the idea of performing. “Just wait right there audience members, you’re about to witness something amazing!” With that she grabbed Tomo by the collar and dragged him inside the ramen shop, emerging moments later with two large steaming bowls of ramen, Tomo, and a small table on which to place the ramen. Tomo was soon swept into Tama’s pace and soon knew what Tama had in mind.

Tomo and Tama's Dance

“Are you ready, Nii-san?” she asked quietly. He nodded glumly, Let’s just get it over with. Then Tama began the first lines of the song, and Tomo moved as they had practiced so many times back with the troupe. Tomo then sang his lines, and started to get lost in the performance, and enjoy it. If the onlookers were watching him carefully enough they could see a small smile creep across his face. People stopped by to see what all the fuss was about, as the crowd gathered some laughed and walked away, others chuckled and walked in to grab a bite to eat. Clearly the advertising work was now completed, but Tomo didn’t notice until the end of the song and dance, where he was shaken from his reverie by the clapping of the decently sized crowd. Tama was, as usual, relishing the praise from the audience. “Thank you, thank you. If you liked what you saw, make sure to come to the Mochizuki Troupe’s next performance. You can see more of the great Mochizuki Tama and Mochizuki Tomo, twins extraordinaire!”


Tomo then grabbed Tama before she began another performance, a solo one. He found both Keiji and Ai and indicated that they leave with him. He so wanted to get away from his sister at the moment, but knew that if he left her alone she would inevitably cause another disaster. That teahouse sounded mighty nice to him right now.

 

[Keiji]

The least expected apparently had to be expected in front of these two. Tummy admittedly still rumbling he merely stood and watched as the dancing began in front of him, he sort of just wanted to go right in to the noodle shop and grab a bite to eat. He stood reluctantly still and tapping his foot as the crowd starting gathering around to look at the dancing, suddenly grown men and women surrounded around him making it unavailable to watch the dancing. Trying to step up on his toes to watch it, unfortunately with no success.

As the dancing ceased, and Tama proclaimed news about the future shows, Tomo appeared next to him in the midst of the crowd, indicating to follow along. He sighed and followed along, reluctantly. Fooooo~oood his tummy rumbled.

 

[Keiji]

[Due to excessive Inactivity I have decided to leave the thread]
[Keiji probably just wandered off somewhere to eat IC]
[TOPIC LEFT]

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

[My apologies for the inactivity of this topic. But hopefully we can RP together again sometime.]

It was late and Tama was being dragged home by Tomo. The girl had fallen asleep at the teahouse, and refused to wake up. Well, at the very least her reparations to those she had insulted were finished and Tomo wouldn't have to deal with it anymore.

[Topic Left Due to Inactivity]