Starring:
Date: January 5, 2015
Summary:
Renai discovers Ishino living in Kadomai and the two get caught up more or less.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Pavilion in the Square"
Ishino’s house, Town Square, Kadomai, Land of Fire
Kadomai - Town Square [Land of Fire]
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The town square of Kadomai is not particularly impressive. There are houses scattered around, with small businesses in between. Mostly produce stands, as this is not a very big town. The street has been fixed up from the former dirt paths; It now is lined with red cobblestones, with gaps down the middle of the road. These gaps are about a foot wide, 6 feet long, filled with flowers and small shrubbery, and have a 6-foot gap between each. People wander through here regularly, as it is the center of town. To the west, a path leads off through the forest, the primary conduit with Konoha. This path continues off to the south-east, heading off to flank the Lake, which is to the south. Off to the north, the business district lies down Greystone Avenue, with the town's local bar.
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Contents:
Ishino
Exits:
South - (S) [Kadomai - South Lake]
West - (W) [Kadomai - Green Street]
North - (N) [Kadomai - Greystone Avenue]
South East - (SE) [Kadomai - Lakeside Pathway]
Well, winter here isn't quite as bad as Kiri. At least she hasn't felt the need to buy a thicker coat or a furry cloak to keep herself warm yet. In the Land of Water, she would have been wrapped up in the skin of some dead animal by now and refusing to come out of her home unless there's some dire need.. like duties.
Renai appears in the Town Square, carrying packages for her employer.. well, the person employing her right now. That tends to fluctuate. It seems homely folks don't really like to keep on hired help without a backstory.
The girl has changed. She's dyed her hair multiple times since the journey to Sunagakure, but finally let it simply grow out in its natural color, a light strawberry blonde. The locks have been cut off in a haphazard way that makes them have the tendency to stick out in random directions. If it wasn't for the softness of her features, she might be mistaken for a boy. Her skin is tanned and her clothes are different. She wears a loose shirt of a dark green, with a wide neck and cream-colored pants that are comfortable for working. The one piece of defining jewelry she couldn't part with has pulled free of her shirt though and dangles on the fabric, glimmering-the crescent moon necklace.
Renai pauses in her steps, having had a sudden wave of deja vu hit her. She blinks and looks about, trying to figure out what caused her to suddenly feel as though she were walking through the Marketplace of Kirigakure. It's then that her eyes rest on the familiar pavilion. Renai freezes in place, just staring at it. After a moment, she sighs and mumbles softly to herself, "Tent it. Now I'm hallucinating. This just won't do at all."
Ishino on the other hand, was out in the market getting food stuff for children. The twins were of course easy enough to handle, being as young as they are. Kit was a little more complicated, but with her not talking it made it still fairly easy to get food for. This had him walking past Renai towards that house the pavilion was next to. Whereas Renai may of changed look and face, Ishino hasn't changed what he wore, the tux in that western style sticking out no matter where he went. Then again.. Ishino wasn't really subtle about things usually.
Renai blinks again when the man in the tuxedo walks past her. It's then that she forgets how to breathe. She would still think it's a hallucination, but she heard the sound of his movement. Has she ever had auditory hallucinations? No. Renai absently recollects every time she /has/ hallucinated and no, there have definitely been no auditory hallucinations.
"Ishino-sama." His murmured named is followed immediately by the sound of something breaking in one of her packages as she passes out. She'll blame shock, but really it's because her knees were locked and she had stopped breathing. Maybe partly shock. Renai lies momentarily stunned under the bags and boxes of things, her eyes shut tight and brows furrowed in fierce concentration as she tries to remember just -how- she landed up lying on her back in the middle of the square and -why- everything feels like it's spinning.
Ishino stopped at hearing his name, glancing over as Renai collapses. Both brows raised in surprise, it'd only take him a bit further to link this girl here with the one known then. Handing off his own stuff to a gremlin that just happens to show up when he wanted (go fig that) Ishino moves over towards Renai, glancing at the gathering crowd to wave them off. "Stand clear, give her air. Just a simple fainting spell. Probably a bit of shock is all. She's fine." Two gremlins would show up to gather the packages Renai was carrying as Ishino would go to pick her up and carry her over towards his house, settling her down, sitting up, on a bench outside of it. "Renai-san. A pleasure to see you as always. I'm glad to see you are ok. Although I guess my situation here was a bit surprising?"
She finally comes completely around once he sets her down on a bench. Renai's mouth falls open when he talks and she gapes at him, unable to find speech just this very second. He /is/ real!
Eventually, she does start spluttering and trying to make sensible questions. "What?.. When?.." She closes her eyes briefly with never-ending impatience for herself, takes a deep breath, and tries again, "What are you doing here?" Her brain finally starts to move again, albeit in slow motion as she starts putting the pieces together. Kids. So Akane is probably with him. Pavilion. House. They've probably moved here.. permanently? Surely, he wouldn't bring all the puppets if he was just visiting.
Ishino watches as Renai recovers, one of the gremlins bringing out a chair for him to sit in with a soft chuckle. "Living. At the moment. Although I would politely request that you don't tell Kirigakure where we're at. While I didn't exactly hide it, no sense in broadcasting where I'm at either, hmm?" Shaking his head a little, Ishino smiles as he'd watch Renai. "It's only until the war with the Silence ends. Then we'll have to find different.. living quarters."
Renai stares at him for another long moment, her eyes narrowed slightly as she considers this new development. The orbs open a bit when he's done talking and she looks away from Ishino to the other familiar things. "I see." She inhales again and lets it out more slowly before looking back to him.
"I haven't been in Kirigakure for.. months." She briefly considers counting how many and then dismisses the thought since it doesn't really matter. She was only expected to be gone for a couple of weeks. So her absence has likely been noted already. "So, I won't tell if you don't. Deal?" The girl smiles slightly.
Ishino hesitates, before nodding slowly. "Agreed. We left in part due to the Silence.. a personal plan put into motion. We also left due to.. a situation.. with Meruin. So it's not like we'll return while he's in power." Musing Ishino shrugs slightly. "I'm glad to see you are alright. I had noticed your absence and it was much harder to track down where you were supposed to be. Then I got a summon by Akane.. and so I packed for a brawl and came.. I didn't know that we'd stand here with the pavilion and HARPS.. it's been kind of crazy."
Renai nods slowly as she listens to him. She bears no ill will toward Meruin or the village herself. She stayed away for more personal reasons. What those are exactly.. she has trouble putting them to words, but going back didn't feel right. Staying away doesn't either, but well.. here she is.
"I bet." Renai considers whether or not she wants to know more and quickly decides on not. That's probably safer. "Do you like it here? I mean, the people are mostly nice.." That particular comment is said with a slight grimace as she remembers her first day in the village. "But, it's different, no?"
Ishino glanced around and sighed. "It's different. I guess you could say nice. Then again you're not a widely known ex-swordsman." Ishino gives a wry smile. "with a known sense of paranoia.. even if they are actually out to get me.." Chuckling softly, he shakes his head a little. "I don't know if I like it or not. Home is where the heart is.. my children and wife are here.. so I am here. That is part of what family means.."
Renai nods in agreement, understanding what he means about home and family. She had that.. once. She rolls a shoulder unconsciously as if to brush off bad memories. "I'd say they are looking for you at least since you were considered a leader. Me too. Kirigakure isn't really known to be merciful when it comes down to tracking missing agents, especially those in the clans who might know something." She doesn't really have much knowledge of anything beyond the basics of how the Touketsu work, but Meruin liked her. And, that's what's been causing the lines of worry and stress evident in her features. "I suppose the Hokage knows you're here though, what with the puppets and all.." She motions to the array. It's hard to miss.
Ishino smirks softly, shaking his head. "I wouldn't attempt to hide it. We actually have a writ for permission to reside here until the war with the Silence is over. Hardly trusted.. we're not allowed in Konoha itself unless for specific reasons. But yes, we are here and yes, we are hunted. But we're expecting that. Indeed we've met with Yoichi and discussed what was going on.. So we may not be too hunted for now." Ishino muses, then shakes his head. "It is what it is and will happen when it happens. That's how I figure it will work.."
Renai lifts a brow at the mention of Yoichi. She doesn't know much of him other than he's a bit broody and intense. At least, he tends to just stand around with his arms crossed unless he's intimidating someone in her experience of the man. The idea of him just having a normal conversation.. Well, it shocks her more or less.
At the last though, she nods. "Right. We can't know anything for sure until it gets here. I just hope you guys stay safe. I know you're strong and all, but well.. No one is invincible. If I happen to notice anyone odd, poking around, I'll tell you.. if I can." She glances down and makes a hasty motion of tucking her necklace back beneath her shirt. Yes, she's trying to hide and mask herself. If they come for her, her best bet is to hide until the storm passes.
Ishino smiled faintly. "If you need a place, Renai-san.. We can make room. You are family to me. We can help you.. if you want it." Ishino motioned to the house. "We have a place to stay and we have permission for mercenary work, as needed. Between that and the resources I brought with me.. we could easily help another without issue."
Renai smiles to Ishino and looks down briefly. "Thanks, but.." She looks up, sighing slightly, "It would be better if I didn't stay with you guys for now. I'm not sure who they will come for first, but, if it's me, I would rather they not find me with your family. If they find me on my own, maybe they won't keep looking here for you." Renai rises to her feet, taking a moment to straighten up her clothes. "I have someone protecting me.. sort of. And the Hokage has at least agreed to leave me alone." She shrugs a shoulder since she hasn't actually met the man herself. She hasn't actually even been in the village, come to that. Renai moves to gather up the packages she dropped, talking a moment to rattle the one with broken things inside.
The gremlins that had gathered up what they could would deliver those packages to Renai as well. Ishino smiled slightly with a small shake of his head. "They know where I am. But if they come for us first, maybe we can make sure they stop looking for you.. Because I will make sure that whatever resources they send are tapped out before they'll be able to take me in.." Ishino muses, before finally giving a shrug. "Either way.. I'm glad to know you are being taken care of Renai-san.. and don't hesitate to contact me, if you need something, hmm? I can understand wanting to stand on your own.. but family never hurts.."
Renai takes a few moments to reorganize everything the way she had it before, pulling the bags onto her arms and such. She looks to Ishino and nods again. "Thanks, Doihara-sama." She moves her arms a bit, having an urge to hug him if just lightly, but well.. She laughs a bit and makes an awkward bow instead, nearly dropping a box. "I'll be around. If you hear anything, look for me in the bar. I work there on the weekends sometimes. Just tell them you need to find 'Arashi.'" She blushes a bit at her silly code name and moves to leave off and make her deliveries.
