Starring:
Nishiko, Shiin, Akina
Date: February 13, 2016
Summary:
Shiin and Akina are sent on a mission to protect Nishiko… from herself.
"The Kimono Enthusiast Convention"
Somewhere in the Land of Wind
Kimono Enthusiast Convention.
Those really aren't words that are said aloud and together very often. But once a year, it happens in the Land of Wind! And every year, Nishiko's parents have refused to allow her to go for this reason or that reason.
But this year~ Her reasoning was far too strong. How could they allow their precious daughter to join the ninja academy, but refuse her this simple pleasure? Well, they couldn't. And she had them trapped!
That is how Koizumi Nishiko found her way to the convention this year. The small girl stands at the check in table, mouth agape and eyes as wide as saucers, waiting for the person to process her saved up allowance and scribble her name on a name tag. People rush by with racks of silk and armfuls of kimonos causing her to just stand frozen, staring.
It's taking them THREE TIMES as long, since there's THREE name tags. Once finished though, there is one for each of them, Nishiko, as well as the two ninja sent to protect her and…basically keep the student from killing herself inadvertently. Once they're handed over though, she makes a great fuss about attaching her nametag to her small, child-size way-too-fancy kimono and making sure it's straight. She has to make a good impression on these people, after all! One day… *_* She will be here showing her own creations….
It seemed that some how Shiin was taking just as long as the girls in having his kimono chosen, prepared, and layered properly. Though the reason wasn't entirely difficult to figure out. He was quite specific with what he wanted and how he wanted it. He even chose the fabric and pattern based on some form of calculated comfort and presentability scale. His attire in the end was dark and trimmed and patterned in elegant tapered swirls in certain places, but most importantly it was immaculate. If he was to participate in such an event, then he was to be an example. His hair was groomed back though left loose other wise and now he awaited his… assignment.
Akina stands close to Nishiko at the table while they wait for the name tags, watching the young girl staring at everything around them with wide, eager eyes. While she too wore kimonos as part of her everyday wear, she didn't have all that much in the way of fancy or elaborate kimono. Her own yakuta is a dark coal black, embroidered with crimson flowers that accents the lining and sash wrapped around her waist. The tag is handed to Nishiko before Akina could help with it and a slight smile touches at the corner of her soft lips. Really she couldn't blame her for being excited. "No matter what, make sure you can see us at all times, okay?" she confirms, taking her own badge and pinning it to pin it to her chest. Glancing at Shiin out of the corner of her eye, studying him carefully from beneath her half mask. He seemed to really go all out for the mission. Or maybe he was a closet enthusiast?
Nishiko looks up to Akina when the young woman speaks to her. She nods enthusiastically, seeming to have every intention of following this rule. Then, her large black eyes turn to Shiin and she stares at him for a long moment. He must not know what to do! Nishiko grabs his name badge and walks over to hold it up to the masked man. "You gotta put this on.." There, Nishiko would wait -impatiently- for him to put it on.
Then, she turns, walking into the crowds of people, escorts mostly forgotten.
It's not easy to see why she is forgetting everything. There are kimonos EVERYWHERE! In every shade, for every season! Ladies are all done up like geisha and men as gentlemanly warriors~ It is pure heaven for her!
Seeing a familiar swath of pink cloth out of the corner of her eye, Nishiko suddenly stops and breaks into a run toward her favorite fabric vendor. She seems to pay no heed to the people she is in danger of running into or tripping. While not a fast runner -short legs and all-, she is a hazardous one, single-minded as she is. And, thus, Shiin and Akina are presented with their first challenge!
Taking the name tag and turning it over a few times, he would sigh before looking to Akina. Why wear masks if you are going to have a name tag… Still, eventually he would comply. It didn't seem like anything else was going to go as planned however. Immediately it seemed that Nishiko would entirely abandon the need for escorts. Shiin had some less than gentle ways of reeling her back, but with so many people and of course the methods not exactly being safe… he would simply nod swiftly to Akina. "I will go low." he said to her as he would sink in to the ground in order to stalk the girl unimpeded.
Nishiko holding out the nametag to Shiin in such an impatient way was almost too much. And that exaggerated sigh? Akina presses her lips together in some effort to disguise her smile, but still it was still rather obvious. It was just too cute. Nishiko then turns and begins to make her way through the throng of people, encouraging Akina and Shiin to follow. Keeping an eye on her while also giving the girl some room to explore on her own as well. And just like that, she takes off. Shiin, already with a plan, disappears into the ground. Perhaps on purpose. Akina though just shakes her raven head at him and quickens her pace. Always in sight and moving faster when Nishiko isn't.
RP: Shiin rolled a 3 with 1d10 die.
Oblivious to everything but her favorite fabric, Nishiko is quite unaware of the lady about to crash. She's too busy talking to her friends and laughing behind a floral-printed paper fan to notice the little munchkin barrelling through the crowd.
And on her other side is a fast-moving rack of kimonos being bustles from one side of the large open space to the other. The boy pushing the rack is shouting, "'Scuse me! Coming through!" But he can't actually see Nishiko. And she is entirely unaware of the sound of rolling wheels! Will her protectors prevent calamity?
[NPC System]: Talkative Lady roll(s) CRUSH from 1 to 20 and get(s) a 15. - Rolled by: Nishiko
[NPC System]: Hard-working Boy roll(s) RUN OVER from 1 to 20 and get(s) a 12. - Rolled by: Nishiko
RPCOMBAT: Shiin defends against with a SCORPION'S-SCUTTLE…16
So far so good it seemed as the two pronged attack would keep Nishiko from getting lost in the crowd or kidnapped or… Well that didn't last long! It seems hazards were everywhere and for the moment, they had to protect her from merely being in a crowd. Tiny people were so troublesome. Emerging from the ground and swooping Nishiko up in one motion, Shiin would be side stepping out of the way of the woman as he lightly spun Nishiko around saying, "I have you." in an affirming tone. As he set Nishiko down however, he found himself surrounded.
"Oh my… look at this young, well dressed, well spoken man and his care giving instincts." The talkative woman would say to her literal circle of friends that encroached upon him. They hid their smiles and some of their words behind their fans as they giggled and batted lashes at him. Shiin's gaze would widen slightly as he would say "R….run…" so that Nishiko could possibly escape… but she was already gone. Shiin would gaze at the women who were now hunting him, grasping at his arms and shoulders a bit as he would come to regret revealing himself in public yet again. It was up to Akina now…
RPCOMBAT: Akina defends against with a WEAPON-BLOCK…28
Shiin manages to catch Nishiko and with a slight spin of momentum, smoothly sets the girl down, avoiding disaster (for Nishiko) if only for the moment. The cart pushed hastily through the aisle is about to barrel straight through the little girl. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Now Akina has two people to save. The kunai hidden in her sleeve is held between her fingers, and with an expert underhanded throw the blade into the front wheel of the cart, catching it and bringing it to an abrupt stop. This gives Nishiko an opening and she hurries past, unscathed. Akina exhales a small sigh to herself, and once she makes sure there's no other immediate danger to the charge she returns her attention to more pressing matters.
Somehow, Akina pushes her way through the women that had gathered around Shiin. Aggressive in their approach while trying to act shy behind their fans. Getting closer, her catches at the crook of his arm as she smiles brightly. "Darling, I know you're having fun but we really have to keep an eye on my little sister." Akina smiles sweetly at his fans, "I'm sorry if my boyfriend is bothering you. We really must be going." With a light tug she begins to pull Shiin with her in the direction of Nishiko.
Nishiko blinks as the view of her favorite fabric suddenly shifts in her vision and then disappears. She looks at Shiin when he says 'I have you' and blinks, wide-eyed, at his intrusion. Why did he… feel the need to pick her up? She's set down though and Nishiko only stares up at him blankly for all of two seconds. Then, she turns and crosses the few feet to the fabric vendor, thinking they gave her crazy people as protectors…
She doesn't even notice the wind coming off the cart as it comes to an abrupt stop beside her, fabric swishing side to side and threatening to overturn the rack. Calamity avoided, however! Her escorts are the bomb!
The girl hops excitedly about the vendor, an elderly woman who seems to be familiar with Nishiko. She pats the girl on the head and offers her candy - which she takes! Graciously! "Do you have one of those little books, Oba-chan~?" Nishiko flops her long-sleeved arms out to the side a bit as she waits for the woman to produce the annual pamplet with the most popular fabric styles and patterns for this season. She turns and hold the candy up to Akina, "Will you hold this for meee~, pleeeeease~?" Nishiko assumes that Akina can make it disappear into a convenient location like her mother does. All women have that kind of magic, right?
She turns around just in time to be handed the desired pamphlet. "Arigatooooou!" Nishiko bows to her and turns about to walk back into the crowd, her nose stuck in the brochure…
"Now ladies… I realize that you may have certain expectations in a situation like this… but I simply cannot do as you desire. Y… you see… I had this kimono custom made on the fly and I simply do no…" Shiin would try to change the subject as he is giggled and waved at with one of the folding fans. "We do not care so much about the fabric as we do the… measurements." Just then, Akina would come in and take his arm, which at first jostled him as he thought his flank was exposed and taken advantage of. As he would see that he was still surrounded, he was apparently now assigned the role of boyfriend and charged with the safety of a sister. With a blink he would nod slowly… he may survive this after all. "Yes. Of course. I lost track of her my love, do you know where she is? I am sorry ladies, perhaps next time we can finish our discussion about the latest fashions." He would say as he allowed Akina to withdraw him from the ambush. He whispered lowly, "Thank you!" as he looked for Nishiko.
Akina gives Shiin a dubious glance out of the corner of her eye, though once they are well out of earshot from the gaggle of women she relinquishes her hold on his arm. "You really should build up your guard a bit more around women." is her only reply, turning her attention forward to locate Nishiko again. It doesn't take but a moment to reach the vendor, and Akina gives the elderly woman a small smile and a slight bow in greetings. Nishiko suddenly turns and holds out the candy for her, making Akina blink her dusky eyes with slight surprise, never hesitating to take the candy for safekeeping. Yet already the young girl was taking off again, nose in the brochure. Chuckling softly to herself, Akina steps lightly to catch up to her, knowing that Shiin would either follow or be underfoot.
What happens this time as Nishiko walks, seemingly aimlessly, through the crowd is more like a dance. Most people move around her, but a few are near misses. Once she's finished reading, Nishiko tucks the brochure into her obi, orients herself to move in the direction of what looks like a stage, closes her eyes -tightly-, and begins walking in a brisk manner.
Immediately, someone moves in Nishiko's path, standing to talk about something to a nice lady. Beyond, someone places a box in Nishiko's path that she may or may not just walk into! Meanwhile, a mobile vendor begins to wander by with hot, tasty treats on sticks to hand out to people. The scent of sweetly spiced meats wafts into the air, promising some good food later on. And, beyond that is open air. Yes, nothing. The floor seems to open into a slightly lowered space. There are stairs here and there, but Nishiko isn't near any of them. If no one reaches her in time, she just might fall two feet to her death!
[NPC System]: Well-dressed Gentleman roll(s) IMMOVABLE from 1 to 20 and get(s) a 1. - Rolled by: Nishiko
[NPC System]: Open Box roll(s) SWALLOW from 1 to 20 and get(s) a 11. - Rolled by: Nishiko
[NPC System]: Meat Vendor roll(s) BURN from 1 to 20 and get(s) a 17. - Rolled by: Nishiko
[NPC System]: Floor roll(s) DEATH BLOW from 1 to 20 and get(s) a 18. - Rolled by: Nishiko
RPCOMBAT: Shiin defends against with a CLONE-TECHNIQUE…13
RP: Shiin uses HENGE.
RPCOMBAT: Shiin defends against with a REPLACEMENT-TECHNIQUE…20
RP: Shiin stops using HENGE.
Of course Akina was right… but it wasn't part of his skill set yet. Honestly he was strongest when he made sure he had all of the advantages going in to a situation. That is part of what being an assassin was after all, being able to adjust the situation to benefit your success the most. However, in the situation of being ambushed by women there was little training to fall back on aside from killing them. So Shiin does the next best thing to defend himself against the opposite sex: He sticks close to the opposite sex. Akina was now female repellent. Female-be-gone, if you will.
Work was not so easy to resolve as the little one would find every bad situation she possibly could. A hand seal would see a clone of Shiin barreling towards the man, only to turn in to a local bird that was swooping too low, grabbing the man's and possibly others attention and getting them to shuffle and shift and move out of the way. As for the wayward box, He would… replace himself with it. Leaning out of Nishiko's way, so far she was taken care of, but keeping up with all of these obstacles was proving challenging.
RPCOMBAT: Akina defends against with a BLOCK…36
RPCOMBAT: Akina defends against with a BLOCK…29
Akina blinks after Nishiko as she suddenly changes direction, making a beeline for the stage without any regard to her surroundings. While Shiin does his quick thinking, she also manages to block the outstretched skewer of hot, sizzling meat from dripping onto the girl, catching the juices with the back of her sleeve. But she doesn't mind this at the moment, instead quickening her pace to a slight run despite the thrall of people. Seeing the girl at the top of the stairs, at the brink of falling head first, Akina blurs, catching Nishiko and twisting their combined momentum so that they fall away from the stairs. Rather she falls onto her back, girl in her arms, and winces from the slight pain. "Alright. New rule." she exhales. "You can see whatever you want, but you have to be holding one of our hands at all times, got it." Akina narrowed her eyes at the girl. She was serious.
Nishiko blinks as she is suddenly in Akina's arms. She looks down at the young woman and then up at the raised floor. "Oh? How did.." Nishiko glances back down to Akina and nods once, solemnly.
She rolls off of Akina and stands up, dusting her kimono off and straightening herself up in a fussy manner. Some of her hair has come loose and she whines a bit, making an effort to pin the strands back into their bun.
Nishiko points at the stage with one hand and straightens out the other, waiting for one of them to grab it. "They're going to show off this year's best spring kimonos! I want to watch, please~!" She doesn't seem to remember their names, exactly, even though someone told her who was going to be watching her and looking at their nametags seems to be escaping her thoughts…. and height. Indeed, the lighting around the stage is dimming as people congregate on the area, taking up all the seats. Nishiko bounces on her toes impatiently, seeing that everyone is moving to take up the seats closer to the stage. She doesn't necessarily care /where/ they sit, so long as they get to and she can see.
Shiin would take a look at where Nishiko was pointing and try to get an idea of where they would sit. However, finding three empty seats close together was difficult and growing harder by the second. He considered their options for a moment before making a decision. Shiin approached the two girls, nodding to Akina before kneeling before Nishiko, his head lowered a bit and his arm offered. "You may… witness the event above all others." he would say to her as an offer. "I will carry you… Nishiko-hime." he made it official then of course. And should she accept, he would lift her up on to a single broad shoulder, securing her legs snuggly with an arm as he would rise to his full height and make his way towards the stage. They were a bit off to the side and back, but no one had a clearer view than Nishiko at this point.
Akina makes a small sound as she pushes herself up on her feet, glancing at the new stain on her sleeve only briefly before returning her gaze to Shiin and Nishiko. She watches the exchange, a small smile quirking on her lips as he calls Nishiko a princess. She hums with amusement, waiting for the girl to accept the offer. Soon the show will begin, and people start to cheer with eager anticipation.
Nishiko's eyes widen at Shiin's declaration and when he calls her 'hime.' The girl's cheeks flush as she seems to become shy, but compliant. She allows him to put her on his shoulder. She watches -most- of the show from her perch with wide-eyed astonishment. Every now and then, she flails or bounces, forgetting that she's sitting on Shiin's shoulder and grasping his hair for balance. At some point, she reaches down to tap Akina and asks for her candy, which she shares with them if they want some of it.
Toward the end of the show though, Nishiko is leaning heavily on Shiin's head, drooling a bit into his hair and fast asleep. The little girl didn't sleep at all last night and she's all tuckered out!
At the end of the show, people clap and cheer and she awakens slightly, mumbling, "Best…day…ever…" And she falls back asleep for her midday nap.
As Shiin is treated to an age old hair product for about 15 minutes or so, he just… tries not to get it anywhere else other than his head. Though eventually the drooling girl would wake up enough to affirm her satisfaction, causing Shiin to soon bring her down from his aching shoulder and cradle her against his chest. "Uh.. Akina… could you help me with the… moisture?" he would ask of her as she and Shiin would begin to walk away from the show as night would soon fall upon the festival as it continued on to more mature themes such as traditional plays and fashion shows meant for more the viewing of the more night time and ceremonial themes kimonos as well as dinner shows to start soon. "It seems it is time to take her home…" Shiin said to Akina as they began to walk towards the exist. "I have trouble understanding…" he would begin to say to her, but he decided to stop himself short. "…Hm… maybe I don't." he'd correct himself. "What are your plans now that crisis has been averted and the package is safe?" he would ask with a hidden smirk.
The show was interesting enough, though Akina tries to keep Nishiko in the corner of her eye the whole while. Eventually it concludes, and seeing the bit of drool that leaks onto Shiin makes her chuckle to herself. A handkerchief appears and reaching to the little girl in her arms, she dabs Nishiko's mouth dry before giving it to Shiin so that he could clean himself off as well. "At least she had a good day." Akina murmurs softer. Hearing him speak, she turns slightly and glances back to Shiin, giving him a curious glance once he stops and changes his mind. "Plans? None in particular. The convention looks like fun but I'm certainly not a fanatic or anything."
