★ ▌As Hiro finished the bottom row of the plants, he heard movement from behind him as the brunette went back and forth between the two back rooms. The last plant left was one in the front row. Hiro leaned down and watched as the water drops touched down on the soil and seeped beneath the surface. Just like the others, not too much.
Hiro sat the blue watering can down beside the last plant, a few drops coming down onto the counter's surface. He turned around seeing the man create a small placement on the table against the wall. Nothing too spectacular, really; it was a small tray with triangle finger sandwiches. with a few blocks of cheese in the center. Each block had a toothpick stuck to it. Finger foods. Beside the tray sat a smaller tray. Two cups with more cubes, these a darker shade similar in color to a pitcher filled with a light brown liquid. Hiro quirked an eyebrow, not sure what to make of this offering. But his eyes rose back to the man, smiling softly back at Hiro.
The brunette introduced himself as 'Ima', and graciously thanked Hiro for his assistance. Hiro responded in tow with his own name, "Tanaka Hiro." (Tah-NAH-kah HEE-ro) He gave a small bow, lowering his head but keeping eyes on the man and the food presented. He walked forward, reaching out to take one of the sandwiches upon Ima's offering. Seemed okay. Ham, cheese, and a leaf of lettuce he guessed on plain white bread. He took a small sniff of the bread, everything seemed fresh. Hiro opened his mouth and took a bite, tearing it off and chewing. Two cheeses, not too bad. Hiro chewed quietly listening to Ima talk about his acquisition.
Hiro stayed relatively quiet, enjoying the sandwich as Ima continued on. Now explaining these amber-colored cubes. Honeycubes? He reached out, grabbing hold of one and examined it like a jewel in the light. He swallowed down the rest of his bite to respond. "Honey, huh? Never seen it in cubes. But whatever works." Hiro reached for the second cup, turning it upright before placing the cube in the middle. He grabbed hold of the pitcher and poured himself a cup of tea on top of the honeycube.
Hiro let the tea whittle down the cube, returning his attention to Ima. "I see what you mean about this place being cheap from disrepair. Doesn't really feel like a flower shop, if you know what I mean." Hiro raised the teacup to his lips, taking a sip. Black tea with honey, rather tasty. counteracted the bitterness quite nicely. He set the cup down, furrowing his brow. "That's a pretty tasty tea, Ima. That's a hell of a trick your grandmother taught you."
Hiro licked his lips, savoring the little bit of liquid still lingering. He placed a hand on the table and took a better look at the back room. A question loomed on his mind, though he contemplated how to say it. "Say, Ima. You said you got this place for cheap because the old owner left, right? You know anything about him?" A question of genuine curiosity, maybe for the sake of conversation. But it wasn't a common occurrence for a ninja to go rogue from Kohona and live to tell the tale. At least from a commoner's view.
"Yamanaka Ibara was his name. At one point he was the Hokage in this village. Things started to get awkward around him, he had the body of the Hokage he succeeded disinterred and absorbed him, making himself some mixture of the Yamanaka and Uchiha bloodlines. I hated his eyes, they were so unnatural. You could see where the minds conflicted in his eyes." Ima said as he slowly drank at his own tea, leaning back against the doorframe and watching the front door.
"His presence only became more strained when he was removed from office. Rumours say it was the Elders and the Daimyo who requested his departure of office, but he handled it all so non-chalantly. The next Hokage was a classmate of his. Nara Ryouku. His leadership was largely uneventful, aside from an enemy assault. Turns out, both of them were students of the current Hokage." Ima shrugged as he looked amid the store and began to open up some of the windows in the front room to get fresh air and sunlight on the plants in the display room.
"Beyond that, there's little I know about it all."
★ ▌Hiro grabbed a second sandwich, his eyes following Ima around as the man took a position by the door. A slow day, little breaks like this were probably common, especially so when trying to revive a dying business. There was no harm in taking a seat, Hiro figured. He looked around for a moment, eyeing the stacked bags of mulch he brought in no more than a few minutes ago. He walked over, squatting down atop the pile and rested, looking over to Ima as he told his tale, a memory of the once leader of the village.
A chuckle rolled out from Hiro, remembering the man Ima described. Never did he know the man's name until now. Hiro's first year in the academy, that man was present. He remembered the hair more than the eyes. But then again, creepy-looking eyes were common in a world filled with magical mysticism. Fearful looks were as much a measure of power as actual power. Posturing often took the day. The fact that man Ima described became a Hokage, well, wasn't that surprising. Neither was the fact the guy wound up removed from office.
"I'll tell ya something, Ima. Hokages are a Ryo a dozen around here in Kohona. I was in the academy for three years. When I first entered, the Hokage at the time was Noctis. Even the instructor told us to refer to him as Noctis-sama. Hell, even before I entered the academy, these guys in charge redone Hokage Rock. I want to say I was five or six. But the whole village made a big thing about it. Folks from Iwa even came in and gave us a hand, taking it down only to rebuild it up even higher, just to fit all the past kage faces onto a damn fake mountain."
Hiro brought the sandwich up to his lips, taking a bite of the second triangle, tearing it off with his teeth and shook his head as he chewed. His eyes lowered down to the middle of the counter. For him, it was a big day. A day marked from destruction bringing an end to the world, just to breed creation. His father, though, brought him back to reality. "I'll never forget the thing my father said as they performed the ceremony to raise the thing from the earth. Whole place shook."
From his hand, Hiro pointed the bite-end of the sandwich to Ima and swallowed the bite. His head turned to face Ima, hand shaking up and down, emphasizing this point with a gesture. "He said, 'The king is dead. Long live the king.' Don't matter who's there. Somebody else will just take his place, I figure."
"One wouldn't call them a dime a dozen. Up until the recent regime changes they were usually quite steady in their rule. Noctis was actually in charge for nigh on a decade. His predecessor for even longer than that. We've just been in a rather turbulent exchange." The brunet said with a smile as he looked to his clock, then looked outside, where it had begun to grow dark.
"Time has flown pretty fast today. And business was slow. It was nice meeting you, Tanaka-san. I'm going to go ahead and close the shop down for the night. Peace be to you." The boy said as he took the work missives from the worker and stamped them with his signature.
★ ▌Ima's defense bolstered a pair of shrugging shoulders from Hiro as he listened to the florist defend the position of Kage in Kohona. Maybe the man had seen a better time, a more stable time. But that time wasn't now. "That might be true. but as long as I've been involved with the ninja, I've seen four different guys call themselves Kage."
Hiro shifted forward, getting off the pile of mulch and dusted himself off, having finished the sandwich. Ima's eyes went toward the windows, and Hiro's to the remaining tea in his cup. He reached out, taking the rest in one smooth gulp as Ima spoke. Time to go. Business was done, handled well. Hiro set the emptied cup down on the table and moved to Ima, handing him the missive for Ima to sign. "Very well, Ima. Suppose it is getting late." He watched Ima sign and hand it back to Hiro as he returned the paper to his pocket.
"Very well, and if you need any more work done around the shop. Just ask for me." Hiro gave Ima a small bow, then walked through the front room, down an aisle of plants, and pulled the door open to exit the flower shoppe. A job well done.
☸ Konohagakure l Genin l Bloodline l Ninjutsu l Senju Clan ☸ Chakra 435/435 l Stamina 155/155
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Before she arrived, she had time to stop by the apartment to wash her face away the tears. Moments later, it looked like she had not been crying save for the slight pink tint in her eyes. With a soft sigh, her hands went back and brush her soft brown hair and soon she braid it back and removed any stray strands and tucked into the braid. Wondered around her apartment for bit, she drank some water and checked on her plants. They were your basic plants. Hozuki always meant to ask for the Hokage's help in building a greenhouse but that would have to wait. With a grit of her teeth, she remembered his touch and his scent. Ugh. She was trying everything she could to stay away from him for a reason. She didn't want to develop a crush on him that would complicate things.
Once the pink tint was gone from her eyes, she headed out of her apartment, not even bother locking it because the ANBU invades her privacy enough as it was. Still bitter and slightly angry, she gently opened the door and looked around for the owner. "Hello?" Her voice cracked. She forgot to check her voice before leaving. It was from all the crying. Damn it. Cleared her throat few times, she continued to look for the owner.
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Current Attire: The one in the pic but without the white wrappings. Instead, she is wearing warm black baggy shinobi pants. Along with that, she is also wearing a black jacket over the sweater. A tight dark maroon colored shirt would be underneath the jacket. Black scarf around her neck and tight black gloves. All black clothes are waterproof.
Ima smiled and waved to the young woman as she entered his shop, his plain features a vast difference from most of the other people she may have met in the village before this point. Green eyes stared out to her from under a messy bush of hair, to which a few leaves and a branch clung.
"Hello, miss, may I help you?"
Lily Platypus
Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 9:08 pm
☸ Konohagakure l Genin l Bloodline l Ninjutsu l Senju Clan ☸ Chakra 435/435 l Stamina 155/155
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Heard a voice, Hozuki's head turned to find the source and she found him. A male, seemed to be early 20s appeared out of nowhere. Soft green eyes met with her brown ones. Well they are brown for the moment. Her soft brown hair still back in a braid with the headband around her forehead. Even with the branches and leaves sticking out, she showed no emotion. What was it that Masahiro said to tell him? Right. "I'm here on official village business." Straight to the point. She wasn't in the mood to be a people person.
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Current Attire: The one in the pic but without the white wrappings. Instead, she is wearing warm black baggy shinobi pants. Along with that, she is also wearing a black jacket over the sweater. A tight dark maroon colored shirt would be underneath the jacket. Black scarf around her neck and tight black gloves. All black clothes are waterproof.
"Ah. So not a social call. I guess that's well enough then." He said as he opened the door behind him.
"Assume the Hokage sent you hear to help with the poisons?" The man questioned as he waited for the girl to enter the synthetic greenhouse.
"I suppose we could start by watering the plants while I introduce you to what they are?" He questioned, his eyes setting onto hers.
Beautiful, he thought, it's a shame they aren't in a man's face.
Lily Platypus
Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 8:50 pm
☸ Konohagakure l Genin l Bloodline l Ninjutsu l Senju Clan ☸ Chakra 435/435 l Stamina 155/155
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Hozuki looked at him a bit in shock when he mentioned about the poisons. What in the world? She was here for botany and he went on ahead about poisons? Her mind was spinning. "I would like-" she stopped as the door open. It was an ANBU judging by the mask as her look went from confused to anger. She wasn't sure if this was the man that had seen her naked. Not that she care, but, seriously? Deep caramel eyes watched him as he approach her and gave her the message. This can't be right! She was not going to be a leader! Had Masahiro really gone senile with his age. Tightly closing, the paper, she nodded to the ANBU as she understood, "I guess we will have to wait for another time. I will meet you again when I can." With a bow, she headed out of the flower shoppe and to her home first and then will meet at the academy.
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Current Attire: The one in the pic but without the white wrappings. Instead, she is wearing warm black baggy shinobi pants. Along with that, she is also wearing a black jacket over the sweater. A tight dark maroon colored shirt would be underneath the jacket. Black scarf around her neck and tight black gloves. All black clothes are waterproof.
Since he was in the area anyway, Yasu decided to hit up the flower shop before going farther towards the outskirts of the village. Making his way up to the shopkeeper he inquired if he had seen anything out of the ordinary while keeping his eyes locked upon the mans as well as paying attention to the mans tone of voice. Once he answered he knew that he was telling the truth when he said that he had not seen anything. Giving him a polite bow he thanked him and headed out.
[exit]
Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2021 11:52 pm
S H U S A K U - U C H I H A 'A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.'
Things were looking up for Shusaku so far. He was officially a Genin, that he received his headband! The first thing he did was go show it off to his mother. He had intentions on catching up with that Fenrir guy, but priorities needed to be taken care of first. As usual, she was busy at work, so she insisted that he go practice his ninja skills until she was off of the clock. Shusaku headed towards the back of the store, using the small clearing in the forest that surrounded it to practice throwing his shuriken. The young Uchiha had taken a liking to the projectile weapon; it made him feel like one of the ninjas in the action movies he enjoyed watching. Star Power: A Kunoichi's Revenge was all about a young ninja girl hunting down a gang who killed her father. Her primary weapon? Shuriken! Her aim was deadly and precise; she never missed her mark. It was this that inspired Shusaku to pick up shuriken as his ranged weapon, in hopes to achieve that same level of precision one day. Placing a bunch of targets was a simple task, using his newfound shinobi abilities to place them in odd locations and different heights. He now stood in the center of it all, and quickly tossed a shuriken forward to the first target positioned in the center of the trunk of a tree.
Thunk! The sound was satisfying, but upon a closer inspection, Shusaku realized he hadn't hit the target at all, embedding the shuriken into the trunk instead. What!? But how? He was looking right at it! He took a moment to ponder how something like this could happen. Was it the way he tossed it? The composition of a shuriken allowed for quite a few different throwing methods. He'd first practice throwing them vertically, the initial motions being rehearsed without a weapon in hand at all. Once he had the muscle memory down to a degree, all that was left to do was apply it with the weapons in hand. Picking up a shuriken, he brought shuriken up to the side of his face/neck, and aimed for the target ahead. Shusaku didn't plan on missing this time, and when he was ready, he threw the shuriken forward, releasing the moment it was aligned with the target. This time the shuriken hit the target - only it was far to the left of the bullseye he intended to hit. Hm. The young Uchiha pursed his lips, studying the target for a brief moment. He wasn't frustrated (yet), but perhaps he expected to much of himself too soon, and it was starting to get to him. Shusaku wasn't going to back down, he and his mother's life depending on his success as a Shinobi. The only way to improve, was to keep trying, and that's exactly what he was going to do.
A couple of vertical throws later, and he was starting to feel it in his elbow. The style of throw wasn't bad, but he'd be lying if he said it wasn't the most comfortable for him. That was the whole point of this practice. To get comfortable throwing these things, and hit bullseyes with ease like Sango Hirahoshi from Star Power: A Kunoichi's Revenge! Of course now that he was out of shuriken, he had to go out and recollect all of the ones he tossed. Starting with the ones on the ground were the easiest - and the most embarrassing to pick up. He caught himself beginning to count just how many of his shuriken had failed to stick into the target, reminding himself that eventually he'd improve. After that the shuriken within the targets were retrieved and he returned to his starting place at the center of all the targets surrounding him. Alright. On to the horizontal throw then... He hoped that he'd have better success with this one. That would give him something cool to show off to his mom - and Fenrir too! That is, if throwing shuriken was even something he considered to be cool. Aiming at the target straight ahead, Shusaku took another shuriken between his fingers and gave it a toss. The motion felt more natural to him before he even released the weapon and for some reason, he just knew this was going to be it. Thunk Bullseye.
[ Shuriken Formless: D, C, & B Rank Training ] [ Mission: Target Practice - Complete (x10) ]
"Right on!" Finally, a bullseye! Shusaku had to keep this momentum going; he was one bullseye closer to being as skilled as the Kunoichi from one of his favorite movies. He picked up two shuriken this time, wanting to perform a cool trick shot. His eyes were steady on the target ahead, and he motioned his arm to the side of his torso when- "Ugh, again!? I can't believe this!" A thunderous voice boomed from behind Shusaku, nearly scaring him out of his shorts despite knowing who that voice belonged to. It was his mom's boss, Mr. Daiyuri. The elderly man had been running the flower shop since it was abandoned, and his mother was lucky that he was looking for help when he did. Otherwise the two of them might be living on the streets right now. Shusaku quickly gathered his shuriken and ran back to the shop, watching Mr. Daiyuri spit vulgar words one after the other. "H-Hey, Mr. Daiyuri! Is everything alright?" He kept his distance from the raging man. He may have been old, but boy did this guy have a temper. "...Am I okay?" His raging stopped suddenly as he slowly turned to Shusaku, who felt their heart suddenly leap into their chest. "Do I look okay to you?" It was clearly a hypothetical question, but Shusaku replied anyhow. "N-Naw, not really. You look an-" The bucket that was in the old man's hand went crashing into the ground, interrupting Shusaku. Or perhaps, shutting him up. "Those damn youngsters marked up the outside of my shop with their graffiti bullshit. AGAIN."
"Oh... Again? I-I don't know how they would have gotten around here this time. I mean. I - uh, I was out here, t-this time. There's no way they could've -"
"Just clean it up, Shusaku. When I get my hands on those damn delinquents..." Mr. Daiyuri mumbled as he headed back into his shop, slamming the door hard enough to make Shusaku flinch. "Well... so much for practicing my shinobi skills." Maybe he should have practiced at the Academy instead. Though, it wasn't a bad thing that he had come here. Chances are, this would've happened regardless, and then his mother would be stuck cleaning up this mess, on top of all the other work she was doing. At the very least, she wouldn't be late getting home for dinner tonight. Just keep thinking about the positive, Shu. He reminded himself, smiling as he picked up the bucket that Mr. Daiyuri had thrown, filling it up with water and soap. Grabbing a scrub brush, he headed over to one side of the build and began cleaning. Normally, graffiti consisted of funny doodles and stuff, but the stuff Shusaku was witnessing on this wall, was far from just any regular drawing. In big letters across the wall was spelled 'LOST BOYZ', with an upside down triangle inside of the letter 'O' as if it were some kind of symbol. The colors used were most reds, black, and white, with lots of imagery of what Shusaku assumed to be blood. "Who the heck would draw some creepy stuff like this?" He asked aloud. Shusaku was starting to get some really bad vibes about this stuff.
Better start getting rid of it. Taking another dip of the scrub brush into the soapy water, he decided he'd start at one corner and make his way across. There was no telling how long this stuff had been out here, but it was mighty difficult to clean off. Shusaku found himself working over smaller areas multiple times before he could even see the exterior again. Mr. Daiyuri came out sometime later to give the kid a sandwich and something to drink, which he eagerly accepted as he hadn't ate since he left this morning to meet the Hokage. The soapy water was no longer soapy, and started to take on a murky black color from all the paint he was cleaning off. He still had plenty more of the 'artwork' to clean off, so his best bet was to empty the bucket now and start fresh. Once the new bucket of soap and water was retrieved, Shusaku quickly got back to work. The sooner he could finish this, the sooner he could race back to the Academy and do some exciting ninja things. Or rogue things, perhaps. Fenrir had made quite an impression despite not having formally met. He was cool and mysterious; that was enough to grab Shusaku's attention. Even though he had taken a break just moments ago, he could feel the burn in his arms and shoulders as he scrubbed the exterior of the building. He wanted to put in his best work for Mr. Daiyuri and his mom, so the slight discomfort didn't bother him all that much. Besides, he had been through much worse, as a practitioner of the martial arts. It took some time, but the exterior was finally cleaned up, looking good as new, if not slightly better if Shusaku had a say in it.
He was on his way to tell Mr. Daiyuri about his completed work when he heard the sound of spray cans on the other side of the fence. "It has to look good. Don't you want to get noticed by him?" Who were they talking about? Shusaku curiously peered through the cracks within the fence, trying to get a good visual on whoever was on the other side. He could still hear the sound of spray cans going, and two figures cloaked in black. The image they were creating was partially made out within the cracks, and it resembled the 'art' that he had just finished cleaning up. So those must be the dudes behind the graffiti. Now Shusaku was having a bit of a dilemma: he could report the Mr. Daiyuri about the fools who were vandalizing his property, or confront them himself. The young Uchiha wasn't much of a snitch, and he was curious about the art they were making. He didn't want to ruin any potential success to be had if they were in fact artists, but maybe persuading them to leave the flower shop out of their chosen canvas would delay Mr. Daiyuri's inevitable heart attack. Kicking off the wall, he landed on the top of the fence peering down at the cloaked artists from above. His balance was exceptional for someone of his age, and the Uchiha could only chalk it up to his diligence martial arts practice. "Hey guys. Got a moment to chat?" The two cloaked figures stopped spraying to partially turn back towards Shu who sat above them, the one to his right responding. "What the hell do you want? Don't you see that we are busy making art in reverence of our lord?" So they were artists - in a way. Shusaku wasn't too keen on all of the religious stuff going on, but that was beside the point.
Leaping down from the fence to their side, Shusaku held his hands out disarmingly, sporting the friendliest smile he could muster. "That's perfectly fine. I'd just like you guys to leave the flower shop untouched for the sake of my boss. He's not too happy about it, y'know. I won't be either if I have to keep comin' back out here to clean it!" He chuckled, "So whaddaya say? Is that cool with you guys?" His hands fell to his side, part of him expecting them to agree, given his first impression. "No. ******** off." As soon as they responded, the turned back to their project, pretty much dismissing him altogether after that. "Look, I'm trying to be nice here. I don't want to have to go to the authorities or anyth-"
"Oh, you're not telling anyone. Told you to ******** off, and you're still here." The cloaked figure to his right spoke again, then turned to the one on the left, nodding back towards Shusaku. The left cloak figure rose to their feet, appearing much larger than they had kneeling down, turning to face Shusaku. He towered over the young Uchiha by at least a foot, starting to approach him with obvious ill intent. "Woah, woah! Alright, there's no need to get violent here." It was too late for persuasion now, as the man grabbed Shu by his shoulders and shoved him back into the fence. Shusaku's body slammed into the fence with a loud thud, putting a dent in it, with the cloaked man coming back at him with punch aimed for his gut before he could get his bearings. Shu braced himself for the punch, throwing any elbow into the man's head as the punch connected, to give himself time to take proper footing while his opponent stumbled from the blow. "Don't let that brat get away. He's counting on you." The obvious leader of the two spoke up, now leaned up against the abandoned building they were vandalizing, clearly enjoying the show. Shusaku sized the leader up, a little disappointed that he wasn't fighting instead. They chose to send the bigger guy after him, which only made Shu think that he must've been some nerd incapable of fighting on his own. Shusaku took a basic fighter's stance as he faced the slightly larger man who was now fully recovered. As much as he didn't want to fight these guys, he still loved the thrill of brawls. "Are you sure you wanna do this?" He'd warn the duo one final time. After this, there'd be no holding back on his end.
The only reply from either of them came from his opponent charging ahead, ramming his body into Shusaku's and diving into the pile of rubble behind them. His back collided with a wooden plank that snapped under their weight, dust accumulating around the two fighters as sounds of crackling debris filled the air. A fist collided into the Uchiha's face from the right, and then two more blows into his ribs while he tried to catch the breath that had been knocked out of him during their collision. The guy was certainly much stronger and faster than he expected, his size only benefitting his blows by making any attempted defense on Shu's part nearly meaningless. His chance came when large delinquent drew their fist back to sock him square in the face, giving Shusaku a small window of time to react. He quickly reached over for a rock and launched it into the guy's face causing him to reel back. That shuriken training came in handy after all! His knees rose up to his chest, driving his legs forward with all of his might, kicking the brute off of him with both feet. This effectively knocked them off balance, but for how long, he was unsure. At the very least he was able to get himself out of the pile of rubble and dust himself off. Looks like I'm gonna need to come up with a new dance if I'm gonna tango with this guy... Shusaku could very well take a beating just as good as he could dish one out. The cloaked brute's punches were hitting like freight trucks, and he knew that he was only going to be able to take a few more of those before he ended up succumbing to their effects.
His attacking style was very straight forward; somewhat predictable even, if the young Uchiha would just settle down and focus. "What are you doing, you big idiot!? Are you gonna let this pipsqueak make a fool out of you, or what?" The smaller, cloaked leader called out from the sidelines once again. If this was their way of providing support to their comrade, then they were surely useless in a one on one confrontation. They were better off shutting their mouths and minding their business. The larger of the two was finally on his feet again, allowing his leader's mocking words to get to him as he popped his neck and dusted off his chest were Shusaku's feet had imprinted themselves. The cloak was suddenly torn off, revealing a heavily muscular guy who could have only been a little bit older than Shu himself. Long, dark brown hair, an eyepatch over his right eye, and various tattoos down both of his arms. Holy cow, this dude is yoked! Shusaku couldn't believe what he was witnessing. The guy had practically achieved the peak of muscular aestheticism, with every single muscle in his body being toned and defined beyond what Shu had ever seen before. It would have been hot, had he no need to worry about being beaten into a pulp if he didn't pull himself together. "Alright, tough guy... Show ya moves!" Shusaku's stance was different this time around, feet spread slightly facing towards his opponent, arms extended and palms open. His dominant hand was close to his body, with the other in the lead, which he used to beckon the brute forward with a wave of his fingers.
Shusaku was ready this time, no more slip ups from here on out. The brute charged forward just as he had anticipated, throwing all of his might into a leaping punch aimed for his head. Shusaku extended his non-dominant hand to meet his fist, torqueing his hips to redirect the attack off to the side. Whether the brute stuck his landing or not after the fact, Shu continued with that momentum, throwing a side kick into the middle of their back, preventing them from regaining their balance right away. At the most it caused him to stumble forward a little more from Shu's perspective; he wasn't even sure how much that kick had affected him from the back if he was to be completely honest. It did however, enrage him, as he turned to face Shu with a murderous glint in his eyes. Shusaku made the first move this time, closing in the gap between them and delivering a three punch combo. The first one came fast, and surprisingly for his liver instead of his face. It connected, forcing his body to lurch forward, opening the target for his next two punches. Both launched for their head, one after the other, but only making contact with the brutes forearms as he quickly brought them up to defend himself. The guy was fast, Shusaku had to give him that, but Shu was smarter. A knee rose with impressive speed, slipping through their guard and smashing into their nose. The first time hearing anything from him came in the form of a howling cry as he clutched his face in pain. Bullseye! Shusaku grinned, adrenaline pulsing through him like a wildfire. He was enjoying every bit of this: the pain he was inflicting, the pain he was receiving; the thrill of a good brawl!
"Useless! Do I have to do everything myself!?" The leader clearly wasn't happy with his lackey's performance. Likewise, Shu wasn't pleased with the leader's choice of combat. This nerd had the guts to pull a knife out on him! It wasn't your average everyday knife, either. The blade was pitch black with a curved edge. Down the side of the blade were strange inscriptions that Shusaku wasn't able to make out. He didn't know what kind of weird stuff this guy was on, nor did he want to find out. There was no telling what could happen if he was even grazed by that ominous-looking knife. The leader was able to make Shusaku eat some of his own words, much to his surprise, as he approached with impressive speed, swiping the knife at him aggressively. A couple steps back in response was enough to avoid the initial attack, however the leader wasn't finished. At the end of their swipe, the grip was reversed, performing a hook to extend their reach; knuckles aided by the small extension of a blade's edge. There was no room to back up anymore without falling into the rubble behind him, so with the little time he had to make a decisive action, he ducked. Fwhip! The bladed hand sailed overhead, Shu rolling forward and getting back on his feet so that he was now positioned behind the armed assailant. "You little weasel..." They growled, seething with anger. Like, what did he expect Shusaku to do? Eagerly accept some fist fight while they wielded a knife? The boy had a tendency to be reckless, but he wasn't stupid. Staying on the evasive was the only real chance he had at not becoming a ninja-kabob on the spot.
The leader whipped around, charging with their knife, harboring a clear intent to kill, or at least seriously injure Shusaku. He was starting to think that running to the authorities might have been a good idea after all. By no means was he out of his league here, both of these goons were around his skill level surely. But his nosiness got him into this situation, and had he not had even a small ounce of the fighting experience he had, who knows what would have happened to him. His mother was literally on the other side of the gate, probably unaware that her son was engaged in a 2 on 1 (deathmatch?) stock match, where some tryhard nerd decided that the only way they were going to win was by bringing some overpowered tool into play. Through all the adrenaline and the excitement, this was the first time Shusaku considered that he could actually get seriously injured - or worse - if he wasn't careful. I've got to end this. Now. The knife was drawing closer to his body. Shusaku moved immediately to the side of the striking arm, extending one foot to upset his balance while said arm was taken into his control. In time with the leader's sudden fall, his arm would be pinned behind his back, inflicting enough pain to force the knife to be released. Shusaku placed the rest of his weight on top of him to prevent too much struggle, using his free hand to shove the leader's face into the ground. "I don't appreciate being threatened. Leave the flower shop out of your artsy shenanigans or-"
"They're over there! Next to that abandoned building!" A small girl's voice cried out, and from the corner of the building two Shinobi from the police force had arrived, followed by a small, redheaded girl. "Those guys are fighting! I heard them from across the street. Hey! Those are the two ghosts I saw drawing on daddy's house!" Shusaku tilted his head looking at the girl, and then back at the cloaked nerd he had pinned to the ground. These must have been the ghosts she was referring to. The two shinobi police would step forward, "And what of you, kid?" One of the policemen spoke, looking down at Shusaku with an intense gaze. "... These guys vandalized Mr. Daiyuri's flower shop. I was just trying to get them to leave it alone... Sir." He looked up to both policemen, keeping his hold on the cloaked individual. From behind, a small commotion occurred, where a third shinobi police officer apprehended the brute. "We'll take it from here. Are you hurt?" Releasing the man, Shu stood on his two feet, checking himself over. His body ached, and his face hurt. Likely a couple of bruises here and there, but nothing too serious he figured. "Nah. I'm all good. They were a piece of cake!" He winked, giving the policemen a thumbs up. Cuffs clicked, and Shusaku initially was going to head back to the flower shop as casually as possible, until he had a thought. Crap. I can't go back like this. Mom will freak! So instead he left to go get himself patched up elsewhere.
[ Mission: Graffiti Removal - Complete (x10) ] [ Mission: Graffiti Vengeance - Complete (x25) ] [ Soft Formless: C & B Rank Training | Hard Formless: C & B Rank Training ]
