A Good Day to Be In the Park [Open]

“Come on, jump for it! If you really want your teddy-bear back then jump!”, the fifteen year old taunted the little girl; his long and gangly frame and the fact that he was holding the bear up over his head making it nearly impossible for the little girl who was roughly five or so in age to jump up high enough to get it.

“Give it back!”, the little girl whined, nearly on the verge of tears.

This episode had been going on for nearly three minutes – or at least that was how long Mitsukai had been in the park and watching. She was located behind one of the trees, leaning her shoulder on it and simply watching for the moment. Dressed as she always was in a mostly black top and skirt trimmed with red, black leggings, and boots, with her distinct red cape she went no where without. In truth, given her black chin length hair with red streaks, she probably looked to most like some kind of red riding hood especially given she was only four feet tall and ten years old – but in truth she was more like the hunter ready to slay the big bad wolf which was evident by the scythe folded up and hanging from her hip.

Mitsukai's mind whirled with ideas until finally a smile formed across her face: she as going to teach this bully a lesson in the best way possible and not lay a single hand on him in the process. To do this Mitsukai was going to have to utilize some of her speed – she didn't need to move as fast as she was capable of, but simply fast enough that the civilian bully and the young girl wouldn't be able to see her. Mitsukai took off at a run, circling around the bully and child once to get a better look at the situation and judge the distance between both of them well. With the calculations noted and in her mind she circled back around to the right side of the bully. As she neared she snatched the bear right out of his hands without even being seen. Another circle around and she would deposit the bear into the little girls outstretched hands before returning to hide behind her tree.

Just as she figured would happen the little girl hugged her teddy-bear to her chest, more then pleased to have it back, while the bully tripped over himself in surprise and fear and landed sprawled on his ass. “What--- what the? Is... is there a ghost?! Who did that?!”, the bully demanded in a frightened voice.

”Yeah, there's a ghost. And if you pick on that little girl, or anyone else again, I'm going to make you sorry. Understand?”, Mitsukai threw her voice, doing well to keep herself hidden from sight.

The bully hadn't obviously been thinking he'd get a response, and was even more terrified now. He turned over onto his hands and knees and took off running; shifting from a fast crab walk into a full out two legged run by the time he got to the edge of the park: going until he disappeared from sight. The little girl, meanwhile, showed far more bravery and with a giggle called out “Thank you, ghostie!”

Mitsukai covered her mouth with her hand, containing her giggles before she called back, ”You're welcome, little girl!” She waited a moment and then glanced around the tree to see the little girl joining her friends over on the jungle gym, obviously excited to tell them the tale of the ghost who saved her teddy.

With the little girl safely with her friends Mitsukai shifted so that her back was leaning against the tree and folded her arms across her chest, looking around with silvery colored eyes...

The unnerving awareness of the watcher being watched.

Not that he cared, really. He was just enjoying the scenery from his position under a rather large tree. It was cool enough underr the tree desipte the hot day. He'd been there for an hour or so, resting after a long morning of runnin errands for his foster parents.

Despite the heat of the day, the male was dressed as he normally would: a black hooded shirt over black pants. For once , his feet were bare -- his shoes were off so he could enjoy the warm grass tickling them.

"So amusing."

He'd been watching the scene as it unfolded: a young girl being bullied by an older boy. It would seem that the younger child a someone looking out for her: her stuffed animal was soon snatched from the bully and returned to her shortly by what seemed to be a blurr. If he hadn't seen the second girl begin moving before the the blurr appeared, he wouldn't have connected the two together. But as it was, he did see it, and was amused highly.

He would wait a bit, watching the second girl move to stand by a tree not too far from where he was, before getting up himsef and slipping his shoes back on. He would make his way over to the girl, stopping a few feet away from her and waving. "Hello."

She liked the park quite a bit; but not so much the vast amounts of people that tended to fluctuate to it. Still, she was here all the same, sitting underneath of a particularly shady tree. Oh, there was nothing wrong with the sunlight – she liked it well enough after all – but it tended to cast a rather nasty glare on the white pages of her book and thus give her a headache quite easily. So, to avoid that? Shade it was. Kouten was seated on a blanket she had laid out over an hour ago when she had arrived as a means to keep her capri-style loose fitting black pants from getting too dirty, or from any sand creeping its way up her shorts. Even though she was seated beneath a tree she didn't bother leaning against it; her white top that covered nothing more than her chest would have made that quite uncomfortable after a bit.

So, in silence the female sat, brushing a strand of black hair out of her face that had fallen loose from its bun before bothering to turn to the next page. She was adsorbed into the book in a manner of speaking: it was a fictional adventure filled with magic and creatures that didn't exist, but enjoyable all the same.

After a moment Kouten should shift; her butt becoming numb. During this shifting she would look up, noticing not only that her brother was still nearby but that he was speaking to the girl who looked like Little Red Riding Hood. Blinking, she would glance back down to the page she was reading..

A couple of kids came running into the park, a boy and a girl. Both of them looked to be around 5 or 6 years old. The boy had on a black skull cap pulled down to his nose. Strands of red hair were poking out at random parts of the cap. He had on a white shirt that was too big for him, shorts and sandals.

The girl had on a dress with butterfly designs all over it with sandals. She was wearing a bunny mask with long droopy ears trailing behind her as she ran, pulled down to her nose. She too had red hair, long, stretching down to the small of her back. Both of these kids had their eyes covered, yet they were running around and playing as if they could see just fine. They waved to the kids in the jungle gym.

Above them were clouds. One of the clouds was abnormally low to the ground, and colored a slight purple. The cloud was thick enough to hide the small boy lying on top of it with his arms propped behind his head, aware of the fact that his little brother and sister were below playing, but not paying attention to much else. He wasn't looking around like he usually did, and besides the laughs and giggles of his younger siblings below, he wasn't listening to anything either. It was a peaceful day. Holeman wasn't complaining.

Mitsukai's attention had drawn back over to the park; double checking on the little girl with the teddy bear and ensuring that the bully wasn't attempting to return for round two – which he wasn't at least for the moment. Mitsukai knew all too well that sometimes scaring someone was enough, where as sometimes they needed their butt handed to them to learn their lesson: she was all too willing to do the latter if he tried messing with the little kids again.

Then, out of the corner of her eye she caught movement and turned her silver colored gaze onto the male dressed in all black. She couldn't help but wonder if he was perhaps hot in all of that due to it being the desert and all, but then reminded herself that she herself wore dark colors all of the time and got by just fine. He waved to her and said hello, so in typical Mitsukai fashion she smiled in a friendly manner. ”Hello, there.”

Over the male's shoulder she could see a female who looked like a female version of him in a lot of ways seated on a blanket underneath of another tree reading a book: the female seemed drawn in by it and completely focused and Mitsukai couldn't help but wonder what it was she was reading as well as if the two were possibly related.

To the male she would simply add a polite, ”How are you?” Mitsukai wasn't the best with small talk; she was better at killing things then talking – so it took her a moment to get over the first-meeting awkwardness that she usually had with people. Of course, once she got comfortable with someone she could be a chatter box at times. As Mitsukai waited for a response giggling caught her attention and she glanced over to see two other kids arrive: both of which had their eyes covered and who looked about five or six years old. Her brow furrowed, her curiosity peaking: she knew of a clan that did that – in fact, she had just arrived in town and was looking for the prodigy of that clan: Holeman.

It would seem that the park was growing more popular. More children entered, followed by a strange low cloud. If he would have to guess, it would stand to reason that one of the children was controlling the cloud, or Mother Nature was quietly loosing her shit. Either way, he was not going to let this oppurtunity slip away.

He'd decided to come out of his shell a bit, and seeing as this female was quite adept a pulling a good prank -- even if it was for a good cause -- she would be the first attempt. His smile faltered a bit, he was nervous. This wasnt something he usually did, no, he normally would have stayed by his sister under the tree. "I... I'm fine." He straightened his back, attempting to be a bit more confident. "I'm good. Name's Amatsu."

Hehehe... are you nervous, Lamb?

Oh god. Not this, not now. He didn't need this happening now, not when he was trying to be a good person, and make a friend. Swallowing hard, he offered another smile before continuing. "What's your name?"

Kouten stared at her twin and the female who looked like little red riding hood for a moment longer before her attention would shift over to the children who had arrived. She recognized them from the clinic and couldn't help but chuckle after watching them play for a moment. She then shifted her attention back to the book resting on her lip, flipping to the newest page so that she could continue reading.

A yawn escaped her as she shifted around once more on her blanket before settling in comfortable again. She kept her focus on her book for now, waiting for something interesting to happen that could drag her attention away again...

Kids from other parts of the playground came over to watch the two blindfolded kids begin to spar. It was always an entertaining spectacle to watch the children go at it. Even at only 6 or 7 they fought with the ferocity that would do unprepared grown folk serious harm. neither one of them ever got serious, and if either landed too hard of a blow, they would exploit their medical knowledge to heal any wounds. Neither possessed the skill of their big brother though, and if it were too bad a wound Holeman himself would have to intervene.

The kids had the strength and agility of someone doubled their age, due to their training. Both could jump the height of a full grown man, and move just about as fast as one too. The kids both traded equal blows, and to someone seasoned in Taijutsu, it would appear that both of them were equally matched.

...That is, until the boy jumped and created himself a cloud that was similar to the one above. "That's not fair!" yelled the girl. "You know I can't do that yet Bart!" The boy looked over the edge of the cloud to make faces and lick out his tongue at the girl. Some of the kids sitting around laughed.

"You big poopy head! HOLEMAN TELL BART TO COME DOWN AND PLAY FAIR!!"

A grinning face looked down through the cloud above, a face that was half covered with a red du-rag. "Bart are you being a big poopy head again?" he asked. Bart laughed some while Holeman dropped through the cloud upside down. He flipped over and landed before he crashed into the ground head first, to the amazement of the kids watching.

Holeman looked like he always did. He was wearing the standard short sleeved Uchiha shirt, with the big collar and a large Uchiha Fan symbol on the back; red ankle length slacks, red sandals, red fingerless gloves and medical tape wrapped around each of his forearms. Though he was just a kid, Holeman was very muscular. He had on a du-rag that came down to his nose, covering his eyes, just like the 2 kids, who were his little brother and sister. Red Headphones covered his ears, with the top part down by the back of his neck.

Other kids started asking Holeman questions as they often did. Some of them said he was amazing and cool, to which he responded "I'm not one to brag," or "I actually still have a lot to learn."

That was when he caught sight of Mitsukai, his best friend in the whole world. At first Holeman thought he was seeing things, but she was really there. He got strange looks when he started to laugh, slapping his legs, pointing at her. He wondered why he hadn't caught sight of her before.

Kouten was here, under a tree, reading a book. There was another male nearby Mitsukai who looked a lot like Kouten did, so that must have been the twin brother she was talking about. Would he need healing or some scars removed? Ailments purged? Holeman would have to ask him. If he took care of his sister, it would only be right that he give him the same treatment as well.

Mitsukai was quite good at reading people – it was part of the job as it were – so she picked up on the male's... nervousness? He seemed perhaps as awkward as she normally was, which made her feel as if he were perhaps a kindred spirit. He responded that he was fine, and then introduced himself as Amatsu before asking her what her name was. Smiling as she often did she responded with, ”Mitsukai. Nice to meet you---”

It was then that she overheard the children who had been sparring; one of them called out to someone named Holeman and her head turned almost automatically towards the children, her silvery gaze darting around as she searched for her best friend. It was then that she watched Holeman drop down from a cloud, looking as if he were going to land on his head before he flipped and landed on his feet.

Holeman said something to the kids before he spotted her. He started to laugh, slap his legs, and point at her. Mitsukai couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. She glanced back to Amatsu and said softly, ”Excuse me..” before practically running at near full speed over to her best friend. If Holeman didn't move she would hug him upon reaching him, still grinning from ear to ear. ”I was looking all over for you!”, she exclaimed upon releasing him.

Mitsukai, huh. A pretty name for a pretty creature. As she was responding to him, he would smile and nod, showing interest in what she was saying. That is, until her attention was pulled away and she rushed over to the child who dropped out of the cloud. It would appear that she knew him from the way she grabbed him into a hug.

Hehehe... seems like its a lost cause, Lamb. You've been discarded.

No, she just saw someone she wanted to meet, thats all.

In other words, you're not worth her time, are you?

Shut up.

Amatsu didn't know what to say or feel. He'd tried to make a friend that seemed to share a common intrest, but it seemed that she had other plans. Oh well.

Cheer up, Lamb. We can get some ice cream and tea at your favorite cafe.

Yeah, okay.

With a quick telepathic message to his sister to inform her that he was going to Aisu Queen for a snack, he would exit the area.

-Exit-

Kouten looked up to see Holeman having dropped from the cloud. Some of the little kids were crowding around him, obviously impressed that he hadn't fallen on his head. It was then that he seemed to have a strange reaction to the female who looked like little red riding hood. Kouten tilted her head a bit, curiously, as she then watched the female go running over rather towards towards Holeman. She hugged him and greeted him like an old friend.

Following this her brother left with a telepathic message of where she was going. ”Hnn...” Kouten glanced about, not quite enjoying the idea of being without her brother in the park. Oh sure, it was safe enough, but she still worried.

For now, she remained in place: though she did close her book and slip it into the bag next to her. She curled herself up into a ball; comfortably and relaxed before turning her attention to the sky; watching the clouds float by.

Holeman found himself hugged, hugging back with his usual big grin. Mitsukai said she'd been looking all over for him. His brother and sister both looked sort of confused. "Heh, i'm not very hard to find," he responded after she'd let him go again. "We even have a clinic better than the one we had in Yokuchi."

Holeman was about to say something to Kouten's twin, but it was then that Holeman noticed him leaving. Was he not the sociable type? Holeman looked somewhat confused, having wanted to meet him. It wasn't looking like that was about to happen now.

Oh well. Holeman shrugged his shoulders and put his attention back on Mitsukai. "Holeman who's she?" asked his sister.

"This is the girl I told you about, Mitsukai, who used to beat up bad guys with me when we were your ages. Remember? From when we lived in Yokuchigakure," Holeman answered.

"Yeah? Hi! My name's Bart," said the boy.

"Hi! I'm Joy," said the girl.

"My little bro and sis... So what happened, Mitsukai? Weren't you the Kage of Suna?"

”That was about to be my next method of trying to find you...”, commented Mitsukai in regards to Holeman mentioning the clinic: she had assumed they'd set one up here at some point and sure enough she had been right. Mitsukai noticed that Amatsu had turned and left, and that the female nearby was no longer reading her book. However, her attention quickly shifted back onto Holeman and his brother and sister as they introduced themselves. ”Hi there!”, she would respond to Holeman's siblings: memorizing their names for later.

She would then shift her attention back to Holeman when he mentioned her Kage position. She would shrug her shoulders a bit and grin. ”Well, I missed you, and beating up the bad guys like we used to do. Plus, sitting behind that desk all day playing politics with a bunch of adults wasn't any fun. I'm more useful with my scythe in hand then a pen. I'd rather be out in the field... So, I waited until I found a suitable replacement who I knew could do both and then came here. Marquetta.. .I mean... your Sabakukage said it was okay and that I was more then welcome. Even gave me a headband and made me an official member of the village. I've only been here about six hours or so, though. I was looking for you when I came across a bully picking on a little girl so I stopped and scared him.”

Kouten kept her attention focused on the clouds for another moment before she would shift out of the ball she had curled herself into. She would place her hands in front of her on the blanket she had been sitting on and then shift herself in a way that she could only accomplish because of her training as a gymnast. Her legs would pull out to her chest as she shifted her body backwards. After her legs were behind her she would straighten them out and shift the position of her arms so that they remained comfortable. It was then that she would bring her legs down and over her head until they touched the ground; each movement slow and careful though she had done this many times before. Once her feet touched the ground she finished this strange back flip by straightening herself upright.

She would then step off of the blanket and pick it up, giving it a good shake to remove any sand from it before she would take her time folding it up until it was in as small of a square as she could manage to get it. With the blanket folded she would stuff it into her bag, ensuring she didn't damage her book in the process.

Pausing now that her things were put away she would stretch skyward with a soft yawn, not stopping until she was on the tips of her toes. She would hold the position for a second or two and then relax.

Mitsukai said she missed the times that they would run the streets and beat up baddies. Holeman had to admit, he missed doing that too. He'd done a lot of training through the years, with Spook and on his own. Misukai said she was best on the front lines and not behind a desk pencil pushing.

"Marquetta, huh,"said Holeman, rubbing the top of his du-ragged head. "I haven't met her yet, but the elders did when we first got here. With our track records in deserts, I hope she doesn't turn out to be another Strafe, or that brother of yours...." Seeing as Mitsukai had a headband now, it probably meant that she lived here. Holeman hoped he didn't come with her.

It was no surprise that Mitsukai stood up to a bully for someone who couldn't defend themselves, they'd always done things like that. "Well then! I think this calls for a BBQ, i'm kinda hungry anyways. Whadya think, guys? BBQ?" Bart and Joy cheered some.

While leaving Holeman turned towards Kouten. "Hey Kouten, come by the clinic if you're hungry, heh? I'll make enough for everybody, bring your bro too!"

Bart and Joy followed Holeman with big grins as he left out of the park...

[Exit]

Kouten was about to go wander off and find her twin when Holeman turned his attention to her for a moment; telling her that if she was hungry she should stop by the clinic, that he'd make enough BBQ for everyone, and to bring her brother too. Kouten grinned and nodded, ”Alright, I'll go see if I can find him and then I'll come by.” Kouten then watched him leave with his siblings and the girl named Mitsukai.

Kouten turned her attention to her bag and picked it up, slinging the strap over her shoulder. She glanced about and then walked out of the park too, off to find her twin and see if he wanted to come with her to grab something to eat and meet Holeman properly.


Exit

Word Count: 933

Mitsukai nodded to Holeman. ”I dunno, she seemed cool. She doesn't like people bowing to her; I thought her head was going to pop off and steam was going to come out when someone did.”, Mitsukai said laughing. Marquetta was definitely an interesting individual.

When Holeman mentioned BBQ her stomach roared to life and she realized it had been a while since she had actually last eaten. ”Mmm. BBQ sounds really good right now actually. I'm starving. I didn't bother eating while I traveled, didn't want to risk getting cloud-sick.” She grinned a bit: she probably could have made it here sooner had she actually ran, but sitting on a comfortable cloud and watching the world float by had been far more fun. Plus, it had been a chance to really see the sights and get to know the lay of the land.

She followed after Holeman when he and his siblings turned to leave; pausing only for him to offer the female, Kouten, to come join them. Kouten responded she would go and try and find her brother and then be over. Still smiling Mitsukai would follow Holeman and his siblings out of the park.