Empty Gold [Mission]

Spoiler:

She had gotten there too early, the store that was taller than it was wide as if to fit in-between the other shops that occupied the main street of Kirigakure’s market, its half-a-dozen windows fitted with strikingly pink lace curtains. Of course, she had known that.

Practically all of the village’s trading was controlled by the Hozuki clan – Tsukimi’s family. Mostly, theirs was in naval shipping, the odd landlocked store didn’t sport a lantern-like marking burnt into the timber of their signage or stitched into the fabrics that decorated the awning, but still had to conduct business amongst them in some form or fashion. Tsukimi had an idea of the store’s running – its successfulness, opening hours and the reputation of its keeper – after reading through one of her father’s ledgers. Even so, even knowing as she had that she’d be forced to sit outside the door amidst the morning mist, chilling and heavy in its veiling, she had still made the effort.

One representing her family would have followed the known business hours, such was the expected etiquette, but she wasn’t there to represent her name or her father.

It was hard not to fidget, the cold gnawing at her fingers as it was. Tucking a fallen azure strand of her hair back behind an ear, Tsukimi rubbed her palms together ruefully, friction to warm her skin, as she tilted her head back to eye the pale glow of the rising sun, fighting to pierce the mist. To figure out just how much longer she had to wait.

Daisuke is one to accept that Genin had to do these sort of missions to build up their life experiences, running a store might've not been flashy but it exposed him to a skill that he hadn't considered before... marketing. He wasn't sure what he'd need it for as a ninja, but you never know when little skills like that could make all the difference in certain situations. Regardless, he's willing to put in the hard work and do a few of these basic missions as a Genin, to keep a clean track record going of missions to build up his resume down the line.

He arrived at the store just a few minutes behind the starting time, he believed it's important to at least get somewhere ten minutes earlier at the very least as you can never get to an allocated time on point. It's better to be early than to be late, and it looked like his partner for the mission got the same idea. If one were to see Daisuke, he wore his more casual outfit of light brown pants, black boots and a long-sleeved grey shirt, not the most presentable outfit of a shinobi but considering the nature of this mission, the worst they were going to deal with is an eccentric mother asking for the manager and as funny as it would be to have ninja gear to intimidate them to not do so, he wanted to dress appropriately for this mission.

His eyes instantly saw the Hozuki when he saw her, beautiful blue hair, clothes that make you think one comes from royalty and not to mention he's seen her at the academy a few times. A Hozuki, huh... looks like I got an interesting partner. He thought, he wasn't against the idea and was infact intrigued by how it's going to go. He didn't show any hesitation and as soon as he got close enough, he waved over to the girl. "Hey, you're my partner for this mission, right?" he'd start the conversation, it'd be best to know who you're working with before you start the mission and considering the time they have before the actual mission starts, no better time to do it in Daisuke's eyes.

Ten – perhaps twelve minutes ticked by, painfully slow. Rather than straining the muscles along her nape by staring at the pale sunlight, Tsukimi eventually dropped her gaze. Sitting with her knees drawn to her chest, her back and shoulders hunched, she balance her chin against the base of one of her knees. Sighing heavily, she allowed her mind to wander, searching for a distraction that might replace the slow crawling of the passing minutes, seconds.

She couldn’t claim that she was always an early riser, if the musings of the firm mattress and soft sheets of her bed weren’t tempting in that moment, the musings of a steamy bath were. Of freshly prepared tea even more-so.

She hadn’t much in the way of “domestic skills,” her father had always been able to afford hiring a person to see to the upkeep of their home, to cook and feed them both. It wasn’t until now that Tsukimi saw the flaw to her father’s generosity. She’d awoken, dressed and left her house before anyone else had begun to stir, had told herself that a ruby-fleshed apple and a glass of water was an adequate breakfast. Unfortunately, the chilling cold gnawing at the tips of her fingertips wasn’t alone in her questioning herself – brooding over the golden hue of chrysanthemum tea was making her stomach feel empty.

A side-glance of his amber eyes, Tsukimi mused that perhaps she had more than enough time – time in which she could, if she was quick enough, to return home, sate her wanting for tea and a warm breakfast and return before the store opened, as if she had always intended to be “promptly” on time. Or perhaps a brief wander around the square, to the few stores that had already begun to open, would allow her to spot a familiar face. A cousin or an employee of a cousin, willing to invite her to breakfast.

Mid-thought, his somewhat unfamiliar voice broke through her musings, and, blinking herself back into reality, Tsukimi was suddenly aware of the tall figure standing before her. Pale – his complexion was akin to that of bone, and his somewhat overgrown hair was just as fair – he possessed the strong defined features often associated with the Kaguya, the green of his eyes striking in contrast. He was dressed quite casually though, more civilian than that of a battle-ready shinobi.

Colour began to ink across her sun-kissed cheeks, uncomfortably conscious that she hadn’t thought to do the same.

”I … I think so – yes –“ She got quickly to her feet and immediately lost the listlessness of her earlier posture, instead standing with her shoulders firm and her spine straight, even as she bowed, a subtle motion from her shoulders up. ”I’m Hozuki Tsukimi, I don’t …”

”I don’t recall meeting you before,” she had been able to say but instead bit back the words, deeming them – well, impolite. Embarrassingly redundant. ”I was beginning to wonder how long I would be waiting here.”

Colour bled vividly across her cheeks as her eyes widened with the awful realization of what she had just said. ”I-I mean –“ She shook her head sharply, her blue hair flinging about wildly around her, and her fingers moved to pinch anxiously at the lantern-shaped pendant around her throat. ”Let’s – let’s do our best to work together.”

It was funny, though almost torturous just to see this girl get embarrassed so easily. He didn't know what type of upbringing she was exposed to, but he could definitely tell she's not a social bird by any means. When a Hozuki are around the academy, everyone pays more attention to them due to their reputation with the village, being the ones who kickstarted the village after all and he certainly remembered seeing this girl quite a fair bit back in the academy, knowing who she is but not remembering the name but it did click when she introduced herself. Despite everything she said, Daisuke wasn't in the least bit offended and this showed in his stoic, calm posture. "I do remember you from the academy but it's fine, I don't expect you to remember every Kaguya you meet. There's plenty of us around."

With how many Kaguya their clan district has, she might as well be expected to go the extra mile and remember the name of every person in the village. "I come from the Kaguya clan which you probably guessed, the name's Daisuke." he'd offer a handshake, but he didn't want to make the poor girl any more embarrassed than she already is. "It's fine, it's a good thing to be here early, better to be early than to be late, right?" Daisuke held the Hozuki in a certain regard, believing them to be capable people in general due to how they brought the village together but it seems not every Hozuki is cut with the same cloth, not that he minded Tsukimi's personality but he expected a bit... more?

Regardless, he looked at the store and took an estimate on the time, guessing that they had about two or three minutes left until they had to walk in. He's pretty much ready to get the mission underway but if Tsukimi were to have any questions of her own, he'd answer them before going into the store.

It was a subconscious habit, one meant to comfort. Alike chewing on the edge of a fingernail or the dryness of one’s lips, cracking the tension free from a knuckle’s joint. Under her fingertips the gold, shaped to cage precious aquamarine, was familiarly cool and, tracing its lantern shape, soothing. Calming her flustered nerves gradually.

It always seemed to be this way, Tsukimi lacking any social grace, at least towards those outside of her family, people whom she had for so long been encouraged not to acknowledge. That seemed to be the root of her problem. Inexperience led to uncertainty and that to the temptation of forming assumptions, to avoid those assumptions she determined to anticipate, to think ahead – at the expense of reacting to her immediate present. And thus she tended to speak not “exactly” what was in her heart, a poor reflection on her sincerity.

Her words, echoing cruelly in her own ears, made her sound the impatient child and, her gaze lowered and her face still an ugly shade of red, Tsukimi couldn’t bring herself to glance up into those starkly green hues, convinced that she’d find him glaring at her.

However, his response was cordial rather than offended. And Tsukimi found herself blinking up at him, confused. Not only at his friendliness but also because of his mentioning of the academy. She had thought that she had only remarked silently upon his lack of familiarity, but perhaps she’d spoken thoughtlessly about that too.

”Oh – uh, I don’t remember many at the academy.” The urge to fidget as familiar uncertain tension began to spark within her once more had her fingers tracing her pendant, adding quickly, ”I-I mean that only that you being of the Kaguya has nothing to do with it. I just – well, I focussed more on my studying than I did on making friends, I guess …”

Those days in the Academy had been no different than were she to wander the village. People would stare, some would whisper and one or two would make the effort to call out to her, to speak to her. However there was always a distance between them, between a Hozuki and everyone else that seemed ever difficult to breach.

Daisuke. At the giving of his name, curiosity sparked visibly within the golden depths of Tsukimi’s eyes. ”Da-s-u-ke.” She played with the sound, twisting it around her tongue, almost childishly, before she asked, ”with which lettering was your name chosen with?” Perhaps the Kaguya didn’t place the same significance upon names as her own family did but Tsukimi did believe that the meaning and order behind the lettering of one’s name was a strong reflection on one’s personality, or what one’s parents desired from their child.

He gave a gentle smirk when he thought of how contrasting their academy times were like, while she was focused on studying more than making friends, Daisuke focused on his Taijutsu prowess instead of making friends. When anybody was hanging out with friends, Daisuke was most likely training at the time. It's his training that led him to awaken his kekkei genkai early on. It's not as strong as some of the senior members of the clan, but he still sees it as a pretty good achievement considering the level he's at.

When asked for the meaning of his word, it didn't really come to mind... Daisuke went into a thinking stance, placing his hand on his chin. "Hmm... don't think Daisuke by itself means anything, but "suke" has a meaning, I know that much. If I remember correctly, it can mean to be "see-through" or "sheer" which doesn't really suit me." when he thinks of see-through attached to him, he thinks of being in the background, not standing out from other people and barely being noticeable. A trait that he doesn't really like.

"Oh, and it's "die-sook-kay", Daisuke." he had a few confusions from other people in the past on his name, the name looked good on paper but actually pronouncing it was problematic for other people, something that he didn't really get but he couldn't have a say in the matter considering he grew up with the name, it would be natural to him of course.

Before any further conversation could be had, a loud, thunderous voice came from the store. "Come in!" with a sense of bitterness. Daisuke went in first, assuming Tsukimi would be too nervous about it. As soon as they would walk in, it's what you'd expect of a general store. A broad range of wares that doesn't specialize in anything, hence the reasoning of the name "general store".

The owner himself seemed to have a displeased look, at least until Tsukimi walked in and immediately gave a smile. "Ah! Getsumei's daughter. I know this store will be in capable hands now." he kept a happy face on Tsukimi the entire time, but gave a few looks at Daisuke. "I think how to serve the customers is straightfoward, every item will have a price tag and if any customer wants anything, get the money from them, give them the item and serve them with a smile, have professional courtesy the entire time and if you ever deal with a angry customer, deal with them professionally and calmly. I have no doubt that you'll do well, young girl... on the other hand..." once again, he gave a look at Daisuke before looking away.

"Anyway, I'll be off. I'll only be gone for three hours, I'm sure you'll do fine in that time." and with that, he quickly rushed out the door. It looks like the rundown wasn't as detailed or fleshed out as it needed to be, since the owner looked like he's in a rush. Daisuke kept looking around the store as the street outside looked a bit empty, he wasn't expecting any customers for now, deciding to continue their conversation. "It must be nice being a Hozuki, hm?" Daisuke said, being a bit bitter with how the owner sucked up to Tsukimi and made very obvious doubts towards Daisuke.

After spending the next three hours serving customers that went through the door with Tsukimi, Daisuke was quick to leave afterwards. He didn't expect such simple retail to be mentally exhausting, but he's glad that it's finally over. He'd talk to Tsukimi later on if given the chance but for now, he just wanted to rest after the job being done.

[Exit]