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Entry Twenty: Brooms and Chopsticks
Jiro meets Linny

It's been awhile since he's been able to be let out. Well, that he's allowed himself to be let out. It was no one's decision but his own. Besides, being at home wasn't a bad thing. He got to hang out more with Masaka, who had written up a small guide of exercises he needed to give to Khia to help further his transformation skills. Baked wtih Uugi, Masaka's younger triplet, which was nice cause that shy little uke was usually busy hiding in his room. Toriu, the eldest triplet, was busy helping his small uke get over his tradegy and was more grumpy and serious faced than ever. Other than Kali, Toriu was Jiro's second hero...

Spinning his chopsticks between his fingers smoothly, he walked with Akiya to the shop. Not that he was ever in the mood to go there. Actually, he wanted to stop and get ice cream instead. Or maybe go to the park or something. But Akiya actually wanted to buy Stationary, probably cause Yuhin said if he didn't bring some home he'd be sorry >3, so off they went. Yawning, he scratched the back of his neck,h is hair braided instead of bunned for once. His kimono was black with gold and silver dragonflies and his underclothing was blood red. Akiya was quiet, probably cause it was still early morning and the angel was never fully awake til past noon sometime. Hell, he was even yawning! Feeling like he was being watched, Akiya looked down at his son and smiled, patting the top of his head. "I'm proud of you, Jiro."

"Hmm?"

"The fact you came here, even though we all know how you feel about it. What made you decide to come with me?"

That made the Tale smirk as they got to the shop and opened the door. "I have a good feeling something interesting will happen today... nothing much."

Linneas' mother had gone to visit some friends that day, and she had taken Paestri with her. So it was basically just Linneas and Ning, nothing too bad, he was used to being left in charge of the store. And this was the perfect time for him to practice his 'fighting' abilities.

Somewhere, he had managed to find a book about staffs and javelines. He had been trying his best to imitate the motions, with little success. But Linny had time to learn, he knew this.

As the two entered, Jiro caught Linny's familiar scent. No matter if he had caught it for only a second or two, he never forgot how someone smelled. Tilting his head a bit, he let Akiya go look amongst the paper goodness as he followed where his nose was telling him to do. Spotting Linny, he studied him a bit. This was on the one he had seen when he first came out. The meek one, right? His eyes landed on his broom, or mop.. whichever he used and he smirked. Yup, same one. But what was he doing? "You can get the motions down all you want, but if you don't have the right posture, you'll fall over in a real fight."

Normally, Jiro didn't outright speak up like that. Maybe he had been going to Dyrid's classes too much or something. Either way, he couldn't help himself. Training was something that just caught his interest. Plus this was Khia's friend, right? Khia would be proud of him if he did well and made another friend and so would his family. Stepping more into the room, he looked him up and down. "So you're using bo moves then..."

Linneas' instinct was to jerk the mop behind him, as if his short height would be able to effectively cloak the presence of the cleaning equipment. He wasn't expecting anyone around that day as it had been pretty quiet in the shop the past week.

As Jiro spoke, Linneas found himself crimsoning in embarrassment. "Oh, really? I didn't know." He said, as if apologizing for his ignorance.

He recognized the boy from before, but wasn't sure what his name was. "Yeah, I was really looking for things that a broom or mop could be associated with. The bo was the closest thing I could find." he added with a shy chuckle.

"I had the feeling.. but you do have some of the basis moves down. It's impressive." When he jerked the mop behind his back, he shifted a brow at him. "Why hide it? You should never be afraid to reveal your weapon." He stopped moving his chopsticks to show them to Linny. "My favorite ones." Walking closer to him, he gave him a good look over. "Dunno if you remember me, but I recall you. I'm Jiro. And you are?" He knew his name, but he wouldn't just blurt it out. The kid looked nervous around him for some reason.

"If you'd like... I could show you some how to position yourself. A bo is a good weapon from both ends. And it's good for people who like long ranged attacks. It's also.. rather versatile.. which I rather like."

Seeming to remember himself, he backed up a bit and bowed. "Sorry for the intrusion. Shouhin... I mean.. my father wanted to buy some stationary so we stopped by.. are you the only one here today?"

"Oh, I'm Linneas, but you can call me Linny if you'd like." The boy smiled at Jiro, "Would you really? It's so hard to find someone to show me these things." he chuckled, not at all bothered that Jiro knew about these things even if he was a bit younger. Huni was sheltering him too much.

"Oh and mommy and Pae are out for today, they'll be back later. I can show your father the samples we have and he can leave an order form that I can give to mommy." He added, going off to fetch the little album and returning promptly with it.

"Linny..." There, now names had been exchanged so it's all good now, right? Yup. Giving a faint smile back, he nodded a bit, letting him scamper to get the album. "Ah well I can understand that." Taking the album, he went and showed it to the angel,w ho was looking at everything with a puzzled expression. Obviously, Yuhin hadn't given him specifics again. Typical. "Here."

Akiya looked at the album before he tookit gratefully. That meant someone was here in order to get it. "Thanks, imp." Upon finding a place to settle down, he did so and started flipping through it while Jiro returned Linny. Even though Jiro was young, he couldn't help wanting to learn such things. It just made him happy to know how these things work.

"All right then." Glad his hair was put up as it always was, he looked around for something to use and found a broom. Well, it definately wasn't a staff, but he wouldn't shun the use of it. Everything was a weapon. It wasn't his motto.. but he knew it was someone's. After checking its weight, he found the balance point after a bit of trail and error before he gripped it firmly and then stood next to him. "First thing to always remember. The staff can generate a lot of energy, so you have to make sure your entire body can support it. Or else your power will fall short and your attack... will feel like nothing." Spreading his legs so that they were shoulder width apart, he grounded himself. "The legs absorb the impact.. so it's best to keep them spread this wide apart. Even when it's in the other direction.." His legs moved again so that they were going straight. "Always keep it shoulder width apart.. any further won't keep you balanced and it'd be the same as if you kept your legs together. You got this so far?"

Linneas nodded as he held his mop in front of him and copied Jiro's stance, it felt a little odd to be taking lessons from someone younger, but Linneas was never a prideful boy. Some might even argue he has little to no self-respect in the first place, but that's not the point.

"Yup, what's next?" he asked eagerly.

Straightening himself when Linny was in the right position, he gently tapped the broom against his legs to make sure he was sturdy enough. It wouldn't do for him to just fall over and all. Seeing that he seemed stable enough, he nodded, falling back into position himself. "Let's practice the basic movements, then. It'll feel different in this position, but it's not a bad thing. You'll adjust. Today is just basics... you can't spar til later heh."

Linneas had never expected to be sparring with anyone, all he had hoped for was that he would be able to defend himself and anyone around him. But if sparring would help improve his abilities, he wouldn't pass up the opportunity.

Jiro was right, it felt different whenever he tried to swing the mop the way the book instructed him. He just wondered how long it would take to get used to it.

"How long have you been learning to fight?" Linneas asked curiously.

Since he was used to a staff, though it was a borrowed one for the moment, the broom was a bit interesting to use. the basic movements were fine, but he had to shift the balance off a bit cause he didn't wanna get brushed by the actually broom part of it. To protect, one has to know how to fight. It's the most fundamental rule he knew. Didn't know where he learned it from cause he could have sworn he never read it, but that's what he knew.

"Feels like a forever..like I've always been learning, but in truth, not very long. Since at home, I'm surrounded by people who are good at either fighting or magic.. I can't help but be curious to learn how they do it. They show me sometimes.. or I learn by reading... How long have you been wanting to learn?"

"Just recently really." Linneas answered, in some ways, the boy envied that Jiro had so many people he could ask help from. Not that his mom wouldn't help him if he asked, but he just wasn't sure what she could do to teach him. Maybe he could ask Uncle Syrie about these... feelings he'd been having like inadequacy, guilt, and that he could be doing so much more than just clean the shop (though he still enjoyed seeing the place spotless).

"I'm the oldest among the kids, and mommy tells me not to bother Uncle Syrie too much when he's working." he shrugged, though that didn't mean he wasn't saddened by it.

"Ah, that's cool. Learning how to use a bo is one of the more tougher disciplines, so I've learned.. most say if you don't start off young, then it'll be harder to learn, but anyone can learn anything if he puts his heart into it. Or something >>" Wen he mentioned Sy, his brow jacked up slightly. "I see him often enough cause I'm always hanging around Khia.. I helped him with his shapeshifting.. well.. I had someone I know help him out. Always best to learn from one of like kind..."

"I'm the youngest in my family.. well even though I'm not blood related anyway... but there's nothing wrong with sending Sy notes or anything. I mean, if you feel you need to speak to him, you should do so.. Seems silly to let your worries grow bigger and bigger..." It took a bit to get the broom to start spinning and he tossed it smoothly into the air. "So, I'm curious.. why do you wanna learn how to use a bo in the first place?"

Linneas nodded, Jiro's words made a lot of sense. Sometimes he just wished he had someone to talk to that wasn't Huni or Ning. His new sister couldn't speak either so that was definately out of the question. He hadn't seen Ai or Khia around much either. Absently, he immitated the broom twirling with his mop, and there was just something natural about its flow that he managed to duplicate the younger boy's moves.

It surprised Linny. A lot. But then his thoughts went back to Jiro's question. "Why?" he echoed, scratching the back of his neck. "I dunno, it's gonna sound weird but, well, I've been having these really weird dreams... you know? The sort that feels so real and they just stay with you even after you wake up. And these dreams always seem to involve someone who looks like me only older and... well, he seems scarey."

"Doesn't sound weird at all. Actually.. I think I can understand you better than most would..." He had similar dreams, just when he woke up, he was never in his bedroom, but always somewhere else. And all he could ever remember of it was that he had been dreaming. "Sometimes, dreams fortell the future.. or how the future can become if you want it to go in that direction." Since Linny was mimicing his moves, he decided to go ahead with what he knew of basics in this field of training. Normally, he used bladed weapons, but as his mentor said, it never hurt to be prepared.

His eyes were on him though. Even though Linny was older than him, he seemed rather sad and lost. Like he needed someone else to talk to. Jiro wasn't overly good at offering his services outside of a training field really.. cause other than this, there was nothing else connecting the two boys together. Least, not yet anyway. "You're doing good... your grip is a bit off... btu we can fix that."

"Really?" Linneas blinked, happy that he wasn't alone in the whole 'weird dreams' thing. At least he had someone who was going through the same thing. "You actually end up some place else?" he gawked, at least his dreams were just dreams.

Or rather, he thought they were just dreams. Little did the boy know that the dreams were a mixture of memories and visions. He decided not to dwell on them too much as he continued to copy Jiro. "How is it off?" he asked, was it in the wrist or his fingers?

"Mmhm.." He nodded curtly before he gently righted his hand and his fingers. "There.. you'll have a better grip that way.. so when you jab at someone, it doesn't fly out of your fingers heh." Jiro didn't understand why he would wake up in different places. That's just how it was. He would be in his room and then have his dream and next thing he knew, he was elsewhere.. usually in the last part he could recall in his dream. "Yeah... usually, my parents find me and bring me home. It makes them worry cause I'm always somewhere else and they gotta search for me.. I feel like the bad son to them, event hough it's not true..."

Shaking his head a bit, he smirked. "But I'll figure it out sooner or later. I'm too stubborn to let it be for too long..."

"I don't think that makes you a bad son, or even a bad person. It's not like you get these dreams on purpose right?" Linneas smiled, "I mean, maybe you were sleep walking or something. Who knows?" he added, "So don't feel bad about making your parents worry. I end up making my mommy worry even though I'm just at home." he smiled albeit it was a small and sad one.

"I dunno about that." Tossing his broom into the air, he took out his chopsticks. Spinning them with a hint of annoyance, he slammed them into the wood on the broomm handle and caught it by them. "That's the thing.. I feel like I'm supposed to be there.. even if I didn't want to go there. So I can't say it's not something I want on some level.." Using the chopstick stuck in the broom handle to spin it gently. "Well I don't always feel bad.. only when I make my Yuhin.. uh.. my mom.. cry.. then I feel like scum." He pat Linny on the shoulder gently. "I'm sure your mom is very proud of you. Maybe just worried that you'll be alone all the time. My mom does that..."

Linneas cringed at what Jiro had done with his chopsticks, the broom won't be the same when the older boy uses it next time to sweep. At least the mop was still in one piece, for some reason he was more protective about the mop than the broom.

"Mmmm, but is there anything wrong with being alone, though? I mean, so what if I like being by myself sometimes." Linneas shrugged, "Do you like being alone, Jiro?"


The broom would be just fine. Since his chopsticks were rounded, they would leave clean little holes. Not leave any permanent damage. "There isn't, I suppose. But I guess being left alone too much is a bad thing. Having people around at times is nice.. so I'm told. Me, I get my space... all the time. I'd rather be alone, but sometimes, after you get used to the noise of other people.. the silence can be a bit deafening..."

Freeing his chopsticks with a few sharp yanks, he put them back into place. "I have Khia.. and a few friends other than that.. even if I didn't have my big family, I would survive even if it was just Khia..." It was nice, he realized, to talk to someone a lot like himself.. who shared the same ideas. Oh the wickedness they were currently plotting.

"I usually talk to Ai and Khia, but I haven't seen him around lately." Linneas smiled, "You should meet Ai, she's really nice." he added, and was sorely tempted to add the word 'pretty' in the description but decided against it. "And I got to talk to Captain Tybalt recently, he sure knows what he's doing. Sometimes I think I don't know what I'm all about, aside from cleaning that is. He's the one who sorta got me into fighting. Maybe you two would get along too?"

"Ai.. Ai.. Ah.. Aido.. already met her." Nope, haven't forgotten how she snubbed him either. Little knight in shining armor... "I see Khia often.. you probably don't see him cause he's in my dimension.. you should come over sometime and hunt with us. It'd be fun, ya know?" When he mentioned Tybalt, a dark frown appeared on his face and he was tempted to break something. But all he did was laugh as he almost slammed the broom into the ground. "Ha! No.. we wouldn't get along. Trust me, he's not someone whose smell I trust... I met him twice.. not that we talked, but I've seen how he is two separate times. He's not someone I would place my faith in..." He gave him a look, his gold eye flickering red for a moment before he grinned good naturedly. "I think we'd hurt each other."

Tybalt got Linny into fighting?? That featherduster?! HA! Well then. Jiro was more interested than ever to train him in what he knew. This.. should be really fun. "Soon, after you get the hang of moving and sweeping with a bo, we can spare, neh? But maybe you should get a real staff to practice with? A mop is good only if you have nothing else to use.. but it'll throw you off balace wise... maybe a practice one?"

Linneas quirked a brow at Jiro's words, what did he mean by 'dimension'? Was that what the younger boy called his home? And hunt with them? Did they actually go around killing innocent animals? Wasn't that a tad bit... cruel?

"Ha! You're one to talk about cruelty!" She snarled, hands balling into fists.

"I only did it to save you." He responded quietly, refusing to meet her gaze.

"You killed him! You monster! I hate you! You've ruined us all." she screamed at him.

Linneas shook himself, and the vision had gone as suddenly as it had arrived. "Well if you think you'll hurt each other, then I guess it would be better if you two don't meet." he said and scratched the back of his neck.

At Jiro's suggestion of using a different weapon, Linneas frowned defensively. "I prefer to use my mop, thank you very much." Jiro probably didn't mean anything by it, but it sounded like an insult to Linneas. He was comfortable with the cleaning apparatus, weilding it was something that came natural to him. As he would with a broom, but he didn't say anything.

A brow shifted up when he got on the defensive. Well well, mighty touchy. "I didn't mean to offend, but obviously I have. Use whatever you wish to use." Shrugging it off as he did mostly everything, he went to put the broom back in place. He bowed to him, not about to stick around if he offended the guy and he seemed rather testy suddenly. "Seems I wore out my welcome then. You seem to be doing fine so why don't we meet some other time? Maybe we can spar or something..."

He was defensive about his chopsticks, but he also had no issues using other weapons. If Linny wanted to cling to his mop, then that was his choice. It would make him develop a mood shift should anything happen to his broom, but that was something made by his own choice. "If you wanna hang out, then talk to Khia.. he'll show you what to do to get to my dimension..."

Linneas blinked at Jiro's almost hasty departure. The red head didn't mean to sound angry, and he certainly hadn't wanted Jiro to leave yet. "Uh... alright. See you soon." he waved a little out of confusion.

He wasn't leaving just yet, just on his way out. If Linny wanted him to stay, he had to say something. One thing he had learned quickly. He wasn't about to stick around if people are gonna just be testy with you for a comment. Shouhin always told him to not get into fights anymore. But since Linny just said see you later, he waved a hand as he went to his Shouhin, he was still looking at the paper. "Don't tell me you still don't know what he wants yet..."

Tsking and clucking his tongue, Akiya shrugged lightly. "There's too many that I know he'd like..."

"......... then buy it all. WHy do you make this so hard?"

"Why are you out here? I thought you and Linny were sparring or whatever."

Jiro only gave a shrug as he sat down next to him. "Seems like he got pissed at me about something.. so I'm not gonna stay in case I say something else that'll make him upset..."

Linneas was starting to feel uneasy about Jiro's departure, he hadn't mean to drive the younger boy away. But what had he done? He had only said he considered his mop or broom an appropriate weapon, but were they really? He scratched the back of his head, he was very confused and guilt was settling in the pit of his stomach. Maybe Linneas was in the wrong, and with that in mind, he went after Jiro.

"Uh, Jiro?" he softly called out. How do you go about apologizing for something you don't understand, though?

ooking over the book with Akiya and making him pick out things he knew Sah would go crazy over, his demonic wing shifted before he looked up, noticing that Linny had come back out of the room. Getting pushed off the chair lightly by the angel, he gave his parent a glare, in which a cool glance was given. A silent messege passed between the two before he nodded and wandered over to Linny again. "Hai. Can I do something for you?"

His eyes were more thoughtful than anything else before he spoke again. "If you're going to trying apologizing, there's no need. I realize that you misunderstood what I was saying. I wasn't saying give up your mop, but for terms of practice it's best to have a practice staff. If I offended you, I'm sorry... it hadn't been my intention."

"Well, I could have said it in a nicer way." Linneas smiled, his feet shuffling a bit. "I guess I still have to work out how I say things." he adds, scratching the back of his neck. "I'd still like to spar with you some day, though. Though not anytime soon, I still have a long way to go." he chuckles.

"Heh, well you did show me how attached to your mop you are. There's nothing wrong with favoring a weapon, just.. like all things, it can break. It makes you wonder what you'd do if something like that happened, hmm?" His smirk was still in place as he snickered. "Yeah, you got a bit of a way, but with a lot of practice and hard work, I'm sure you'll get in no time! And sparring with you'll be really fun."

At this, Linneas beams, grateful that any possible issue between them has been resolved. "Well I don't intend to restrict myself to just my mop." He smiled, "And maybe when I feel I'm ready and if mommy will let me, I could go over to your place to spar."

"I don't see why not! My parents are really good about letting my friends come over, even though Khia is the only one so far whose come to visit me." But he seemed a lot more relaxed cause the issue was now over and dealt with and he wasn't in a position where he felt.. uneasy. "There's never really any rush and not all spars are rushing at others to try to take them down. When we practice your speed, we can do an exercise to see how firm your grip is on the mop and stuff. Would you like to keep training? Shouhin is useless and can't figure out what to buy." The look on his face was loving towards his parent but also that he wished he wasn't like that. >>

"No, that's alright, I think I'm done with training for the day." Linneas smiled, his muscles were starting to cramp. "Well, I could show him the more popular ones from the selection, maybe that could be of help?" he suggested.

"As you wish. I forgot that it's best to take it slow heh. Also forget how much faster time moves here.." He was mainly talking to himself, looking thoughtful and rubbing his chin. "It's good to take a hot soothing bath whenever you can.. maybe add some nicely scented oil and just relax.. definately helps tense muscles and all that. And if you could show him that, it'd be awesome... or else we might be here all day..."

"I'll ask mommy if we have any of those stuff." Linneas smiled and nodded at the younger Tale's suggestions. "And the Stationeries one on page five, seven and twenty-three are our best sellers. As for font type, Font nine, twelve, thirty and thirty five are the most suitable ones."

"You hear that, Shouhin?" Looking over at the man, he noticed how he was flicking to those pages. A scowl twisted his lips as the angel made a pleased sound. "I think he'll take them all. He's really not that picky.. Yuhin'll love anything..."

Smirking cause he knew Jiro was annoyed at him for taking so long, he closed the book and got to his feet. "I'll take them indeed. They'll be perfect and this way, he'll have a lot of stationary to use. How much would that be for a set?"

"Two hundred gold all in all for one hundred fifty sheets of stationery." Linneas replied as he double checked his computations. "If you just write your address and what you want to be printed they'll be delivered by next week. And as shop procedures, there'll be a downpayment of one hundred fifty and the rest is to be paid once your order is finished." he smiled and handed over a notepad and a pen.

"Sounds reasonable.." He smiled down at the boy and had taken the notepad when he mentioned writing down his address and he hesitated. "Hmm... well it's not exactly easy to deliever things to my place... mainly cause we really don't have an address." He lived in a world where there were no such things as house numbers or area codes. Hell, most of the kind who lived there had no idea what a phone was, or a television. "I was thinking of just having Jiro come pick them up.. so he'll be stopping by next week in order to get them. Would that work as well?"

"Oh certainly! That wouldn't be a problem." Linneas smiled, pleased that he would have the opportunity to see Jiro again. "I'll give this to mommy as soon as she comes home."

"Awesome!" Writing down his choices on the paper he had to, he patted down his front for a bit before fishing out a small sack of gold coins and checked to make sure it had all of one hundred and fifty pieces that was needed for the down payment. Once he was pleased with what was there, he handed it to the boy with a smile. "Here you are. My order and the down payment. Please take your time. There really is no rush with us. I'll send Jiro back here in a week's time to see how things are going. If you're not done, just tell him to deliver a message to me. If you two wanna hang out or something, that'll be more than fine. Jiro does need to get out a bit more heh."

Jiro's nose wrinkled ever so slightly at that before he smirked and bowed before him. Linny had a nice smell and he knew that getting to play with him was going to be rather interesting. It would be fun to train more with him. "So next week?"