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 Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 6:58 pm
Oh jack.
Oh jack ohjackohjackohjack. Xiu skittered around the maul, her gaze sweeping the floor anxiously. After a great deal of contemplation and research, she decided that she was finally ready to own and care for a pet of her own. Who had gotten her interested in getting a pet in the first place? Bent-Tail, of course! The Baku found the little mouse to be absolutely adorable, and he seemed like he was good company for the reaper as well. Shortly after that day with the lunch mishap, the idea of getting a pet of her own slowly grew in her mind.
And now she was at the maul, intending on paying the pet store a visit and going home with a companion of her own.
Unfortunately, on her way to the store, her obi had suddenly gotten caught on something. Thinking little of it, Xiu had given it a sharp tug, only to freeze when she heard something clink onto the floor. Before she could grab it, a group of students walked past, and the object was kicked off somewhere else. And now?
Now she was like this.
Yes, she had dropped her skull pin, and had no idea where it was. Ears flattened, she let out a little whimper, putting her face low to the ground while she searched for her missing pin. As she was paying very little attention, she didn't realized that a certain reaper was standing nearby until she walked right into his legs.
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 7:12 pm
Every now and then, Shun needed to visit the pet store to gather some things for Bent-Tail. He normally bought smaller bags of FEAR candy and other treats to keep things fresh and so his little pet could have some variety in his diet and whatnot. Today, he was thinking of possibly getting the little guy a toy, if anything seemed to strike his fancy at least.
As he made his way, he paused as he felt something bump into him. Glancing down, the Reaper saw a little pink creature there. It looked like a tapir. But... he had a feeling that wasn't quite what it was. Even so, he was a little confused as to what this pink tapir-like creature was doing around here. Had someone lost their pet?
"You lost?" he asked it with a raised brow.
He didn't really have a clue that this was actually someone he knew.
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 8:01 pm
She opened her mouth to apologize when the boil she crashed into suddenly spoke. Her ears immediately pricked up at the familiar voice, and she slowly looked up, craning her head so that she could see his face. After a few seconds of blank staring, she moved forward to put one of her front feet on his shoe.
"Shun!" Xiu whimpered, her ears immediately flattening themselves again and her tail drooping, "I lost my skull pin! I wanted to visit the pet store, and my obi got stuck on something so I pulled it, and then my pin went flying and someone kicked it away and...and..." She trailed off, realizing how hysterical she sounded. Taking a deep breath, she sat down on the ground and took to staring up at Shun with hopeful eyes.
"Y-you haven't seen it, have you?"
There was a very, very sad little Baku sitting at Shun's feet right now.
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 8:15 pm
Hearing the tapir speak, Shun was taken aback, not expecting that. Furthermore, he recognized that voice.
"Xiu?" he started, not too sure if he had heard her correctly. But, he remembered her being a Baku... and that baku were rather tapir-like in appearance. When she explained things, he furrowed his brow and shook his head.
"Can't say I have," he said before looking towards Bent-Tail, "Bent might be able to help you search though."
The mouse had been on his shoulder as usual, and at the sight of the baku, he scurried on down and tilted his head. Her voice and scent were very familiar but she looked very different! Apparently she needed help too. Tilting his head the other way, he stared at her while trying to figure out what was wrong.
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 8:37 pm
Oh, right. "Y-yes, it's me." She confirmed, and she would have smiled weakly had she been capable of doing so in that form. Instead, she drooped upon hearing that the reaper hadn't seen her pin anywhere, but recovered quickly at the offer. "Really?"
Her tail thumped against the ground as the mouse left his perch to approach her. "Hi, Bent-Tail!" Xiu greeted, suddenly seeming to have cheered up a little, "It's me, Xiu! I, um...I have a problem." She stood up again, circling around Shun's legs as she tried to find a way to explain what she was looking for.
"I...I lost my pin. Umm, it looks like a skull, and it's about this big." She stopped walking so that she could trace the general shape in the air with her front leg. "I dropped it back there, but then somebody kicked it away. Maybe...you'll have better luck finding it than me?"
She just hoped that nobody stepped on it and that it was still in one piece.
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 8:58 pm
The little mouse stared at the Baku as she explained her plight. For a little bit, it seemed as if it hadn't quite fully understood what the problem was, seeing how he just stared at her in silence. However, after a few moments, he bolted off into the nearest alleyway and started to rummage around.
Remaining where he was, Shun frowned as he saw Bent-Tail root around like that. He hoped he was actually.. searching and not just digging through garbage. Either way there was a chance he was going to need a bath whenever they got back home.
A minute or so went by, but then the mouse reappeared, dragging the piece of cloth with him.
"..Is that it?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 9:40 pm
"I...I don't know," Xiu answered, approaching Bent-Tail as the piece of cloth was dragged over. She eyed it carefully, and bent down to give it a little sniff. "But maybe...?" Pawing at it, she felt something hard beneath the surface of the cloth, and her heart leaped hopefully. Could it be?
With a little bit of a struggle--it was hard when you didn't have thumbs--the Baku managed to flip the cloth over and...there it was, stuck to the scrap. Wagging her tail rapidly, she turned to Bent-Tail, the excitement clear in her voice. "Thank you for the help!" She never would have thought to look there! Grabbing the scrap in her mouth, she shook her pin loose and then picked it up.
One moment she was a little creature, and the next, Xiu was back in her human form. Quickly pinning the object back onto her obi, she reached down to pet the mouse, and then cupped her hands together as an offer to help him back onto Shun's shoulder. Speaking of the reaper, she looked up at him to grin sheepishly. "I'm lucky that you two showed up." She laughed, a little embarrassed at her freak-out in hindsight.
"So, what brings you out here today?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 9:45 pm
Bent-Tail let out a small, surprised, squeak as Xiu changed back to how he normally saw her. But then he bounced happily as he was patted on the head. Staring up at her, he waved before scuttling back up to his usual perch.
Nodding to the Baku, Shun just sort of shrugged at her thanks. The mouse had done the work really, not him.
"Need to grab a thing or two for Bent," he replied before glancing towards the pet store nearby. He was about to just go ahead and leave, but he supposed he should try to be nice and not just ditch Xiu now that the problem was over with. She wasn't overbearing to be around in any case and was similar to Mitsu in a few ways.
"... Yourself?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 10:02 pm
"I'm heading to the pet store," She explained, stretching her arms over her head. Aah, it was nice to be back in this form. "I thought it was time for me to find a pet of my own. Um...are we headed the same way, then?"
She was a little surprised to find that she wasn't quite as nervous around Shun as before. Of course, Xiu couldn't claim to be completely comfortable around him yet, but it was a start. The only problem was that it was a little hard making small talk with the Reaper, but that wasn't going to stop her from trying.
"So, um. Have you been to that pet store often? It's my first time, so I'm not sure what pet I want to get." Preferably something that wouldn't try to eat her face.
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 10:33 pm
"Seems that way," Shun replied while turning around to start heading towards the store. Since she was headed to the same place he just figured she'd follow along. Or something like that.
"Been here a few times to grab stuff," he added while opening the door, "They've got a few different pets for sale. Stock changes from what I've noticed."
His gaze lingered on the Baku for a few moments before he went on in. The Reaper hoped she wouldn't try to ask him for advice on what to get. He didn't know what would be good for the girl.
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 10:50 pm
Fortunately, Xiu didn't have to ask Shun to help her pick out a pet. Rather, it seemed like a pet picked her out. Jind of.
The first thing they would hear when they entered the store was cursing. Lots of cursing, and there seemed to be some hissing to go with it. From the sounds of it, one of the pets had escaped it's cage and was running around loose, while the shopkeeper was left chasing it around. The escapee was a small, flame-tipped feline, and it was this same feline that decided it suddenly wanted to leap at Xiu and dig it's claws into her.
With a loud yelp, the Baku immediately pulled the cat away from her, holding it at arms length as it turned to hiss at the shopkeeper, making an attempt to wriggle free to lunge at him. She struggled to keep a hold on it, grimacing as it reached out and tried to swipe at the poor man's face.
"What a temperamental little thing!" Xiu managed to squeak, hoping that it wouldn't turn it's sights on either of them...which is exactly what it did. Only it didn't hiss or try to scratch them--instead, it suddenly went limp and meowed innocently, as if it hadn't been trying to maul the shopkeeper a minute ago.
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 10:57 pm
It certainly didn't take long before stepping into the shop that stuff was stirring. Quickly moving out of the way of the cat, Shun stared as Xiu 'caught' the creature and was struggling against it. The cat had settled down but he couldn't help but frown at it.
What the hell was with the cats in this section of Halloween? They all seemed to have issues one way or another. Even Ziggy, the one Mitsu had rescued seemed to enjoy clawing his face up all too well.
Bent-Tail sat a little nervously on Shun's shoulder. He didn't have too many problems with cats before the move but lately the felines have just been.. unruly.
"Guess that one likes you," he said plainly while looking at one of the shelves. There was a strange ball-type toy that glowed sitting on it. Well, there were a few other balls, but it looked like that one was the only one like it. It appeared to be made out of metal as well. Intrigued by it, he picked up the object. It had a bit of weight, but over all it seemed like a fairly ordinary ball.
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 11:28 pm
"L-likes me?" She repeated, unable to help but look a little incredulous at the idea. Sure enough, it seemed to meow fondly enough at Xiu, and even Shun and Bent-Tail. But when she tried to hand it back to the shopkeeper?
HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
"O-okay, okay!" She squeaked, pulling it back towards her before it could get a hit in. It really was a cat with a temper, wasn't it? But...for some reason, Xiu found herself surprisingly fond of it, especially since it appeared to be fairly docile around her. Perhaps this would be the pet for her? But it needed a name.
Perhaps...a name to reflect her own heritage? While she had a decent grasp on the Chinese half of her background, her skills in speaking Japanese was...non-existent, actually. But she knew someone who might be able to help.
"Shun? Can you speak any other languages?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 9:05 am
The cat certainly did not like the shopkeeper. That was for sure. In any case, it seemed that Xiu had found herself a pet, unless she decided that she didn't want the cat.
Looking over the ball a little longer, Shun glanced up at the Baku as she asked him something.
"I can, yes," he replied. As usual, he didn't really elaborate on what else he knew, but he supposed the demon girl might be able to guess his other language.
Holding onto the ball, he looked on around the area to see if there was anything else of interest.
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Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 3:03 pm
The little Baku trailed after him, the feline hanging contentedly from her arms. She could indeed guess what language he spoke, going off of the reaper's own name and the way his room had been laid out. "What's...um, 'cat'? Or 'red'?" Was she really going to name the cat that? No, of course not! But it was good to start with the basics anyways, right? But first of all...
"Are you a ghoul or a boil?" She murmured, staring into the cat's face contemplatively. It merely meowed in reply, but bristled suddenly when the shopkeeper croaked "it's a male" from behind her.
Okay then, a boy name!
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