Setting: Market in the Shinjuku district of New Tokyo.
Time: Evening hours (6:00-7:00) on a Friday.

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It had been a long day, just like nearly every other day in Mei-Xing's life. Pile after pile of literature to read and edit (most of which she honestly skimmed after a while), phone call after phone call to author and manager alike, and after nearly ten hours she was finally done for the weekend. With a heavy sigh, she decided that she should probably stop by the market and pick up a few things, at least for tonight's dinner; the pantry at home was looking rather bare as of late, and she rarely had time for a complete shopping trip.

Nuan Ling, Mei-Xing's little shadow friend, had been following her around all day. Luckily, it seemed that other people couldn't see him, which put Mei-Xing at ease. She had never necessarily liked being the center of attention, and having a strange shadow follow you around was probably one of the biggest attention-magnets you could get. With another casual glance over her shoulder, she realized that he was still there, the image rippling as it moved between different surfaces, but still maintaining the general shape of a little bear cub. She normally would have lost it among all the other shadows cast by the hanging lanterns and lights in the market, but this particular shadow was adorned with a bright green Kanji symbol, making it easy to spot. She cleared her throat and stopped at a stand that was selling mangoes; maybe she'd make a salad of some sort? It seemed like an easy enough dinner for just one person after a long day. Picking a particularly juicy-looking one and paying the man, Mei-Xing went about her way, looking in on other stalls as she walked.

She had always rather liked these markets much more than modern supermarkets, with their harsh fluorescent lights and crowded aisles. Well, not that this market was any less crowded, but the atmosphere helped to ease a bit of that tension. Mei-Xing stopped at another stand, looking at different meats, when a sudden wave of deja-vu washed over her. This was the place; she'd gotten Nuan Ling here on another shopping trip. Well, he had just been a rather unassuming teacup back then. This realization had her looking around almost frantically to see if she could find that Chinese tea stall. Sadly, it was nowhere to be found. Crestfallen, Mei-Xing let out another sigh and turned her attention back to her grocery shopping.

[[ OoC: ack, sorry that this is totally terrible. 8 x8 i haven't roleplayed in a while; i might be a little rusty at first. ]]