bravenewworld | Groceries and Delinquents

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Groceries and Delinquents

[OPEN - Running Errands]

Orihime's short, chestnut hair swung lightly at the edge of her jawline as she walked. Clasped in both hands was a sack of her week's groceries, an assortment of inexpensive vegetables, a box of butter, a quart of milk, and a sack of rice. Nothing too fancy. There was a second smaller sack behind that one containing a few spools of thread in black, white, and light brown. Her long khaki shirt brushed at her shins, a simple pair of brown flats on her feet. There was nothing all that extraordinary about her at first glance, as she walked with her head down and an absent, faraway smile on her face. Her long-sleeved turtleneck shirt had the collar rolled down, the fit snug but modest.

There was still a little dusting of powdered sugar on her top, and a smudge of chocolate batter on her cheek, but either she didn't notice or didn't care. She'd worked hard at the bakery today, just as she always did now that summer vacation had started. She'd need the extra money for the upcoming school year, but for now, it needed to be spent on other things.

Like paying the deposit on her new apartment, since her last one had a giant hole blown through the wall, as well as the heavy fee she'd had to dole out for breaking her lease in order to live somewhere with all of its walls and bathroom in tact. Still, at least her brother's picture hadn't been damaged, and that was all that really mattered.

As she walked, her gaze was caught by something gleaming in a shop window, and she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. She stared. Then she drifted forward, as if caught in a magnetic beam until she almost had her nose pressed against the glass.

Wow... A limited edition signed photograph of the great Pokemon Trainer and celebrated idol, Rise Kujikawa! And next to that... "OH! That's a rare one!" This time she did push a hand against the glass, her eyes wide as she spotted the trading card featuring Haruka Tenoh and her Rhyhorn. Was that signed too? She couldn't tell from the glare of the window, no matter how she squinted. She ached to rush right in and buy either one, but her wallet ached far more. With a resigned sigh, her shoulders wilted and she dropped her head, before forcefully pulling herself away. Maybe someday. After she finished school, and saved up enough money to open her own cake shop, she might be able to splurge on something nice like that.

For now, she just wanted to get home and roll herself into a hot bath, and cook an 'interesting' meal.

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CLOSED TO RYUKO

There was a time when walking home in the dark used to make Orihime nervous. She'd walk faster, take smaller side roads at a sprint if there wasn't anyone else around, and nervously clutch her keys in her pocket.

She'd since learned that it didn't matter what time of day it was; she was still going to be bullied even if it was broad daylight. When she first heard a familiar harsh voice bark her name, Orihime flinched, dread flooding through her entire body. She held her groceries a little tighter and forced herself to stand still, even though every instinct inside of her screamed that she should run. Running was a mistake. That was something she'd learned four years ago when they'd punched her in the stomach until she lay gasping on the floor in a puddle of her own vomit.

Nervously she cast a glance to her left and right, hoping to see anyone else nearby that might speak out if they saw anything violent, but all she saw were the piles of construction supplies and lumber behind the chain link fence. She waited, swallowing hard, and trying to squash her anger and fear. She had to be calm. She had to be quiet.

It didn't take the quartet long to reach her. The chain link fence rattled noisily as Orihime stumbled into it, roughly shoved back by the older girls. She'd encountered them many, many times before. They were the reason her hair was short. They were the reason she tried to leave school very early, or failing that, very late. She'd even tried changing up her route home, but all of these solutions were temporary. Eventually they found her, bruised her, and humiliated her, over and over again. Orihime had hoped they'd be too busy at the beach during summer vacation to bother her, but she was wrong.

"I told you, the color of your hair pisses me off!" the older girl loudly declared, and spat on the ground. "You still haven't dyed it? What an arrogant brat."

Orihime didn't deny it. She kept her head down, avoiding eye contact, and clutched at the fence as if it were a dear friend silently supporting her. Another girl seized her by the front of her shirt, forcing her to put her back against the fence and face her bullies.

"How should we punish her this time?"

The leader took a drag on her cigarette, tapping the ash, and smiled. "Push up her sleeve."

Orihime struggled despite her earlier resolve, but they grabbed her by the hair and shoved her up against the fence again. They restrained her as she flailed, and pushed up the sleeve of her shirt to bare her arm. No. Stop! she wanted to scream, but she held her tongue. Her eyes widened with fear as they kept her secure, while the leader brought the burning cigarette closer to Orihime's exposed skin.

Suddenly the sharp heat broke Orihime's silence, and she bleated in pain. One of them slapped her across the face.

"Don't be such a wimp!"

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Ravi blinked owlishly at Orihime, her head canting to one side in curiosity. She trilled a little at the first question, bobbing her head up and down in reply. She did like trading cards, because they had all sorts of things on them. What confused her was when they were people that she knew.

The second question, though, got a different sort of answer as Rei Hino stepped out from behind the corner and into view. Ravi's eyes darted towards her trainer and she crowed, gesturing one feathered appendage towards the priestess.

"She does, yes. I'm sorry if she's disturbing you, too. She's always drawn to these memorabilia shops for some reason," Rei said as she approached with a nod of her head. As she neared, her eyes noticed the card and she huffed a laugh. "Staring at Haruka-san again, Ravi? You know you can just go over to the theater and see her whenever."

"Really?!" Orihime lit up at the Pokemon's response. Now they were trading card buddies! "That's great! I've always wondered what it would be like to be that famous, haven't you? I've even practiced my trading card pose..."

But before she got to demonstrate just what that pose was, she straightened quickly at Rei's appearance, feeling a little self-conscious. Oh, of course a Trainer would be nearby. And she has such pretty hair! Ahhh, she wished she could grow it that long!

Quickly she raised her hands and waved her palms. "No no, she isn't disturbing me at all! We were talking about trading cards." Well. Orihime was talking, anyway. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything!" That was embarrassing...

At Rei's words, Orihime paused, regarding the girl curiously. "You've met her before? Is she nice?"

Ravi quirked her head to the side, and like all Xatu she simply stared at Orihime. It's a quirk of the species, and that's simply that. Rei, utterly unbothered, waves off the girl's concern. "Not at all. We were just out, and she took off. She does that sometimes."

It's not like the councilman's daughter couldn't find her, even if she was lost, too. Ravi and she had a psychic bond, and a strong link. She crooked a finger and the Xatu flaps over to perch on her head, getting a bemused huff.

"Haruka-san? She's alright. A little but cryptic, but kinder than most"

"Ha ha! She's really cute." She didn't have any Pokemon of her own, but she thought it might be nice to adopt one someday. It was just a matter of finding one who had the same culinary tastes that Orihime did, since they'd be exposed to a lot of desserts and weird meals.

For a moment Orihime debated on introducing herself. It was just a random run-in on the street, and she didn't want to hold them up if they had errands to run. But it also seemed rude not to. Well, it couldn't hurt! Orihime bowed politely at the waist.

"I'm happy to meet you both. Orihime Inoue." She straightened with a wry little smile, twisting the handles of her shopping bags almost shyly. "So...do you visit the theater often? Or do you work there?" It seemed like they made regular stops if Rei discussed it so casually.

"Who, Ravi, or Haruka-san?" Rei teased, reaching up to run a finger along the Xatu's beak. What a strange girl, she thought, wondering why she seemed so on edge. It didn't really make sense, but then Rei'd been told more than once that she had an intimidating personality.

"And it's a pleasure, Orihime-san. This is Ravi and my name is Rei Hino. And no, I don't work at the theater or visit particularly often. I'm the high priest of Hikawa Shrine, in the Ninetales Vale, and current head of the Hino Clan. Haruka-san is something of a business associate of mine. She's a regular at the shrine, and my family has donated to the theater with some regularity."

Which is true, though it was more a donation to the secret organization using the theater as a cover, rather than the arts themselves.

"Are you a fan?"

"The shrine? Really? I've always wanted to visit there, I've heard it's incredibly pretty!" she sighed happily, trying to imagine it. She heard it had something to do with fire and divine blessings, and she could picture everyone who attended doing so in the most elegant and beautiful attire. It was a place of peace and perfect harmony...or, so she'd heard.

She looked at Rei for a moment when she asked Orihime if she were a fan. Orihime's smile quieted, then she turned her gaze back to the picture. For a moment she didn't say anything. When she spoke, her voice was softer. "Sort of. I admire her." It was difficult to explain, and she awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. "She's a strong person, and isn't afraid of her own ambitions. Racing Rhyhorns was probably really dangerous, especially for a girl, but she always seemed so fearless and confident. I always wanted to be like that."

Her shoulders hitched with a quick sigh, and her smile brightened once more. "I guess if she's acting now, that's just one more thing to admire, right? There's nothing she can't do!"

"We do welcome visitors, so if you're interested, please come visit. Ninetales Vale is nowhere near as scary as it sounds." Generally that was what kept people away from her little home. The Vale did have a fearsome reputation as a hangout for ghosts and ghouls as well as other things that went bump in the night.

But on the topic of Haruka, well, she couldn't really relate there. She and her friend were...friends...but they also clashed with some regularity. Strong personalities tended to do just that, and she found that Michiru was more her speed. Which prompted another question.

"How about her partner?"

She didn't quite want to say lover, in case Orihime was into Haruka that way. It could be an unpleasant reminder of something unattainable, after all.

"...It's supposed to sound scary...?" Color Orihime surprised. She thought Ninetales was one of the cutest Pokemon. It looked so soft, yet wise and silently benevolent. Who would be afraid of that? Maybe people just had bad experiences with the word 'vale.' She couldn't begin to guess, unless there had been a rogue veil dancer that wreaked havoc in the city.

Unlikely, though.

"Okay, I will! It might be nice to go somewhere new for a change," she beamed.

But...Haruka's partner? Orihime's head tipped quizzically to the side. What about her partner? "Well...I'm not sure. I don't really know much about her except for what pops up in the news. She's mysterious?" That was the best guess she could make as far as Michiru was concerned. It was probably safe to say that Orihime wasn't harboring any sort of secret crush.

"It does have a reputation," Rei said with a laugh. Clearly Orihime didn't know this though, and that was probably for the best. Still, a happy possible visitor was nice. As was someone who wasn't jealous of Michiru. That was an irritatingly common trend among the girls in Union.

"And that's about right. She's not very talkative, but she's my friend. And she's how I met Haruka-san. But anyway, enough about them. What part of town are you from, dear?"

Honestly? If it did have a spooky reputation, that would have served only to draw her over that much sooner rather than repel her. "Wow...you know a lot of famous people, I guess, ah ha ha...!" Orihime was fortunate then that Rei didn't mind talking to someone fairly common and poor, then.

Speaking of which, at a question like that, she couldn't really pretend to be anything other than what she was. Her smile was sheepish as she turned to point. "Over there, in the Rockwood Apartments several blocks down. It's a little cozy, but it's home!"

Cozy was a nice way to put it, anyway. She'd done her best to add her own personal touches to her little flat, and she was comfortable and happy there. It just wasn't the best sort of place to impress visitors. "You're both welcome to visit any time, if you like. I don't usually have guests!"

Common and poor hardly meant anything to her. Orihime seemed nice, she was quite pretty, and seemed pretty sociable. Rei's eyes tracked the girl's fingertip towards Rockwood Apartments.

"Oh you live there? I've seen them as I pass by. I'd actually considered attempting to acquire them, and several other housing complexes in the area." Which she realized sounded somewhat entitled and bratty but since Orihime didn't know who she was...

"Sorry, I guess I haven't quite got the reputation here as I do in the Vale. My father was the late Councilman Takashi Hino. When he died in the attack on the city, I started using his fortune to buy up places that had been affected by Kyuurem and make them better. Your place was on my list."

"The Councilman...? I'm so sorry!" That was awful! The attack hadn't happened all that long ago, so she could only imagine that the emotional wounds had not yet healed. And yet, Rei was so calm and composed, it was incredible. How did she do that? Orihime had been a complete wreck for over a year when she'd lost her brother. What she wouldn't give to have even a fraction of Rei's maturity!

She hesitantly turned to look back in the direction she'd indicated. An improvement to the buildings was definitely overdue, she couldn't deny that. But if the apartments became that much nicer, it was likely that the cost of rent would go up as well. She wasn't sure it would be polite to ask about that, but it did cause her some concern.

"That would be wonderful. I had to move because the last place I lived got a big hole in the wall. It was hard to study when it was so drafty, ha ha...!"

Staying calm about her father’s death was easy, because she hated him. He was scum, and never would be anything different.

“Don’t worry about a thing,” Rei said, fully aware that the people living in those places would probably not be able to afford a rent hike. That wasn’t her intention, and never would be. Her goal was to use the Hino Clan’s wealth to make up for her father’s neglect. He’d turned it to political gain, and she’d turned it into business and humanitarian efforts. And when she passed, and her heir took over, they’d do as they needed with the funds as well.

“Look forward to it, really. I’m excited to see where the project goes. And when we get started? Let me know what kinds of improvements you want to see, alright?”

"Any improvements?" Orihime looked thoughtful for a moment. She wasn't the type of person who found things to complain about, and could be satisfied and happy with very little. So what sort of thing would she like to see?

Hmmmmmm...

She rubbed her hand over her mouth in thought, then suddenly perked up. "Oh, I know! Those beds that you can fold up into the wall, or a closet. The living area is really small for the flats with no bedrooms, so I just sleep on a mat and roll it up in the morning. But a real bed would be amazing, especially if it could be easily stored to make room when guests come over!"

Not exactly 'a fresh coat of paint' or 'updated plumbing,' but it was still something she thought would be extra comfortable and convenient.

No beds. Rei nodded and pulled out a pen, making a note of it.

"I'll definitely be upgrading the provided furniture. Don't worry about that, Orihime-san. Just give me some time and I'll get what I can done."

"...Provided...furniture...?" Did her eyes just light up. They definitely did. Almost everything she had were what she or her late brother had carted home off of sidewalks when people left bookcases and tables out for whoever wanted to take them off their hands. She'd never considered the possibility of a fully furnished apartment before.

She shook her head quickly. "But that's probably really expensive! I don't think you have to go that far. The hideaway beds are probably expensive too, so really, forget I mentioned them. It's very comfortable as it is, you don't have to worry!"

"No," Rei said flatly, already seeing where this is going. "I'm committed to making the lives of Union a better place. It's what my father would have wanted." No it's not Rei, you're just trying to piss on his memory because you hate him.

"The cost isn't really an object, Orihime-san. Don't worry about it."

There wasn't any point in arguing, was there? Rei had the right intentions, and it really would help the other people living there, as well as anyone else who couldn't afford all that much in one of the other buildings nearby.

So she didn't argue, and instead dropped a deep, respectful bow of gratitude, hands clasped together, her short hair swinging forward. "Then...thank you very much. I deeply appreciate your kindness."

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Groceries and Delinquents

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