[Plotboard] Fox and the Firefly.

[WrightJustice]

What a beautiful day it was; low hanging mist speckled with sunlight that danced through the gaps, creating a grand delight that formed the peak of Kirigakure's weather and so it was a good time for family errands as Nishiki moved through the water particles with joyful grace.
The boy's usual red kimono swept through the mist like a flowing breeze with the tail end of his white patterned jacket railed behind him as he hopped and skipped through the glistening streets, his neck and face bundled by his scarf and everything bound nicely with rope sashes as he made his way toward a wonderful little blacksmith for his father.

The fresh Chuunin soon found himself landing before the pristine looking shop and with a quick nod he stepped through the door with a pointed grin across his face and approached the counter that was manned by an older man.
"Welcome, oh if it isn't young little Nishiki-kun" the old man spoke out as he heard the bell ring and turn to see who the customer was
"Oh but you're all grown up now and a Chuunin I do believe" he remarked politely and happily.
"Heya, shishishi, yeah" the young cub replied, scratching under his nose out of glee
"So what brings you here today? It has been awhile since I have seen you" the old queried
"Oh, yeah its my father's old sword it kind of broke in half so he needs a new one" the boy explained as he placed paper containing the details on the counter which the old man picked up and glanced over.
"Ah yes, this will take lots of work and will take some time but we can sort it out for you and it should be ready by the end of the day" the man explained.
"Righto, shishishi, oh and here's the advance payment as usual" Nishiki replied happily as he placed a pouch of money on the desk which the man gracefully accepted.
"Now, where is that young boy, it seems we need more coal for the forge. Lumine!" the man called out as he started to poke around in the furnace.

The teen Tsukino was actually a little intrigued over the blacksmith and loved watching it all get started each time he visited and so he stood back and waited for this Lumine person to come with the stuff that was required, though he did also wonder why his father picked this place out of any other but then again the man gave good quality for a great deal so it wasn't surprise his dad was willing to pinch pennies a little for this place but there was probably more to it than that and he would have to try and figure it out some time.

[Lumine]

Lumine was yawning as he just got ready for another day at the smith shop. The weather seemed nice, but he really wanted those five extra minutes of sleep. There was a traffic jam earlier that day with a bunch of random shinobi running after a bandit in the streets, other then that he made it on time and began his daily routine. He was wearing a basic light brown tunic over his white t-shirt and a brown shorts with some white socks and some tattered brown trainers which had a soft metal cap for protection as he prepared for work.

Lumine heard someone come in and they looked rather weirdly dressed, at least as far as he knew as he went to the back again scurrying off since he knew he might be needed for something as he got to checking everything was in order picking up some bucket of water and placing it near the cooling area. Lumine sighed as he looked around and realized some of the coal stocks were low, this old man seemed to really be getting old as he got some of the coal in a separate bucket and headed towards the forge before putting it down.

Lumine looked up and saw the strange man up close and felt like the guy was looking at him as he just pouted and proceeded to pour the coal from the bucket into the pile as he realized he would have to go get some more as he spoke for a bit.

"we need to get more coal", as he looked down he was always bothered about getting the coal since people had that look that made him think he was a nuisance most of the time. He did not want to, but he had to go get more coal or this might end up being the last sword that gets made to day, and the shop might close later or one of them might forget as well. His voice was rather soft though and it was not too clear but the old man could hear him and gave a nod as if expecting to run out of coal. The old man was rather sly in that regard, but at the same time it was like training so that Lumine could learn to get out and mingle with people. Lumine spent most of his time just reading books when he was not working here and he had a small room in the smith shop in case he had to stay over night.

[WrightJustice]

Nishiki watched as the man began gathering all the things he needed to make the requested sword when he saw the head of a little kid bob past, almost missing him at first but the young fox leaned over the counter rather curiously to look at the small brown haired boy carrying water and coal to the furnace area before exclaiming they needed more coal, to which the smithy nodded as if expecting the poor thing to go fetch it.
"Oh, you have a small kid working for you?" Nishiki unleashed his curiosity into his words
"Ah, yes, that is Lumine a young genin actually who does odd jobs for me" the man replied politely before getting back to work.

The Tsukino moved around the counter to take a better look, bending in real close to match his height as he thought about how he was even shorter than he was not too long ago as a genin himself.
"Shishishi, so tiny" he chuckled a bit, his right hand hovering over their heads as if to measure the size though the kid could easily have a massive growth spurt that put him above Nishiki since it wasn't clear he was really going to grow much more as it seemed his mother's genes over powered his father's and kept him at five foot seven inches.
"Perhaps I can help you a bit" he then commented as he rose back up from his crouched position "I don't have much to do other than wait for the sword anyway, shishishi"[/color] he snickered, sounding a bit embarrassed over doing chores as a chuunin.
"Good idea, I know you yourself where not very personable when you where younger so maybe you can get more practice also" the old man spoke in a somewhat lecturing manner, remembering the few time animalistic boy had previously had to come to the blacksmith on errands such as this in the past as a genin, though he was trying to learn to more friendly to others.
"Maybe you'll pay me... Jokes of course... Shishishi" the vulpine boy then rebutted in a somewhat joking manner before looking back at Lumine, causing the man to simply tut and shake his head.
"So how bout it?" he questioned him, forgetting the little kid didn't even know who he was or anything.

[Lumine]

Lumine was preparing to go fetch some coal as he got a really large backpack and a small wagon as well as he was not that strong, and they really needed quite a bit of coal to refill. That and the usual staff were all busy on other things like deliveries of other completed weapons. For some reason there was someone making some weird chuckling sound as he was finally getting ready to go the weird guy offered to help him a bit.

He listened in as the old man seemed to think this was a good idea as Lumine seemed a bit skeptical with that look in his eyes that seemed to not realize how important this person may or may not be. He looked at the weirdo and at the old man shaking his head and he gave out a sigh that made it seem like Lumine was mimicking the old man with this feeling of disappointment as he moved closer and positioned the handles of the wagon in front of the strange guy.

"Come on and let's go", as he seemed to be straight to the point pouting a bit though it was more about him having this feeling that he would end up working more then usual today as he began to wonder who this guy was. He would wait for the guy to follow and after they got a few meters away from the shop he then asked a question he wanted to ask a lot sooner. "Who are you?", as he kept on walking on towards the materials shop which was located further down the street due to all these other shops getting in the way lately as they did attempt to move the materials vendor closer only for a bunch of people to claim it for clothing shops since clothing seemed to be some amazing thing these days. The blacksmith was actually alone in this area, since all the other black smiths moved to more populated areas and selling cheaper lower quality swords for better profits. Lumine was a member of the Masamune family, a branch of the Muramasa as his crest was showing a bit on the back of the brown tunic he was wearing. The wind blew thought his hair as well as he also began to wonder what was up with the weird dress sense of this guy.

[WrightJustice]

Nishiki followed the little boy who seemed to be doing quite a lot for someone so small a frail looking, which he supposed was a big part of what made him want to help the boy since it somehow seemed a little unfair though the young fox also just felt intrigued by the boy and just wanted to help and maybe get to know him.
As he accompanied Lumine and watched for where they had to go, it finally clicked that they didn't really introduce each other as the kid suddenly asked who the Tsukino even was which was a little embarrassing especially since he was trying to become more personable.

"Oh, right..." Nishiki replied, sounding a little shocked as he remembered he never said "Shishi, yeah, I'm Nishiki, bled for the family Muramasa, born of the house Tsukino, Jinchuuriki host of Yoshimitsu no Etaigenma the Phantom Beast of Elements" he rattled off his own usual introduction including the part he added about being a jinchuuriki which seemed to come rather naturally now to him as it just fit, filling his voice with pride as he spoke it.
"What about you? Lumine right?" he questioned, leaning in closer to the boy when he noticed a certain embroidered design in his clothing "Oh, you must bled to the Muramasa too, no, even more than that if you have their full insignia then you must be part of them somehow like us Tsukino" he sounded a little surprised as he saw the emblem which then made him even more curious about such a tiny young genin as he looked at him with great inspecting eyes.

"Why do you even care about such a small brat anyway?" a deep, menacing voice spoke up within jinchuuriki's mind "He seems even more pathetic than any other human I have seen" Yoshimitsu mocked Lumine from within.
"I dunno, he's so tiny but could be full of potential, plus maybe he could be fun to prank" the host spoke back also within his mind "Besides the smallest of us can be full of the biggest potential and maybe I could see myself becoming a new sensei for this kid, not that you would know anything about that" he rebutted with some snark towards the beats inside.
"Pfft, if you say so" the genma spoke back in an arrogant way as if to dismiss his prison's words.

[Lumine]

Lumine had this look on his face as he was going on ahead, the look of a boy all alone. Even though he was taken in by the Masamune family for helping out, he was never fully accepted as one of them as he did odd jobs. He was given a place to stay, but he was not staying with the main family and not being in the main family of a branch family meant he was even lower in standing then people realized.

They kept walking again as he did not want to keep the old man waiting, after some time the guy replied with a weird shishi as he began to think inside his head.
'shishi this shishi that all thish shishi ish making my headsh hurtsh', as he was careful not to say his thoughts out loud as he even wondered why shishi and nishiki and it sounded like the name was shishiki inside his head. The guy was bled for the family Muramasa and born of the house Tsukino and then he started getting lost, the guy said he was a jinchuuriki as he raised a slight eyebrow, then he gave a dubious look as the guy mentioned yoshimitsu no something something and something.

Lumine was about to open his mouth as he began to pout as he was interrupted before he could speak, the guy asked what he was about, that he was Lumine and then the guy was just staring at him and getting too close as he gave off this defiant look of annoyance at being approached by this stranger. After a while as he thought he heard a compliment, but at the same time felt like he was being looked down upon. It was as if some one was looking at him like that as he just looked down as he continued towards the place. He spoke after a short while, "I'm adopted, Nishishishik-dono..." as he had trouble pronouncing the name at first having heard the shishi from earlier so clearly that his brain was filling with shishi everywhere. Before he could say anything else he stopped in front of a small building with a round rock on the front as he sighed. "We here, go get the coals in the back, I will get the smaller ones in the front", with that his mood changed to a more serious tone as he started picking up coal from the front counter as the owner just looked as he seemed to be counting with an abacus each time Lumine took coal and had one eye looking at Nishiki as well. There was one other thing though, but Lumine decided to ask that on their way back rather then now.

[WrightJustice]

Nishiki was a little intrigued by the fact that Lumine was adopted as he wondered how such a thing would happen, his mind first thinking of the Kaguya clan and how supposedly they where all technically adopted thanks to how it manifested and perhaps the only clan to allow such a thing given they had no choice but then his mind wandered towards how the boy mispronounced his name.
"Shishishishishi" he snickered full of delight "What an interesting way to say my name, perhaps we should go with that from now on, shishisshishi" he commented through his laughs.

After a moment the laughter stopped and the Tsukino went back to the matter of adoption a sit truly did fascinate him "So adoption huh? That's, like, yeah..." he awkwardly questioned, not really sure how to actually get into the topic properly but they reached their destination just about in time to break the awkwardness and embarrassment "ah, yes, coal, sure" he stumbled into the task at hand.
With that he simply began loading up the coal and even opted to carry some himself, not worrying too much about dirtying up his kimono since it was one of many as he held some larger pieces in his arms and turned to look at the tiny boy as he wondered if such a frail thing could truly bring back so much on his own.

Just watching Lumine gather the coal truly started to spark the idea that maybe he could be the boy's sensei and help him grow, though he wasn't sure how much convincing it would require to get the council to let him lead a genin rivalry team as a Jinchuuriki but then again it would also prove how strong he had become and help improve his own skills too which would be very beneficial.

However before any of that he did start to think this could be an opportune time for some kind of prank of sorts, just that he needed to think of the best thing to do which was when he suddenly did a dramatic fall into the pile of coal he was tasked with; loads of lumps tumbled around and surrounded the poor fox as they appeared to tumble all over him but at the last moment he would substitute out of the mess and when Lumine came over to investigate he would appear behind him with great surprise.
"Aaaahhhh!" he screamed as he fell and as the coal bounced around his collapsed body hoping to grab the boy's attention "Help!" he screamed further in a panicked tone.

[Lumine]

Lumine did not understand what that awkward reply to him being adopted was, for some it was tough, for others it was easy. Life was hard, did it really matter in the end. The way the man spoke was so strange, he did not understand whether all people higher up in the family were like this. Then again he was not about to argue since he at least had a family to work under considering his father basically disowned him and his mom is disliked for reasons he still does not quite understand. She went to do her mission, and then got hated for doing her mission and he did not even learn much about it in the first place as he decided to stop brooding. He went to fetch the small coals filling his back pack nicely.

Lumine actually had a trick for dealing with coal and had done it a few times though people who were not clued up on the shinobi world would get surprised as he finally filled his backpack not wasting much time as he felt like he was being watched. Lumine was feeling happy with a job well done, or at least packing well as he was about to prepare for the carrying when something unexpected happened. It was almost as if this guy did it on purpose as he moved towards the mess of coal and then a poof and then he heard a scream as he would have normally gotten a fright if he was not on the job. Lumine was in his work mode and now got really ticked off as he glared up to the elder with some form of contempt.

"Stop fooling around, you not a kid", as he said that with a pouted face as he seemed to pause for a few seconds before bowing his head slightly. "Sorry....please... be careful...nishkin-dono" as he seemed to have a slight shock as he realized he was being rude to someone of higher standing then himself. Switching from a brat to a polite child in such a short time was not normal since most people would not play pranks on him and he did not fully recognize the importance of this guy with how weird he was acting.

He did look a bit nervous and it also seemed he was a bit tired too as there was sweat dripping from Lumine's forehead already as he was not that strong so getting the coal was quite a work out for him to begin with. He was also feeling a bit irritable since he was not sure how to feel about having this guy tag along as his opinion so far was not very good, though he was wanting to get back since he was actually hungry as his stomach would growl at that very moment as he blushed slightly in embarrassment.

[WrightJustice]

Nishiki was rather surprised at the kid's response to his trick and how he called him out for messing around, which made him think that maybe he pulled it off a bit too early or something which filled him with a surge of cringe but then the boy apologised almost as quick as he called out the elder of the two, in turn making him wonder what was truly wrong and simply think he was perhaps not a person for such things.

The Tsukino looked a little sad but also tilted his head in confusion as he looked at Lumine almost like an actual fox, taking in the young genin's words with a little pain and a little bewilderment with one in particular really confounding him.
"Dono?" he questioned, though perhaps more to himself than the boy as he pondered it and how it didn't quite sound right to him even if he was older and higher ranked but then Sama would be a better fit, right?
"Umm, well, sure Lumine-sama" he then replied in a cheeky but serious tone as he did a salute of sorts to the boy obviously in a bit of a mocking manner "Let us get this job done!" he called as if following orders, hopefully not pushing things too far.

With that the Chuunin gathered up his coal and filled up that cart whilst carrying even more in his arms like he was doing before suddenly performing his trick and began marching back towards the blacksmiths, stopping momentarily to turn and check on the tired kid who definitely, seriously needed someone to help train him and get him stronger which could also prove useful to him also if he was to become a sensei.
After his quick glance he turned back around and give a small, affirming nod before continuing on though he also slowed down and began walking normally now and left room for some further words on their way back if they so desired which it seemed like Lumine may indeed wish to do so.

[Lumine]

Nishiki was giving him a sly look as he was not sure what the guy was thinking, but for the most part he was not sure how to react to this strange guy who seemed to be creating more trouble for him then helping. Lumine seemed to show a slight pout when that last line was spoken as it sounded like it was mocking him a bit as he did his best to keep it all in. As the guy was picking up the coal as he said something that was just barely audible for the clown in front of him.

"why is everyone so strong"

With that said he performed several hand seals and then water seemed to form into the shape of a small child as he concentrated on the suiton clone technique. His clone picked up the backpack full of coal as Lumine carried a small extra bag as they began following behind Nishiki. The clone was really strong, while Lumine was barely carrying anything, the extra bag was maybe just four or six light coals in them, while the backpack probably had five or maybe even ten times what he was carrying. Considering his clone was on a much higher strength then he could ever be at the time.

"sorry for being weird...", as Lumine just kept walking along as the clone was walking a bit ahead as they continued on their way towards the blacksmiths shop as he was not sure what else to say as Lumine had this dark cloud over his head in some sense of responsibility for the things that happened and what was to come. In the end Lumine wondered if any of it even mattered.

[WrightJustice]

Nishiki turned to look at Lumine as he heard water forming, to which he noticed the boy was making a clone which was good thinking and proved he had smarts to combat his lack of physical strength which was good. Though as the clone also got to work, the boy suddenly apologised for being weird which was kind of funny and adorable in a sort of way causing the older boy to chuckle a little in his own usual way "shishishishi" snickering like a delighted fox.

"I don't think you're weird, just young and maybe a little naive with lots to learn, though I was surprised about being called dono" he happily explained, turning and looking up a bit as he then went into a somewhat deep thought.
The Tsukino couldn't help but ponder about both their standings for a little bit; thoughts on how his house worked directly under the Muramasa but also how the kid was part of some branch family of the Muramasa even if he was adopted, which overall made it feel like they couldn't possibly have much different standings in that sense given both could be considered in some sense a branch but in different ways.
In the end Nishiki was simply just older and higher ranked being a Chuunin compared to Lumine who was a young genin so he wasn't sure where the idea of him being called "Dono" came from, if anything it could be considered that right now Lumine was essentially the "dono" which seemed kind of funny to think about.

Whatever the case, after the short bout of thought, the elder boy turned back around to glance back at the younger and his right index finger unfurled from around the coal in his arms and pointed at the clone as a big grin spread across his face.
"Anyways you're pretty smart using a clone to help with your work, shishishi, I bet it makes things easier and you must be pretty good at suiton at that" he complemented the boy rather wholesomely "I could help train you and show you more, though in a way you got me beat already in one thing since I never learned any clone techniques beyond the basics so never got any personal aides" he went on and nodded towards him as they ventured back on toward the blacksmiths.

[Lumine]

Lumine just had a confused and lost look on his face as he was told he was just young and naive with a lot to learn. He could not make sense of it and maybe he was suppose to use -sama instead of -dono. Lumine was then looking down as they just kept walking ahead, looking up a bit every once in a while at the weird or strange Nishikin as he kept being careful. Then Nishishishishi turned to face him as he looked down hiding his observance of the stranger to him as it seemed the guy pointed to his clone. He was told it was smart to use a clone to help with work, but considering he had been a genin for a year or two he did not feel he was that skilled considering he had more time to practice non-academy techniques.

Lumine was a bit shocked that the guy said he was pretty good at suiton and that he could help him train. While he showed no smiles and still had this lost puppy kind of look on his face, his eyes did seem to sparkle for a moment at being told he could get help with training. As they kept on walking Lumine was lost deep inside his thoughts as he blinked a few times as they were getting nearer to the blacksmith as the guy seemed to wave at them as Lumine just gave this glaring look of seriousness on his face. The old man grinned, "You seem really happy for some reason"

With those words Lumine just stormed passed and went to his temporary room in the back while his clone dropped off the coal as he just plopped down on the bed a bit tired. He had learned the water clone technique, but he was still far from being a master in it. He mainly used the clone for physical labor and was not really able to maintain it all day since he also used other jutsu for daily activities at well and needed more practice. The clone continued to work helping out with the coals as the blacksmith scratched his head. The old man understood that Lumine just was not good with other people, while they adopted him into the family for helping them out when under attack, little was known about the boy and why he was not very good at socializing with others. Though he could at the very least pick up that Lumine's mood improved a bit though it was not that uncommon as the smith just wished Lumine would open up more as he sighed.

Meanwhile Lumine was making muffled sounds into his pillow as he swayed his feet back and forth as the shoes fell off as he whispered into the pillows. "shtupid nishisbhks, why is his name so hard"

[WrightJustice]

As the pair arrived back at the blacksmith the old man commented how Lumine seemed happy, though the boy seemed to ignore it and quickly storm back into the back as Nishiki and the clone finished up setting down all the coal as the man simply continued working on the requested sword.
Once Nishiki was done he turned curiously toward the direction the kid had went and scratched behind his ear in confusion before turning back to the man, where he happily watched him mould the hot metal for a moment before speaking up.
"That kid is kind of interesting, did you adopt him personally?" he questioned out of curiosity "I do wonder if I could perhaps help train him, maybe become his official sensei if they would let me" he then commented, pondering on if he would be fit as a teacher role as he thought that he could not only help the genin but also gain experience in leading people which would be quite useful indeed.

The Chuunin wondered if he should go round back and check up on the younger lad as he watched the sword getting made and awaited the smithy's own words; knowing more on whether he was up for it would be great and maybe he could even show him a bit of something now to entice him whilst he waited.
Whatever the man said in reply it seemed like it might be a good idea to whip out something good, maybe show Lumine some kinesis to help get him more on the fox's side but then maybe it would be too much and simply trying to get to know him better could work, which if the Tsukino was being honest it sounded easier the first way with a cool display of skill.

[Lumine]

The old man listened as he asked if he adopted the child personally, although he helped the family and was let in, he was still considered an outsider. The old man took him under his wing, but was more like the child's boss then his father. The old man listened to Nishiki comment on training and taking the young child as a student.

"You may have to ask the child himself, even if the family agrees he is pretty much on his own. You could try getting on his good side with some food and you did not do something stupid like that silly laugh of yours, hishishishi" as the old man mimicked him a bit with his old voice it sounded a bit worse then normal.

The clone of Lumine was walking passed and went to the main counter bowing as he received a delivery and then dropped it in the old man's hands and went back to work. The real Lumine had not left his room yet as he was still thinking of that nishikishiki and his weird laugh.

[WrightJustice]

Nishiki didn't really understand what the man meant about his laugh since it was just something that came out naturally for him but maybe he could try laughing less around Lumine for the time being. That being said he did pick up on how the young boy sounded like some kind of discarded nuisance for whatever reason and probably why he seemed feeble and still naive but also lonely, which would not do for a shinobi of Kirigakure and definitely sparked the thought that someone needed to help toughen him up.

Thus the Tsukino stood and thought for a moment as he wondered about possibly instilling this wonderment of power within the little kid before nodding and turning to the man with a grin.
"You mind?" he simply asked, pointing towards the back area Lumine had gone to which the old man shook his head and did a hand gesture that suggested it was fine to go ahead.
With that the Chuunin made a little skip and dash over to small, brown haired rascal and appeared before him in a surprising fashion as his body began to glow with a hint of magenta chakra, the clear signs of a channeled jutsu, then he reached out his right hand towards his side and some kind of 50cm diameter ball of water began to form beside him all without any words being spoken.

Once the sphere had formed the young fox then thrust his left hand forward and with it a long whip of water pulled out of the sphere which then swept around in a flowing motion, appearing to dance about the room at its master's whim as it followed the movements of his hands with great precision all while the ball of water seemed to refill itself on its own.
"Lumine!" Nishiki then called out to the boy, pulling his hands in and causing the water he had gathered to hover above the two "This is aquakinesis, you may have heard of it" he then propositioned "It is said to be the peak of Suiton's capability and so too would any other form of Kinesis be the peak of any other element, at least of what is known as it takes skill to learn and master with most not gaining the knowledge on how to perform it due to it being deemed too far beyond their skills" he continued to speak with a hint of pride, a deep grin forming on his face.
"And you learned this grand skill did you?" a voice from within spoke out to its host in mockery, knowing full well that if it wasn't for him being trapped and sealed within then this pathetic jinchuuriki then he would not have any Kinesis at this time.
Nonetheless Nishiki ignored Yoshimitsu's internal words and continued on with an ounce of smugness, yet still quite sincere "If you follow me then you will surely, in time, reach this level of skill with your Water techniques and even more" as he spoke he lowered his hands and let go of the water as it simply drained away down the drains for the cooling system.
"Now, how about a little talk over a nice meal on me? Tell me what you think and maybe I can further convince you" he finally finished off, beaming his happy grin at the boy, his ears and three tails at full attention.