What's New And Familiar

[Zero]

"Alright, buddy, how do they feel?" Tadashi backed away from his Master as Rengeki's eyes slowly opened back up. His mouth had been numb for the past half hour, now that Tadashi had done whatever work he had been up to, the boy was starting to feel again. He noticed a strange sensation immediately, one that he traced directly to his canine teeth. He felt over the four sharp teeth with his tongue. He didn't... Was the boy's only thought. There's no way. But the sharp teeth were definitely sharper than before, and was that blood from his tongue that he tasted?

"TADASHI!" Rengeki yelled after looking into the mirror that he kept on the wall in his room. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU JUST DID THIS!!!" The sharp feeling, now he was sure of it. The Familiar had sharpened Rengeki's canines until they were about as sharp as a carnivore's! "Tadashi you said you were only checking around in there! Why the hell did you do this?" "Well, I figured it would help ya out from time ta time. Besides, you've used your teeth to open something before. You've needed sharper ones then, plus you've seen how well I use mine even when I'm not in tiger form." The Familiar was holding back a huge laugh, and Rengeki knew it. Then the boy had another thought. "...Oh no... Tadashi what else did you do?" "Haha, looks like you're getting sharper, kiddo! How'd ya know I had something else?" "Terrible pun, absolutely terrible. I know you all too well!" Tadashi backed away from his Master until he walked right into the closet. "Alright, so ya know me. But do ya know what I got for ya?" He poked his head out with a big grin right on his lips. Already the Genin was afraid of his partner. "What did you do?" He asked meekly. The smile only grew on Tadashi's face as he pulled out a black, long-sleeved shirt. It was smaller than Rengeki's grey and white striped one, but it was more his size if you considered how much bigger the one he had on was than him. The Familiar threw the shirt to his Master and dived back into the closet. "Here, put it on!" Ren took one estranged glance at the shirt before taking off the one he had on and putting the black one on instead. "What else, Tadashi?" He demanded as he slid his head through the neck hole. When the Familiar popped back out again, he was holding a pair of black jeans with matching leather belt, a set of gloves that went up to his elbows that were made of the same material as the belt, and the same color as his new shirt. "I've got a little more coming, c'mon bro! I think black suits you better!" "Just about anyone can look okay in black. Personally I thought my clothes are okay, so what's with the change? Besides you just liking it better?" The genin had now slipped out of his blue jeans and into the black pair, by now he'd agreed that the belt was a good idea, seeing as how the pants were so loose on his waist. "Grey and white are okay, but I'm not sure they really went with your style." "And just what do you perceive my 'style' to be?" "Definitely not bright colors, I'll tell that much! Go ahead, put the gloves on! After that, try breaking these in!" The Familiar finally came out again with a pair of black leather boots like the one's he'd changed into not too long ago. He threw them on the floor in front of the bed as Ren fit his hands into the gloves. "I've never really enjoyed wearing these, they were too big when I got them." "Yeah yeah, glad to see you've grown a bit. We ain't done yet, gotta drop a few other things on ya." His Master sighed as he slid his legs into the boots and then covered the tops with the legs of his new jeans. "Like what? How much did this all cost?" Tadashi came back out once more holding a small pair of wooden boxes in each hand. He laid them both down on the bed and opened each one. "Relax, believe it or not these didn't cost even your entire allowance! So, are your ears pierced?" "Excuse me?!" "Relax, no gems. Just a stud or two. You're not gonna hate me for it, promise!" "You're promise is already broken! Tadashi just what the hell are you doing?" "I told ya, giving you a new style! Of course, I'm not sure you could do with the open black jacket like me, so I thought about trying a different set. So far it seems to be working. We'll be like twins, won't we, bro?" "I don't think that'll be a good ide- agh! Tadashi what the hell?!" The boy felt both of his ear lobes get a small but antagonizing prick from the back, and judging by how they felt, they were both getting needles right through. "What? Neither of your ears are pierced, so why not?" "I don't wear earrings!" "Alright, fine. How about bracelets then? You wore one with your other attire." "That was ONE, Tadashi! You-" He was immediately cut off as Tadashi now held up a bracelet in each hand, both were made of little purple fake gems. Rengeki's eyes opened wide, in anger obviously. The Genin, in his fit of fury, grabbed up his hook chain, started swinging the hook side in his left time. The Familiar knew he'd just carried his joke a little too far. Before anything else could happen (besides Rengeki suddenly wanting to strangle him as hard as he could with the cold steel chain), Tadashi leaped out of the window, calling a loud apology behind him as he fell from the second floor of Ren's home to the street. He put his hands in his pockets and took a deep breath, muttering his apology to his partner over and over again. He would have to admit he was ashamed. He probably made Rengeki feel terrible, making him wear black. Tadashi knew why Ren didn't wear black, besides his ninja sandals. The main reason was because of how much it made him look like...

Rengeki dropped the chain as soon as Tadashi left the window. The Genin, now alone, took his time to look in the mirror again. He always wore clothes just like these, and Ren looked so much like him when he was younger when he wore them. But why? Why did the boy have to look so much like HIM. "Dammit..." He muttered as he slumped closer to the mirror, looking up at the image before him. Tears were welling up in the boy's eyes. It may have been a reflection, but Rengeki couldn't see his own tears. To him he was looking as someone who once was. Someone who was more important to him than anyone, before Tadashi was even made. "Dammit, dammit, dammit..." He muttered over again. It took him what felt like hours to look back at the reflection. It made him sad, it pissed him off, it mixed all his anger, sorrow, built up rage, every negative emotion he had since he died. All of that mixed together, and one move of Rengeki Faron's fist broke the mirror into several thousands of shards on the floor. The boy sat at the foot of his bed, crying. The door creaked open, and in came the inglorious Familiar. "Ren..." The being mumbled. Looking at his companion, Tadashi felt worse now. He sat beside Rengeki, hugging the kid and hoping to comfort him away from the tears. "I'm sorry." "Renji..." Rengeki muttered. He'd looked just like his elder brother, the dearly departed Renji Faron.

A few hours of silence passed between the two. That was, until Tadashi broke it. "So..." But that was about all he could muster. "I'm sticking with these clothes. Maybe they'll help me get over his death. What do you think, Tadashi?" This sudden outburst was far from what the Familiar thought would be said. "Uh...I uh....y-yeah. Go ahead, kiddo!" Rengeki looked up at his partner and smiled. "Thanks, Tadashi."