Fittings
There were no words to describe how awful it was. The way it draped around his shoulders, settled against his back, wrapped around his slender frame... Despite being hitched up to his waist, the hakama had slowly slid down over the past few minutes of scrutinizing to settle at the hip: Folds of the material now brushed his ankles, hovering inches above his feet. Bits of skin peeked out here and there between the layers of cloth, riddled with numerous scars, the felt noticeably parted from the rest of his body regardless of how tightly the obi was tied. As if to mock his acute observations, a stray breeze blew in from the entrance, causing the racks nearby to creak and sending the sleeves encasing the man's arms aflutter.
Well, at least he wouldn't have to worry about dropping his sword whenever he went out. And from the state of his previous outfit and other physical features- tangled auburn hair kept in a loose ponytail, pale hands marred by countless calluses and dirt-he assumed that was most, if not all of the time.
Yet the color…That, in and of itself, was the worst feature of all. The tailor obviously must have been drunk while choosing his cloth to create a kimono from. Although it was common for clothing to be brightly colored during this time of year, never before had he seen a fabric this shade. After all, who in their utterly right mind would choose pink?
He simply could not let this pass. As a businessman, letting a client go out in this type of attire would condemn his commerce to endless ridicule by fellow entrepreneurs. As a man, he did not want the poor guy to be embarrassed.
Softly clearing his throat to catch the male's attention, he was met with a pair of clear amethyst eyes, glittering with curiosity and surprise.
"Um…I'm terribly sorry, sir. That gi seems to be a bit too big for you. Perhaps you'd like to try on another one?" He gestured to a stand, an assortment of cloths dangling from various hooks, all in vibrant shades of blue, green and yellow.
Imagine his astonishment when he was received, not with annoyance, not with absolute, ready, agreement, but with a smile, brimming with childlike wonder and amusement.
"Iya…This is perfect."
Author's Note: This came to me while I was reading Volume One of the RuroKen manga for the umpteenth time: I was just glossing over the dialogue on the first few pages, paying much more attention to the images being displayed there instead, when I noticed the state of Kenshin's clothes- They weren't so much torn or worn out at that time, but rather, the gi and hakama seemed to be a bit too big for him, with the sleeves covering his entire limbs instead of stopping near or above the wrists like outfits that every other character, both major and minor ones, wore. This remained true as I went on reading the novel. (Well, at least he won't have to worry about getting his hands frozen while traveling outside, right?) Intrigued, I decided to write a little piece about it, hence, this came to mind. Being pleased with the results, I decided to post it onto the Internet for the public to read.
One other reason I chose to write this was because, as I browsed the RK fanfiction community, I observed that many authors wrote about our favorite redhead getting new clothes, seeing as the ones he sported were in rags anyway, but very few explored the origins of his infamous magenta & white garments…So I felt influenced to scribble something that added to the latter category. Plus, in my opinion, the first one was getting old/cliché, heh (I mean no offense to those who wrote stories for that. Just speaking my mind is all).
Any comments on this are welcomed, as a reviews. Certainly no flames, however. And as always, I do NOT own Rurouni Kenshin. It belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki.