Sat. back and is very tired. School started, and I've been running around for the last three days with no end in sight. I don't know when I can update but very certain days are gonna Tuesday and Thursday… because they both start with the same letter. Anyway, thank you to what reviews I have and I hope more are to come. A short note, I put up little street poles because I think Suna looks pretty confusing without some sort of coordination, especially for someone who's never been there. Now, we left little Ava in Suna… may God help the people of Suna.
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Mirror by Demi Lovato
Ain't it plain to see
Tell me honestly
Don't my eyes
Speak up for me
(Never, never)
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Americans
We travel down the street, twisting around others every so often. How is a blind guy leading me? My guess is memory. How many turns did we make? I lost count after ten. Left, left, right, left, right, right… gah! I'm getting dizzy.
"Well, here we are," Shido announces. In front of us is a little two story building connected with others, like you'd see in Manhattan. A sign swings in the sandy air with a picture of a dog and cat on it with words under it. A pet shop?
We go in and he locks the door. He leans his cane on the door and shuffles to the counter like he's not a bit blind. Some shelves are lined against the opposite of the counter, filled neatly with pet food, collars, dishes, and other pet accessories and needs. A door sits between the shelves, almost unnoticed.
"My shop is a boarding kennel that also sells some pet items," he explains. Something sounds different when he talks. It's kind of familiar. He walks up a small set of stairs at the very back of the store. The sign in red lettering over the door must say employees only. Following and closing the door behind me, I join him at the table he's sitting at.
"This is yours now," he says and slides the same journal that was in Lady's office. How did this get here?
"Can you tell me something?" Whoa… my mouth feels weird when I talk. Familiar, but weird.
"Ah, it's been so long since I've heard English," he says with a contented sigh, leaning back into his chair. Wait a minute!
"You're from—"
"America, yes. From Massachusetts to be accurate. My American name is Randle Smith."
"Dude!" I couldn't hold that one in. I have a right to say that out loud. Come on.
"What does that mean?" But we're not from the same time period.
"Uh, when are you from?"
"1947. I was twenty-two when I was somehow transported here."
Holy cow. Sixty-one years away from his home country. It's grown without him, experienced other wars, revolutionary things are happening in politics (Hilary and Obama); he's missed out on technology advances, medical, for God's sake, even office supplies has changed! It's like parents leaving a five year old and coming back when they're sixteen: unbelievable.
"What time period are you from? Time feels a little distorted here, so I'm not sure what the year is back in America." Should I tell him? He's over eighty. I might give him a heart attack or something.
"It's impolite to keep someone waiting."
"I'm worried the answer might kill you or something." It does feel nice to speak in English.
"I've weathered a great deal, young lady." I swallow a guilty lump and my hands grip my jeans.
"I'm eighteen in the year… 2008." Shock dims his face as he lowers his head. How badly is time distorted here? Does it move slower or faster or could it reset the internal clock?
"What has happen over the last… sixty some odd years?"
"A lot." He barely nods.
"I have my U.S. History book, if you want me to read it to you some time." This is all I can offer. A man has been told his country grew up without him and that family, friends, and loved ones are most likely dead due to so many things. Some awkward time passes between us and I don't think I should be here.
"Um, I'll leave you to your thoughts. I'm gonna head outside." I push my chair in and head for the door. I really hope the old man isn't suicidal. The smart thing to do would be to stay with him, but I don't know how to handle those situations except to say suck it up and don't be stupid enough to kill yourself.
The sun is beginning to set as I walk down the street. At the corner is a wooden pole with red and yellow strips around it. A street marker? Why didn't I notice that before? The other corners have them as well. I wander into the closing market place. Some venders are beginning to pack up while some others are still opened. Should I pick up something for dinner? Guilt certainly has settled in and I want to do something nice for him. Who wouldn't?
These tomatoes look good. Hmmm, yeah. I start to pick up all the ingredients for spaghetti. I love the stuff. By the time I get back, the sun is settled on the other side of the world. I gently shut the store front door and somehow open the house door. I guess I'll call this the house door since it leads into his house. Shido is still at the table, holding a small deck of cards very carefully. They look pretty worn.
"Um… I got stuff to make dinner with. Can you tell me where the kitchen is?" He looks up at me, surprised and says, "Of course." He leads me into a small dark blue kitchen with a white tile floor and white counters.
"I'll make something. You didn't need to go threw the trouble."
"Don't be ridiculous. I owe you for letting me stay here and… I told you something no one should here." Placing my bags on the counter, I tell Shido not to worry while surveying the cabinets. Which has pots in them?
"If you are certain," he says at a cautious length.
"Yes." He leaves after that and I start my scavenger hunt in the kitchen jungles of blue walls. After finding two good pots, a strainer, a cutting board, knives and spoons I start to cut up my veggies and fruit (tomato is such a weird fruit).
After I get everything simmering I jump to sit on the counter. I wonder if he's okay. Shido took this news pretty well considering the circumstances. We're both from very different eras, but we do have each other. Heh, we're the Americans here. I wonder if people here will hate Americans like they do in some other countries.
I finish making up everything (carefully stirring the pasta won't stick together) and make medium sized plates. I don't know if he'll eat this, but it's worth a try.
"Something smells good," he says from the doorway. Yeah, he'll eat it.
"Well, let's sit down and eat."
(after dinner)
The dishes are dried, food stored for tomorrow, and the sink is all cleans from leftover sauce. It was a nice change of pace for food; to have something familiar. I survey the kitchen while drying my hands. Yep, all clean.
"Ava, we need to discuss some particular details about your job and training," Shido says behind me. I guess he was waiting for me to finish since he's been standing there for a while.
"Okay." We walk back into the dinning room and sit down.
"First, to the more serious piece of work: the third test. Someone will come for the fans for any reason, whether for them selves or for whom they work for. Who they are or where they're from is unknown. You are to confront them in a fight and defeat them. If you lose, they will have possession of the fans."
"Can you be more specific in defeat? Do you mean beat them in a fight or kill them in a fight?" Defeat is a vague word for this situation. I learned that after I was eleven. Defeat goes with competitions. After that day, I promised my self to never kill anyone again. Also, thanks to my stupidity, I have a fear of graveyards.
"Am I to assume that you have taken a life before?"
"You can assume anything you want. If you ask me, I'll tell you." I might as well. I can't get in trouble for it here where my world doesn't exist to people here. Silence passes between us and I don't think I made the U.S. of today sound that great. Well, I'm not the best person for that.
"Let's continue," he says linking his fingers on the table, "how you defeat said person is up to you and the severity of the situation. The person could be a new born or an old person like me. In the present time, you will learn two wind jitsus that will be your bread and butter for most situations. You will learn to hear like Mitsuri and see like I do."
"What do you mean 'see'?"
"You know I'm completely blind, but I use a jitsu that lets me see people threw wind currents. How else did I lead you back to my shop?"
"I guessed memory."
"That's part of it. I can tell your weight, the heavy metal objects on your wrists and ankles, muscle structure, and where your daggers are in those baggy clothes you have on." Holy mother—
"But I can't physically see you. As for your job, you will work in the kennel and take care of the animals. This includes feeding, walking, and bathing."
I nod. That will be fun. I like to work with animals. But, I am going to keep my promise. I will.
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I brush brown-black fur, trying to remove shedding hair and untangle knots out a Mishu, a large dog with black eyes, a long slightly red tipped tail and a lot of fur. He's excited because I told him he's going home today after spending five days here and I guess he understood what the sounds of going home means.
The other dogs are yapping that he's out of his kennel run and they're not. After bathing him and drying him (with a small wind jitsu) trying to hold him still is hard. I grab his ruff and brush out the last bit of tail.
"There ya go big fella." I clip is red collar back on as he spastically wags his tail. I rub his ears and head.
"Ava, Mrs. Uzino is here to pick up Mishu!" Shido yells from the front. I clip on his leash and lead him threw the back court yard, into the hallway that leads to the door between the shelves in the front.
"Here you are, Mrs. Uzino. Mishu was very good while you were gone."
"Thank you young lady," she says, taking the leash, "Shido, you have lovely help. This new girl is quiet charming."
What. The. Fuck. That's all. That's all I can think, besides the fact that I've never been called charming. What the fuck.
"Yes, she is a rare find," he responds with a big smile. Mishu got me excited too. It's contagious with him because he is far too cute. I draw back into my icy nature. This week being with Shido who can't physically see me and hanging around the animals that don't care has drastically broken my iciness.
Scary things is, I forget that I have ice in my voice box, eyes, and heart. She leaves waving stupidly at Shido (even though he can see her doing that) and promises to visit.
"Um, Shido do you know where I can get some weights likes these?" I unclip one from my wrist and place it on the counter. He picks it up and examines it with his hands.
"Hmm, I do. It's close by. I believe they close at six." It's around eleven now.
"Do you know how to get there?"
"Yes, but I don't know the name of the shop. When you go out the door, go right. Pass three street poles and go right. Pass eighteen buildings and it should be the nineteenth one on the left side."
"Okay, thanks. May I go after work?" He nods and he starts to fiddle with collars as I clip my weight back on. I walk back threw the side door and into the kennel area. It's time to let the other dogs out for their afternoon walk.
There are only five other occupants: Shizu, Nana, Pendo, Lin, and Chua. There aren't any cats, which is a little odd, but oh well. Less work for me. I let them out one at a time, so there isn't a stampede. After letting Nana (the last one) out, I follow them outside.
They all desperately try to find a new place to mark and I can't help but shake my head as I sit against a clean wall. Chua, the youngest and smallest, climbs on my lap. I stroke her yellow-white fur.
"What am I gonna do, huh Chua?" She looks at me with those little chocolate eyes.
"I've been craving a Wendy's cheeseburger for weeks!" She looks at me as if to say, "What do you want me to do about it?" I drop my head in defeat, sad that I can't fulfill that craving. It's just not right.
"My kingdom for that heart killing food. The only problem is I don't have a kingdom. There goes that plan." The beast (my stomach) growls in agreement. There's no way I can mimic their food. It's frigin' impossible!
"Ava, you have a visitor," Shido says from the kennel room doorway. I look up to see Temari following him. Why is she here? Shido bows and leaves us to attempt social interaction. I lock my eyes on Chua's ears. They're so fuzzy.
"Hi." Good start.
"Gaara wants to see you," she curtly says. What, no pleasantries? I usually skip those.
"Why?"
"He received some mail from Konoha for you." This should be interesting.
"When does he want me there?"
"He'd like to see you now." I shake my head and rise up my hands in a half-assed shrug.
"Outta my hands. I'm on the clock for Shido, so I have to ask him. He has final say." She looks at me with a non-believer face.
"You're just sitting here."
"You act like these dogs get along." As if to prove my point, Pendo and Lin get into another fight. Gees. I get up and jog over to them before it gets worse. Firmly grasping their ruffs, I pull them apart.
"What did I say, you two? No fighting, or else. Got it?" They both whimper and scamper away from me with their tails between their legs.
"I see," she says walking to where I am, "Do you get bit?"
"Some." I tug my sleeve to show five day old bite marks. All of my fans are on my hips right now. Shido gave me special holsters for them. I like to keep sickle and full on my arms, but dogs biting metal is bad. Time to round up the mutts and put them back inside. I take them by pairs and put Chua away last, rubbing her head slowly as she whimpers at the fact that she's being confined again. I wash my hands at the sink near the door that leads to the hallway. I walk threw said door with Temari following me.
"Yo, Shido. I got another question for you."
"What would that be?" he asks from behind the counter with his usual smile.
"Gaara wants to see me right now 'bout some letters from Konoha. Do you want me to leave now or later?"
"Have you taking the dogs out for the afternoon, fed them and cleaned the runs?"
"Yep."
"Cleaned up the cat room?"
"Uh huh."
"Done the other house chores?"
"'Cept supper, yeah."
"Then you may go."
"You sure?" I don't want to leave the guy with no food.
"I'm sure, go," he says dismissively. Uh, okay then. I nod to Temari and we head out to the street.