Sasuke released his grip on the kunai, backing himself from the restraint he encapsulated against the figure beneath him.
He had also come to realize that the body he'd been pinning down was none other than the old granny's granddaughter. A familiar face he hadn't seen in quite a while. Though, it slightly surprised him that he would be greeted with such an unwelcoming approach.
"It's...you...ah, sorry about that! We thought you might've been someone else...well we didn't think anyone would be stopping by on such a rainy day..."
Tamaki stood up from the counter immediately concealing her bare shoulders and thighs from the earlier struggle, feeling rather dumbfounded by her pathetic approach towards the man standing in front of her. The thought that she could ever take anyone down with her current level of strength and minuscule training alone had embarrassed her.
Not only was she embarrassed about her ability to take anyone down, but the fact that her robe had come slightly loose around her body, revealing some of her skin in front of a man, made it difficult for her to keep her gaze directly at them as her face turned flush.
"The old granny cat...what happened to her?"
"Oh...Nekobaa...umm she...passed away..."
As he stood to listen, genuinely curious to know why the old granny wasn't around, Sasuke noticed the hint of sorrow manifesting in her expression. It was evident that she must've been grieving all this time.
"I'm sorry to hear that," he responded. His voice conveying a hint of sincerity after a moment of silence had expanded across the room. The thought seemed rather strange knowing that he would never be able to see the old granny ever again.
"Hey! Don't forget about me!"
A voice cried from the side, struggling to keep its heavy weight hanging onto the kimono they wore. They noticed that the fabric was beginning to tear from the sharpness of the sword that had initially pinned them against the wall, eventually tearing all the way until their body had fallen down.
"Denka!"
Tamaki rushed forward, catching the chunky feline right on time before it could hit the ground. She was relieved to have caught her only friend. Now that it was just her and Denka lingering around the shop, she made sure to keep themselves together and safe from any harm.
"Young Sasuke, is that you?"
"Denka, it's been a while."
Standing in front of the cat, he realized how different they looked with the amount of weight they'd put inside them. Despite their chubby appearance, it surprised him to see how fast and close they'd gotten to claw at him that time. Regardless of their outer features, it was a talking cat after all. It seems there was always something he didn't understand about their species.
Sasuke effortlessly pulled his sword from the wall, retrieving the remains of his severed piece. Holding it in hand had once again reminded him that it was only just a sword.
Even though he'd grown quite the bond over his years of traveling alone, things weren't always going to remain the same. It was a material meant to shatter in his grips eventually.
"I see you've got a broken sword. We have a rare set of collections that might suit one you're looking for."
Trailing behind the woman holding on to her cat, Sasuke was eventually met with a set of fine-looking metal blades. One had caught his attention and as he came close to observe the fine piece at hand, it didn't take him long to decide that this was the perfect sword. A sword similar in aspects to his former piece.
"How much for this?"
"That...that'll be ¥50,000."
Sasuke gripped the sword in hand, before scanning his surroundings for anything else he'd think he needed besides restocking on additional supplies like medicine and other items to replace his lost and missing kunai knives and shuriken.
"If you need some new clothes, I do have some that should fit your size. Ah, well I just finished sewing them last night but they should be ready now."
Tamaki couldn't stop but be aware of how fully drenched his clothes were as he walked across the interior of her shop. Water from the heavy rain had been seeping through the fabric of his dark cloak and his dark inner attire, that it would probably be a good idea to offer him something more clean and refreshing to wear.
Sasuke followed through, nodding with the acceptance of her offer. After all, he'd been soaked under the rain for quite a long time. There was no need to punish himself further by getting sick.
With Denka hopping off of her grasp, Tamaki's hands were finally free to shuffle through the box of newly knitted clothes and as she came across the set she'd been searching for, her eyes widened to see that they were still neatly folded.
"Here, these should fit well. They're not as nice like the ones you're wearing, but I hope they will do for the meantime. Please, take them as complimentary for causing you the trouble early on."
Hovering the top piece over Sasuke's chest, Tamaki could feel her cheeks turning into the unavoidable tint of red. She was close, closer to his chest than she'd think as she avoided gaze from the towering man.
"Thanks." Sasuke expressed his gratitude as he kept his stoic gaze on her flustered face. She was reacting toward something, something he couldn't figure out himself. Perhaps something had been bothering her, but whatever it may be, it wasn't his matter to dwell into.
"Y-you can change into them using our bathroom. I-it'll be right around the corner."
The attire was nothing but plain and ordinary. A black upper piece with a turtle neck that reached below his chin and a gray lower piece that only went down to his ankles. Feeling that something had been missing about his attire, Sasuke picked up a piece of fabric that had caught his attention.
A black-clothed headband and a large brown tattered poncho with a hood and a few necklaces encircling the hood had been lying in one of the boxes, and as he lifted the pieces to take a better look, he decided they would be good enough to keep him warm in additional to his inner attire.
Sasuke looked around some more making sure he'd gotten everything he needed before resuming his journey.
Visiting the shop had taken longer than he had anticipated and he couldn't help but feel the need to get himself back out into the rain once again so that he could get to where he needed to be as quickly as possible. Plus, he was rather opposed to the idea of being a hindrance to anyone.
However, with the heavy rain storming even louder and more powerful this time around, the thought of leaving right after changing into his new set of attire would only bring him back to his initial state of being fully drenched.
"Ah, if you would like, please feel free to stay longer. The rain doesn't seem to be coming to a stop any time soon, so..." Tamaki offered, noticing the heavy sound and the amount of rain had now begun to deluge again compared to the previous interval of seemingly light pitter-patter.
"Were you expecting someone else?" Sasuke let out as he kept his body leaning against the counter, folding his one arm into the sleeve of his left missing arm beneath his poncho. He agreed it was best to wait out the rain before stepping back out into the open. However long that would take didn't seem to matter any longer.
The more he pondered through the stillness of the shop with the overpowering sound of the rain clashing down from above, the more it piqued his curiosity to figure out why someone like the old granny cat's granddaughter had attacked him from behind.
"It's...a rather short story. Ever since Nekobaa's passing, a group of black marketeers lurking around the city have been paying me a visit, warning me about taking over the shop. It's obvious they plan to keep our high-quality goods and sell them for themselves. Without granny cat, they started to see how vulnerable our shop had become. They never saw me as a threat so ever since then, I've been learning to try and defend myself in case they come back again."
Tamaki folded her hands on the counter as she sat on a wooden chair, her expression growing indignant at the thought. These past several weeks had caused her to feel nothing but paranoia, continuously drowning her thoughts with vexatious outcomes of the next confrontations.
Sasuke stood quietly, understanding the situation as he came to remember his encounter with one a while back upon his arrival to the city. A disgusting aura had seeped out of them, provoking his assertive and frightening demeanor at the time.
"There's no telling when they'll come back again, so when I heard your footsteps, I thought you might've been one of them."
"I can stay for a while if it means protecting the old granny cat's shop," he responds with his tone sounding resolute. After all, this shop was one of the few remnants connecting to his clan and it didn't quite sit well with him knowing that a pitiful group of marketeers had been lurking around their shop, harassing a family member of someone he grew to respect over the years.