Kyoto (Keine/Kourin) Blackmoore~ 2011/01/30 (Sun) 13:26 No. 31459 "So tell me." The bespectacled young man turned to ask his companion; his golden eyes met her brown ones;His words are followed by the rustle of leaves, ready to fall into the grounds, and the faint sound of running was a hint of annoyance on his voice and he ran his fingers through his silvery hair all the way to the back of his head as he spoke.
"Well…Tell you what?" His companion, a wise-looking woman, whose long silver hair with blue highlights has been done in an updo style, asked back. A refined, dignified smile, as expected from a woman of her quality constantly adorns her face; somewhat concealing a feeling of amusement behind them.
The pair was walking through the famed Togetsukyo Bridge , which spans across the scenic river Hozu, at the historic city of Kyoto, the former imperial capital of Japan. Everywhere, the changing colors of maple can be seen visibly. This time of the year was one of the most crowded time for the city, which people has said, one of the most beautiful city in Japan.
Fidgeting with the sleeves of his blue kimono for a while, he finally replied, a little demandingly, "Tell me why you decided to take me here."Sighing, he added, "And why not that immortal? I thought she was your close friend, miss Kamishirasawa."
Her smile widening a little, she replied, "And you are a close friend as well, and I've known you longer than I knew her, mister Morichika. Or maybe I should call you…Kourin?"She said it teasingly, and it annoyed the man a bit. "And besides, Mokou didn't want to come here for some reason; she wanted to go somewhere else. She concluded her reply.
"Do-Don't call me by that name!"He stuttered. The woman, clearly enjoying this, said further, "Hm? But you didn't mind Marisa calling you by that name?"
"It's different! This is Marisa we're talking about!" He blurted out. "Coming from a lady like you…somehow..It didn't fits at all…"
"That…that flatters me, somehow. Fine. I'll just call you Rinnosuke-kun, wether you like it or not." She said playfully, adding emphasis on the honorific. "I used to call you that, back then…"
Sighing tiredly, the man she calls Rinnosuke finally replied, "Fine, have it your way, Keine." He said her name, also with emphasis.
Still with her smile adorning her face, she replied, "That'll do." Seeing the woman being playful was a rare sight for him; who knows that the teacher and the guardian of the Human Village of Gensokyo could be this…"playful"? She would never show this side of her to her students or to other people. But to him, who was her childhood friend, it was another story.
"Oh, and to answer your previous question, I know you had a deep interest of the outside world, aren't you? That's why I decided to ask Yukari to include you on my trip; she didn't seem to mind, in fact she found the idea to be interesting…" Keine explained. "And I have a deep interest in this city's history."
Rinnosuke reminisced about the meeting at the Hakurei Shrine, where Yukari suggested all of them doing an outing to the outside world. Naturally, since there are not many interesting things happening lately, all of those present were enthusiastic about the idea. Well, except him, though. He remembered seeing Keine whispering to Yukari, while taking a brief glance at him. Now he knew what she has been whispering to her.
"I can expect that from a teacher like you...still…bringing me here without my approval… I think you take my interest about the outside world wrongly." He said, looking disapprovingly at her. She still smiled at him. Seeing her smile, despite being annoyed by her, Rinnosuke has to admit that she indeed looked stunning, especially in her dark blue kimono.
After much thinking, he said resignedly, "Fine, guess I can find something of interest here…"
"Don't worry, you will eventually." She said, as they continued walking through the bridge.
"Am-amazing!" Rinnosuke exclaimed, looking at the blacksmiths, who were in the process of making metal. Not an ordinary metal, it was Damascene, a metal-making process from Damascus, Syria—but currently Kyoto was the only city who produced such metals. That was what Keine explained. Rinnosuke hates to admit, but the unique process of making such metal really caught his fancy.
"That…was amazing" Rinnosuke commented to Keine, as they're leaving the place. "I'm glad you said that." She replied. "Today is 21st…Well, there's another place we should go…" She remarked, and smiled again, meaningfully.
"Wo-wow, look at all those stuffs!" Rinnosuke exclaimed. The pair was at the Toji flea market, only open at the 21st day of every month; and it was brimming with merchants selling various merchandises, from quite normal ones, such as traditional Japanese souvenirs, to some things that's quite unusual, like old appliances and some strange plants, and one even sell a pile of old postcards. It was very crowded, and the surrounding were made lively by the chattering of people bargaining and the traders shouting their wares.
"Well, it may be a good time to find something for your shop, Rinnosuke-kun." Keine said as she went to a vendor selling wooden tea sets. Rinnosuke, not quite interested in those, as he already has too many of that on his inventory, decided to look for something more interesting to be sold or to add to his collection back in Gensokyo.
Moments later, he already on a splurge. He bought as many stuffs as he could; putting it all on a magic bag Yukari has supplied to them, "Just in case." She said, winking. Now the bag has been filled with an antique, blunt sword, some rather bizarre-looking statues (which probably won't sell, but he could use them for decorations), one intricate bonsai plant, a massager, a carved, wooden ear pick, and some other stuffs. For some reason, Yukari had provided them with adequate money. Suspicious as it may seem, but whatever Yukari does wasn't necessarily could be understood easily, he knew that. So it's best to be pragmatic and don't ask too many question, for your own good.
"To think about it, I wondered what the others are doing…Oh, I better look for Keine." He decided; his irritation actually has long gone.
He found her browsing idly through the collection of an ornament vendor, a rather pale, wrinkled old lady, with a very kind face. Keine waved at him.
"Look at all of these. They're beautiful." She pointed to the wares. All of them were carved of wood, some in a shape of animals. He picked one of the hairclips, in the shape of an ox, and feels its smoothness. It was beautiful, nicely done work of art. "Did you make all of these?" he asked the old lady. "My husband made some of them. Like one of those you held. Some others were made by my sons." She replied. "I'll buy this." He suddenly said. "Huh? You bought a woman's accessory?" Keine asked with a puzzled face. Rinnosuke smirked, as his hands suddenly reached for her head. Keine, shocked, was unable to say anything, but she felt the wooden hairclip that he was holding has adorned her hair now.
"There, it looks good on you." He complimented, turning her beet red.
"He's right. Lady, you're a beautiful one." The old lady said, and Keine turned even redder. Now it was Rinnosuke's turn to be amused. Well, he admits that she was indeed beautiful, even back to their childhood when they were still playing together.
"St-stop it!" She said with a muffled voice, as she was covering her mouth. "Okay, okay. But it was an honest compliment, just so you know." Rinnosuke rubs his chin. "I…I see…thank you, then…" Keine finally calmed down. "Let's go, Rinnosuke."
"Will you two watch the Jidai Matsuri tomorrow?" the old lady inquired. "Yes, I always wanted to see it." Keine has returned to her usual self. "But today we still wanted to do some sightseeing, around this market and to the temples."
"I see. Have fun, you two." She winked at them both. Keine and Rinnosuke smiled at her, before saying goodbye.
"I haven't thank you properly for this." Keine touched the hair ornament, stroking it gently. "Don't mention it." Rinnosuke replied nonchalantly. "Hey, let's find something to eat!" Keine clasped both of her palms. Rinnosuke, feeling quite hungry, said to her, "good idea." Keine suddenly took his hand, and happily said, "Then let's find some yatsuhashi and hamo! And green tea!" She then took off, with Rinnosuke in tow, who constantly pleaded for her to slow down a bit. She shrugged him off with a laughter, and he couldn't resist to laugh along with her, before walking together hand in hand, just like the old times.
