A bead of sweat slid down Kinchō's face as his eyebrow raised skeptically "I cant find this person..."
"What! why?" Ochiba exclaimed.
"You... are how old?"
"Sixteen, why?"
Kincho's eyebrow twitches "...This is a child. And not yours."
"Wait you think I'm..."
Kincho nodded
"No no no." he walked over to defend his honor "There, that's me." he pointed at the small, green haired child with a visible black eye on their face. They peeked around a hut seeming to look at the main, longhaired child in the photo.
"Those were the days."
-Years back-
"Quit staring Ochiba, its been two minutes. You are weirding me out."
"But you are so beautiful! i shall make you my-" *Pow*
"I, am, no, one's to be made!" *Thwack*
-Now-
"Still stings..."
"Delusional." Kincho thought silently. "So you're a stalker?-"
"NO!" -he kind of was-
"They just hit me whenever they saw me so i hid further back" Ochiba specifically avoided why this lost person hit him so much.
Kincho sighed, "Sir, till you have evidence they want you to find them then i cant help you, sorry." the ten year old shifted away from Ochiba skeptically
"Why wont you help me?"
"You are too suspicious."
Ochiba groaned, pinching his nose bridge he knew he wasn't going to get anywhere. "How am I suspicious?" he thought with a sigh.
"Farewell, I shall return with proof that I am not suspicious."
"That would be helpful! have a nice day!"
Ochiba wandered the streets with a small hope he would bump into his "first".
-Yukue's shop-
"I didn't notice you behind that new look you have, mascara"
"Ah, how time changes a person." Ringo chuckled nervously.
"Are you still active in your martial arts?"
"Of course!.. Cologne-san..." he glanced to the side.
Cologne looked around at the shop and Yukue. "Come with me. we have some, catching up to do."
Ringo bowed his head in compliance, whether it was because of fear or respect was to be figured out. "bye, Yukue." He practically shuffled out like he was dragged by the ears.
"I see that feather is working well."
"Yea..." they step outside the door
Yukue could hear muffled chatter before Cologne began counting down.
"Three."
"W-wait-"
"Two"
"Do i have to-"
"One."
Ringo dashed off like a madman. Cologne couldn't help but be impressed by his speed even a little proud for some reason. "Oho, this might be a little fun. Zero!" she practically vanished in one hop.
the streets were slightly crowded as two blurs zipped through them with ease. A girl group of three was whizzed past as one of the blurs leapt to the roof skipping across them like a stone on water.
"Lets see if he can still fight as well." Cologne chuckled before speeding off again.
"Think fast Mascara!" she thrust her staff at Ringo who managed to dodge the attack but was forced into a skid. "Come at me." she curled her index finger.
"Can this wait?" he was hopping from foot to foot.
"After all of that running? you will pass out if you stand around too long. Come!" She gestured with her full hand this time. Ringo sighed but the fire on his hair flared up.
"Here i come!" He dashed in with a straight punch but Cologne vanishes and appears behind him. Ringo's leg twitched but he pivots with his hips for a back elbow. "Really?" Cologne just doesn't even brace for the attack and blocks his elbow while still balancing on her staff, to his pain. "Ow!?" he kicked behind him to make her dodge back before charging in with a flying punch "Your fists again? I trained you better!" she tapped her staff on the ground, suddenly making Ringo twist his punch into a spin kick. it connected to her staff with much more force than his punches.
"I shouldn't be holding your hand anymore Ringo. Fight how i taught you to!" She tapped her staff three times.
this seemed to tap into some instinct of his, as he straightens his posture and bows "Yes ma'am!" it was almost robotic.
"Here I come!" he dashed quickly, into some sliding side kick that cologne blocks by holding her staff sideways.
Her surprising sturdiness was taken advantage of as Ringo balances on her staff and unleashes a flurry of stomps.
Having blocked all of his stomps with her hands like a game of pattycake, Cologne tosses Ringo back and begins a simple sequence of sweeps. There was a hop, a duck, a bow, swaying to the sides.
Ringo managed to dodge them all before unleashing a barrage of punches and ending with a swift sweeping kick of his own but Cologne swats it up and shoves Ringo back with the tip of her staff.
She suddenly swoops up the pots nearby and chucks them at Ringo. "Don't let them break!" Ringo pats them into the air and smoothly balances them on the wall behind them.
Cologne then pulls out a few bowls and tosses them at Ringo who catches them and balances them on his arms and shoulders like, an...experienced waitress?
"Wait a minute!"
"No time!" Cologne tosses a delivery box at him. "Get to running!" she clacked her staff against the wooden fence before he could think about what he was holding. Ringo just ran away from cologne but for some reason, he couldn't help but feel he was being lead somewhere. Cologne always blocked his attempts to turn but blocked him from going straight every now and then, making him take turns.
The moment they are above a house Cologne pats her staff with her palm, making Ringo obediently land on the welcome mat.
Ringo knocks on the door waiting for it to open.
A girl opened the door "Ah, the food's here!"
"Enjoy your meal!" Ringo and cologne had a welcoming smile.
"T-Thank you!" she quickly turned with the food in her hand before rushing upstairs with a wave.
Cologne elbowed him playfully "She's your age..."
"Please... It was just a delivery."
she chuckled before gasping quietly "OH, is it that girl-"
"HEY! You're making me do deliveries for you!" he finally "realized"
Cologne just chuckled "It was good training."
"...I-..." He sat down to pout but suddenly all the balance he never would've thought about dissipated. He fell with a soft grace -like in soap operas-, thanks to the little resistance he was able to put up before the free fall.
"I guess that's that." she started to hop up on her staff. "I'll see you later mascara." she chuckled before hopping off.
"...how...dare...she." he weakly shook his fist to the air but it fell back down with all of its weight. "Just... like... old times."
"Baby steps-no, crawls..." He dragged himself along, all of the weight on his palms. If he hadn't done this as a child so often it wouldn't even be an option, let alone his first. but all of that crawling did make him reminisce on those times.
-11 years back-
A featherless Ringo ran through the jungle, tossing himself off of roots and branches they stop for a moment. "What kinda babysitting is this? she has a great-granddaughter to look over! why me-" They fall silent at the sound of rustling leaves, and begin running again.
a pair of menacing eyes appear before the child, hidden just behind the shadows. Ringo charges in furiously, leaping up in the air to unleash a merciless, one legged drop kick but, the shadows seemed to chuckle as the child sized Ringo is tossed into the air. A short squeal escapes them before they flip using the momentum of the toss, dropping back down in the canopy of a tree.
They were about to charge back in, but the sound of wood clacking against wood made them dart off again. "I wish i could just flatten them!" he grumbled.
"You can try in a thousand years!" a staff came out of the shadows and jabbed Ringo below the canopy and onto a branch.
They growled but the repeated clacking of wood signaled them to start running. Ringo used more energy to move faster solely focusing on going fast. A staff appeared before him but he hastily lunged below it, grabbing onto the branch ahead and swinging back up to the canopy.
"Very good." the voice appeared, chasing Ringo and vanished when he furiously kicked in it's direction. But it was a distraction, as his next branch fell beneath him.
"Really!?" the force of his missed step killed all of the remaining momentum he had
Grabbing the falling branch, Ringo lands on another branch before leaping to the ground, now armed.
"Where... are you..." Listening to the rustling of leaves Ringo practically bounced between the trunks in the jungle tracking the shadowy figure that chased them.
A staff crept up from behind but this time Ringo parries the staff and swings back furiously. "You cant sneak up on me, HAG!" that was the last sound to echo through the jungle for a moment. Not a peep or occasional growl. But suddenly as a cold air fills the area a staff taps on the grass behind him.
Beads of sweat laced his face as his frightened eyes shook. a small peep from the bundle of anger was the first sound before the bonking of a staff danced through the trees.
it was a few moments of rubbing bumps as Ringo holds a single tear back as they crouch, back turned to the culprit.
The culprit, Cologne, lightly smacked the bump on Ringo's head "Honestly, who taught you that? you should respect your elder, and honorary mother." she prided her self with that title, using it whenever Ringo got out of hand.
"Mother my butt. all you do is beat me... Hag!" Cologne swiped her staff at him again but he managed to duck the first, only to get hit in the back of the head, executioner style.
"Alright alright..." Ringo rubbed the back of their head. their eyes drooped as their head now seemed to be a bit too heavy to hold high.
"The final test starts now. get home on your own."
"Wha-w-wait... honorary... moth-" they fell to the grass when they tried to reach out the the vanishing pogo master. "Crud..." Ringo closed his eyes and channeled his anger to power his small body.
Four fingers dug into the ground and pulled. and a furious child crawled to the village. a snake, that once tried to eat him, slithered away, frightened by the furious look on the boy. The hassle of crawling all the way to the village angered him enough to stand.
He stomped to a specific house with a mix of fatigue and fury. about to knock on the door till he was alerted to a presence behind him
A boy ran up to him, but couldn't even get a word out before he was punched into the window of a house.
-Now-
"Those were such times" Ringo sarcastically remarked before releasing his clenched fist "what happened to that snake?" he sighed before his closing eyes, continuing to slug along, hand by hand.
a pair of foreign foot steps crept up behind him. "That is a nice feather you have there. Brings me back" Ringo was facing away from the stranger.
"Does it now..." he continued to crawl, hoping to leave the conversation there.
The man followed behind Ringo to his disappointment. "A-Are you alright?" he questioned eager to talk more.
"this guy..." Ringo thought, frustrated, but kind enough to not lash out "I'm just, very, tired..."
The man looks off to the distance. "Brings me back... this person I knew would always crawl home. but they would always find the energy in their body to greet me." He rubbed the bridge of his nose fondly? something Ringo couldn't see, luckily.
"How wonderful..." Ringo was standoffish, and clearly, courteously, not attacking the strange, lonely man -as he concluded-.
"D-Do you need help?" he was still eager to pester and talk to Ringo, for whatever reason.
"No." it wasn't too much a shout, but clearly an irritated raise of his voice.
"Oh... but-" he raised his hand skeptically.
"No!" Ringo finally turned to show the irritated look on his face. The green haired man widened his eyes, Not with shock -at least to Ringo's outburst- but with joyful surprise.
"Do you happen to know who I am?" he asked, repeatedly pointing at his face excitedly.
"No?" the green hair strung a few bells in the air, but none rang. "Should I?"
The man chuckled, putting his finger to his forehead. "We go way back..."
"Way...back?" Ringo was now resting on his back
"Very far back."
Ringo raises his voice "Out with it already!" he was clearly getting annoyed, to those not delusional in Nerima.
The man gestured with his hands to look closely. "It's me!" he said cheerfully. Like some old friend.
Ringo fell silent, deep in thought. The man stood proudly thinking that Ringo was finally remembering which would be true. "this man really annoys me... annoy?" something clicked, but pleasant, would be a... statement.
the feather on Ringo's head flickered "There is only one person that stupid..."
The flames jumped, doubling in size. "That idiot." he realized. "But he was in china. what idiot would travel across countries to find a person?" A good portion of Jusenkyo victims sneezed.
an energy surged through him, enough to stand and point to this man. "Are you Ochiba?" he tilted his head and raised an eyebrow, uncertain if he was right... hopeful.
The man- Ochiba's face brightened, a tear rolled down his dimpled cheek. "I am!" he broke into a joyful laugh and saunter, arms stretched out to hug his old... friend-"My first love!"
He was blindly prancing toward his sun. a shame he doesn't know of Icarus. his shining star grew brighter and brighter as an embrace did happen.
*crack*
Ochiba got back kicked right in the ribs. A few were broken, and Ochiba fell to his knees.
Ringo loomed before him with a glare mostly used for dropped trash a person didn't want to pick back up.
Ringo's foot slid back for more power to knee Ochiba perfectly on the jaw and follow up with a front kick to ensure he wouldn't stand up.
He leapt off, knowing his shop-home was close enough. "I thought i was clear!"
twelve years ago, Ochiba poured his heart out, for the fourteenth time. But this one was different. He usually would say "I love you!" or complement Ringo in some way. but this time he talked about their future, weddings, household dynamic, the cursed springs. He planned to convince Ringo to dip in the spring of the drowned girl so they could have children eventually.
this was a bit too far given their age. They didn't even know where babies came from. But Ochiba knew it required parents, the details will come later he concluded.
"No." Ringo stated knowing it wasn't going to change. "I'm a guy
"But you wont be when-"
Ringo held his hand out to stop Ochiba "NO."
"but I-"
"I don't." Ringo walked off
The child slumped to the ground as the rain dramatically fell to the mud.
-now
"Thinking back on it..." Ringo contemplated. "Maybe I held a few words back..."
He landed on the very edge of a roof, but that was when his spare energy was snatched from him.
"Huh." his momentum carried him straight into a pole he planned to leap over, bouncing through a window, and crashing into a wall.
"f-felt...-worse..." he couldn't be bothered to stay awake anymore. passing out on a comfy bed he fell on, he let wouldn't let anything wake him.
Not even Yukue.