Shopping for Oseibo

[Ritoru Akki]

While the past two weeks had been a virtual blur of excitement for Akki, her mood changed from exuberant to homesick the moment Tigger suggested they go shopping for Oseibo.

Not one to pass up an opportunity to go shopping for anything, though, Akki still had her coat on before Tigger could finish the sentence, homesick or not.

The Lloyd Center Mall wasn't as large as what she was used to in Japan, but the novelty of being in America was still fresh enough for her to not even care. She lingered in every hitherto unheard of store, sniffed like a curious fox as they walked past the food court with its myriad of fast-food smells, drank in the sight of every strand of tinsel and lights, and immersed herself in the sound of so many people speaking English in one place.

At the same time, she didn't hesitate to drag Tigger to the next shop the moment she finally started growing bored of the last, and it was becoming readily apparent that she was more interested in contemplating gift ideas for herself than shopping for their new "friends" at Satsu Tora.

"Tigger-chan, what about this?" she asked, finally looking away from a bright selection of fuzzy scarves with matching hats and gloves to pick up a box of chocolates.

Dismissing the idea no sooner than she'd asked his opinion on it, she put the chocolates back down on the shelf and joined his side again, thrusting her hand into his own. It was something she hadn't done for several years, but this was her first Christmas away from home and she was slightly overwhelmed by the significance of it.

"Tigger," she said again quietly, "how long will we be staying in America?"

[Nodaka Tora]

Christmas in America was definitely different than in Japan, but there were still some similiarities. Like the bustling crowds in a mall. Those couldn't be avoided and even though he'd like to, he also felt the need to continue a tradition.

Every December, around this time, Tora always took his Akki to the malls and let her pick out the small gifts that would be given to his associates. Ones that weren't with him this time. With only two weeks in American, there were none that recognized his face. The few he brought with him were back at his establishment; one that would be opening its doors very soon.

"Mm," he answered into the phone that was plastered against his ear. His head bowed and shoulders hunched, he absently brushed his fingers over a pressed portion of his slacks, then turned covered eyes over toward Akki. In the sunlight or not, he rarely left home without his designer shades.

The more subdued of the two, he didn't protest or even put up a fight as she pulled him along, but he did give a faint grunt of disapproval at the scarves. Imagining his men in pink, frilly and fuzzy scarves might've been amusing to them, but he doubted they would get the joke.

"Mm. Use what money you need to, Hitori-kun," he spoke in his native tongue into the phone, then clicked it closed to tuck it away into his breast pocket. Feeling smaller fingers holding into his own, he threaded them together casually.

"As long as it takes," he responded in kind; using English. It wasn't the answer she was looking for, he knew, but it was the best one he could give at the time. He squeezed her hand gently and let a ghost of a smile spread across his lips. "It'll be a good experience, hai? You can learn English better." Not that his own was perfect, but he had learned the significance between saying 'Lloyd Mall', and 'Roid Mall'.

"Nothing's caught your eye?" he asked, even though he knew that numerous things had. It would, at the least, get her off of the topic of being here. He had his reasons, and they were ones he wasn't ready to explain to her.

[Ritoru Akki]

Sighing, she nodded once to his point that there was no better place to improve her Engrish. "Hai, Onii-tama," she agreed, giving his fingers a squeeze before letting go completely.

Being raised by her sibling had come with certain advantages and disadvantages. Because of his position in the Shiroi Te, he had not allowed her to go to school, concerned that something might happen to her in an effort to get to him. Everything she'd learned had been from the very best of tutors Osaka and Tokyo had to offer, but that wasn't to say she hadn't received her fair share of canings for failing abysmally when it came to obedience.

She simply didn't have the self control that was so commonly associated with their people. Mischief wasn't like a second skin for Akki, it was more like her one and only.

Because of this, she had a very unique attitude in comparison to other girls her age in Japan, and because of that she'd never really had any friends. Just Tigger and the men and occasional woman who worked for him.

At least here in America the expectations were lower; maybe this place would be like a haven for her. She looked up at her brother's sunglass covered eyes and smiled at him, that ever-present hint of mischief lurking in the upturned corners of her mouth and in the sparkle of her golden brown eyes.

"We can get them something from the pet store," she suggested with a grin, remembering the chinchillas she had gone into a rapturous fit of delight over. After all, Oseibo for business associates or anyone other than close friends or family was usually a perishable or easily returned item, and she could not see one of the hard faced men who worked for her brother keeping a chinchilla for long.

She saw something past Tora's shoulder that made her eyes light up like the Christmas decorations surrounding them. "Tigger! Ice skating!"

[Nodaka Tora]

One thing he was going to miss was smoking in public. He learned quickly that the Americans didn't appreciate that. How couldn't he with all the signs they had posted every where? Eyeing one with disdain, he looked back over to Akki when she released his hand.

"Pet store?" he asked, amused at the thought of one of his men owning a little critter that enjoyed rolling around in the dust. "Perhaps Itichi will enjoy, hai? But I think it hard to return animals to pet store in America."

Sliding his hand into his pocket, he rubbed his chin against his shoulder to ease away an itch, then turned around when she mentioned ice skating. Slowly walking backwards, he paused, and nudged his chin in that direction. "If you want to go, we have time. Don't forget that we're getting a cake after we leave here." As much as he wanted her to keep up with her English studies, sometimes it was just easier speaking to her in Japanese.

The phone within his pocket went off again, vibrating madly against his chest which provoked an exasperated sigh. Considering all of the changes going on in the last few weeks, his phone was ringing almost nonstop. "Come," he murmured to her, holding out his hand as he walked past to head toward the skating rink. With the other hand he flipped open the phone.

"Moshi, moshi?"

[Ritoru Akki]

She beamed at his relent, not even giving a passing thought to his words of needing to buy a Christmas cake. She didn't even know it wasn't a custom in America to buy one. Akki did, however, give a long, loathing look at his cellphone. He was ALWAYS on that thing.

Taking his sleeve between thumb and forefinger, she pulled him towards the ice skating rink, waited in line, and asked to rent a pair in her size in pretty good English. Tora had given her a little spending money for the week and she used it to pay for the rental, then drug him over to a bench to put the skates on.

All the while, she kept giving that phone dirty looks.

Once the skates were laced on tight, she carefully got up on her feet, having to stand on the blades at an angle, and with one quick swipe of hand, she had the phone out of his and laughing, she darted off into the rink and around it in smooth, easily executed circles. She held the phone high over her head and dug one blade in a shaving slant into the ice, spinning around to a stop.

Looking at Tora, the grin on her face could mean only one thing.

Come and get it if you want it!

[Nodaka Tora]

The girl was spoiled.

At up to forty-five hundred Yen a week for allowance-- which would roughly equal about fifty dollars -- there was no doubt about that. At least she was intelligent about what she did with the money, splurging only once in a while. It was close to Christmas, and so he had no problem with giving her a bit more. Ice skating, though? She was welcome to go out there by herself.

But it seemed that she didn't have the same idea.

"We'll be back soon, Jiro. Have Koyuki---" Yoink!

Looking up from the ground, he peered over at his sibling with a straight expression, which eventually broke with his chuckle. "Akki, I need my phone. I have business to take care of." Business he wasn't too eager to return to, from the look of it. Had he been, he would've been out on the ice already, skates or no.

Heaving a sigh, he wandered over to the vendor to pay for a pair of skates, and after they were donned, he hobbled his way to the ice. Tonguing the corner of his mouth then biting the tip as if in concentration, he stepped out upon the ice and started off in her direction in a leisurely glide. "I should have you apologize to Jiro when we returned," he chastised her with a hint of a grin.

[Ritoru Akki]

She could hear Jiro, probably thinking that the cellphone's connection was going bad, but she continued to hold the phone over her head, getting a few laughs from people who had seen what she'd done in the first place. Her mischievous grin turned into one of full-fledged joy when she saw Tora walk up to rent a pair of skates.

He honestly didn't look too mad about her ganking his phone, and really, it couldn't be healthy for him to have that thing pressed to his head all day. As he skated up closer to her, she grinned and slowly started skating backwards, throwing quick glances over her shoulder to make sure she didn't bump into anybody. It was a very small rink, and she was used to having more room to maneuver in.

Jiro's voice could still be heard, asking uncertainly if Tora was there.

Giggling at Tigger, she finally held the phone out to him when he 'threatened' her with having to apologize to Jiro. "Say you are shopping for Oseibo, Tigger-chan," she pleaded in a conspiratorial whisper, "and turn your phone off? Just for an hour, please? Please big brother?"

Her sad-face had worked on him before, and she cranked it up to 11 as she held the phone out to him, her golden brown eyes pitiful over a glossy, pouty mouth.

[Nodaka Tora]

Tipping a toe forward some and using the jagged edge to bring him to a stop, he grunted when she drifted backwards, then glanced up at the phone, keen ears picking up the sound of Jiro's frustrated tone, as well as the bit of laughter around them.

"Hai, hai. I will." Darting forward, he snatched the phone back from her and brought it to his ear to inform Jiro that he was 'busy'. Then, looking at her pointedly, he turned off the sound and vibration before tucking the phone away. "There, better? For an hour. Now put that look away before you hurt someone with it," he said to her with a scowl.

Always worked on him, at least when it came to his 'little sister'. A sad fact for a mafia boss, to be sure, but none of his men would ever think of bringing it up. Soft on his sister he might be, but his hand was strong when controlling the goings on of his associates.

[Ritoru Akki]

Laughing delightedly at his scowl, she reached out and playfully pushed him, not worried about him falling over because he had more balance than a damn cat.

"You never know, Tigger. That one hour may save you from..." she frowned thoughtfully as she spun a lazy circle, all nonchalant grace. "How do you say, ah, brain cancer?"

Grinning over her shoulder at him, she caught his hand again and, swinging their laced fingers between their bodies like a pendulum, led him on a leisurely path around the rink. She couldn't help but notice that she caught more than one boy's eye, something that both embarrassed and exhilarated her.

American boys were so different, and Akki was no different than a whole slew of Japanese girls when it came to akogare, or deep longing, for a western man to marry one day.

It wasn't that Japanese men weren't good enough - Tora would make a fine husband to a Japanese woman if he ever found the right one, even a Japanese woman with a severe case of Western akogare. Tora was just different from most of the men in Japan, where the bedtime stories read to children didn't focus on love or romance, but tended to focus instead on morals and hard work.

Akki's akogare had started when she was six or seven and saw Cinderella for the first time. There was koigokoro, or awakening love, and emotions and kissing and... oh, it was just so romantic.

She vaguely remembered swooning around the house for weeks after that, renaming her favorite teddy bear Charming and spending a lot more time on her knees near the walls, checking for mouse holes so she could begin fostering a friendship with the mice.

Being tutored had meant she'd lived a mostly boy-free existence, though, only playing with the sons of Tora's business associates and even then, only briefly.

So to see these American boys looking at her, then quickly looking away when she saw them looking, was a little like a lifelong akogare come true. "Tigger-chan, do you think we will be here long enough to find me a husband?"

She was only half joking, of course.

[Nodaka Tora]

Looking upon them, none would expect him to be many generations her senior. As small and almost fragile in appearance as they were, more than one person believed him to be only a year or two older than her, if not the same age. Despite his position in life, or even that advanced age, he enjoyed shrugging off expectations and propriety to have a little fun.

He wasn't much for skating, but if it brought a smile to his Akki's face, then his job was done. It couldn't be said that it helped that he was in a good mood. How couldn't he be? They were settling in a new place and a new enviornment, not to mention it had been snowing since they arrived. Snow wasn't an uncommon thing back home, but rarely did he have time to view the beauty of it, or be refreshed by its properties.

"Brain cancer? Ah..." That wasn't a phrase that came up often -- if at all -- during language studies, and once again he found himself lamenting that he didn't have the ability to know all the intrincies of a language after heraing it once. Some demons had all the luck.

Foregoing the mental Japanese-to-English dictionary search, he smirked softly at her. "Phones don't give people brain cancer, Akki. It's annoying little sisters that does." Flashing her an impish grin, he slid his hand free to glide off, only to pause at her next comment.

"You want gaijin for husband?" he stated with some distaste. Being what he was, nationality shouldn't be much of a concern. But after living a certain way for several centuries, he was bound to pick up some of their dislikes. "Maji?" She couldn't be serious, could she?

Then, after a moment's thought.

"Hai. We find you husband. But only Japanese," he stated as he cast a pointed glance to the young men eyeing the mischevious young woman. "Maybe one of the upstanding men of Shiroi Te, mm? Jiro will be most proud and honored to have you as wife." Never mind the fact that he was about three times her age, if not more.

He did well to hide his cat-like grin as he made a smooth circle around her.

[Ritoru Akki]

"Kora¹ Tigger!" she said, laughing too hard to really sound threatening or even remotely angry with him. "Little sisters do not cause brain cancer, they cause Premature Male Pattern Baldness!" This particular phrase she said very precisely in English, having heard several times already on American television. Western men were obviously obsessed with Male Pattern Baldness, Erectile Dysfunction and Increasing Size and Stamina with only One Capsule A Day.

Akki couldn't help but snicker when he paused, her question sinking in. She laughed outright at his apparent displeasure at the idea of her marrying a gaijin².

"Maji³! A nice, handsome man who kisses me in public, hai?" She knew he'd just love that.

"Hai. We find you husband. But only Japanese. Maybe one of the upstanding men of Shiroi Te, mm? Jiro will be most proud and honored to have you as wife."

"Dame⁴!!!" Gasping in horror, her eyes as huge as saucers, she tore her little teddy bear backpack-purse off her shoulders and swung it at him in mock anger.

"No no no, Tora-chan, Jiro smells like the medicine, the Icy Hot! And he is ooooold, Tora-chan, much too old!" She narrowed her eyes at him, planting her hands on her hips as she stood there, the teddy purse nearly touching the ice as it hung from the strap held in her hand.

"No Shiroi Te husband for me. My husband will not die of the brain cancer because he talked on cell phones with you all day!"


_{1: Informal. Like "Hey!" or "Listen here!"
2: Formal/informal. Foreigner or outsider.
3: Informal. Seriously, I'm serious.
4: Informal. "No way," "It's not possible," "Not going to happen," "It's no good."}

[Nodaka Tora]

What a show they were giving. The people that were gathered around had a good laugh at their expense, even if they didn't understand what the two were saying. Didn't need to when one was getting hit with a teddy bear backpack.

Laughing too hard to block properly, he earned a thump upside the head, arm, shoulder, and more. The laughter died down to faint chuckles, leaving him with a broad grin -- or what would be a broad grin to him, though only a half smile to others.

"Okay, okay. No Jiro, then. And no marrige for you until older, hai. No more thinking about. Going to give me gray with it." Gray. If it was possible for him to go gray he might be worried. He found a comfortable age to stick with and kept it. It made things interesting, especially when he had to move every few decades, or protray his own son.

As fun as it might have been, looking upon Akki and having that thought made him sober up. One day she was going to notice that he alway looked the same; that he hadn't aged one day since she was 'rescued'. "You get done skating. Still have to finish shopping and buy cake before it gets too late."

Pushing against the blades to skate closer, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head as he drifted past, then continued on toward the opening in the surrounding low wall. Enough fun was had for the day, and now it was time to get back to business.

[Ritoru Akki]

The only thing that could make her happier than seeing Tora smile was knowing that she was responsible for it. He was always so majime, so... serious. Shrugging the straps of her teddy-bear doomsday device back over her shoulders, she feigned a scowl at his words, though inwardly she was all warmth and bubbly-ness at hearing him laugh and seeing him smile.

"So ka?" she asked, tilting her head to regard him critically. "You sure you don't want gray? It would make you look like Jiro. Old, and... ah... distinguished." Ooooh big word and its proper execution!

Instead of receiving the praise she fully expected, she watched his face fall as he looked at her. Very little could put a damper on Akki's mood, but as far as she was concerned, the sun rose and set just behind Tora's shoulders no matter where he stood. She looked at him curiously until he leaned over to kiss her on top of the head, making her go cross-eyed trying to keep her eyes on him. Closing her eyes and bowing her head, she felt him pull away, heard the scrape of blades through ice as he made his way out of the rink.

What was it about her that made him so sad? It wasn't the first time he'd looked at her like that, like she'd somehow quite suddenly robbed him of every happiness in the world. Lifting her head, she watched him step out of the rink, and with a sigh she spun around one more time, effectively pulling herself out of the mini-emotional funk she'd slipped into.

A boy bumped into her on accident in mid-spin, and she clutched his jacket to stop from falling over.

"Are you oka-ACK!" he wheezed, choking as she pulled herself upright with a handful of coat and shirt. Regaining her balance, she let him go and dusted her hand against the back of his coat, smoothing the bunched fabric where she'd nearly strangled him. "Okay, sorry, bye!"

Akki was a good skater when people weren't bumping into her. She darted off like a fox startled in the brush and was stepping out of the rink to hobble behind Tora in no time.

_{So Ka: can mean "really?" or "I see.." depending on tone.}

[Nodaka Tora]

He would have to explain to her one of these days. A day he wasn't looking forward to, to say the least. Honesty had always been highest priority amongst his adopted family, and he had lived as closely as he could to his father's teachings. It was because of this that, at times, holding such a secret from her filled him with guilt.

But he had more than that secret, didn't he? After all.. he did kill her father.

His death was probably one of the only great lies he had told her. While he knew what had happaned to her mother, her father didn't meet the same unfortunate accident. He couldn't simply let the man live, though. He might not be the best 'parent' for her, but at least he was better than that honorless curr.

The gentle vibration of the phone nearly had his hand digging for it to answer, but instead of flipping it open to bring it to his ear, he held the END button until the logo flashed across the screen then went black. He had promised that he would keep it off, and he would keep that promise.

Working the skates off was met with a little difficulty. Children and their nimble fingers knotted the ties up more than they should've been, leaving him to pick at the bow until it came loose.

"Put your foot up here," he stated as he pat the bench next to him. "I'll help take them off. You know what kind of cake we buy?" He couldn't decide. Spice had been the tradition, but now that they were in a new land, he wanted something different.

"You like chocolate, hai? Maybe we get huge chocolate and ice cream cake." It was easy for her to have the same bubbily mood, no matter what has happened. For him.. his moods were not unlike the sea; ever changing. "We can go home afterwards. Have cake and popcorn. Watch a good movie. That'll be fun. I'll let you pick out the movie." He grinned at her as he wiggled his foot into his shoe.

"A quiet night, just you and me. No brain cancer causing phone. Promise."

[Ritoru Akki]

As always, she was right on Tora's heels, which was one of her favorite places to be. Over the years, he had kissed enough scraped knees, read her enough bedtime stories and allowed her such freedom to be herself that he had gained her unquestioning loyalty and devotion. Of course, that didn't mean that she didn't have her temper tantrums when he denied her something or that she didn't drive him up the wall occasionally with her bouts of mischief. When it came to where she wanted to be, though, there was no question. Always with Tora, her Tigger-chan.

When he sat down on the bench, she plopped her narrow behind down right next to him, watching him with hawk-like intensity as he pulled the phone out of his pocket. Smiling brightly when he held down the end button and flipped it shut, she swung an ankle up over his lap on cue, careful not to render him female with the bladed edge.

When he asked her what kind of cake they should get, she looked at him quizzically, her brow knitting as she tilted her head. She was about to remind him that they ALWAYS got spice cake until he mentioned chocolate. Chocolate and ice cream cake, even. At that point, any curiosity was gone, replaced with rapt attention.

The thought of spending a night cuddled up on the couch next to Tigger-chan with a bowl of popcorn between them, watching a movie of her choice while his cellphone sat silent in another room - or even smashed into a zillion pieces - was almost too good to be true. "You mean it, Tigger?" she asked excitedly, leaning over her extended leg to peck his cheek with several quick kisses. "You mean it, anything I want to watch? No phone? TWO pieces of cake?"

Then she leaned back and regarded him almost skeptically. "Buttered popcorn, hai?"