[OPEN] There, by the Waterside

[givesalittlewhistle]

Who: givesalittlewhistle & OPEN
When: Mid-June IC/Beginning of April OOC
Where: Around the City
What: Part One: Hikari has her new Camera and wants to try it out | Part Two: weapons training (sort of)
Rating/Warning: (possible talks of fighting involving children)


I.

[If there was one positive thing about that last ViViD game she'd entered...it was that, combined with her school allowance and other savings, it put her at more than enough credits to buy the camera she wanted.]

[It was small. Easy enough to hold in her young hands, and light enough to carry around her neck on a string. Right next to her whistle, and atop the crest of light she kept beneath her shirt. It was also stylish, with a silver casing and even a little view screen in the back so that she could see the image she'd just captured without having to print it out first. Even better, thanks to the small card she was able to insert to add memory, she could take hundreds of pictures before having to delete any and make room for new ones!]

[It also meant she had plenty of leeway to experiment! Which is precisely why, for most of that particular morning, anyone might come across the eight-year-old girl wandering aimlessly around the city looking for things to shoot. She took pictures of the trees. The school. The shrine. The shops.]

[But...what she found she enjoyed most were taking pictures of the people. Especially when they barely had time to pose.]

Smile!

[Click]


II.

[The camera wasn't her only purchase, though this one had been a little more...spontaneous.]

[A glimpse in a window that inspired something she'd been wondering in the back of her mind for some time. Ever since that awful fighting game. She had come away from it mostly unscathed, yes, in no small part due to the fact that she'd reached for a weapon. Not a sword or bow and arrow or anything she could have hurt herself with, though. No, Hikari had reached for a long staff. And wielded it quite well for a novice.]

[Which was to say, she didn't smack herself in the face with it once. Success?]

[So, when she found a rubber training version of the same weapon with foam ends, it was like a sign. It didn't cost much, and when she first held it in her hands, it was even lighter than she remembered the wooden version being.]

[She took it to the park. Tailmon hovered as always, although this time on the ground. More than once, she swatted a little at the staff edges as they came near her, and it was only because of how soft they felt compared to most weapons that she wasn't more concerned. In fact, if anything, the little digimon looked proud of her partner for wanting to better defend herself though slight put out she hadn't opted for the bow and arrow.]

I just wish I knew more so that I could teach you myself.

[Hikari was currently practicing spinning it in her hands, getting used to the way the weight shifted and the center of balance followed its movement. She didn't dare turn her head until it stopped, and called out to Tailmon without taking her eyes away from her current task.]

It's okay. I can...probably...figure this out...by myself...

[Or until somebody else came along to help her.]

Comments

[nostatus]

Interesting is one way to put it.

[ Because it's mostly just.. well, weird to him. But he won't say it's necessarily a bad kind of weird.. he's met a lot of people he really likes too, so the way Shinpachi smiles indicates he doesn't mind it as much as the words themselves might make it sound. ]

It sure beats being stuck here on your own though, huh?

[givesalittlewhistle]

[She nodded, and her smile faded a little at the thought.]

I don't know what I would do if I didn't have Oniichan and the others here with me.

[nostatus]

Oh! [ He blinks for a moment in surprise at that statement. Not because of the content of the statement itself - Shinpachi does a little better by himself, but he likes having his comrades around, so he gets it - but because of another part of it. ]

You have your big brother here with you? [ He assumes it's her literal brother anyway.. probably. ] That's great!

[givesalittlewhistle]

[He would assume right.]

Mmhmm. He showed up a little after me, but he promised he would find me again and I believed him. And then he appeared for real!

[Hikari was the type of girl where...even at eight, she was capable of taking care of herself. She was pretty smart and a lot stronger than she gave herself credit for. And that was just the problem; in spite of that hidden strength, she was always so much more content with letting others protect her, rather than doing it herself. Almost...dependent.]

What about you? Do you have a big brother?

[nostatus]

[ The talk about her brother keeps him smiling. It's always good when there's people who look out for the people who can't protect themselves in this place - and Hikari sure seems to fall straight into that category. Guess this place can at least do some good in the choice of people it decides to drag in sometimes.. ]

Ah.. I haven't seen my family in a really long time, actually. [ Shinpachi doesn't seem too upset about it though, waving the concern away with a hand before she might get worried about it. ] We're not super close or anything.

[givesalittlewhistle]

You're...not?

[It wasn't an unthinkable scenario, but HIkari wouldn't help feeling a little sad at the thought. Was his like Takeru and Yamato's situation? Only...no, the two brothers will still pretty close, even though they didn't get to see one another as often as they both would have liked.]

[nostatus]

Nah-- I left my home when I was still pretty young. Haven't been back since. [ He tries to at least make it not sound too heavy.. because it isn't to him. Shinpachi can imagine it could be to her though, so there's no need to make it sound any more serious than it is to him. ]

That was probably.. I dunno, ten years ago or so? I'm sure me and my old man wouldn't have seen eye to eye on some stuff anyway.

[ He chuckles a tiny bit. ]

Yours must be good to you though, right? Fathers oughta be good to their cute daughters!

[givesalittlewhistle]

[Though she was still a bit thrown at the thought of leaving home and not returning for ten years--longer than she'd been alive--she still gave a small nod at his question.]

Mmhmm.

Otousan works a lot, but...when he comes home, we sometimes get to sit and watch television together. We like to laugh at the game shows while Okaasan finishes getting dinner ready.

[nostatus]

[ Thank god Shinpachi knows what a television is by now, so what she's saying isn't absolutely mind-boggling to him. ]

Guess that as long as you're stuck here, you're gonna have to make your big brother pick up the slack for that, huh? [ Just throwing him under the bus here.. But whatever, even if Shinpachi isn't close with his own family, he thinks he would do at least that much too if he had a little sister. ] Make sure he watches tons of television with you!

[givesalittlewhistle]

...but they don't have the same programs here as back home.

[Because clearly, this was the only flaw in such a plan. No, really; Taichi would probably have done it if she asked without hesitation.]

[nostatus]

[ See, Hikari gets it! His plans are important and without faults or exaggerations, that's the way he likes to see it. ]

They don't have anything you like watching? [ He can't.. really judge, considering he tried turning it on before and just got majorly confused. He's not exactly used to TV.. ] Nothing at all?

[givesalittlewhistle]

I'm...not sure.

I haven't spent much time watching it. I've been either coloring in my room, or else out taking pictures. When I'm not going to school or walking around the city with friends.

[If she knew there were fun, even somewhat familiar, things for her to catch up, that might be another story.]

[nostatus]

[ He'd suggest she could at least watch and try, but.. ]

Sounds like you already have enough to do. [ Besides, it can't hurt to go outside and do stuff there! (As long as there's no weird monsters or robots around, anyway, like tends to happen here..) Shinpachi's a very outsidey person too, so he just smiles. ]

Guess I shouldn't keep you waiting around here much longer then. You must have a lot of stuff to take pictures of, huh?

[givesalittlewhistle]

[She did, actually, yes, but...]

Are you sure you don't mind?

[nostatus]

'course not!

[ He seems to be telling the truth, since his expression is pretty carefree. ]

I should get back to working on that car anyway. I dunno if my boss is gonna think me spending the whole afternoon talking to people passing by is worthy of some pay.

[givesalittlewhistle]

[Well, in that case...]

Then I will leave you to your work and won't bother you any longer.

Thank you for the picture.

[nostatus]

No problem! [ Even if he did hit his head hard because of it.. but, you know. He won't hold it against her, she's way too nice for that. ]

See you some other time. Take care.

[ Since he knows that's just needed sometimes in a place like this.. ]