Suki sat on the swing silently with her hands against the chains. She could feel the metal get cold by the breeze of the wind. The wind was kind enough to give her a push on the swing today. Her long beautiful hair swayed upward in the air and downward with the motion of her feet doing so as well. She was waiting for Jan at the park since they were going to do a mission today. Today was her day and she got to pick what they did! She was happy to see her brother as she will get to talk normally today. She was not used to showing her teeth and has been wearing her bamboo for ages.

Mr. Fluffemz was sitting beside the swing set waiting for him too. Fluffemz seemed old, but she could not count his years, oh no. Today they were going to go help some school today, well some teacher specifically. She will get into more details once he was there, but for now, she will enjoy the sun against her pale face. She wondered if Jan will like her stuffed animal that she named 'Spheal'. It was a cute name for her cute little seal that she designed at some shop. Yes, super cute and phat. It made her giggle as she watched it sit on the other swing. "Having fun, Spheal?!" She happily asked out loud to the stuffed animal. This was a good day indeed.

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While up to now their missions mostly took place at the later hours, today was different, and handpicked by Suki no less. With her apparent unpredictability, Jan Ren didn't exactly know what to expect, besides knowing the outline of helping a certain teacher. Resigning himself to follow the little girl's whims this time around, the Sinese made his loose way to meet with the 'younger sister'. ...That is to say, she had been referring to him as such, and being the honorable man he was, he had absolutely no qualms with such.

Spotting her from afar was as easy as could be; simply thanks to the signature companion by her side at all times. This titan of an animal laid down on the ground, resting as its supposed owner simply swung by, enjoying herself. A cute sight, enough to warrant an unrestrained chuckle from the young man as he approached. "Enjoying yourself, I see." He commented, smiling; then noticing the small plushie by her side. ...It was small, round and phat. Awfully adorable. "Where did you get this guy?" He asked, reaching forward and picking the small plushie up, staring into its black, button-like eyes.

Almost like he'd forgot they were to go on a mission today.

WC: 207
TWC: 207/1,500

Suki was enjoying her swinging by the pushing of the wind. Her black hair flew back and forth from the momentum. She was not sure about anything as she was not thinking of anything at the moment. She knew she had a mission to do later, but that did not mean she had to think about it twenty-four seven. Spheal was just sitting there, slowly the swing was motioning by itself. She did not fear it as she smiled towards something that was not there for others to see. To everyone else they just saw a stuffed animal being slightly pushed by what seemed to be the wind.

Suddenly, she was accompanied by Jan who went towards the Spheal to look at it. Suki stopped and gazed at the two with a sweet light smile. "Nii-san.~ His name is Sphael. I drew him and someone made him for me! They said that they wanted more of my ideas and they will pay me." Nodding a few times she picked sphael up with the swing suddenly stopping. "We doing the mission now?" She looked up and gazed towards the direction. "I suppose so. We will be helping the toy story owner today." She looked back at him. "I heard that some bully gang is trying to ransack them." She spoke sweetly in her typical voice as she then walked towards the street and away from the park. It was time to be serious, was it not?

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Spheal. As in, a spherical seal? How... Cute. "Ehh, it even has a name." He exclaimed; of course it would have a name, if it was kept by Suki. A part of him was convinced the child had given names to all of her supposedly-owned stuffed animals. Though to hear her ideas were eye-catching enough to warrant a job as a designer... Well, that's incredibly lucky. "You'd really do that? Start creating stuffed animals?" He questioned, looking to the younger sister as she reached to take the doll form the Sinese. "That's quite the task you found for yourself there!" Admittedly, one that'd make him jealous! She's bound to be a great hit in no time!

As it turns out, the toy store required their help. If Jan Ren was a guessing man, he would assume this was the same one Suki had gotten the supposed job from. "Toy stores, huh. Not very subtle now, is it." He commented, placing both hands behind his head as he walked by the young girl; "That's a nice change of pace." Jan Ren added, smiling some. Indeed, the latest requests consisted of some highly dangerous material. It was nice to be under the impression that all is well, for once.

WC: 207
TWC: 414/1,500

She heard that the toy store was in deep trouble as there were gangs were acted as money collectors for tax. Some gangs did that to act as if they were going to protect the store yet attack it themselves if the store/business does not pay up. Suki yawned and stretched since she got off that swing all of the sudden. Her eyes closed with a closed smile while listening to Jan. Creating stuffed animals was not only for herself but for people who enjoyed creatures of all kinds as something to hug! This store was one of those stores that she will someday make a partner out of for her designs - hopefully.

"It is, mostly after the run-ins we have had so far." She kindly spoke, nodded and then started to walk off with Mr. Fluffemz following after. "You're going to be left behind if you don't follow!~" She teased Jan as her pink eyes sparkled with happiness that she was with her big brother again. Today she wore a pretty sundress with frills on the top and bottom of it. She let her long hair flow behind as usual. Together they walked towards the store that was almost close by the park. They did not have to go very far for that matter. Weirdly the door was left open and the lights were not on. Did something happen? She jogged closer towards the door and looked to see the store was destroyed. Toys were burned or thrown against the ground, glass broken and a stream of blood was seen trailing towards a creeked door in the back.

Her eyes went wide as if her break was slightly cracking. Slowly, once again she followed the blood trail.

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780/1500

Just as quickly as his expectations for the request rose, they plummeted upon quick realization. At first, it wasn't at all like so; following rather cheerily behind Suki as she seemed naturally excited to get to the toy store. Welcoming and already accepting the change of pace mentally, Jan Ren had expected an easy request with easy cashing to boot. Naturally... He'd be disappointed. Because that's how the world works.

GDI Kuri, this is why we can't have nice things. "??" Upon getting closer to the scene, the Sinese had already picked up on the odd smells; only to find out his guesses were right. Mentally sighing, expression sterned as he stared the numerous burn marks, shattered glass and debris on the floor; surrounding the bloody trail left, once more appearing to fascinate the young girl. "Suki, wait." He said while grabbing at her shoulder to stop her, tone shifted starkly from his earlier; into a much more serious, careful touch. Reaching forward himself, the young man crouched by the trail of blood, taking a deep look as he inhaled deeply through his nose.

Rania was right, this nose of his did turn out awfully useful. "It's recent. Very recent." He claimed; noticing it had yet to even dry, perhaps placibo kicking in to make the young man experience some heat radiated from the trail. "We've come late, but not too late. If we're going to help the toy store owner, we better hurry inside."

WC: 244
TWC: 658/1,500

Suki could not help but follow the blood train. It was pretty, but it was hypnotizing. She wanted to see where it went. That must have been what Ko felt when he entered the house and they were downstairs in the basement. She remembered that before they appeared in the basement her father chased her, yes... Her father... What did her father look like? What did Ko look like? She had a hard time remembering since it has been so long. Wait, what happened before going to the basement and what exactly happened...

Her heart started to hurt, making her suddenly stop and heard Jan talk to her. "huh?" She questioned and turned to look at Jan with a lost look. "Oh, alright. I will follow, nii-san." she quietly spoke and tugged onto his shirt. She was more of the following type now anyways since she was so used to being alone on that pirate ship during her adventures - seeing many things. Maybe she will tell Jan some stories, but for now, they were going to go somewhere, wherever Jan wanted to go. Suki did not want to upset Jan at all. She was so confused, lost, and unsure where to go as she felt some sort of anxiety of making him mad at her ... again.

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It was good that she followed suit this time; Jan Ren had been worried that the girl would start walking mindlessly into the store, where the blood trail led them. Granted he had planned to go there himself, but if she went in there in a daze, chances of her getting attacked were ridiculously high. Far too high for him to risk. "Alright. Good. ...Stay close behind me." The Sinese instructed as he prepared himself, taking a deep breath in and then out as he walked inside.

The store was dark, naturally. Lights busted, floor riddled with glass shards. There were several toys and dolls spread over, few of them stained with blood and some torn in what appeared to be a struggle. Jan Ren could faintly hear someone's voice coming from a room on the back, a single half-open door separating the duo from whatever laid inside. What's more, the young man managed to pick up some scent that he had disturbingly--

"Who's there!!?" BANG.

"Gaahck--!!" Suddenly, a sharp jolt of pain as the Sinese was sent airborne; left shoulder pierced, he bled as he was flung back. Falling to the ground, mind hazy in the sudden hit. It hurt like hell. He managed to suppress a scream in his pain, but clearly struggled to. Right hand moving to grab at his shoulder (to realize he was now bleeding), face clenched tight in the pain. Soon after, a familiar man walked out of the back door.

Holding a gun, a paranoid expression on his face; this man was, "(Taro!!? What the hell!!?)" the same drug dealer from a while back.

"Don't you dare move!!" He threatened, hand shaking as he held the gun at sufficient height to shoot the Sinese again. "I knew I'd find you here... You'll pay for what you did to me!!" Armed, stressed, and vengeful. Not a beautiful combination.

WC: 314
TWC: 972/1,500

Suki gazed innocently at her big brother. She felt protective of him. She truly missed her real biological brother, but he was just as good. Yes. Precious to poor o' Suki who was not going to expect what will happen next. The toys were all over the place and she wondered how could someone do this? Someone spent a lot of their time to create these toys. Softly, she sighed and traced her finger against the wooden shelves. It still felt smooth and soft, but her attention soon went to Jan who was about to open the door. Her ears heard something or someone shuffles in the next room.

"W-wait, Ja-!" she was reaching out for him, but it was too late as she saw blood splatter a little on her face from the shot into his shoulder. Her eyes went wide as the blood trickled against her warm cheek. Slowly, her hand touched the warm red liquid, and gazed at the man who did this. The guy had a gun, but this man caused blood... He hurt her brother. Her teeth gritted tightly as her eye color became more intense and pupils shaped more dragon-like. "You bastard!" Her voice became more mature, womanly, and cold. "SHI!" She yelled and pointed towards the man. A loud roar echoed throughout the store as a rather large Tiger broke the wall and behind the drug dealer.

He knew what it meant, her tiger. Sadly, Suki does not have the power to deal with him, but soon she will. Soon people like him will pay. Swiftly, without giving the deal much of a chance to do anything her tiger solar beamed the guy to submission, as it was a large 4m beam that went forward away from Jan and Suki. It went through the wall and outside as the lightening solar beam. The tiger roared once more, but seemed to look more aggressive than usual as if it reacted to Suki's different personality.  Slowly, Suki walked towards the guy and kicked him against the dealer's leg. Her head turned to look at Jan, "Are you alright, Nii-san?" Her voice went back to normal, cuter and eyes became purer. She made a frown, eyebrows furrowed as she became sad. "I-I was worried you know?" She bit her lip as she then looked at the guy. "Wait, what happened to him?" she coughed softly and eyes fluttered.

She did not understand what exactly happened. Her head turned towards Mr. Fluffemz and giggled, skipping towards him. "Hai, Mr. Fluffemz!~" She waved and hugged him. His fur was super soft and warm. She could not help but nuzzle him. His personality changed too as he seemed happy, purring. "H-hello?" An older man started to speak nervously. Her head tilted to look towards the direction and realized it was the shop owner. "H-hai! I'm sorry we were late, we did capture the guy though and I can come back to help repair!" She squirmed and felt sad that she somewhat failed. He laughed and looked around. "The bounty on this drug dealer is enough as if. You can keep whatever he has and I'll take care of everything else." They were both rewarded and Suki just ran off nervously.

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1545

exit-

Spoiler:

Well, this was bad. Everything about this situation spelled "BAD ENDING" for the young man, knowing he had to protect the younger sister-figure and fend off an armed, angry Yakuza man. His shoulder hurt, and the Sinese doubted he could use it well in the upcoming skirmish (if he was even granted a chance to fight). What to do? I can barely use my magic... I can't fend him off like this. He's close... Maybe I can jump him and neutralize his arm. But, he might target Suki... Dammit. There was too much at stake! How would he get out of this sticky situation?

...Probably by risking being gravely injured.

As it turns out, there was no need to do that however. Suki suddenly let out an uncharacteristic howl, prompting Taro to redirect his gun to the young girl -- who hadn't portrayed herself as such in any way. "You too!! And your ti-- AAAAAAA---" Before the Yakuza managed to finish his sentence however, a blast of wind strong enough to blow away the fricking wall and debris all around, pushed right through him as he was torn in cuts and slices all around; literally blown away in the girl's sudden burst of anger.

So that's what her tiger was truly capable of. But... What was that just now? That voice wasn't Suki's. That attitude was, somewhat characteristic of her, judging by her previous encounter with Taro. But not like this. Perhaps Jan Ren had imagined it, but it seems that she even momentarily held herself in a different way. Though in that stressing situation, he couldn't quite discern much in accuracy. "(Did I... Imagine that just now? --No... That definitely happened. Suki, what was that??)"

Slowly picking himself up, the Sinese found himself dumbfounded for a moment as he looked to the little girl and her pet. "Y-Yeah, I'm alright..." He exclaimed, almost mumbling in his daze. Then snapping himself back as he flashed an eager smile, reaching with his uninjured hand to firmly pat Suki's head. "Whew, great work Suki!! You've saved me!! Nice timing!" Portraying pride in her, the Sinese was honestly grateful. No matter how one twisted it, she saved his life. The next thing he knew, an old man appeared and greeted the duo, congratulating them on defeating Taro and being entitled to claiming his bounty. Ahh, so this is who we were meant to help. He looks pleasant indeed.

"--No no, please." Instant smile. The Sinese volunteered to help, whether or not Suki was willing to stay or not (though he had assumed she would). "Let me at least help you clean this mess up. Apparently it's in my fault your toy store got in this state... It seems only right. I apologize for the inconvenience, Mister." After a deep and respectful bow, Jan Ren was allowed to help the old man clean his store up, reorganizing whatever was left of it to make it somewhat 'proper'.

Truth be told, he had many questions for his supposed 'younger sister' after witnessing that. Besides the fact that her tiger was now evidently not just gigantic and menacing but also a powerful mage by its own right, was rather intimidating by itself. It's a good thing she's on our side... Though that display was abnormal if anything. He'd have to ask her about that later, preferably in a more pleasant situation.

Maybe he'd treat her to some more candy apples and have a chat with her then.

WC: 580
TWC: 1,552/1,500