The night was just beginning, when Zinan groaned and stood from his desk, setting the brush he had been using, back into the inkwell. He gazed about the room, more or less to let his eyes focus on something that was not four inches from his nose. It was his room, his childhood one, in his family's house. It contained all of the memories of growing up, most of which were memories of being second best or all but forgotten. He sighed and looked back down at the desk. For the past several weeks, Zinan had been working on transcribing his family's history from fading, decaying scrolls, into new, pristine ones. It was an arduous task, but one that kept him away from annoying villagers or irritating clan members.

With another sigh, Zinan stepped over to the only window in the room and swung open the shutters. The sun had just started to set and bursts of blazing oranges, pinks, and reds stretched across the sky. The breeze was gentle and carried the soft scents of blossoming tree flowers. Zinan smiled at the peaceful scene he unveiled.

That smile quickly faded though. As he turned to return to his desk, a shape moved in the corner of his vision. He spun back around to face the shadowy form, kunai in hand, but the shape was not there. He wondered if it could have been fatigue from working on the scroll. Stowing his kunai, he returned to his desk, only to be startled by a voice. "Come one, come all! It is time for the greatest festival of the year! The Namahage Festival is now open!"

The sound of the voice felt like it physically pulled on the genin's body. Zinan leaped to his feet, startled. When he had looked back up from his desk, he saw that he was no longer in his room. He was in the middle of a busy walkway, surrounded by festival lights and rides. There were a mixture of villages, shinobi, and strange, ghost-like creatures. He looked down at this hands. Maybe I'm hallucinating. He patted his chest, which also alarmed him. Instead of his normal clothing, he was wearing his indigo happi and all of his weapons were gone.

Bewildered, he looked about the festival grounds.

---

WC: 387

It was another day in his guise, but 'Seikatsu' didn't mind. He'd taken another name for his travels and had found he was rather fond of it. Fond enough of it to name a son if he had the privilege of mating. That would be for another time, though. The male was dressed in tattered dirt brown clothing he'd found rooting through the garbage. The shirt had a large black stain on the chest and moth holes dotting the shoulders, stomach and hem lines, but still concealed his body well enough. Not to mention the thing was baggy as all hell so it wouldn't matter if it had holes bigger than what it had or not, unless they were exceedingly large. He was wearing burlap trousers to match the shirt, which also had holes on the legs dotting in different places. The hem lines at the bottom of the trousers were completely gone, being as though an animal had chewed or shredded them. Holding his pants up was a rope, which was needed to be tied tightly as they were obviously for a man much larger around the waist than who currently wore them. He wore no shoes, and so his bare feet hit the ground with each step he took.

The man had taken to not cutting his hair or trimming his beard and so both were rather scruffy and unkempt. The hair came down into his face, covering mostly his left eye in greasy black locks. If one were to pay attention, they'd notice a thin string of fabric coming from the left eye above and below, coming to the back of the man's head in a knot. This would denote an eye patch underneath the untamed mane. The man's beard had a few patches in it where it seemed the hair would not grow all the way to give the man the full facial majesty he might have chased after. The only thing off about the appearance was the one emerald eye that peeked from behind dirty locks of hair, trained forward and sharp as an eagle's talon. It was as though he was a feline on the hunt for prey. He was currently staring at a stall that was selling sweet Tsukumi dango, so this was probably the reason for such a thing. In one motion, the man moved to the stall to order. The yokai behind the counter looked him up and down, waving him away. It seemed to think due to his appearance he didn't have any money. The problem was that today he actually didn't.

The man had rifled through his pockets for his pouch of funds and came up empty. He'd either lost in along the way or forgotten to grab it when he woke up. Either way, he couldn't afford his sweets and walked off, hands in his pockets. When he walked away from the stand, his eye stopped the hunter-esque glare and went to a normal, nonchalant, look around. Everything was great in the festival grounds, save for not having the money to enjoy the foods. The male was walking absentmindedly and bumped into a young man, not much younger than himself, wearing an indigo happi. Or that's what it looked like? Whatever, 'Seikatsu' muttered an apology and bowed, stopping to look around behind the guy to figure out what to do next.

577

"Oi, oi, oi!" Zinan shouted. Some urchin had bumped into him. The man who was probably younger than what his disgusting countenance made him appear, was garbed in what Zinan would describe as garbage. It looked like the man's clothing was decaying, and it smelled like it too. Zinan sucked his teeth in irritation. Watch where you are going..." Zinan paused and looked the man over once more, "... yōgisha." Something about the man seemed off, like he was hiding something. He was definitely a suspect.

The genin dropped his hand down to his waist and felt his tarantula netsuke and inrō. The brush of his hand against the hanging inrō cause a few of the coins inside to shift, quietly. So, the man did not pick my pocket, but now he knows that I have money. Zinan held onto his hanging container and glared at the man, who peered past him.

"What do you want?" The man was trying to get somewhere, do something, or find someone. Maybe he was the one that put him in the place. Zinan's thoughts froze. Is this a genjutsu?! If it was, it would definitely be one that is too strong for him to break out of. When the man was not looking, though, he would definitely try to escape it.

---

WC: 220
Total WC: 607

'Seikatsu' turned to the man who shouted at him, having been lost in thought he had forgotten the guy was still here. With a tilt of his head,  he looked over the other while the angered guy seemed to check over his belongings. With a simple shrug, 'Seikatsu' began to stroke his beard and watch his counterpart, the emerald green hue piercing through the matted locks of hair to stare at him. The guy was apparently checking himself for some reason. Was he looking to see if 'Seikatsu' had gotten dirt or grime on him? It wasn't until there was a faint clicking of metallic coins bouncing together that 'Seikatsu' realized what this unknown person was doing. He's checking to see if he's been pick pocketed. 'Seikatsu' had half a mind to be offended but realized that looking at him, you'd probably suspect him to be a pick pocket. With a sigh, the man was turning to leave, but heard a voice ring out behind him, causing him to turn back to look at the speaker.

The guy in the fancy dress asked 'Seikatsu' what he wanted. Well, he hadn't really thought of that, to be honest. He'd just been wandering around the festival grounds trying to have a good time. Why did he have to want something? With a small sigh, the male let his emerald hue meet the eyes of the other man. The purple hue he looked into still seemed green, young, even though he was nearly "Seikatsu's" age. Not to mention he was only about two inches or so shorter than 'Seikatsu' so they looked into each other's eyes at near perfect level. With a yawn, the man scratched his beard in thought, before responding. "I fink tha's the question now, innit? I was merely tryin' for a bit o' tsukumi and wouldn't ya know it, lost me coin purse. So I suppose I want some tsukumi dango. But we don't always get what we want, do we now.... you?" Yes, he didn't know the other male's name but that hadn't occurred to him when he answered. 'Seikatsu' had taken the road to disguise his voice, rather well he thought.

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The man really was disgusting, though it had not crossed Zinan's mind to check himself for dirt and grime. He was still a little confused as to why he we was here, at a festival, in his happi. More importantly, he was concerned about the fact that he did not know how he got here to begin with. Zinan watched the man as he slowly realized why the genin was checking himself. Apparently, this offended the other man, as he started to turn to walk away before Zinan asked him what he wanted. The man had stopped and turned back to him, with a sigh and stared Zinan in the eye. Something about the other man's eyes seemed to tell of a darker past than Zinan's. It was unnerving and Zinan began to question why he was accosting the man.

The other man, however, answered Zinan's question. The Kumonosu genin did not know where the man was from, based on his accent, and almost missed half of what he said. After a moment's pause, in which Zinan translated the man's dialect into something that was more understandable, he responded. "You want some dango? That's it?" Zinan all but guffawed. It did not, however, surprise him that the other man just wanted food. He looked homeless after all. "I think I can get you some tuskimi dango." Zinan smiled at the man, which surprised him. The genin was not one for smiling. Maybe there was something in the air at this festival, maybe something was putting everyone in good moods.

Zinan surprised himself once more when he reached his hand out to the other man. "My name is Kumonosu Zinan and I am from the Land of Fire." Zinan was not wearing his headband or anything that would identify him as being a shinobi. There was no reason, though, to not hide that fact. He could tell the other man his real name; he would just keep his profession out of this.

---

WC: 338
Total WC: 945

The man quietly ran his hands through his beard in thought, sizing up this 'Zinan' and considering his offer. Seeing that he seemed genuine, this probably wouldn't be a bad idea. It would save money for 'Seikatsu' as well.  He didn't have much to lose following along with this guy for a while at least. With a shrug, the man decided it would be easier to just accept such a generous offer from a perfect stranger. His hand came to the other man's in a strong handshake grip. "Name is Seikatsu, least that's what they tell me." His hand shook the other's up and a down a few times before he released it, looking around at the fairgrounds. This was his first time to such a festival, or any festival really, but here he was meeting new people and soon to be eating good foods. He wondered if he was having much better luck than before or if there was something else going on around the festival grounds. He wasn't one to be that paranoid but it was all too convenient. He'd have to keep his guard up a bit.

Turning towards where he'd eaten dango with the oni just a day before, he pointed towards the stall with chairs pulled up to a bar like construction. "Tha' place over there. Has the best dango I've ever had, and I've eaten a lot of those things." He smiled a bit and waved for Zinan to follow him towards the establishment. It wouldn't take long for them to there, but it would be enough time to look around and notice the different stalls and games scattered around. They weren't even close to being able to see everything the festival had to offer, but they did get to see quite a bit.  Soon 'Seikatsu' would have to get back to crafting his mask for a masquerade that has yet been unannounced. He figured soon he would get a move on and rush through it with all the care and precision he was sure such a task required. But, for now at least, he'd enjoy spending time with other people along with a few yokai.

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