Exploring the Market

Oda’s alarm blared and he swiftly smacked it. He yawned and got up, looking around at his apartment. He did not like the sight he saw. Clothes lay strewn about, a pair of pants hung on a lamp. Multiple half full ramen cups and empty plates littered the available counter space, and the grime had begun to build up on his floors. He winced, while Oda was never a clean person, he hated letting his home get this way. He had been so focused on missions and training that he had let his apartment sink into disarray.

His apartment was rather spartan and simple, he had no decorations save for the prayer paper that he had been given during his encounter with the spirits. It sat taped to his wall, lonely in the empty space around it.

He started with his living room, a sparse place with a simple coffee table and two folding chairs. The coffee table was stacked with plates and cups, and he moved them from the table to the sink. The chair had Oda's clothes hanging on them, he sniffed them to make sure they were clean, he couldn’t tell and shrugged, throwing them into his empty laundry bin. He did the same with any clothes laying around. With his room barely even cleaned, save for some clothes moved and dishes done, Oda yawned, time for a break!

As he left his apartment he thought about where he could go for some training today. He could go to Shinoda Springs, and would likely end his day there anyways, but he wanted to go through the markets and enjoy the weather first.

With a large drink in hand and a sunny disposition, Oda made his way through the bustling stalls of Sutageiza Koto, stopping to stare at a series of paintings of each spirit of the land, lost in thought.

WC:313

Oda briefly considered buying the painting of Furaibi but he couldn’t bring himself to spend that much money, the purchase of his kimono was a big one and he felt like he should keep saving. He talked to the artist for a bit about the spirits, what they meant to each other. He tried to dazzle him with tales of his run-ins with the spirits but the artist refused to believe him. After a few minutes of attempting to convince the incredulous merchant he shrugged and gave up. Smiling he said goodbye and complimented the art before meandering on to another stall.

The next place he visited was a charming little stall with two patrons and what had to be a thousand different porcelain figurines. Oda had never been into little knick knacks but he felt like he should spruce the place up a bit so he was on the lookout. He reached for an exquisite looking porcelain figurine of a bonsai tree, intricate in its details. The merchant simply coughed to get his attention and pointed towards the sign on the stall ‘no touching’. “Oh, right heh, my bad.” Oda said in response. He looked at the price tags on the figurines and coughed, drawing further ire from the merchants. This was a bit pricey for him. He moved onto the next stall.

WC:222

As he rounded the corner of the winding stalls he stopped, his eye being caught by an unassuming stall, but Oda’s eyes knew what to look for, and he hurriedly walked to the small book stall. His eyes widening in amazement at what he saw, lining the walls were not only books, but rare and discontinued books.

“Oh my god is that a first edition ‘By Dawn's Breaking Spirit’? He asked, that was one of the first books Oda read that got him into romance novels.

The merchant was a hunched over older woman with silvery hair and massive glasses that magnified her eyes. She spoke slowly and with a raspy voice “Oh you have a good eye son, that one I picked up a few years back in…” She paused, slightly mumbling different villages as she struggled to remember where she got the book. “Well in any case, It’s quite a rare collectors item.”

“You’re telling me, the first edition still has the whole Moon arc that the writer ended up taking out. Oh man, what a treasure.” Oda fidgeted nervously, it was taking everything in his power to not spend every last Ryo he had. He continued scanning, amazed at the treasure trove. There was “On The Eve of Midnight” Volumes 1,2 and 3! He hardly ever saw the whole series in one package. There was “The adventures of the sly bachelor” . It was a little campy for Oda but no doubt important in the romance novel genre.

All the books had been amazing to Oda but he could hardly contain his scream of amazement as he laid his eyes upon it, “In The Eyes of Her Heart Vol.24”. Eyes wide, he got closer to the merchant and held the book up “How do you have this?!” He said. “This isn’t even supposed to come out until next summer!” He held the book with reverence, worried it would blow away in the wind if he wasn’t careful.

“Oh I’m friends with the author.” She said nonchalantly.

Oda almost passed out.

WC: 344

After much time at the bookstore and far too much money spent, Oda walked away with a stack of books in his arms, and a drink precariously balanced on top. He waddled his way back towards his home, barely saving the stack from falling a few times. As he walked back home he couldn’t help but sit down at one of the benches and read at least a few chapters. He grabbed one at random from the stack, “On Space and In My Desires”, a story about two shinobi spies on opposite sides who fall in love and escape to the moon. He was almost through the story when he looked up and realized the day was already close to being over, he had been so engrossed in the book that he had hardly realized how much time he had spent reading. He hopped up quickly and grabbed his stack of books, waddling back up to the apartment and plopping them down on his kitchen table, it shook at the weight but remained intact.


He briefly considered going to Shinoda, but his stomach was rumbling and the stack of books was calling to him, besides he could afford to take a break. Oda had been burning the candle at both ends, and he could feel the soreness in his hands from the repetitive hand seals. He stretched his wrists in response to the thought, which made him even more aware of how sore the rest of his body was.

With that, he decided on just reading and having a nice home cooked meal. He made a pot of rice, making sure to only use half the amount of water so that the rice would be crunchy and perfect, grabbed a book, and proceeded to spend the rest of the night reading.

[exit]

WC: 301
TWC: 1770(1180x1.5)

Claims:

Oda Terumi wrote:

[exit]

WC: 301
TWC: 1770(1180x1.5)

Claims:

Approved!