[MISSION #0] Good Old Days [Tsubaki/Leonard]

[Blushing z0ro]

LEONARD LECLERC

PROLOGUE

- GOOD OLD DAYS -

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Four years ago…

A gentle summer’s day on the island of Toroa - West Blue.


A light breeze carried around the scent of the ocean over the streets of the city, the sounds of steps and discussions echoing over the cobblestone streets as the sun reflected off the whitewash walls of the buildings lining the shopping quarter of the town, only offset by the dark, almost black tiles of the rooftops.

It was in such a street that a young sixteen years old Leonard LeClerc lazed around on a wooden bunch, happily sipping on a nice bottle of cold cola, a basket of fresh groceries sitting next to him, the gleaming red apples and the green stem of a leek poking out the top. That had been the tradition; Leo would go and get buy the groceries, and in exchange could get himself a treat. It was the only time the young man ever really had a chance for such things.

His mother made a point to have only healthy things in the house, the only drinks present other than the occasional fruit juice was water and the bitter tea that from Leonard’s Grandfather's homeland that he seemed so fond off, although the young man could never fathom why; it really tasted like pond water to him. Well these were the only drinks aside from the sake the old man kept at the back of the dojo, but Leonard was quite certain if he ever attempted to get a sip of that he would not live to see the next day.

A bell rang out, echoing over the entire city, marking the fourth hour of the afternoon, a time which should have seen Leonard home with the groceries already. “Ah crap!” The young man exclaimed as he downed his small glass bottle empty of the sweet beverage inside; quickly tossing it in a nearby bin and grabbing the basket of groceries while leaping off his seat to begin a dash home.

However, making it home in a timely fashion was not what fate had in mind on that day. As Leo ran past what would normally be an empty side alley, his eyes caught the shapes of figures standing in it, as well as unfriendly language. Whatever was going on, it was probably worth having a look, at best it would be nothing, at worst somebody could be in need of help.

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Tag: odango
Words: 401
Leonard: 4b5560

[odango]

T H E  S T O R Y  O F  T S U B A K I

? - I

- G O O D  O L D  D A Y S -

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Toroa was Tsubaki’s home. She and most of her family originated from the island but the family was just a branch of an ancient noble family. Somewhere along the line, the family had started living among the common people but they had kept the weight of their Taighana name over the centuries. A lot of people knew about them even if the numbers were dwindling. It was down to just a couple families. Tsubaki’s maternal grandparents were true to the line with her grandfather as a successor. The couple had two daughters – Tsubaki’s mom and her sister and Tsubaki had two cousins. While her older cousin was the son of the younger sister, he was the only male offspring so he would succeed the family. She, herself was the oldest and could have inherited the title if there were no men but she was born out of marriage which meant she would be labelled as a stain of shame and, while her grandparents would be nice to her, the girl had been prodded and looked down on by her family because of it. She was pitted against her older cousin to excel in as much as she could so that her mother could prove “bastards could do it, too”. Toroa, while her home, was not the best place for the future marine. She still loved it, however.

At the time of this story, Tsubaki was fifteen and an overachiever with a potential career as a concert pianist and astronomer. She was always lost in her own thought so she didn’t make a lot of friends. Her days were spent mostly daydreaming and practicing or reading.

- - -

”Can you just leave me alone, please?” she spoke out to the four men who had cornered her in an alleyway. She knew the cackling bunch of young men well – they had gone to the same school. The brunette started getting bullied after standing up for a couple of her classmates and this instance was just that. She was going to a general rehearsal at a small venue with her piano teacher and was caught by the group. They wasted no time ganging up on her and pushing her in the alley. The reasoning was simple. The guys would bully some of the kids Tsubaki called friends and the young woman would get mouthy and quickly run laps around them with words – so much that they ended up feeling like idiots and, while it lightened the moods of the bullied, it didn’t go down well with the gang.

”C’mon, Taighana! They’re huge. Show us already.” he laughed while poking Tsubaki’s chest and she slapped his hand away. The hazel eyed teen pulled her hands up to cover her chest. That day she was dressed in a white dress with a wide, black ribbon around the waist. It was custom to do general rehearsals in the clothing of the performance to get the same feel. She had also developed a lot more quickly than the other girls in her class and was already quite busty. This got her bullied often.

”Why don’t you go bark at some carriage or whatever it is you do in your free time?” she let out with a scowl on her face and stepped back to feel the wall against her back. The guys just snickered at her reaction, feeling powerful as a group. It wasn’t a busy street and they were confident they could ruin the girl’s day. It wasn’t about seeing her bare chest as it was about humiliating the girl like they had felt humiliated. Revenge was a poisonous practice.

”Quit with the nonsense. Words won’t help you now and there’s no teachers around. So just show them to us already!” the front-runner of the group reached out and pulled hard on Tsubaki’s collar. ”Stop it!” she screamed.

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Tag: Blushing z0ro
Words: 644
Tsubaki: 393597

[Blushing z0ro]

LEONARD LECLERC
PROLOGUE

- GOOD OLD DAYS -

---

It was the loud scream of “Stop it!” that made Leonard hurry up and step into the dark alley. A little further in he could see for figures surrounding a smaller one. The dimly lit backstreet barely revealed the details of the people inside. The four figures surrounding the smaller one appeared to be young men by their silhouettes while the middle one must have been the young woman the voice had belonged to. Whatever was happening here there was little doubt in the young man’s mind that it wasn’t any good.

Taking a few more steps in Leo took in the scene, examining the environment for anything that might help, he was on his own and did not have any weapons, just fighting them off would be hard. Not only that the woman in the centre of all this might get caught in the middle which would just make everything worse. No more than two steps ahead a gap in the buildings let sunlight stream through, the moment he took those steps Leonard would be very visible; any chance of surprise would be gone.

One more step, a single movement forward and Leonard would be revealed, he needed to act right this instant. No weapons, only himself and a basket of groceries… maybe that was it.

In a spur of the moment decision Leonard grabbed one of the apples from inside the basket and hurled at the man who had been leaning ever closer to the female figure. Headshot. The bright red fruit smacked the man right in the side of the head, exploding in a splatter of fruit bits and juices.

“Argh, who the hell!!?” Shouted the now fruity thug, just as Leonard took his step into the light, revealing himself. As usual Leonard wore a black headband around his forehead, while the rest of the outfit consisted of a grey T-shirt with a simple brand logo in the front, paired with black bermuda shorts and black shoes.

As he stepped forward Leonard picked another apple and began tossing it in his right hand as he obliged the thug with some form of an introduction. “Just your friendly apple salesman! Remember, an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Was it really the time for snark? Arguable, but in Leo’s limited experience whilst taunting could make opponents more angry it could also hold them off for a bit, and angry opponents generally made more mistakes than a calm one.

“You! You’re Leclerc aren’t you!?” Shouted the appled thug seemingly sounding even more angry as he looked at Leonard and his apple. Did Leonard know these guys? Hmmmm… he didn’t really recognize any of them, nor did he know the girl… or did he? Maybe from school? Yeah that’s right! These people were from the grade below his own, the apple hero seemed to recall.

Stopping about four metres away from the group, Leonard was now out of the light and in the same dimness as the rest, his eyes quickly adjusting, making it easier to see. “Well I have no idea who you guys are but; I’ll ask nicely once please step away from the young lady.” No, come on. React one of you. And hopefully you can think fast too girly. Thought Leonard to himself just as another of neerdowell stepped forward up to Leonard, intent of making a show of force; “Now listen you ass. Just because you’re a year older you think you can-” Leonard cut the talk short by closing the distance with the one approaching, reaching forward with the apple in his hand, smacking it right into the assailant’s mouth. It was quick but now there was an opening. It would allow the girl to step away from her assailants if she was quick enough, how to proceed after that though… Leonard didn’t really know. Improvisation would have to be the word of the day. And “Apple”; apples were clearly the true heroes of the day.

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Tag: odango
Words: 663
Leonard: 4b5560

Tsubaki: 393597

Thug 1: 920303

Thug 2: 0d4d01

[odango]

T H E  S T O R Y  O F  T S U B A K I

? - II

- G O O D  O L D  D A Y S -

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The day couldn’t get much worse for Tsubaki – or so she thought. She would be bullied and then couldn’t make her general rehearsal. Probably, the day would result in some emotional trauma. Fear was making her heart race and she could feel cold sweat cover most of her being. It was a very frightening empty feeling. Once again she felt powerless to stop it. Or, she did until an apple hit the side of the bully’s face. His grip loosened on her collar and his upper body swayed from the impact. As soon as he let go, the girl backed away from him and into the wall as quickly as possible.

”?!” the girl’s gaze turned to the newcomer but her eyes remained fearful. Her hands were pulled up and defending her chest and her posture was a bit hunched around her core. Even though the older boy had slowed down the process, she couldn’t help but assume she was still in danger. There was just one of him and four of them. Would this really end up ok?

”Who is he?”

There was something about the boy that looked vaguely familiar. She couldn’t tell for sure but she knew she had seen him around. As soon as her classmate said the last name, Tsubaki remembered. Indeed, they went to the same school. The boy was a year higher so it made sense why they hadn’t talked before.

”The… upperclassman?" she let out while observing the exchange. Two of the four were now engaged with the newest addition to the scene, one of the thugs stepped back – obviously a bit scared to go through with their plans because now they had a witness. The fourth one, however, had an opinion to voice:

”So, whatever, we just beat the apple guy, guys! Then we can continue!” He laughed but the smile soon turned sour at the sight of his friend getting an apple stuffed in his face like some roasted pig.

”Oh, this is bad! The boy was just trying to help me and now he’s going to get hurt.” Tsubaki thought as she watched the third boy pick up a piece of wood and charge at Leonard. ”You jerk!”

Tsubaki did have an opening and so she used it for what she thought right. The girl pushed off the wall rushed forward. The hazel eyed brunette crashed her side into the boy on the attack. This took him by surprise and knocked Tsubaki on the ground now outside the group. She didn’t know what she wanted to accomplish exactly but she didn’t want to see someone hurt because of her.

Sitting up on the ground near Leonard, the girl rubbed her backside after the fall and looked up at the boy helping her.

”Well, run! Before they hurt you!” she urged with a stern look in her eyes. The girl herself was in heels, a dress and had a satchel with some books of music in it. She was not the fighting type – nor could she run quickly in her attire. In her mind it made more sense for the boy to flee and leave her to her fate. There was no sense in both of them getting hurt.

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Tag: Blushing z0ro
Words: 539
Thug 3: dacb5e

Tsubaki: 393597

[Blushing z0ro]

LEONARD LECLERC
PROLOGUE

- GOOD OLD DAYS -

---

That wasn’t quite what Leonard expected. She wanted him to run? What was shen one about? This girl was the one in danger not Leonard. This unexpected turn of events almost hurt in fact as Leonard almost missed the other young man that had been going for him, just narrowingly avoiding a straight punch to the face by ducking underneath and stepping to the side, placing himself closer to the young lady.

“I appreciate the sentiment but I’m not sure you really get your situation right now.” Leonard spoke, his back to the girl so he could keep a look on the ever increasingly frustrated boys. Possibly not helping the situation Leonard couldn’t help but to grin, giving him a cocky look, not much by choice but really as a nervous reaction.

What could he do? The thug whom he had just smashed a fruit in his mouth was beginning to recover, regaining his footing and coughing bits of fruit. Once that one was fully back up on his feet and in the fight the four would have Leonard and the girl properly surrounded and against the wall. Had he been alone and holding a weapon the young swordsman wouldn’t have really minded those odds, but he did not feel confident he could hold four guys off while shielding a girl. Really there was only one solution Leo could think of.

“Damn it. Mom’s gonna be mad about the groceries!” In a desperate ditch effort, Leo hurled the entire basket of produce at the closest of the thugs, who instinctively stepped back expecting a following attack, yet none came. Instead Leonard turned around and lowered himself, slipping his arms under the girl. One behind her knees and one around her waist, as he picked her up and stood. Only to immediately sprint in a mad dash, passing in between the still coughing thug and the one who had dodged the basket of groceries.

That was going to be added on the list of new experiences. Hopefully one which would not have to be repeated… at least not on a regular basis. Leonard found the girl surprisingly light. Were all girls this light? The young man wondered. The only experience he had of carrying anyone was that one time his friend Arno mistook some the bottles in his parents’ kitchen cabinet and passed out, It had taken both Leonard and Renaud to drag him to his bed as the passed out boy had always been the size of an ox compared to other boys their age. While that was more akin to back breaking labour, this current situation was more like carrying a princess from a fairy tale story.

It only took a few seconds for the group of four to gather themselves and begin to run after Leonard and his “princess”. Of course the streets weren't busy and the few people there, while looking at the scene confused, didn’t bother to think much of it. Just kids being kids they must have been thinking. Seriously what the hell about this situation wasn’t worth stopping and asking about!?

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Tag: odango
Words: 517
Leonard: 4b5560

OOC: Permission to grab the other OC has been asked and granted.

[odango]

T H E  S T O R Y  O F  T S U B A K I

? - III

- G O O D  O L D  D A Y S -

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She couldn’t believe the boy stayed. Why would he endanger himself because of her? No one did that for her. Not really. The brunette understood why she stood up for people, of course, but it was weird seeing someone do the same.

”Does he also have a hero complex?” she thought to herself while staring at the young man’s back in awe. The girl was trying to remember his name. In the heat of the moment it was hard to do.

The situation took an exciting turn when, after hurling his basket at one of Tsubaki’s classmates, the guy turned around and got down close to her. Her hazel eyes widened as ho got closer and she had no idea what he was about to do. A part of her thought that maybe he changed her mind about helping her so, defensively, she squinted her eyes shut and tensed up a bit.

”W-wha-?” Leonard picked her up and she now observed the situation from higher up – she was almost eye level with the boys from her class. The girl didn’t expect this and she leaned up against the boy’s chest. Her hands lightly tugged on his shirt as they moved. It was more of a reflex to assert some kind of stability.

And so, while carrying Tsubaki, the boy ran out of the alley and down the street. The girl pulled her bag filled with music in her lap and turned her feet up so that her shoes wouldn’t fall off during. Her long brown hair, that were left loose besides the sides pulled back by a couple of pins, moved with them. She couldn’t tell exactly what she was feeling. The girl hadn’t been this close to someone outside of dance classes – especially someone she didn’t know very well. Tsubaki could feel herself getting nervous and her face turned a couple shades of pink. The people around looked either confused or giggled at the scene and she buried her head behind her bag for a little while.

”How did today come to this?” The teen was embarrassed. She would’ve said to put her down and she’d run on her own but her choice of shoes were not meant for it – there was no way she’d outrun anyone in heels or barefooted.

”Oh, go through the plaza! People gather there during this time for the street food markets. We might be able to lose them.” she looked up and spoke to Leo – well, his chin, mostly.

”Also… umm… you’re saving me, right? In case you’re not and I’ll end up dead in some ditch, could we postpone that for later? I have to play in a concert tomorrow…” she asked nervously. While she figured he was, indeed, just helping her out, the girl had a very active imagination and often didn’t believe that people genuinely wanted to help her.

Tsubaki fumbled with her hands over her bag and looked down. She couldn’t help but feel just a little awkward.

”Thanks.”

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Tag: Blushing z0ro
Words: 500

Tsubaki: 393597

[Blushing z0ro]

LEONARD LECLERC
PROLOGUE

- GOOD OLD DAYS -

---

Leonard sprinted as fast as he could considering which path to take. As he reached a fork in the road it was the girl in his arm that spoke up and told him which path to pick. “Alright!” Exclaimed the running young man as he turned left down the street that would lead them towards the central plaza of town. It made sense to try and lose the idiots running after them in a crowd.

Really the crux of the matter was Leonard couldn’t run around like that whilst carrying someone forever, so finding a way to just get rid of the pursuing matter was becoming a matter of extreme and immediate importance. Still sprinted, Leonard almost fell over as the girl in his arm spoke again. What was that about being found dead in a ditch!? “Wha- what are you talking about!!? Did you get hit in the head or something? I swear, don’t say that kind of stuff when someone is helping you! It’s weird!”

As the two found themselves entering the plaza, the smell of all the food stands made itself known, reminding Leonard he was getting quite hungry… but now was not time! Rescue and escape first, food later. There was indeed a fair amount of people huddling around, eating and chatting, some spots left narrow enough spaces for Leonard to almost dance between them so as to make away and not hit anyone or drop his what felt like an increasingly heavy load.

As Leo spun and squeezed past what seemed the last group of bystanders the pair found themselves by something that really, Leonard did not expect. It was a stone railing. The stone railing that marked the southern end of the plaza as a balcony that overlooked the lower parts of the city. The young man must have taken a wrong turn while moving around the crowd. Quickly turning around however did not reveal anything better. As the thugs had caught up, now clearly very angry. The young swordsman did not think that they would care for any witnesses at this point.

“You’re both going to get it now I swear! How dare you make us run like that!” Screamed the one that appeared to have been the leader, the little jog and getting an apple thrown at him not making him in any sort of a forgiving mood. At this point Leonard had to admit this whole day was just jumping from a frying pan in a fire repeatedly. Looking around the area sadly, Leo could only again see another jump into a fire as a way out.

It was not with a smile, laugh, scream not cry that Leo made his next move. It was with a deadpan flat expression as the young man internally resolved his conflict between the only way he could see to help that girl and himself, and all his instincts telling him he was a stupid idiotic moron and he was going to get himself and the girl killed. LeClerc turned around on his heels and resumed sprinting… towards the railing of the plaza balcony; jumping over the stone structure and falling towards the buildings below; leaving the four thugs completely dumbfounded and stunned at the downright stupid turn of event.

It was at least a twenty foot fall towards the rooftop below, as they came down Leonard did his best to angle his body so as to fall on his behind and lift the girl a bit higher, this way he should take the brunt of the impact. And he did, Leo felt a surge of pain crawl up his back as his spine almost compressed under the force of the impact and his arms screamed while moving against the momentum to lift and girl and dampen her fall.

It was not over however; the roofs of Toroa almost all followed the same style, that of smooth black slate tiles, making the whole roof one great slip slide for the two schoolmates and a few of the broken tiles that had shattered on their impact.

It was all over in seconds, which really felt like an eternity as Leonard asked himself many questions about his life and decision that took him to this point. Finding no answers of worth when the two reached the end of the roof, thrusting them to a two story fall onto a pile of crates in the street underneath, Leo this time grabbed the girl tighter and closer to him and twisted himself so as to be under her, thereby taking again just about all the impact as well as the girls weight in the fall, hopefully she would come out unscathed. Leo very much knew however that the next couple of weeks were going to be very VERY sore as he impacted the wood and a split second later the pavement in a crash that could have been heard from several streets away.

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Tag: odango
Words: 824
Leonard: 4b5560

Thug 1: 920303

[odango]

T H E  S T O R Y  O F  T S U B A K I

? - IV

- G O O D  O L D  D A Y S -

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The boy had a point. It was, probably, weird to say such a thing but hey – better safe than sorry. Speaing of which, no one was feeling safe while they barged through the crowd. Tsubaki actually thought that they would get rid of the group or, at least, the pursuers would calm down among so many people but she was wrong.

They got backed against a wall again and were now faced with no way out. At least, no way that Tsubaki thought possible. Then Leonard decided to take a literal leap of fate and the brunette started catching on to his train of thought as the young man began sprinting towards the railing. It all happened so quickly but she felt like the span between her very close heart beats was bigger. The adrenaline made time seem slow and she could feel fear grip her insides.

”No! No, no, no, no, nooooo!” she yelped while pressing into his chest and now clutching on to him for dear life, as if to back away from the quickly approaching ledge. Water swelled up in her eyes and tears ran down the sides of her cheeks.

”I’m going to die!” she thought unable to close her eyes. In a split second they had jumped over the railing and the brunette felt the uplifting feeling of falling in her stomach. Her entire body felt suspended – just the grip on her by the boy got tighter and she responded with the same while also holding on to her bag in her lap.

She took a deep breath and the shock of the situation came out in a scream:

”Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
The girl hugged Leonard thinking this was probably it. She didn’t enjoy the scenery at all. The girl just prayed she would end up with her bones in one piece and breathing. Never in her life had she decided to jump off of a building – or half a city. The tears went up her temples or in the air as they fell and all of her hair stood up.

They crashed once and she yelped and soon after they crashed again which resulted in a bigger yelp. She, surprisingly, barely felt the first impact but the second was accompanied by a pile of hollowed wooden boxes. In a mere moment later and having squeezed her eyes shut for impact, the fifteen year old and her saviour landed on the pavement underneath. That crash got both of them. She got tiny cuts by the boxes and was now plopped perpendicularly and butt-first on the boy underneath. Her limbs fell to the sides and she looked like a lazy starfish from above.

The noise was impressive and had started to attract some attention from the people around. There was a chance they’d get in trouble, probably. Slowly beginning to move and still on top of the guy, the brunette pulled her upper body up through her heart and only then used her arms to support her. She felt a little disoriented. Nonetheless she opened her eyes and tried to search for Leonar throughout the boxes. Both of them were half-buried but she couldn’t see the boy at first because of the wreckage.

”Are you alive?” she asked while preparing herself mentally to get up. On the bright side – they had probably lost her classmates.

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Tag: Blushing z0ro
Words: 557

Tsubaki: 393597

[Blushing z0ro]

LEONARD LECLERC
PROLOGUE

- GOOD OLD DAYS -

---

Leonard grunted as he regained his senses from the fall, before he managed to move however he felt a weight shift and move on top of him. It took the young man a moment to remember how he had ended up in this situation in the first place. Right… the girl… she probably was the one moving about. That was good, it meant she must be alright.

Eventually a voice made itself heard through the pieces of wreckage that mostly covered Leonard. Was he alive? Well he was pretty sure he was at least. It took more effort than Leo would have cared to admit to brush away the pieces of wood that covered part of his upper body and head. Still laying down on the ground, the young man tilted his head to look at the girl. She seemed alright, might have a few scratches but otherwise alright. She was quite pretty by any standard Leonard could think, soft looking skin, pretty face, silky hair and huge… personality. Yes a huge personality, that what he thought and no one can prove otherwise.

Doing his best to get his head out the gutter it was somewhat feebly that Leonard raised his right arm and gave a thumbs up, before letting his head drop back down and began staring at the blue sky. “So… I’m Leonard, Leonard LeClerc. What’s your name?” At this point the young felt it wasn’t inappropriate to ask the young lady her name. After all he had “rescued” her. Fir enough he might have put her in greater danger for a moment with his last stunt, but it turned out alright.

“Oh and also… if you wouldn’t mind moving. It’s getting a little hard to breath.” The young man added as he pointed out the fact that the girl was still sitting right on top of his chest while smiling trying to make light of the situation. This would normally not be a particularly unpleasant thing but at that moment, Leonard had the feeling that staying put too long might bring about the owner of the house and crates that the two had damaged with their fall and so it might be wise to get moving. At least somewhere a bit less full of rubble and possibly less conspicuous.

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Tag: odango
Words: 382
Leonard: 4b5560

[odango]

T H E  S T O R Y  O F  T S U B A K I

? - V

- G O O D  O L D  D A Y S -

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”It’s alive!”

She could feel a heavy load get lifted off her chest when the boy moved. It looked as if he could still be in one piece. Her facial expression did quickly drop to that an unimpressed one when he gestured to be just fine with his hand. She didn’t believe it for a second. There was no way that this guy would be fine.

”Liar…” she mumbled and sighed heavily.

Leonard did make a point and the hazel eyed girl blushed again. She was still sitting on him. ”Ah! Right, sorry!” Feeling embarrassed and flustered, the teen got up and almost fell over again due to too much stuff under her feet. Also, her body seemed wobbly after the fall. Tsubaki did manage not to fall over and stumble out of the pile of boxes.

Why didn’t she get up sooner? That was rude. Anyways, it was only reasonable that she’d help the young man so Tsubaki turned back to lean into the pile and reach out her hand to help the boy get up.

”I’m Tsubaki. Taighana, Tsubaki. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I think I’m in the class below you at school.” The brunette spoke in a soft tone and politely. There was a chance that he might have heard of the family. Her grandparents were donating generously to the school she was in and a lot of other places.

”Now… Where exactly are we?” She asked while looking to each side of the tiny street they landed in. It looked like a delivery spot. She couldn’t see any official entrance to anything – just back doors. With the shock slowly leaving her body the girl could feel her heart beat slowing down a little. Never had the girl experienced something like that. Was this common for Leonard?

”And, while I’m grateful for your help, I must insist that you never jump off a city with me again. Please.” she couldn’t help but sigh and then cross her arms over her chest as she puffed her chest and looked to the side with a ”Hmpf. Honestly, we could have died.” escaping her lips. Honestly, she could have died. That idiot! A tiny scowl appeared on her face but disappeared quickly and she sighed very deeply this time with her shoulders slouching down.

”I guess it couldn’t have been helped?” she thought and just then a sound of a door starting to open caught her attention. The girl put her bag back over her shoulder and looked up at the boy: ”We should move.”

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Tag: Blushing z0ro
Words: 426

Tsubaki: 393597

[Blushing z0ro]

LEONARD LECLERC
PROLOGUE

- GOOD OLD DAYS -

---

As Tsubaki introduced herself Leonard felt like the name should have rung a bell for some reason. It didn’t. It probably should have but nothing came to the young’s man mind, probably wasn’t that important then. With the weight lifted from him Leonard got up, albeit with some grunts and protests from quite a few of his limbs.

Once on his fit Leonard took a few moments to stretch and bend his back, many of his joints and bones popping and cracking in ways they had never before. That wasn’t good… well not much he could do about it now, will need to just take it easy for a while.

Tsubaki however raised a good point; where were they? The final destination of the descent had really been the last thing on Leonard’s man as he jumped. Arguably, that should have been pretty high up on the list of things to worry about when jumping from a high place. Oh well, to be kept in mind for next time.

Looking around it seemed that they were in some sort of loading area, while it was just out from the rest of the streets it must be linked to one somewhere, probably one of the larger doors along the walls. There wasn’t too much time to think about it however, as Tsubaki commented that they should get moving, one of the doors leading to inside one of the surrounding buildings began to open.

Not waiting to find out what kind of angry shopkeeper was about to find them, Leonard walked past his companion at a grisp pace and grabbed her wrist. “Couldn’t agree more! This way!” The young man then led them towards a set of double doors set in a stone wall that had to be separating this area from one of the streets, and since it was still working hours for most businesses. Jackpot, the large doors were unlocked giving just enough time for the two to slip out and close the door behind time, only a few seconds before a shout of “Aaaah! What happened to my roof!?” echoed from the yard they had just escaped.

Taking a few steps into the street and trying to look more casual, Leonard let go of Tsubaki’s arm. “Sorry about that. Didn’t really want to stay for the explanations you know?” the young man again gave his almost trademark smile, closing his eyes innocently as he rubbed the back of his head. He did not use to do it on purpose but as the years went by he noticed it tended to get him out of trouble, especially with women, so might as well keep a useful skill sharp. “We should probably go lie low somewhere for a bit, they’ll probably hear about two people jumping off the plaza fairly soon and might be looking for us. I know a spot by the docks where we should be fine if you want.”

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Tag: odango
Words: 491
Leonard: 4b5560

House Owner: 5cff00

[odango]

T H E  S T O R Y  O F  T S U B A K I

? - VI

- G O O D  O L D  D A Y S -

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He took her by the wrist and Tsubaki could swear that this boy had touched her more than any stranger before. It was understandable but for her as a teen it was a little awkward – she wasn’t too touchy with people in general. However, she the feeling off as being weird and let it be.

The boy spoke and Tsubaki looked up at him skeptically. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her lower lip was pushed out in a pout. She raised a brow and took a minute to think about what to do.

”Why is he so care-free about this?” she couldn’t help thinking.

”Mmmmm… fine, let’s go.” she gave out while searching around the street for some kind of clock. She spotted one above a post office nearby. There was some time left before she would have to start getting over to the venue. Her professor would kill her if she didn’t show. After that, her mother would kill her. Then her professor would resurrect her and kill her again.

The mere idea of such a situation sent a shiver down her back. No one was as scary as her piano teacher – not a single human. The older woman was barely up to Tsubaki’s shoulders but she could level a city if she wanted to.

The fifteen year old Tsubaki did take a better look at herself. Her dress had a few splinter holes and there were cuts on her legs and a few on her arm. It stung a little but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t deal with. Her eyes travelled back to the older boy.

”Right, he took all the damage… how can he still walk?”

She felt a tiny bit of guilt creep in but also remembered that they did just risk their lives to avoid risking their lives differently. The two would start walking towards the docks and Tsubaki would turn to ask after a couple of steps on the cobblestone streets:

”So, do you do this often?” she gestured between herself and Leonard with her index finger and then pointed backwards to the gate they just came through. Maybe it was his thing? She didn’t know. Of course, she was happy she didn’t have to deal with the bullies thanks to the boy. However, it was hard for Tsubaki to believe anyone would help her just because. It was a consequence of how she grew up, sadly.

”I am grateful, you know. I’m just not used to getting helped, I guess. It’s a nice thing you did. Thanks.” she gave a warm smile and then looked back into the street. Tsubaki didn’t want to make it weird. A funny thought did occur to her after:

”It’s weird hobby to have – jumping off buildings. You should pick up shogi or something.” she laughed.

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Tag: Blushing z0ro
Words: 472

Tsubaki: 393597

[Blushing z0ro]

LEONARD LECLERC
PROLOGUE

- GOOD OLD DAYS -

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The pair began to make their way towards the docks as the commotion of their descent had begun to gather a small crowd, although it appeared they would make a clean escape. Almost surprisingly Tsubaki didn’t seem in too much shock and actually began a relatively normal line of conversation, or at least as normal it could be in the circumstances.

“Often?” Leonard asked back incredulously as he cracked his back again while walking. Did she think this was some sort of hobby he had? That people enjoyed jumping in to save the day like in the comic book “Sora, Warrior of the Sea”? The young man kind of just stared at the young woman for we seconds, still occasionally popping an articulation back in its proper place, but before he could proceed about his own questions regarding what Tsubaki thought he did for “fun” the girl continued speaking and expressed her gratitude. Well he couldn’t very well ask her now could he? It would have been rude.

Instead Leonard simply looked ahead in the direction they were walking in and said. “Don’t worry about it. I couldn’t just leave you at the hands of the idiots. Anyone would have done the same.” That was a lie and he knew it, a dozen people must have walked past that alley and chose to ignore the situation, that’s just how people react when faced with such a situation. “It’s not happening to me so it’s not my problem.” Leonard hated that way of thinking, if someone had dared to step up or say something for his own father he would probably still be alive. That was something that never left Leo, but rather than complaining the world did not work the way it should, he chose to act as if it did, if someone needs help he’ll give it as anyone should do. Who knew? Perhaps if you kept pretending something was true, there was a chance it would become true.

Just as the two were reaching the end of the street Leonard was snapped back to reality with what he hoped was tsubaki’s approximation of a joke. “How is this a hobby? Who would do that for fun? I’m just glad it worked out, and for reference I’d rather practice kenjutsu in my free time than jump off high places.” the young man took a few more steps before turning around to look at tsubaki. “Also I hate shogi. It’s too slow.” The fact was Leonard’s opinion on shogi was very strong. Large parts of his childhood were hours upon hours of his grandfather forcing the boy to play shogi. While Leonard had not minded at first, he enjoyed playing fast, almost on instinct which would frustrate the family elder to no end. But when Leonard played slowly he found the patterns of the pieces and moves of his opponent too obvious and clear, the whole game unravelled and the fun of it was gone. Although he only said as much to the old man once, who promptly whacked him over the head and told him to stop being so pretentious. Even now the young man wasn’t sure what it was that he said that was so pretentious. It was just the truth. The matter solved itself when Zatoshi stopped asking Leonard to play with him and instead focused on playing against himself for some reasons Leo never understood.

It took a couple minutes for the two to reach their destination, it was a simple bench that was placed under one of the very few trees that grew alongside the docks. It provided shade and it was just out of the way enough to be peaceful. Most people never really walked towards this end of the docks unless there were ships moored there, which was almost never the case unless the entire port was full up.

Leonard basically let himself fall back on the bench, glad to not have to walk anymore, he was more injured than he cared to admit it and didn’t think he could have really walked more than he had. It was going to be a very long trip home later.

“So what are your hobbies, aside from being rescued by dashing young men? You mentioned something about a concert; do you sing or something?”

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Tag: odango
Words: 719
Leonard: 4b5560

[odango]

T H E  S T O R Y  O F  T S U B A K I

? - VII

- G O O D  O L D  D A Y S -

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”Wait… so you jumped on a hunch?” she said aloud while staring at the guy and you could clearly see the evolution of a barely expressionless face to that of fear and then of mild anger. She took a deep inhale and explained her concern really, really loudly towards his ear.

”WE COULD HAVE DIED!” She growled and her fingers twitched from the tension in her body. It took a few seconds for her to calm down. ”Unbelievable! We just met and you try to kill us. Not even a proper apology after. Un-Be-Lie-Va-Ble!” She complained for a bit. If he had done this many times then fine – she could let it go. A part of her felt like she wanted to cry again but the girl lightly bit her lower lip and held back the stress. She would calm down as they walked.

”Ooooh, this place!” she exclaimed as they got to the spot. It seemed peaceful there. It kind of reminded her of the walks she’d take through the bigger parks of the city. The few people passing nearby gave the place a feeling of life.

Tsubaki couldn’t help but giggle at Leonard’s words. Her fingers lightly touched her lower lip as she indulged in the laugh. ”Dashing, huh? Well, it’s good to be confident.” The girl didn’t mean to offend him but it was impossible not to take the opportunity to tease.

She sat down on the same bench at one of the ends and put her bag next to her. ”Piano. I can sing but my mother chose the piano as my main instrument; I have a final rehearsal today and a concert tomorrow. You can come, too, if you have nothing better to do tomorrow evening.” Tsubaki explained while pulling out the pins at one side of her hair and lightly shaking the hair loose. She hadn’t checked but she was certain that her hair was a total mess from all the action. She drew her fingers through a few strands a couple times and then proceeded to pin a portion back again to keep it out of her face. Then she would proceed to do the same to the other side.

”I have a while left. My turn to try is only at six. The only thing I have to do is show up on time or my professor will kill me.” She couldn’t help but shudder and then sigh. ”Gosh! That woman is barely half your height but she scares the life out of me. Women can be really scary, you know…” Tsubaki trailed off having the vivid image of her professor, aunt, grandmother and mother – exactly in that order from most scary to least – in her mind.

”You said Kenjutsu, right? What kind of swords? I only know a little about fencing.” Tsubaki was now more interested and turned full attention back to the boy. She put one arm down on the bench and rested her weight on it while turning her upper body towards her schoolmate.
”Do you have a teacher?” she asked curiously.

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Tag: Blushing z0ro
Words: 513

Tsubaki: 393597

[Blushing z0ro]

LEONARD LECLERC
PROLOGUE

- GOOD OLD DAYS -

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Sitting there and watching the ocean, Leonard just quietly listened to Tsubaki for a bit. Her talking of piano and her teacher. That teacher somewhat reminded him of his own mother. The thought of him going home later with no groceries to show while also very late made him almost shudder but there was little he could do about it.

When Tsubaki turned the conversation back to him, the young man was almost taken aback. It was rare for people to be interested in things like swordsmanship, especially for a girl like the type Leo would have pegged Tsubaki to be, although if she did do fencing like she said maybe there was more to her than the princess type he first thought her to be.

“I can use most types of katana but I’m mostly trained with the nodachi, a longer type. The one my style uses is about my height, give or take.” Leonard explained lifting his hand to his forehead to imply where the sword would reach him while standing. “It’s a bit tricky to use but with the right moves it can confuse people who don’t expect this kind of reach.”

That in essence was the core of the Mangetsu-ryuu, most of the moves would not be what one expected from a nodachi style and were difficult if not downright counter intuitive to pull off, but the logic was sound; no one with a regular understanding of swordplay would expect fast irregular cuts and drawing techniques to be used with what was almost a greatsword. Not that the style didn’t have more basic and straightforward attacks, but they definitely weren’t the core. Really anything too straight forward couldn’t be called a technique as it would be something that could be present in any style.

As for the teacher part… “I do have a teacher. It’s my grandfather. He’s not what I would call the gentle type. Supposedly he was pretty great when he was young, but he retired ages ago and even he says no one would remember him nowadays. He came all the way here from some country in the Grand Line. I think he misses it actually but he’s too stubborn to ever admit it.” There was a lot Leonard could say about his grandfather, to say the man was complex was a gross understatement and really not something a stranger ought to be really interested in.

“I don’t know how strong he was when he was young but I know he’s still the strongest person I know. I was swimming in the ocean as a kid once and this huge shark just came for me out of nowhere. Next thing I knew the old man was next to me beat back the shark with just an old piece of driftwood. He closed what must have been a hundred feet of water from the beach to me in seconds and just knocked out a man eating beast. That was a decade ago but to this day i still don’t know how someone could move like that.”

That was a bit odd, Leonard rarely shared this story, he never liked to dwell on him being stupid enough to swim in dangerous waters, although he did leave out the part that he was not supposed to have been swimming there. Yet it was the one time he had a glimpse on what it was possible for some people to achieve, and how strong some people were. How far the top of the world could, he wondered? How hard would it be to climb that mountain? The concept both scared him… and exited him more than anything.

“Also while I appreciate the offer I don’t really know anything about music aside from a couple sailor songs, so I doubt I would make a great spectator at your concert.”

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Tag: odango
Words: 641
Leonard: 4b5560