howling fox

　“Eeeeeek!!”

　It all happens so fast, and it’s like some kind of miracle has occurred. In a storm of bras and panties the employee is knocked from her feet, covered in the soft cups, and the tape is dropped from her grasp. Yamato, on the other hand, seems unharmed. A glance back shows that the act was probably done by Naki, and while it’s unlikely he’ll be seen through the soft bra… cup… that is covering the fox’s vision Horikawa gives a thumbs up anyway. Nice timing. Nice rescue. Good fox. There may have been more concern for the lady who is currently picking herself up had she not just been attempting to pull Horikawa’s husbands clothes off of him.

　She’s fine! More than a little exhausted by the four menaces who have entered her store, but that’s about the only thing wrong with her from the looks of things! It doesn’t take long before she steps away to consult with the other employees (presumably to clean up the mess that’s been caused), and Horikawa gives a sigh of relief. He’s sure that Yamato is too, honestly. He can’t imagine being in that position. The wakizashi is just about to speak up about their luck when the employee approaches them again! With a different hair style?

　“I’m sorry about that. I can continue with your measurements now!” Huh? What? [shofu voice] HELLO? They already dealt with this menace, didn’t she only just walk away? It takes a moment of shocked blinking before Horikawa realizes it really is a different employee, stretching her tape out and getting ready to take sizes with a slightly scary sparkle in her eye. No way, something has got to be done about this before she gets carried away, so he takes the first thought to cross his mind. Well, originally he was just going to list off his sizes to the last girl if she needed them and save himself the trouble, but Yamato had specifically looked to him for help right?

　Leaning down to scoop the tape that had been dropped by the last employee, Horikawa holds it up with a somewhat apologetic smile as he begins to untangle it.

　“Actually, Miss, we should be alright. If we measure and tell you the results then you can tell us what the size is. It would be a waste for you to spend time over here when those two look like they need your help as well!” Haste makes waste, as Kane-san says, and she’s obviously too eager to strip Yamato down to consider the most efficient course of action! Haha, good thing Horikawa is here, as she seems to give a sigh of defeat and one last, longing look at the uchigatana before moving away. It’s not long before Hori looks back to find her tugging at the foxes with a brand new measuring tape in hand. That’s good - they seemed curious about these as well! Naki, especially, could probably have used a hand in figuring them out.

　Well, even if he managed to find that solution it isn’t as if he can lie about it. Especially if she does need the sizes of all the current customers. With that thought he turns back to Yamato.

     “Are you okay?” he asks, after he manages to disentangle the final bra from Nakigitsune’s clothing, the hooks having snagged against the buttons of his dark blue sleeve. A brief thought, and he reaches forward to place his hand on the boy’s head, ruffling his silver hair, leaving it tousled and slightly messy. (With his other hand, he reaches to pat the fox, too.) “Good job, good job. Talk about taking one for the team, huh?” With that, Kogitsunemaru glances at the fallen thirsty female employee that Nakigitsune had taken with him, before looking back at Naki with a wide smile. “I never knew you had it in you, to pull something like this.” Even if it was somewhat of a clumsy accident, he’s still impressed.

     Though, Nakigitsune’s sacrifices end up being for nothing, as yet another thirsty female employee takes the place of her fallen comrade. This new employee, like a Shia Surprise secondary boss after finishing a boss map, quickly approaches Yamato and Horikawa first — as Kogi helps Nakigitsune to his feet, he casually flicks a ear forward, listening in on the conversation between the Shinsegumi swords and the employee. The two do a fine job at dodging the employee’s every thirsty attempt; now, she approaches the foxes, but before she can regurgitate her speech to them, Kogi moves forward first, grasping her hand in his and spinning her delicately, carefully coaxing the rope from her hand inch by inch, until it’s in his possession. (The instant that he notices it is, he drops her mid-spin, watching carelessly as she crashes to the floor.)

     “Sorry about that, I guess.” With a mock bow, he continues. “Thank you for this dance, my lady. We’ll be taking this, too — just sit tight for now, alright? Maybe quench your thirst while you wait? Swords are made of metal, not water.” Taking the measuring tape, Kogitsunemaru follows the other two, who are already heading towards the hallway of the changing rooms (the rooms as a whole seem to be empty for now, leaving them free to enter and exit them as they please). While it wouldn’t have been entirely unpleasant to have the employee measure them (especially considering Naki’s rather… modern apparel already, with clothes that hug his small frame), it doesn’t sit right with Kogitsunemaru, for someone else to put their hands on Nakigitsune so carelessly. A national treasure, after all. Never been wielded to battle. Pure cinnamon roll, too pure…

“Yes, if it’s you, it’s fine.” These words stated directly to him, eye to eye so that he can reassure the other it’s fine. With that settled, he points to the changing room area behind him, he gets the gist of what it’s used for considering the signs above that basically show it’s meant to switch and swap clothes. Bringing Horikawa along with him, Yamato takes a glance over at the pair of foxes to see how their fairing with the thirst but for some reason, like spilled water, she was on the floor. What could have ever happened?

Noticing the tape in the bigger (but he’s a small fox, a small one) fox’s hand, he is curious if Kogitsunemaru knows how to use it. A thumbs up towards the other for good game, why were these people so thirsty, honestly. Someone sit their asses down. A shake of his head as he peeks into one of the changing rooms once they’re close enough, majority of them empty which is promising. A double check of pushing doors so that maybe their predator wouldn’t be hiding inside of any of them. Taking the far back room to they both could slip inside, he remembers the wakizashi’s words concerning his clothing.

“It’s just the top layer where you need to size me, correct?” He asks, removing his haori from his body since it was practically falling off ever since that employee was after him. Laying it down on the bench next to him, the layers of his armor are being removed from his body and sat down with the rest of his outfit. The last article of clothing is thin black fabric draped over his shoulders, covering his arms and hooked around his middle finger.

His left hand leaves the tie up front alone, thinking this would be enough. Lightly scratching his cheek as he looks at the other, “Is this enough, I didn’t think that I would need to remove my hakama.” Eyes looking back at the measuring tape in Horikawa’s hand, perhaps this wouldn’t be so bad as he expected at first. Maybe it was just that girl who made a few simple things terrifying.

Well.. speaking OF her..

— CODENAME: THIRST3000 Area: Base under VS Time: To See Some Bods. (00:00)

A hand bangs onto the control system before a blond, her hair this time are pigtails but she looks like every other employee within VS. “DAMN THEM!!!” She yells, pointing at the security cameras before her, pointing at both the tallest and shortest male’s of the group that entered VS. “HOW DARE THEY!! They will rue the day, how dare they take away our chance!” She’s a mad af daddy but another girl appears behind her, black shades covering her eyes and she has this sort of afro going on.

“Thir S. Ty #205, reporting for duty m’aam. Wouldn’t you say it’s most the long haired gentleman.. he’s really hot and .. the one next to the shorter one. They are getting in your way of the two that you really want.” That being both Naki and Yamato. The purest of all pure.. why are they after them?

The lady in the chair, she ‘tsk’s at the thought. “You’re right. Sisqo didn’t do his job right when just getting me THOSE two.. now I have to work hard. DAMN IT ALL!” Another fist bangs down on the control panel which changes the view of the monitors before them but sadly the screen is black, they can’t look at the single changing rooms where the four have disappeared to. She’ll get them. She will.

Leaning back in her chair, “We will have them. Two of them won’t be leaving.” Again. SHE SLAMS HER HANDS DOWN but on a red button in which, eyes widen in fear. “EEK!” She screams and Thir S. Ty #205 does as well as shake takes a step back, an alarm going off and in the original store, it’s just that the sprinklers set off in just the single changing rooms (since that’s where she was trying to see stuff, goodbye swords.. time to #getwetcked). Sliding back in her rolling chair, #3000 can only mutter ‘no’ under her breath as the screen changes to space.

Showing.. A METEOR. It’s target? The island. She knows that it won’t be fatal but watching as her button has caused a catastrophe (it’s only to be hit if someone came to harm or know Victoria’s Secret, since her secret could change the world). “Oh no.. THEY MADE ME DO THIS!!” She complains, blaming the two that stopped her twins from gaining the two boys that are needed for their weird ass needs.

The meteor, now heading towards some side of the island, they’re close enough to it and with the invisible barrier around VS, the female #3000 knows that the store won’t be harmed but everyone in the vicinity will feel the shock wave, the rock that will come with it. Hopefully.. everyone will be alright. “DISPATCH.. and watch my faithful customers.. #205.”

With that.. the lady in the shades walks past test tubes with bodies forming inside of it, all the #’s will come together soon. But for now.. The meteor.

For a few seconds, he lets himself focus on something else; gets back up to his feet, with Kogitsunemaru's help, and begins to dust off his clothes, as well as the fox. In the meantime, the female approaches them -- the fox bristles, defensively, but thankfully, they don't have to deal with her for too long (or at all.) Mesmerized, he watches as Kogitsunemaru skillfully coaxes the rope from the employee's hands; as soon as he's done, she falls on her butt, and Nakigitsune smiles, just briefly (though he feels a little bad, too.) But, before the thought of apologizing even fully crosses his mind, both Yamato and Hori are already leaving, and Kogitsunemaru follows after them -- thus, Nakigitsune does, too.

Thankfully, the changing room seems to be Thirster3000-free. Relaxing, just slightly, he enters one of the secluded cabins, glancing at the human-sized mirror on the other side of the wall. Relieved he doesn't have to put up with someone unfamiliar putting their hands on him -- that'd definitely be uncomfortable -- he nods, shrugging after a moment. "I don't mind." Carefully, he sets the fox down on one of the small benches in the cabin; then, reaches up to start unbuttoning his jacket, coaxing a loud screech from the fox.

"W - wait, Nakigitsune! This isn't proper! Kogitsunemaru-sama, please don't look! What if you get some sort of dirty thoughts?!" It's rambling, frantically, wandering from one side of the bench to another. Nakigitsune doesn't really understand why it's improper in the first place -- it's just taking measurements, right? But, the fox has always been a little too adamant about letting anyone (including the Saniwa sage) see Nakigitsune in anything less than his full apparel. "It's fine if it's Kogitsunemaru-sama," Nakigitsune assures the fox, softly, shrugging the jacket off his now bare shoulders.

Just as the fox is about to argue, Nakigitsune feels something wet hit his head, then shoulders, then steadily covering both him and Kogitsunemaru in what seems to be a rainfall of water -- he's not really sure what's going on, but glances up, anyway, at the odd device above them. "Oh no! Now your clothes will get wet, too! This is bad, this is very, very bad --" The fox continues, but Nakigitsune is more focused on how uncomfortable the water makes his pants feel -- they're already pretty tight, even without additional help.  

"Ah... how annoying," he mumbles, more to himself than Kogitsunemaru, glancing down at the water slowly sinking in the carpet underneath their feet. Just as he does so, the ground shakes, briefly -- you can barely feel it, and maybe he wouldn't be able to tell, if it wasn't for the fox shuddering. "An earthquake? How odd!" It chirps, hiding underneath the crimpled coat Nakigitsune threw to the side. Still, the water stops pouring -- and an odd, grainy voice can be heard from the speakers hung in the corners of the room.

"We͢'͝re͞ ̵so̷rr͘y̸ f̕o̷r ̕t̀h̵e inc̛onv̧e͟nie͝n͢c̵e҉.̨ Pl͏eąse,́ ́c͝ont̶in͘ue a͢s͝ y͜o͢u͠ w̡ere̕ and don't ͠mi̵n͞d͝ ͢-- ͢it wa̶s ͢ou̧r ́f̧ire̡ ͞ala͏rm̸ ͜fre̸a͘ki̷n͢g̢ ̧ou̕t̢. W̢e can ͜asśu͡re yo͝u thąt҉ ̴t͢he͢r͢ȩ ̶is̀ ̵n̡o ͟fiŕe,͟ ̶a͠nd́ cer̀tain͏ly ͢n҉o̢ m͘et̴e͞or̴ ̀h͜as been launched -͡-̸ I̢ ͞m͢ean͝,̧ wha̷t͝?̴ ̢Ha̴h̷a,̷ ̶anywa̴y̡,̡ ͡happy ̴s͢hop̨ping!͢"

Strange.

"Measure me," he demands, after a few seconds of silence, throwing his arms up to allow Kogitsunemaru access. "Do I have to take the rest off, too, or will this be okay?"

- * -

Dᴀᴅᴅʏ Cᴏᴜɴᴄɪʟ ʀᴇsɪᴅᴇɴᴄᴇ﹐ ₁﹕₂₅ PM﹐ Oʙᴀᴍᴀ·s ᴏғғɪᴄᴇ.

"Sir, we have worrying news," a servant clad in black speaks, approaching the Daddy Council president's desk. Obama looks up from above his papers, all of the letters begging him for divorce that he gets to reject on a daily basis, waiting for the man to speak. "It seems like there's a meteor headed our way, Sir. It'll crash very soon -- what should we do?"

Obama doesn't seem surprised -- rather, he squints, mischievously, a small grin appearing on his face. "I knew they were going to make their move sooner or later. We're prepared for this, aren't we? Redirect it immediately, and make sure no one gets hurt. They will not prevail -- their thirst will never reach my precious residents, for as long as I live. Call Matty B for conference -- we must discuss our further involvement in this war. For the time being, focus on the meteor. You're dismissed."

     Much to his luck, the blue shell that he throws manages to send Naki’s kart spinning, and Kogitsunemaru watches, as the other two NPC karts speed past him. He snickers, upon hearing a soft, exasperated exhale of air from the boy next to him; the action ends up leaving Naki in third place – and only a few inches in front of his own kart, as well. Briefly, Kogi wonders if he can accelerate fast enough to bolt past Naki; he doesn’t think twice before going for it, jamming his thumb against the up button with as much strength as he can use without breaking the console itself. However, Nakigitsune, pro gamer at age 700+, manages to obstruct the older fox from zooming ahead and expertly turns his kart to the side, colliding into Kogi’s.

     And there goes Kogitsunemaru’s kart, off the side of Rainbow Road, into the dark void of space.

     “Oi, oi,” is what he says first, when Naki’s fox cheerfully yips out the obvious. He slowly sets the controller down, waiting the few, but precious, seconds that it takes for the kart to re-spawn. It feels like ages, and when his kart finally does reappear, Kogitsunemaru has been pushed to 10th place, or so. His eyes shift up, giving Naki’s side of the screen a quick glance – the boy has already recovered his throne of first place.

     With his place so low, now, the items that the boxes give him are better in terms of quality, and by luck, the next box that he zooms through ends up giving him a super mushroom, or something – the mushroom that lets you speed countlessly, for a given amount of time… or something. While his explanation of the item is still shabby, what he does know is that it lets him go very fast and very invincibly for a bit before the item expires. 

Thankfully, Kogitsunemaru has enough experience to get himself back up to third place in no time -- as he does so, Naki decides that it'd be nice to let him win, even if Kogitsunemaru would probably sulk if he knew. Still, Nakigitsune figures that if he can do it and make it look natural, it won't be so bad -- he's not that much of an actor, but, at the very least, knows how to stage things well on screen (in the end, he knows a few tricks that other people don't; learning games throughly became some kind of a hobby.)

Huffing quietly as Kogitsunemaru bumps his shoulder into Naki's, the only acknowledgement he gets is a small nod -- otherwise, Nakigitsune stays focused, as to not betray his true intentions. The second lap goes without any disturbances; it's the third, and last one, that he begins to put his plan to life in. Getting rid of the kart currently positioned at second place isn't much trouble, as he pushes the NPC off the road and down into the starry abyss. They respawn soon enough, somewhere at the end of the race, but with them gone, Kogitsunemaru is now second.

After that, he lets the race continue normally; however, right before the finish line, and on the last, curvy part of the road, his kart slides to the side, dangerously, eventually slipping off the road and into the black void underneath by mere milimeters. The fox in his lap jumps up, shocked, and even Nakigitsune -- who has never fallen before -- wears a surprised expression. "Nakigitsune fell! Aaah, what a bad luck! Right before the finish line, too!"

"My bad," he mumbles, finishing the race fifth, and puts the controller down, glancing up at Kogitsunemaru. The excitement on his expression is obvious -- Nakigitsune had noticed his hands shaking earlier, too, as he undoubtedly got into the game. "Congratulations," he adds, after a moment, reaching up to pet the other's head lightly. "It's the first time Kogitsunemaru-sama won! Isn't it great? We're proud of you, Kogitsunemaru-sama! You're getting better!" The fox announces, happily, wagging its tail. "Still, Nakigitsune, you need to be more careful! You took Kogitsunemaru-sama for granted, didn't you?"

     Maybe it’s the curious way that Naki trails him around the house, maybe it’s the way that he insistently tugs at Kogi’s sleeve, whenever he wants something (tug, tug, tug tug tug)— and maybe it’s the way that, when he wakes up at night, he finds the boy asleep on top of him, his breathing coming rhythmically and easily, clutching a small fistful of long, white hair in his sleep. Hearing Naki verbally agree to his terms, however, is a treat that never grows old to Kogitsunemaru, and the tufts of his ears perk up, straining to savor as much of Naki’s soft voice as possible. 

     "You know the trend of our games — so, take your time; cash your reward whenever you want. Still, let’s have a good game. Give it your all!” And with that said, his fingers curve around the controller, his thumbs ghosting over the buttons as he goes to pick Bowser, mostly for the spikes sticking out of the character’s back. For a sword that’s practically lived in a glass cage for his entire life, Nakigitsune is surprisingly good at these games. Kogitsunemaru never really argues about losing so often, though, even if displeasure does display in his reaction; there’s a faint spark that lights in Nakigitsune’s eyes, when he gets into it, and Kogitsunemaru thinks that it’s worth the loss.

     As usual, Nakigitsune dashes ahead with his little character on-screen, sliding his way into 1st place immediately. As for Kogitsunemaru, he usually ranges somewhere between 4th and 5th after the rush of the starting line, out of 12. (He’s gotten better; apparently, the up-and-A momentum is a powerful determining factor, and necessary to master.) 

     The next few seconds between them are silent, as their attention focuses on the television screen, with Nakigitsune moving only his fingers, whereas Kogi tilts both the remote and the top half of his body from left to right, wondering if it would help him stay on track as his kart swivels precariously on Rainbow Road. Slipping on some banana peels that Nakigitsune set up (and voicing it with a loud shout every time; it’s easier to avoid them on a static map, he thinks — anything but Rainbow Road), it’s a miracle that he’s still managing to keep his wheels on the road, and not somewhere in the black sludge pit of space hell.

At first, he was anxious about possibly being an annoyance; as the time passed, though, he realized that Kogitsunemaru doesn't seem to mind and relaxed -- and now, they're practically inseparable (not that he's complaining.) 

The habit of spending their evenings (and sometimes nights, and mornings) playing games came from him: it's him that got interested in the technology first, and him who introduced Kogitsunemaru to it. For him, learning how to play wasn't a particularly tiring ordeal -- even now, he sits completely still, shoulders slumped in relaxation, as he assesses the situation on the screen carefully. Kogitsunemaru, in the other hand, always ends up shifting all over the place: sometimes climbs on the couch, sometimes back down, leaning to the right or left, depending on the direction his kart has to take.

Needless to say, Nakigitsune finds it adorable; glances at the older fox from time to time, just to watch his odd ministrations. Right now, though, he can't spare a second to do so -- being the first is a hard position to be in, considering how difficult it is to keep yourself ahead of everyone. As the road curves and tangles, even he has trouble staying on it -- most of the time, however, it's him pushing other karts into the starry abyss beneath them (they respawn within seconds, but these seconds cost a lot.)

Just like there's a certain danger of getting too close to Naki, there's also a risk of remaining on the first place throughout the entire race. Others can catch blue shells -- something he despises from the bottom of his heart -- and successfully screw him over. It's no different this time; as soon as he's struck (by Kogitsunemaru, no less) his kart falls back to the third place, and he huffs under his breath, mouth curling in a small pout. Still, this means he's now directly in front of Kogitsunemaru -- and, though he feels a little mean about it, he swivels his kart towards the older fox's one, crashing into it and successfully pushing it off the road.

"Ah," comes a soft sound of amusement, as the fox screeches, loudly:

     At first, adjusting proves difficult — he recognizes Nakigitsune’s efforts in pointing out how the rudimentary functions work: light switches, household appliances, and some sort of shiny white objects in what the other boy calls the ‘bathroom’. But, what’s more interesting to him are the hobbies that Nakigitsune has picked up, including handheld games — one of which Nakigitsune had taken the liberty of trying to teach him.

     It’d taken Kogitsunemaru a week or two to fully understand what buttons on the console to push at what time, and the rhythm of the game overall (so you’re supposed to bump into the boxes?), but now, more or less, he knows the basics. “As ready as I’ll ever be,” he lets out a laugh at the fox’s words — at its challenge — watching it settle comfortably into Nakigitsune’s lap before pondering over what it says next.

It's the fox that proposes the bet, but Nakigitsune doesn't really mind; his muteness is selective, and it's not because he doesn't like to speak, per se -- it's more about his inability to do so properly (it's hard to find the right words -- socializing is a skill he hasn't mastered yet.) Still, if it's Kogitsunemaru, he supposes he doesn't mind; without any sort of practice, he'll stay like this forever, after all (it's not exactly a problem, but he's eager to learn.)

Huffing in slight embarrassment (Kogitsunemaru says sweet, and Nakigitsune stumbles over the words forming in his head) he gives the man a small, barely noticeable nod. "Okay," the natural, smooth vibe of his voice surprises even him, sometimes; the fox, in the other hand, looks positively delighted at the sound of it. "Then, if we win -- although I'll merely watch! -- Kogitsunemaru-sama will brush my fur! How about that? I'm supporting Nakigitsune mentally, so I deserve a small reward, don't I? Of course, the main prize should still go to Nakigitsune!" Briefly, it wags its' tail; Nakigitsune doesn't protest, so it's a silent confirmation.

Truthfully, he has no idea what he'd like to get in exchange. Would it be too bold to ask for a hug? Kogitsunemaru's warmth is always enjoyable; though, he refrains from speaking up about it. "I'll decide later," he mumbles, finally, starting the game without any further warnings. It takes its time to zoom in on the players, as well as show the outline of the complicated stage -- even he has trouble staying on it, sometimes, especially when random boosts are used against him.

(He picks the Mii character, mostly because it's just as blank faced as himself, so it fits.)

　A lot of things can be learned through laundry, he’s found, and though Horikawa doesn’t often think much of the task he makes sure to go out of his way to ensure that his family never runs out of fresh clothes along with any other menial chores that may be laying around for him. Well, apparently similar findings can be heard of through the phone, and in the end it seems to have been a combination of the two that lead the small group to the front of Victoria’s Secret.

　Not that this particular store had been a location that they were particularly set on, but it seems that Yamato is confident in his findings, and even more beneficial is the coincidence of the gift they gain upon waiting to enter the store. What a strange man… Speaking of thongs and new 2015 hits, but just as Nakigitsune does, Horikawa pulls his own ticket from Kogitsune’s grasp to read it over once more. Photoshoots, huh? “Ah, like Master…” Of course it’s the first thing to mind, though the wakizashi is aware that Eli’s pictures… don’t quite turn out like this. He can’t help but be impressed by this luck - the fox is right in that respect! Although -

　Well, a glance through the glass and he can already tell with some puzzlement this is certainly not the same kind of underwear he’s wearing. Even so it isn’t as if Nakigitsune is protesting, and the other sword is admittedly more modernized than even himself despite the differing amount of time they’ve spent in this city. Maybe this is just the kind of things the others are learning as Horikawa practices his choreography? If that’s how things are, he won’t question it.

　“Yes, yes! It’s quite a coincidence, isn’t it?” He gives a short nod with his words, apparently pleased with the event. “Well, we shouldn’t waste any more time like this. It’s true, if we have such an opportunity, let’s make the best of it!” Now, that said with all his usual energy he does the first thing that seems apparent - he takes hold of Yamato’s wrist and moves to open the front door. Pulling the uchigatana along with him, he takes the first steps into the mysterious store and looks around. And well… It’s… It’s something alright.

     Kogitsunemaru can’t say that he really understand what’s been put into his hand — four tickets for something? Something… photoshoot, something… Most of it flies over his head, truthfully, and it isn’t until Nakigitsune’s fox defines what the tickets are that Kogitsunemaru finally understands — acquiring items without currency, through the use of these tickets, it seems. The others help themselves to a ticket, which leaves him to scrutinize the one left to him, reading the description printed on its surface.

     “As they say… You shouldn’t pass up free things, right? Who knows, if a chance like this will come up again?” And with that, all four of them seem to be set on entering the store to use these tickets. Whatever a ‘photoshoot’ is… Surely, it couldn’t be that important?????

     Horikawa takes the initiative and pulls Yamato beyond the front door, and into the shop; seeing this, Kogitsunemaru pauses at the doorway, making sure that Nakigitsune follows behind him, before turning back around, to join the other two at whichever section of the store that they’ve decided to peruse, first. As they enter, an employee standing at the entrance of the shop welcomes them in, with a friendly voice: “Welcome to the Panty Party!” 

     …Which ends up being somewhat irrelevant for the first hour or so of their shopping expedition, because Horikawa and Yamato end up thoroughly occupied at the bra corner of the shop, glancing over bras of various colors, voicing their surprise loudly (it blends with the music, but he can still hear them). Bras with polka-dots, bras with lace, bras with no decoration at all, more bras than one could ever imagine. Eager to catch up (Yamato and Hori are of the younger generations of swords; coupled with their excitement, it’s no wonder that they’ve zoomed off ahead), the tachi reaches for Nakigitsune gently; whispers his name before grasping his wrist, as to startle him less, tugging him towards the bra section. “Naki, look!” he comments, once they manage to be within the vicinity of the other two. Truthfully, he doesn’t know what these are — do they go on one’s behind? Where do they go???? Where do you put them??? Though the mannequins that he sees seem to have them across female chests… A curious development of society’s demands, Kogitsunemaru thinks.

A nod given to whatever statement his partner is able to dish out, “Yes, yes, I see!” Taking in all this new culture is something, is this the life that Nakigitsune and Horikawa find so interesting? It seems wild, of course, maybe this is too much for him and the tachi. Please, they are simple swords. Luckily, it doesn’t take long until the others find bother Yamato and Horikawa standing within the vicinity of the bras, picking one of them up to show them both with a smile on his face. The cups so big it’s about the size of the uchigatana’s head, curious, curious! “Do you see these, what do they do?” It’s white and the fabric feels nice, but the ribbons that are adorned all over it show that it’s meant to be pretty expensive.

“Face mask.. like yours, Nakigitsune? Ah, I understand. Head gear to protect in battle, you should use it so that the Saniwa Sage doesn’t need to give you those Shield Troops if we ever go back home?” Moving towards the achromatic male and successfully breaking what kept him and the wakizashi together, Yamato pressed one of the big cups into Nakigitsune’s face, covering him with ease (along with the small fox on his shoulder, consumed by the other big cup). The boobie cup, taking him, his face, his breath. No turning back. A smile thrown Kogitsunemaru’s direction to show that no harm has been done and it’s protective gear so it’s fine.

Taking a step back so he can take in his discovery on the other’s face, “How does it look! Did I put it on him right? There were these clasps behind it I forgot to clip them, will you get those for me, Kogitsunemaru?” Turning towards Horikawa with a smile, “I didn’t know this place is also for battle uses. It’s soft— not hard as the typical face masks but this isn’t my type at all. I’d rather fight fr—?” It isn’t all too long until he feels hands lightly on his shoulder. Turning in a (slow-mo fashion in the female’s eyes, her vision coveted by stars and sparkles) quick manner so he can catch who done such a thing, a young female was blonde hair and dressed up in an very classy attire.

Maybe it’s love at first sight or maybe she’s too expectant. Though, she finds this man handsome and charming. Though by the way she looks, Yamato is a bit unsure.

“M.. My what?” His what? Where is his friends to help him avoid this. A step back unsure of what’s going on, accidentally bumping into his spouse. “Excuse me!” Is spoken but that doesn’t mean Yamato can just escape like this, his write now grabbed by the female with the clipboard, a little frantic since he isn’t one to treat women any kind of way so he basically allows her to take his attention. “My size.. What if I know it?”

“Then tell me what it is! I have to get everyone’s in the store!”

What does she want with him, clearing his throat, he looks around for an excuse, not knowing what type of size she’s talking about. He sees a girl next to them who’s also talking about her size. A tag on her outfit that reads Hottie. Listening intently, the male overhears whatever size she see seems to be but even the lady who’s taking her measurements gives this Hottie character a tired look. “I’m a .. 28.. inch..?” Is this the answer?

Nope. Nah.

This isn’t what the lady wanted, giving Yamato a tired look as well, “I hope we don’t have to use the lie detector test on you as well! You have to come clean when you’re in Victoria’s Secret!” Of course he shoots a look at the wakizashi for help, mouthing, ‘please save me,’ before being taken by this menace and pulled to the side. Who is she? Anyway, it isn’t that long until she’s requesting the male to stay still as she wraps the yellow like item around his body, it’s a bit type but luckily his clothes softens this attack until.. she speaks again.

“Clothes? Can’t do it? Gotta remove it so I can see the skin and take an accurate measurement.”

Distracted by looking at anything but the bras, he doesn't notice Yamato approaching him with a particularly big one until it's too late -- that's to say, until it's pressed into his face, the straps tangling behind his head. The fox yips, confused, and in its' attempt to free itself, only makes it worse; Nakigitsune, in the other hand, flails and grips the material, trying to get it off his face. Needless to say, this is nothing like his mask -- rather, it's blinding and suffocating, and he really doesn't want it anywhere near him. 

Through his struggle and rasped breaths, he can hear some sort of a commotion -- a female voice, asking for Yamato's size. Whether the situation escalates or not, Nakigitsune doesn't know; can't see anything through the enormous bra cup, stumbling around in futile attempts to rip it off. Seems like while he's attempting to do so, something other than the bra is getting ripped -- he can hear the material tear, and Yamato's insistent voice that he can do it by himself. Guided by the sounds, he changes the direction of his stumbling in hopes of getting some help over there.

Sadly, instead of bumping into a person, he bumps into something else -- a stand full of bras, as it turns out a second later, and, due to the impact, it quickly falls over. He can hear a yell -- a girl? -- and then long silence, as he's reaching, completely hopelessly, for anyone. The bras are everywhere -- he can feel them underneath his feet, stepping on the soft cups, and eventually manages to reach the group, quickly clinging to Kogitsunemaru and tugging on his robes.

"Kogitsunemaru-sama! Can you please get this off of us? Aaah, I can't breathe like this!" The fox complains, finally standing still. If it wasn't for the way it tangled the bra behind Nakigitsune's head, it'd probably be easier to get off -- sadly, for the time being, he's trapped, clutching at the material of Kogitsunemaru's clothes. Through the faint buzz in his ears, he can hear the girl's voice again:

"I'm fine, I'm fine, it wasn't heavy! We'll clean it up, so you guys go ahead and shop," she assures, a little tiredly.

At this point the vacation that’s been offered to them by Gaen Kyoya is nice and allows them to relax though hearing about some really creepy rumors is a nice touch. Now, there are people that are just flabbergasted, excited even to see what this island has in store for them and what secrets that could uncover as if they were Indiana Jones. The surprises that could come are endless within the vicinity of Iuctum West.

Anyway, the group that are out and about this time are no strangers to one another, one tachi, two uchigatana and one wakizashi that have all came together. The agreement between all of them is that they should all indulge in a shopping trip since well, they deserve to do something worthwhile and be more modern is what both one of the uchigatana and the tachi is told. Perhaps they are just too stuck within their own time frame since they shared equally confused looks to one another when told this.

With a few questions to find a good local clothes store, a girl who looked like a succubus had patted Yamato’s head with a deadpan ‘pat’s you’ attitude. This sent a shiver down the poor boy’s back as he backs away, he didn’t like it at all. She was like talking to a wall but luckily he was able to get some information. Returning back to his group who stood there waiting for him, “I gained information, if we go to that shop over there.” He raises an arm and points towards a store with the name ‘Victoria’s Secret’ titled for all to see. “That everyone has been shopping there, it’s what we’ve been looking for, right?”

When they all begin their move, there’s a man in the way with his phone and a towel around his neck. He seems to be talking to someone important as he stands in way of Victoria Secret’s entrance. “Hey wassup man, yeah I’m ready, I’m just waiting for this girl to bring my daughter back, they went into this store that displaying one of my number 1 hits. Th-Th-TH-TH-THONG. Also, the models that will show off my new brand of thongs.”

Alright.. When will he move doe? The man covers the receiver of his phone when he sees the group of four standing before him. “Huh, are you all the models that I was looking for? Y’all came late. Yo Wood, let me call you back.” With a click of his flip phone snapping shut. “Y’all need to be more careful I’m on a time schedule, anyway—” He hands the the taller of the four, four tickets that seem able to try on clothes for free and take photoshoots.

“I trust you all will be on your best behavior when in there, right? Right. I need to go get ready for my new 2015 hit.” And with that, the man walked away.

Alas, not everyone was as quick to get used to this strange (yet fascinating) world.

He's familiar with all three of his companions; for a brief period of time, he'd fought alongside them and the Saniwa sage. It makes hanging out just a little more bearable; he eases into their company, the nervous knot caused by socializing almost completely gone. But, they aren't here just to hang out -- rather, himself and Horikawa had decided to help their spouses out, as it's pretty clear that both Yamato and Kogitsunemaru are still a little... behind on the times. (And, frankly, it's causing him more embarrassment than buying Kogitsune underwear ever will.)

As Yamato announces their next destination, his gaze wanders to the store mentioned, glancing at the fancy lettering on the logo. It looks... not exactly like what they need, but maybe the countless, female mannequins with various kinds of lingerie on them are misleading. (He makes sure not to make direct eye-contact with any of them. Not that they have eyes, per se, but still.) They cross the street in a few, short strides, and as they're about to enter, a man stands in their way, going on and on and on about thongs --

"Ah?" He turns his head towards Kogitsunemaru, who seems to have acquired a few tickets. The man disappears just as fast as he'd appeared, and he plucks one ticket from between Kogitsune's fingers gently, glancing down at the explicit picture of a female in a bikini and a flashy annoucement. "Oooh! Doesn't this mean we will be able to acquire items without the need to use currency? Isn't that great, everyone? How lucky!" The fox chippers happily, wagging its tail. 

Well, it does seem handy, but...