Random Handouts equal Random Encounters

“Contact the Hero if you're feeling Zero. He'll put you back into Gear-o?” Chigetsu would read the words written on the sigh aloud, peering dodwn into the poster-sized parchment that sat in the boy’s lap. The strange boy camped outside Kirigakure’s Clan Districts with his posters and quill was a hard thing to miss, although it seemed like Chigetsu was one of the few who actively took notice and decided to investigate. While not overtly odd or unacceptable in itself, curiosity provoked Chigetsu to see exactly what that oversized quill was scribbling. The answer was confusing though, and it made the boy purse his lips.

Chigetsu probably wasn’t someone who should be judging anyone else for being odd though. Just by looking at him it was easy to tell that he was a bit strange, starting with his hair. It was a bright pink, and hung past his neck it was braided into a thick, ropey braid of hair that continued down to his hips. At the end would be a tightly wrapped black bow, matching with the other two would be tied into each side of his head. A solitary locke of paper-white would run down to the left of her face in her bangs, being the one remnant of her natural hair color. He would be dressed in an airy purple and white striped crop top. The shirt freely exposed his navel and belly-button as well, although on top of it would be a warm-looking fluffy purple hooded jacket that contained a variety of seemingly unused pockets.. A similarly simple pair of black thigh-high stockings would run down her legs, only exposing a bit of her thighs between where the socks began and her skirt ended. With his general appearance it was almost impossible to tell Chigetsu apart from a girl.

“Who’s ‘The Hero’? Is that supposed to be you?” He would ask, purple eyes flickering up to the man on the bench. It seemed that Chigetsu had walked up to the boy without him noticing while he was engrossed in thinking up new slogans, peeking down to peep on what was being written.

The way that the mysterious young entrepreneur reacted, having himself sent into a moment of mock petrification, would be enough to send Chigetsu into a flurry of giggles. He took a step back as he did, hand raising up to hide his mouth as reveled in that little fit of giggles. The stiffness breaking away to prove that the man hadn’t stiffened himself into concrete would sent another flutter of the laughter over to the pink haired boy, unable to help himself.

“Sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you. I was just curious.” Once it subsided he would address Grey again, perhaps resetting the moment a bit away from that first moment of shock, although it seemed that grey was quick to roll away from the moment as well. Especially with how smoothly he pivoted into the next moment of whimsy, rattling off another slogan for himself that nearly sent Chigetsu into laughter again. He had to hold it back, lips tight for a moment.

“I like that one a lot! How many of these did you make? Or are you coming up with them on the spot? They were like little jingles, or like a song or something… Ah! My name is Chigetsu! Chi-Get-Suu Who-Zuu-Key” He would pronounce his name phonetically, emphasizing each syllable of it. There was no reason to, but the way that heroboy was all rhymey and full of whimsy in his voice made Chigetsu want to do something too. “It’s nice to meet you, Mister Hero.”

His eyes would flutter over the male again, and his equipment. It was just a momentary pause, but in it he searched for a way to answer the question. Grey had never actually said what it was that he did with that sign, and for a moment he hoped that some equipment that the boy might have had would give it away.

“Uhm…” His search had failed. “I just noticed you writing those signs, and I was curious. Hmm… Well, okay! It could be fun.” Tilting his head, Chigetsu’s braid would shift and fall down to the other side. It was impossible to tell exactly what he was signing up for, but whatever it was probably wouldn’t hurt. Having already gotten this deep into talking with Grey it would have been rude to just outwardly refuse as well.

“Anything in particular I need help with? Uhhh...” The question was repeated as a question, like some game of telephone. Having not known exactly what the Hero was offering, Chigetsu didn’t have any expectionats. But… He at least expected the Hero to give a run down of it. It seemed that the boy’s business here was unspecific. Just offers for ‘help’. Grey had some charm about him with the signs and stuff, but this now was just starting to feel like a desperate ploy for them to earn some cash doing whatever chores any random passersby needed done, rather than a legitimate business. To an extent Chigetsu didn’t mind parting ways with some money to help him out, but now rather than giggling Chigetsu was just starting to feel sorry for him.

“Let me think for a second! I mean, I didn’t have anything prepared for this.” He would offer out as a delay, to give himself more time to think. That last quip about the palms was actually pretty good too, and it had distracted him. “I mean, I don’t really think I have that many problems. My life is pretty…” He trailed off, slowly freezing in place mid sentence.

There were actually a lot of problems he had.

The relationship he had with his parents was one. All the unresolved tension that came after they discovered he liked to wear women’s clothing all those years ago. He was kicked out, forced to live on his own as a younger teenager. Now his father was dying, and his mother was reaching out again, and he had to resolve all these emotions again. The last two times he had met with his mother she had been left on the verge of tears by the end. He didn’t know how to talk to her.

Then the Chunin Exams. The final round was coming up still, and Chigetsu needed to prepare. He would be fighting against two other potential champions, and the idea of it was hanging over him with more than a little bit of stress. Especially since it coincided around the same time as Calis’s funeral. Calis, who had been Chigetsu’s best friend and primary motivation for entering the exams in the first place. He had to prepare for both.

Then Hana, the Mizukage. It felt like a dream that he had somehow managed to get into a relationship with her, but… It was intimidating. She was the Mizukage. To a certain extent it was impossible to remove the self-consciousness that came from that. He wasn’t good enough for her. Especially when she probably prefered someone much more… traditional. The Kaguya were like that, and it wasn’t a fact that escaped his notice. There were thoughts that he couldn’t get rid of, no matter how hard he tried.

His face twisted after that moment of being petrified in memory ended, turning down into something bitter for a moment. It ruined Chigetsu’s aesthetic, although just as quickly as it showed up it would also be gone.

“I could think of a few things.” He would respond, much of the emotion wiped off his face and energy from before ripped out of him. “If you’re willing to listen.”

Chigetsu would take a seat, taking up a bit of room on the bench. “Uh… Well. I guess this isn’t a really straight forward problem, so I understand if you don’t want to help. But even if you’d just listen, I guess I’d appreciate it.” The fact that he was a stranger was cast aside now, and that Chigetsu didn’t even know his name. They just needed someone to vent to.

“There’s this girl I like…” Always a great start. “She uh… Well, more than just like. We’re dating now. It’s just… I focused so much on getting her to agree, I don’t really know what to do now. I don’t have any past experience with this sort of stuff.”

“That, and I’m sort of afraid that… Well. She’s a girl. I think she was interested in a more traditional thing, rather than someone who was like me…” Chigetsu would sort of gesture to themself. It was something that made sense even without knowing they were a crossdresser, and if Grey believed Chi was a girl.

“I … I uh, I don’t really know how you can help. I just need advice or something, I guess.”

Laying it all out like that made him paranoid now, and he had to think back over all of the time they had spent together. The thought almost made him sweat. Distance? Coldness? Subtle or overt? How does she regard him? The questions all made his head spin for a moment. Settling back onto the bench, Chigetsu had to rack their memories.

“I… I don’t think so?” Unsure of himself, there wasn’t much more of an answer he could give than that. “I don’t think she’s been cold lately. It’s hard sometimes because I know she’s really busy with her work and all, but…” Should he try to visit her without prompting? Would it be too needy looking if he did? Chigetsu was too paranoid about things like this. It was hard to be level headed and calm sometimes, especially regarding matters you had so little experience in.

The Hero’s attitude was exceptionally positive though. The sheer amount of elbow grease and the can-do attitude he just leaked out had a somewhat calming effect on the panicking pinkette. The big goofy grin especially was something that ended up lifting Chigetsu’s spirits away from the garbage can they had fallen into.

“...What? What would confirm that for her?” He would turn, watching the Hero’s expression now that he had hinted towards having come to some revelation on the subject. “Is there something I can do?”

The index finger pointed in Chigetsu’s direction would catch the boy off guard, and he would find his attention captured by Grey’s movement in shock. The Diabolus was certainly a good orator, if anything. Or perhaps Chigetsu’s attention was just easily taken by quick movements. The answer associated wasn’t something that he had been expecting, but he was captivated right now by the street performer-esque movements and performance of Grey to the extent that his brain had partially turned off. Asking her, of course, was probably the simplest and most direct solution, but it required a lot of gusto and confidence. Something like that would only expose his insecurity, which he knew to an extent was an ugly, unattractive thing.

“... Right. Asking her.” The thoughts rolled around in his mind for a moment, in the same way that one might taste something and be unsure whether they liked the flavor or not. It was something that had the possibility of working, but things would need to happen first, and change in a certain direction.

“I think that could work. If I just asked her it would definitely resolve things quickly. In one way or the other. Since we are an item...” Standing up slowly, the male would hesitantly find himself pushed in the direction of action, even if unsure of himself right now. “I think… I think I’m going to try that… Thank you, Mister Hero. I’ll… uh, if you set up your stand here again, I’ll be sure to visit you and tell you how things turned out.”


[Exit]