Roaming the Streets (Okami-Chase)

[Okami]

Tsukimori squinted against the after noon light as she walked along the busy street. People hurried by in their fragile, short lives always trying to make the next appointment. It made for very crowded streets. Sometimes a cabbie would honk at some other car slowing him down. Then some one would be honking at a cabbie. Crosswalks dinged as a warning to the blind and there was a constant hum of voices talking on cell phones. People bumped into each other, cursed and continued on. Tsukimori shook her head at the noisy assault. The sounds and light where making for a rather annoying trip.

Yet she felt the urge to explore her new territory. Knowledge was survival and Tsukimori was very unfamiliar with not only this street or the next, but the city as a whole. Some streets she walked on had beggars lining the side walks, others had women working in broad daylight, and then there where the fidgety men selling fake Rolexes and drugs. All in all, she wasn't impressed with the Big Apple. In fact, the stark difference from her home estate in the Aichi Prefecture only made her more homesick. She frowned at the thought and entered the first store she came too for distraction.

It was a seedy pawn shop with merchandise behind fencing and a man standing behind a counter with bullet proof glass. Apparently this pawn shop had been raided too many times. He gave her a suspicious scowl and turned away to do something. She decided she didn;t want to be in there and left, stumbling over something on her way through the door. "OOoh! Whats this?"

[Canine]

Chase was walking down the street, as usual. He was wearing his usual blue jean jacket and faded blue jeans over his dark green shirt. Shaggy red hair partially covered his deep blue eyes. He was hungry, and hadn't made a good scam in days.

Looking around at all the people, he slipped into an alley. Moments later, he came walking back out onto the sidewalk, but as a red Chow pup with big blue eyes. Someone always fell for this one, and it fed him for at least a few days.

Suddenly, someone tripped over him. He let out a startled yelp.

[Okami]

Tsukimori looked down at the fluffy chow puppy. Her eyes narrowed in further annoyance as she looked it over. It had no collar but seemed a little to clean to have been on the streets long. After a moment she simply continued walking on. She made her way through the crowd but got caught at a cross walk with a throng of other people waiting for the red light. She felt something and looked down, only to see the same chow puppy looking up at her. She frowned, "What do you want?"

[Canine]

He looked up at the woman, practically drooling over her. Okay, so he was drooling, and not just because he was currently a dog. She didn't seem interested, but he'd make her fall for his adorable puppy dog eyes--though they were technically his natural eyes--in no time. In that way only a three week old puppy can, he padded along behind her.

When she stopped at a crosswalk, the Australian dilenquent siezed the moment. He put a tiny paw on the back of the woman's leg, whining.Then, when she turned, he tried to stand on his hind legs, and put his front paws against her leg, but he--albeit purposely--fell over, letting out another wimper. He just stared up at her with his big, sad blue eyes.

[Okami]

She continued to watch the small puppy as it bid for her attention. She sighed, feeling the motherly instincts of the wolf kick in."Okaaaay. This won't be a long term relationship though." She said as she picked him up. The light turned and she followed the crowd over the street with the puppy tucked into her arms. She looked around, hoping that somehow....she'd come across a kid with their mom and simply deposit the puppy into little hands. Luck was not with her though and she resigned to going back to her hotel.

As she neared the hotel she hid the puppy in a bag and said,"SSSHHHH," before sneaking it inside. It was rather easy for her to go up the elevator and into her room with puppy unnoticed. Once the door was closed she let the puppy down and plopped on her bed. The puppy was promptly ignored.

[Canine]

His tail wagged happily as he snuggled into her arms. This was too easy. He sort of realaxed, closing his eyes, and--WHOA hidden in a bag. He was soon set on the floor of her room, and wandered around, only to see she had plopped on her bed, ignoring him. He sighed to himself, then his stomach growled.

He looked over at the mini-fridge. Quietly, he shifted to human, and began going through the fridge, eating whatever he could find, and drinking down a can of Coke. Yeah, he was in a hotel room with a hot chick who was lying in bed asleep. And Chase was raiding the fridge.

[Okami]

The pop of a can opening made Tsukimori alert to some one being in her hotel room. Her eyes flew open and she held still, breathing in the scent of her intruder. She could still smell the Chow and now a human....male. She almost sighed. What good was the puppy when it couldn't even warn her of an intruder. She twisted in the bed, standing up to see a guy sucking down one of her Mountain Dews. "What are you doing here?!?" She yelled. Then again, why hadn't she heard the door open? The guy must have been very quiet.

[Canine]

He jumped, dropping the Mountain Dew and quickly shifting back to the form of the Chow puppy. He turned, standing in front of the still-open mini-fridge, wagging his tail.

He barked happily, shooting her an innocent puppy look as his little tongue lolled out of his mouth. He walked over to her, looking up at her, his head bending up and up, until he plopped over sideways. "YAP YAP!" he barked.

[Okami]

She glared at him, not letting the little puppy act soften her expression. A growl too low to be natural for a human came from her chest. "I suggest you shift back and explain yourself." She said as silvery fur grew from her skin and her form seemed to shiver momentarily before the shape of a rather large and rather pissed silver wolf stood on the bed in full dominance body language. Her senses heightened further, she could associate the human/dog scent of this male now. He wouldn't be fooling her anytime soon. She bared her teeth, showing she meant business. Puppy form or not, this mutant invaded her territory.

[Canine]

Chase...well...Chase had done what puppies do when scared, as shown by the puddle on the floor. He spoke without shifting. "I can shift back but not again for a few hours... PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" He shifted to human, now a redheaded teenager instead of a dog, but his eyes were still those scared blue puppy-eyes. "I have no home and I use the puppy act to get free room and board for a few days," he said, shaking as he cowered in the corner. Then he muttered to himself, "Next time I'm not following someone who doesn't look interested...no matter how pretty she is." He looked at the wolf before begging one more time. "Please...have mercy..."

[Okami]

The submission reaction from the pup helped ease the territorial reaction she was feeling. Even so, she was still agitated at his invasion. As he turned human and backpedaled to a corner she stopped growling. Her eyes stared into his as if trying to pry open the truth in his motives. But even as he spoke the wolf in her could sense the truth. Plus, the guy was scared sh*tless. She jumped down from the bed, swishing her tail and gave him a look that said, 'stay there' before padding into the bathroom and shutting the door.

A minute later the Japanese girl came out in a pair of black leather pants and a red blouse. As she walked by the counter she bent down, picking up the spilled mountain dew, and setting it the sink. Then she reached in the fridge and pulled out two. Not once had she glanced at him until the fridge door closed. Finally she walked up to him with a predator's sway to her hips. "Here," she put the Mountain Dew in his hands. "Next time use your nose to warn you before you try sneaking around a wolf's den." She said and she turned and sat and her bed. A pop came fro the soda and she took a drink. It was obvious she didn;t consider him a threat.

[Canine]

He watched as she went into the bathroom, not moving a muscle. He may have been part dog, but hey, he wasn't a fighter. That and he knew when he was beat. When she came out of the bathroom, his jaw practically hit the floor. He took the soda, sitting in a nearby chair and popping the top. "Du--duly noted," he said with a nod, trying to wipe the drool from his mouth without her seeing.

Actually...that was the sole reason he followed her. Besides she let him into her room and hadn't killed him yet, so she had to have a heart.

[Okami]

"There's a chair over there" she motioned to a couple of chairs near a small table. She watched him after taking another drink. Deciding to lean her back against the wall, she stretched one leg out on the bed. Her bare foot revealed shimmery purple toe nails.

"So....what happened?"

[Canine]

He nodded and sat down, drinking the soda. Every now and then he'd toss her a glance. He wiped his mouth again seeing the purple toenails.

"What? How I got into this? Family back in Australia thought I was too much of a troublemaker. They shipped me here to live with family, but I ran away. Now I pretty much live like a dog, usually. I scam because that's pretty much all I know." He shrugged, finishing off his soda and tossing the can into the trash can--without getting up. It landed in the can. "Well, that's about all there is to me. Some troublemaker who has to put on a cute puppy face to get anywhere."

[Okami]

She arched an eyebrow. So he was a scavenger because he didn't know better? Even so an idea came together in her mind. Something that could help both of them out. "Since your not required elsewhere, how about a job."