Sanctuary (Chrollo x OC)

10. Plans of Spring

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Now, to skip into present time, it had been a long tedious day and a half for Azuma. She'd had to catch a caravan to one of the larger cities. Any small village, even a town would certainly not have what she was looking for.

She needed a replacement, since last year some careless merchant had dirtied it...and...let's just say that try as she might, Azuma had been completely unable to wash it, and eventually decided to gift the garb to a nice woman she knew.

But alas, it was getting that time of year again, and if she wanted to attend the upcoming spring festival she'd need one. A Kimono.

Right, she needed a kimono. It was simply tradition to wear one to the annual festival. Azuma's head perked out as she finally spotted the large capital coming into view. It was the capital of her region(state). 

Tall and ornate building came to view. The dirt road turned to cobble, and then they were in the city. High stone buildings with maple tiled roofs. Expensively dressed people bustled every which way and the air buzzed with life. Shops were open and celled out, vying for attention. 

Hopping off the caravan, Azuma immediately headed down the street, as she went, the crowds got thicker, and primarily woman. It was undoubted, she'd find it here.

"Kimonos! Yukatas! Everything you could need for the festival!"

Quickly, Azuma steered her direction towards the voice. It was exactly was she needed. Eventually, she stood outside an open door, a lady beckoned her in. 

The shop's interior is what you'd expect. Lit well by lanterns, expensive fabrics hung on the walls. Ornate kimonos were displayed on wooden figures. here were little shelves of ornaments and little decorations to put in your hair or attach to a sash. There were rows of makeup. 

Towards the end there were a few doors. One leading to another room of fabrics and changing rooms. The other leading upstairs, presumably to the staff quarters. And the last leading to another staff only room, probably storage.

It was truly a luxury shop. Azuma, lived modestly. But that didn't mean she had no money. She had more than enough to buy herself some nice festival clothes.

A well dressed teen hurried over to her. She had light brown hair and pretty pink eyes, she was obviously an apprentice at the shop. "Madam is there anyway I might assist you?" The phrase was obviously well practiced. 

Azuma nodded. "A kimono please,  and a sash to accompany it." 

The teen nodded. "Of course, right this way please." 

The pair moved into the next room. There were so many choices it was almost overwhelming. Green ones, blue ones. Ones embroidered with cranes, others with flowers, clouds, they seemed to have everything.

What Azuma needed was something that would fit the festival. Meaning, while the top needed to be tight and secure like any kimono, the bottom needed to be different. It would need to be somewhat loose and short enough to avoid being tripped on. For you see, the festival involved quite a bit of dancing for everyone, not just the performers. Azuma needed something suited for that. 

Azuma happily started browsing. she disregarded the ones that were to flashy, after all, even though Azuma was looking for something of good quality she had never liked anything that was to decorated or glamorous that it came across as pompous.

Finally, Azuma had picked out a few kimonos to try on. One that was maple leaf patterned red and orange, a white and black butterfly one, one with cherry blossoms, and so on. 

The teen, who's name Azuma learned was Sher escorted Azuma to the changing rooms and she tried each on one by one. Sher carefully tightened each up to perfection, tied sashes, and everything.