Candy Trip! [Divides!]

[YORI OSHIRO]

Quite simply, Yori loved Hogsmeade.

It was easy for her to look forward to these sort of weekends. While they served as a breather more than anything, if the hufflepuff truly wanted to, it was really quite easy for her to find a nice, secluded spot away from people. She didn't always have chances to shed layers of energy into her more subdued personality. However, this wasn't the reason for her trip to Hogsmeade today. As Yori stood waiting for her elder brother, she couldn't hide the giddy grin that surfaced on her expression outside of Honeydukes. She loved candy and she loved her brother. It seemed like the perfect combination.

She was thankful for him, that much she was sure. The older Okinawan gave her a chance to act like herself more often while still interacting with people. Terrified she was with others, it was still hard to deny that need for some sort of human communication. Her brother understood, in his own way.

For now though, her thoughts were toward candy. With a whistle, she kicked the dirt at her feet, waiting for Ichigo with a certain impatience one might expect from a hungry student outside of a candyshop.

[ichigo]

Ichigo was there when his sister arrived, hiding in a nearby alley. For several minutes he waited like this, making sure to duck behind a corner anytime he thought his sister might be looking his way. He had to fight back the urge to snicker at his sister's impatience, even though he had to admit to himself he was feeling the same anxiousness as his sister. He honestly had to wonder which of them would crack first.

Knowing his capacity to hold out when it came to pranks, Ichigo figured it'd probably be his sister, but... seeing his sister excited like that, he decided he didn't really have the heart to test it out. Instead, he waited till his sister's back was turned, then darted out from behind the alley and attempted to grab his sister around the abdomen with one arm while covering her eyes with the other. "GUESS WHO?!?" he announced in a deliberately goofy tone.

[YORI OSHIRO]

She had been close to leaving and tracking down her brother on her own before she felt an arm slip around her. Now, Yori should've known it was Ichigo right away. With the bustling activity, it would be too much of a risk to attempt a kidnapping during freaking Hogsmeade weekend at Hogwarts, and the hufflepuff wasn't that close to the alley for someone to use the cover over there. Any other friends that might have pulled the same trick were well aware that she was hanging with her older brother for the day. Not to mention her high stress levels with the triwizard tournament coming up shortly made her jumpier than usual.

As one might expect, none of these things crossed her mind the moment she felt the arm around her, resorting to panicked struggling and screaming upon contact. It was like a jolt of lightning bolt surging through her heart that moment, pounding relentlessly in her chest. She was a school champion for crying out loud! Yori really should know how to protect herself better than this!

However, when the hand fell over her eyes and she smelled the familiar scent of cooking spices, the fifth year breathed a sigh of relief. Of course it was Ichigo. ”Ichi-kun, let go, you know how I freak out!” she pouted, struggling a bit but not as much as she was before. ”I'm hungry too...”

[ichigo]

Ichigo laughed at his sister's reaction, but loosened his grip just the same.
"Correct," Ichigo replied, lightheartedly, "But just Ichi-Kun will do. You don't have to use my full name."

Ichigo paused for a second upon being reminded of their candy-related plans. Truth be told, he was kinda famished himself. "And alright," he added, "We can go get something to eat. But only if you let me treat. The great representative of Hufflepuff and future tournament champion shouldn't go without the proper treatement!"

[YORI OSHIRO]

Yori breathed a sigh of relief when Ichigo finally released her, allowing her heart to return to its regular pace. She definitely needed to work on some sort of meditation techniques in order to manage the most stressful and fast-pace tasks in the Hogwarts tournament. ”Alright, Ichi-kun, just be careful with that. You know how jumpy I get,” she mused a little somberly. She needed to keep the appearance of confidence. She didn't want her family and friends to worry.

The Asian laughed at her brother's words. ”Careful, gryffindors might lynch you if they hear you say that,” she joked good-naturedly as she began moving toward the store, ”But alright, I'll let you pay for me, just this once, but its my treat next time!” More than anything, she was looking forward to just having a normal day with the boy. She was getting a little tired with the whole champion thing. Of course she had brought it to herself, but she wasn't used to the sort of attention it brought. Despite her desire to have courage, she still couldn't trust people like others.

[ichigo]

Ichigo laughed with his sister. "You say 'lynch' that like it's a bad thing!" he quipped.

Ichigo then paused for a moment. With an exaggerated motion, he eyed his sister up and down before continuing with his teasing replies, "And I dunno... I'd feel kinda weird taking candy from a celebrity. I mean, sure, you look fine in the papers, but how do I REALLLLY know you're what the media makes you out to be?"

[YORI OSHIRO]

Yori eyed Ichigo in good humor. ”Lynching does usually mean death, you know,” she advised even with the silly smile on her face. This was something the hufflepuff would always come to appreciate from her older brother. He knew how to keep her calm and less worried about... well, everything except for him at times. She didn't really mention the later too much though. That had always been a painful conversation for her to have.

She rolled her eyes at his words. ”I know where you live. I don't think I need to drug or poison you or anything,” the Japanese girl responded lightly, ”And I'm just the same, with or without the publicity. … I hope Dunstable gets most of it honestly. I hate interviews.”

[ichigo]

Ichigo paused. Yori kinda had him there. He had kinda sorta implied something that COULD be taken as not 100% joking that he didn't exactly intend to imply. Sure, his sister was taking it in humorous spirits, but it was still kind of embarrassing to botch up one's wordplay so badly.

"You're right, Yo-Yo-Chan, you haven't changed," Ichigo admitted, a bit more calmly than before, but no less warm, "You're still my baby sister. And you better stay that way... or else."

Ichigo wondered if he should point out that, in anticipation of her not wanting excessive attention, he had kept the excess hair he had relieved her of earlier...

[YORI OSHIRO]

Yori eyed Ichigo for a moment, a bit taken aback for a moment by his words. It was more serious than she had expected, but as she thought about it, certainly understandable given the circumstances. The Hufflepuff was trying to grow up. Frankly, she was tired of being the same since she started schooling. If there had been any change she had experienced through Hogwarts was she had learned to lie to people better. That was what she gathered in her conversation with Jos the other day anyway.

The Japanese girl smiled, ”I'll try to stay that way, Ichi-kun, I promised.” She kept a tone of seriousness, wanting to assure her brother of that fact. She doubt there would be much for her to change that-- maybe if she died. Oh, best not to think that way. ”Now, let's get some nice sweets, eh?”

[ichigo]

Ichigo reached over to ruffle his sister's hair, acting reassured at his sister's words, although in truth he didn't really need the assurance. He had only really said what he said to reassure his sister that he still felt exactly the same about her. Still, it was nice to hear her confirm it, just the same.

"Very well," he commented in reply to her suggestion, "Would you care to lead the way?"

[YORI OSHIRO]

She enjoyed the ruffle of her hair, though running a hand through to straighten it out a bit afterward. Yori could admit that she missed simpler interactions like that. The hufflepuff had been busy getting ready for the first task to concentrate much on anything else. It made sense that someone at least would remind her to relax every once and a while. ”I'd be happy to lead the way!” she commented lightly before beginning the short walk over. Really, it was just around the corner.

She could hear her stomach growl. The Japanese girl admitted she could've afforded to eat a little bit more earlier that day. ”Geez, I'm more famished than I thought... What have you been up to lately?”

[ichigo]

Ichigo followed his sister happily.

"What have I been doing?" he replied, "Oh, the usual... hanging out with friends, checking out the girls... checking out the guys. Working on personal projects..."

Ichigo decided not to mention that said "personal project," included making a polyjuice potion of Yori, just incase she needed a doppleganger. Maybe later, when he had thought of a good way to break it to her... certainly not while they were both suffering from low blood sugar, and about to switch to very high blood sugar... both situations might leave things a little too... jumpy. Besides, it'd probably help if he actually had an idea of WHY he felt this was so useful... most likely by it actually coming up.

So instead, Ichigo simply concluded with, "You know, 'nothing stuff'," then added, half jokingly, "How about you?"

[YORI OSHIRO]

She raised an eyebrow in Ichigo's story, though not really surprised by its content. Ichigo was always much more open about his ventures than Yori was. Some of it had to do with that fact that she just didn't put much focus in romantic relationships (especially now that she was in this role). The hufflepuff wasn't entirely comfortable with relationships either. The implicit trust that came into it was strange to her, and not something she was entirely sure she was ready to mess with yet. Luckily, her work with the tournament kept her busy enough. She really didn't want to explore her options-- at the moment, at least.

Wait, personal projects? ”Personal projects too secretive or can I ask about that?” Yori have teased with a small smile, ”We haven't had much time to talk after all.” That was probably all her, really. She had to focus on keeping her head straight, and not screw up during the tasks. The last thing she wanted to do was be a burden for Dunstable during the tournament.

She thought about the question for a moment, letting out a small noise in thought. ”Eh, you know,” she muttered vaguely, ”Working with Dunstable to form strategies, homework, practicing spells, speculating on the tournament.” She grimaced slightly. It was stressful, she was willing to admit. It was getting difficult to manage it, but she was sleeping easier now at least.

[ichigo]

Ichigo paused for a second... he was hoping Yori wouldn't pry at that last part, but in hindsight, he wasn't terribly surprised she had caught it... Fortunately, she had given him an easy out.

Well, ok, maybe "out" wasn't the right word. But he wanted to see how she'd run with it, at least.

Ichigo turned towards his sister and grinned. "What a coincidence," he began, an ever-so-slightly exaggerated tone of sincerity in his voice, "Those are the exact same projects I've been working on!"

[YORI OSHIRO]

Wait, what? Yori's expression scrunched up for a moment, trying to discern what Ichigo meant by that. She hadn't approached her or Dunstable about anything, but she wasn't one to deny the help he would be providing. She was easily quite worried over any sort of possibility of failure, especially when it came with the idea of her being more of a liability than a help. She knew she wasn't as skilled as the other champions, but she'd like to think she had connections. So long as she had the desire to learn, Yori hoped that it would prevent her from being a screw-up.

With that said, Yori wasn't sure she was entirely keen on what her brother was planning. He seemed to be trying to remain vague about it. Still, she was willing to give her brother the trust he definitely deserved. "Same projects I am huh?" she asked with a smile, "How have you been working on those same projects? I could use all the help I could get." It wasn't long after saying those words though that she found herself at the store, looking at the various sweets at the Honeydukes' window. She could hear her stomach growl in response.

[ichigo]

Ichigo paused for just a second. "Well, you see, my beloved sister," he began to explain, "What I'm working on is-CANDY!"

Ichigo smiled, relieved to finally be at the shop. "Let's go get some candy," he suggested, running ahead of his sister.

Meanwhile, Ichigo found himself wondering if it really WOULD be possible to make some kind of a candy form of a polyjuice potion. Might be an experiment worth trying sometime, he figured. Not to mention the notion of creating a bunch of "Yori candies" positively tickled him pink.

... Ok, even he had to admit that, when thinking about it, that idea was a little creepy. Still might be worth trying, though. Maybe if he could modify them somehow so they weren't exact duplicates. Of course, wouldn't change the fact that he was having an internal laugh about the fact that he would be making it possible to have people "go suck on a Yori"...

... Come to think of it, at the very least, it would probably be best not to think too much about it while his sister was actually physically present. Yori seemed nervous enough as is without the risk of her picking up on her brother having odd thoughts like this. Besides, there were other matters at hand now...

Ichigo opened the door for his sister. "Ladies first!" he invited.