(Open)ing Day

If someone asked Sharaku what he was currently doing on this strange, mostly unpopulated island, the answer would most likely be simple curiosity. While he wasn't the type to get overly excited by tourist attractions, a volcano was interesting enough to check out. He had lived in many places before, but he hadn't seen one yet, and this could technically count as exploring the area for further use as well. One never knows when they have to make a run for it, and knowing the general landscape is always a plus. Although with his 'skills' in this particular stuff, he would most likely get lost even after getting familiar with the setting. But hey, worth a try. He had nothing to lose by wasting a little bit of his time on this. Unless the land would decide to hate on him and make the volcano erupt or any of the like. ''That would certainly be funny, if only it didn't concern me.'', he would laugh under his breath, as he strode around the island, unsurprisingly not seeing many people around.

That was to be expected though, as this particular island was mostly for the viewing pleasure, wasn't it? At least he himself would reconsider living here with the possible dangers. If he was to burn, then at least in some orderly fashion, not in lava. It wasn't that he was overly concerned about the volcano, but joking about it kept his mind occupied. What else was there to do? Staring at the scenery could only do so much. Hm, so far it wasn't much fun here, and he wasn't even around very long yet. He was already considering heading eslewhere, before he would go as far as making up dark jokes about everything out of boredom, when he noticed a building nearby. ''Hm?'' Well, he must definitely have been preoccupied with his thoughts if he hadn't taken notice of that sooner. Sweeping his golden eyes over, he realized it was some kind of shop, or so it seemed. That was a first. He hadn't seen anything of this sort on this island yet. 'Maybe they decided to sell souvenirs? I wonder what it would be though....mini volcanos?' Shaking his head in amusement, he would walk over to check it out, because, why the hell not?

Nearby the door, he could hear a female voice saying something, however it wasn't clear enough for him to understand the words. Well, at least he knew someone was in there, right? Adjusting his hat, he would stroll in casually, noticing that indeed, there was a female in there, however she was the only person. It would be safe to figure she was running this place, by seeing where she stood. Still, this place was kinda empty wasn't it? Maybe the few people visiting are too busy with other things...? Well, either way, first things first. ''Hello, Miss.'', he would greet politely, nodding towards the dark skinned woman behind the counter. He and his courtesy. So far, he had no idea what this shop was all about, so maybe he could look around, or perhaps ask. 'Hmmm...'

Naomi stood outside looking at the volcano that Malstu was famous for. She didn’t know why she hadn’t just looked up an image of the thing online. Actually, it was because she wanted to get an exact view of the scale and shape of the thing. She looked down at the bag of sugar cubes in her hand. She may not have brought enough to make a proper edible volcano. There was no reason for her to come here to do it, either. She had just gotten the idea and walked out of the house with that one goal in mind. Now that she had time to stop and think about it, she had forgotten the frosting. How was she even supposed to hold the cubes together? She dropped her head at her own failure. Couldn’t she do anything right? She would snap back to reality and put a smile back on her face as she noticed her mood shifting. What did she have to be sad about? She still had a bag full of sugar cubes. The best part is that they were all hers. She opened the bag and plopped one of the cubes into her mouth, letting it melt on her tongue. Pure and utter sugar rush.
 
Beyond all of that, however, Naomi was starting to feel ill. It wasn’t the kind of ill that meant she was getting sick. No. It was the kind of ill that made her feel dizzy and tired. She could feel the amount of time she had been standing in the sun catching up to her. She had to find a place that was out of the sunlight. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a vast lack of understanding for the concept of inside. The only place she could see was some kind of shop. She wasn’t a picky kind of person, so Naomi put the bag of sugar cubes in her purse and made her way to the building.
 
It seemed there was already somebody there as she went inside. Actually, there were two somebodies, but she had to assume one of them was the owner and they didn’t count. It was probably the woman, seeing as she was standing behind the counter. Naomi would look around, seeing what this place was exactly. Were these things… trinkets?  Actually, Naomi had a shelf full of weird stuff back home, but it wasn’t this kind of weird stuff. This stuff was too coherent, too organized, there was too much of a theme… That was it! These were souvenirs for the island. That’s why they all looked too similar. That realization gave her a great idea, however. She could make an entire edible Azores and decorate it with some of the souvenirs this shop had. The next question was something else entirely. She went up to the lady at the counter, “Do you have the nomible kind of souvenirs? Something that makes you go nummy, maybe?” Actually she could probably get away with more than that, “How about something has the Daww effect? But it has to be small.” She wasn’t exactly sure what she was looking for, but she’d know it when she saw it. She would have a serious look on her face the entire time, unaware she had probably chosen the most difficult words to understand. Once the ides was in her mind though, there was no turning back. She would do it if it killed her... Okay, not really, but close enough.
 

Spoiler:

'Eh?' Well, maybe Sharaku was thinking too soon that there were no other people. Almost right after him, a younger female skipped in. For a little while he would simply watch as she ran towards the counter, asking the supposed owner funny sounding questions. Since when were nommible and daww actual words? Oh well, whichever. The woman behind the counter seemed to handle the behaviour well, nevermind that strange sounding welcome. Imagining being tossed into a volcano wasn't something he'd prefer to spend time doing. Thankfully, he was dragged out of all those weird thoughts when the woman spoke about not having many visitors. Not exactly in a nice way though...



...Did she actually think he and the girl were here together? True, they came in at almost the same time, but hey, they didn't even look anything alike, that he was sure of. 'Ahem...' Besides the first part was ridiculous. He wasn't even old enough to have a kid like that. Not that he knew how old the girl was, but surely not that young even if she spoke in a childish manner. 'Not sure whether this is funny or not...' There was a first for everything apparently.

Walking over to the counter himself, he would look between the woman and the girl a few times, before speaking up. ''Well, to answer your question, Miss...No, we're not here together. Just a matter of coincidence, I'd say.'' While Sharaku had nothing against hanging out with youngsters, he decided it would be better to clarify before this got awkward...and perhaps actually take a look at the things sold here afterwards...

Naomi would tilt her head a little when the woman didn’t seem to know what she meant. She knew she wasn’t the best with words, but the woman didn’t even seem to have a clue where to find something in her own shop. She would look to the side and mumble, “I meant food. Something sweet would be nice. Or something that’s cute. That could work too.” She was ready to back away when the women asked if she and the other guest were here together. She looked around the store to see a man standing near the counter with her. Had he always been there? She had been too distracted to notice him before. They… didn’t really look alike. She let a laugh leave her lips. It was something she actually found funny, “He’s right. We don’t even know each other’s name.” That made her think. She looked at him with a smile on her face, “My name is Naomi, by the way.” She hoped they would also give their names, but they may think it was weird. She would twirl around so she could see the rest of the shop. It all looked so new and pretty, but there weren’t many people here. She would look back at the woman, “How long have you been here? It doesn’t seem like anyone is visiting.” It wasn’t like the shop was in an inconvenient place. She just found it weird that a souvenir shop of all places wasn’t busy, “Mister, don’t you think there should be more people?” She doubted he would have an answer, but she asked anyway. It was like a mystery, and she wanted to solve it. 'The Case of the Missing Clients'. That seemed like a good name for it.