Purely Muggle Blood

Screeching to a halt, Avis practically dove over a dark, matted form crumpled on the grass in front of her. Pinwheeling her arms to avoid toppling forward, she shifted onto the balls of her feet, regaining her balance then spinning around and crouching to turn the thing over. Large, wide eyes blinked back at her, and Avis gasped, jerking her hand away from the owl, and unless people in Japan often used owls to send letters, likely a wizarding one. A letter hung, ragged and attached to her leg, which seemed to have gotten caught on some sort of vine, wrapping around both the letter and the leg. Cooing to the frantic owl, Avis softly pressed down her leg, unwinding the vines from around and pulling the ripped letter out, tucking it into her satchel. Tossing the vine aside with disgust, she closed her eyes and slid her arms under the owl, pulling it up and tucking it to her chest to hopefully bear some of the load. Man, she was heavy. She began walking as slowly as possible to not disturb the leg, heading toward the minshuku her family was staying at on their trip to Japan.

Avis and her family were visiting Aunt Aina, who had recently moved to Japan in order to chase some oddball dream about likely marked cards. Avis wasn't entirely sure, but she was pretty sure it wasn't legal. Either way, it certainly had a while to go before it would be profitable, based on the size of Aina's apartment. It could barely fit on air mattress, much less four. Hence the minshuku, but that was alright because the food made by inkeeper was significantly better than anything her Aunt had ever failed to make. Avis had a sneaking suspicion that couple who ran the minshuku were wizards, simply based on the vast amount of noises coming from the kitchen that stopped suspiciously quickly anytime anyone came near and the sheer about of food that made its way out every day.

As she burst through the kitchen door, the noises very quickly halted, and Avis thought she saw a glimpse of a pot settling down in the sink, but ignored it in favor of the owl. I found an owl, she rushed, tipping the poor girl onto the open island, She was in the field and I almost tripped and I think she's injured." The innkeeper, recovering from her shock of having a young child burst into the kitchen, quickly recovered, stepping up to examine the owl. Her eyes narrowed at the marks on the leg from vine rubbing the letter tube, but Avis just looked at her innocently, and the innkeeper seemed to move past it, quickly waving Avis out of the kitchen and telling her she would manage. It seemed, thinking Avis was a muggle, she didn't want to try to explain what the owl was doing with a letter tube, which was perfectly fine with Avis. Going back around to the front, she slipped her shoes off before heading to her family's room. Flopping down onto the floor and leaning against a wall, she yanked the letter out of her bag, brushing the wet dirt and specks of grass off it and hesitating only a moment before sliding her finger under the (incredibly fancy) wax seal. She shut her eyes as she snapped it, as if that would lessen the damage, and only opened them once she had pulled the card out. It was thick and smooth, likely the fanciest paper Avis had ever touched. Her eyes scanned the page, looking for a name of who to return the letter to, but frowned at the smudged ink, obscuring bits of the letter and all of the recipients name.
For ________
Summer gathering of pureblood_________ wizard_____njoy some snacks and refreshme____ in the Fukui manor.

Kenjiro Sumeragi and Akiko Sumeragi
With a tilt of her head and a slight pursing of her lips, Avis' gaze snapped to her suitcase. She had a gown, yes. When a girl's satchel and suitcase were both the size of a trunk on the inside, of course she was going to bring her entire wardrobe (and to be honest, she hadn't ever unpacked it from school last year) Why would she, though, after all, it was basically a closet in itself!

She had a dress, she had a magical barrette thing, and she had an invitation. What other chance would Avis have to go to a pureblood ball? She had to go.

It wasn't difficult to convince her parents, all she had to do was show them the invitation and pretend it was her name that was smudged. They had no reason not to believe her, how else could she have gotten an invitation?

As dusk approached, Avis slipped on her gown - the same one she had worn to both Hogwarts balls she had gone to. It wasn't a ballgown, closer to an elegant formal wear. It had a black bodice, with dark teal lace that crawled down her arms, and a matching flowing satin skirt with a black lace veil layered over that hung down to her ankles. It was pretty, but not expensive. Alaina was excited to do her hair, though she became decidedly less so once she realized it was only a matter of slipping a barrette in-between Avis' brown locks. Her hair piled itself into a long braid, into which Avis slipped her wand down into.

Her mum drove her near the address, which drove a smirk onto Avis' face. She was likely the only person to arrive to a pureblood function by car. As they neared the estate, her mum paused the car just before the bend in the road to let Avis out - she certaintly didnt want to pull up quite so...muggle, nor did she want to car to break down near the door.

There was a finely dressed man at the gate who furrowed his eyebrows as Avis walked up, but she held her nose up in the most indignant way she possibly could and handed him her invitation, trying to draw herself up taller. The invitation, with her name having been elegantly scrawled on it by Aina, seemed to pass minor inspection, and Avis made her way up the walkway and into the foyer.

Oh the foyer.

It was like a modern version of Hogwarts, it really was. Where Hogwarts was all stone and heavy castle, this house was ornate staircases and practically breathed  extravagance. Resisting the urge to bolt up the stairs and explore, Avis drew a neutral face and walked toward the low murmer of voices, folding her hands primly in a way that she felt was awfully stuck up.

She slipped through a large arched way into a room filled with people. They exerted pure eliteness, and Avis had a feeling if they met in Diagon Alley she would be less than a piece of gum, to be smashed underfoot if it wasn't possible to avoid. An older lady who seemed to be fighting grey hairs tilted her head at Avis, her lips pinched, and Avis narrowed her eyes, wrinkling her nose as if she were clearly better than the lady, even though she was a good foot shorter.

It worked, though, as the lady turned away with a offended huff. She had no time to bother with the childish scum who was probably the brat of some cousins cousin, and instead turned back to her conversation.

Picking her was through the people, Avis found her way to a table filled with hors d'oeurves, picking up on odd looking thing, popping it into her mouth and chewing slowly, trying to decipher the flavors.

@Kaito Shinozaki

Avis Marlong | ”She won't cry or beg for help...she'll isolate from the world and fight her own demons so that nobody can throw it in her face later.”
"The odds of hitting your target increase dramatically when you aim at it." Benji Marecos

Purely Muggle Blood
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Image posted by the member
07/23/26
@Avis Marlong
𝖔𝖚𝖙𝖋𝖎𝖙: black suit finished with a dark red tie and baggy charcoal dress pants
𝖔𝖔𝖈 𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖊𝖘: english | japanese
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𝕴t was evenings like these that Kaito hated the most: the smell of liquor, screams from his aunt and uncle, and the screeches of his cousins shouting for help with their hair, their suits, and their dresses. There was still an hour until the ten distinguished families would arrive dressed in their most formal attire. It wasn’t a wedding; it was just a brunch. Yet, the attire was stiff and formal, the kind only the most elite of purebloods would wear.
If Kaito could get out of these miserable brunches, he would. But no matter how much he begged his aunt and uncle and tried to convince them that he was busy, they claimed he was required to attend. He was the pureblood heir, after all. Not that they liked it. They took every opportunity to try and steal his fortune and life away. Thankfully, he had become smarter over the days. He’d stopped begging. There was no use.
Kaito wore a black suit finished with a dark red tie and baggy charcoal dress pants. He carefully set the table up, the placards adorned with names finished in silver, the fanciest plates he could find, and silverware to match.
“NO! USE THE RED NAPKINS IN THE BASEMENT!” his aunt barked out. “Take it all off! We need a red tablecloth, too!!”
He sighed. His aunt was particular with the way she wanted the table, and it changed every week. And every week, it was blamed on him. He stopped caring now and just took the blame.
Kaito headed down the winding staircase to the basement. He hated the basement. Covered head to toe in dark brown wood and red velvet, it felt like he was in a vampire's coven. He was. It reeked of blood and leather. Quickly, he grabbed the tablecloth, smoothing out the creases and the napkins, before running upstairs. It didn’t take him long to finish setting up the table, or to set up the Ōdoburu appetizers. There were all sorts of delicacies: Karaage, Chawanmushi, Ankimo, Temari Sushi, mini sandwiches, and fruit. Of course, there was also every type of liquor one could imagine. None of which seemed quite appetizing to Kaito.
“Kaito, help your cousins with their ties!” his uncle exclaimed.
Fixing up his cousin's hair, Kaito turned his attention to the tie, knotted tightly into a ball. You would think after almost a hundred of these brunches they would know how to tie it, but no.
“OW!” Lee exclaimed, swatting his hand away. “TOO TIGHT! Mom! Kaito is trying to choke me!”
“God, Kaito, can you not do anything?”
his aunt exclaimed, pushing him away. “Learn to tie a tie properly, please!”
Shaking his head, he turned around.
“Don’t walk away!” his aunt yelled. “Do it again!”
He closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he turned around and did it again.
“That’s too loose!!!” Lee exclaimed. “I want it tighter! I don’t want to look like a fool and have it fall off my head!!”
This time his aunt was out of earshot, so Kaito whispered, “Absolutely not, over my dead body,” and walked away.
He was going to regret saying that later, but he could not stand his devilish cousins. He only had to wait a few more minutes before guests would begin to trickle into the house and occupy them. They wouldn’t be able to bother him then. So while he hated the stuffy brunches, in some form or manner, they presented a break.
The first guests were the distinguished Lady and Lord Yamasaki and their two young sons, neither of whom were close to Kaito’s age, being only five and seven years old. But both were just as stuck up as his own cousins. He greeted them with a nod and a slight bow, showing them the Ōdoburu and guiding them to the living room where the cocktails would be served. He repeated this over and over again until nine of the guests had arrived. The tenth seemed to be late. Or maybe they had snuck in without him noticing.
Not wanting to hang out with the drunk adults or babysit the stuck-up kids, he headed to the table to refresh the Ōdoburu when he noticed a girl standing nearby, munching on some food and looking quite alone. She looked to be his age, but she didn’t quite look like she belonged. She carried herself in a regal manner, wearing a fitted black bodice with teal-colored lace sleeves and a satin skirt. But there were things that made it obvious she was different. She wasn’t wearing a designer dress, not that he recognized many, but it lacked that same style every other woman here was wearing. Her hair wasn’t in some fancy updo; it was down in braids, nice braids, for that matter, but it wasn't the same. And finally, Kaito didn’t recognize her. Kaito knew most people's names and faces by heart, especially since this same brunch had been repeated many times over. She wasn’t supposed to be here.
But maybe she was new, that was what Kaito told himself. Finding himself drawn to her, he slowly walked toward her. Attempting to gauge who she was, he asked, “Hello. I haven’t seen you around here often. My name is Kaito Shinozaki. Have we been introduced?”
He tried to keep the formalities and sound as dry as possible in case she was just another random, stuck-up relative.
He met her deep brown eyes and quickly looked away, catching sight of the locks of blue streaking down her hair. He almost grinned. His aunt and uncle would scream if he dyed his hair. Almost immediately, he knew his first instinct had been right: she wasn’t like the rest of them.
Most people didn’t look past the surface, but Kaito did. And maybe that was why he felt an immediate spark of curiosity toward this girl. They were both outsiders in their own way. It was rare for him to find common ground with anyone in this house, but looking at her, he thought he just might.
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𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖉 𝖈𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖙 1021/200
𝖎𝖙𝖊𝖒𝖘: wand, wallet
𝖆𝖇𝖎𝖑𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖊𝖘: sunlight sensitivity, fangs, claws, magical menace (y1), unsettling aura (y3)
𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖙𝖘: sta 9 • eva 8 • str 7 • wis 7 • arc 6 • acc 8
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PC Reyna Evergreen 💛 🖤 iNPC Kaito Shinozaki

Purely Muggle Blood
It was soon after looking around the stuffy room that Avis realized that although her long braid may look nice, it was out of place compared to the exorbitant updos displayed by the ladies. They certainly hadn't used magic barrettes to do their hair. Heck, they probably had a separate person per step. One lady to brush, one to condition, one to braid, one to pull up and pull those little tufts of hair out to make that "natural elegance" look that in Avis opinion, never really screamed either. But, she figured, what did she know about elitist trends?

"Hello. I haven't seen you around here more often. My name is Kaito Shinozaki. Have we been introduced?"

Avis jumped backward, having been so enthralled in her hair qualms that she didn't even notice the pureblood sneaking up one her. Her unidentified food slipped back down back into her throat and she held up a finger, coughing until she got the bit down.

Having lost her faked elegance, Avis decided to throw away her grandeur. Interestingly, her back straightened rather than curled, as if her own naive confidence was worth more than the pseudo confidence of arrogant brats. Similarly, her hands slipped from folded in front of her to folded behind, a more optimal position for grabbing her wand of hiding nervous fidgeting.

Arrogant brats like the one in front of her, Avis thought as she flicked her gaze up and down. Sure, the level of stuck-up arrogance wasn't nearly as high - he was talking to her, after all, but he was still at a...what even was this? Pureblood cocktail hour? Avis had met approximately zero non-stuck up purebloods, so it went to assume that this was just another name on a list to avoid. Plus that blunt, monotonous tone that she had come to associate with brats. It was as if she wasn't even worth speaking to.

Right. Speaking. She was supposed to be having a conversation. She tilted her head and grinned. "I'm Avis. An invitation crash landed next to me." She pulled it out of her pocket - yes, there were pockets in the dress, a priority - and smoothed it out of her leg, using her thumb to smooth out the front and smear the ink with her name on it, then turning it around to show the pureblood and giving him a shrug. "You?"

@Kaito Shinozaki

Avis Marlong | ”She won't cry or beg for help...she'll isolate from the world and fight her own demons so that nobody can throw it in her face later.”
"The odds of hitting your target increase dramatically when you aim at it." Benji Marecos