Ishi is a former dance teacher who gave up his job to pursue his obsession with precious gems. He purchases them whenever he finds a cheap specimen, polishes it in his apartment, and displays it around his home. He's a hopeless romantic, and is often found watching chickflicks (he cries every time). He loves Chicken nuggets, but they are a rare treat. When he's nervous or upset, he has a bad habit of listing gem names to calm himself.
Username: seedcakes
Partner: ✿ Raven ✿
Which Kalon are you trying out for: Hoshi
Name: Ishi Halaru
Gender: Male
Relationship: Lovers, gif by me <3
~Meeting~
Ishi pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, peering at the pamphlet in his paws.
Yes-it's this way! His heart sped up. He wasn't at the biggest gem convention in the world just to see the small fry- oh no! Ishi aimed to see the star, the biggest diamond to be found thus far- the Star of Africa. He began to wring his paws together in excitement. Ishi pawed at a passerby's shoulder- "Ah, excuse me, is this the right way to the Star of Africa exhibit?" The other kalon grumbled a 'yes' and Ishi bounced off. And there it was! The beauty that he had been waiting his entire life to see! His eyes widened. It was bigger than he had imagined. Not to mention the hoards of guards surrounding it. Ishi edged closer, drawn in by the gem. However, something blocked his path.
Another kalon! His mind registered it just as he ran into her.
"I'm sorry!" Ishi yelped, leaping back.
The other kalon growled, fixing him with a rude stare.
"Use those glasses and watch where you're going!" Ishi nodded, his eyes round in sincere apology and... something else. This other kalon.. she was strangely beautiful. Like a polished bit of jade or onyx.
"I'm- I'm Ishi," he stuck out his front paw for her to shake.
She scowled at it.
"I don't care." Ishi's heart dropped. She turned to leave, but something made Ishi call her back.
"Wait! Ah, uh. What's your name?" The dark female didn't skip a beat.
"None of your concern." She paused a moment.
"Tora." Tora again turned to leave, but Ishi's call again made her return.
"Ah- uh! Tora! Tora, tora, toratoratora... Tanzanite, Opal, Rhodochrosite, Amber!" Ishi wringed his paws again. Surely if she was at a gem convention, she would be interested in gems? He raised an eyebrow.
Tora paused for a moment, then let out a cackle.
"You're a strange kalon, Ishi! Never had someone make my name into gemstones before. Kinda weird." Ishi chuckled nervously. At least he had gotten her attention.
"So, ah.. have you seen the Star of Africa yet?" He realized it was a stupid question; they were standing right next to it, of course she had seen it! Ishi mentally slapped himself. But... was that a smile tugging at her lips?
Tora nodded.
"Yes, I've seen it twice before. Quite a beauty, that one." Twice?! Ishi felt like he was way out of his league; he had never been to a large gem convention like this, and mainly dealt with the lesser known gems.
"Twice? Ah, wow! I- ... I don't really get out much. Do you.. do you think you could show me around?" Tora shrugged.
"Why not?"The two had been meeting for a few months now, and Ishi was much more comfortable around the sometimes-prickly Tora. Ishi smiled at her as they sat at his kitchen table, talking over the stones in his collection.
"This bit of jade has a vein of stone through the middle. I've only seen it in small amounts, but this one is pretty big!" Tora observed, turning the green and grey gemstone in her paws.
"Found it at a garage sale, can you believe it? Said they got it as a souvenir while on vacation- they only wanted $3 for it!" Ishi explained proudly. The jade was one of his favorite stories- it was actually the first gemstone that he bought for himself.
Tora handed it back to him.
"Three bucks? Pfft, you could have spent that on chicken nuggets!" The female laughed. At this point, she knew Ishi well enough to know that he couldn't get enough of the things. However, he only bought them for special occasions.
Ishi stared at his paws, suddenly going silent in thought.
"Tora, do you know how to dance?" He asked suddenly. Tora blinked, shaking her head. A grin cracked on Ishi's face.
"Want me to teach you?""No, take a step back there, silly! There you go, just follow me. You're doing very well! Yes, good job!" Ishi instructed Tora. The two kalons moved across the living room, where the table had been pushed aside to make room for a dancing floor. Ishi had been a dance instructor before he quit to pursue his gem obsession, and was quite good at it. Tora... well, Tora was working on it.
Tora snickered.
"And what if I do this?" She stepped on Ishi's toes, a smirk on her face. Ishi dramatically fell backwards.
"Oh no! My dance partner has stepped on my feet! It's fatal, I'm going to die! Remember me..!" He threw his paw onto his forehead, flopping onto the ground and closing his eyes. Moments later, a thump next to him signaled that Tora had joined him on the ground. Ishi laughed, opening his eyes slightly. His eyes glanced over his watch, and he jumped at the time.
"Ack! It's getting late! Uhh.. should we go out?" He bit his tongue, hurriedly adding.
"To eat. Out to eat. Because by the time something's cooked it would be too late." Stupid, stupid, stupid!Tora opened her eyes as well, laughing at Ishi.
"Eat? Where?""Uh...." Ishi looked around, trying to think of a place.
"Chicken nuggets? I have $3?" He gave a lopsided grin.
"Ok. Chicken nuggets it is!" Tora grinned.
Ishi fist pumped the air.
"Whoo! Chicken nuggets! Let's go get us some chicken nuggets!" He dashed out the door, snatching his coat on the way out. Tora laughed again, racing after him.
~Childhood~
Ishi grew up in a fragmented household. His mother was rarely home, usually off at 'work.' His father was always angry, and didn't make any attempts to connect with his son. It seemed to Ishi that whenever his parents were home together, they were either fighting with each other, or refusing to talk. One day, his mother took all her things out of the house and left. The light of his days was when his dad would hire a babysitter for him. It was always the same babysitter, and she was the nicest kalon Ishi had even met. If Ishi behaved himself (he always did), she would take him out to the local fast food restaurant and buy him a small nugget meal. Sadly, the babysitter could not stay forever, and when Ishi turned 12 his father stopped hiring her. He no longer could look forward to the days he spent with his nice babysitter. Ishi began to feel hopeless about his life, until he stumbled upon an old radio at a thrift shop. He bought it and began to listen to the different stations. The music brought meaning back to his life. As most children do, Ishi would spin and twirl to the tunes. However, it had a special meaning to him; even broken things can be fixed. Music became his life, his everything. He checked out books from the library and taught himself to dance: tangos, foxtrots, cancans, ballet. You name it, Ishi has tried. And he loved it. He managed to get a small scholarship to a school of dance, and earned his masters while attending. After graduation, Ishi went to his old house, took all his stuff and left, just like his mother. He rented a small apartment in the city, and got a job at a dance school. He loved his job, and spent as much time as he could at the studio. One of his coworkers brought in a small moonstone broach, and that started Ishi's gemstone fascination. He began to scour garage sales and thrift stores to purchase his own gems, and eventually he stumbled across a bit of jade at a garage sale. And that started his collection. Saving up funds, Ishi bought himself a stone polisher for his raw gemstones. He displays them proudly around his apartment.
Tora was the first kalon that Ishi felt truly connected to- besides his childhood babysitter, who he still hasn't been able to find. She brought new joy into his life that he already though was perfect. She made it even more so.
