Body Language - [ Private / Karurosu ]

[Haruka]

Was it such a bad thing to not recognize a name? The man who sat before Karurosu did not believe so, after all. He thought a man was measured not by what family name he held, but his individual achievements that relied on his own strengths rather than the strengths of any other. That being said, he had been a man who strove to climb the tallest mountain or drop down to the lowest point of the earth to find something of worth that he could use in his misadventures here on Earth. Now, would he find glory in that? He hoped not. After all, he aspired to find more gore than glory. Though they did seem to go hand in hand seamlessly. Leaning on one hand as he watched her with his turquoise eyes, he would give a bit of a hum now. What to do for the young now-woman before him? He thought that anonymity was the best thing that could happen for her at this point, lest he-she-it be deemed some sort of freak.

"I'd like to call you Kari, the name Karu is too masculine. And it's just a very slight change, one vowel to another." He would state with an unconscious nod of his head. "And unfortunately, your body is a fair flower, yet strong. Very feminine." He would reach forward, attempting to take a hold of one long red strand, feeling the soft texture between his thumb and index finger. "I insist on keeping you safe while you build up your strength. I'll be your protector, and I will not let anyone bring you any kind of harm. That much I can promise as a Medical Chief of this village." No one would be able to break the wall that he was anyways. Hrm. . .

 

[Kari]

He couldn't go by the name 'Karu?' The notion made perfect sense, but losing that one vowel changed everything. It upset him, to be sure; it was having to give up his identity, along with his body. It gave him anonymity, though. Despite everything, that's what he wanted when he came to this country. Its what he finally got, though not in any manner remotely close to how he might have imagined obtaining it. He couldn't deny it, either. He couldn't argue now; he had to accept it, even begrudgingly. "Kari works." He submitted to the name. She gave into the pronoun, it would take so much time and effort to grow into the identity, but she would do what she could, working with Kazuhiko.

A feminine body; what possessed the doctor to decide on that on replacing her old? It, obviously, was not befitting for someone such as who she was before. No comment could be offered on it, it was an obvious fact of the body -- an aspect that wouldn't be changed. It was who she was now. Then the offer of protection, it was slightly surprising. A place to stay, someone to work with for now, it was what she needed; if she were thrown into the streets now, she'd be nothing more than a slightly animated doll. Someone's plaything -- or worse -- in a matter of hours. "Thanks." She couldn't give anything more genuine than that, not now at least. Perhaps after the training she might. "Family name?" Well, that could be taken multiple ways: what was his? Which should she go by? Should she deny being an Isaki? Should she go by none?

There were more questions to be had with this identity. Her mind was in tatters right now: she needed his help.

 

[Haruka]

A family name? Well, that never necessarily crossed his mind, now did it? Ah, well, it seemed like it was for the best for him to create something along those lines too, right? Too bad he had no need for remembering the previous incarnation of Kari's family name. . . Now he would have to mull it over in his brain, but there was very clearly an easy solution to this situation. "Of course," he would comment after a moment, reaching up and adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose now. He would look her over after dropping the strand of hair from his fingers. He had to be careful, what did the future hold for the shinobi before him? Could he put himself out on a limb for the human puppet? He believed so, as he could already feel the sense of trust oozing from every part of the now feminine form. . . "You'll be of the Akiyama clan." He would state, "You can parade around as a sister, cousin. . . Whatever you feel works." He would comment, tilting his head off to the side.

"And I daresay that it will not let anyone bring you any harm, as the Akiyama clan have been nothing but great people to this village." He would smile now, and it appeared oh so genuine. Though, he knew that he himself brought harm to the village in one way or another. . . It didn't matter though. He would continue on with what he did. "I told you that I'd keep you safe, and I fully intend on it. I'll write up a falsified file for you and place it in the records. I think that we will have to get you into the Academy so that you can learn to hone your prowess all over again. It's not easy being stuck in a foreign body. I hope that the Academy will make it easier."

 

[Kari]

"Akiyama..." the girl murmured the name, as though to get a taste of it, to see if it fit. It was unfamiliar, some stranger forcing her into his home, his family. It still all felt surreal, this new body and its lack of feeling, this new identity and the death of the previous. She could accept the new name so easily, the panic from the earlier nightmare subsided. She could agree to allow Kazuhiko help her, despite the stranger he was. "Akiyama Kari," she spoke again after a moment, her eyes looking up towards the doctor. The man who caused the change, the man who saved her life. "...is fine."

It was a great clan, sure. Though not contemptful towards it, Kari, as she was newly dubbed, couldn't admit towards feeling pride towards the family. His family. Like with every other aspect of this new life that was thrown at her, she felt estranged from it. Estranged by it. She couldn't not be grateful, though; Kazuhiku was offering so much, despite her being a complete stranger to him. An identity, more than just what she could make for herself. That's what he offered. A career, a means to start her new life and a place for it as well. That's what he offered. How could anyone turn that down in this sorry state? "Thank you..." she was saying that a lot lately, wasn't she?

She didn't speak for a moment and her watching Kazuhiku was quickly replaced with a downcast stare. "What now?"

 

[Haruka]

Of course, it was going to be like a violation. It was someone forcing their way into another's life with absolutely no regret what-so-ever. Even though he could appear as though he were calm and collected, a worried and kind man-- there was still that monster that crept along in the background of his mind. He was a monster, through and through. Would there be a stop to that? He was not sure. He did not see the ending coming near at any point in the future, but rather the urges would grow stronger and much more frequent. So rather than once a month, what would it turn into? What could he get away with with his brand new tag-along? He was going to have to, obviously, push it a bit. "Akiyama Kari, then." He would murmur in agreement with the puppet before him. Now, she could communicate in some fashion or form, now what did he have her do? Pushing himself up to his fullest height, he would extend his hands outwards to the young female.

"You're welcome," he would murmur, "Now, take my hand. We need to get you walking and talking properly so that you will fit in with a crowd." Sure, people needed to be individual, but if she were caught out of turn, there would be consequences. What? He was not sure, but if you acted like a human, there was no chance of that. So thus, she would lead a similar life to his own. "It certainly is a lot, isn't it?"<i></i>

 

[Kari]

"Akiyama Kari then..." she let the words settle in. A new name, her name. It was a new life, established with Kazuhiko here in Maruishi; she'd become an Academy Student and work her way back into a new life. She had to will herself to let go of past life baggage; she wanted to disappear and just start over. Here in Maruishi she could. Here in Maruishi she would.

Kazuhiko offered his hand. She willed herself to reach towards it. "Not tr...aining here?" She was splitting her concentrating: bodily movement and talking together; it was difficult. Oh so difficult. Her arm, as slowly as it was already moving, dropped to her leg like some limp dead limb. She had to will herself to lift it again. She pushed with her other arm when she finally delivered her one hand into Kazuhiko's; she couldn't bring herself to stand. Baby steps, this was going to take some time.

"Yes..." she answered, "can't...even walk yet." It was a joke she tried to make, but it was true too. She needed some help getting around for the moment; it was enough for her to be able to barely more her arms and talk in short strings.

 

[Haruka]

A new life was the only one for Kari unfortunately. The only way that the now female would be able to function properly here in the village since she had become his victim, and one that he found could handle the body that he had given her. So be it if he was considered some kind of puppet master. . . He would build it up with flesh and bone snatched from only the finest of candidates and a mind plucked from someone that seemed to weak to resist those advances he brought upon them. "Yes, I understand you cannot walk yet. We are training here, no worries. It will take some time." Baby steps indeed. It was like a brand new retraining for the young woman in front of him. Not to mention there had to be some form of mental conditioning as well. If not properly maintained and helped, she would experience some pretty intense terrors. . . and if she chose to sleep, that would not help either. Though he was not sure why she would choose to-- perhaps to blend in maybe, but that was it. As the hand lifted and was placed in his, he would look down at it then back towards the puppet now. Placing his thumb over the back of her hand, he would then offer the other.

"Slowly now. Just work yourself up for it. There's no rush and we have enough time to do this. Now, he would smile, waiting for her other hand to be placed into his. "And remember, I'm here to catch you if you fall."

 

[Kari]

"Okay," she responded as she understood. Kazuhiko wanted to push this rehabilitation; he wanted her to walk already, no more than a half hour after she actually woke up. The Akiyama was proving himself to be a rather tough doctor, setting unreasonably high goals like that. Kari found herself contented with the fact that she even could speak and work with the most basic of movements; she hadn't any notion of exhaustion any longer, had she, however, there wasn't any doubt she'd be on the verge of collapse.


With one hand already on Kazu, she pushed as strong as she could, concentrating charka onto the arms as she had with any other movement; rather than lifting up, or moving through the open air, she was pushing against something that was resisting; she had to do so with enough force to lift up this body, however heavy it was. She was moving up, slowly; now she had to focus on balance; she was doing it, slowly moving and stopping. She was finally getting the hang of it! Her attention turned from the floor as she tried to raise her head to see Kazu.

And that's when it all fell apart. Proving true to the lack of usable muscles underneath her skin, she collapsed much like a dropped doll, not stopped by anything. Her body hit with a soft thud, her head and arms bouncing back up a few centimeters before falling again finally. "Uhh..." she held out the "uh" for a few moments. Out of frustration, out of being incapable of doing anything.

It was back to step one.

WC: 272​

 

[Haruka]

There was no unreasonable expectation here from him. They were both shinobi and that was not something to get twisted. She would've gotten eaten alive if he were not to help her to begin with, so it should've been no muss no fuss here. Now then, he could feel the force of the chakra when she would make her attempt. Good, so she was not going to brush him off. That much he already knew, though, because she was going to be dependent upon him for a good while. And that meant that he didn't need to get anywhere near forceful towards her. . . Perfect. After all, he was running on fumes and probably a few spoonfuls of preserves here. Then, she would shakily stand for just a brief moment and then suddenly, she would come crashing down. However, the puppet would not make contact with the cold floor, but rather she would be pulled up by one of his arms and stabilized once more, and his arm would hook around her waist. "Good, that's fine." He would state soothingly, looking down at her.

"I would've been surprised if you could manage so soon on. I guess I'm a little bit hasty in trying to see what we can do to help you," he would state towards her, tilting his head. "Are you okay to try again?" He would ask, lowering her back down to sit in the chair.

 

[Kari]

Suspended midfall, she laid there; she hadn't the control to move so reflexively. It was like some limp corpse in Kazuhiko's arms, Kari's body was. She stared at him, completely unable to move, completely unable to react. It was like learning to walk again, though now having the social awareness to be humiliatingly embarrassed by each failure; sure, it was to be expected, given that she actually was learning to walk again, but failing so close to being able to advance in this recovery was crippling.

She had anticipated the floor, hitting it but not feeling it like she felt nothing else. This recovery was beyond hopeless as hard as it was being pushed. Shinobi or not, recuperation could only be pushed so hard. She wasn't going to give up, not yet, but she did believe Kazuhiko could slow down on the pushes. Substantial, or what seemed it, progress had been made with the facts that she was actually alive and capable of basic movements and speech, was it not?

The next obvious step would be actually moving. To do that, she'd have to get up, get out of the doctor's arms. She reached for the chair with both hands, not giving Kazuhiko a verbal answer. She pushed like she had before; she shouldn't focus on anything else, just pushing. Just balancing. Just standing. She was doing it, she stayed there for a moment, facing the chair, both arms extended on pushing on the chair's arms. She brought her arms up: balance now. She was facing away from Kazuhiko, her head facing down; Kari wasn't worried about working to keep it up. She was standing, just as Kazuhiko had wanted her. It was hard, she could stay there, motionless, though.

"What now?" the voice came softly. Walking, she assumed. Would she be able to?

 

[Kari]

[Well, uh yeah...topic left.]