<!Thread Entered as NPC Uzumoreru Toushin!>
Cancer tried, but Toushin was never bested by the same thing twice.
Recovery was going swell. The hair he had lost from treatment was growing back fast. Thicker than ever, and a deep raven black that made the older man smirk every time he caught his reflection. He had never known a shade to his hair other than white, unless he was transformed into the shape of another. The darker tones took well to his golden eyes- well,
eye. The chakra cancer had manage to take one thing away from the old assassin, and that was his left eye.
It was a handicap benefiting a veteran such as himself.
His stamina was coming back into swing with far more effort, but the hard-earned body he had shaped for combat had not receded in the slightest. You’d be hard pressed to believe the older gent was in remission heading towards fully cured. Tama’s last gift to the assassin had worked like a charm, and the medical staff had been entirely prepped for the moment, allegedly, for
years. Toushin was assured that this was the last he would ever see or hear of the cancer, ever again. He felt amazing.
In his private home, tucked away deep in the Red Light district, Toushin enjoyed a fresh black cup of coffee as he began to move through his morning routine; but something felt…off. He took a sip of brew, and stopped. Then, a longer,
slower, sip. Eye narrowing, he moved to dump the coffee out and looked into the cup. It had been freshly broken, and reenamled with a message written into the bottom of the cup naming a local bar; and the Toraono symbol.
Ryota. How, by all the good grace of the kami, youkai, and the filth inbetween, that boy managed to
even find him, but break in. Steal his favorite coffee mug.
Break it, remake it, and leave a message that would have slipped by entirely until his last sip. The only reason Uzu noticed it was the bottom of the cup had been lifted slightly to put in the new words. Meaning his coffee had been just a few centimeters higher in his cup than normal.
…and he wasn’t mad at all. In fact, Toushin began to chuckle with mirth until it broke out into a full laughter. He put his new favorite prank into the kitchen sink, then moved to get dressed to see the fool of a boy. He knew the location, but never hurt to do some reconnaissance before the meeting. The old killer needed to get out of his home for a little bit and socialize. Doc said it’d be good for the immune system or, something. Maybe he was making that up. Really, he was just bored.
When Ryota’s old boss came in, he walked in with a simple white button-down shirt with rolled sleeves, navy blue slacks with office-class shoes; something you’d never see him wear. A pair of suspenders held up his pants to facilitate the small bit of weight loss. A simple black eyepatch covered his left eye, and the right soon caught the boy in his favorite spot of a bar. Like a shadow, he was gone. Someone passed in front of Uzu, and in their wake all that remained was air. He appeared once more, suddenly and without movement nor sound, across from Ryota with a whiskey sour in his right hand.
“
Evening, boy. You’re looking well, keeping up with training?”
Cancer or not, Uzumoreru Toushin’s presence was like sitting across from a hungry tiger. He exuded a deadly aura without lifting a finger, but his face only showed genuine concern. He had a light smile that pushed at the wrinkles in the corner of his right eye.
“
I loved your newest trick there. I’ve yet to know anyone as quiet, or as fast, as you can be. I’m sure its done well in the defense of our village. I noticed we’re not caved in, and I’m sure no doubt in largely part to you. I salute.” Uzu lifted his drink and sipped it, the golden eye never closing or moving off of Ryota.
