More than one friend.(Private)

[Toraono Suzuhime]

"Well Harumi... here it is."

Shujinko opened the door to her small home. It was more like a shack/hut really. It was small and had very few outlets, the signs of Shujinko's more poverty typed living. She wasn't rich, but they had enough money to get by. It was a happy little living. It wasn't all impressive, there was a living room, a bathroom in which they all shared. Her parent's bedroom, and Shujinko's small room which consisted of a desk, vanity, and bed. Her parent's Hadamashi and Otoko weren't home at the time, but she found no harm in bringing Harumi over to hang out. She and Harumi had begun spending more time together ever since their mission, and with Harumi's more submissive personality, the two got along perfectly. She almost thought of their relationship as that of sisters. Shujinko would kick off her loafers to reveal small and petite feet, meant for precision in her steps.

"And that's the backyard where I train with my parents."

She pointed to a large open area behind the house with large field, full of training dummies and a few obstacles. And finally a small arena. Nothing impressive.

"Make yourself at home Harumi."​

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[Harumi]

"Well Harumi... here it is." Shujinko said opening her front door.

Stepping in after Shujinko, Harumi noticed the house Shujinko revealed was small, but cozy. She trailed her toward what Harumi assumed was Shujinko's room, when they stepped in Shujinko kicked her shoes off, inspected her room in one second and kept walking. Harumi took a moment and looked around, the room matched the rest of the house, simple and compact. There was only a bed, desk and a vanity; Harumi had scene vanities before, but she'd never used one before.

"Simple, but nice. I like it." Harumi said, not audibly to anyone, but herself.

Snapping from her trance, she quickly followed suit in kicking her shoes off and went to catch up to Shujinko just as she was opening a door into a big field, a backyard it seems. Shujinko giving some commentary:

"And that's the backyard where I train with my parents." She explained. "Make yourself at home Harumi."

Smiling at her new found friend, Harumi replied to Shujinko's hospitality:

"I will, thank you Shujinko. Also, where are your parents? Aren't they here?" She asked.​

 

[Kiriyama Sadako]

Kyo would be leaping from rooftop to rooftop, enjoying the exhilarating feeling of being high in the air. He didn't even mind the cold wind, in fact he found it quite refreshing, his keen vision and sure steps keeping him from slipping on the slick rooftops. He was on the way to Shujinko's house, wondering if she would be free to hang out with. Nothing planned, he just really needed to get out of the house after training all morning. Spotting her house he would see her entering it with a new friend, one that he swore he had perhaps seen at the academy. Sliding down one angular roof he would leap down to the ground, doing a flip before landing on his feet. Lowering his hood he approached her door, giving it a few swift knocks. "Hey, Shujinko! It's me!" He called out, burying his hands in the pockets of his hoodie to keep them warm.

WC: 160

 

[Toraono Suzuhime]

Shujinko smiled when Harumi expressed her enjoyment of Shujinko's humble abode. Waving off her question.

"They're probably out on a date or something, don't worry about them."

She chuckled. It was then she heard the knock upon her house door. Her footsteps were light as she practically skipped over to the door. She felt elated... happy. She enjoyed having Harumi as a friend. She was very nice, and coupled with ever since she awakened to her bloodline, things have been good. She hadn't seen Kyo in a while though. But lo-and behold who was at the door knocking when Shujinko opened it.

"Oh, hey Kyo. Haven't seen you in a while!"

She said happily. Seeing he was wearing a hoodie, he must have been cold, the air was a bit frigid today.

"Come on in, i'll get the heater going."

She welcomed her long time friend inside.

"Harumi, this is my best friend Kyo, we've known each other since we were kids. Kyo, this is my friend Harumi, we met during a mission where, with her help, I managed to cut a lightning breathing dinosaur in half!"

She said it with such enthusiasm he probably wouldn't have believed her. But she was already prancing away in her socks to go turn the heater on. Her hair was a bit bouncy while she landed up and down from her giddy steps. Making sure the heater was going before she would return to her two guests.​

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[Harumi]

Harumi jumped at the sudden knock on the door. Shujinko almost skipped to the door, she was completely different than on the mission. When she opened the door, a boy was there. He wore a hoodie, looks like he's trying to beat out the weather.

"Oh, hey Kyo. Haven't seen you in a while!" Shujinko quipped happily. "Harumi, this is my best friend Kyo, we've known each other since we were kids. Kyo, this is my friend Harumi, we met during a mission where, with her help, I managed to cut a lightning breathing dinosaur in half!"

After inviting him in she went deeper into the house, most likely to turn on the heater. This brief absence of their mutual friend felt like eternity, drawing on longer, adding to the awkward atmosphere hovering about Harumi. She wasn't exactly the most social of people, but she was determined to try and make friends and she had already, in Shujinko. Then again, Shujinko did kinda' save her life, but that was all water under the bridge now, she was going to initiate conversation.

"Uh, hi, I'm Harumi, but Shujinko already told you that....umm, she pretty much said everything I could have...I like archery?" she forced out, cringing in her head at her lack of social skills, 'I like archery?' why did she phrase it as a question?

Harumi just stood there after that, waiting for Kyo to respond or Shujinko to break the awkward silence and save her, yet again.​

(OoC: Nice to finally meet you, Kyo )

 

[Kiriyama Sadako]

"Yeah, I've been busy taking care of some things for my parents." He would say as he entered Shujinko's home, slipping out of his sneakers and unzipping his hoodie, glad to be out of the cold. He would look over at Harumi, not having to wait long for her to be introduced, the boy smiling warmly towards her. "Hey there nice to meet...a dinosaur?" He would ask, blinking a few times as he looked over at Shujinko, wondering if he heard her right, although by that point she had already bounced off. Shaking his head he would look back towards Harumi, not needing the Byakugan to know how awkward she was feeling. The boy was social enough, but not quite sure how to break the ice with her, though luckily she just blurted out a topic. "Archery, huh? My mother's into that, says it help builds patience and is relaxing, but I could never really get into it. I just prefer to punch things in the face, you know?" He would say with a smile, his pale violet eyes denoting his Hyuuga heritage, a rare thing in the village apparently. "Is archery just a hobby, or is that how you do your fighting?"

 

[Toraono Suzuhime]

Shujinko had arrived to Harumi attempting to make conversation with Kyo. It was a little cute seeing Harumi so flustered. But it was good Kyo was playing nice with her so far. It was always nice to see your friends getting along. She looked a both of them with a bubbly expression. Trying to process what to say to them. Then she remembered, Kyo hadn't yet learned that Shujinko awakened to her bloodline. It wasn't nearly as visual as the Byakugan, but it was still pretty cool.

"Yeah, a dinosaur. it bit Harumi and then I sliced it in half, sssssnrt."

She made a slicing sound. It was a little unusual for Shujinko to be so bubbly, but she had just been very happy lately.

"Harumi's a really good hunter too. I watched her bullseye a target from like a mile away."

Shujinko gushed over Harumi for a moment. Suddenly grabbing both their hands and leading them out the back door. When they would get out into the backyard, they would see the rest of it as a very spacious area with aforementioned dummies. Shujinko letting go and running back into her house. Emerging with her sword Muchimonji.

"Kyo, there's something really cool I want you to see!"

Harumi had already bore witness to the Nanjirou techniques Shujinko already learned, but she still wanted to show off, pride dictated it. Shujinko would suddenly compose herself and take a deep breath. Facing a far away wooden dummy, she would crouch into her stance for a moment. In blinding speeds that the two other kids might not have seen, she slashed at the air with the force to pierce through the barrier enough to form a sharp current of chakra, the force cut barreling through the air and through the dummy. By the time they looked back as Shujinko, she already sheathed her sword. For dramatic effect, she snapped her fingers where the dummy would fall apart in half. Looking to Kyo with a giddy face. Tackling him in a hug.

"I finally awakened! Muchimonji talks to me and everything!"

She gushed. Letting go of Kyo, she would look between the two other kids.

"So, since we're all here, what do you guys wanna do?"​

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[Harumi]

Kyo responded to her stammers, saying his mother liked archery, followed by asking about her fighting style. This was a topic was one she didn't fall short on, ever. When she went to open her mouth Shujinko's beat her to the puch:

"Harumi's a really good hunter too. I watched her bullseye a target from like a mile away." Shujinko said, a mile a minute.

"Yeah, I use it to fight, and hunt mainly, haven't seen any combat outside of getting torn up by a carnsaur, the dinosaur Shujinko mentioned." Harumi said lifting her pant leg to reveal the hefty scar just above her knee. "The thing had quite a bite, as you can probably tell."

Before Harumi's pant leg had time to fall back down, she was yanked with Kyo towards the backyard. Shujinko kept talking even once they'd stopped, she moved quickly to one of the mannequins or training dummies. She told kyo how she'd 'awakened' and her sword talked to her. Then with no pause sliced the dummy in to pieces, snapping at their falling, impressive. Then she tackled Kyo, these two really did have a relationship like no other, it was kind of cute. She let go, still exuberant as ever. Strange, this was a whole new side to Shujinko that she didn't reveal on the mission. I guess working is like flipping a switch on her, Harumi followed her demonstration with a round of applause and when Shujinko asked for suggestions on what they wanted to do, Harumi was kind of at a loss for words, she'd only been in the village for a month now, she hadn't had time to go anywhere recreational.

"Ummmm, I don't know. I haven't been here very long, what is there to do? Though, I wouldn't mind showing off a bit" Harumi said with a twirl and a competitive sparkle in her eye. Harumi hadn't even gotten to show Shujinko what she could do, as for Kyo, she wanted to make a lasting first impression. Now Harumi was the one holding in a squeal of joy, seems giddy excitement was contagious.​

 

[Kiriyama Sadako]

"A mile away? Now that's impressive." He would say with a smile, letting Shujinko take her hand and lead them out the back door, surprised at how excited and bubbly she was today. It would soon become apparent why as the girl performed her demonstration, standing away from a dummy and slashing at the air with a speed he had never seen before. His jaw dropped as the dummy fell in half only moments later, the girl having used a technique that he had only heard about before. He would find himself pounced shortly after her, sharing her enthusiasm as he hugged her. "See? I told you not to worry about your bloodline! That was amazing!" He would explain as he released her, looking back at Harumi. "You want to show off, huh? Well I wouldn't mind seeing that! I'd love to see if you're as good as Shuji-chan says!"

 

[Toraono Suzuhime]

At least Harumi was feeling competitive. Which made Shujinko happy, because that helped with making things to do much easier.

"Lucky for you Harumi, we also have a bow laying around somewhere in my house. It's mine, but I never used it. When my mom tried teaching me archery. I sucked at it so I stuck with the sword."

Shujinko said only the slightest bit sullen. She didn't really need archery when she could fire off chakra slashes as fast as she could swing her sword, which was very fast.

"Actually, I could just bring my whole set of weapons and we can train with them or something. It'd be cool if you knew how to use a naginata."

Shujinko decided happily. Opting to just bring the whole armory chest, she would scurry back into her home. Digging into her home's main closet and retrieving an enormous chest. Not even able to pick it up with the amount of sharp steel within it. She had to drag it out by the handle, and was very visibly having trouble with it. It was a bit heavy for a 12 year old to be moving on her own, but she managed to move it to the door. Opening the holding chest, using all her might, she took out a large scroll. However this wasn't a summoning scroll... it was just wrapped around a large amount of weapons. She would lay the scroll out in the dirt to unroll it. Her entire arsenal of weapons displayed to the other two kids.

"Here it is."

Shujinko's weapon chest:

Spoiler

Tachi

Tanto

Wakazashi

Katana

Nodachi

Tetsubo

Yari

Nagamaki

Naginata

Hankyu

Daikyu

Kusarigama

Otsuchi Manto

Yumi

Tessen

"I know how to use all of these. Believe it or not, samurai use more than just swords."

She said somewhat smugly. Shujinko just happened to be the best with a katana at the moment. Although she wanted to use a Nodachi some day, but she was a bit to small for one at the moment. Instead of picking out a weapon from the roll of them, she instead would merely grab Muchimonji affirmatively.

"Well, if you guys wanna learn how to use any of these, except the bows, I can teach you."

She declared.

~MFT~
WC: 348​

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[Harumi]

'Wow' Harumi thought as the giant chest of weapons was opened up.

There was everything from swords to hammers, and even a hankyu, which Harumi knew how to use. Inspecting it, she slid her slim fingers down the trunk of the bow, not bad condition, but not perfect either. She was busy inspecting the craftmanship and stopped when she heard Shujinko hint at teaching her to use one of these weapons.

"You could teach me? Really, I would love that! I've always used ranged and just a knife for close quarters or mid range. Can you teach me, please?" Harumi said excitedly, this sudden burst of happiness was strange. Though she actually did want to learn how to use one of these weapons... "How about this?" Harumi said picking up a cool looking weapon.

It was a short staff looking thing, with a sword at the end...? She couldn't place it, but Harumi liked this weapon for some reason, it seemed to fit to her style of fighting, keep the enemy away, while dealing damage.

"Shujinko. I want to learn this! Can you teach me?" Harumi asked for the third time in the last 5 minutes. Her eyes were lit up with excitement. " On another note, I'm gonna show you guys what I can do with my current set of skills" She said picking up the hankyu and making for the back yard.

Once in the yard, she stood quite a distance from the dummy, took position, and started to riddle the mannequin with arrows. Each arrow hit with intense precision, burying itself deep in the wood. She'd thoroughly filled every spot on her stagnant opponent, except the head. Harumi cleared her mind, letting all her teachings and skill flow straight from her head to her hands. Drawing back the string of the bow she let an arrow fly landing in the center of the head, then followed suit with another, surprisingly splitting the arrow lengthwise, stopping at the arrow head.

"How...was....that?" Harumi said turning to the other two, completely exhausted. She hadn't realized how much effort she'd put into her demostration.

 

[Kiriyama Sadako]

Kyo would watch as Shujinko brought a chest full of weapons, cocking his head to the side as she opened it. "Can't say I have much interest in learning any other weapon, the two I know are just fine as is." He would grin as he raised his fists, giving the air two quick, lightning fast jabs. "I suppose it would be good for you two..you non-Hyuuga..." He would chuckle, raiding his hands up in defense in case Shujinko tried to retaliate in response. Harumi, if you ever want to learn some real martial arts I could probably give you a lesson or two. I tried to teach Shuji-chan but she insists the sword is mightier than the fist." Standing aside he would watch Harumi take shots at the dummy, his eyes opening wide in surprise at the speed and precision she hit with her attacks, never having seen someone that proficient with it, outside of his mother of course. Even then she had years of training, and Harumi was just around their age, so it was incredibly impressive. "Wow...I take it back, can you teach me to shoot like that? I think adding 'world class sharpshooter' would look impressive in my resume. He would say, giving the girl a clap and a nod of appreciation.

 

[Toraono Suzuhime]

At least Harumi seemed exciting when she saw Shujinko's arsenal of weapons. And she seemed impressed that Shujinko had quite some experience with all of the melee weapons. And Kyo, much to Shujinko's chagrin, completely brushed off the notion of using a weapon, believing his fists were still better. That was one part of this friendship she hated, they always tried to convince each other that one or the other was better. It pissed her off sometimes. And after watching Harumi's demonstration of marksmanship, seeing Kyo's reaction didn't help. Shujinko lived by the creed of Bushido, but sometimes Kyo just made her tear her hair out. While Shujinko certainly already knew about Harumi's awesome accuracy with a bow, it was still impressive to see her split one of her own arrows down the middle.

"Oh please Kyo. Just stick to hitting things with your hands."

She remarked snidely. Probably sounding like a bit of a bitch. Shujinko following up behind Harumi, she would ready Muchimonji. Crouching low again as she built chakra up in her sword. Unleashing the wave to the world when she would slash forward, but that was going to be the last. Her sword now visibly glowing as she slashed again and another wave would follow. One could almost feel the distortion of wind as Shujinko began unleashing multiple waves of energy that were aimed at the dummy Harumi had been shooting at. Shujinko picking up speed as she continued to slash at the dummy form a range, her arms eventually becoming nothing but a flash of mellow yellow covered fabric and gray steel as she continued her flurry of attacks. Almost as if trying to vent the frustration she had just gotten. It was the kind that could kill your good mood, so she was trying to cheer herself up. After about ten seconds of this action, Shujinko would leave her arm extended out towards the right, placing the tip of her blade against the sheathe to make sure it would go in. Missing the sheathe was an innocent mistake. And would slide the blade back into it's home. The moment it made the clicking sounds that it was safely tucked away inside of the scabbard, the dummy would fall apart into dozens of small pieces. The result of enduring Shujinko's rising anger. But she did feel a little better. Turning towards the two kids, she would bend down and pick up the Naginata, the weapon chose to receive a lesson from Shujinko with. The weapon was easily bigger than Shujinko was, so she planted it at her side so it stood up at full length.

"The difficulty with using a Naginata, is that your basically swinging around a Bo Staff plus a sword. So, in order to not hurt anyone but your opponent, your primary form of attack are short slashes and stabs. If you're against multiple opponents, you can be a bit more wild with it, swinging it full circles and the like."

She began the lesson.​

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[Harumi]

Listening as Shujinko explained how to properly use the "Naginata." Apparently you're supposed to keep it short and quick during one on one combat, but with multiple enemies, it's smarter to do broader swings and circles. This probably wouldn't be all that interesting to other people, such as Kyo, who, from what she could tell preferred unarmed fighting. Though Harumi liked it, she enjoyed being taught new things, especially weapon techniques. Watching Shujinko go through the motions, Harumi's fierce eyes watched every little detail, the way her hands moved when swinging, the arc of each swing, even the precise moment she stopped the spinning staff-sword. Then she spoke up:

"Wait, I have a quick question. If I'm fighting multiple enemies in a small space, for example underground or in a dense brush, how would the Naginata fare? or should I use it in that situation at all?" She asked eyes sparkling with curiosity.​

 

[Kiriyama Sadako]

"I...uh...will. That's always been part of the plan, really." He would say as he raised an eyebrow, not thinking much of her insult...if it really was one. His hands would rest on his hips as he watched Shujinko attack the dummy with rapid fire, cutting it so fine that it managed to hold together through her barrage, only falling apart once she had finished and sheathed her blade. It was impressive as usual, the girl's skill with the sword improving at a very quick rate."You keep that up and you're gonna run out of training dummies!" He would chuckle, watching Shujinko move over to pick up a naginata and begin to explain it's use. He would raise his hands, shaking his head as he grinned. "Wait, are you seriously going to put on a class right now? Don't you get enough of learning at school?" He would say with a grin, looking towards Shujinko.

 

[Toraono Suzuhime]

"You have to try and keep your swings more compact in that situation. Make sure you never let them surround you on all sides, try to keep them at the maximum of two. And put your hands near the middle if you really need to make a wide swing in order to make sure your strike is effective. But if it really comes down to something like that, it might just be better to loose a volley of arrows. The Naginata is more suited for keeping enemies away. While your bow doesn't cover that angle quite as well, it's always good to have a back-up plan."

Shujinko nodded affirmatively. Standing a little taller, feeling a bit more confident. Only to hear Kyo's comment in the background, her posture breaking a bit. Looking over her shoulder to glare at Kyo.

"You wanted to hang out. You got any ideas? You're obviously not interested in learning how to fight better. Any suggestions?"

There always seemed to be a war between Kyo and Shujinko and their preferred styles of fighting. Shujinko used mainly medium length-ed blades, while Kyo fought with martial arts and the like. Their rivalry was a fiery one. Shujinko would then walk over to Harumi, handing her the naginata.

"Just keep the blade pointed away from me, it makes me nervous."

It wasn't meant as an insult. But having an amateur with the sharp / pointy end of a sword pointed at her set off so many danger alarms. Stepping away from the girl.

"Alright, try doing some wide swings."

Unfortunately for Harumi, observing was much different from doing. She would find the weapon was much heavier than her bow.

~MFT~
WC: 273​

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[Harumi]

Spoiler

The 'Naginata' felt heavy in Harumi's hands. It must have been the weight of the metal and the length of the staff section. When Shujinko dropped the staff end in her hands, she almost hit the floor, but once she found her bearings and got it balanced it felt good in between her small thin fingers. She stood away from the other two kids and gave the weapon a swing and spun in on her hand, rather awkwardly at that, but she wouldn't drop it. It felt right to be holding this weapon, like it was her's.

"Hey, Shujinko. Can I have this weapon? I know I'm not good with it at all, or worthy of it, but please...?" Harumi begged, trying to hide the fact that it was just that, begging. "I don't know why, but I want this one. This specific weapon, I feel like it wants to be with me too, is that weird? I'm not crazy, I swear." She continued.

Standing, she had gotten a good hold on it and swung the weapon along a circular path on each side of her small body. After that though, she had to stop, doing that with what little muscle definition she had proved increasingly difficult.

"Please Shujinko. I know you don't even know me well, but you of all people should know the value of a weapon." Harumi said looking into Shujinko's eyes. "And as for you, Kyo sorry, I didn't mean to seem rude, we can go do something!" She finished smiling at the boy.​

 

[Kiriyama Sadako]

"Tch, you don't have to take what I said so seriously." The boy would smirk as he crossed his arms, looking over at Shujinko and Harumi. "You can go and do your lesson, it's not like I can think of anything else to do anyways." He would say with a shrug, tilting his head as he listened to Harumi beg for that weapon. "That's actually pretty weird...BUT, Shujinko is the same way with that sword of hers. Maybe your both of the same bloodline? Shuji, doesn't your sword have some kind of spirit or something? Think that naginata is the same way? Are all your weapons haunted?" He would wonder, moving over to the weapons that were laid out over the ground, raising a brow curiously.

 

[Toraono Suzuhime]

Shujinko listened to Harumi beg with a steely expression. Raising an eyebrow to her pleas and scowled a bit. When she finished, Kyo also made another comment, but Shujinko adopted a very serious tone.

"No, Harumi."

She would take in a breath before she continued.

"I'm doubtful she is a Nanjirou like myself, we specialize in mainly swords. And my sword has the spirits of my ancestors ever since it was first forged. And that's further back than I could ever remember. And they're not 'haunted'. That's like me saying that all Hyuuga are perverts because of the Byakugan. Anyways... Harumi. I can't give you any of my training equipment. Not only is it mine, but that's the thing. They're mine. And secondly, thats a training Naginata. Real ones are much heavier. And finally. If you really want a Naginata, you can talk to my daddy, he knows how to smith, so he could probably help you make one."

Shujino didn't mean to sound so mean. But such things were like a code of honor deal with her.

"Sorry if I sounded mean Harumi. But I made all my own weapons except for my Tessen and Muchimonji, and that's my family sword and my ritual dagger so... it's just. Very disrespectful and rude to ask a samurai to give up one of their personal weapons."

Shujinko crossed her arms.​

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[Harumi]

"I understand, I apologize. Sorry." Harumi said, the situation kind of disappointing still. " I do want one though, I'd like to talk to your dad when he returns. I'd like to learn how to use a lot of weapons, this would be a great start." Harumi finished sporting her usual cheerful disposition.

Watching Shujinko closer, Harumi noticed her tense a bit, take in a breath, then explain that the weapons were hers and she hand forged them herself. Wow, all of theses? There were like 15 weapons here. Harumi would like to do that, maybe it'd add an aspect of personality to her weapons, Yukrai had a personality, she was extremely shy and didn't like being a bow, she wanted to be a giant Rocklands Pine, or that's what Harumi imagined. Harumi giggled out loud at her own joke, how lame.​

(OoC: This was kinda short...)