Open The Beginning of a Legend: Becoming Friends!

[Chikamatsu Kohana]

The classes were confusing and clearly meant for a Shinobi, something Yuki was not interested in becoming, but unfortunately for her this was where she had to be. Her mother didn't possess this mystical force and her grandmother is too old to teach Yuki in the way that she needs. Yuki was the next high priestess at her temple, so she needed to learn how to combine the Onmyoudo style with the practical use of Chakra Control and Jutsu. She let out a sigh as classes had ended for the day and she wasn't quite ready to go back home. She wasn't sure what it was, or perhaps where it was, but she felt like something was missing, or perhaps someone.

Shifting the ashened blonde hair from her eyes and tucking it behind her ears the young Tsuchimikado girl walked out of the Academy building and into the grassy area that was most commonly used for combat training. Combat training was something she did not enjoy, what was she supposed to do? What, punch a fireball? Did the school expect her to use her hat and catch incoming shuriken? "Uughh I don't even understand why I am supposed to be here!" She said, as she pulled her hat over her face and slid down the side of the building like a wet noodle that wasn't quite ready to stick to the wall. She could feel the soft evening breeze dancing through the blades of grass and the soft murmur of the distant birds and cicadas that tried to survive in this metropolitan city.

She flopped her arms out to her side, as if giving up in this moment and was accepting of any vulture that may be flying overhead. What... what if I can't do this? Her mind began to wonder, the insecurities began to whisper in her ears.

[MFT:308]

 

[Mizushima Kita]

The outburst from just around the corner startled Haniki momentarily. She sat with her back against outside wall of the academy, book in hand. She nearly dropped it, losing her place, but managed to keep her grip.

The academy library was a more typical place to find the newly accepted student. Always to be found with her nose in a number of texts and a mess of notes around her. However, when it came to more recreational reading the soft winds and fading light of the sun outside the academy were preferable.

Curious, Haniki closed her book on her thumb and stood up to check around the corner. Eyes met the form of her classmate, Yuki, and a smile instantly spread across her lips. With only a few steps Haniki would close the distance between them and offer a gentle tap on the brim of Yuki’s hat.

“That sounds like quite the predicament.” Haniki spoke with a gentle laugh, kind eyes peeking from below bluish-white bangs.

[MFT - 166]

 

[Chikamatsu Kohana]

Grumbling to the sound of approaching footsteps it wasn't until Yuki heard her friend's voice chime in before her demeanor changed. "It is!" The young girl sat up as her hat fell from her head and onto her lap. Yuki's eyes sparkled with joy as she saw Haniki. "Like at least you have a goal right? You're wanting to be a Kunoichi, I'm just hear because my grandma told me to." She giggled a little bit. "You've seen my test scores, Perfectly average in every way" She finished in a tone that mimicked a teacher's voice while closing her eyes and wiggling her finger. "Quite quite, average like a janitor I do say" She continued to laugh a little bit, her hair falling in her face a little as her bangs were too long and often blocked her eyes.

Yuki took to her feet and patted the grass off of her robe and plopped her hat back into her head and traced her finger along the rime like one of those cool guys before a big grin filled her face. "So what're you doing here? Unless I am mistaken this isn't the library." She said teasing her friend.

 

[Mizushima Kita]

Haniki now openly laughed at the mimicry, partially covering her mouth with her free hand. "Hey, janitors are pretty cool. Can you imagine half of our classmates actually cleaning up after themselves? I don't think so." She teased. While Haniki and her own family did not view "average" to have a negative connotation, she understand that in some families it was essentially an insult.

The student lifted her book, opening it briefly before letting it close over her thumb again. "I guess I'm just taking the library with me today." Haniki chimed and paused for a moment. Her free hand rose to the back of her neck, an embarrassed look growing across her face. "Am I really that predictable?" She asked through her teeth with a chuckle.

[MFT - 127]

 

[Chikamatsu Kohana]

”Its not that you’re predictable..” Yuki’s grin went sinister as she chuckled slightly and brought her clench fist to her chin before extending her index finger and thumb. ”Its because I can see into people’s souls!” The girl’s eyes shimmered in their blue purple tone. She held this pose for a moment before letting out a soft chuckle, she was after all only half way kidding. She couldn’t read anyone’s soul, yet.

The Tsuchimikado priestess in training, or as she would prefer to be called princess, took a few steps away from the walls and crossed her hands behind her back before shifting her weight and twirling around to look back at her friend. ”So, we both know my destiny is already set in stone, but have you had any thoughts about what you want to do after graduation? I mean if we are lucky that should be coming up soon right?”

 

[Mizushima Kita]

Haniki feigned surprise, over exaggerating her body language to match Yuki’s silly energy. “Oh no. My deepest darkest secret.” She sighed in defeat. “I’m…” she paused to build the suspense before huffing her confession, “…a nerd.” Haniki couldn’t hold in her composure, letting the laughter take over.

Haniki took a moment to think about the question. Her gaze turned up towards the sky, clouds dotting the scene. “I have a pretty long way to go.” She started. “Right now the plan is just to climb the ranks and see where I can fit in and be useful, whether that’s behind a desk like my mom or out in the field.” Haniki completely respected her mother’s decision to retire from the field. Even so, she hoped that she would become valuable outside the walls of the village, instead of confined to a desk and four too familiar walls.

Haniki returned her attention to the reality in front of her. “After we graduate, do you plan on continuing?” She asked with a sweet tone of curiosity.

 

[Chikamatsu Kohana]

A quick buzz of her lips and Yuki was spewing out raspberries at that question. ”Err- Wrong answer!” She said dropping her hand into a thumbs down position. ”You’ll be useful wherever you find yourself, but we both know you’ll be Hokage one day, and when you are Hokage you can tell my Grandma that I don’t have to be a priestess any more!” The jovial chuckles of a young child explodes from her chest.

She had to joke about it right? She had to try and make it seem less serious than it was so that she didn’t sink into the depressive mindset that came with realizing her life wasn’t really her’s to live and that the only reason she was even born was to fulfill this ancient roll.

Jabbing into the air a few times, as if shadow boxing, Yuki quickly finished her series of attacks with an uppercut where she let out a good ole ”Heeeyaaa!” She looked back at her friend. She leaned in and her chuckling softened slightly as she raised her pinky finger. ”Promise you won’t forget about me when you’re all cool and stuff, okay? We’ve gotta be in this together”

 

[Shishiwakamaru]

As the adage goes, new school, new beginnings. And with it comes profound and exciting new adventures. Or at least that's what he'd been telling himself so he didn't chicken out. He had just came from the main office where a nifty bulletin board. FINALLY he had found where and how he could get into a class. It was both thrilling and terrifying to think he would actually begin to train to be a real life shinobi!

Throwing open the front doors with gusto, Shishiwakamaru would strut on out of the school. With his head held high and his chest slightly puffed up he marched forward down the steps. Feeling confident he hopped onto the railing and attempted to slide the rest of the way down. He managed to get about halfway before he lost his balance and fell over backwards. His momentum was enough to send him rolling just into view of the pair of young ladies that had, until now, been enjoying a lovely conversation..

"UGH!!! What is wrong with you, stupid stupid stupid stu---" In his frustration he began to berate himself over his clumsiness. He had never been so careless in the past, growing up and attending primary school. Perhaps it was the daunting ambitions he sought coupled with his insecurities, together they were getting the best of him. The sudden pause in his negative self-talk was due to him suddenly realizing he was not alone. Moreover, they were girls! He was an only child and only really hung out with the other boys in his primary school. Girls had cooties, or so he was told. He wasn't entirely sure about that presently, but he was no doctor. How would he know for sure? Scarlet hues overtook his normally ivory complexion. Panicking he blurted out the first thing he could think of to break the awkward silence. "Beautiful hat, err... NO I mean evening. But um... nice hat too!" Oy vey... Shishiwakmaru was downright helpless.


[OOC - Topic entered]

 

[Mizushima Kita]

Haniki shied away from the proposition. “Hokage is a bit much, don’t ‘ya think? What good is the top of the totem pole is you’re afraid of heights, right?” She dismissed the idea. Though her understanding of the Hokage’s responsibilities were slim, considering she was only ten-years-old, she still understood there was a lot of their plate. Elective work that she decided to dive in to could be stressful, she couldn’t imagine fifty times as much because a mandatory responsibility. “But maybe I can put in a good work to someone else to deal with your grandma.” She diverted.

Haniki dodged side to side sat Yuki’s shadow boxing. She was nowhere near connecting, but she joined in on the gesture, throwing a hand up with the other’s.

She linked her pinky with Yuki’s and smirked. “What was your name agai–“

They were cut off but the thumping sound of a poor boy tumbling down the academy’s stairs. Before Haniki could even rush to offer a hand, he was already on his feet spouting self-depreciating nonsense over his clumsiness. Making eye contact, Haniki waved with a shrug of her shoulders and awkward smile.

“Are you good?” She called out, just to double check.

 

[Kyouketsu Shinda]

The training area was bustling as usual it would seem, though unlike normal it wasn't because of training but general banter from what he would have assumed were students. He'd watch them from distance as he'd found position sitting at the base of a training log that still had several shuriken and kunai embedded in it. They weren't his and it wasn't his doing though, as Moyasu was far from back to his healthy state to even train. Instead of ninja tools, in his hand were simply documents from the academy as well as some papers from the Byoin related to his discharge. What had led him here instead of home was simple memory of the place, something he held of value after waking up from that coma.

Everything was different now for him as his former classmates were long gone from this place, so he was alone though honestly with how he used to act he'd be shocked if he ever had friends before. But this was a change, a supposed turning of the leaf, as after the accident Moyasu was effectively humbled to life. There was a desperate drive building to become more social and this was a place to do it. Just a matter of how to go about it that started to occupy his mind. He'd bury his head behind the papers, faking as if he was busy reading when in actuality all his attention seemed focused upon the vocal group of girls and this one other boy that either had the personality to up and engage or maybe he already knew the girls. His eyes would scan the paper atop the small stack, one that was his re-enrollment approval...

Friends...maybe I do need them more than I thought.

Pressing his thumbs just a bit more, the pages would crease in his hands as he thought more on what to do. Introduce himself maybe, nah...that would be weird. Or was it weird that he was sitting there alone trying to hide the fact that he was eavesdropping? Still wearing his hospital attire, something that clearly marked him as a patient (considering the white scrubs and visible bandaging across much of his body), Moyasu would use the log as leverage to stand up. Everything in him was still feeling the soreness. You'd think he would will his way over to introduce himself but instead something in him made his body stiff....was he really this shaken about introducing himself?

For now, he would remain silent and out of the way with both eyes dropping to look at the grass which he stood upon. Ears perked, as he continued to listen in silence as he would simply wait for a better chance to approach the trio.

[Topic Entered]

 

[Chikamatsu Kohana]

As her friend teased Yuki about not even knowing her name, Yuki stuck out her tongue and chuckled softly. "Ha Ha, very fu-" She stopped and pulled her hand back, the promise never being made. While this may have seemed like an inconsequential thing in the present, who knows how this small thing will affect their future. Will one of them defect from the village and the other be forced to spend years to track the other down and end their life? Would Haniki in fact become the next Hokage and forget about Yuki as she was forced to waste her life sitting in the temple her family called home? Or perhaps nothing would happen, after all how much power was held within a pinky promise between two best friends?

Shifting her attention to the boy that was all shades of embarrassed the young priestess would shift her pose and slide a finger along her massive witch's hat. "Why yes it is!" She followed it with an imitation of an older man's laugh, one of those Ho Ho Hos that old men do from the bottom of their chests. Her devilish grin returned to her face as she looked at Haniki. "Of course he's fine, he can tell that my hat is beautiful, so like e clearly didn't hurt his head.' She giggled slightly before positioning herself behing her friend.

Unless the better shinobi stopped her, Yuki would try and grab Haniki's shoulders from behind to push her closer to the boy. "Now don't be rude! You're standing in front of Haniki Nikku, the SMARTEST Kunoichi to ever grace the academy halls! I bet she even knows more than Lord Asuka! Don't be shy now, what do you think is beautiful about her? And don't you say everything because that's a true statement but a boring one!" She giggled at the outright betrayal to her friend, to be put in the spot light like this must feel like a dagger.

You know those scenes where a devilish shadow mirrors the beautiful character? The ones that reveal the inner workings of the mind behind the caring and sweet face of a child? Those scenes like I have provided to my right? Yea, imagine that but with the shadow cackling like a great hag who just stole the ruby slippers off of a poor chald lost in a cornfield. Because that was what was playing in the mind of Yuki as she tried to embarrass her friend by asking a boy to say she's beautiful.

 

[Mizushima Kita]

“Wo— Hey!” Haniki squeaked as Yuki forced her towards Shishiwakamaru. Regaining her balance, Haniki planted her feet and raised her hands towards her chest facing out. The tips of her ears burned as Yuki spoke. “That’s really not necessary.” She told Shishiwakamaru as the reddening of her face grew.

Haniki leaned to the side, pulling her foot back to swiftly sweep one of Yuki’s legs out from under her. She snatched at the fabric just below Yuki’s collar to keep her from completely falling on her ass.

Haniki’s expression never changed, the same apologetic look across her features. “Please, don’t mind Yuki.”

 

[Shishiwakamaru]

'Beauty' as a term is so... Inconsistent across the variety of personalities. In the eye of the beholder, so to speak. Although the conventional standard for alluring glamor was that of those you see on magazine covers, with their half starved adolescents plastered with a plethora of products until their likeness resembled a barely human, gaunt 'model'. For him the word 'beautiful' is far from that alien type of living and more of a friendly, casual smile so freely given. A warmness and kindness of the soul we reveal in our moments of vulnerability. Not in the helpless sense, but the kind where we put ourselves out there on the line, to be accepted or rejected. This is the true way to make lasting connections that span across years and space. Beauty, as a whole, is the soul you are born with, the kind that brings smiles to our face and loves to have fun, dance with your friends or stay out late just to watch the beautiful stars. Live it, love it, be it.

So when Yuki thrusted her bff Haniki in Shishiwakamaru's direction, announcing her as the smarted Kunoichi in school and was cornered into a provocative situation, what else was he to do but comply? Truthfully he hadn't fully noticed this Haniki Nikku due to Yuki's ridiculously enormous hat stealing center stage. He had seen her, but he had not 'SEEN' her yet, until now. Truthfully he was taken off guard by this, this wasn't exactly a subject he was well versed in, or even really thought about. Having picked himself up off the ground and just finishing dusting himself off during the process of Yuki's proclamation, Shishiwakamaru had his chance to fully inspect Haniki.

The first thing he noticed about her was her hair. Soft, short hues of pacific-blue strands of hair adorned her crown, draping airily just above her shoulders. Charming locks rested nicely to form her bangs, which was the catalyst that drove Shishiwakamaru into a stupor. His eyes widened as he locked onto the very visage of beauty. Like the lingering glow of a summer sunset, amber orbs of splendor encaptured the young boy's senses. For a moment he couldn't even speak. It was rare to have vibrant shades of hair color, even rarer to have eyes like this. Sure you had the Hyuuga and the Uchiha, but their's were more suited for violence, and not attractive.

"Wow..." A peculiar first choice of words, but at least he said something instead of continuing to awkwardly gawk at the blushing young lady. "Her eyes... so stunning... remarkable even!" He couldn't avert his own eyes from hers, they felt so familiar. Bold yet comfortable, he sensed something within longing for... Something. He couldn't quite place it, but there was a nurturing allure about her eyes that hit close to home for him. In an attempt to save face, and not appear as though he had suddenly fallen in love or something silly like that, he put a free hand up to his face and smiled as a bead of nervous sweat began to form. "N-not that I gave it much thought or anything..." Phew, that should help steer him away from this dangerous dilemma.

 

[Renmei Tsumugu]

[wrong account]

 

[Kyouketsu Shinda]

There were empty blinks coming from his eyes as they peered over the papers set before his face, a single bead of sweat running down the edge of his face. It was an awkward moment for someone eavesdropping to overhear personal information and sure enough his body reacted just as you would think. Moyasu would tense up and nearly fall over, losing his balance as he'd come to realize what was actually going on. Composing himself, he'd hunker down tighter behind the pages though doing it "sneakily" was without a doubt out of the window. Instead without realizing, Moyasu was full blown staring from the side of his papers, his eyes incapable of breaking from the soap opera playing live before him. Maybe it was to early but he was personally rooting for Shishi(add rest of name here), though the childish curve of his lips into a smirk said that while he was thrown off from the encounter........he was entertained.

"Who knew the academy was a shinobi matchmaking business..."

This thought would stick to him for a moment before realizing that a large chunk of their parents had met at some point in the academy and this made him feel dumb to his own thoughts. Forgetting the whole acting in secret portion, Moyasu would facepalm himself quite visibly speaking only, "Cute...A lot of our parents -did- meet just like that.." Another blink of silence followed by him facepalming himself yet again, which at this point considering he was still recovering. Wasn't the brightest idea, as he'd lose his balance and fall over sending a shower of papers first up into the air then down to rain on him.

Smooth....just smooth.

 

[Chikamatsu Kohana]

"hehehehe" The soft mischievous chuckles were all one could hear coming from Yuki as she was playing match maker. Yes, she was simply dangling at the mercy of her friend Haniki, but that wasn't going to stop her. She was watching love, well... maybe not love, perhaps friendship, weeelllll..... maybe not that either. Embarrassment! That was the word! She was causing them to be embarrassed and this was wonderful. This moment was perfect, then she saw him.

"YOU!" She proclaimed as she was hanging upside down, well she was hanging but with that proclamation she could feel gravity once again take her form, she plummeted and made a loud thunk sound as she hit the ground. Her eyes were unwavering. She saw another boy, another handsome boy. Her face went devilish again. She rolled over and casually placed her arms under her face to prop her cheeks up with her hands. Her feet began to kick up into the air as she grinned.

"What's that lover boy? Something about wanting to find true love like your dearest mah-mah?" She giggled as she yelled across the training field at the boy that was being rained upon by a plethora of papers. He thought he was slick. Her antics were about to get turned up even high. Like a laser focused into the gaze of Shishiwaka-waka-eh-eh-ssamina-mina-zangalewa-maru she would continue. "Looks like you have competition for the hand of our fairest maiden, Haniki-chan." Her eyes drifted back to the recently discovered boy with a pair of dancing eye brows.

 

[Mizushima Kita]

Haniki felt… odd. In front of her she had Shishiwakamaru staring directly into her eyes for just a little too long. The way he spoke through her to Yuki was an experience she wouldn’t describe as pleasant.

“Uh, thanks,” she said softly, her lips pursing together as she took a small step to the side, repositioning herself as Yuki allowed herself to fall onto the dusty ground. One hand swiped lose hair away from face, tucking it behind her ear.

“That’s enough, Yuki.” She said a bit too quietly for the overly loud witch to hear as she called out to another young boy across the field. Hot ears spread over her face. It wasn’t fun anymore. She felt like some prize pony being auctioned off. Yuki continued, yelling to the boy about competing for Haniki. “Yuki!” She snapped quickly. There wasn’t malice in her voice, it was more of a plead than anything. Fists clenched in front of her, holding them close to her center as nails dug into her palms to release the tension that built up inside of her.

 

[Shishiwakamaru]

For the briefest of moments he almost hoped she would respond in kind, but this romantic bubble was hastily popped as she gave her vexed response. He could tell that this perturbed her to some degree and that his compliments were truly unwanted. It was simply a cruel joke orchestrated by her friend, Yuki. What's worse is the charade continued when another student revealed his location with a flurry of papers.

Haniki's sudden and sharp outcry made him jump. He had failed to see how upset this whole thing had made her, and he was partially to blame for it all because he got so confounded by her eyes. Or rather taken off guard by Yuki's question. Shame appeared to spread over his demeanor as he realized his part in her misery and started to apologize. "Haniki is it? Hey I'm really sorry, I didn't mean anything by it. I should have just told your friend no, I hope you have a better day..." Ensuring that he had gathered all his things he would attempt to turn away from the pair of girls and walk away from the awkward situation. He felt bad for what he said and being a part of the problem. This was just the story he was telling himself, however, and probably not the real state of things. Under his breath he muttered to himself, those with keen ears, or simply paying attention would probably have heard him. ""Embarrassing yourself as usual, man I'm such an idiot..." Again he put himself down, there really wasn't a lot of self-love or a feeling of self worth with him. He was never a winner, and often was overlooked by his peers from his previous school. What was it about himself that made him so unappealing, even to himself?

[OOC - Leaving topic unless stopped]

 

[Kyouketsu Shinda]

"WHAT!!!!!"

Moyasu would scream out as he sat up rather quickly after hearing what Yuki had said on his apparent behalf which couldn't have been something further than the truth. Heck, Moyasu hadn't ever even met anyone here prior to today and look at what was going on now. To say he wasn't flustered though would be a lie as Moyasu's cheeks had become a lighter shade of maroon which still stood out against his dark skin. He wasn't flustered from beauty though, no he was flustered from shear embarrassment at being thrown into this love triangle all of a sudden...all because of....

"YOU!! DONT BE PUTTING WORDS IN MY MOUTH DANGGIT". Moyasu pointed his finger at Yuki and even though there was some distance between the two, it was obviously Moyasu was in a deep state of embarrassment as he flailed his pointing arm around while giving Yuki a lecture that she probably could even hear or simply ignored. What did spur him to action though was when Shishi decided to leave and this was not something he could let stand. He might not be the one in love but it would not end because someone put his name in the cauldron.

Standing up, Moyasu would make his way over to Shishi's path and drape an arm over his shoulder as their backs were turned to the ladies. He'd whisper at this point, "My bad, this wasn't my fault but you shouldn't give up on true love. Chase the girl...don't be shy, my ol my you might even wanna dare I say it....kiss the girl." Yeah, Moyasu didn't know how to be social and maybe just made things worse but he had to give it a shot because this love connection couldnt be tarnished.

Truthfully he feared that Yuki would find some way to hook him up with the girl if Shishi left......this couldn't happen. Sorry Shishi, you're my only hope. "I got your back man...just don't leave so soon yanno"

[Shishi stopped from leaving]

 

[Chikamatsu Kohana]

”Yuki!” Her mouth slammed shut and her eyes glazed over. Trauma response. She instantly dissociated. In a split second, that’s it, just a single moment and her memories would flood.

Spoiler: “Content Warning: Child Abuse”

She was sitting on the temple floor, tears in her eyes. ”Yuki. that’s enough crying.” Her grandmother stood before her. A sting across Yuki’s face from the recently left welt was turning red. Yuki’s eyes were focused on the switch her grandmother held in her hand. ”Yuki! Look at me when I speak to you!” Yuki’s eyes hesitated, she knew what was coming next. It happened every day… Eyes filled with tears from the pain. How old was she? Maybe four, maybe five? Her eyes finally met that of her grandmother’s gaze. A straight face, emotionless stared down at her. Another quick blow across her face caused Yuki’s eyes to pour with tears as the swelling could be felt forming instantly. She sat there, silently crying. She didn’t dare make a noice. ”Yuki!”

In that moment she folded in herself slightly before slowly, turning to meet the gaze of Haniki. Wells of tears sat in her eyes. She was afraid. In this moment she didn’t know what would happen next. Haniki didn’t seem mad, but her grandmother never seemed mad either. Haniki was her friend. Haniki was her only friend, what was the rules for friendship like? She broke a rule. She was going to be punished, why wouldn’t she be. When you are bad you deserve to have bad things done to you. If you are misbehaving you deserve to be broken down so you can put yourself back together in the correct order. She was wrong, she was broken, she deserved to be reprimanded.

The boys were off discussing something, off whispering, but Yuki was sitting on the ground looking up at Haniki, a look of frightful acceptance. She was prepared for what was about to happen. She brought shame to Haniki’s honor. She didn’t deserve to be her friend. She didn’t deserve to be anyone’s friend. She was a tool to be used and nothing more.

she was a tool…

…

…nothing more…​

…​

nothing.​