Aahhh (Mari Yuki)

The early morning was crisp and cool, not particularly cold, but just a small coolness on the air that added a refreshing taste to every breath taken. A sheen of sweat covered Takeshi's exposed upper half as he went through forms. Today was his one off day from training with his mother and work on the farm and he usually used those to train himself. Training with her generally consisted of conditioning and endurance training. In the form of lots and lots and lots of heavy sparring. Where she generally beat the ever living shit out of him for half the morning before making him get up after it and do the farm chores before showering and then going about his day like normal. Most days began at 2 AM for him, and it was a habit for him. He slept about six hours a night and always felt refreshed and ready to start the day when he awoke. Today was no different, the early, predawn light slowly began to creep over the horizon, showing that he had been out for a few hours already focusing on heavy taijutsu training. Mostly in the form of constantly practicing with his bloodline.

He had been coming here long enough, and had proven trustworthy enough that animals even stuck around. Or at least came back shortly after he arrived. They didn't enter the field with him, but wild deer could be seen grazing just past the tree line in this field. Bones sprouted from his body at that moment, as he danced the dance of the willow, moving through forms that would assail enemies on all sides. Giving them all something to deal with in every movement. Coming too near was dangerous, for one was likely to get stabbed or slashed or one did. The Dance of The Willow, consisted of thin spines of bone protruding from his knees, elbows, shoulders, and his wrists, from under the hand. One look was all one would need to see that the holes in the pants he wore coincided perfectly with the bones protruding from his knees and his elbows and shoulders would destroy any shirt he might use with some of the motions, not even counting the bones simply coming out.

He moved with a speed and grace of carriage that was rare in genin. Utilizing the bones to focus the assault. They were incredibly sharp, and durable too. It wouldn't take much force to gut someone with them and his speed reflected that. The attacks and blocks against shadow opponents had a lack of power. He was flowing, and unmoving, like the willow tree itself. After a time, he would finally settle from this latest round before settling down. Allowing his bones to recede into his skin once more. He turned to look at his surroundings more closely. The morning dew glistened on the grass as the sky, still gray, slowly become brighter. Off to the east, one could see the first evidence of colour in the sky as the sun come ever closer to the horizon line. Oh how he loved this time of day. Taking a deep breath, he left it out slowly.

The morning was warm, a different atmosphere to one of Kirigakure. It would always be moist in the air, something that she got used to as it's the only scent she's used to, with the closest second being the sea air since her family had lived close to a port. She had moved to Konohagakure a few years ago but the air itself felt... odd to her. It wasn't bad, but just not what her body is used to. The chilling gusts of wind that occasionally came through was the only reminder of her home's air, just to briefly end as she started to feel the warm embrace of Konohagakure's environment once more.

There were some activities she liked to do, some that would be more suited to better environments but one hobby of hers are animals and almost anything related to them, with bird-watching often being a common one. There were parks in Konohagakure, but they didn't quite give the same feel, the same freedom as the training grounds did.

Most would steer away from her, based on her unfazed face and her unusual gaze being on avians most of the time. The fact there were more interesting animals in Konohagakure than Kirigakure is one of the few things she liked about this village, but perhaps only one of the few things. Her constant thought of the cold air had reminded her of home, and how much she missed it.

She hadn't used her abilities in a while, but she wanted to feel something, anything, more cold... she remembered where she is and realised that most wouldn't judge her for "practising" in an open training ground, with refined control of her chakra and a few handseals of chakra, she started to form a mirror out of ice, forming right in-front of her. At the moment, she was leaning against a tree and sitting on the ground, but she changed position and instead leaned against the mirror, feeling the coldness from the mere touch. It might've been a lot for most people, but she loved it... the cold. She missed her home.

Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals - 300 WC
Total WC - 352

Ever stand there, seemingly alone in a training ground at dawn, practicing taijutsu kata's and a mirror materialized just beyond the tree line? Neither had Takeshi. To say he was mildly confused would be unplaying it quite spectacularly. Obviously this was a time to pause his training session and figure out what the fuck was going on over there. So getting out of his kata, a simple act of standing up straight really. The blue haired man would moved toward the mirror in the trees, confusion painted across his features. As he moved toward the mirror he would see an image reflected in it. A blue haired woman, with hair the same shade as his own to his surprise. He couldn't see her without the mirror since in reality she was on the other side of the tree the mirror was near. He was only seeing her reflection, of course he would know that. If he wasn't a fucking moron.

Moving closer to the mirror, but not close enough to see the woman behind the tree he would make out her features. Quite pretty, with a heavier style of dress than most women he knew. He wondered if that said more about her or about the women he knew. He'd ask Naomi but she might kill him for some implication in the question he didn't see. Or berate him again at least. Why risk going through that again? Still, the pretty blue haired girl in the mirror was a confusing moment for him that morning and he found himself at a loss for words. The shinobi world was full of strange things, uncounted bloodlines with all sorts of odd abilities. Magical artifacts of unknown and untold power. What one could find in their training grounds at home was, theoretically, to him at least, limitless.

Looking at the mirror, which to him seemed like the woman was looking out at him. He would speak, his initial word stammering. "G-Good morning, are you okay? Are you trapped in the mirror?" He would ask, god he felt stupid, he was talking to a reflection in a mirror of all fucking things. Why did it seem so much colder here? Was it the chill of death? Was this some kind of trap he had sprung? He didn't know but he felt the inclination to shiver. He didn't though, he would face whatever creature or being this way with dignity, and honor, and intelligence. Well, the first two at least.

Coldness and quietness. That's how she always liked it. Her mother had told her once that she was like her father in that regard, liking her alone time. She'd be fussy as a child whenever it was intruded upon but as an adult, she's learned to be more polite about it... such as now, when someone concerned had asked if she was stuck in the mirror... honestly, with how forward that question was, it gave her a little smile. She easily stepped out of the mirror, her heeled boots stepping first on the grass as her whole body came out of the ice-cold mirror. The mirror itself crumbled down as soon as it did.

"Good morning to you as well." all though her smile was faint, it now disappeared as she eased the worries of the concerned man. He looked at his blue eyes and hair, quite a match. It made her slightly jealous that she didn't have blue eyes of her own to match with her hair. She slightly twirled at her loose hair on the side of her face, looking down. "That was my kekkei genkai. I was um... practising." the actual truth is her enjoying the cold, but she didn't want to come across as weird.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to trouble you." her hands were clasped together in front of her, figure straight and head looking down, with that unfazed look of hers. She always looked sad, but that was just her natural face.

When he spoke the unexpected happened. The woman simply stepped out of the mirror. As if it were simply a doorway that needed to be traversed. He wondered what such a thing was like. Wondered what it was like to be within one of the mirrors. Was one truly three dimensional within them? Did they feel odd? Pressed together? Compressed? He couldn't imagine how it must feel. However his blue eyes would widen in astonishment as she spoke. When she spoke to him he listened, her voice coming out of lips quirked into a small smile as she wished him a good morning as well. Her smile faded as she seemed to study him and he found himself studying here. Their hair really was a match, but he found her quite beautiful with it. She would proceed to inform him that the mirror was her kekkei genkai, and that she was simply practicing. He would nod in understanding before she apologized for troubling him. To which he would wave his hands before here. "No no, of course not. I was just surprised to see the mirror. It's no trouble at all. I was practicing with my own kekkei genkai." He would say, a small smile of his own quirking upon his lips.

"To be honest, you took me aback. I've never met someone else with blue hair before besides my mother. If I look half as good as you do with it than I would count myself fortunate." He would say, not realizing that in that one statement he admitted to finding her attractive and himself not so much.  Without missing a beat though he would face palm, his eyes looking skyward as if he couldn't believe he'd forgotten something. "How could I be so rude? My name is Takeshi, Takeshi Kaguya." He would say, giving her a respectful nod of his head as he introduced himself to her.

"It's just how we were born I guess, I don't think having blue hair is a bad thing." she did hear the compliment but it was hard to see it in the romantic sense when he let himself down so gently. "Mari Yuki." She calmly stated, he took note of this name and the last name was something that ringed a bell, but she wasn't one to pry into people's lives. If he really was a Kaguya, he must've had his own reason for not being in Kirigakure. "If... I'm not bothering you, then..."

She didn't want to come across as rude, but she had stepped out in worry of him. If everything was okay, she wasn't sure how they'd go from here. She might keep training with her own abilities or do something else depending on how Takeshi responded. She was kind of missing the coldness in her mirror, but the breeze of Konohagakure brushing past and the slight, cold temperature still looming over her was satisfying enough, at least, until she goes back into the mirror for a little more. She knew not to spend too much time in there, but it was the closest feeling to a home for her.

"Oh neither do I, far from it!" He would say, his voice slightly excited given the presence of the attractive woman. Of course this was entirely due to his inexperience with women in general given his early life focus on training and conditioning. He simply didn't know how to act around a woman he thought was attractive and that made him nervous which in turn completed the vicious cycle into 'excitable'. Still though he was doing the best he could and not just hiding in his house all day complaining about how he was lonely. God who did that sort of thing? Regardless he had no idea anything he said could be taken as romantically inclined as he simply wasn't able to think that way. It wasn't just an 'in the moment' thing either. He couldn't think that way at all. Although for some reason someone told him from time to time that he always seemed to be super nice to women. Which confused him, he was supposed to be right?

Either way, when she introduced herself he would give her a broad grin before she spoke again. This time his smile would drop quickly and his eyes would show, not desperation, but something akin to it. "You're not, as a matter of fact, would you like to train together? Or maybe watch the animals? They stay pretty close even when I'm training if I'm not making too much noise." He would ask, his voice becoming much calmer now. He was afraid he had offended her if she thought she was bothering him. Hence the almost desperation before. He didn't want people to think he was offended by them. He wasn't, frankly, he didn't care what they did. He did however care what people thought of him. It was almost inevitable really. A somewhat awkward farm boy, who more or less made his way in a day simply by virtue of being brash and open. He wanted to be liked but always seemed to fall short of the mark. First Naomi and Chiaki in the market, now possibly this 'Mari Yuki'. He just hoped he hadn't done or said something stupid. Having poor social skills really was a bother.

He wasn't bothering her, but the offer of watching animals or training together might've been more appealing if she knew him a bit better. He had made a remark of their hairs and put himself down in the same sentence, just to go against it in the next one. If it were a better setting, she would accept his offer but after her mirror, she felt a little tired. "Forgive me, but I think I'll go for now. We could do something later on if you're still interested, but I'm not in the best mindset for animal watching or training right now." she hadn't hoped to offend, but the straightforwardness that he displayed wasn't for her, and could only hope that he was understanding.

With a courtesy bow, Mari had made her exit. She walked away and left the space to Takeshi once more.

[Exit]

She declined his offer and he would simply nod before giving her a bow. He wasn't going to force her to stay if she didn't want to. It would have been nice to get to know a new possible friend but in the end he was here to train after all. "I would be delighted if that were to happen of course. Good day Miss Mari." He would say politely before watching her leave. Once she was gone he would return to where he had begun to train before and continue with his kata's expelling bones from his knees, elbows, palms, and shoulders as he fell into the Dance of The Willow. This style was tailor made to fight multiple opponents at once and he was practicing on ensuring that with each movement he made a bone blade would be striking at his blind spot. It was both easier and harder than he thought it might. The bones locations on his body made it easier, however the elbow bones especially depended upon a certain amount of care in his movement as if he lowered his arms, or raised them too high they could more or less be removed from the equation entirely.

He continued like this, practicing his movements within the Dance of Willow for hours before finally going to obtain a midday meal and continue training later. Every effort he put into the work would mean more progress for him in the long run.

[Exit]