What's Happened Since Then [P]

Sat Jan 28, 2017 1:31 pm

Shiro weaves five hand signs and places his palms upon the wooden floor of his bedroom. From the location of impact, a plume of white smoke erupts and spreads from its origin for a short distance before dissipating into the air. Just in front of Shiro stands his summon partner, Nakama, sitting quite still as Shiro rises from kneeling.

Golden rays of light scatter into the room through two windows on two perpendicular walls. Outside, moisture condenses onto the window sills and the birds perch upon them for a time before departing. The sky is clear and allows for the sun to shine it's morning light from the horizon though this light is not enough to sufficiently warm the air. The atmosphere is moist and cool with much water in the air. The time is early and many of the villagers are still sound asleep in their homes. Those with responsibilities as employees of stores within the village are doing the same as Shiro is doing now: preparing for the day without even a hint of drowsiness in their eyes.

Shiro’s bed is in front of him to his right in the corner of the room. In the wall to his right, the first window is within the upper half center. In the same spot on the wall behind him is the second window which is next to a multi-shelved desk bent between the wall to Shiro’s right and the wall behind him. This desk is wide enough to stretch nearly to the window and also a meter or so across the right wall. From the windows, the golden light mixes with the brown wood of the desk in a shimmering way and gives the desk a look of having been polished recently. The chair set in front of the desk is black leather. Within the shelves of the upper regions of the desk, books are compiled and organized containing information pertaining to taijutsu arts, the scientific use of chakra in the body (medical specialization), as well as the use of chakra to manipulate the fabric of space-time. For leisure, Shiro reads through these works and revels in absorbing the information. In the opposite section of the room, the forward left region, a dresser fashioned of the same wood as Shiro’s desk is set. Next to it in the direction of the bed is a closet which may be walked into. Between the dresser and closet space, there is ample room to store both recreational and combative clothing. A prototype for a particular armor which Shiro is constructing resides in the back of the closet. Finally, behind Shiro is the door which open into the room. From it, stairs illuminated by a light in the ceiling lead to the living room.

He stands wearing his sleeping attire in front of Nakama, sweatpants and nothing else on his body. Due to the warmth of his home which is set at all times while he is inside, Shiro does not require much clothing to stay warm while asleep. He greets Nakama.

“Good morning to you.” Shiro’s voice is full of energy. He turns towards his closet in order to change his attire to something more usual for being out and about in public.

Nakama responds with an audible voice that makes him sound as though he is in all directions around Shiro once he is within the closet. “Mm-hmm… you seem well.”

The unexpected response causes Shiro to stop dressing for a short moment to think and then resume his actions. “Oh, can we do that now? Based on what Grand Elder Atama told me, I had assumed that our communication would become possible in time.” Fully dressed in his most basic chuunin armor, Shiro steps out into his room and faces Nakama. The previous words have been out loud but the next sentiment is spoken mentally, used by Shiro to test the simplicity of speaking to Nakama through his mind. He simply conveys the meaning of the words that he would speak out loud. These words are: “It’s very good to hear your voice.”

After Shiro ends his message, Nakama responds. “It’s very good to see your emotions full. You seem to have found whatever it was that was missing. Might I ask what it was?”

Shiro gestures for Nakama to follow him and the two walk down the steps leading to his living room. There, Shiro lifts a light coat off of a hook in the wall next to his front door. While doing these things, he responds to Nakama’s question. No words are exchanged audibly.

“The missing link that cut off my joy was a person. At the time when the two of us were close, we would regularly enjoy ourselves at a food stand within the village. Yesterday, I was compelled to go to the same stand and that is where I saw her once again.”

“I see.” Nakama responds in understanding after Shiro pauses.

“We exchanged some words, I apologized for my failure to see her for as long as I had. She and I agreed to meet at the library and talk further where I plan to explain the events that I have experienced during the gap between the times I have seen her. This is where I’m going now.” Shiro places his hand upon the handle of the front door, still facing Nakama.

“Then I will inform the Grand Elder about your developments. And I am very happy that you were able to resolve this last issue.” After these final words, Nakama vanishes within a white cloud of smoke that erupts from the air within which he is standing.

With that, Shiro opens his front door and steps out of the house.

----------Kozai Yuki National Archives----------

He stands leaning his back against the wall next to the doors of the village library. His hands are fully in his pockets and his eyes gaze into the partly cloudy sky. Shade drifts across the ground as the sun is momentarily blocked out by rolling white clouds. These clouds are thin and stretched, unable to provide very dark shading beneath them. They look like expanded and unrolled spools of thin string dragged along by the wind at a slow pace. Concentrating on the scene above makes Shiro patient as he has now been waiting for Atsuko to arrive for what must be ninety minutes.

Shiro wears standard issue chuunin armor as a chuunin of Hoshigakure. Thinking back to the day before, he remembers what Atsuko wore: her green tank top and med-length dress, the white bandages wrapped around her waist and lower legs. Seeing her face in his head again sends warmth through him and his subtle gratefulness becomes visible to a moment when his eyes say “I’m so happy to see you again”.

But time rolls on and Shiro eventually comes across something of importance that Atsuko failed to mention the last time she spoke to him.

“Atsuko never told me when exactly to meet her here.” Shiro thinks, rising from the wall and looking around the front of the building. “And she is still nowhere in sight. Am I too early? I thought that maybe the earlier I arrived, the greater my chance of catching her in the time that I wait here… Of course, I don’t really know what she could be doing. Yesterday, she was not wearing standard issue armor, nothing very combat oriented. We chuunin are instructed to wear our uniforms every day because of the unpredictability of an attack. If she is no longer a ninja, then she is not on a mission.”

At the moment that Shiro is attempting to come up with some other possibility, he spots the now familiar figure of Atsuko. She is strolling along the side of the road in Shiro’s direction, waving to him. He looks over and sends a wave back.

----------Inside----------

The two of them, Shiro and Atsuko, find seats across from each other at a small table. The setting, as expected, is quiet and their conversation is in low volume. Shiro starts.

“You didn’t tell me when we would meet so I arrived nearly an hour ago.” He folds his hand upon his lap under the table, looking very conserved. Shiro’s outward appearance reflects his still shy nature when around Atsuko.

She has a look of concern but grows a smile. “I thought that you would understand what time I had implied. You and I had a habit of meeting each other here at the same time every few days.” Her hands are folded upon the table and she leans forward, more eager to grow a conversation than Shiro is.

“Did we? It hadn’t crossed my mind...” Shiro’s voice becomes distant, knowing that his memory loss pertaining to Atsuko specifically has caused him to forget small details about their ‘best friend’ relationship. Before she can respond, he continues. “Look, about that… let me tell you about what’s happened in the time between Genri’s deserting the village and now.”

Atsuko’s smile fades, sensing the serious and slightly saddened tone that Shiro has taken on. Now adopting the same atmosphere, she brings her chair in closer and sits back, prepared to give Shiro her full attention. “Go ahead, I’m listening.”

“Ok…” His eyes move across the room and eventually settle on the table in front of him. He looks down at the dark wood, wondering where he should start his explanation. The conclusion is made that he will begin this story at the hospital after the skirmish with Genri in which he had lost consciousness. “The day that you made a visit to the hospital to see me, I’ll start there. I was awake during your visit and you told me that from then on, you were going to do what you could to lift me back up.” Shiro stops, seeing Atsuko begin to tear up.

“You heard me.” She states, nodding her head. “And I couldn’t make good on my promise.”

“No, that was my fault. I shut out the entire experience, refusing to think any further about Genri or about how I made you cry that day. The trauma of the Genri incident is likely what had the most driving force for me to completely wipe the memory from my mind. Along with it went my recollection of you and everything attached to you.” He pauses to allow the information to be processed and continues after a short moment. “Since then, I have trained ever harder. Examples from the training grounds were what allowed me to learn some jutsu. In fact, the training grounds were the only places I would be besides one or two eateries nearby. This is likely why I never saw you since the hospital. But you said that you were avoiding me so I assume that you did catch sight of me sometimes.”

“I did.” She cuts in, now listening intently. “But never at the training grounds. I stopped taking trips there.”

In Shiro’s head, he connects the pieces. Knowing now that she has stopped her ninja training and decreased her time spent training, he draws the conclusion that she must have dropped ninja work to pursue another interest. “On one training expedition, I performed a self-examination regarding who it is that I wanted to be. By the time that I had returned home from living in the forest for a short five days, I made the decision to change my name to Shiro, a name better reflecting the clarity that I thought I had obtained.” He sees that Atsuko will begin speaking and pauses.

“White.” She notes the meaning of the name. “Then you are no longer called Taiyo.”

“Yes, Shiro caught on with the rest of the villagers and my new name had become more normal.”

Atsuko grins once more, thinking about the name. “I like it. ‘Shiro’ fits you better than Taiyo, I think. But you said it was supposed to reflect the clarity that you thought you had obtained. Since then, what progress have you made?”

Knowing exactly what to say, Shiro’s face beams with a smile. His chest tightens but he ignores the nervous and aching feeling in his heart to speak. “After seeing you again, I would say that I am thinking very clearly. You just bring me to completion.”

Her smile softens and a blush spreads across her cheeks. She draws her eyes away from his own and directs them towards the table, looking downward and to her left. “I don’t deserve…” She stops short of her whisper and looks up at Shiro again. “Thank you.”

He stands and places his left hand into its pocket. With his right hand, he gestures for her to follow him. “Let’s get something to eat. You can tell me about what you’ve been doing as well.”

She stands to follow him.

(2,146)

[Exit]
[Claims: 20 AP]

Sat Jan 28, 2017 6:14 pm

Approved <3

What's Happened Since Then [P]

What's Happened Since Then [P]

Re: What's Happened Since Then [P]