Street smart or book smart?

Sat Sep 19, 2020 3:33 pm

Mission Info:

Kairu had lived on the streets of Hoshi for the majority of his younger life. Occasionally he was lucky to find a place to squat, or a spot in the woods to camp out in the warmer months. Once in a while, the village would go through the motions of attempting to find him a home, but Kairu always left. That sort of life never seemed to click with him. He didn't enjoy being alone and without a home, but it was better than the alternative. Or, who knows, maybe that was just his brain's way off telling him you don't need anyone or anything, like a defense mechanism. Couldn't be sad about being lonely if his core belief found solace in it.

A sigh left the young man, his hands on his hips as he looked up at the buildings that lined the street. One thing he hardly did when he was younger was enter stores and shops. Namely, libraries. He found the search for knowledge to be useless. People thought they were so intelligent, they wrote down what they thought for others to think just like them. So full of themselves. Their hubris drove Kairu to wretch. He had met plenty of people who thought their education made them far above others. It sparked a desire in him to beat them senseless, to teach them something. But that sort of a fight wasn't in his wheelhouse, it was unfair, essentially bullying. He'd end up no better than them. Still didn't mean he didn't want to.

The jester opened the double doors to the library, making his way inside. His dull eyes glanced around, biting his lower lip. A few people stopped to stare for a moment at Kairu's more unusual choice of clothing — bright colors, card suit symbols on his vest, face paint — but minded their business quickly enough. He wandered further inside, strolling up and down the aisles of books, as if he was unsure what to pick up from the grocery store and aimlessly walked hoping something would catch his eyes.

He took a book from the shelf looking it over, 'The Art of Cards'. He sighed again, fingers reaching in to crack it open.

"You look bored." An attendant said, walking up to Kairu. He had a faint smile on his face as he greeted the jester, eyes glancing at his book. "Cards, huh? Looks like it's right in your field, but you don't want to read it."

The young man paused, raising an eyebrow at him. "Dissuading me from reading, hm? Not very librarian of you, is it?" Kairu smirked. "Besides, I want to see what this buffoon thinks they know about the art of cards."

"It seems like you're picking a book on something you already know, maybe even an expert in." The man shrugged, waving a hand out to the rest of the library. "Go pick something else. Anything. Random. If you read about things you already know, you'll spend all your time arguing with the author. Why not let yourself be vulnerable, accept what someone else can teach you?"

Kairu's eye twitched, closing the book with a single hand. "That's ridiculous," he said, ironically not allowing this stranger to teach him something. "Whatever I need to know, I figure out. Go put your nose somewhere else." Kairu slammed the book back into its slot and turned on his heel to walk off, not acknowledging the man further as he solemnly watched the young man storm off like a child.

He stopped a bit away from the door, hand reaching for the handle with hesitation, but eventually he pushed through out to the other side. Out on the streets again, Kairu looked back at the building behind him, blowing a strand of hair from his face. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but maybe the attendant was right. Kairu was letting his pride get in the way of real learning, accepting what this city, it's books, it's people had to offer. Maybe he'd go to a different library and take the man's advice, but Kairu wouldn't give him the satisfaction that his words left some sort of mark.

[Exit]

[WC = 700]

Claiming:

500 Ryo, 1 AP, and 7 points into Chakra.

700 words toward Flying Swallow