Bumper-boats, a boating accident?

[Kanade]

Kasuri looked down at the scroll, still wet with sweat from the person who had written it and read its contents once more. Apparently there was a mission to make sure that a lake was safe for the people that would be boating on it. Some sort of a friendly competition that was sponsored by a man called Botan Goda.

Still, a mission was a mission, and Kasuri was an akibuchi from Heart’s forces, and she would do everything to help out with her village, even if it meant she had to do something for a recreational activity. She longed for the day that she would actually get an actual mission, where she saw action. Her father said that he had been a warrior before he took over the dojo, and he always had a depth of gaze that was lacking in her mother, who married into the dojo, and only trained students. Her mother never saw any action, though she was asked to conscript, thinking that the next generation was too precious for that..

Kasuri rolled her neck to the left and the right, then looked at herself in the mirror. Having long hair usually didn’t matter, since she was an expert with a bow, but today, since she would be running around near and in the water, she should probably make use of a hair tie and a couple bobby-pins at least.

Ayago watched from her corner, an indignant bow to be sure, and one that sometimes soured the mood with the constant nit-picking that she did of Kasuri’s overall appearance. It was rare, therefore, that she was actually quiet for once. Kasuri had started to doubt whether the bow was either awake or alive at the point that she picked Ayago up and shook the bow, “I need you to be some sort of pocket-knife. I am not lugging around a giant piece of wood all day, and you need to be my extra set of eyes.”

“I see through you, child.” Ayago explained for what seemed like the umpteenth time, but Kasuri shook her again, “No need to be so rough with me, I am ancient as you know, and prone to break.” This elicited an unamused look from Kasuri from her teal eyes, and a raised teal eyebrow.

“You’re not prone to break, I threw you at the wall yesterday for saying that I could stand to lose a few pounds.” a vein in Kasuri’s forehead started to pump blood through her face as her eye twitched and her teeth grated together. She was seriously starting to regret having no privacy in her mind when Ayago was around. Supposedly if she worked with Ayago, they would magically be able to find out what boundaries to keep, and which ones needed to be broken. Kami help her.

“And by divine providence, somehow a mission has landed in your lap.” Ayago laughed, turning into the belt-knife that Kasuri had asked for. She strapped it to her side and looked at the woman in the mirror, making sure that not a hair was out of place she ran toward the mission starting place. Apparently it was supposed to be near where she was staying at, and that is why she got the missive. A good long jog would help her endurance, at the very least. She could use with some training for her endurance. It was a long time since she went for anything more than just a leisurely jog, and it would probably be a while before she did so again. Best to enjoy the scenery and not the wheezing rasping noise her lungs were making, threatening to burn themselves out from the inside.

Ayago, while she was running there, was talking about how it was a long standing tradition, and that the flares were actually there because she had started a flare signal system in the old days.

“Ah yes, I remember it like it was yesterday.” Ayago started, Kasuri only half listening through the wheezing panting that was coming from her as she jogged along the sandy path toward the lake, hoping to find the others there. Ayago continued, “I was the one that thought up the angle flare signal, where a flare that was shot at a 45 degree angle meant that someone was in grave trouble, a 55 degree angle meant that someone needed supplies in that area, a 65 degree angle meant enemies nearby, a 75 degree angle and it meant that there was something amiss and they needed a scout, and a 90 degree angle was reserved for a need for someone with medical skills, stat.” She continued to tell Kasuri about the use, and invention of adding certain elements into the flares, which ones gave off the different colors, and the eventual abandonment of the angle in favor of the colors.

“You know that the colors were actually against my judgement.” Ayago continued, Kasuri not listening to much of it still, as she huffed and puffed along the road, already getting sweaty from the jog. How long until she met up with her people? The others assigned to this mission? “The colors actually are a boon to those that can see colors, and know what they are, but we found out early on that some people actually have a color blindness and they cant tell the difference between the red and the green flares, meaning that there are people that mistake the red flares for the green flares, and then people come running in expecting fire only to find that they’re not needed.”

“Fascinating.” Kasuri rolled her eyes and continued up the path, looking around for any of her comrades, or perhaps people that were dressed for an outing. She was making her way towards a wet-dock where she thought she saw some people already assembled. Her teammates? Perhaps.

She saw a bubblegum pink haired woman on the dock, so perhaps that was a good sign. That could only be Akiko, at least.

[1003/1000 words +2 endurance training]

[HotelBravo]

“Weak.” Jubei muttered under his breath. Akiko gasped for breath as she held the katana between her hands. Sweat dripped down her forehead. She had taken her shoulders out of her pink kimono and allowed the upper body of it to hang loosely at her waist, only a sarashi guarding her chest. She sucked in air desperately after the hard 2 hours of drills. “You’re fast girl but there is no power behind those cuts.” Jubei walked over to the straw dummy and inspecting the series of light nicks. It was a veritable collage of cuts but there was nothing that was deep enough to be called a true cut. She also hadn’t managed to slice through the straw dummy either. “I keep telling you, take it slow - focus on your technique, child. You will develop speed in time. Take a break for now, we’ll continue this later. Hold.”

A Samurai runner arrived at Jubei’s dojo, carrying a scroll. The stern Jubei looked over the messenger with scrutiny before offering his hand to accept the scroll. “I apologize Sensei - this one is for the Akibushi - Akiko.” a fox’s smile crossed Jubei’s lips as he inclined his head and the gestured to where Akiko was standing. She sheathed her katana and accepted the scroll and bowed in return to the messenger who took a prompt leave. A mission. She looked up to Jubei. “Don’t let it turn out like last time.” He said, not even turning to face her. He crossed his arms.

Akiko lowered her head in a respectful bow. She moved to the cleaning closet and pulled out tools necessary for the dojo and began to run back and forth across its waxed wooden floors - cleaning it from the sweat and work she had put in that day. She freshened up afterwards with a brief shower and finally changed into a clean Yukata. She wasn’t sure if this mission would take several days like her last mission when she teamed up with Kasuri had. The one that had taught her to fall in love with the woman, and their fight for survival in the jungle. She wouldn’t let that happen again though.

Akiko’s preparation involved packing extra clothes and supplies to help them out on the water. Fishing line in case they were stranded, rations, and a tarp for catching water if they got stranded on their boats. She thought that she was relatively prepared at least. Her gear was heavier than what she was used to. In fact it reminded her of the basic training to a degree - those long survival hikes with the heavy loads. It was an important exercise and one that had allowed her to survive with Kasuri in the early days together.

---

Akiko had made it to the docks. She was as she ever was, a proverbial ball of pink. She stood with her hands together in front of her in a pink Yukata with a katana tucked into the sash. Her long pink hair was ornamented with small white flowers and had been tied up into a bun. On her back and shoulders she wore a pink and white pack, that surely looked like it was stretching at the seems. It perhaps looked a little ridiculous considering Akiko’s height barely exceeding five feet and the pack weighing nearly half her own body weight.

She looked around for her comrades so that the mission would be able to start. It was just then that she spotted Kasuri. ”Over here my Love” She wanted to run and embrace the other woman, but she was bound and trapped by the dogma that had been drilled into her from her childhood. As free spirited as she wanted to be she just couldn’t do it, it didn’t feel right. That is perhaps one of the many things that she admired about Kasuri - the free spirit, the strong will. It was intoxicating. Akiko spotted Ayago in her familiar short blade format, tucked away like a belt knife. Akiko did hope to win the spirit’s favor someday, but aside from becoming a man she wasn’t sure what she could do to do so.

If she was a man, she figured that she would marry Kasuri up in a heart beat. Akiko felt so foolish for letting the dogma of her childhood dictate the rules for her life even now, even when she found someone that she shared a powerful bond with. ”You look lovely, and hello to you as well Ayago-sama.” Akiko held out her arms inviting the woman to an embrace.

769/750 = +1 Endurance

[Golnax]

Shiun was running late. Literally. She was running, and she was late.

The purple clad Kinoko clanswoman dashed towards the location she was supposed to meet up with her team mates for what was her very first contract ever! As such, it wasn't a terribly difficult or dangerous one, but she had spent quite a while reading and going over the scroll again and again, making sure she understood it, what she would be doing, who she'd be doing it with (she didn't recognize names), and where exactly this was all happening! What had distressed her most, though, and what made her hesitate and subsequently be late on arriving was the idea of being in a boat while doing this contract.

Shiun... Wasn't the best swimmer. She could swim, absolutely! But the thing was that the cap on top of her head made staying upright and afloat at the same time a bit... Difficult. Put simply, her buoyancy was entirely thrown off by the simple fact of her body having a giant mushroom growing out of her head, to say nothing about her ability, or lack thereof, to dive effectively! So the thought of potentially falling out of a boat into open water had filled her with existential dread for a while. Then she'd gotten ready.

Which is what lead her to this moment, running, sprinting for her life, long dark brown dreads flying behind her, sweat pouring down her face, neck and arms, taking deep, measured breathes every six steps or so, three for in, three for out, butt bag bouncing against her hip with every step because she hadn't quite secured it properly before she left! She'd almost forgotten to put Musu onto her finger even, and she never went anywhere without her spear in disguise! To put it mildly, Shiun Kinoko was a bit of a nervous wreck!

So nervous, in fact, that she thought she was Kate when, if anything, she was right on time or a bit early just like the other women she was working with that day were. Not that she knew that if course. As Shiun rounded the last corner and came barrelling down the sand of the beach towards the two older samurai and came to a skidding stop not far away from them, hunching over, hands on her knees, raking in huge gulps if air and dripping sweat like she was a rain cloud onto the beach below. The large purple mushroom cap in her head, usually wide brimmed and fanned out, had curled in on itself and risen upwards, leaving her face more exposed to the sun and easier to see than it normally was, a sign she was dehydrated, unfortunately.

"I'm sorry... That I'm... So late!" she wanted out after a few Shakey breathes, pulling her hands to her side and bending forward at the waist a bit more to turn her regaining if breathe into an apologetic bow, all while still breathing heavily. She really had gotten there as quickly as she possibly could. Her legs and upper arms burned as proof of that.

Lifting her head up, Shiun placed her pale, dead-looking eyes onto the two women she was working with. Strangely enough she was taller than both of them, even without the state of her mushroom, despite being the youngest there - a fact that was instantly obvious to her simply by looking at the two of them. Shiun was still quite young and getting used to the changes her body had gone through in the past couple of years, but it was because of those changes that she recognized the signs of an older woman when she saw it, and both of them were definitely older than she was - especially green haired one. It made this already nerve wracking job all the more anxiety inducing for her given she was expected to do the job just like this two.

Standing up straight, Shiun placed her hands in her hips and tried to slow her breathing. It took a few moments of her panting, awkwardly holding up her hand as though asking for just a moment more, rinse and repeat until she was actually able to control herself before she clapped her sweaty hands together. "So! Where's the boat?" she asked awkwardly, wanting to come off as professional and eager to get started immediately despite being the last to arrive. She didn't really get how her whole demeanor probably came off as very unprofessional and inexperienced, but hey, she had obviously gotten there as fast as she could! If either one of the women before her demanded an explanation, the girl was prepared to give it... She just hoped that the answer would be satisfactory, and the fact that this was her first time completing a contract afforded her some leniency in the eyes of her peers.


813/750, Endurance +1

[Kanade]

Kasuri arrived at the docks, panting and clutching at her side from the training, looking around for some sort of “start” where they could hop onto a boat, or at least make a patrol around the lake, “A-Akiko.” Kasuri wheezed and Ayago laughed inside her head, Winded from just this little jaunt, oh my, how utterly embarrassing, why back in my day I used to be able to run from village to village without even so much as breaking a sweat-. She continued on while Kasuri caught her breath, holding up one finger in the universal ‘wait’ sign. Her hair was all in a tangle, and once her breath came back to her she smiled at Akiko, “Thanks love, I know that I am not, but I appreciate the candor anyhow.”

She needed to get this training under control or she would not be able to perform in the ‘chuunin’ exam. What a stupid name for a military rank. -And then we went for a hike in the mountains, where we had to go swimming in an ice cold lake for a good kilometer out to the middle of the island and grab a flower in our teeth, to transport it back without it getting wet to our sensei. No use of water-walking tech- Ayago was continuing her story, Kasuri nodded, “Yeah, she says hello as well.”

She looked to the young mushroom-capped woman that came up on the other two and smiled, “Ah, so miss medic is here as well. Lovely.” She gave a short, fond kiss to Akiko, “Maybe not in front of the girl, hmm?” She put a finger to Akiko’s lips and winked. She nodded to Shiun and then wiped off a sweaty hand and proffered it to Shiun, "I am Kasuri, it is a pleasure to meet you., formally that is." then looked around, “I uh, I was almost late as well, so no need to worry about that. Did the scroll mention a boat or anything?” She inspected the scroll once more, and mumble-read it twice more, “It says something about ‘scout-boats, but uh, I don’t see the boat either?” Was she just blind?

Most likely. Ayago made a dig, finally done with her story that Kasuri had not listened to. It was good to have her back with her, rather than just making noise and spouting nonsense in her head. “Maybe there is a boatman or-” She looked around and then saw something that was leaning against a nearby tree. It had the heart insignia on it, and was roughly canoe shaped. Oh, so this was the boat?

Back in my day, we had boats that could carry whole teams of samurai, and we didn’t have to do these scouting missions. We only had them for war, and they carried eighteen oarsmen, along with a crew of heavily armed samurai- Ayago continued on with her story as Kasuri walked toward the boat, thumping its hull she wondered whether it was really water-safe, “I uh, I think this is it.” She looked at the other two and shrugged, “Best to get on with the mission then, I can work the oars, if you two want to be lookout? I am not great at it, yet, but I am hoping to be in the future.”

[willpower training: +1 (500/500)]

[HotelBravo]

”don’t worry I think we’re all just about arriving here at the same time.” She reassured Shiun. Was that mushroom a hat, or was it growing out of her head? It was incredibly impolite to stare so Akiko avoided looking in more detail as much as she wanted to confirm the odd bit of biology. She politely turned her head out towards the water. She thought of the Sea Captain - his gruff appearance and love of the water. It was only too bad he wouldn’t be here to see. Akiko was also somewhat worried about this mission given she didn’t know how to swim - but ultimately she could walk on water with chakra manipulation so she figured that she would manage somehow. She looked back briefly to her companions who were both holding up their hands as if to ask her to wait while they caught their breaths. Everyone somehow seemed out of breath except Akiko. Akiko who had initially had her arms extended for a hug lowered them instead as the mushroom girl and Kasuri both seemed to be gasping for breath. Not being the medical sort outside of first aid she wasn’t sure if there was something serious going around, but both of them held up their hands showing that they were fine and just needed a moment to breath. So, Akiko waited.

Akiko had really meant what she had said in thinking that Kasuri looked lovely, but she didn’t want to have a dispute about it. To Akiko, the tangled hair was far from looking like a bird’s nest or any other comparison of untidiness. The hair, the sweat on the skin, it all made her look active. Healthy. It was a look Akiko appreciated. Akiko couldn’t really explain her attraction to Kasuri, but it wasn’t anything physical. It stemmed from a deeper place she thought, perhaps from the soul? They still lived apart so it couldn’t be co-depency right? Akiko gave a soft smile hearing that Ayago said hello as well.

Akiko made a brief squeak at suddenly being pulled into a kiss with Kasuri. It was short, but it meant a lot and it was beautiful - and it took Akiko’s breath away. Then a finger was pressed to her lips - Akiko’s lips were sensitive to the callus to tough skin of a Kyudoka - a practitioner of the bow. The forceful nature of it all had brought pink to the pink girl’s cheeks. Akiko was left wanting more, and it really wasn’t fair that Kasuri pushed all her buttons and right before the mission. It would be inappropriate to bring it up now though so Akiko pent her frustration up behind her formality. She rubbed her cheeks, to manage some of the warmth she felt.

She turned to Shiun, the mushroom capped young woman who Kasuri had called a girl. Shiun seemed full figured and an adult to Akiko’s eyes, though Kasuri’s words seemed to suggest otherwise and there was just something a little off about the way Shiun behaved… something innocent.

”My name is Akiko.” Akiko introduced herself to Shiun with a polite bow. Kasuri then made to inspect her scroll and mumbled to herself as she looked around for their vessel. ”I brought the flares that we will need.” She said, adjusting her pack and pulling out the flares and handing them to Shiun. There was a series of different colors; blue for hazards such as sea creatures, red for human sized hazards like pirates, and lastely there was an extra supply of red flares as a the double red flare was a signal for help. Kasuri had found the boat they were to use, which seemed rather small, but then it was what Akiko presumed was a short race.

”I will handle the steering.” Akiko took an oar for herself. ”Before that, shouldn’t we check in with the race officials? Perhaps we should let them know that we are here so we can coordinate better with them.” Akiko tilted her head at her companions. She only wanted to make sure that she did things properly, and this was would only be proper if they spoke to the people running this race. Akiko wasn’t found of the memories of Shark Country and the war. She could only hope for more peaceful times and that this boat race would be different than the Shark Country she remembered as a child.

750/750 +1 endurance

[Golnax]

"Wow, are you guys lesbians together?" Shiun blurted out, her first and really only reaction to seeing the other two women kiss! Much like many of the other times that she let her mouth run away with her, the young Kinoko almost felt compelled to comment on the brief, almost platonic kiss, bringing to light just how sudden and u expected it was in the first place from her point of view. Shiun wasn't really used to public displays of affection so the kiss was, to her, something new and novel, something to be commented on. She didn't really get how rude she'd been, which was why she didn't back pedal. She had nothing but curiosity in the moment.

Introductions were made and, for a moment, Shiun just kind of... Stared at Kasuri. Hmmm, Kasuri, Kasuri... Had they met before? Her face was kind of familiar... Shiun turned to the other maybe-lesbian and gave her a squint. Nope, no memory of Akiko's name or face. Back to Kasuri then. Shiun narrowed her eyes even further, it was right on the tip of her tongue...

Then the microwave in her brain dinged and she was inundated all at once with memories of the Iron Festival, the bump, the fall, meeting Akihito, saving him from choking to death, the whole nine! "Hey! I know you! Sort of!" Shiun again blurted out, pointing at Kasuri right as she was beginning to go over the scroll and mumble to herself, which meant that Shiun did go a bit ignored in the moment. Not to worry, though, her other teammate Akiko was there to give her her responsibilities for this contract.

"Buh...?" Shiun vocalized as she was handed the flares, taking them without complaint but just kinda looking at them in her hands for a moment. Oh yeah! The scroll had mentioned flares and what they were supposed to be used for. Huh... Well it was a good thing that Akiko had brought them because Shiun had completely forgotten her set back at the hotel after she woke up and realized she was late! Still, being out in charge of flare duty did kinda feel like a lot of responsibility. She hoped she wouldn't screw it up...

Right about the same time she was being passed the flares, Kasuri spoke up and pointed out the boat leaning against a tree. Seeing how small and kinda shabby it looked, Shiun was immediately on the fast track for being useful for the first time this mission, her mind immediately going to the fact that they could use the water walking jutsu to just walk rather than use a boat! That was way cooler anyways! She opened her mouth to express as such when Akiko spoke before her, suggesting that they instead check in with the officials to let them know they'd arrived and that Heart had actually sent samurai to do the job they were hired for.

Shiun snapped her mouth shut and pursed her lips. That... Was actually a much better suggestion. Taking the flares and stuffing them as best she could in her butt bag, the pyrometric tools sticking out the top with the flap just kind of hanging over them, she actually spoke up again, saying, "I agree with Akiko, that sounds like a good idea," a bit sheepishly. Shiun was starting to internally drag herself down some. Not only had she gotten up late, she'd forgotten the flares and she didn't have any good ideas on how to proceed apparently! Because of all of that she was happy to defer to whatever the two older women said for the moment. Clearly they were more experienced than she was, and it was good to step back and let someone with more experience make decisions, right?


635/500 - Willpower +1

[Nick]

Ahh, the follies of youth, expecting people with experience and competence to be in charge of things. They were young, and some day, once they were adults, they would understand that nobody knew what they were doing, especially not adults, and everyone just faked it until they made it, and even once they'd made it they so rarely knew what or why or how they'd made it in the first place. This was no less true for the older man who came running up to them waving, wearing a fairly traditional fisherman's outfit of a pair of very short pants mixed with a heavy top and a wide-brimmed hat to try and save him from the sun.

"Are you the kids from the academy?" He asked, and didn't bother waiting for an answer as he continued. "Great! The race is just going to get started here shortly..." He said, gesturing out to the docks not too far away from where they were, showcasing a lot more serious sailboats than the dinky little raft they'd found waiting for themselves. The boats were all small-ish vessels, from fishing crafts to boats that had been handcrafted to participate in races like this one, and more importantly all looked to be of different origins. Shark country's population within the empire was small these days, but still this festival was for them and so their showing was quite large, even a few fish-like members of the Shuryō (one of the few families that remained with Tea Country, larger men and women who resembled whale-sharks rather than their usually sleeker cousins that had moved to Water Country during the great war) made a showing here.

The man handed them pamphlets advertising the boat race, as if they were simply tourists. The pamphlet contained a bit of general information about the race, along with a map detailing the route that the boats would be asked to take.

"Kyoutei is a day in early summer when a grand boat race is held. This holiday originates from Shark Country, and celebrates a creation myth wherein the god of the sea brought the first humans to land as punishment, and they now race back out to sea in defiance. These races are typically held in small to mid-size boats with crews ranging from 2-5 people. The destination of the race changes every year, with some races lasting only a few hours, and others going nearly a week long." "Haha, you kids are gonna do great!" He said, seemingly out of nowhere, taking an awkward moment to pat each of them on the shoulder. "You guys know what you're doing, right? Ahh I'm sure they sent kids good at boating, and kids these days can all run on water anyway..." He continued, getting distracted for a moment as he looked them over. "Oh, great! You've got the flares, boat's over there, if you paddle fast you can probably make the entire route before night falls, and the ships will be about two hours behind you if you leave soon. Well, good luck out there, kids!" He said, walking away pretty much immediately, and without any kind of ceremony. Adults knew what they were doing though, right?

Obstacle One (Open immediately!)Show

Obstacle one is simple! All you have to do is not die! Within the first leg of the race, before the turn is made around the small island pictured above, you will encounter a series of whirlpools that have no right being there! Awfully rude of them, and very inconsiderate. While not horribly dangerous, not taking appropriate time to navigate the waters or refusing to lose precious time by going around them could result in the entire boat being sucked under the waves!

Obstacle Two (Don't open until you've overcome obstacle one!)Show

Obstacle two is also simple! All you have to do is not die! After overcoming the whirlpools one way or another, on the back side of the small island, the crew will encounter... A small pirate ship! If the party previously decided to lose precious time by going around the whirlpools, the pirate ship will be directly in their way, and more importantly, in the way of the race! It is not the party's job to dispatch the pirates, but rather warn the participants of their existence and get out safely, but that doesn't mean the pirates wont try to stop you! The pirates will be a group of 6 D-rank threats: Able to be overcome if the party chooses to engage, but a serious challenge for this group of fresh-faced academy students!

If the party took a riskier but faster route and succeeded, the pirates will be visible in the distance, but much easier to evade this time around!

Obstacle Three (Don't open until you've overcome obstacle two!)Show

Obstacle three is... Well, none of them have really been all that simple, right? But you still only need to not die! On the way back to Xincha, about at the midway point after making the turn around the island, the final obstacle will reveal itself! Or will it?

If the party took the fast route through the first obstacle and survived, and chose not to engage the pirates in the second obstacle, the third obstacle... Simply doesn't exist! Don't worry about it!

If the party took the fast route through the first obstacle and survived, but either chose to engage the pirates or were caught by them and forced to engage, the obstacle will exist: A gigantic shark bigger than our three party members combined, and clearly with some kind of chip on its shoulder! It will rock the boat at first, but quickly become a nuisance that cannot be ran from, a C-rank threat that will be quite difficult to fight against especially on its home turf of... underwater, but a fight the party must overcome regardless!

If the party took the slow route through both obstacles, or otherwise wasted too much time, the obstacle will be there, but worse! The time spent on the first two obstacles will really show as the sun goes down faster than you expected, forcing you to not only deal with the obstacle mentioned above, but now it's in the dark! Truly a terror of the seas!

[HotelBravo]

At Shiuns Question, Akiko’s face grew a little pink, but then she thought better of it and more possessively wrapped a hand around Kasuri’s waist. A bold move from timid Akiko, but she could be bold at times, especially when pushed. ”If you are asking if we are together, then yes. I don’t consider myself much of a lesbian, but our relationship I think transcends physical attraction. Its something more romantic.” Akiko looked into Kasuri’s eyes with a dreamy expression before returning herself back to the reality of the race. After speaking Akiko recognize that maybe she was a little bit of a lesbian after all. While she didn’t tend to find herself attracted to most women, looking at Kasuri did things to her. She cleared her throat as a light dusting of pink rose to her cheeks. She had caught herself thinking lewd thoughts and that was just inappropriate for a lady like Akiko. She couldn’t help it; Chivalry was so charming, and when Kasuri was chivalrous she was so damn attractive.

”Actually - maybe there is a little physical attraction involved.” Akiko admitted. After all, Kasuri’s body had been shaped by her constant practice of the bow. Many would think ill of the bow, but Akiko had seen how the bow had shaped Kasuri’s muscle in her arms. That wasn’t all that was great about Kasuri though. The dauntless need for perfection, Akiko could feel that in her soul. While Akiko studied the blade, Kasuri the bow. They both chased after their own instruments but did so with the same passion. Though it was different tools, the passion was incredibly attractive to Akiko. Kasuri tended to be much more free-spirited, in Akiko’s opinion at least. Akiko admired how Kasuri could seemingly do anything she wanted. In her own life, she felt the bonds with her family like heavy chains - the disapproval of her parents on her shoulders felt like a great burden, but at the same time she just couldn’t let Kasuri go. It was honestly unfair to both her parents and Kasuri.

Akiko felt heartbroken that she wouldn’t be able to make them both happy. She loved her parents and didn’t want to disappoint them, but they weren’t approving of a relationship with a woman. At the same time she loved Kasuri, and was jealous when she turned her attention to anyone else, though Akiko would never be able to admit it, she did want Kasuri to herself.


”I apologize, I didn’t get your name. Would you mind repeating it for my sake?” Akiko asked of Shiun. Akiko let her arms slip away from Kasuri’s side as she realized she had dropped the oar on the ground to do so. Akiko stooped to pick up and politely held her hands together with the oar in hand as she waited for Shiun to introduce herself as well.

As if to answer Akiko’s inquiry from earlier, a random man ran up to them. ”Oh! Excellent are you one of the people facilitating the race?” She would ask, but then the old man would just start talking and not give her a single chance to interrupt or ask any questions. It honestly grated on her nerves quite a bit and she didn’t like being called a child, not after all the things that she had been through. The little miss pink grew pink in the face as she tried to control her temper at the rude old man who stuffed pamphlets in their hands and kept talking about random things and then just left. Her first and only thought on the topic was that this whole thing was turning out much more humiliating than she had ever considered it would. She expected some level of respect even though she wasn’t a high-ranking samurai, but the nonchalant manner was so unprofessional, and then the old man just walked off after all he had said and done. ”Wait!” She tried calling after him, but he was already gone.

Akiko rubbed her temples and took a deep breath. She needed to show that she was still put together even if it turned out that this whole place was a disaster. It really grated on her nerves how disorganized this even was. That made it incredibly dangerous - and then they wanted the three samurai to be responsible ones. They were only here at their request! ”That- that was…” She was speechless for a full-on minute. ” That was not helpful in the least.” she complained. Her voice was awash with her disappointment. Maybe she should have arranged for this whole thing? It all seemed so impromptu like someone just wanted an excuse for the three samurai ladies to be here at the boat race.

She took a deep sigh before she collected herself once more. ”The course of the boat race is too far to reasonably use the water walking technique the whole way. I dare say that we would be out of chakra before too long - so at the very least we’ll need a boat so that we can rest and conserve our energy. If anything happens, we can of course use the water walking technique to get out on the water to handle any threats.” Akiko continued, having decided to take the lead on this. It was better for her mental health after all - she had a particular way she liked things getting done, and the chaos was not good for her stress or mental health.

”I suppose let's get this over with. Please help me move the boat into the water.” she walked back over to the canoe that they had found earlier leaning by a tree and began to work with the other girls to get the boat into the water at the docks. ”Since, I’m handling steering, I’ll be at the back, and Kasuri will take the middle” With the boat now properly in the water, Akiko instinctively reached for Kasuri’s hand as she

1000/1000 Due to event +2 Chakra Pool

[Golnax]

"Huh, that's cool I guess," Shiun replied to Akiko regarding the whole lesbian thing. She seemed very nonchalant about it all despite seemingly being excited in the first place, but the truth was that Shiun was ambivalent at best about the fact that the two women she was working with liked to kiss and hold hands and stuff. In fact the bit about physical attraction went right over the Kinoko's head! Fact was Shiun, despite appearances, was just too young to be properly caring about things like romance or physical attraction and what have you. Here one and only love was the ninja if the world for the time being!

"Oh, sorry, uh, Shiun Kinoko, fellow Akibushi at your service!" Shiun introduced herself to the pink-to-her-purple samurai, bowing her head forward respectfully. It was about that time that an old local came up and started talking about the race, handing them pamphlets which Shiun took and opened up to start reading. A lot of what was in here was stuff he was already saying, but, oooh, a map! It looked unfinished though. Shiun grabbed the side of the pamphlet with her fingers only to find that it unfolded to reveal the entire length of the race! Wow! That looked really, really long! And she, for one, did not know any Suiton that might make this boat ride faster! She wondered if the other two did?

Lifting her head up Shiun was officially not paying attention to the exposition man as she caught sight of some of the fishy local people! Gasping with delight her pale eyes sparkles as she gawked at their weird fishy bodies! So gross! So cool! So that's what a Shark Country person looked like huh?! Awesome! She didn't start laying attention again until Akiko requested her help moving the boat, at which time Shiun broke her state from the fish people and said, "Oh! Yeah, of course!" before rushing over to help the other two women get the canoe into the water. As she helped carry the thing she looked out at all the wide variety of boats, lamenting that they didn't get a nice fancy boat like that to work on...

Seeing as how Akiko was both older and taking up the role of leader, the less experienced Shiun was happy to go along with her orders. She was a little less happy about the fact that she'd be at the front of the boat, which effectively meant her duties had doubled from shooting flares to being the lookout on top of things... She really hoped she didn't screw this up! Trepidation aside, Shiun would climb into and take a seat at the front of the canoe, looking down at the sea water as the tide gently crashed against the front end of their little boat.

"... Out of curiosity, so either of you know how to use suiton? You know like, in case we need it for anything?" Shiun asked Akiko and Kasuri, looking to the two older women and hoping beyond hope that one or both of them knew the one elemental style of jitsu that would be most beneficial on the water. Shiun didn't have a hope or a prayer of being able to do any other element than Kinton it seemed, elemental ninjutsu easily her worst area of study!


562/500 - Strength +1

[Kanade]

Kasuri started to move the boat to the water with Akiko, nodding to her sage comments about whether the man was helpful or not, which he wasn't and looked over to Shiun, "Yes, it's cool that we're lesbians, let's get into the boat and we can talk while we are rowing, I'll take to the oars, and Akiko will steer so that leaves you with the flare duty, hmm?" Once the boat was to the water, the two girls flipped it and put it out into the wake. Kasuri scrambled to get ahold of it as it started to rock and sway and blunder its way out into the open water, "You two jump in and I'll steady it and push us out past the wake, then I'll get in and row."

Kasuri was wondering what possessed her to take this mission in the first place, but she supposed that it was all for the sake of the Chuunin exam, getting stronger for that, and for impressing Akiko and keeping up with her. After all, how could she be involved with someone of a higher rank than her? Easy, Ayago butted into the conversation, You get a hunk like the Shogun to take you to bed, you bear his child and then you see where it takes you. At the very least you'll be set up for life, and you could get a wet nurse to take care of the baby. Just think of all the luxury that you could enjoy when you're not out saving the country using my bow. How dignified your kimonos could be. She continued to prattle on while Kasuri adamantly looked at the bottom of the rowboat and not at Akiko. It was best to not shoot anyone any dirty looks when Ayago went into these sorts of tangents about living life at large. She lived vicariously through Kasuri and was rather annoyed with her right now for having no home life whatsoever.

It was training day in and day out with Kasuri at the moment, and Ayago was accustomed to a more relaxed training regimen, with plenty of time for tea. She even claimed to be able to use Kasuri's taste buds for drinking it, and would critique teahouses on how good or bad the tea tasted.

"Hop aboard ladies, let's shove off and avast, and yar?" Kasuri tried her best pirate voice, which sounded rather silly with her accent from Heart country. Levity brings happiness, as her mother said. As soon as the other girls were in the boat she made a mad dash with the water walking technique and then jumped in, almost capsized the row boat and they were off on their adventure, out into the wide open sea between the islets and the mainland.

"Not too bad once you get the hang of it all, I suppose." Kasuri laughed, and started to pump the oars, her shoulder muscles straining underneath the weight of the three girls plus provisions as she tried to set a pace where she wouldn't tire, but would make good time. Rowing was easy enough when you drew a bow over five hundred times in one day.
[553/500 strength training]