How to Train Your Shroom

[Kabu]

It was a rare day with no classes to teach and no official duties to take care of and so Kurone had decided it to be a day for training. She was sure she could get some work of her own done but this day wasn't so much for her however. She had received news of some kind of international Chuunin Exams approaching. After taking some time to learn the history and general purpose of the event she had taken it on herself to gather a list of potential applicants from within the Empire. There seemed to be a few promising candidates and among them one particular name had caught her eye, a young girl from her clan by the name of Shiun.

With that in mind she was clad not in her usual dress but rather a halter top and pants with knee high boots and making her way towards the girl's home. As she walked she took a deep breath and attempted to relax her stiff facial expressions. Her usual frown quickly returned however as a quick look around revealed others attempting to clear from her path. Well clearly that had been a miserable failure, she knew very well that she looked scary when trying to smile but it still hurt to get such an easily visible reaction to it. All she wanted was to be able to smile just a little bit so as not to scare the girl she was about to be working with. She had thought for sure it would get easier as she got older but even now she couldn't smile at will. In some ways it felt like it had gotten even harder.

"Oh well, now isn't the time to be getting depressed. I need to shape up!" she muttered to herself in an attempt to pump herself up as she approached her destination.

Once relaxed she knocked on the door of the home, taking another deep breath as she waited. Honestly she was a bit nervous now that she was here but this really wasn't the time... All she could do now was wait.

[Golnax]

Shiun wasn't expecting company and there was a knock at the door. She jumped, standing in front of the mirror as she was, and reflexively covered herself up! The young Kinoko had been staring at herself in the mirror, wearing nothing but her birthday suit, studying her body as it were. Shiun, it was important to know, was still a girl getting used to the changes in her body. In a way, all Kinoko were perpetually in this state of being because of the fungal growths that gradually took over their body, warping their flesh into something completely unrecognizable the older they got. Still, though, for the girls of the clan, as with most people's everywhere, the changes could be especially jarring when combined with the pubescent changes everyone experienced.

"Uh, just a MINUTE!" she shouted at the top of her lungs as she scrambled to get dressed as quickly as possible. It was a mad dash running around her room in her apartment, tossing on clothes, making sure everything was straight. In a way it was a luxury she could still afford since the only fungal growth was on her head so she didn't necessarily have to take her time getting ready. Still though, she didn't want to be rude to whoever it was that had shown up at her door, so she hurried as much as she could.

Once all of her clothes were on, sans her sandals, Shiun rushed to the door, straightening up her purple speckled dress as she went, and opened the door, looking upwards as she expected whoever it was to be taller than her by a few inches, only to find that she had drastically overestimated the size of her guest. She turned her head downward to find that she was standing before... A fellow Kinoko! Two inches shorter than she was but, definitely a Kinoko! Her dark skin and especially the black with white speckled mushroom cap confirmed it! She'd recognize it anywhere!

"Oh! Uh, hello there... Can I help you uh... Senpai?" she asked as she looked the older Kinoko over further and making the determination that, despite their height difference, the Kinoko before her was older. A Kinoko can always tell another Kinoko's age, roughly speaking, by the fungal growths they sported, and the black capped woman has mushrooms growing not just in her head but out of the back of her hands and at least a couple on her back from what she could tell based on how her clothing hugged her body. That many growths easily made her older by five years, minimum, if not more. Her expression was kind of eerie though, even for a Kinoko.

"Uh, sorry, it's just I've uh... I haven't seen anyone from home for a while now... Uh, do you want to come inside?" Shiun asked nervously, stepping aside and offering the older woman entrance to her first floor apartment. She didn't know what this visit was about, she was still flustered from getting ready so fast, and this was another Kinoko she was dealing with; the least she could do was try and be hospitable.


527/500 - Speed +1

[Kabu]

Kurone was growing gradually more concerned as she waited, hearing hurried footsteps coming from inside. For a moment she wondered if maybe she had come at a bad time and interrupted something. She did feel a bit bad at the thought but regardless she was already here with a job to do and she was going to do it. After all what kind of irresponsible adult would she be if she backed out at a time like this?

She would luckily be driven out of her own thoughts by the sound of the door opening, a very purple girl with a mushroom cap emerging from the other side. She was honestly surprised to find the girl herself having answered the door rather than one of her parents. Before she could wonder whether the girl was alone that question was soon answered in itself. She did wonder about the circumstances but for now at least that wasn't her place. More pressing was the fact that the girl seemed to be quite nervous. Well, it wasn't like she could blame her for that, she had after all shown up rather suddenly and unannounced as well.

In any case... "Now now, no need to be so nervous. We're family, right? she spoke, a warmth and gentleness in her tone that betrayed her facial expressions, or lack thereof. As she spoke she stretched upwards, the heels of her feet raising upwards just slightly as she reached up to pat the girl on her head. It was a bit embarrassing to have to reach up towards a girl so much younger than herself but she was used to it.

With that all said she followed the girl inside, finding it best to have this discussion inside. [color=00C993]"Oh, first things first I should introduce myself. I am Kinoko Kurone, 23 years old, Natsubushi and part time instructor."[/color] she began once they were inside and situated, waiting for anything Shiun may have to say before continuing. "There's something known as a Chuunin Exam approaching and you've been placed down as a potential candidate." she continued, watching for Shiun's reactions as she thought about her next few words. She had done a bit of research before coming here and had some understanding that the girl had something of an identity crisis and seemed to have something of a lack of confidence.

"Both as an older relative and as a teacher I... was hoping to be of some assistance in your training." She found her own confidence faltering for just the briefest of moments, though she just as quickly recollected herself as she hoped Shiun wouldn't notice.

"Sooo... what do you say?"

[Golnax]

Getting patted on the head was... Weird. It wasn't just that she was taller by a couple of inches, but just the act in general was kinda strange to Shiun. No one else patted her mushroom cap like that, in fact she suspected most were afraid to touch it at all. So this older Kinoko with a blank expression and kind words giving her this gesture of affection made her seem even stranger in Shiun's eyes. "Right, family. Uh, come in, come in," Shiun said, stepping aside and letting Kurone in through the door.

Shiun's apartment was extremely basic, almost bare, and a bit sloppy. She was alone there with no parents to tell her to clean up or anything and she usually spent most of her time outside, coming home only to sleep, bathe and occasionally eat when she wasn't eating somewhere else at the moment. There was few bits of furnishing around that were haphazardly placed and the whole place smelled of fungus and mold despite the fact it wasn't THAT dirty - a simple byproduct of Shiun being a Kinoko. Kurone likely wouldn't even notice since she was one herself.

As the pair sat down and Kurone got to the point, Shiun lit up! "Oh! Yes! The international Chunin exams! I'm aware of them!" Shiun chimed in, raising both of her fists up excitedly and sitting up on her knees. "I've been training by myself and with others since they were announced! I want to represent our clan and the Heart Empire by doing my very best and showing the world what the Kinoko can do!"

Though she didn't say, she was also excited to see some ninja in action - or even the chance to do so, really. There had been no announcement yet as to what the exam itself would be composed of so there wasn't actually any official statement saying that ninja and samurai would be acting together, but the fact that Heart Empire Akibushi had been invited to partake with the possibility of promotion was more than enough to get Shiun excited!

"That would be PERFECT, Kurone-senpai!" Shiun enthusiastically agreed. "You must know lots of clan techniques that you could teach me to help me get ready for the exam! Or I could practice my own stuff and you give pointers! Oh, either one would work! When can we get started!?" she demanded to know, smiling wide as she placed her hands on her knees and leaned forward to look at her cousin more closely.