The Cord of Destiny

[King of Cats]

It was a cool, calm night in Tea and the skies were clear, as usual for a day in the dead of winter. Roku had just arisen from his mid day nap and he was more than excited to get the day going. Roku had some salted sucker fish in his pocket and before he got up from the ground he was sleeping on he grabbed a bite. Roku loved salty fish, it was one of his all time favorite flavors. The shark man slowly chewed the deliciousness down and then got up from the grass he had been laying in. Roku liked to live a peaceful life, and that was often a quiet one. Of course on this particular day Roku did not expect quietness.

Among the samurai caste of Tea Roku was known as an exceptionally talented warrior. Besides his tenacious practice with Suiton, Roku was known for having a masterful talent with his fishing pole on the battlefield. To his surprise Roku was invited for the first time by a group of Fuyubushi to train some up and coming samurai in how to deal with unique weapons. Roku was always known for his skill with a fishing pole. He had famously pants a rival samurai during a spar by using his fishing hook to delicately cut at the mans clothes. Roku was also well known for tying his opponents up in his fishing line, something that proved more useful as Roku became familiar with Yoshijutsu.

Walking through the little woodland that Roku had slept in he manifested Hideoyoshi, the Great Soldier of Fortune. They had been bound together for years but they didn't exactly get along and with the days plans Roku knew he would need to have a talk with Hideoyoshi on their "plans for privacy." Roku held the golden bamboo stick in hi hand. The fishing line was wrapped around the pole and the hook was fastened to the handle of the pole. "Oh you plan on using me eh, fool?" Hideoyoshi said as he woke up. The Soldier of Fortune often slept when Roku wasn't using him. At one time Hideoyoshi had watched Roku's every move but the spirit was quite frankly bored with his host. Roku wanted to live privately, he didn't want attention drawn to him for Hideoyoshi's great luck. At least before he mastered it.

Talking to Hideoyoshi, Roku said; "Listen. I'm gonna be training young kids today, line to sword. Don't be talking, or using any Yoshijutsu against my will. Don't fuck with these kids Serendipity Fields. And dont talk." Roku emphasized that Hideoyoshi didn't talk. The Blue Tailed Beast didn't expect Hideoyoshi to hold back. The spirit loved to manipulate others luck, he got high off it. This was the perfect chance to break a back for Hideoyoshi, and the bandit planned on making a mess of it for Roku. Nevertheless he grunted like he was bothered by Roku's request.

After a couple of hours of walking Roku made it to the small castle of a compound that he would be training these students. He was wearing his usual light blue linen robe, wide open at the chest and exposing his blue scales. Roku held Hideoyoshi in his hands and strolled casually up to the giant front door. The harubushi banged on the door witht he knocker and he was quickly let in. After he was guided to where he would be training the students Roku looked around and took in the room. These were definitely private lessons and it was clear that the senpai of the students expected great things from them. All of the students were wielding katana, except for the one who was equipped with a long spear. Roku noticed they were all rather young and it was obvious to him that not all of the people in the room were students.

WordCount: 646
Training: (600/600) +1 Mastery

[Nick]

Goro was gone. For maybe the the first time in known memory, Goro was not waiting just around the corner, smoking a cigarette and acting like nobody could see him, and he was most certainly not watching Suzuko's every move with that disappointed glare he often had. The girl who was his charge to watch over felt... wrong about it by comparison, as if something was wrong the whole time. He'd told her he had some 'official business' to attend to, whatever that meant, and then left without so much as a lesson plan on what to do while he was gone! Now, she'd been alone for an entire day, unsure of what to do or when or how, and didn't even have Shiun around to make use of what was ostensibly 'free' time.

Not knowing what else to do with the time, she began to train. It wasn't a vacation from her schooling by any means, which meant that she had a duty to not only herself, but her country as well to make sure she was in top shape. Being in the pilot program meant a lot of stress on the backend of meaning more to the country by the minute in terms of their diplomatic relations with other nations and their own students, and on top of that she was being made into some kind of test subject for these steam powered puppets that were starting to become more widespread in the empire.

Her mechanic who'd worked so hard on her puppet said he had some upgrades he'd wanted to throw her way, but didn't think that Suzuko's scrawny body could handle the extra power, and while that had initially made her extra angry, she realized that he was probably right. She was strong for a girl her age, certainly, but not strong for a warrior of the Heart Empire, which lead her to what she was doing now: pushups. She'd been invited to some weapons training exercise via the school having to do with unusual weapons, which she thought might help her adaptability, but as with most times in her life, arrived far too early.

When Roku walked in the door, Suzuko would be on the ground, arms extended out underneath her, slowly bending her arms to bring her nose closer to the ground, and at this point clearly struggling after an unknown amount of the arm exercise. She had been keeping track initially, but lost track of it as the threads that connected herself to others started to distract and confuse her. Focusing on anything was hard in a crowd due to it, even after she'd learned to control it much better, but while physically exhausting herself it was even more difficult.

Sweat dripped down her brow at a prodigious rate, and as she pushed herself back up to nearly locked elbows, she took a moment to look around. A couple of others were standing around and chatting with their classmates, whilst others were following her example to a lesser degree, stretching themselves out so as to avoid injury in their coming exercise. She felt a twinge in her shoulder and realized too late that maybe it would have been best had she done the same before going straight into this strength training. Slowly, she started to lower herself again, when the door was opened and the shuryo clansman walked in, the surprise of which was palpable on her face, and also in the fact that the shock made her fall to the floor.

They weren't unheard of, and she'd even met one before, but they were certainly a rarity, with likely less than a dozen still within what used to be Shark Country. Still, she didn't raise herself off the ground for a few moments, and did her best to avoid staring as she slowly righted herself, first into a sitting position, and then back up to standing. He was the eldest person here, and so she assumed he was likely to be their instructor today, and she stood to attention, waiting eagerly to see what this new teacher could show her!

[strength +1]

[King of Cats]

As Roku settled his eyes on the trainees he noticed there was a younger girl on the ground mercilessly tiring herself out with push ups. The fisherman wondered what kind of resolve she had to work so hard, after all he had a rigorous training session to put these kids under. The Shuryo was holding his fishing pole and set it on the ground next to him, standing on the base end of the pole and balancing it delicately. Hideoyoshi's luck helping Roku find the perfect position to balance the pole on.

"Okay everyone, focus now. I'm Roku Shuryo. I'm a Harubushi of Heart, and your upper classman have elected me to teach you a little something about combat." Roku began walking from point to point, covering the line up of students in his walk and eyeing them up personally. Roku walked very slowly and made sure to size up each samurai before he finished his introduction. "A little about myself for the curious.. I grew up in the country. I never knew my father, and have trained to be a samurai since I was much younger than any of you. I don't eat meat, only fish; and my preferred weapon of choice is a fishing pole."

Roku was standing in front of the girl who had been practicing her strength training on the ground. She seemed sturdy and strong. "Now I don't know about you all, and we don't have time to get into it. But what I want to know from each of you is your preferred weapon in combat. Your bread and butter, so to speak." Roku walked away from the girl and back to his fishing pole. The shark skinned man kicked Hideoyoshi into the air and caugh it in an elegant display of showmanship.

Suddenly Roku whipped his wrist at one of the boys who was standing next to the girl. As the line soared through the air Roku altered his own Serendipity Field by using Hideoyoshi's secret Yoshijutsu. The wind suddenly blasted through an open window in the complex and the fishing line took an unexpected turn. Where the boy was going to dodge, away from Suzuko, the line was now going to catch him perfectly. The boy tried to make a dart toward Suzuko but it was too late, he was trapped by Roku's steel wire fishing line. The boy hit the ground pretty hard in front of Suzuko. "Just in case anyone doubted my skills. Now, tell my your weapon of choice boy." Roku was smiling. The boy grunted out something about Iado and Roku scoffed. "A swordsman could never hold a candle to my fishing pole, truth be told." Roku began channeling chakra through Hideoyoshi and altering the boys Serendipity Field. Roku planned on making this boy work hard today by lowering the vibrational compactness of Serendipity Waves in his body. In short tht meant he would have extremely bad luck. The boy hadn't done anything wrong, it was simply just meant to be that way for him. He had bad luck. Roku snapped his wrist again and laxed the line, allowing the boy to crawl out.

"Okay young lady, what about you?" The fisherman leaned down and put his face to the girls. She could smell his fish breath. Roku looked happy but his fish face was remarkable. His scales were textured and looked sharp, his eyes had a most inhuman gloss over them, and most of all Roku's dozens of sharp, white shark teeth were poking out. He was inspecting the girl. She seemed to stick out from the others and Roku was genuinely curious what her answer would be.

WordCount: 618
Training: (600/600) +1 Mastery

[Nick]

Suzuko stood at perfect attention, embodying the very visage of a vicariously virtuous student. She was studying her new teacher at the same time that he was speaking, both listening to his words and looking over everything about him, the way he carried himself, they way he spoke, and of course how he was interacting with the students around him. He seemed friendly enough, at least at first, which felt like a welcome change over Goro, who constantly acted like he'd rather be doing anything besides teaching and looking after her. Being reminded of that felt like a weight was off her chest for the barest moment, as she didn't feel like she was a burden to someone for the first time in a long time.

Something about Roku's backstory resonated with her at first as well. Goro was from a noble family, an actually local noble family who held a decent bit of sway over the goings-on in the Empire due to their massive farming endeavors, and that always kept Suzuko on edge. With Roku being a, for lack of a better term, simpleton, she didn't feel like she had to fear repercussions from his family if she disrespected him like she sometimes worried about with Goro. The bandage-wearing man maybe wasn't as bad as she made him out to be, but he certainly didn't respect that there was a difference between a child and a fully grown adult, and that was probably why he was constantly displeased with her performance, even if she was doing quite well compared to her peers. Her peers were children, after all, not mighty samurai capable of wielding hundreds of swords at once.

Her opinion of the Shuryo clansman changed a bit as he taunted and toyed with one of the male students standing nearby. She watched as the boy fruitlessly tried to dodge out of the way, and flinched a bit when he changed directions to head towards her, stepping back a bit to avoid having him run into her, but thankfully he was caught up in the wire before he could bowl her over and make a fool of both of them. She sucked in a breath through her teeth, and rolled her shoulders, her heart racing just a bit from the short encounter, and just as it was getting ready to calm down, she was called out to directly. She pointed at herself dumbly for a moment, before gulping and working up how to answer.

Her mind raced a bit, the real answer would be the steam powered puppets that she'd been selected to learn how to run and experiment with before they were rolled out within the empire's military, but she also figured she couldn't bring the puppet out in front of the class, especially since she'd left Fukurou-kun hung up out in the hall so he wouldn't get in the way or scare any of the other kids. This left only one real answer, and she knelt down to pick up her spear off the ground, a fairly normal looking spear, but wrapped in bandages from the halfway point on, using her other hand to expertly wrap one of the ends of the bandages around her wrist.

"I use a combination of ranged weapons, and this spear, sir." She said, stepping to the side a bit and glancing around to make sure she wasn't going to hit anyone, before doing a quick combination of wide sweeping movements with the spear, before thrusting once, twice, and then a third time... But releasing the spear from her grip in the third thrust, letting it fly out of her grasp, only to be choked off by the other end of the bandages tied around the base, extending the reach of the spear twofold without ever really properly losing grip of it. With a snap of her wrist, she pulled the spear back mid thrust, before jamming its butt into the ground next to her. "It's not... All that dissimilar from your fishing pole, I suppose?" She said, hopefully, a little on edge at the attention on her, worried that she'd be tied up like her classmate was.

[Speed +1]

[King of Cats]

Roku's pointed ear's were twitching with the words of the girls replies. With every period in her sentences Roku's ear suddenly twitched. It was a sign that the fisherman was listening intently. He stepped back to give the girl some of her space as she picked up her spear and swiveled it around, quite expertly he thought. She seemed to have a lot of promise and Roku was happy that there was someone serious among the group. The boy Roku had tossed to the ground was definitely not going to live up to the potential of this girl. Roku could tell by how he whined when he hit the ground, and the way this girl seemed to pay attention to her classmate hitting the ground indicated she was a special case. Roku immediately decided he would pay extra attention to this girl.

Roku held his fishing pole in his hand firmly as he listened to the girl. Roku was a good listener and he took in what the young samurai said to him with extra care. She likened his fishing pole to her spear. Roku tthought that was funny, considering that his fishing pole was most unlike any weapon in this room. Hideoyoshi would have chopped off his left nut to take the form of a gentle spear, or a vicious sword. The bandit desperately wished to be used like a weapon and not a tool. Hideoyoshi thought Roku was thoughtless and foolish for his use of the Warrior of Fortune.

Roku picked up his fishing pole and repeared the maneuvers that the girl did. At the end he added a little flair. The fishing pole had a small lure in the shape of a gold fish attached to it and it jingled in the air as Roku thrusted his legendary fishing pole in the air. Roku slammed his fishing pole in the ground hard, a loud "thwack!" rang through the mostly empty walls of the room they were in.

"Certainly miss. My fishing pole can be used as a pole arm, not as efficient of one as yours, but it has it's other strengths as you have seen." Roku stepped back to the head of the group and swung his fishing pole in a circle. "Okay we are going to practice defensive maneuvers against corded weapons. Everyone will get in a line and try to attack me. I won't embarass you. The goal is to avoid getting tangled up in my fishing line. If you can last one minute against me you will pass onto the next portion of our lesson. If you fail, well you have to sit out the rest of the class and stay after to practice defense with me." Roku made a grimace. "It'll be rough so try your hardest."

The students lined up and began their maneuvers. The goal was to display something beyond basic control of the battlefield. Roku wanted to see these students trying to get in close to him. The first step to fighting a corded weapon user was to shorten the distance between you and them. The fisherman didn't plan on using Yoshijutsu on anyone yet, though he had plans for that boy from earlier. Roku just wanted to warm the students up and he figured putting them in the spotlight would get that x factor inside to rise through. He failed the first two, and then the boy from earlier somehow managed to get past Roku's flashy assault ofn steel wire fishing line. Had Roku used Yoshi jutsu that wouldn't have been the case.

Up next it was Suzuko's turn. Roku faced off about 10 meters from her. He held his fishing pole in one hand and the end of the line in the other. Roku was smiling and said, "Okay, you ready?" Once the girl confirmed it Roku tossed the fishing line at the girl. It was heading straight for her and then Roku whipped his wrist and jerked the fishing pole. The line spread out in a 3 meter horizontal line, aiming for the girls neck.

OOCShow

WordCount: 683
Training: +1 Mastery

[Nick]

The young heiress felt the pressure put on her in unspoken body language by the man, and immediately began to sweat as the tension build up mainly due to her own nervousness of the situation. She was used to being front and center of the class in normal schoolwork, but with a teacher as hands-on as this it was a little different, and already she could feel the gaze of others staring at her, trying to figure out what earned her that special bit of attention. Some would want to imitate her, seeing her as something to strive to, others would sneer and think she was nothing special. Both could be true, or neither. She was just a girl, after all.

She watched the little duels the man set against the class intently, trying not to let her empathetic chakra distract her too much, though it was hard as emotions rose naturally in combat, both from the spectators and the participants. Roku himself seemed the confident and cocky type, and in some ways reminded her of Goro, for better or worse, but she shook that thought from her mind. Suzuko really, really hoped he wasn't all that much like her shadow. Her eyes were darting around as the fights occurred, not stopping for any one moment too long in order to get the bigger picture. There was something to be learned from both the participants and the teacher, but her eyes followed the flow and movements of his fishing line, how expertly he whipped it around as if it was an extension of his body... Another reminder of Goro, the few times she'd seen him fight.

But, perhaps that would give her some kind of advantage, she hoped, as the man called her up to be next. She stepped up to the plate and gulped, readying her spear, the butt of it dipping past her waist and the tip extended up to eye level. The goal may have been to last one minute, but sitting back and playing defensively meant that even if you did great, a single lucky shot could throw you off balance and end in first blood. "Ready." Suzuko affirmed, nodding her head. If there was anything she'd learned about corded weapons from both Goro and watching Roku, it was that watching the cord itself was a fools endeavor. With clever twists of the wrist and wiggles of the finger, the cord could swing at wild and erratic angle that would make it impossible to track, and so the wrists and fingers were what were best to watch.

She tilted her head a bit to keep him in the forefront of her focus, but sure to keep the cord itself in her peripheral vision. As it whipped towards her and moved to horizontally wrap around her neck, she held up her arm in a bracing maneuver, keeping her sleeve up to ensure the fishing line wouldn't so easily cut into her flesh. Intentionally letting the line wrap around her arm, she yanked back on it, quietly determining she wouldn't be able to win a battle of strength against the shark man, and using that yank to provide some momentum a she took off, dashing towards him. She would watch the pole and his hands, ensuring to watch her footing and run with any tugs he made to avoid being pulled off her feet.

Once close enough, She would extend her spear with her free hand. He would be just out of reach of the stab, normally, but using the same technique she'd showcased earlier, the spear would slip from her grasp, extended by less than a half a meter thanks to clever wrapping of the bandages around it and her arm to aim for the shoulder holding the fishing pole.

[Speed +1]

[King of Cats]

Standing there at the ready Suzuko had a noticeably focused look on her face. Roku was right about her, she was a grade above the rest of these trainees. Perhaps it was her rank, or experience rather, but it was undeniable in the way she watched his hands that this girl was destined to be a remarkable samurai. With every faint gesture of his wrist the girl was calculating his prospective actions. Roku could see the gears turning in her mind.

It was something The Blue Tailed Beast remembered most fondly in his days as a youth. Growing up Roku spent countless hours practicing with his body to master the movements of the fishing line. At first he just wanted to cast better to find big fishes, but as the years went by and his skill developed, Roku began casting for a more innovative reason. Some of his finest moments growing up were the times he spent figuring out how his fishing pole was going to move, predicting it's travel as he whipped it throughout the air.

The familiar feeling Suzuko was undergoing lit a fire underneath of Roku. He moved with a grin plastered to his face, the shark man was not playing any games with the girl.

Had Roku equipped his Sharp Skin lure the girls arm would have been all tore up. The enchanted goldfish lure gave his line a deadly grinding capability, much like his own armored scales did to peoples flesh. Fortunately for Suzuko Roku did not have any intention of harming her. Merely making a fool out of her, and the rest of the class, that was all Roku really wanted to do. Of course if Hideoyoshi had the chance he was going to enjoy some of this girls fun too, Roku wouldn't be the only one teaching the class a lesson today.

Hideoyoshi had been watching the happenings and as the line wrapped around the girls arm he began his own little lesson. "A fool's health and vitality are soon departed." Hideoyoshi would tell Roku. Roku didn't quite understand what kind of cryptic message Hideoyoshi had meant by that but he would soon find out.

Hideoyoshi had yet to unravel the complete mysteries of the Serendipity Field. While it was true that Roku could alter the flow of someone's luck through this field, it was still unclear to him at what degree this feat was capped at. Roku was a simpleton at heart, and he truthfully had no desire to learn, though that was only never present because he hadn't thought of it. Hideoyoshi planned on teaching him today.

As the line wrapped up the girls arm Hideoyoshi began channeling his spiritual powers into the girl. There was a sudden change in her Serendipity Field. Where the girl had naturally fair luck, Hideoyoshi began vibrate the spiritual essence of her luck and altering how Suzuko's living body interacted with the inanimate body of nature. Typically, in terms of serendipity as a source, there were two natural sources. Living beings, and the natural world. When Hideoyoshi altered someone's serendipity he was altering their interaction with the outside world.

As the girl jerked her arm dust was swept up from the forceful movement of her arm and the wind carried up to her nose. She felt a slight tickle in her nose as she charged forward. But Roku had no idea what Hideoyoshi had done.

The Blue Tailed Beast carried out his plan like nothing had happened. He grappled his fishing line with his free hand and jerked it through the air. The line began twisting in the air and from the slack a giant slipknot formed. The girl ran forward into the slipknot as she prepared to spear Roku, and he jerked his fishing line to tighten the knot.

If the girl wasn't distracted by her strong urge to sneeze she would have seen the knot coming, but Hideoyoshi had made sure she would be strongly distracted. He was a devious spirit, truly.

OOCShow

WordCount: 635
Training:

(400/400)
Yoshijutsu • Atchew!
C-Ranked Yoshijutsu
The user must have established contact with the target using Hideoyoshi before this jutsu can be used. The luck of the target is changed with [Control] Speed and a gust of wind unfortunately enters their nose. They sneeze in their next post.

[Nick]

Holding in anxiety and emotions was a dangerous thing for any person involved in the affair. In the short term it made sure that what might have been an overpowering or dangerous feeling was quelled, but as it was stored away, and put under pressure, it got ready to blow. Suzuko was all too familiar with that feeling of a kettle about to explode with emotions, even if she didn't have the self control and self awareness to do anything about it. That feeling was powerful, maybe one of the most powerful emotions one could ever really hold on to... And it was awfully similar to the dust that went up into her nose at just the wrong time. She was quite used to the irritant and scent of dust, her armor cleverly dispersed the scent across the battlefield as she fought for use in genjutsu, but no amount of 'getting used to it' could overcome the powerful physical reaction of a sneeze.

Angry, loud Suzuko often had gentle little sneezes that people called 'cute', which was extra frustrating when you were made to sneeze while angry, or as the situation before her permitted, she was trying to impress someone (or several someones) and look cool doing it. She fought hard to hold it in, scrunching her face and narrowing her eyes to try and maintain her vision and trajectory, but all the muscles in her body couldn't weather the storm building up inside of her nasal tracts. The sneeze left her mouth and nose simultaneously in a pleasant little 'chu', and as Suzuko wasn't exactly a superhero and so couldn't keep her eyes open for the split second of a sneeze either. It was in that moment that she stepped into the slip knot, and totally didn't see it coming until she'd slipped through and trailed it along with her... Until she tripped completely ass over head because of it.

By this point in her life, Suzuko could be considered a trained fighter, which meant she generally knew how to take a fall without injuring herself too bad, but it was much more difficult when tied up in knots and taken by surprise with a mysterious sneeze, and whatever trick he pulled with channeling chakra felt like cheating when they were only talking about weapon types! She loosened some muscles, and tightened others, and fell into a rather not so graceful tumble that if she wasn't tied up likely would have resulted in a professional-looking roll that landed her back on her feet, but instead was more like... a flop. And it sounded like one too.

As she impacted the ground, her muscles all tensed up to try and avoid the brunt of the damage, but she couldn't smoothly slow her fall, only able to hold her wrists out in front of her to support her body weight and protect her face from impacting the floor roughly, but was forced to drop her spear in doing so. Her legs were tied up, and while she tried to push her legs apart to hopefully snap the fishing line, a likely futile effort as her legs and hips strained against the thin, nearly invisible wire, she raised her head to keep an eye on her opponent. She knew being wrapped up like this was incredibly dangerous against a corded weapons user like him, but didn't have the strength to push back against it. With one arm still free, the one attached to her spear, she made a flick of her wrist to unwrap it from around the handle subtly... Before going for a surprise attack, sending the bandages towards his ankle to try and trip him, too! Of course, given the differences in their abilities, this was also likely futile.

[Strength +1]

[King of Cats]

Roku was frowning as Suzuko hit the ground all tied up in his fishing line. As Hideoyoshi channeled Yoshijutsu into Suzuko Roku instantly entered the shared mind space of him and Hideoyoshi. With their chakra's bonded they could communicate in an instant.

"What the hell bandit?" Roku was standing in front of a stump with a hand axe stuck in it. The spirit began laughing arrogantly at Roku. Roku tried to say something else but Hideoyoshi laughed so loudly the Blue Tailed Beast was overspoke. He lunged forward and grabbed the hand axe out of the stump. "Why'd you do that?" Roku tossed the axe into a tree about 5 meters away. Hideoyoshi stopped laughing and the hand axe disappeared. It suddenly reappeared in the stump.

"You know, you don't seem to have a clue do you, fool." Hideoyoshi scoffed and then continued on. "I'm simply demonstrating what you can do with Yoshijutsu. I needed a test subject, fool."

Roku held his hand out and golden chakra began glowing in his palm. A fishing pole made of chakra formed and Roku said, "You are not my teacher, you are my friend. My worst friend, but stil la friend. Respect my foundaries Hideoyoshi. I told you not to intereact with these kids luck." Roku had his upper lip curled in a snarl as he spoke to Hideoyoshi. The shark skinned man lashed the fishing pole out and sliced at the stump with his hook. "If you can't be my friend, be my weapon. Do you understand me, bandit?"

Hideoyoshi paused for a moment. "I do, fool. But don't expect me to just sit here and waste away while you fish and teach children how to get tied up. I have aspirations, dreams. I'm not your servant."

The area faded to black and Roku was backin reality with Suzuko tied up. He seen the girl fighting his fishing line, and that when he remembered the girl had sneezed. Roku thought to himself of what a strange technique Hideoyoshi used, and was nearly distracted.

Suzuko flung out her bandages at Roku ankle, a surprise attack! Roku was quick to react, he slammed his fishing pole into the ground and blocked the binding bandage. His fishing pole was bound up, but his legs were safe. Roku tried to smile, he was still made about Hideoyoshi's betrayal, and he said to the girl in a soft tone, an exasperated tone; "You let go, I'll let go." Roku wiggled his eyebrows in a goofy way at the girl.

Talkign to the group he said, "Now there's a lesson we haven't gotten to. Never give your limbs to a corded weapon. You can lost a limb, or worse get folded in front of the class. Haha." Roku was grinning now and looked at Suzuko. "You did good. I think you have great potential kid. So tell me, what did you learn?"

OocShow

Wordcount: 494
Training:

(400/400)
Yoshijutsu: Perfect Angle Angel
C-Ranked Yoshijutsu Stance
The user holds Hideoyoshi and channels their chakra into their weapon. As long as they are channeling chakra they are able to block attacks at a perfect angle. No matter where the point of attack comes from the user is able to block the attack and protect their body. Thanks to the spiritual source of this stance, any projectile blocked by this stance fires back at the target with he same Speed and Strength as it initially had. Any attack with greater Speed than the user will be unable to be blocked by this stance.

[Nick]

The way Roku wriggled his eyebrows sent chills down Suzuko's spine as if he had been some kind of monster in a horror movie, which looking at him again kind of reaffirmed that, especially the horrible shark teeth and disgustingly rough skin... Regardless, she did as she was bid with a slight nod, flicking her wrist and loosening the bandages so that he could move his fishing pole free, and she could retrieve the corded weapon. As he let her go, too, she freed herself from the wrappings, and mentally noted the strangeness of the material. In some ways it was similar to the monowire that was threaded throughout the bandages that Goro had taught her to use, but it was thinner, harder to see, and yet just as strong. She'd have to look into that kind of thing at a later date, maybe ask for a sample to bring to the Kisama clansman that worked on her steam suit.

Briefly she wondered if she'd have stood a better chance if she was using her steam suit, and her eyes wandered back to the hall where she'd hung up her backpack. In her head she played out the scenario, trying to get a gauge for Roku's strength and speed based on how he manipulated his fishing line. He was probably about twice as strong, and definitely faster, but not twice as fast. Internally she thought that if she used the speed boosting available to her in the steam suit, she might have been able to better avoid his attacks without needing to resort to accepting loss of a limb like she had. The steam suit was also significantly heavier than she was alone, meaning he would have had to work a lot harder to throw her around than simply tripping her when she'd lost focus for just a moment...

Of course, she might not have sneezed inside the steam suit either, with how humid it often was in there dust and the like that could irritate her nose were kept to a minimum. If she was able to maneuver around his first couple of grapple attempts, and maybe intentionally tank a final one relying on the increased weight of the suit to make it too difficult to throw around so easily, she maybe could have gotten a few thrusts in to make him take the backfoot, before securing him in her own grapple... Of course, if it wasn't just taijutsu, she had a lot more options, too. She'd spent quite a lot of time learning ninjutsu arts, as well as some time on genjutsu arts that would have made her more of a dangerous fighter, but then again, the lesson plan today was strange weapons, and many samurai still didn't consider ninjutsu or genjutsu 'real' weapons worthy of respect. Likewise, she had Fukurou kun who wasn't exactly a slacker in combat. He might not have been as powerful as Suzuko, but ignoring him completely in a combat scenario would be a fool's folly.

As she snapped back to reality, she realized she'd been asked a question while her brain was occupied in the overlay like space of her anxiety and overthinking. "Uhh..." She said, smartly, rushing to recomprehend the events of the actual fight versus the one that had played out in her head. "Don't make your first move in a fight an unnecessary sacrifice...?" She said, trying to say something that sounded smart as she realized that some of the crowd were snickering in her direction from Roku's previous comment. "And, uhh, never give your limbs to a corded weapon?"

[Endurance +1]

[King of Cats]

Watching Suzuko stand up Roku was reminded of himself. When he was young he was often bullied by kids for his fis. Roku was always fishing and he always had food, unlike the poor villagers around him. Rkou was always lucky enough to get one good catch, but often the orphan was beaten into the ground for it. Roku felt bad for the young girl, reminded of Hideoyoshi's cruel trick on her. His tail was wagging back and forth angrily as the girl spoke to him, himself having a conversation once again with Hideyoshi. The two cursed each other out. They simply didn't see eye to eye with each other, for now.

Roku had furrowed his brow up while arguing with the Soldier of Fortune and as he replied to Suzuko he noticed it and wiped his brow as if he had worked up a sweat. "Well, very impressive student. You did well, I'm sure with enough practice you could be a danger to even me."Roku turned to Hideyoshi."I wonder if she will settle her score with you, bandit."Hideoyoshi remained quiet and instead of arguing with Roku, he closed him out of his spiritual head space. The two were feuding, to say the least.

Roku walked away from Suzuko and let her stand to the side as he tested the rest of the students out. They were largely talented kids, but there were certainly some that stood out from others. Suzuko was by far the most talented though. It took a half hour for the preliminary examination to conclude and then Roku lined the students back up in the same order they were previously.

Standing in front of all the students Roku was by himself. He looked to be exhausted, a by-product of all the talking he was doing in his head with Hideyoshi. It was difficult to maintain the space for the two to talk, especially when one or the other wasn't cooperating. Roku spoke loudly to the students he had been given, but he had a soft outspokenness to his voice that was the effect of being so exhausted.

"All right everyone. I would first like to say you all did exceptionally well. Ms.Suzuko," Roku had gotten her name from a list he had."You are by far the most talented in here and I would like to allow everyone to congratulate you on your hard work. You did great against me, especially that last move for my ankle. Very nice, kid."Roku gave her a thumbs up. The sun shined in from a window across the room from Roku and the light seemed to shine extra spectacularly against Roku's fingernail. His nails weren't like a normal human and carried an extra sheen.

Roku continued. "Now as you all saw, the first rule of fighting corded weapon user is to gauge their range. Then, without sacrificing one's limbs, close in on them. Swordsmen have the advantage at close range, unless they are using a fishing pole of course.Hehe.So, I want all of you to properly display a maneuver to evade a corded weapon and close the distance. You will practice on me again. You have an hour to prepare, then line up, starting with Suzuko."

Roku could barely keep his hands straight, he was shaking from exhaustion but he was prepared to brave the worst to give these kids a good lesson. This was their examination, and they would be free after this so the Blue-Tailed Beast wanted to make sure they learned something worthwhile. He was curious if any of them would think of a way to get close but of course his prized student, Suzuko, most intrigued Roku. Round two would certainly be interesting.

OOCShow

WordCount: 614

Training: +1 Mastery

[Nick]

Suzuko had the benefit of lots of rest between rounds with the teacher, whereas he had to keep going, and going, and going. While none of the students were really anywhere near a match for the Summer Samurai wantonly beating them up for the sake of a lesson, it seemed they were at least managing to give him a workout. Internally, Suzuko wondered how many Fall Samurai it would take to take down someone like Roku. If all thirty of them ganged up on him right now, would they be able to subdue the scary looking shark man? Nothing really seemed that simple, and she'd heard stories of samurai and ninja alike able to swat away swathes of lesser samurai. Maybe there wasn't a number that didn't go into the hundreds or thousands that mattered at the scale that someone like Roku was at... Or maybe just five of them was enough, he didn't seem quite so spooky as the horrible monsters in those stories.

She was embarrassed but did her best not to show it, which wasn't great still because she immediately got red in the face and started sweating as Roku called her out publicly like that. She wasn't really used to praise in general, and getting it, while it felt nice, also felt shameful somehow, like she was meant to just be fading into the shadows of obscurity and she was instead shining out bright and obnoxious, like a pimple right on the tip of your nose the very same day you were supposed to get your school photos taken.

An hour to prepare for another spar seemed weird. Certainly, she had a bit of a puzzle to solve in that she needed to figure out how to get in closer to Roku to try and take away the advantage of his corded weapon. She thought of Goro's 'stifle' technique and how it helped him to maintain range against opponents so that they couldn't close in on him, and wondered if there was some way she could reverse the technique. It seemed harder, and any way that she threw her bandages at Roku gave him the opportunity to grab them and turn the tables on her, so maybe the correct answer wasn't to use them at all against him. She had an idea, and she wondered momentarily if it might be considered cheating, but he didn't say anything about any kind of restrictions.

With her mind made up and with a couple of different possible plans in mind, she would step out of the training area where her other students were, and return to the entrance of the building where Fukuro-Kun had been hung up to take a nap while she worked. She gave him a little pat on what one might assume was his cheek to wake him up, before leaning in to whisper something into his flaps, looking like she was peeking inside the backpack to look for something. The backpack made a strange noise that Suzuko took for approval, making her giggle, before she slipped it on over her arms and returned to the training area once more. Coming up with the plan had been an exercise in fortitude to not just give up when she realized that her primary method of attack was likely foolish in this situation, but she was confident she might just get a hit in this time!

However, and hour really was far too much time, and she ended up watching the other students more than anything. Some of them were practicing weird looking maneuvers against eachother in attempts to replicate the erratic movements of his fishing wire and find ways to avoid it. She joined in to help a few of them, offering her own limited expertise on corded weapons to show them how the seemingly unpredictable movements could seem pretty obvious if you knew what to look for.

[Endurance +1]

[King of Cats]

While Roku waited for the class to get their plans of attack ready, he laid in a former. In his side he had his head propped up. Roku was pretty exhausted and he needed to take the time to rest. The Blue Tailed Beast needed to take a moment to himself just like the students did. Though while they prepared a plan of attack Roku simply tested his mind and body. The fisherman had already been through a lot today. When Hideoyoshi performed Yoshijutsu against Roku's will it drained his chakra reserves considerably. It also didn't help that the two had spent so much time arguing in the mental plane. Talking was taxing over a long period of time, but actually manifesting bodies was downright draining to Roku. He hated the way Hideoyoshi abused his body.

Ever since the two began to get to know each other Roku was certain that they would clash. Hideoyoshi was a fame seeker, he desired a glorious life. Roku liked to live humbly and passively. It was going to be a rough ride for Roku, he just didn't know how rough it would be.

The summer samurai had a strong reserve of chakra and vitality but even he had his limits. Roku laid there trying to free his mind but he was so damn angry at the Soldier of Fortune that he was caught dwelling on the past.

It had been a cold da n winter and Roku was fishing in a frozen river with Hideoyoshi. The spirit was talking to him. "Why a fishing pole, do you not have skills?" The bandit always patronized Roku in his choice of weapon. Before Roku could respond he saw a fish in the ice hole. He started bobbing his line and the fish went for the baited hook. With lightning fast reflexes Roku jerked his line and pulled the fish right out of the water. He was so damn annoyed by Hideoyoshi'd ridiculing that he forgot to weigh his strength down. Roku used his full strength and the fish went flying into the air. Swiftly Roku out together some hand seals and formed a water shuriken, he Fred it at the fish and exploded it in the air. Roku was mad.

He was still mad and wondered what kind of tricks Hideoyoshi would try this time. With the spirit being so disdainful Roku was considering sealing the spirit up when he didn't have use for it. Fortunately Hideoyoshi seemed tired too and was resting for the whole entire hour. Roku was living it up in silence. He paid no attention to the students.

When the hour was up Roku noticed all the kids lining up to test their nettle. The room got strangely quiet and that was Roku's signal. He got up from the corner he had been laying in and walked over to the front of the line. Suzuko was leading the group, the best of the bunch.

Roku stood about ten meters from Suzuko with his glowing fishing pole equipped. The line laid on the floor. Roku signaled for her to make the first move.

He knew she wasn't expecting that but he had a slick sort of smile in his face. He wanted to make this lesson one that the girl would remember and he figured what better way than to mix it up. Of course the girl would be lucky this go around, with Hideoyoshi sleeping he wouldn't be able to harm her. Of course Roku had something different in mind for the girl this time. Last time she sacrificed her arm and Roku surely taught her a lesson. This time it would be different for her though. Roku wondered if she would be able to make contact with him. The girl was surely talented, it would just take a bit of luck to force her will on Roku.

OOCShow

Wordcount: 648
Training: +1 Control

[Nick]

As Roku stood up to head up the students, Suzuko's eyes followed his foot steps as he made his way to stand opposite of her. She'd seen the kind of monstrous men that samurai could be when pushed, and she wondered if he was one of them. In his own way he already was fairly monstrous in appearance alone, and certainly he was likely to he poked and prodded at by other students when he was younger, but maybe that's what made him so strong today. She didn't have the mental awareness to realize that the made up scenario she'd put in place for him was a similar scenario to what she was in, that all the trauma and stress and anxiety that she was going through might just result in the same strength she was seeing in Roku. She felt weak, though, and frankly even if she somehow managed to beat Roku to a pulp today in front of her entire class, she might still feel weak.

But, as he signaled for her to make the first move, being weak or strong ceased being the point. She'd had similar thoughts when sparring with a ninja from Konoha, that these spars and lessons never really triggered her competitive spirit, which often led to feelings of doubt and carelessness, and instead her warrior spirit was ignited. This was a lesson to be learned, and while she may have literally been the inferior person as the person learning the lesson, she had to prove that she was worthy of the next one, by showing that she'd learned something valuable from the first one. She moved one shoulder to slightly unsling the backpack she'd put on inbetween the sparring sessions, before taking off in a straight dash towards Roku, similar to how she had the first time.

She'd become approximately two percent faster since the last time they faced off, or maybe better expressed as one out of a scale of fifty faster, because that's how the stat system was represented, and this would be to her advantage to a degree. Likewise, equipped with her backpack now, she had a series of tools at her disposal, and she was going to put both of these new advantages to the test against the monstrous kaiju before her. Reaching into one of its many pockets, she pulled free a fistful of the throwing knives stuffed away inside, and throwing them in a cone shape towards Roku. As soon as they left her hands, too, she'd fully unsling the backpack, and if he was about to catch her with his fishing wire, she'd turn it upside down to dump her RESOLVE suit free, popping out of the backpack with a powerful crash.

She wasn't going to use the suit as it was intended, but rather to bait the fisherman into tying his line to it instead. The brass suit was hundreds of pounds, and even if he could wrench its locked joints free to swing it around, or if he chose to untangle his line, it would give her valuable moments to continue to close the distance. As she got closer, she would swing the backpack, but hold on to one of the straps, causing plenty of other garbage that Fukuro-kun had eaten to fly out towards him, another distraction as she readied her spear, swinging the backpack again, this time letting go of the strap so that it'd fly towards Roku, making chompy noises as it approached his face, creating a two-tiered attack as Suzuko went low, sliding to swing the haft of her spear at the man's shins, aiming similarly to how she had in the first encounter.

[Strength +1]

[King of Cats]

Watching Suzuko was a curious instance of time for Roku. As tired as he was the samurai knew he wasn't properly instructing the girl. Her form was near to perfect, but Roku could have given her suggestions afterwards if he was properly putting forth his attention. Unfortunately he was not where he expected himself to be mentally,the shark was behind. As the girl rushed him Roku realized just a second to slow that the girl had gotten faster than before. Roku grinned and readied his trusty fishing pole.

The samurai watched patiently as Suzuko unleashed her barrage of throwing knives at her. Roku grabbed his pole like a quarter staff and began deflecting the knives. Spinning the staff around Roku's fishing line spun wildly in the air. He was releasing slack line to catch Suzuko in a bind.

Roku's trap easset. Suzuko continued her assault and emptied her bag of am.. giant mech suit?! Still telling his fishing pole and manipulating the line he let out a grunt. Roku was surprised but he didn't fall for her trap. Instead the Blue Tailed Beast continued to twirling his weapon around him.the fishing line danced in a three meter radius around him, the hook freely swinging around Roku.

Whatever the bag unleashed after that was seemingly garbage. Roku simply whipped his pole harder in the air when he saw the stuff flying at him, tending his line and forming a sort of barrier around him. It would be tough for Suzuko to get through it but Roku believed in her. There was plenty of room to get under the line if she was fast enough. Or she could even disrupt the fishing line with her spear. The barrier would have to be dealt with if she expected to touch Roku.

That was when the bag came flying at Roku. It was chomping at him in the air and the Blue Tailed Beast was at a loss for a split second. He let the bag get through his spinning fishing line, then swatted it down with his fishing pole. The spinning barrier was let down, the fishing line fell to the ground. Fortunately in hat moment Suzuko was free to close in on Roku and she was swinging her spear at his lower body.

Roku flicked his fishing pole and the line came to life. The golden line lurched toward the spear and tangled it up. Roku jerked his pole again and dragged the spear up into the air. If Suzuko had a strong grip on it she would be pulled up to face Roku.

The Blue skinned man was still grinning and with his free hand he reached out and flicked Suzuko on the forehead. "You did good. You hit every mark." Roku was sweating. The shine in his blue skin was almost iridescent. His big white teeth were shining in the light and it was obvious he was enjoying himself. Roku smacked his big fish tail into the ground.

"You should all strive to display your skills like Suzuko. Remember, in battle it comes down to your performance in three or four encounters at the most. Wat you are prepared to do, your strategy, means everything. If Suzuko were to add ninjutsu to that maneuver I think she could have got me." Roku wouldn't tell the students but his scales were very abrasive. Their weapons would be ground up easily by his armor.

Roku was holding Suzuko's spear in the air with his fishing line. He twisted his wrist and let go of it. The weapon dropped to the ground. Roku gave her a pointer thumb to the sidelines. He didn't want to embarrass her.

The rest of the students failed to live up to Suzuko's performance, but they did their best. Roku was dog tired and gave them a short speech on work ethic before dismissing them. Before Suzuko could walk off though, Roku approached her.

OOCShow

Wordcount: 653
Training: +1 Speed

[Nick]

Suzuko was suddenly struck by an overwhelming tidal wave of exhaustion, which crashed over her like a relentless force, dragging her into the depths of a hazy state of consciousness. Every ounce of energy within her seemed to be completely sapped in just a fleeting moment. It was a sensation reminiscent of emotional helplessness, a feeling she had experienced in dreams before, but this was no mere dream – it was stark reality, and she was being engulfed by the vast, unforgiving ocean that lay before her. Her body contorted in unnatural ways, as if the ocean sought to aggressively pull her down to the ocean floor and forcefully extract her very consciousness. Yet, despite the overwhelming despair and fatigue, Suzuko refused to yield. Her goal remained resolute and within reach, tantalizingly close. She was determined to persevere through this final, formidable wave, clinging to the hope that once it passed, she could finally find respite, perhaps resting on a metaphorical raft and taking a well-deserved break.

Struggling against the relentless pull of exhaustion, Suzuko fought to claw her way back to the surface of consciousness. It felt as though invisible weights were tethering her to the ocean floor, each breath an arduous battle against the overwhelming fatigue that threatened to consume her. The very fabric of her being seemed to protest against the relentless onslaught, and she willed every fiber of her being to push against the suffocating weight that threatened to drag her under. Each movement was a struggle, a defiance against the oppressive force of weariness that sought to envelop her entirely.

As she fought to break free from the oppressive languish, every movement was a monumental effort, as if she were wading through thick, viscous molasses that clung to her very soul. Her thoughts, usually sharp and nimble, now felt sluggish and encumbered, as if she were trying to navigate through a fog of weariness. Yet, amidst the struggle and despair, a flicker of determination burned within her, refusing to be extinguished. It was the thought of her ultimate destination, like a distant beacon beckoning her through the storm, that kept her from succumbing to the overwhelming lethargy that threatened to swallow her whole.

Despite the relentless struggle, a sense of determination surged within Suzuko, propelling her forward with a fierce resolve. Each moment of resistance felt like a small triumph, a testament to her unyielding spirit in the face of overwhelming adversity. With every ounce of strength she could muster, she refused to succumb to the suffocating weight of exhaustion, clinging to the hope that each step forward brought her closer to the surface, closer to the much-needed reprieve that awaited her above the tumultuous waves.

With a herculean effort, Suzuko gradually began to make progress, inch by arduous inch, clawing her way back to the surface. Each labored breath felt like a hard-won victory, a testament to her unyielding resilience in the face of overwhelming adversity. The struggle was far from over, but as she inched closer to the surface, she clung to the hope that soon, she would emerge from the suffocating depths of exhaustion and find herself bathed in the warm glow of respite.

But all this was not enough. As her head broke the surface of the exhaustion and she weaved and bobbed her way through and around Roku's expertly woven fishing line, she was still helpless to fight against it as it coiled around her once more, and she was hoisted up like a prize catch. Her face flushed red and she didn't know how to react as she was flicked on the forehead, and so she puffed her cheeks out and stuck her tongue towards him. His words were sweet but the taste of defeat was less so, she felt like she'd learned a lot, and yet she really thought she might have taken him by surprise with her change in tactics. Clearly not enough so.

She listened to his speech before reslinging her backpack and picking her thrown things back up, shooting back up straight as she was approached. "Oh! Hello, thank you again for the lessons." She offered awkwardly, shifting from one foot to the other. "Are you planning on holding more in the future?"

Jutsu TrainedShow

I will not slow down!
A-Ranked Taijutsu Discipline
Used to powering through impossible situations, Suzuko's body has become accustomed to working at maximum output at all times. This not only makes it hard to knock her unconscious without completely draining every drop of her reserves, but also makes it easier for her to be unaffected by terrain, weather, or other external effects that others might find it nearly impossible to operate in at all, let alone at full steam.

[King of Cats]

It seemed that the girl had completely exhausted herself, and Roku could see that she had gone through hell in their training. He didn't want to coddle his student though, so he decided not to say anything to her about the fatigue she was experiencing. Roku was actually quite familiar with endurance training, his own body being his finest work of art. He thought about sharing some tips with the kid, but he didn't want to overwhelm her and she had done so well. He wanted her to keep that memory of the day.

Standing over Suzuko it was wild how much bigger Roku was than her. The towering, blue scaled man had a baggy shirt on and his muscles were rippled. The fisherman's scales were fearsome but he was smiling as he talked to Suzuko. "You're welcome Suzuko, and call me Mr. Roku." Roku gave her a friendly smile. His monster teeth were quite scary but he managed to give her a genuinely friendly show through the jagged edges. "I was thinking we could train together. I think you have the aptitude for high level training, and I could teach you a lot. Battle mindedness is all about executing creativity, and you have creativity in spades. I would like to see you put a show on, as they say. You're a very skilled fighter, and you got moxie. So if you would be so obliged, I will give you my badge number. It will allow you to send messengers to me anywhere in Xincha. I usually stay around the rivers in the city, and only samurai know where to find me. With my badge number you can always find me. Meet me again for another chance to teach you?"

Roku suddenly noticed that Hideoyoshi was awake. The spirit was watching him in his mind's eye. Roku stuck his tongue out at Hideoyoshi. He knew the spirit didn't approve of tutelage as a past time for the samurai. Hideoyoshi believed that Roku should be training to battle an army. The warrior spirit had big plans for himself and by extension Roku, Hideoyoshi expected his vessel to be in tip top shape. Battling demons perhaps, not training runts. Hideoyoshi didn't say anything though, the spirit was still tired from earlier, instead he just shook his head. Roku wondered if he would ever get used to Hideoyoshi's ugly face in his mind. Rent free was one way to put it.

Keeping his attention on Suzuko, Roku continued to ignore the spirit hiding within him. The bandit was not going to be on speaking terms with Roku anytime soon and that was fine with the Blue Tailed Beast. Roku liked the idea that he would get to live his life however he wanted with Hideoyoshi being quiet. IT wouldn't last long, of course. Hideoyoshi was a mean spirited guy, and enough of Roku's loafing around would trigger the spirit eventually.

Watching suzuko and thinking about the spirit Roku briefly wondered what it would be like if he told the girl about Hideoyoshi. "It would have to be a secret." Roku thought to himself. He often thought about telling people of Hideoyoshi. The spirit always insisted it was for the best. "Fame and glory!" Hideoyoshi would constantly chant to Roku. He was truly an annoying spirit.

Roku got so involved with the thought he nearly shook his head in refusal. He would never forfeit his life of peace for fame and glory. If he were to ever tell Suzuko it would be out of trust. Roku wouldn't have it any other way. He always figured if someone were to find out about the spirit living with him it would be a sign of trust between the two of them. Roku couldn't give knowledge like that to just anyone, if Hideoyoshi were made public their life could be in danger. Only someone that Roku could entirely trust with his life would ever have the chance to know about Hideoyoshi.

Of course that was if Roku had anything to say about it. Chance had a funny way of skirting around Roku ever since he met Hideoyoshi. There was truly no telling just what was in store for the fisherman.

OOCShow

Wordcount: 707
Training: +1 Endurance

[Nick]

Suzuko tilted her head and blinked. She'd never had another 'full time' teacher like Goro had been to her, and given the rarity of corded weapons as a fighting style, learning more tricks from another teacher who seemed at least somewhat interested in actually teaching rather than just... Well, whatever it was that Goro did most of the time, which was usually smoke a cigarette or two while making judgmental looks in her general direction and making snarky comments about how poorly she was doing. This was such a strong influence on her life that even while thinking about it, she thought about whether or not he would approve of Roku as a teacher, and even briefly considered asking him for permission.

He had rank on her, but she didn't need his permission for everything! Suzuko nodded to herself, pulling out a pen and her empire-provided communications headset, writing his badge number down in small, fine lettering on the inside of one of the earcups so that she'd be able to reach out to him. "I'll have to take you up on that!" She said enthusiastically, her mind now going to the opposite direction, glad that it might make Goro mad that she'd found another teacher, and if anything it made her even happier to accept the training! "Thank you very much, Shur- Ah, Mister Roku!" She said with another big nod, giving her direct badge number as well, before looking around to notice the place was awfully empty, and she was here more or less alone.

"I should get going home, but thank you again for the lessons. I feel like I learned a lot today!" She said, turning around and speaking over her shoulder as she began to run out the door. "I'll figure out how to beat your fishing rod next time, for sure!"