[Graded] My Sister's Keeper

[Willoria]

It had been a week since Kazue had that confrontation with the Kiri shinobi. Sitting on the edge of the dock once again, some part of her hoped the passing of time had meant that perhaps she and Hijikata had been paranoid, perhaps no one was coming for her after all. Still between her nerves and what had become a constant light feeling of nausea, Kazue spent near every morning on the docks with her pipe now. The smoke that rose from both the pipe and her lips had the scent of herbs from the tobacco, and a more pungent odor from what she had mixed in with it. The extra helped with her nausea, but she no longer mixed in enough to affect her eyes nor her state of mind, it had even been recommended by the local healer to help her. Though the news that had come with that recommendation left her uneasy. Kazue didn't believe the woman on that front, and for now had kept that information to herself. 'Everything is too uncertain...' she told herself. 'When it all calms down, when it's clear we're just being paranoid, I'll talk to the healer again, and then I'll tell Hiji.'

She let the smoke drift out from her lips, pausing a moment to reach back and pull her red hair over a shoulder as she watched the ships in the waters before her. She was finally beginning to feel calm. She was dressed as she normally was, even had her sword at her hip again though her clothing hid the ornate saya fairly well as usual. Everything was feeling alright, though as she looked up and saw a ship dock with a Karagata sail she felt a tightness in her chest begin again. That tightness was beginning to become familiar, but she told herself it was nothing. Karagata ships docked here frequently after all.

[TyDie]

Walking across the bow of the Karagata ship, a tall boy with red hair looked out at the docks they were approaching. His arms crossed, he observed the incoming docks with a keen interest, scanning the faces that he could see. Having caught wind of a report given by a chuunin who had recently come back from the shores of newly conquered terrain, Ryu was immediately taken aback by the description of a particular weapon used by a particular samurai. A woman with red hair, wielding a sword with an ornate sheath decorated with a dragon winding around it's Saya. It was the most uncommon style of weapon, but the black blade with a red streak made it even more curious, and the wielder of the weapon sealed it for him.

It was the closest match he had seen to his sister in years.

"It has to be her... I'm sure of it." Ryu spoke aloud, and a voice rang out in his mind. "Ryu, look, we shouldn't have to have this talk again. Our lives are linked, and if Asami kills you for spending all your time looking for your dead sister, I swear, I'll-" "She isn't dead!" The boy yelled aloud, attracting the attention of the sailors on the boat. He paid them no mind - he was used to the awkward stares, and given that he was the senior shinobi aboard, he cared little for their opinions. They'd keep them to themselves if they wanted to keep their lives.

"Yeah, sure, fine... she isn't dead. Whatever. Point is, if you keep this up, Asami is gonna... Wait." Interrupting himself, Hisan's large skull emerged from Ryu's shoulder and turned his nose to the air, a particular scent catching his attention. "That smell... It's familiar..." Ryu wasn't sure what Hisan was on about, but as the mists surrounding the dark parted, he once more scanned the docks and... no. That couldn't be.

[Willoria]

Kazue watched the ship with the Karagata sail as it docked, shaking her head as she tried desperately not to stare at it. In an attempt to distract herself she took a good long drag off of her pipe and let the smoke out form her lips slowly. She told herself she was ignoring it, but instead she found herself watching as the ramp was lowered and several people wandered down, unloading cargo and delivering crates to various merchants. The woman groaned to herself and laid back, her back flat against the dock boards as she stared up at the clouds with her pipe in her hand. She sighed heavily, muttering to herself.

"It's nothing... you're being paranoid, Kazue." she tried to assure herself. "Just another ship, delivering goods to the locals, its nothing at all."

"Hey!"

The small voice drew her attention and Kazue looked over to she the young girl Emi looking down at her. She couldn't help smiling. "What is it, kid?"

The child grinned big and held out a small box to Kazue with a giggle before racing off, still giggling the entire way.

Kazue sat up and took the box, shaking her head as the girl ran off. She opened it and smiled simply, seeing it was a bento from Maori. "She knew I'd skipped breakfast..." She could see plainly it was some of her favorites. A simple white rice, a vegetable tempura, and what looked like a teriyaki salmon. Inhaling the smell she started picking at it with her hands, never having much in the way of manners when it came to bento boxes.

[TyDie]

Ryu's eyes locked on to a red headed woman hanging off of the dock on the far end of the pier, a pipe in her hand and a little girl bringing her food of some kind. Her appearance was so familiar, and yet at the same time, she seemed so unfamiliar. Like... it could maybe be Amaya? As the boat docked, he'd slip out in between supply boxes and move through the crowded dock towards where he had seen her, Hisan having receded within him once they got within vision of the pier so as not to spook the locals.

"Ryu, that smell... It was your sister's scent. I'd know it anywhere, whenever I smelt it I knew she was going to come ruin our fun." Ryu froze in his step as Hisan spoke... was he lying? No, he didn't lie, and he wouldn't give Ryu false hope after warning him about his sensei's rage. While he was frozen in place, the crowd seemed to part ahead of him, and on the other side... he could see her clearly now. The hair reminded him of his father, as did her bright blue eyes... But he couldn't tell with her clothing obscuring her kraken tattoo, or her stomach scar that he had given her.

He was going to have to approach her without knowing for sure.

"You there!" Ryu called out to the woman as he made his way closer, leaving the crowded pier behind as he stepped towards a quieter part of the docks, where she was located. "What are you doing out here, all alone, eyeballing a Karagata ship?" The boy crossed his arms and frumped, maintaining the appearance of a Kiri shinobi and a swordsman. His headband was prominently displayed upon his shoulder, with the symbol of Kirigakure and the Seven etched into the metal. He made no attempts to hide who he was.

[Willoria]

Kazue was slurping up a piece of teriyaki salmon when Ryu started yelling at her. With a strange expression on her face and sticky fingers she turned to look at the boy, confusion etched in her face. Rolling her eyes she slurped the rest of the piece into her mouth and swallowed it whole, putting her hand in the water to rinse it off before drying it on her clothes. She set the bento box and her pipe aside and got up before turning to look at Ryu. The boy looked a touch familiar somehow, but Kazue couldn't place him. "Who the fuck cares?!" she snapped back at him. "You're not exactly welcome here, shinobi." she snarled at him. Her left hand rest just under part of the fabric of her clothes and on her saya, though her right looked oddly relaxed and resting behind her back. In reality, her right rest on the hilt of her khyber.

"Your place is back on your ship, there's no reason for you to leave it, you can babysit your people just fine from up there." She took notice not just of the boy's red hair and blue eyes, oddly similar to her own, but the tattoo on his neck. From this angle all she could see was the tentacles of the kraken that came around his neck towards the front.

"The last one who thought coming off his ship was a good idea left bloodied and bruised, so will you. So go back." she challenged. 'If Hijikata weren't busy training right now he'd probably freak at me picking yet another fight...'

[TyDie]

The immediate hostility he was being met with caused him to recoil ever so slightly, as if she was already about to lash out at him with a weapon, and as her hand fell to the hilt of a sword, his fell to his own. There was at least a few meters between them, but close enough that a fight could easily break out in the blink of an eye. "Like it or not, Kiri owns your land now. Deal with it. And I'll go where I damn well please, citizen." He spat the word just as she spat 'shinobi' at him, clearly matching her energy with his own. But then his eye fell down on her weapon, and his mouth dropped open slightly... "...That sword. Let me see it."

He wasn't asking. "Ryu, that smell... it's coming from her."

[Willoria]

The locals knew Kazue, and several were already clearing away from the dock when she grew hostile with the Kiri Shinobi having seen what happened last time. As Ryu become hostile in return, the last of them cleared off and gave them what space was possible. Of course then not only did he snap back at her, he demanded her sword. The woman smirked at him. "Oh?" she asked too cheerfully. "You want to see my sword do you? By all means... I'll show you...." She was grinning wickedly from ear to ear as she spoke, making clear she certainly wasn’t intending to just hand him her weapon.

The woman kicked off the dock and rushed at Ryu, waiting until she was in range to draw her weapon in a typical wide arc strike of the Iaido style, known as ‘The Last Breath’. But much unlike the style and in a moment of improvisation she moved with the strike and tilted her body quickly until she was up on one leg and parallel with the ground. Using her own momentum to lift herself off the ground with the motion, she spun with it into a downward bicycle kick aimed for the top of Ryu’s head to try and throw him down with as much force as she could muster. If all went according to plan the woman would land once more in front of him in a ready position and quickly resheathing her sword, after all the style she used always started from a position with her weapon sheathed. Sheathing the weapon at the end of a maneuver was key.

A second, though underhanded, strike would quickly follow without drawing her weapon, aiming the butt end of her saya for under Ryu’s chin, hopefully just as he recovered to his feet after the first kick. No move was meant to be lethal, but she certainly intended to teach who she saw as a foul-mouthed shinobi a painful lesson in manners. She snarled as she stared at him. ”Just because your people took our country, doesn’t mean we’re broken or beaten, Kiri-Scum.”

351/350 words Jutsu Training

Jutsu TrainedShow

[Iaido • Raven’s Strike]
C-Rank Taijutsu Maneuver
Prerequisite: Acrobatics, *[Iaido • Last Breath]
The user begins by delivering a standard Iaido slash, pulling their blade from their sheath horizontally to dig into an opponent's side or shoulder. Adding to the slash however, the user will continue along with the momentum of the draw, spinning on their front foot while leaping slightly into the air, sheathing their blade as they do so. Finishing the strike, the user will deliver a heel kick to the opponent's shoulder before landing.

Jutsu UsedShow

*[Iaido • Last Rites]
D-Rank Taijutsu Maneuver
A defensive technique particularly useful when an opponent is close to the practitioner or is clinching them in a grapple, the practitioner grabs the hilt of their sword with a reverse grip and rams the butt or pommel of the hilt into the opponent's body, pushing the opponent back a number of meters equal to the difference between their Strength scores. Conversely, against opponents with higher Strength than their own, the practitioner can use this technique to push themselves back a number of meters equal to their own Strength score. The speed and simplicity of the attack can push opponents away and give the practitioner the needed space to set up additional attacks.

[TyDie]

Ryu tilted his head as the woman's words made clear that she was looking to turn this into a fight... so be it. But what Hisan was saying in his head was truly distracting, was this really his sister? If so, she had changed so much since the war began... he hardly recognized her, even with her mane of red hair and piercing blue eyes... She always did look more like their father. As she dashed in though, that blinding speed took him completely off guard - Amaya was never that fast. And on top of that, he recognized her stance well; it was the same as his own, and Amaya never used Iaido growing up. He managed to duck backwards slightly as the blade passed ever so close to his body, but the sudden kick against his skull rattled his brain and sent him reeling. He was completely caught off guard by her speed.

However, Hisan wasn't.

As the hilt her her blade came up, a single tendril burst forth from Ryu's chest, red and slimy, aiming to catch the blow and wrap around the woman's weapon. Hisan would try to rip it out of the woman's hands, but whether he did or not, Ryu got a good look at the weapon. It was unmistakable. "Kuro Ryu..." he muttered the weapon's name, then aimed to take a step back from the woman and put a meter or two of distance between them.

"...Amaya?" The boy finally asked, his guard clearly lowered now that he was at least somewhat convinced that this truly was his sister.

JutsuShow

[Miserable Protection]
D-Ranked Taijutsu Maneuver
Hisan will manifest a single appendage from Ryu's body, forming it into a small circular shield meant for absorbing the impact of an attack. Once the blow is absorbed, Hisan's appendage can then grip or engulf the target, absorbing it within the appendage. Hisan can then whip the target around, holding it with Ryu's strength as it does so. This can be used to whip around a projectile and turn it on it's ally, or to throw an enemy around.

[Willoria]

Ordinarily Kazue wouldn't have any trouble hanging on to her sword, but the moment that red tendril burst out of Ryu's chest she jumped back. She managed to hold on to her blade, but the saya was still in its grip as she stared wide-eyed at Ryu and the slimy mass that was sticking out of him. She stumbled for a moment, dropping to a knee as she stared at him. Her mind flashed to the nightmares she had been having, her hands beginning to shake even as she still held her sword and her breathing ragged. "...Hisan." It came out as a hushed whisper, a name from her nightmares that she didn't wholly understand and still didn't, even as the boy in front of her suddenly used another name.

Kazue blinked for several moments, the blade in her hands lowering slowly as she stared at him. "Wh-what?" she stammered, shaking her head. "N-no... my name is Kazue." she managed, not sure why she was correcting this person, and not sure why he was calling her some other name. Suddenly the woman felt woozy, a sudden pain in her head forcing a headache upon her. Her sword clattered to the dock as she rushed to the edge and she heaved what she'd already eating into the waters below, barely able to reach a hand up to keep much of her hair out of her face.

An old memory flooded in then, as she was bent over the dock. Her lips as wet as they were now, but with a very different substance, much more red and tasting of copper. She could remember a voice begging her not to die, a voice calling her Amaya. Wiping her mouth the woman turned to look towards the Kiri shinobi, a puzzled look on her face. "You're... you're Ryu aren't you?" she asked quietly. "I think... I think I've been dreaming about you..."

[TyDie]

Some part of him still wanted to doubt her... this couldn't be his sister. No, he had finally lost his mind and was just seeing what he wanted to see. Even with the sword, and her visceral reaction to Hisqn's tentacle... she could have found the sword, and anyone would react that way to Hisan. That much was evident by the disgust and fear displayed by the small crowd surrounding them. And Hisan? He could be wrong...

But then she said his name.

All at once a wave of emotion rushed over him. He dropped the woman's Saya with a clatter and began to slowly walk towards her, his eyes watering and his face slowly forming a smile. Just this once, he could allow himself to be weak... he practically pounced on Amaya, tears rolling down his face as he laughed and cried with joy and relief. "You're alive! I knew it! I knew you didn't die during the war! Amaya!" he'd squeeze her tight, like he never wanted to let go again.

"Yes, I'm Ryu! I'm your brother!" all caution had been abandoned, and he hadn't even really realized that she had some kind of memory loss. There was no telling how she'd react to all of this...

[Willoria]

Kazue felt frozen, her eyes turning back to the water. He rushed to her and hugged her as if she was some long lost person to him. It almost made her sick again, and yet as he hugged her something felt right about it. For a moment she didn't stop him, even leaned into him and dipped her head down as tears formed in her eyes and ran down her face. "Ryu... so you're... you're my brother?" she whispered, trying to process what was happening. But as she sat there with Ryu holding her, she also had another thought cross her mind. 'Hiji...' With a sudden intake of breath she shoved Ryu back and drew the khyber knife from her lower back and held it out, not far from the boy's neck, her eyes wide as she shook her head.

"N-no... I... that can't be right..." she said quietly, her hand shaking as she held the knife out between them. "This is my home... this is where I belong... I don't know anything of Kiri or you fucking Karagata..." The woman's breathing was elevated again, making it clear she was near panicking, and might even throw up again.

[TyDie]

For a brief moment, everything felt right with the world again. Amaya was in his arms, alive and well. After many long years, he had tracked down his twin. But a moment later, she shoved him off of her with impressive strength, confusing him as she threatened him with a knife. "She's not all there, dumbass. You're only confusing her. Something has happened to her..." Ryu grit his teeth in frustration as Amaya threatened him, clearly panicked and unsure of what to do. Wiping the tears from his eyes, Ryu stood up and took a step back to give her some space.

"Amaya, you're not from here. I don't know what's happened to you, Kirigakure went to war and you never came home. I've been looking for you for years, you aren't a samurai. You're a shinobi, just like me. Sworn to the Karagata family. You have a tattoo of a kraken on you, don't you? Thats the symbol of the Karagata family, I have one too." he'd turn to show the woman his tattoo, along the back of his neck, with the kraken's tentacles wrapping around his throat.

"Your name isn't Kazue... It's Amaya. Kazuki, Amaya."

[Willoria]

Kazue felt like she couldn't breathe, a feeling that only got worse as he mentioned the kraken tattoo. 'The one Masao had me cover up without telling me what it was...' He brought up that name again and Kazue shook her head roughly. "No, I don't... I don't know that name..." she replied. Her blue eyes darted around as she realized there was a small audience watching them from the docks, and even from the ship he had come from. She turned her eyes back to him for a moment and paused, realizing that he really seemed to mean what he said, and as hard as it was for her to believe she still felt the need to know more. If this was the key to knowing her past, if he was, shouldn't she find out?

Taking a deep breath she asked a very important question. "...if I had that tattooed on me, where was it at?"

[TyDie]

The swordsman looked around to the audience gathering and scoffed, resting his hand on his hilt for a moment as he addressed them. "This is shinobi business, get the hell out of here!" He called out to the crowd, and within moments the people made themselves scarce. There were a few people still watching, but it was from a much farther distance now - they had some semblance of privacy. And that was when Amaya asked about her tattoo... without missing a beat, Ryu motioned to her shoulder. "Your right shoulder, stretching down your shoulder blade and over towards your neckline. I remember it clear as day... I was sworn to the Muramasa at the time and you just had to be different."

It was a point of contention at the time - Ryu followed his father's family, and Amaya followed her mother's, which was strange considering how she felt about Ren growing up. But nevertheless, Ryu couldn't forget her tattoo. "You're a fantastic Shinobi, Amaya. You followed in Ren's footsteps perfectly, utilizing Chiton just like our father Ryoga and mixing it with various methods of combat. I don't know what else I can tell you to make you realize I'm telling you the truth... Oh, do you remember Shinjiro?" Amaya was pretty close to the genma host growing up - perhaps that name might ring a bell?

[Willoria]

Kazue's hand faltered for a moment as he started talking about her life as a shinobi and the woman shook her head vehemently. "No! I can't be! The shit those bastards did to the people here-!" Her own words caught in her throat however as she suddenly remembered the way she had dealt with the town drunk who wouldn't stop hassling Maori. There were also the names he mentioned, Ren and Ryoga, and all the girl could think of was red hair, and a certain smile. But the name Shinjiro brought her back to another memory that had been plaguing her ever since she started started remembering. This was a memory of an innocent kiss, and a splash into water. "...the green chakra?" she asked quietly, glancing around them again before finally sheathing her dagger and standing.

She eyed Ryu warily for a moment. "If we're going to talk... it shouldn't be here." she said quietly, gathering up her sword and saya before putting them away and getting her leftover bento box and the small box with her pipe and tobaccos as well. "These people are scared enough without you shouting about shinobi business at them..." she added, turning towards the edge of the dock before pausing. "...are you allowed to leave the ship? Or is there something you need to arrange first?"

If he was able to follow her, she'd lead him back to the farm, hopefully without incident. She knew she still had time before Hijikata would return from his training and so took him to the barn she stayed in. The back corner was where her bed was, with screens set up for privacy. There was also a firepit with several log stools around it for seating, and the woman would take her seat on one of them, watching Ryu warily as she waited for him to join her. There weren't many details in the place, but the bed wasn't made with several items of both hers and Hiji's laid out on it.

[TyDie]

Ryu wasn't sure exactly what Amaya meant by "what Kiri did to the people", but truthfully he wasn't even caring about that at this point. He needed to get through to her, to make sure she realized who she truly was. "You're right, this place is too crowded. Let's talk somewhere private, the boat won't go anywhere without me. And they'll be unloading and reloading for a day or so." He'd be back before the Karagata ship left, and even if he wasn't... so be it. He could wait for another boat, or hell, he could run back on the waters themselves if need be. Amaya came first...

Following the woman to her 'humble' abode, Ryu scoffed to himself as he saw the barn and her living quarters. "My god... this is where you live? You're not an animal, Amaya... shit." Ryu shook his head in disappointment, not in her necessarily, but just her situation in general. What he also noticed though was the size of the bed, and the various items laid out on it... some of which were definitely meant for a man. "So... you have a man in your life. Well, that complicates things I guess... I'm assuming he's a native?"

[Willoria]

Kazue got up again long enough to set up the fire and start it, if only for something to look at as well as to better the smell, before sitting back down on the wooden stool. She looked at Ryu oddly, his reaction to her living quarters striking her as strange. "I'm a hired hand here... it's not that odd." she grumbled, shaking her head. "I also owe a life-debt to the owner of the farm's brother, but she doesn't know that." she added with a sigh, pausing for a moment. "...or I did anyway." She looked at Ryu as he asked about Hiji and she followed his gaze to her bed before nodding. "His name is Hijikata... won't be much longer before he gets back from training. It's part of his morning routine... and yeah, he's native to the area. He stays with me when he's traveling through the area, managed to get some extra time this time."

Kazue frowned visibly as she stared into the fire again, realizing it was probably her turn to tell her story. He had given her pieces, but if he didn't know where her memory started, how could he help her? "Guess its my turn to give you answers, huh? I can't really ask you what you know about me if I don't fill in what little I know..." Kazue sighed again, running a hand through her hair before she slipped the shoulder of her haori off her right shoulder to reveal her tattoo, the one covering her kraken tattoo.

"I've been here for four years or so." she explained quietly. "I was found by a man named Masao, he and his family took me in and helped me heal. As a result I owed him a life debt. He helped me train in Iaido, and he was the one who said I was found only with this katana and the khyber knife I carry." She turned her head to look at Ryu a moment, gauging his reaction a bit before she continued. "I spent the first year or so healing and training, the rest of that time I spent defending Masao's family from Kiri shinobi and other invaders. He and his sister Maori are astranged to this day, so he sent me here under the guise of looking for work to protect her. I was taken on as her hired hand and protected her against others as well in the last several months... I only recently found out that when Masao found me he saw I had a Kraken tattoo on my shoulder and had a friend cover it while I was healing. He claims it was to protect me but..." Kazue shook her head. "I don't remember anything before my time here, my time with Masao's family. As a price for lying to me about a clue to my past I severed my connection with him but came back to honor my commitment to Maori, she has fault in what he did."

Kazue glanced towards the bed and Hiji's things, swallowing thickly. "But then I stupidly got in a fight with that Kiri shinobi a week ago... Hiji told me they'd send someone to take me..."

[TyDie]

Ryu took a seat by the fire as well, crossing his arms as he listened to his sister explain more about herself and what happened these past 4 years. She had... a life out here. A boyfriend of sorts, a ward, a home... What was he really doing out here? When he found Amaya, at first he was overjoyed, but the more he listened to her and the more he spoke to her, the more he wondered... "Wow... you've been through a lot these past years. I don't know why, some part of me figured you'd be the same person. I should've known that wasn't the case though... if you remembered, you would've been home ages ago." He looked to his feet and sighed, twiddling his thumbs as he held his hands down in front of him.

"I guess I'll fill in the blanks then... Brace yourself, Amaya." He looked up at her a moment later, and his eyes sharpened instantly as he peered at her through the hazy smoke of the flames. "Your name is Kazuki, Amaya. You were born the daughter of two Overseers of the infamous Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Our father's name was Kazuki, Ryoga, and our mother was Kazuki, Ren. I'm your twin brother, Kazuki, Ryu. We were always rivals growing up, even put on a team to force ourselves to grow in competition with each other. Then the war broke out five years ago... we were deployed to different areas, and the next thing I knew it, you weren't coming home. I spent the rest of the war deployed around the area, looking for you while also completing my missions. Obviously... I never found you. Everyone thinks you died... But I never stopped searching."

He smiled at the woman sweetly and sat up straight, shaking his head slightly as a chuckle filled his head. "Oh... there's one other thing you may remember. That... tendril that burst from my chest. You said it's name already, so clearly on some level you remember Hisan. It's... a symbiotic creature that lives within me. We sort of share my body I guess, he gets to live and I benefit somewhat from his abilities, like healing and the tendrils and such. I'll... refrain from revealing him in his entirety. I'd rather this not be about him."

Another chuckle emanated deep within his mind, though he was able to hide this one a bit easier than the last. Letting out a sigh, he'd slowly reach for his sword and remove it from his hip, standing up and handing it to Amaya. "You might remember this sword... it left you with that gash on your stomach. The scar from when... I almost killed you."

[Willoria]

Every time he called her Amaya, she couldn't help a small flinch. The name seemed so unfamiliar and yet it caused a reaction of some kind in her that she couldn't explain. Something about it struck at her in a strange way. But she forced herself to sit quietly as he told her about everything. Of course she knew who the Seven Swordsmen. Amnesia or not, everyone knew who they were, even the names he used as their parents seemed familiar. As he described Hisan she remembered the nightmare of the red-haired boy being dragged off into the darkness. She paused a moment, her eyes drifting away a moment as she remembered it and nodded slowly. "I remember the day it took you away." she said quietly. "The way you screamed, it dragged you into the dark... I've been having nightmares about it for a few days now." she admitted, swallowing hard as she forced herself to look at Ryu again.

This time as he approached her and offered her his sword, explaining the time he'd almost killed her she didn't flinch away from him or try to run, though she did finally pull the shoulder of her haori back up and into place. She took the weapon quietly and even unsheathed it partially as she looked at it. Suddenly she remembered another of her dreams, the voice of a boy begging her not to die, the stammered apologies and even her laugh. A smile slowly crept across her lips as she thought about it and she put the blade away with a quiet 'snap'. "I think it was the first time I ever heard you tell me you were sorry..." She handed the weapon back to him and looked up at him a moment before reaching up a hand to touch Ryu's hair briefly. "Your hair used to be longer right? And you didn't used to be taller than me either..." She tilted her head as a few small details came to mind slowly. They were little but her eyes slowly started to mist over and she couldn't help a small sniffle as she remembered them, somehow it was those little things that were getting to her. "...at least I'm still technically older."

As she finally started to really remember him, if only a little bit, she couldn't help hugging him for real this time, wrapping her arms around her brother's neck and burying her face against him.

[TyDie]

Ryu crossed his arms as Amaya made clear that she remembered the day Hisan took him away. It wasn't a fun day by any means - a Mission to investigate a bunch of slaves going missing in the Muramasa's mines. Hisan was the cause, and it decided it really liked Ryu's body. Luckily, they had come to a lot of understandings over the years - the Parasite had become a symbiote, a mutually beneficial arrangement that allowed them both to be satisfied, to at least a degree. As the woman looked over his sword, he could see it still covered in her blood from that day... he'd never forget that sight. But she smiled suddenly, clicked the blade back into place, and handed it back to him... while making clear that she remembered the day.

His arms fell to his side and he grinned with excitement - She wasn't gone at all. It was still his sister. "Yes... I think that's the first time I really let you see me cry. I cut my hair shortly after I became a Chuunin, and Hisan's presence instigated a growth spurt I think." She got up to hug him, and he couldn't help but embrace her tightly, burying his head into her shoulder as she held him. A tear fell down his face as he sniffled and chuckled at her mentioning their age.

"...Good to know you can still be a bitch about that one. I never thought I'd miss that as much as I did... I missed you so much, Amaya"