[Graded]Hey, Even Medics Need Weapons...

[Yasashikaze Seiken]

Sapphire blue hair and light pink fabric flowed freely in the gentle breeze as Omoi made her way down one of the busier roads in Iwagakure hoisting what appeared to be an oblong shaped package. Most civilians would simply give the startling gorgeous young woman an odd look that would go unanswered; any shinobi passing by, however, would realized that, more than likely, it was some sort of ninja tool.

The shinobi would be correct. In the wrapped bundle was Omoi's cipher gauntlet... and it had certainly seen some better days. After having gone through a rather close mission, it suffered quite a bit of damage. The locking brace had been shorn in half by a large set of claws, the shifting mechanism had several bearings that were out of place, and the blade itself was visibly cracked in several places. Though Omoi was worried (for it was indeed a keepsake of her family), she remained optimistic; the smithy she had been referred to by her father was rumored to be one of the best in the village.

For her weapon's sake, she hoped her father was right.

The young woman walked knocked on the door's frame before walking in. "Hello?" she called out politely, hoping she wasn't intruding on a specifically special time for the business owner.

[Mortalvis]

It had been quiet that day, or perhaps quieter than Tobi was used to when he spent long days sitting in the modest hovel Orik called a shop. The boy's plain expression was reasonable: instead of putting his training to use, he had been ordered to sit and play watch dog while Orik busily limped back and forth between the storage room and the stands of weapons which lined the back wall of the smithy.

A sigh escaped Tobi, his head falling onto his folded arms. The workbench he sat at was littered with blueprints and papers, documenting complex designs which were both fascinating and an utter headache to stare at for lengthy periods of time. Boredom was consuming him by that point--that was until his savior arrived in the form of a familiar voice.

"Oi, wouldja get that?" the old blacksmith yelled from the other room. It was unnecessary, as Tobi had excitedly bounced to his feet by that time and rushed to greet the customer.

"Hello! How may I-" Tobi's voice caught in his throat as he caught sight of Omoi's sapphire locks and friendly green gaze. He swallowed back the words that had failed to escape his mouth and tilted his head.

"Omoi?" He had seen very little of her since their exam, and although he had hoped to meet with her again someday, it seemed a little bizarre that it would be a coincidental meeting at his place of work.

"I mean... can I help you with something?" Tobi stepped back and briefly glanced toward the storage room with hopes that Orik would emerge and help him out.

[Yasashikaze Seiken]

"Eh?"

Omoi found herself blinking at the site of a face he hadn't seen in quite some time: Hurn Tobika, the young man who had become her teammate. Both their first meeting and their unlikely victory during the chuunin exams against the doton specialist known as Tadao flashed through her head as she set eyes on the familiar, though slightly older face.

After that moment, however, Omoi's eyes beamed brightly with the same joy and warmth she had shown when they first met. "Tobi-kun! It's so great to see you! Gosh, we haven't seen each other since the Chuunin Exam, right? How have you been?" Omoi asked, her voice laden with the same curiosity and kindness as always. "My dad recommended that I come here. He says that the work that comes from this smithy is possibly the best in Iwa!"

Her smile got a bit wider. "Though now that I know you work here, Tobi-kun, that hardly comes as a surprise," she added, giving out a small giggle at the boy's awkwardness.

[Mortalvis]

"I've been... alright," Tobi replied, returning Omoi's smile with a nervous one of his own. Omoi's excitement had been enough to rouse Orik from his work, which saved Tobi from having to utter a few bashful words in response to the girl's remarks.

"Now what's this?" The large man, with his distinctive limp and bushy, reddish-brown beard, stumbled out of the back room.

"I t'ought I heard a girl out here--one that seems to know ya, at that, yeh runt. So, Tobi. Gonna introduce me to this... girl?" Orik eyed Omoi with fleeting curiosity--he was more shocked that there was a soul on this earth that would so happily greet his socially awkward apprentice.

"Oh, uh... well, this is Omoi. We took the Chuunin Exam together. Omoi... this is Orik, my mentor." Tobi shied away and kept his eyes down, having a horrible feeling that the old blacksmith would somehow embarrass him. Much to his surprise, it didn't happen.

A small smile curled the corners of Orik's cracked lips and he hobbled forward to outstretch a hand to the girl.

"Pleasure. I take it yer not here just to get in touch with ol' Tobi. What seems to be the problem, li'l miss?"

[Yasashikaze Seiken]

Omoi watched as a rather gruff but seemingly friendly man made his way from the back of the smithy, coming out of an opened doorway which led to what she assumed was a storeroom of some kind. She gently took the man's hand in the shake. "Hi! My name is Nenshou Omoi. It's an honor to meet you, Orik-dono," Omoi greeted cheerily, trying her best to redirect attention to herself so her friend Tobi could have a small respite from a situation that obviously made him so nervous. "My father, Nenshou Souzen, sent me here. He said he's one of your regulars, and he speaks very highly of the work that you and Tobi-kun do here."

She smiled cheerily back towards Tobi, hoping the reinforcement would help, even if just a little.

[Mortalvis]

"Souzen, eh? Wouldn't have taken yeh to be his kid. Good fellow, and good business to boot. I'm glad all these years of his loyalty are rubbin' off on you, youngun. Man's got an eye for these kind o' things, lemme tell yeh." Pausing briefly to follow Omoi's gaze--better yet her smile--to Tobi, Orik smirked a little to himself.

"We do fine work here, I can guarantee yeh that. I'll leave yeh in Tobi's hands. Poor lad's been dyin' to work all day." Lightly chuckling as he turned away and left the room, he could almost imagine the flabbergasted expression on Tobi's face.

"..." This must have been some cruel joke on Orik's part. No matter how confident he tried to be in his skills, this was the first time he had ever wanted to impress someone and he had the dreadful feeling that he couldn't, not for the life of him. Omoi was his friend, and naturally he wanted to show her the kind of skills he had been invested time into. More importantly, he wanted to show her that he was good at what he did.

"I guess... I guess we should get started. I mean, I should get started... on whatever it is I need to do. What exactly do I need to do? I mean, I know what I have to do... as a blacksmith, I mean, not what you need me to do, er--gah." If nothing else, Tobi's blathering was humorous even if it was at his expense.

[Yasashikaze Seiken]

(OOC: I'm sorta retconning this harp. Just an FYI.)

Omoi giggled as she stepped forward and clasped Tobi's hand in her own. "Relax, Tobi-kun. You'll do great. You've never failed me before, right?" she kindly reassured him, never breaking her gaze from him. "Besides, I have faith in you... so have a little faith in yourself, too, okay?"

Omoi handed him the schematics for her gauntlet. "Here are the plans for my glove. It's a little odd, but by what my dad tells me, it's still pretty simple," Omoi told him as she handed him the small scroll along with the bundle that held her broken weapon. True to her word, Tobi wouldn't find too many intricacies that he did with many of the other shinobi weapons; her weapon utilized a simple switch-activated tension system to flip the blade around and a small pressure switch to activate the brace. The only other components were the bracer and the blade, which were both pretty standard.

Omoi took a seat in a chair near the side of the counter (assuming there was any). "Do you care if I wait here, Tobi-kun?" she asked as she did her best to be encouraging.



As Tobi went about his work, Omoi got an idea. She pulled a small scroll, and with a few seals, released a full-sized harp from it. Taking a small moment to tune it, she paused before playing a tune. So long as Tobi worked, her fingers would not stop moving, and soon, the entire forge was filled with the flowing melody of her harp.

[Mortalvis]

The warm remarks Omoi made were welcomed but not so easily embraced. He knew she meant well, but he was certain that she didn't quite understand his predicament.

"I'll try," he mumbled halfheartedly, passing a soft, uninspired smile her way.

"So this is your weapon, huh..." Tobi examined the schematics with renewed interest. When he realized he recognized the various components and systems of the gauntlet, he forget about his anxiety for a moment and felt a growing confidence temporarily take its place.

"Oh? Oh... yeah, you can wait there." By that time, he had little mind for anything but the task at hand. He spread the scroll across his workbench, set the gauntlet next to it and began to gather his tools.

Just as he began to examine the weapon, an unfamiliar sound began to drown out the roar of the hearth. Never having heard anything like it before, Tobi's eyes and ears shot to its source. There was Omoi, handling a large instrument and playing it beautifully. It was strange--very, very strange, yet it was still pleasant and relaxing as it surrounded him. However, for Omoi's sake, Tobi hoped that Orik was as much of a fan of gentle music as he was or there was going to be a problem.

When no complaints came from the back room, a smile crossed Tobi's lips and he was able to return to his work. He began to make amends to her weapon, starting with the less superficial issues. Every now and again he would glance up at the green-eyed girl and take a moment to appreciate the music she was producing, and while it helped none for his productivity, it eased his overanxious mind and quelled the last of his worries. Now there was nothing left to do but to apply the skills he possessed and prove to no one but himself that he knew his craft.

[Yasashikaze Seiken]

Omoi let the music flow from her fingertips. The harp was no longer an instrument, but was instead an extension of herself as her nimble hands danced across the strings.

This hardly meant that she was unaware of her surroundings. For much of the time her eyes remained focused on Tobi and his work, providing an encouraging smile whenever his eyes wandered back over to where she sat. She found his work to be so fascinating, marveling at how he could make something as sturdy and unmoving as metal bend to his will. Omoi was fully aware that she had not even half of the fortitude it would take to hold up such a profession. Though her work was also very important, it was certainly more user friendly than Tobi's.

Watching this new Tobi also filled her with curiosity; unlike before, where his own anxiety had choked him, strength emanated from him in a capacity that Omoi hadn't thought possible of her teammate. 'Why does he hide such strength? Why is he so cautious, so afraid?' she asked herself mentally as the music continued to fill the room.

She could only wonder as she watched Tobi show his true skill.

[Mortalvis]

Just as fluently as Omoi played, Tobi labored. His tools hit the bench over and over again as he worked his way through the simplest of them to strange, ornate instruments whose purpose would escape the untrained mind. He measured and constructed the necessary pieces, but the strangest of his workings occurred when he threw out several handseals and began to apply a whole other world of skill to his craft.

With fire at his fingertips, Tobi's use of his instruments was almost as beautiful as Omoi's use of hers. He nimbly put parts in place, adeptly cleaned up any unsightly marks, and knowledgeably adjusted anything that looked like it needed the help. The sweat on his brow was but one of the satisfactions of a job well done, and although he was not finished yet, he took pride in the quality of his progress thus far. The gauntlet may have seen better days in the past, but after Tobi was finished with it, it was about to get a new lease on life.

When Tobi was finally finished, he did not smile or announce his completion of the task. He looked it over twice more, making cosmetic adjustments while prodding and poking everything to make sure there was nothing loose or extra lingering out of sight. The only indication that he was done and satisfied with his work was a tired sigh.

Tobi lifted up the gauntlet and examined it one last time before his eyes raised to Omoi. He held it out to her and gestured for her to take it.

"Go on, try it." The boy had yet to smile--perhaps he was saving it for after Omoi had her say about his work.

[Yasashikaze Seiken]

One thing that Omoi observed that she would make sure to remember was that Tobi was a quiet worker... not to mention that he was hard to read. There were a few times where she thought he might have finished only to watch him begin his work anew with more vigor. She couldn't help but give out a small giggle; it was a most curious thing to observe him working, indeed.

Just as her piece finished, Tobi gave out a sigh and picked up the gauntlet. Omoi gasped in amazement; her gauntlet now shone with a luster she had never seen of it before! It's blade looked as if it had just been made, and the metal had a smooth slick feel to it.

Her smile grew big and wide as she slipped on the glove and started testing out the mechanisms. Clasping her fist, she rest her thumb on the outside of her fist. With a speed she had never seen before, the blade twisted and the brace locked, the cutting edge running parallel to the bottom of her forearm. Now clasping her thumb inside her fist, the blade whipped around to the back of the gauntlet, the flat triangular side forming a mundane shield.

She laughed in excitement as she slipped the gauntlet off; Tobi's work had truly turned out wonderful. "Oh, Tobi-kun, thank you!" she said, reflexively hugging him. "You're absolutely wonderful. This is more than I could have ever asked for!"

[Mortalvis]

"Well I--"

"Well yeh did a good job, lad." Orik stood in the doorway to the storage room, catching the last few seconds of Tobi and Omoi's hug, and the instinctive blush that had come across his apprentice's cheeks.

The blacksmith approached and stood next to the pair, scratching his reddish beard as he looked over Omoi's gauntlet.

"Strange li'l device yeh got there, kiddo. Ah, anyway... least it's fixed."

"I'm glad you're happy with it," Tobi added as a bashful afterthought, making a little room between him and his friend.

"But Orik's right--I've never seen anything like it either. Where'd you get it?" As he asked, Tobi scooped up the gauntlet's schematics and looked them over again. He was endlessly interested in seeing and hearing about unique weapons, and the fact that Omoi possessed one made him more comfortable in asking about it. Orik had plenty of stories about the unusual weapons he had crafted and seen in his lifetime, all of which had Tobi captivated--that same captivation was ready to appear again the moment Omoi began speaking.

Seeing that Tobi was more curious than he was, Orik hobbled away without much more than a grunt. He was sure he'd hear about it later from the boy whether he wanted to or not.

[Yasashikaze Seiken]

(OOC: This is an allusion to something I plan on doing with this weapon. As to whether you wanna do anything with that or not is up to you.)

Omoi was a little surprised at Orik's initial interest in her weapon; it was quite simple as ninja tools went, after all. But when Tobi also seemed to be intrigued by the weapon, her smile got just a bit wider as she explained her curious weapon's origins.

"My father got it on one of his many missions," she started as she set the cloth wrap down to re-bundle the weapon. "He was sent to protect a village for an entire week from an especially large guild of bandits. The mayor's family was so thankful that they offered him this small family heirloom. It was too small to fit on his hand, so he brought it back so I could use it when I got bigger."

Omoi giggled as she recalled an extra detail. "Apparently, the villagers claimed that the weapon held some type of special power," she added cheerily, a bit humored by such a myth. "Neither my father nor I put much stock in that legend, but it's served me well all the same."

If Tobi tried to pay any mind to anything unusual about the weapon (besides its actual structure, of course) the only thing that would've stood out during its repair was that the metal required a bit more heat than usual to actually meld and manipulate. Other than that, it seemed to be just an ordinary weapon.

[Mortalvis]

Eyes lighting up at the mention of the weapon possessing 'special powers', Tobi immediately thought back to his repairs and hoped to remember anything strange he may have seen while he worked. Unfortunately for him, he had such little experience with repairing weapons from start to finish that he wasn't able to come up with anything.

"Powers, huh? Wow... maybe it does, who knows?" Hardly able to take his eyes off of the gauntlet, his gloved fingers twitched, dying to get another look at it now.

"It's cool either way. You should see some of the weapons Orik has in the storage room. He's got a collection of neat things in there." Tobi smiled softly and put his hands in his sweater's pockets.

"I wish I had something with that kind of history, though. I mean, I love my axe, but... it's nothing special. My parents don't really like that I carry it around either. Eh... I'm glad your weapon's back in working order. This is the first time I've ever worked alone on anything. Most of the time I'm helping Orik by passing tools to him--you know, typical apprentice work. Yep, just an apprentice..."

The disappointment in his voice as he spoke was clear. It had been years at that point, and while he had been fully accepted as Orik's apprentice and heir to his mastery of smithing, he felt like he was going no where fast.

"Anyway... it was nice seeing you again, Omoi." With a small, nervous smile, Tobi was lost for anything else to say. He didn't know Omoi's plans, but he knew that he was confined to the shop until much later that night and wouldn't be able to join Omoi if she decided to leave. He partially hoped that she'd stick around a bit longer to relieve him of the inevitable boredom that would come after she left, and perhaps in that time he'd be able to get another look at her gauntlet. The idea of it having special powers was still heavy in Tobi's mind--myths such as that always enraptured his curiosity even if they turned out to be false.

[Yasashikaze Seiken]

Omoi returned Tobi's smile with her own, though she did notice that he was slowly descending into a rather depressing mood. For someone who had performed some wonderful work, having such little faith in themselves seemed unfitting.

Omoi decided that such feelings just wouldn't do.

"The greatest of masters must start off small, Tobi-kun," she countered, never forgetting to smile as she sat down next to her harp. "Besides, I really don't have much of anything to do today. Would you or Orik-dono mind if I stayed and continued to play for you two? I've been meaning to practice a few pieces, but I haven't found the time until now... and I do admit that it's lonely just practicing by myself."

Hopefully, Tobi would accept her offer. She loathed simply leaving him in such a depressed state.

[Mortalvis]

With a shrug, Tobi nodded and welcomed her to sit back down.

"I could use the company, and I'm sure Orik doesn't mind if he hasn't said anything about it yet. I like your music. It's relaxing." He passed her a soft smile before wandering back to his workbench.

"Uh, Omoi...? Do you mind if I poke at your gauntlet a little more while you practice?" Not only would it give him something to do instead of staring at mind-numbingly complex designs at his bench, he'd also be able to sate his growing curiosity over the cipher shield gauntlet--or at least try to.

"Just curious about it, is all..." he added, trying not to make himself seem too interested in the myth the device carried. Omoi herself mentioned that she didn't take it seriously, but perhaps he could find something to change her mind. That, or he'd find nothing and be satisfied nonetheless.

[Yasashikaze Seiken]

Omoi nodded, handing him the gauntlet once more. "Of course, Tobi-kun," she answered sweetly as she handed him back the metallic glove.

The kunoichi sat down behind her harp and plucked a few strings as a test before starting on the next piece, it's soft music filling the air.



As Tobi started fiddling with the gauntlet, Tobi would find that, amidst the various moving parts, there were several gears that could shift and form new chains of motion if moved to the proper location within the gauntlet. As to what might happen if Tobi started fiddling with the gears, he would simply have to find out...

[Mortalvis]

Quickly thanking her for the gauntlet before eagerly setting it on his bench, Tobi wasted no time giving the device a thorough examination. Although he didn't expect to find anything, he was given another chance to admire the careful work he had done with his repairs. It was then that he realized there were parts of the gauntlet he hadn't needed to fix, and thus he had overlooked them entirely; in particular, pieces inside the gauntlet had yet to be inspected.

"Hm..." Lost in thought as he prodded at several exposed mechanisms within the glove, Tobi was inches away from discovering one of the gauntlet's secrets. Each part was thoroughly inspected and then tested, and that was when it happened. Following his incessant nudging and digging, the gears inside the gauntlet began to shift. Unsure of what he had just discovered, his face lit up with wonderment.

"Omoi--I think I found something," he announced.

[Yasashikaze Seiken]

The kunoichi eyed the young man curiously as he quickly began to uncover part of the gauntlet he had repaired and meticulously picked it apart, analyzing each gear and noting every switch that was on the device with an intense curiosity that rivaled her own. Her green emerald eyes sparkled in silent amazement; Tobi was a different person entirely when he was in his element.

Omoi returned her attention to the piece, but it was soon brought back to Tobi as he broke his silence. "Found what, Tobi-kun?" she asked, honestly surprised at the notion that there was something undiscovered about her weapon. But, sure enough, the largest gear in the weapon had shifted tracks, now moving an entirely separate chain of cogs.

With a steadily brightening glow, the blade began to glow, the triangular blades, seeming to divide into many, much smaller triangles. After a time, the light quickly faded, and the many triangles fell to the ground.

Omoi's eyes were wide with amazement at the spectacle she had just witnessed. "What was that?" she breathed in wonder, unable to keep a small grin from creeping onto her face.

[Mortalvis]

"I'm not entirely sure..." Tobi mumbled, his eyes aglow with awe. He wasn't positive of what had just happened, but he knew now that this was no ordinary shinobi weapon. There was something much deeper hidden away in its seemingly simple design, one that had yet to be unlocked until now.

"I wonder what its purpose is." Bending over to be at eye level with the gauntlet, he tried to get a look inside without touching anything.

"I don't know if you realized it, but there's a second set of mechanisms in the gauntlet that don't seem to be related to the main track at all. I don't know how it's activated other than manually shifting the gears, but it seems like your weapon might actually have special powers after all."

A small smile parted his lips as he stared at the device, completely amazed with what he had found. It made him wonder why none of this had been detailed on the schematics--perhaps it was something that wasn't meant to be found. Nonetheless, the discovery was exciting, and he could certainly see that Omoi was just as astonished as he was.

[Yasashikaze Seiken]

Omoi nodded, speechless at this new discovery. She never would have dreamed that her little mundane gauntlet had such a fascinating secret. Very carefully and very slowly, Omoi slipped the gauntlet back on. As soon as her fingers hit the tips of the gloves, she could feel an emptiness of sorts... almost like the gauntlet hungered for something.

She fed it the only thing she could think to feed it: chakra.

With a slow hum, the metal triangles on the ground began to levitate in the air. She gasped in shock before she giggled excitedly, the immensity of the discovery still soaking in. It felt so much like her iijutsu; Omoi could sense her chakra flowing through every singular piece of the blade as if it were simply an extension of her own.

Suddenly from outside, a shout could be heard: "Watch out!!!"

A small sphere (not unlike a baseball) came whizzing through the doorway. Omoi squeaked in shock as the ball threatened to strike her, trying to protect herself with her arms. Whilst doing this, she accidentally sent a surge of chakra through the glove.

The triangles rose up around her and Tobi, and chakra soon filled the spaces between them. The sphere shaped barrier deflected the ball, which harmlessly tinged off and rolled back outside the door, where a kid whizzed by and scooped it up. Omoi was left staring in awe at the arrangement of metallic pieces that had come to her defense.

[Mortalvis]

Unsure of how to respond, only one word came out of Tobi's mouth:

"Cool." And he meant it too. The curious little device was an object of great potential and it was a delight to watch Omoi discover its powers for herself. The abilities it possessed were rather odd, not ones Tobi had been imagining while he worked on it, but it was nonetheless amazing to him.

"Yep, those are definitely some powers. So that's chakra it uses? Huh." Tobi's head tilted to the side as he stared quizzically at Omoi and her gauntlet. There was something bizarre about the entire thing, but nothing that bothered Tobi so much as to linger on it.

"Do you plan to show your dad? I mean, this is a really great discovery after all. The potential it has... you've really got something special there. Oh, one more thing--" Tobi smiled and scooped up the schematics for the gauntlet and took them to his desk. He spread them out and took a pencil, lightly sketching in the location of the secondary set of mechanisms, and small symbols to indicate how they shifted. When he was done, he rolled up the scroll and brought it back to Omoi.

"I updated the schematics for your gauntlet. That should help a little."

[Yasashikaze Seiken]

Omoi herself was captivated by the small glove that she wore, seeing how it had completely surpassed her expectations of it. Tobi's response summed up just a portion of what she was feeling right now. "I don't see why not," she said, especially cheery after this revelation. "He is the one who gave it to me, after all."

What amazed her even more, however, was Tobi. Never had he seen such a content smile and such a lively glint in his eye. It was amazing to see how, yet again, he so easily transformed when given even a shred of confidence. It was inspiring to say the least.

She set the scroll on the seat where she had sat to play the harp before turning around and giving him another big soft hug, her smile taking a gentle feel and her voice overflowing with gratitude. "Thank you, Tobi-kun. I never would've known about this amazing discovery if it hadn't for you."

Omoi's embrace was not unlike that of a mother bird whose wings enfold over her young...

[Mortalvis]

"Uh-huh... no problem," he replied modestly, accepting the hug without returning the embrace. Omoi had a tendency to be very affectionate in a particularly motherly way and Tobi wasn't as used to such gestures as others may have been.

"So..." Tobi ended the hug by gently pulling away from Omoi without being overly rude about it. He figured that their meeting was coming to a close as he couldn't figure out anything else to do. With the mystery of the gauntlet solved, things were likely to get a little less exciting within the small shop. Tobi had nothing else to do but sit at his desk and read over blueprints, and he was sure Omoi would get bored soon enough if he asked her to stick around.

"Ah! Finally, the nattering's stopped. Yeh'd think you two discovered gold in th' forge or somethin," Orik bellowed from the back room. He emerged moments later carrying an assortment of weaponry which he placed on a table that was adjacent to Tobi's workbench.

"If this date's over, I've got work ta do." The blacksmith eyed Tobi sternly, though he didn't seem to be annoyed.

"Oh... Uh, mind if we step outside for a bit, Orik?"

"I mind, but if it gets yeh outta my way for a measly moment, then go on, get."

Tobi nodded and ushered Omoi out the door of the shop.

"Sorry about that. Anyway..." Looking to his friend, his eyes seemed to plead for her to say something for he had nothing left to say himself.

[Yasashikaze Seiken]

(OOC: I figure we can wrap it up here. This post is maybe just to help make for a fade out.)

Their rejoicing over the new discovery was more or less interrupted by Orik, who didn't seem to have been paying attention. Omoi was about to mention something about the gauntlet, but Tobi scooted both himself and Omoi out of the shop, even if only for a moment.

Omoi couldn't think about much else but her new shiny gauntlet. She flashed Tobi a mischievous grin. "So, Tobi-kun... would the man who uncovered the mystery like to help me train with my new gauntlet?" she asked coyly, a sly grin and raised eyebrow on her face as she posed the question.

Omoi had to admit that she needed a good training partner, and Tobi's fire techniques would sure make him a good person to practice with...

[Mortalvis]

With a soft smile, Tobi leaned up against the wall. The day had so far been filled with small ups and downs, boredom and excitement, and now there was nothing left to do but to bask in the good feelings that it had left him with.

"Another day. I've still got a few hours of work ahead of me, but... I'd like that. I'm off a couple days next week--sound good to you?" Tobi glanced at Omoi, hoping the offer would still be good a week from then. However, before he could hear her response, a booming voice roared from within the smithy:

"Oi, runt! Yeh had your moment, now get back in 'ere."

Looking as bashful as any one person could, Tobi rubbed the back of his head and gestured toward the door of the shop.

"I guess I should go. It was nice seeing you again, Omoi. I'll catch you around." He shifted awkwardly in place for a moment as though he was deciding something. Indeed he was: after a bit of fidgeting, he reached forward and gave his friend a brief hug before stepping back and passing a funny sort of salute to her as his way of finalizing their goodbye.

"See you," were his last words before he darted back into the shop, where he was met with his mentor scolding him for laziness. It'd be a long week, but at least he knew he had better things to look forward to when it was over.

[OoC: You can post once more if you want--if not, would you mind handing it in?]