At the Sign of the Fusekago Butai

[Valkier]

The two Jinchuuriki of Iwagakure no Sato came to a halt outside a particular building in the heart of the village. Their earlier chatter and meals had vanished during their journey through the nearby streets, and their mood seemed apprehensive as the older of the two, Enkouten Hiroko, pointed the younger figure forward. Hachiya Kotori, the newest genin host of Nolosha no Ukiyogenma, stepped up and pulled open a heavy door, paused for a steadying breath, and stepped inside.

Within, she gazed around the building for a moment, trying to gauge what sort of place it was. Despite the name—she still thought it sounded like an asylum—Hiroko had implied this organisation was some kind of school, or perhaps training ground, for people such as they; children who were in way over their heads, clutching to the horns of ancient, super-powerful beasts barely contained inside them. The older girl had sounded serious about both the organisation and it's leader, though, and Kotori knew she needed all the support the village could offer.

Had she been at all conscious of etiquette she might've presented herself better, instead of stomping up to the first person she saw and bluntly asking for "Heiya-Sensei". Her white hair was tousled and dusty, her simple tunic creased and bearing more than a few patches, stains, and frayed edges. And her eyes, despite a moment of respite while meeting Hiroko, were haunted. Tired. She looked exhausted—because it was when she rested that she couldn't hold back the crooning voice calling her from within.

[Ace Trainer]

The Shoshiki Princess had been busy in the past months. Her time with Hiroko had been limited due to a variety of factors, and the other host had been...a less than successful venture. When Heiya had first been given the assignment of Fusekago Butai, she had felt quite honored, but the past month had made her feel that made this assignment was more a punishment than anything. She was realizing just how unsuccessful the jinchuuriki of Iwagakure had been, and the idea that her life was going to be the perpetual training of two low rank shinobi that'd would constantly change face was less than pleasing.

The headquarters, which had previously been ragged and worn, looked much more pristine now. The windows of the building had all been replaced by tungsten, giving the inside a soft green glow that seemed comforting and inviting. The lobby, which split into two hallways going back, remained mostly empty save a few small plants, chairs, and the desk that a young woman sat at scribbling in a notebook. When Kotori entered demanding for Heiya, the young women beamed brightly, nodding, "~Oh Shoshiki-samaaaaaa~ The young host is here!", she would call out.

A loud crash would echo from down the hall to the left, and then the heavy sound of footsteps as Heiya moved down the hall quickly. Emerging, her hair would be freely flying all over the place, which she'd quickly sweep from her face and tuck behind her ears. Standing straight and adjusting her dress, she'd look at Kotori for a moment. Heiya was adorn in a long dress, a pink pastel color with several large swathes of pink and purple along the lower portion of the outfit. She was barefoot, her feet just barely visible under the lower hem. The sleeves went down to her elbow, with two gold bracers worn on each forearm giving her an almost gladiatorial look.

"So you're Kotori huh? Where is Hiroko? She sent you here alone?", she said, already appearing to be a bit angry with these findings.

[Kaitos10]

Hiroko would come in right after she hears Heiya sensei saying that and would reply “I didn’t send her here all alone I was here most of the time just had to make a small detour at the end to return some slaves that I borrowed. I didn’t know you would get upset from that sorry. “ she would then slightly bow in apology before saying “Nice to see you again Heiya-sensei, I brought her here after meeting her and telling her about you. After we talked for a bit I agreed to take her here to see you”

She wondered if she should mention that she was having trouble with her genma to Heiya sensei and ask for her opinion on it but she wasn’t sure if that was a good idea since she was still new to this socializing thing and didn’t want her new friend or there teacher and boss to respond in a negative manner.

As she started to get nervous perhaps predicting she was about to start fidgeting Otsukoki would remind her of there deal and plan by saying “remain dignified “ causing her to stop what ever she was about to do and do her best to stand still in a dignified manner.

[Valkier]

Kotori jumped at the sudden crash from the adjoining corridor and spun towards it, coming face to face with the woman who emerged in a flurry of blonde hair and fine pink fabrics. She cocked her head to the side, taking the sight in. Something about the serious way Hiroko spoke about Heiya had led Kotori to expect a severe old man with the emotional depth of a slab of granite, but this was someone entirely different. Hearing the family name helped, too; she'd already met one of the Shoshiki, Amaya, and the familial resemblance in Heiya was strong.

"Yeah, that's me," she nodded and, after a subtle wiping clean on her thigh, extended a hand to shake. "Nah, she's—" she cut off, one hand pointing back over her shoulder, as the other Jinchuuriki entered and announced herself.

"Yeah, what she said. We met this morning and spoke about our... situations," she flashed a glance at Hiroko, then back to Heiya. "She showed me a bit of her power, and told me a bit about this Hen House, about how you watch over and train people like us, and... Well, I figured it couldn't hurt, right?" She squirmed, conscious that anything to do with the Genma could indeed hurt very much. But perhaps this woman and her group could help lower the risk, at least.

"So, uh.. What do we do here? I'm.. not much of an academic type." She sniffed and looked between the two woman, anxiety plain on her young face.

[Ace Trainer]

Kotori began to generate an excuse for Hiroko, which was met with a deadpan look from Heiya which evolved into a scowl as Hiroko rushed in pandering some excuse of her own. "Hiroko you're supposed to be a leader! You can't let this poor sweet thing wander about on her own ! What if someone had kidnapped her!", she held her hand out in a choking motion at Hiroko, a bit theatrical given the risk of kidnappery within the walls of Iwagakure was relatively low. Then Kotori made a comment and Heiya's rage seemed to melt away into a sympathetic smile.

like us?, there is no 'like us' you are Jin. chuu. ri. ki.", her tapping her foot in sync with the syllables of the word, "And you'll soon be the pride and joy of Iwagakure!", her voice and face both firmed with this statement, looking Kotori directly in the eyes before turning her gaze to Hiroko, "Both of you.", she said sternly. In her brief interactions with Hiroko, Heiya had established quite quickly that Hiroko was going to need firm guidance and a tight leash to be successful. Time would tell with Kotori.

Heiya did have a file on Kotori, though she hadn't realized Kotori had been released back into the village already. Some communication team they had. She had as much faith in Kotori as she had in Hiroko, which wasn't saying much. But she was hopeful at least because both were in front of her for the first time. "This is not academic setting. The goal here will be to train you into greatness and controlling those beasties in your gut.", she pointed her finger at their stomaches. "My talents in particular lie in containment and control, so thats why I'm in charge of this show. So I'll be training you guys in two ways.", she held to fingers up, pointing to the first finger with her free hand.

"First. Get you trained up on controlling your beasties. That means teaching you how to control their power and get you good at using it. They have ancient power within them and you get access to it. So you have to get good at it.", she put the finger down and shifted to the next.

"Second. Get you trained up on something that has nothing to do with your beasties. There are people out there talented at subduing the powers that comes from you. So, you need to be very very good at something that compliments your genma's power, but is fully functional on it's own. And thats what I'm here for. I'm particularly good at coming up with new things.", she gave a playful wink at Kotori. "So does that work for you two?"

[Kaitos10]

Hiroko visibly winced at Heiya sensei’s anger and words which was a far cry from how she used to behave and how she was currently feeling if it wasn’t for Otsukoki whispering in her ear and helping her stay calm she may have panicked more. Though while she was panicking to much to think of it at the time. When Heiya sensei seemed to calm down she let out a very small sigh of relief. Causing her to think back on what she previously said, she wondered why she was treating Kotori with such kid gloves? Even if she was just a genin she was still a ninja who graduated the academy so that plus the odds of kidnapping even a genin like Kotori seemed so low it made her wonder if she had a ulterior motive for her worries.


She would soon be jolted out of her own head when she saw Heiya sensei stare at her. She would then hear as Heiya sensei explained the purpose of this organization. As well as her plans for them both she would then think for a bit about what she was saying and wondered if she should speak up. She was considering other methods as well that would work with her abilities and was thinking of genjutsu but was waiting on it for now.

She wondered if she should mention that or if she should wait until she was asked for ideas? It was even harder with the restrictions placed on her by Otsukoki since she didn’t want to do anything that would be “behaving the wrong way” as Otsukoki put it as far as the spirit was concerned there was a right way to behave and a wrong way. When she heard her sensei ask them if it was ok she would say quickly “yes Heiya sensei!”

[Valkier]

Kotori dropped her hand and stepped back to make room for Hiroko while Heiya asserted herself. Given the brief exchange that passed for their greeting, and what she knew of her senpai from earlier, she began to understand Hiroko's reluctance to enter the building first. Any further thoughts about that scattered into an amused scoff when Heiya referred to her as a 'poor sweet thing'; that had to be a first. Some of the tension began to bleed away as Heiya continued. She had a directness to her, a no-nonsense way of talking that seemed to suggest her way was the only way that made sense. Kotori liked her immediately.

The next few moments brought forth a flurry of emotions in the young girl. Eagerness, at first, to have someone here in front of her so passionate and invested in her future—a future now so radically changed from anything she'd once imagined—followed by the sobering reality and seriousness of why she needed such guidance. Fear. And a little hope, too. It sounded like she'd be safe, or safer, in Heiya's company. She thought back to the beginning of this whole ordeal, to the flight across Iwagakure with Shizuo, to the blood-tainted chamber below it and the broken form of her predecessor. Though Heiya spoke as if teaching the Jinchuuriki was for their own benefit, her brief days in the role had already shown Kotori firsthand how important controlling the power would be for those around her, and for the village as a whole, too.

Whatever the true reasons, Kotori's eyes were hungry when the woman finished outlining her plan, and she leaned in, speaking right over the top of Hiroko.
"I'll be the best damn Jin Choo Rikki Iwagakure ever saw!" She raised a fist, then shot a glance across to Hiroko. Perhaps her Senpai's answer had been more appropriate, given the severity of their calling. Whatever.

"Whendo we start?"
She froze, eyes wide and face bleeding to white. That last... hadn't been her own voice. Or not only. Had the others heard it, too? She needed to breathe, but her throat wouldn't obey. Her left hand crawled upwards to grab a handful of the tunic over her chest, below which loomed the Genma's seal. Why was she burning?

[Ace Trainer]

These kids were compliant at a minimum, which was appreciated by the Princess. Hiroko gave a quick affirmation, and Heiya shot a stern look at her for a moment, but couldn't maintain it as a strange sound resonated from Kotori that sent a chill down Heiya's spine. What was that? She could tell it wasn't in her heard either by the ghostly look on Kotori's face - now was the time to test her chops as a leader. Shaking her head, Heiya let out a laugh, anxious at first but coming off genuine by the end, "Boy you're an excited one! Where was all this excited from you Hiroko!!", Heiya bellowed. "We won't be starting quite yet. I need to prepare safe guards for you both.

She spun on her feet like a ballerina, her dress flaring out from her ankles as she did, "Keys please, Hikaru!", she cheerfully demanded. The young assistant at the desk who had seemingly melted away since calling for Heiya rifled through the contents of the desk before tossing a ring of keys to Heiya who deftly swiped them out of the air. "Alrighty you two! Come with me.", and without checking to follow she began down the hall she'd originally emerged from.

Along the hall were several doors, all of them looked quite heavy, made of slate gray material that if they knew enough about Heiya or Iwagakure they'd be able to identify as Kouton. As they approached the end of the hall Heiya would kneel down, placing the key into a lock that was flush with the floor, opening some mechanism that would allow the floor to split aside revealing a staircase. She'd look back at them and wink at Kotori before taking a few quick steps descending down the staircase. As Kotori and Hiroko followed, they would have the underbelly of the building revealed to them. Not unlike the very chambers they were sealed in, the basement to this building was a massive chamber, easily triple or quadruple the size of the building's apparent footprint. The walls were covered in alternating swathes of slate grey sheet and brilliant glass of various shades of green. Closer to the ground, there were several enormous pillars of metal extending from the walls and into the ground, splitting into smaller cables that sprouted out from the ground and various points.

"Is this cool or what?", she'd ask them as she continued to descend, looking off the edge of the staircase to take in her masterful work.

[Kaitos10]

Hiroko would look on nervously as Heiya sensei stared her down, though this time she was able to retain her composure. Though when Kotori spoke she was a little surprised as her genma spoke with her. Though what really surprised her was when she heard Heiya sensei’s response and would reply “I guess I was too nervous or scared to speak properly Heiya sensei.”

Hiroko would look on curiously as she mentioned the keys before watching as she was tossed a pair and grabbed them in mid air. She would then gracefully get up in a refined manner and would casually start to follow Heiya sensei. As they went down the hallways she would look on curiously at the kouton doors. She was wondering What those doors were for.

When they finally entered the final room she looked around and was a bit confused by the cables coming out of the ground. Otherwise it kind of looked like a normal room? So she was wondering if she was missing something and that feeling only intensified as Heiya sensei asked her about it causing her to say “honestly I’m unsure how to feel about it.”

[Valkier]

Kotori stood speechless for a moment after the Genma's little outburst, and felt overly exposed under Heiya's discerning look. And then, thankfully, blessedly, the woman laughed! Kotori wasn't sure how to react, but slowly relaxed. The Genma's presence receded slightly, and she cracked a small, quavering grin in return too. Clearly Heiya had been in these situations before. That was... reassuring. Very reassuring. Kotori obediently followed along as her new Sensei spun around and marched away.

Heiya led them down some plain-looking halls and stopped at a dead end, and Kotori cocked her head as the woman knelt to reveal a trapdoor and staircase hidden in the floor. Curiosity drove Kotori onwards just as much as Heiya's encouragement, and she moved in step beside Hiroko to enter the basement room. There she stopped, her mouth falling wide.

"Whoah, you have a whole secret lair?! That's so... badass!" The vast chamber was clean and crisp, and she thought the shimmering light of the green glass was beautiful, if perhaps a little sinister. But secret lairs were meant to be sinister, so that was okay. She couldn't work out what the pillars were for, though they looked plenty sturdy enough for whatever the room could possibly be used for.

"But, uh, what are we gunna do here?" She stepped out and into the room, but soon turned to check that the exit was still there. She eyed the cables warily, trying to work out how strong they'd be and what they might be for. This definitely wasn't an asylum for people like her, right? Right?