Kissin the Concrete

[HotelBravo]

This is a story where Nikkou broke her board and while attempting to grind on a rail. It was painful.

What had happened between Sungakure and Iwagakure wasn’t something that Nikkou enjoyed in the least bit. She didn’t know anything about the reasons behind the war, nor had she fought in the war. What she did know is that this place was brand new to her and had some interesting places to skate. Some of the buildings were domed in shape which meant that if she could land on the roof she could launch herself off at a good speed! She laughed as the land known for its winds blew wind in her face and through her hair. It was hot here and there was no protection from the sun, but she was an Enkouten - raised in the lava fed forgers in Iwagakure. A little heat was in no way enough to stop her from having a good time.

There! A set of stairs would be a good place to practice a rail grind. The wheels hummed as they rolled against the pavement, she kicked off with her back foot, the board lifted beneath her as she soared into the air. For a brief moment it felt like she was truly free. She could fly! It was just her and her board, and the open and endless sky! But she came down and the board landed on the rail. She felt something give way beneath her, there was a loud crack and before she could react the skateboard splintered under her weight. Nikkou went into free fall, the rail she had been skating on suddenly got caught on her crotch - it was a solid hit that took all of her breath away. She may not have had man parts, but whoever said that women were immune to getting kicked in the groin was a liar as Nikkou was just now finding out. She let herself roll off the rail and fell face first into the concrete - she was practically kissing the ground.

She only started to get up after she a moment to catch her breath and the first thing she saw was her new skateboard had been snapped in two. She crawled over to the poor pieces of lacquered wood and gave a said and disappointed sigh as she patted them. It happened sometimes, it was just the nature of skating. Sometimes you hit the board wrong, and it completely came apart. She got up and walked off the pain, limping awkwardly in a bow shape as she went when she paused and looked at the Enkouten girl who was before her.

”Oh…How much of that did you see exactly? Actually - don’t answer that. Pretend you didn’t see anything.”

[Kanade]

"But I did see you." Atusko looked rather confused, "And mother says I shouldn't lie." The confused frown deepened and she rubbed one of her horns, tilting her head to the side, a nervous tick when she was perplexed, "Why wouldn't I at least admit it to you." She looked at her, really looked, read through her and nodded, "Your body doesn't lie, you hurt yourself, and you have to at least admit that." Then Atsuko looked at Nikkou's skateboard, "And you hurt your skateboard too. It said that you shouldn't land so suddenly on a rail after you take off like that. It's not meant to catch you like that." She poked at one of the trucks and looked earnestly up at Nikkou, "This is what's supposed to catch you. See, it's metal." Atsuko said the last part slowly, as if she were talking to a three year old. She blinked and smiled as if she had said something particularly helpful, "Metal is a lot stronger than-" She poked at the board, "Whatever this poor thing was made out of. Some cheap material I guess."

[HotelBravo]

"But I did see you." The girl looked confused. "And mother says I shouldn't lie." Nikkou was getting the impression that she was speaking much young than she seemed. She looked like she was at least ten right? Ten years olds didn’t talk like this - just how old was this kid? "Why wouldn't I at least admit it to you." Nikkou was about to say something in response but paused when she got the chills from the way that this girl was looking at her - no - looking through her rather! "Your body doesn't lie, you hurt yourself, and you have to at least admit that."

”Look its just -” Nikkou began but paused when the girl made another puzzling observation.

, "And you hurt your skateboard too. It said that you shouldn't land so suddenly on a rail after you take off like that. It's not meant to catch you like that." She was poking the trucks as if she was one of those children that poked bugs with sticks. It was like she was touching something that was… living. "This is what's supposed to catch you. See, it's metal." This little ! She had taken a very patronizing tone with Nikkou as if she were talking to someone ignorant or perhaps to a child. "Metal is a lot stronger than-" she poked the board again. "Whatever this poor thing was made out of. Some cheap material I guess." This girl was certainly an odd one. She had a nervous tick of touching her horns - and well, Nikkou was used to being called out for being weird herself, so she ignored it and left that alone.

”Alright - I’m a little too sore for this kind of conversation right now. You’re an Enkouten right? I am too despite having silver hair. Don’t ask - I don’t even know the story myself. I was trying to do whats called a boardslide - its a type of rail grind where you - eh you’re not really interested in that are you? Anyway - I’m not asking you to lie - I’m just asking you to be polite, you know? Manners and shit? Also what do you mean that this board is cheap? I paid like 200 ryo for that!”

[Kanade]

Atsuko attempted to listen, but all she could hear was the things that popped into her head while Nikkou talked:

”Alright - I’m a little too sore for this kind of conversation right now." Which meant that she didn't know how to talk to someone who had made valid and correct points like she had.

"You’re an Enkouten right?" Which was a little hard to tell given the green eyes, horns, and probably because she wasn't in a smithy right now but watching people fall off of skatebaords.

"I am too despite having silver hair." She had seen many old women Enkouten, another one wasn't a surprise to Atsuko.

"Don’t ask - I don’t even know the story myself." Again, she was old, and apparently had better coordination than all of the other old people.

"I was trying to do whats called a boardslide - its a type of rail grind where you - eh you’re not really interested in that are you?" She was at least right about that. Atsuko wasn't really interested in what kind of stupid ways that people tried to hurt themselves, though, she was interested in skating.

"Anyway - I’m not asking you to lie - I’m just asking you to be polite, you know? Manners and shit?" Right, her mother had told her about that, but it was better to be blunt to someone who had just suffered trauma, both psychological and physical. It was always good to be direct and assess the patient first.

" Also what do you mean that this board is cheap? I paid like 200 ryo for that!” - Which meant that she either had landed on her head before, or she got swindled because she was old and didn't know the meaning of ryo anymore.

All of these thoughts were as plain as day on Atsuko's face as she listened, almost as if she said them out loud.

Atsuko decided to take a different approach from then on, this old, dumb, reckless woman would probably need help and would need the sweetest, most gentle tone that she had. "Oh, I am sorry. I can make you another one. And I could probably make it better than that one ever was. I won't use recycled parts of trash to do it either." - Yes, Nailed it.

Then she went on to say, "If I make you a board, will you teach me how to kick and stay on the board?" It was a simple enough request, and perhaps it would earn her points, "I don't mean to pry, but what's someone old like you doing on a skateboard anyhow, and you should take the old broken board back to whoever sold it to you and demand your money back, it wasn't worth a quarter what you paid." She nudged it mournfully, "Though it did have spirit, I'll give it that. Poor thing."

[HotelBravo]

I can’t get mad at a kid can I? She was really getting on Nikkou’s nerves - the way that she was making faces the entire time that she had been talking - but no - you can’t beat up children - especially little demon Enkouten girls. But man! What she wouldn’t give to give this girl a smack for all her making faces - no wait… She had to be the adult here right? Even though this kid was talking so strangely she was acting like she was in fact the adult and that just made Nikkou more angry. OVercome all worldly desires, overcome all worldly desires!

Just as Nikkou was about to wind up and give this little lady a bop, it seemed this girl had something interesting to say! "Oh, I am sorry. I can make you another one. And I could probably make it better than that one ever was. I won't use recycled parts of trash to do it either." Nikkou let go of her rage with an exhale. An Enkouten is still an Enkouten. Of course she would offer to rebuild it. Still, as much as Nikkou found herself at odds with the Enkouten this - wait a minute. Dots connected suddenly. This was Kanade’s kid wasn’t it? That shy girl back at the restaurant. How had she gotten so big? To finish her thought from before - despite being an Enkouten, this girl was innocent of the crimes that Nikkou blamed on them.

"If I make you a board, will you teach me how to kick and stay on the board?" What!? Was this girl for real!? Nikkou unleashed a wide smile and give Atsuko the nice guy pose.

”Oh Hell Yeah Sister - now you’re talking my language. I would love to show you how to stay on the board even if you didn’t make one - I mean but it would be nice to have a new one though - of course.”

, "I don't mean to pry, but what's someone old like you doing on a skateboard anyhow, and you should take the old broken board back to whoever sold it to you and demand your money back, it wasn't worth a quarter what you paid. "Though it did have spirit, I'll give it that. Poor thing." This girl! Nikkou was suppressing her anger once again as this girl was pressing her buttons by calling her old. ”What? Come on Little sis, I’m not that old - and besides that its not exactly like you’re going to find quality skateboards in a shinobi village - they don’t really care about skateboards because most of them just run faster than you skate. I think its fun though.”

Nikkou didn’t practice all the crafting and creation techniques that some of the Enkouten did. She didn’t even like the Lava techniques that she had learned, instead preferring to find her own ninja way. So it would be highly convenient if this girl could fix it for her.

[Kanade]

That was all that Atsuko needed to hear. As soon as she got the green light she smiled and started to concentrate. The genma inside of her awoke and she she looked inward, her green eyes dulling to an almost white color, their depths hidden in the inward searching for the genma that lay in her belly. "Janesisu, I have come to bargain." She said in her best inward tone as her body stared at her hands, waiting for something to happen, anything to happen. The genma stirred within her, a small girl form it chose to take, Janesisu appeared out of the darkness. The genma’s eyes were always the same, fathomless pools filled with countless stars and nebulae. She wore a simple dress, and around her waist was a belt of stars which hung down to her knee. She wasn’t taller than Atsuko but commanded, demanded, expected respect. She gave a lazy smile, the sharp teeth splitting her porcelain features of her face, making her seem more alien and demonic than Atusko ever was.

“Atsuko dear, you finally call upon me in a time of need.” The genma’s smile turned cheshire in its intensity, the edges of it sharp enough for Atsuko to cut herself on if she should move too close, should ask too much.

“I would like you to make my friend a skateboard, hers broke.” Atsuko said, folding her arms across her chest. The genma deflated, physically, literally deflated in her mind’s eye, the smile turned to a frown, then a grimace, then the genma laughed. The laugh was a clear bell tone, it rang throughout Atsuko and Atsuko was sure that Nikkou could probably hear the inaudible earth-shattering laugh.

“You want me to make you a skateboard, for your friend?” She laughed again, it was ridiculous. “Why should I make her a skateboard when we could make fantastical wonderful things together. If you would but lend me your body, we could fashion a throne for you to sit on, create gold mountains for you to pay your subjects with, bend the very world to our will. I can literally print ryo, you know and you want me to make a skateboard?” The laugh pierced atsuko’s ears, threatened to shatter her skin and break her bones.

“I know what you’re capable of.” Atsuko said warily, “I also know that what you offer me doesn’t come without a price.” She had been told by her mother that genma were tricky, that they liked to use their hosts, liked to burn them away from the inside, and that sometimes when they used up the last of their host’s chakra, they would manifest on this plane of existence. They would burst out and shatter the world, create laws that no mortal could defy, and would bend the world to their will. It usually took an army to put them back into a person.

“Then you know that what I offer is all to real, and within your grasp girl.” The genma grew to that of a young woman, “And don’t forget that I am older than you, I am as old as the earth, I am older than the earth. I bend matter to my whim, and that I can shatter you at any moment.” The genma narrowed her eyes at her, Janesisu was still too newly transferred to have any sort of a relationship with Atsuko.

“Fine, then I won’t use you, ever. You’ll rot in this body, until I pass, then I’ll have them put you in a jar, and toss that jar into the labyrinth.” Atsuko said, her eyes flat, her words were the truth. She had no use for something that lived inside her, rent free, without some sort of a contract.

Janesisu’s eyes narrowed further and she scoffed, “You will never be rid of me, you won’t know a good night’s sleep if you try that.”

“Then your imprisonment in the jar will be quicker than you think. People need to sleep to live, duh!” Atsuko stuck out her tongue.

“I’ll rip that pretty little tongue right out of that petulant mouth.” Janesisu snarled, reaching for it. Atsuko held up a hand.

“Listen, Janesisu, if you cooperate, I’ll help you build some of the things that you want too. I know you itch to be free from this place, to stretch your power and to build beautiful things.” Atsuko smiled and Janesisu turned into a little girl again, considering. She put on a flirtatious smile, moving toward Atsuko she extended a hand to Atsuko, “Shake on it so that it’s a promise.”

Atsuko looked at the hand, she had a suspicion that she was making a deal with an oni, like her mother had told her not to do, but she also needed for Janesisu to be a partner, and not a rival or an enemy. Janesisu’s thoughts remained hidden behind a mental door of her own, but Atsuko thought that it wasn’t too much to give her a free rein every now and again when no one was looking. After all, how harmful could she be with Atsuko’s limited chakra pool.

Atsuko shook Janesisu’s hand and the genma’s power flowed through her, into her hands and the chakra manifested in a white wisp. She wove these back and forth with her hands, using her fingers like knitting needles or crochet hooks. Finally, when she was done she held a board in her hands, made completely of white light. She blew on it and it turned into magma, which cooled until it was obsidian, one side, the concave side, was rough and would be able to grip nikkou’s shoes, and one side was as slick as newly polished glass, which it was. It was as hard as twice-shod steel and had magma that would never cool that twisted and turned in intricate patterns within it. “Janesisu helped me make this.” She handed over the board to Nikkou and smiled, “Now, teach me how to skate.”

jutsu learned 1001/1000 wordsShow

[Matter construction: Simple Transport]
D-rank Toukoujutsu - requires "True Artistry" ability.
The user will channel their chakra and create a simple mode of transport such as a skateboard, a pair of roller-skates, or a snow-board. The mode of transportation has a strength equal to the user's [control] and can be made out of any element the user possesses if they have "True Artistry" as one of their abilities.

[HotelBravo]

Nikkou wasn’t even really sure what she was watching. It seemed that Atsuko had gone all quiet for a time. She was thinking about interrupting whatever was happening to check on if she was okay or not, but then she saw the white wispy chakra that the girl had begun to weave together as though it were thread and fabric coming together for a new scarf only what came to life instead was a skateboard. ”What the…What even does this -” Nikkou knew that she had exactly been a fully trained Kunoichi for long, but she had never seen a jutsu capable of weaving objects into reality. Atsuko blew on the board and the light turned into magma which cooled with the bottom of the board looking like it was made of glass. The skateboard also had a natural grip on the top side. ”What…?” Nikkou said breahtlessly.

”MAN! Are you seeing this thing right now? ITS LIKE ONE SOLID THING!” Nikkou took the board out of Atsuko’s outstretched hands and began to hop in place excitedly as she turned it over this way and that. This board would be one of a kind. If any of it broke, there was no one that she would ever be able to replace it. The Trucks were as much part of the board as anything else. Nikkou gave the wheels a spin - they had a grip like texture similar to the surface of the board. They weren’t rubber, it was made out of this weird obsidian material, but it had flexibility. ”Janesisu huh? IS that some kind of Jutsu? Holy fuck - oh shit - ” Nikkou covered her mouth. “My bad, I shouldn’t be cursing in front of a kid.”

“Hell yeah - lets teach you how to skate!” Nikkou set the board on the ground “So first we gotta figure out how you feel the most comfortable on the skateboard. Like this.”. Nikkou showed Atsuko how should could have either her right foot dominant, or by turning around she could make her left foot dominant instead. ”Figuring out what feels the most comfortable is the best place to start.So just figure out which foot feels ‘correct’ to be be at the front of the board - by the way the front of the board is whichever way you are currently facing! Don’t think about it too much either.” Nikkou offered Atsuko her hand to help steady the girl in case she needed it while testing the out the board.

"I'm a little jealous you get to try it out first, but aw hell - you made the damn thing after all - fuck cursing - shit- alright - shutting up." Nikkou made a gesture like she was pulling a zipper and forcing herself to be quiet.