Starring:
Date: July 6, 2014
Summary:
With the assistance of Kiji, Kiyoshi seeks out another one of the seven swordsman for the sake of learning more about the their blades…
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Edge of Severity"
Deadly Reef [Land of Water]
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The Deadly Reef is a coral reef that has claimed many lives. Both the reefs themselves and the animals that dwell amongst them are very dangerous. Sailing ships tend to avoid this place if at all possible, though ignorance of the threat in previous years means that many vessels have been gutted by the reefs and their crews drowned, eaten by sharks, or both. The sharks are another primary reason for why the Deadly Reef is so deadly. Sharks in general do not simply go about attacking humans without provocation. The sharks in the Deadly Reef are different.
For whatever reason, whether it be that many of them are "tiger sharks" and "bull sharks", or perhaps that there has been such successful hunting in this particular area, the sharks of the Deadly Reef do attack humans and do eat humans. Further, they sometimes seem to go out of their way to follow ships, attack swimmers, and consume any corpses left over from ninja battles. Even a ninja standing on the water is not safe.
The vast population of these sharks is evident sometimes from the shore, seeing the many dorsal fins in the water, the other sea life being smashed into the air from below and then killed violently, and other times… The WORST times… The choppy grey waters seem to be absent of anything at all. It is this last time that has caused so many ignorant or foolish individuals to go for a swim and never come back to shore — or at least not in one piece.
The Coastal Road lies just to the east of the primary beach of the Deadly Reef, with many cliffs separating this lethal breeding ground from the delicate humans.
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The Deadly Reefs. A place that earned its name well, and somewhere Kiyoshi would've preferred avoiding if he could. But according to Kiji it remains one of the few places to find a certain seven swordsman. Or was this meeting requested? Quite honestly somewhere between (or even after) asking about her sensei and the trip itself Kiyoshi lost track of just about everything for awhile with only the clothes on his back, some cross between a whale and a shark harpoon, and Kiji with him. The destination being what it was, the duo do not arrive before sun is all but spent on this wintry day. In any case, there isn't much explanation as to why he wanted to meet Yoichi in the first place. Just a strong urging on the giant's part and an rough admission of wanting to know more about the seven swords.
Things you could only learn from their possessor, not from records sealed away from most shinobi; especially the genin. "Kiji-chan… Mm.. Thanks again." He states without letting his gaze waver from the view ahead.
Kiji had led Kiyoshi out of the village and headed for the Deadly Reef, the most likely location to find Yoichi. She knew a few other places her sensei might be hanging out but she'd chosen to look here first. She had on a long sleeved jacket over her plain black clothes but that wasn't the only thing helping her against the chill. Yoichi would probably sense her chakra level was a touch higher as she increased her body temperature to add heat to her clothes and thus to herself. It wasn't much but it was enough to compensate for the temperature.
Once she reached the reef she'd look up at Kiyoshi and offer a bit of a smile. "Don't worry about it, Kiyoshi-kun." She stepped forward and looked around, reaching out with her senses to try and feel for Yoichi's presence….
Yoichi is nowhere to be found, not even his blades or coat visible. Out on the choppy waters, once in a while one might see a silver fin momentarily… and then more of them… If Kiji's getting good enough with her chakra sense, she'd feel that the Swordsman's presence is actually in these dangerous waters, though his body isn't in a solid state at the moment or even visible at all to the sharks trying to find him.
A small smile lights up Kiyoshi's otherwise dour expression briefly before it fades as he too tried to focus on hunting down the swordsman. All that his sensitive nose picks up is at best faint traces of a man. Albeit that is mostly overpowered by the ambient smells natural to the area. Aggravated, he snorts and shakes his head. "Any luck?" He asks, skin and hair shifting as her turned into a nice fur coat. Tempted though he was to have simply stuck close to Kiji instead, Kiyoshi chose the less likely option to avoid — A growl emanates from his throat. Then he shifts his skin back and hugs her from behind.
Kiji could sense Yoichi in the water as usual, but Kiyoshi's instant winter 'coat' distracted her. She chuckled to herself before pointing at the water in the general direction of Yoichi. Then she let out a little suprised squeak as Kiyoshi hugged her from behind. She was careful of her hair but looked up at Kiyoshi curiously, her eyes purplish. "He's in the water." She didn't stop Kiyoshi's hold but she moved her hands to cup around her mouth and shouted. "Yoichi-sensei!" Then she looked up at Kiyoshi again, leaning back against him idly.
Just after Kiji shouts, a shark would fly up onto the beach to land about five feet from her, then another… and another. After the third one lands, Yoichi would finally surface by forming on top of the water. He quirks an eyebrow as he spots Kiji being hugged from behind by Kiyoshi, pausing a moment before moving onto the shore where his prey have landed. "What's this? Came to introduce your new boyfriend to your sensei?" he asks in as flat a voice as ever as he steps over, lifting his blades to making finishing strikes on each of the sharks.
A faint nod had been given in regards to the water. He figured as much, and the traces of Yoichi he did pick up leaned in that direction, more or less. But of course meeting Yoichi mattered that little bit less now that he had Ms. Space Heater in hand. "Mm.." Is his only response to the statement before Kiji opted for the more "direct" approach of summoning the swordsman. The moment shark's start flying from the sea, Kiyoshi has already let go, and stepped forward, harpoon in one hand and body partially shielding her from attack. Granted, all he ends up really shielding her from is a bit of dust, maybe the mild threat of still leaving sharks trying to snap at them, and remnants of water splashed about. He has all but a few seconds to look Yoichi over without thinking anything negative of him. Then he spoke. Kiyoshi's jaw grew taut, but he held his tongue. Problem was… he couldn't say anything at the moment without letting his agitation leak out in the process..
Kiji watched the shark flyyyyyy in the air.. and land nearby without flinching. Yoichi was crazy and she knew it. Flying sharks were not surprising really. Kiyoshi, though, moved to shield her from 'danger' and she blinked a few times, eyes purple in curiosity. She smiled up at him as Yoichi came to land. She was surprised by the swordsman's words and she blushed, shifting from foot to foot but she just gave him a pouty look before she stepped up to Kiyoshi's side, making sure she was seen but out of shark range. "This is Kiyoshi-kun." She refused to give Yoichi a thrill by stating her relationship to Kiyoshi. She had thought about it lately but she had yet to come to a conclusion. Things had gotten complicated. But he also referred to himself as her sensei so she just pointed and looked at Kiyoshi like 'told you so'.
"Well, you're being hugged from behind by some guy on shore while you wait for my to surface, so that's going to be the logical assumption anyone would make," Yoichi says, his voice as flat as ever, not taking any thrill as most people would out of such a situation. "So what's going on then?" he asks as he pulls the sharks together, pulling a rope from a pouch on his back and using it to bind the sharks together at their tails. "I'm getting ready for a mission that's going to be… particularly dangerous."
Kiyoshi doesn't stop her from moving forward, but by the look of him during the instance he seemed ready to. That, and perhaps aggravated with himself afterwards for having not followed through with the desire. In any case, one last glance is cast towards Kiji when he catches movement from her. Then, back to Yoichi, the smirk playing on the edge of his lips quickly fading in the wake of his statement. Kiyoshi still didn't know what to call their relationship… exactly. So…
"She is my.. friend, and very warm." He stated awkwardly to counter Yoichi's earlier statement. "And we-…" He frowns, then steps closer to Yoichi. "I wish to learn more about those blades of yours."
Kiji blinked several times at Yoichi, head tilted, her eyes bright purple. She didn't know what to call their relationship either. She noticed Kiyoshi's urge to restrain her and would have stepped back into his range when Kiyoshi stepped forward. She tucked her arms behind her back and wandered over closer to the sharks as Kiyoshi spoke to Yoichi. She didn't want to get between them at that point. She crouched down by the sharks then, since they were dead by then and poked one in the side, running her hand over the skin carefully. Sharks were a delicacy yes but she was always curious about them. She glanced up at Yoichi as she waited and listened to the two men.
"You can drop the nervousness," Yoichi says flatly to Kiyoshi as he looks him dead in his head. "Long as you don't interfere with her training, I don't care." There is some weight there, though, something Kiyoshi should be careful not to do… He then quirks an eyebrow at the boy, saying, "The blades are made of a special metal that allows Lightning Ninjutsu to be performed through them, better than even what chakra metal can do since even that can only help you with Lightning Kenjutsu or Taijutsu. It's never been replicated and likely never will. What else is it that you want to know?"
Kiyoshi kept an eye on Kiji from the corner of his eyes… at first. Yoichi's flat comment prompted him to snap his focus back fully on the swordsman. His eyes narrowed, jaw grew tight again, and fists clenched at his side until the swordsman brought up Kiji again. Try as he might, Kiyoshi can't quite keep from blushing when he adds on. "Right.." He murmurs dryly. The rest he just listens to without comment. Surprise lights up his eyes. Yuuka required a bit of coaxing. Isra was a wild card. He wasn't going to even /try/ and talk to Ishino about swords given the rumors regarding the man (plus the safety measures put in place during the wedding >.>). But a straight-forward answer from Yoichi? Well… That just threw him for a complete loop. "… The Kiba blades… Did you chose them?"
Kiji looked up at Yoichi as he spoke to Kiyoshi, then to the giant, curious at his reaction. The sharks in front of her were strung up by then but she couldn't help running a hand over the rough skin again. It was really interesting. But when Yoichi was plain and straight forward about his blades, that got her attention. Wasn't this the guy that told her not to share her secrets? But she listened nonetheless, gathering information as much as possible. "I'm a big girl." She added somewhat sarcastically. "I can handle having a friend and still train…"
"No," Yoichi replies simply. "The last wielder was removed from her office at the same time I was being considered, so things just worked out, and I've made the best of use of the blades. Thus far, despite my first while of being part of this village being trapped in a hospital, I'm fairly certain I've become the strongest wielder of these blades to date." His voice remains flat through the conversation, sounding much more like simply stating fact than bragging about anything. A brief glance is cast to Kiji at her words, the Swordsman stating simply, "That is why I warned him instead of you."
Kiyoshi sweat-dropped at Kiji's comment, and again from Yoichi's comment. Did no one have any faith in him? He shook it off, and tried to refocus back on Yoichi's words. A belatedly if slow nod is given in acknowledgement. He couldn't — wouldn't contest the man's word yet. But perhaps in a few years…
"Hmm… Thank you for your candor, Yoichi-san." He states with a courteous bow given. Kiyoshi starts to turn Kiji, but stops as another thought occurs. "Yoichi-san… Where does your strength as a shinobi come from?" Kiyoshi asks, ignoring habit for curiosity's sake.
Kiji made a sweat-drop face at Yoichi's comment, glancing at Kiyoshi in time to see the expression on his face. She patted the shark despite it being dead and stood up, dusting imaginary dirt off her pants. She stepped in to ask Yoichi something when there was a pause in the conversation. She pointed at the sharks. "Can I have some of their teeth Yoichi-sensei?" She shivered in the air and stepped closer to Kiyoshi again, her body temperature rising again just a few degrees but it was enough to flush her cheeks.
Yoichi blinks a bit at that question, smirking a bit. "I work my circumference off on a daily basis almost non-stop," he replies. "I don't make friends. I don't take time to be social besides stopping to have a drink with my old man once in a while. If you want a social life like what you're developing with my student, I'm the guy you don't want to be, the guy who only cares about being a soldier, who doesn't care how immoral a mission may seem to others so long as it benefits the village."
Sensing Kiji close in and transform into living heater again, Kiyoshi starts to wrap an arm around her. Start to, hesitate given Yoichi's presence, then do so anyways even as Yoichi spoke on and made light his choice to keep his heart open. "The good of the village before all else.. huh…" He lowers his eyes after, and then turns them upon Kiji. A lingering look given that conveyed little beyond a hint of some 'feeling' before he turns them on the sharks. "… Are the teeth necessary to your mission?" He asks, bringing the point back to Kiji's request now that his own had been resolved.
Kiji grinned as Kiyoshi hesitated to put an arm around her then leaned on him lightly with no hesitation whe he finally did it. She had figured out by that point why he was being so open about pulling her close. Silly Kiyoshi. She perked as Yoichi nodded to her and even as Kiyoshi pulled her in she'd cut the back of her wrist, drawing blood from her arm in order to form a cutting edge. It takes only a short time to slice the teeth from one of the shark's mouths, carrying them back to her through the air so she didn't have to leave Kiyoshi's side. She pulled out a pouch and filled it with the teeth then grinned happily, encircling her wrist with the left over blood. She hardened it into a bangle and eyed her prizes for a moment before tying the pouch to her belt.
"Exactly," Yoichi says with a nod then glances to the sharks for a moment then to Kiji. "I'm only using them for meat, so take as many of the teeth as you'd like." With that, he'd wait for her to pluck whatever teeth she wants before picking up the sharks to haul back to his house to skin and prepare the meat for the journey.
