A Thousand Steps|Solo|Self mod|B-rank

[Senju Shizuka]

This would be not the most exciting of missions; she had figured out that much during breakfast. Nevertheless, it would become a work-out in its own right. No fighting, but plenty of walking awaited the young student today. She yawned, expressing her feelings toward the piece of paper in front of her with lazily blinking eyes. As she leaned back to stay in the comfort of her home’s embrace for a little longer her eyelids drooped slightly. She stifled another yawn with the back of her hand. It was really time to go if she didn’t want to be late. The thought of making a bad impression at the Torre Celeste was the only reason why she actually forced herself onto her feet and got moving. The hell she would be put through if the Academy got a complaint from that place wasn’t worth the sweetness of the blanket that had been clinging to her shoulders mere seconds ago.

Out of the distance she could see the tower raise: onyx black against the silvery grey of the morning. It cut the sky with its prominence. Whenever one looked up their gazes would automatically gravitate toward the enormous structure. Like Shizuka’s had done when she left behind one of the nearby buildings that had been obscuring everything from view.

Now (it felt like) she had all the time in the world to study the tower. The walk was fairly long, and there were only a few things worthy of her attention as she headed down the streets toward the center of their village. Between the turns and crossings she was reminded why she didn’t really like sleeping over at grandma’s unless there was no school at all.

Skipping between two merchants she mused over the glittering stone in the sky. In a way it fit the Cloud quite well. High in the air, hard to reach, even harder to break.. strong-willed, powerful. Prominent.

Soon she was distracted from both the sight and her thoughts by a gentle mew. The soft sound came from somewhere around her feet, so she looked down only to find a medium sized striped cat. Its yellowish eyes studied Shizuka with an equal amount of curiosity as the latter crouched to give the little, cute thing a pat.

“Hey there, little fellow.” Carefully scratching it behind the ear as not to scare it away, she grinned. Cats were amazing creatures. Independent, intelligent, lethal. Perhaps it was to get herself a kitten, she briefly wondered, then figured that with everyone being away for such a large portion of the day it wouldn’t be fair. Not that the little furball wouldn’t make it on its own, but the idea of having it being somewhat lonely bugged her.
By the time she got to the tower she was dangerously close to being late, but wasn’t. That’s all that mattered, she figured while receiving the package and the instructions that went with it. To her surprise the box was quite light. So many other could have done what she was about to do. It was a bit odd to play the mailman, but she didn’t complain. Grades were grades and yen were yen. Both were needed.

With the papers stuffed away in one of her pockets (she hoped to remember bringing them back once they were signed) she tucked away the package beneath her arm and took of to get to the library. The shortest path was one that included climbing some walls on the way in order to get onto the rooftops. She didn’t mind, and planned not to fall. All in all it would be a great exercise, or rather the freshening up of the skill.

Cutting corners, sliding across people’s backyards, and ignoring those faces that weren’t too happy about her interference with their daily life she rushed toward the other epic building of gigantic proportions: Bibliotheca Conscientiae. A structure that dwarfed everything in its vicinity, and was the perfect place to find anything ever written by mankind. Shizuka’s eyes widened when she drew closer to its entrance. It wasn’t because of the sight, though, which was undoubtedly impressive, it was because she suddenly wondered if there was a very precious book in her possession.

The brief but burning desire to open the package before delivering it caused her to stop in her tracks. Carefully sliding the box from under her armpit she stared at it for a couple of seconds. Then, very gently, shook it. The content didn’t shift. She could feel that something was inside of it, but it didn’t move due to some mysterious reason.

Not a book then, she decided. Her curiosity grew.

Knowing that it would only get worse from here on, she forced herself to move. With effort the girl let go of her mischievous thoughts for long enough to be able to hand over the package. Now there was no way of getting it back to open it and see the contents with her own eyes. For a moment she lingered around the woman, hoping that after signing the papers she would open the box. Unfortunately, she didn’t. In silence the lady took it upstairs, away from Shizuka’s curious gaze.

Defeated, the girl headed back to the Tower.


**
[877/1,600 - Part I of the mission]

 

[Senju Shizuka]

With nothing to worry about and her mind floating elsewhere she dashed over the streets, climbed the sides of buildings by latching onto the walls with chakra, jumped from rooftop to rooftop, and got to the Tower twice as fast now. Having had no interaction with the previously met cat Shizuka found herself thinking about getting a snack later -meat or fish- and check out if the fur ball was still hanging around the bakery. Assuming there wouldn’t be too many people on the street by noon she might get lucky enough to spend some time leisurely wandering with the cat. Surely the purring creature would know a place to relax at. Felines were known for that.

Going through the entrance without any hesitation now that she knew where she had to be at, Shizuka turned in the papers just to receive a disapproving look. ‘What?’, the word almost slipped from her lips but she managed to remain quiet when the woman ironed out the piece of paper. Oh, there were some wrinkles in the ‘document’. Well, they would have to get over that Shizuka decided with a look of finality.

The moment she received the packages which had to be brought to the Academy she wondered if the lady was trying to punish her for the look she had returned. The two boxes were way smaller than the first one had been, but were incredibly heavy. From the effort she had to put into holding them without dropping them it felt like they were filled up to the brink with lead. And perhaps they were. Perhaps this was some sort of precious metal which the Academy used for certain exercises or weapons. Maybe even both. Not that it made carrying them any easier.

Refusing to leave one behind and walk all the way to the Academy twice in a row, she managed to carry them with a couple of small breaks. During one of those pauses she bought herself a cup of green grapes from an older lady on the side of the marketplace. They were more sour than sweet, but she enjoyed them regardless. With the boxes placed next to her feet she leaned back against the bench’s back. Nobody would steal those things even if they wanted to. Of that she was sure. Hence, with eyes closed for a while, she sat there to cool off in the morning breeze.

*​

“Here,” she awkwardly dropped the boxes onto the table and heard it creaking in protest to the weight. “I don’t know what that is but it’s heavy.” Placing the papers that had to be signed next to the boxes she waited for the secretary to do her thing. Two stamps and a signature later Shizuka was free to go. Without the weight slowing her down walking through the streets felt like flying.

Choosing to wander through the more crowded parts of the city she got herself another, little snack. Dango with sweet bean paste on it. A pretty good choice if you asked her. So did the woman in the Tower thought, except that she commented that food wasn’t welcomed in the hall of the building. This had Shizuka swallow the last bit with a shrug - she briefly waved with the empty stick as if to tell “see? gone!”. It worked, and somehow the lady was no longer as grumpy as she had been about an hour ago. Perhaps she simply hated morning. Shizuka could come into that.

“The last one today, not heavy, don’t worry.” Smiling sweetly (the little Senju wasn’t sure if it was a genuine smile or not) she handed her a sealed scroll. “This one has to be delivered to the hospital. Make sure that it looks pristine, they don’t like dirt and fingerprints over there.”

*​

Having gone as far as washing her hands before taking on the scroll it was mildly annoying when she managed to drop it because of a hasty man walking into her. Angered, she quickly picked it up, dusted off the sand, blew on the outside, then caught up with the imbecile.

“Watch out where you’re going!” Snarling the words in his face she thought to see him narrow his eyes. Unimpressed by the way he then flexed his muscles, she bared her teeth. Green eyes lit, left hand ready to start forming seals - he couldn’t possibly know she wasn’t able to do them with only one had. So, he backed off just in case. She had her sweet tasting victory. Better than dango, and better than the green grapes. Shizuka flipped her hair back, threw a vicious look at him, then continued her walk to the Hospital.

*​

They appreciated the lack of dirt on the scroll, signed the papers, and left it at that. She thought to have at least gotten a quick “thanks” but that appeared to be byond what the nurse receiving her was capable of. Oh well, at least her tasks for today would be done once she delivered the papers back.

What a weird day.


**
[1,721/1,600 - Missions Finished]