It's about sending a message [Open!]

[Santaru Kaede]

Danii gives the two of them a serious look. She knows that the three were trouble makers, but execution without trial, for a broadcast? That would never happen, especially in a place like the leaf and the history it has with authoritarian rulers. Surely, this village, that her home helped in their time of need, remembers the unjust rule of the daimyo they overthrew.

“Hahaha, very funny you two. What trouble did those three really cause this time? Are they back at the treehouse laughing at me? Are they in on thi…”

Her words fade out as Reicheru places the items on the table. As she recognizes them, she abruptly turns and makes a beeline for her father's sword hanging on a hook by the doorway into the kitchen. She let's her anger take over. She has no idea what she is about to do, but she knows she will need her sword to do it. Something tells her that, like a faint voice, an instinct, calling out from the sword and urging her on.

“Who did this? We can't just let them get away with it! They were our friends. And Katsu was… is one of us. He is a teammate, family…”


The voice in her head grows stronger as she reaches out for the sword's hilt, but before she can grab it a wooden spoon smacks her hand away.

“And what do you think you are going to do with that right now, little one?”

Her grandfather walks through the doorway and stamds between her and her sword. A serious look replaces the usual jovial one on his face. He stands taller and holds himself like the samurai he was in his youth. And Danii hates him in the moment. She has never wanted to strike him before, and the voice calls out to her to push him aside. She clenches her fists and stares him in the eyes. She takes a deep breath as she realizes that it isn't him she wants to hit. He's just a stand-in for the unnamed shinobi who killed her friends. His look softens and he pulls her into a hug. He whispers something to her.

“I know your angry, but youbare better than this. Your friends need you now. Stay strong.”

A single tear falls down her cheek as they pull apart. She reaches up and wipes it away as she straightens and turns back to her friends. No smile, but no scowl either. She had to be there for her friends, at least those that were here with her. She would help those that passed on, but not today.

“Take Reicheru and get her some clean clothes. I'm sure you have something that will fit her. As for you Maikeru, I think I saw some things of your's when I did the laundry earlier. They should be stacked on the table over there. I was going to have her bring it to you later. You two go get cleaned up, I'll have a warm meal for you on the table when you finish.”

“Come on, Rei. Let's find you something warmer to wear.”

She places a hand on her friend's shoulder to lead her into the other room. When they all return, Danii looks at Maikeru and then down at the bowl of stew sitting in front of her. She twirls the spoon around in it but doesn't eat.

“What happened to them and what did you do with their bodies? And did you mean what you said? Are we really leaving ho… this place?”

She couldn't really call it home anymore. That no longer felt right.

 

[Saitou Rei]

Maikeru's apology panged Reicheru's heart. She doubted anyone else could understand as deeply as she did the guilt he felt, as both of them knew what was happening and could only watch through Katsu's eyes - powerless. She'd gained an audience with leadership of the village and vouched for them, pleaded for them, put everything on the line for them. None of it was enough. "It's not your fault, Maik." As deeply as Reicheru meant these words, she knew they too would not be enough.

While she and Maikeru dealt with their sorrow and guilt, Reicheru almost missed Danii falling into a different form of grief - anger. Though Reicheru herself had struggled with her own rage boiling over inside of her as she stared down the Hokage, removal from the situation allowed her to see the danger in such a response… especially for young people with access to dangerous weapons and abilities such as themselves. Thankfully, the eldest Nanjirou stepped in to calm his granddaughter before Rei could say anything. When Danii turned back, through her sniffles Reicheru attempted to give her a small smile of reassurance that they had to be enough for each other right now.

After changing and throwing out her blood-stained clothes, Reicheru returned in new clothes with only her scarf leftover, which she hung in the warmth of the kitchen to dry. Sitting in front of a bowl of stew, she thanked Danii's grandfather before mirroring her friend's movements of pushing the food around without eating it. Though she'd gotten to Kenshin's dojo early without eating, her appetite had left her. Still, she knew she needed to eat, and so she raised a few small spoon-fulls to her mouth and ate as Danii started asking questions in her typically more-than-one fashion. The last part reminded her of what Maikeru had said to Takeshi back at the dojo, and placing her spoon back in the bowl she added her own question to the list.

"Maik, you told Takeshi we'd move to Kumogakure. It made sense, since they're our allies that he would let us go there, but… how do we know it'll be any different there? I'm not saying we should stay, in fact I think this two year deal is generous to say the least. But why Cloud?"

 

[Maikeru]

After the girls left, Maikeru simply changed in the living room. Getting out of the soaking wet clothes, and drying his tired body, he felt a bit better. He still wasn't one hundred percent, but, at least he could sit comfortably without the cost of the day physically weighing him down, instead only metaphorically. A small improvement but, it was something. As they re entered, he had already begun eating his stew, his stomach protesting every small bite he forced down. He didn't want to eat the food, but, he knew his body needed it. Even if it didn't want it.

"Well," He began, responding to both Danni and to Reicheru. "Yes, we are leaving. And we're going to cloud because I have family there. My father's sister, my aunt, lives in Cloud. Or.. lived. Last I heard she went missing or, something like that. My father was very vague about it and I was rather young. My cousin Ryu still lives there, and though I've never met him, he's still family. He should be able to offer us a helping hand."

Maikeru went on to explain the days events to Danni in detail, telling her everything he had seen through the link, the battle at the dojo, everything. There were details he probably should have left out, for her sake, but he was too tired to filter himself. Reaching into his pouch, he laid the three scrolls that held the boys bodies onto the table in front of them, before leaning back into the couch. His eyes were so heavy, perhaps it would be okay if he closed his eyes, just for a moment. He just needed to rest them, yea, that was it..

[Topic left]

 

[Santaru Kaede]

Danii listens carefully as Maikeru fills her in on the trouble that befell her friends today, both at the radio tower and at the clan house. Her grandfather takes a seat in the room after putting away the stew. He listens from the background, but doesn't interrupt. He looks from Maikeru to his granddaughter and thinks back on his decision to bring her here. He had wanted to shield her from this type of tragedy, but fate had other plans. Now he could only hope that she wouldn't follow the same path and jump to the same conclusions that her father had. His eyes pass over Maikeru and Reicheru and hopes that the two will be good influences on her. Danii’s eyes move from Maikeru to her sword hanging on the wall. Her grandfather tenses for a moment, but eases as she looks back to Maikeru. She clears her throat.

“Seems like the commotion I heard earlier was worse than I though, but the broadcast makes more sense now…”

She pauses for a moment and looks down at the scrolls that contained what was left of her friends. She looks back up to Maikeru.

“If you are serious about leaving, then I want to go. I'm willing to go anywhere with this team. I said it back in Yukio's office and I meant it.”

Danii's grandfather nods in the background, happy that she chose the put aside her thirst for vengeance for the time being. He stands up and walks over to the table. He picks up the scrolls.

“Please, allow me to clean up your friends. They deserve to be laid to rest and you kids need to get your rest. I'm sure tomorrow will be hard enough already. Allow me to help with this small task.”

Danii looks over at the scrolls and back up to the exhausted looks on her friends’ faces.

“I'll help him. You two need to get some rest.”

Danii and her grandfather leave the room to Maikeru and Reicheru. The state of the lost ones was worse than she had imagined, but she soldiered on. She had failed to be by the side of any of her three teammates or her two friends when they were in trouble. This was the least she could do for them. Plus, it had to be done and Maikeru and Reicheru were in no state to do it. While cleaning Katsu, Danii recognized the snapshot seal as something similar to her own technique. She transferred the recording over and saved it. It was obvious that Katsu wanted this to be seen. She would be the one to carry it for now until Maikeru and Reicheru decided what to do with it. She was sure her two friends would live with the last images they received from their friend burned into their memory. There was no reason to make them carry an even clearer image with them of the tragedy. After a few hours of preparing the bodies as best they could, Danii's grandfather emerged from the room carrying the sleeping girl in her bed. He placed the scrolls back on the table and left to fix him a cup of coffe. He would be up the rest of the night anyways reflecting on the day and his past. Plus, one of them might need him.

[Katsu's snapchat transferred and saved. One slot filled]

[Topic Left]

 

[Saitou Rei]

Reicheru listened as Maikeru relived the day, adding information where she could and shooting the Uchiha looks when she thought he'd said too much. In the back of her mind she thought through what Maik said about having family in Cloud and began wondering about her own extended family in Earth Country. She looked between Danii and her grandfather, remembering when Daenerisu told her that they too had come from Stone and the light-hearted dreams they dreamt up of visiting their family there. Of course, neither had expected the visit to come under such circumstances. Quieting the discontent she still felt about the whole prospect, she decided she would have two years to think about all that.

She could only nod when the Nanjirou patriarch asked permission to clean the boys' bodies. She too found that though her mind was still racing, her body had not forgotten the strain it'd been put through and her heart ached for rest. She wanted to fight it, but there on the couch her head dropped onto Maikeru's shoulder and she too gave way as sleep overtook her.



CRACK!

The young Nanjirou snapped upright to her feet, ready to defend against whatever attack had just been launched against them. Panting, sword drawn in true iaijutsu speed, Reicheru scanned the room. This… wasn't the Ishi clan dojo. There was no assailant, no intruder. As her heart rate calmed, she retracted her blade and set the hilt down on the table as a sudden light from the window gave the room a soft glow. Crack! The sound of thunder followed a few moments later. Looking down at Maikeru, she gave thanks to find him still sleeping. Though no sound came from the kitchen, a light was emitting from the room, and so Reicheru wandered in to investigate. She found Danii's grandfather sitting, coffee in hand.

"You've done this before… a fresh start, Danii called it. How do you do that, leave your home when it can't be that to you anymore?" Her voice was cool and even, though the emotions she felt as she turned to look the older shinobi in the eye were not. She stood there for a moment before raising a hand to him palm-out. "Nevermind, I'm sorry, we've all dealt with enough today, I'm sorry to bring it up. I'm sorry too, that it's happening again for you. Thank you for everything. Goodnight," Reicheru said with a sad smile before making her way back to the couch for what was left of the night.

[Topic Left]