Lasting Impressions [Reiko]

[Takahashi Aki]

Meditation was something that the Steward liked to think he was getting better at. Katuso made the suggestion that he try it at least once a day. It would allow one to heal better and for one to get better control of themselves. Sousuke considered the notion of healing faster through meditation to be preposterous. He knew full well that he wasn't going to be regenerating limbs. Once he had made peace with that concept, he would come to the revelation that minor wounds would indeed close quickly and heal faster. There was once a lasting face scar that had almost but all vanished now. Sousuke was surprised to find that the mark over time lessened and was fading entirely. Through the power of meditation. The man had filed the concept of meditation into the realm of mysticism. Something he would never really understand, but something he had to make use of.

After today's session of meditation, Sousuke thought it would be best to seek out a distant relation of his. Katuso was his cousin, but there was another cousin in Sungakure that had arrived. A red haired youth named Reiko. Sousuke knew little about the youth, which is something that troubled him. Reiko was a Masashi. He wondered if Reiko was more along the temperament of his mother or his grandmother. It was a grand sweeping thought to have considering the two were polar opposites. Katuso was more like his mother in the sense that he had a 'wild spirit' of sorts. His mother and grandmother were not close, and were not on amicable terms. His mother was left in the care of Lady Azame while his grandmother participated in a long and bleak history of violence and war.

The Steward entered the Kazekage tower. He hadn't seen Reiko before. He only knew that he had red hair. Katuso didn't quite give a great description of Reiko. Katuso was not a man about the details, well the small details, which Sousuke oftentimes thought were the most important. The purple haired man considered seeking out Shizune, who was Katuso's personal secretary. He considered it a moment longer. Maybe not the best idea, especially if she was looking for Katuso which happened from time to time. Alright. What were the characteristics of the Masashi. Blue eyes most of the time. Built individuals, but not overly intimidating? Bubbly. Wait. No. That was just cousin Sheena, who wrote to Sousuke once a month. Maybe he should have asked Sheena for some information about Reiko.

 

[Mikaboshi]

Eventually Sousuke would find the Kazekage and his bodyguard present in the garden area at the back of the tower grounds. While not explicitly set up for that purpose, Katsuo had turned the garden into a meditation and work out area for when he couldn't be away from the tower long enough to find solitude in the expansive ranger training grounds. It was a sizable area with a variety of different flora growing within it, large well-watered grassy areas and a large pool which was maintained by Tower staff to ensure that the koi fish which swam in it were not obliterated by the sun on the hotter days. In one of the larger open areas, Katsuo and Reiko stood opposite each other for a moment before they dove in at each other in a flurry of punches. None of the attacks were intended to harm, in fact each one of them slammed into a punch from the other as they went through a rapid fire series of sparring moves intended only to test their balance. After a few moments of practice, there was a spark of crimson energy between them and Katsuo called a halt to the motions.

"You're still too focused on your aggression. The founding principle of Ansatsuken is balance in all things. You need setsuninken to harden your strikes but you need to temper that with katsujinken to avoid losing control. If you have too much of either, you will inevitably fall out of balance." Katsuo explained, his voice calm even though it was clear that he'd explained this a number of times before already.

Ansatsuken was the martial art that Katsuo had founded most of his principles in life on and had been one of his first major building blocks of his amalgamated fighting style which combined both empty palm and closed fist styles. Of course he wielded his mother's Transcendent Sword techniques but Ansatsuken had been one of the first major challenges in his life as a marital artist because of his lack of chakra control in his youth. A style originally founded in the roots of destroying life, Katsuo's master Garyou had eliminated the other masters of the style when inevitably loss of balance consumed them and reformed the school into one of balance and harmony to avoid spawning further Ansatsuken-born monsters. When asked why he'd never changed the name of the school or the style, Garyou had simply said that it was important to remember where they had come from to ensure that they never repeated the mistakes of the past.

Now he was passing those teachings on to Reiko who struggled with an affliction which magnified his aggression instincts. Katsuo hoped that by teaching Reiko the ways by which Ansatsuken school practitioners managed their killing instincts-- or setsuninken --he could help his brother curb his out of control aggression and hopefully help Reiko beat the curse that was pulling at the corners of his mind every second of every day.

"Hoy! Sousuke!" Called Katsuo, raising his hand and glancing over Reiko's shoulder and causing the visored youth to glance in Sousuke's direction as well. "Reiko, take a breather and see if you can get your energy back in balance. We'll resume in a bit."

Nodding to his older sibling, Reiko turned his attention from Sousuke and moved over to the edge of the rock pond before sitting cross-legged with his back to the two other men present in the garden as Katsuo approached Sousuke and presented his hand for a handshake.

"What brings you by my friend?"

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Eventually Sousuke did find his quarry. He would stand and observe the two martial artists. He watched the two fight for some amount of time. While it was not his intent to find Katuso, it was Katuso who lead him to his goal. He was watching a sparring match, or rather an instructional one at that. Katsuo was an able swordsman, but he was also skilled in arm to arm combat. He pondered for several moments at who was the greater martial artist - Katuso or Kuro. He pondered it, and came to the conclusion that perhaps it would be Katuso but perhaps not by far. Roku too was a martial artists of a higher skill set, yet he seemed to be quite unhealthy from time to time. It made the Steward wondered why Roku always seemed to be tired or distressed.

The fighting session would come to an end. It seemed very much like this was a lesson that Katuso had been trying to impart on Reiko. From what he heard, it seemed that Reiko had some anger issues. Curious. Katuso would approach Sousuke and offer him his hand to be shook. Like the first time they ever met, Sousuke would look at his hand. He opened his mouth to begin an analysis, but then closed his mouth. He would shake his hand. "Reiko."<i></i> He answered promptly. He would pause for a moment. Context would in fact be required here. It might have seemed like he was here to get Reiko and hold him accountable for some crime, which was in fact not the case. "Ah."<i></i> He began. " I came here to meet Reiko."<i></i> Sousuke add in an attempt to make the situation seem far less tense. "Sometimes ... one wishes to meet their other relations and ... see them in the flesh. I still have yet to meet cousin Sheena, but she still writes to me monthly. She is most likely to be moving to Sungakure for a time in the near future."<i></i> He would break eye contact with Katuso for a moment. He would look up at the sky for a moment and it seemed like he was trying very hard to put into words what he wanted to say in less words. It was a bad habit the Steward had sometimes, explaining things in several words.

It would take a moment, but the Steward was able to condense what he was wanting to say. "Can't say I'm pleased with myself. Ashamed really, that all this time I've not had a uh ... social gathering with Reiko to get to ... know him better? It's a thing that families do."<i></i> There was an uncertainty in the Steward. It was rare. There were times where it was very visible that Sousuke was the son of Judori. Other times it seemed like it was something they were worlds apart. This was one of those moments. Judori was very human and very relatable, where as Sousuke was cold and machine line. "Families that are related through marriage, they interact and learn about each other and from each other."<i></i> Sousuke would look at Reiko, and then to Katuso. There were some similarities, but one had to truly focus and look for them.

 

[Mikaboshi]

Katsuo didn't respond out loud to Sousuke's announcement that he had come to the tower looking for Reiko though his left eyebrow did raise in surprise as Sousuke seemed almost willing to simply leave it just as that at first until he remembered himself and began to elucidate. He explained that he was simply here to spend some time with his cousin who had led a fairly secluded life since coming to Sunagakure and then looked up to the sky wistfully causing Katsuo to track his line of sight for a moment if only to see if something above them had caught the Steward's eye.

Reiko's separation from the populace of Sunagakure at large was by design thanks to the affliction that he suffered from. The only times that he interfaced with people outside of the staff of the Kazekage Tower and Katsuo's paramour Naganisa was during brief outings into the city on tasks set to him by Katsuo to ease him into the task of acclimating to the city life. Often times crowds of people were too much for Reiko who could "feel" every active heart beat in living bodies around him for quite some distance. Each squeeze of each individual heart valve created a unique symphony of noise that to this day Reiko had not yet been able to truly put into words and Katsuo couldn't begin to understand how his brother felt about it.

"Reiko doesn't really... do social gatherings." It was Katsuo's turn to forget himself and unintentionally say something vague and unhelpful. "But it's not really mine to talk about. I shouldn't put words in his mouth."

Turning Katsuo roused Reiko from the focusing meditation that he'd set him about and called him over to where he and Sousuke were standing. Briskly rising from where he'd been kneeling, Reiko turned and joined the two but it was impossible as always to tell what was going through the fire-haired man's thoughts as his expression was masked by the bone-white visor that he always wore. Despite calling each other brother, there was little in the way of family resemblance between the two. Katsuo was tall and broad-shouldered with naturally strange shade of viridian hair despite his more recent red-orange dye-job where as Reiko came in shorter with considerably less muscle mass than his older sibling and obviously the bright red hair that he'd been born with.

"I'm not sure you've met Sousuke before. We're cousins through his mother." Katsuo explained to Reiko who said nothing as he looked from his brother to Sousuke, nodding. Furrowing his brow, Katsuo nudged Reiko in the rib with his elbow to remind him that this was an introduction about him rather than a normal meeting where Reiko could be allowed to stay quiet and say nothing.

"It is good to meet you." Hissed Reiko through clenched teeth, clearly uncomfortable with being put on the spot.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke's expression soured visibly when he was told by Katuso that Reiko didn't do social gatherings. Yet there was a follow up. It seemed like Katuso wanted Reiko to come speak for himself. Reiko would indeed get up and come to them. He observed the young man. It wasn't the horns that caught Sousuke's attention, it was the visor. Fascinating that. Was it made to help him see? Was it something to elevate his powers? Was he blind? Was it simply for style? The Steward noticed a couple of things from this social engagement. Reiko had to be pushed to be social. Was this even considered a social gathering? There was only three of them present. Maybe it was a social gathering? He listened then to Reiko speak to him? It wasn't so much as speaking as it was an animalistic vocalization. It was snake like as it came in the form of a hiss.

Sousuke's mouth curled into a smile. A rare occurrence. Perhaps the oddest thing was how long the smile lasted as the smile lasted for more than three seconds. "It's nice to finally meet you too."<i></i> He would speak adding a slight bow after speaking. He would pause for a moment. What was the follow up? Oh. Right. "How are you feeling today? I trust you've acclimatized to our environment."<i></i> There was the hint of genuine concern. The Steward would attempt to begin the social science of small talk. He hoped that mentioning cousin Sheena would help to bridge the gap between the two. "Cousin Sheena is trying to build her ... tolerance for what she calls the extreme heat. I assured her that ice cubes and ice itself was a thing here. She laughed at that."<i></i> Sousuke would shift slightly. "Your visor. Interesting thing that."<i></i> He would attempt to continue the small talk. Katuso could not be expected to carry this on forever. If anything Reiko was going to get bruised ribs if Katuso continued to boop the younger of the three in the ribs. "Did you make it yourself, or did you commission to have a member of journeyman make that for you? It must be light weight to allow you to move your head quickly about, or is it a weight and you're currently going under further training?"<i></i> There were some of those who were dedicated taijutsuists who wore weights and during battle they would relieve themselves of these weights which revealed a rather impressive speed. There were the horns too on his head, but that was something Sousuke was not going to talk about, at least not at the moment. There was perhaps a story to that, or perhaps they were part of the visor. It was difficult to tell without straight up just staring, which some would consider to be quite rude.

 

[Mikaboshi]

"It's been fine." Managed the red-haired youth, still clearly uncomfortable.

Reiko said nothing further as Sousuke attempted to break the ice with commentary about the heat. The Masashi Clan were desert nomads and were no stranger to the Wind Country climate. If anything the comforts offered by Sunagakure's urban environment were almost jarring given that the Masashi spent most of their time sleeping in tents, makeshift huts and shelter constructed out of rock structures. Katsuo had gone through a similar time of unease when he'd come to Sunagakure and had spent many nights sleeping on the floor just to be comfortable. He'd eventually grown accustomed to the soft beds but it took time and he knew Reiko was going through something similar himself.

"Your visor. Interesting thing that."

Reiko stiffened as Sousuke asked about his visor, drawing the flesh fingers of his right side up to touch it unconsciously. He knew it made him look different, just like his horns did. It was one of the things that people fixated on about him. He was the masked demon that served the Kazekage. It wasn't hard to put two and two together about what people thought about him and his menacing appearance.

"Did you make it yourself, or did you commission to have a member of journeyman make that for you? It must be light weight to allow you to move your head quickly about, or is it a weight and you're currently going under further training?"

He hadn't been the one to create the original visor but he'd designed it's sensory dampening function on the advice of his old teacher that had made his prosthetic left arm for him. It wasn't something he liked to talk about because of how central it was to his disability. His curse. He'd never been asked about it before even though he knew people just assumed that it helped him see or enhanced his senses in some way. In truth it limited sensory input from the world around him and hindered his sense of Lifehunt to a point where it was manageable and unlikely to overwhelm him. In that way it was not unlike a dog collar or blinders put on the head of a horse and even though he desperately enjoyed the comfort of wearing it, there was a piece of him that hated it for reminding him that he would always be different.

"It's... important to me. I need it." Reiko said, turning his head away lightly. How could he explain that without it he was afraid that he would turn into a rampaging monster hungering for flesh and blood?

Sensing the conversation turning towards a subject that Reiko certainly would not want to discuss, Katsuo stepped forward and placed his hand on his brother's shoulder reassuringly. He didn't have to say anything about his affliction if he wasn't comfortable talking about it with Sousuke. It was only recently that Reiko had really started to open up to Katsuo about what living with the Hunger was like and it was unlikely that he would be willing to discuss it much with extended family that he'd only just met.

"Why don't you show him your arm? You two are both nerds for stuff like that." He suggested, trying to defuse the awkwardness from the situation with a bit of levity.

Reiko didn't respond but instead lifted his left arm forward to show Sousuke. It was black in color and metal through and through unlike many puppet-based prosthesis that were distributed in Sunagakure. In fact, it wasn't a puppet-based prosthesis at all. It had been given to him by an old man named Tanaka Shen that had found him in the desert after he'd mysteriously woken up from death. Shen was an inventor and tinkerer by trade and had been developing a special chakra-based automated prosthesis that he'd yet to find any suitable candidates for and so in exchange for taking Reiko in and for his assistance around his workshop, Reiko agreed to become Shen's test subject for the prosthesis. The arm and shoulder that Reiko had currently was far from the first model that Shen had developed over the years and had even been altered somewhat by Reiko based on the things he'd learned from the old inventor like the compartments on both the top and under side of the forearm which had special magazines of ninja tools stored in sealing canisters and the razor-sharp blades that could extend and cover his fingertips converting his fingers into bladed talons.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

The one thing Sousuke learned from dealing with Reiko was that he was a man of few words. Strained words that almost seemed like it hurt him to even speak of. Sousuke learned that the visor that sat upon Reiko's head was of the utmost importance. He needed it. It was an item that he needed in order to function properly. It could be that he needed it to see properly. An assumption but given what he heard and the tone used, this is what the Steward could gleam. He would nod his head. "I understand."<i></i> He would simply state. He did not understand why it was needed, but that it was a requirement in order to survive day to day. Given the strain and the pause, it was very much important to Reiko. "If you ever need it fix, I'd be willing to help."<i></i> He offered. Sousuke was confident in his ability to fix anything that was mechanical. He was even confident he could fix something that had magical properties to it. Sousuke didn't like magic, or sorcery but he understood it on some level, at least when it came to imbuing items with certain qualities. Silence followed, but Katuso interjected about Reiko showing Sousuke his arm.

Sousuke said nothing for a time as he looked at the arm. It was ... different. Very different. It was a foreign design to Sousuke. "Not of Sungakurian design."<i></i> He mused out loud. "Very technical. Not sloppy. Far from it."<i></i> He continued to speak out loud. He was about to reach out and poke at a compartment, but he stopped himself from doing so. "There's little compartments hiding things. Your finger tips have a little surprise for people, don't they?"<i></i> Sousuke observe. Delightful. Sousuke's eyes in a rare show would light up like a holiday tree. It seemed like he was in a trance as he was looking at something different. It was always something different to look at someone else's craftsmanship. Sousuke would snap out of the trance-like state he was in. He would present Reiko with his left hand. He would pull back the sleeve revealing the rest of the arm. The metal was a dark grey. He would close a fist and open it once again. Reiko would see the details of little mechanisms moving as he moved his fingers back and forth. Like Reiko's arm the arm and hand showed the capacity to be used as a weapon. The fingertips did not show the capacity to spawn blades, but there was a circle in the palm. Unlike Reiko's arm the technology used was clearly puppet technology. There was no attempts to make the arm look human outside of having a hand attached to the arm, with four fingers and a thumb. The fingers were block-like in structure. "Have you considered joining an Order yet?"<i></i> He inquired of Reiko. Sousuke had a feeling that Reiko might fit right in with the rest of the Journeymen.

 

[Mikaboshi]

"I don't let other people work on my arm. I promised not to." Reiko explained, letting Sousuke look over the outside design of the prosthetic arm attached to his left side. The prosthetic encompassed his entire arm, hand and shoulder as well given that the wound which had facilitated the need for the replacement in the first place had rendered his entire left side mostly useless. Even in their younger years Katsuo had been a skilled and precise swordsman... and had a lot less compunction about killing than he did today.

While a fair amount of custom work had been done by Reiko on his arm the lion's share of the design was still the work of his teacher Shen and when they'd agreed to their deal one of the stipulations that Shen had asked of Reiko was that he not let anyone else perform any work on the arm. It was his life's work and he didn't want to give away the secrets of it's construction to a potential competitor by accident. It had been one of the reasons he'd agreed to teach Reiko what he knew so that the young man could perform rudimentary repairs on the device if he were required to do so. Shen hadn't predicted at the time that Reiko would take a shining to artifice and develop a desire to learn more than basic maintenance on it and so they'd extended their deal to encompass him as well. As it stood the only two people which were allowed to take apart and perform work on his arm without breaking his agreement were Reiko himself and of course the arm's designer and inventor Shen.

Sousuke noted some of the more obvious parts of the design and as he referenced the "surprise" in the fingers, Reiko flexed the fiber dermal in his mechanical fingers which served as muscles and with a surge of chakra the arm's mechanisms sprung to life causing the metal to shift and transform. In the span of a few moments with an audible crackle of energy and the sound of shifting metal, Reiko's fingertips went from tactile manipulators to wicked rending claws which could be used for a variety of tasks. They were, first and foremost, a combat-orientated augmentation but they could also double easily as a climbing tool if necessary as the physical power of the arm was backed up by Reiko's chakra coil system through a series of tethers that extended into his body through the joint at the shoulder. An array of seals and batteries "pumped" chakra through the arm like a circulatory system of blood which provided Reiko with the lag-less response times and even a reasonable facsimile of touch and sensation. It wasn't as keen as the sense of touch in his right hand but that he could feel anything at all through his prosthetic was a marvel in itself.

Sousuke presented Reiko with his own prosthetic arm and Reiko spared Katsuo a quick glance to which the Kazekage offered only a shrug. Prosthetic limbs in Sunagakure were not uncommon given the dangerous foes that shinobi generally took on. There were men and women in the service of the state who were more synthetic body than organic due to various factors in their careers. Looking back to Sousuke's arm as the Steward showed it off, Reiko didn't offer verbal commentary the way Sousuke had.

"Have you considered joining an Order yet?"

"I am a ranger." Remarked Reiko, still looking over the design of the Steward's arm.

It was true that Reiko had never made an attempt to reach out to the official Ranger Order in Sunagakure but the Masashi Clan had followed the majority of traditions set forth by that order for years. There was a reason why the teams of hunters that the Masashi Clan sent out into the desert called themselves Masashi rangers. Whether he had the official title or not, Reiko was a ranger and there was nothing that could take that from him. The same could have been said for Katsuo as well who had also never reached out to any of the three Orders. They'd both been raised with those traditions in mind from the moment they were old enough to start taking training.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Reiko spoke up and stated that no one would be allowed to repair his arm, only him. Sousuke raised an eyebrow as it turned out that this was a promise. A promise? That was something unexpected. A promise that in the event his arm was destroyed, disintegrated, ruined, or otherwise no one would be allowed to step in to give the young man some assistance in the recovery of his limb? That was different. He thought about pushing this particular subject. There was a reason and a good one for that. The way Reiko spoke, it seemed like he had promised the individual who crafted him this arm that no one else would work on it. It could have also been a promise to himself. It reminded him of Yatamaru in an odd way. The puppeteer machine-man did not want to make use of Sousuke's resources or his help. Was it a pride thing? Possible and highly probable. Acceptable. Fair enough. Even the Steward had his pride.

He watched the hand transform. The hand transformed rapidly and fluidly. It was indeed something different. Reiko's hand could easy rend and tear flesh and bond apart. "I once made a weapon that could transform. Couldn't quite get used to the prospect of swapping from a sword to an axe. Each weapon has a very particular skillset and style. Blurring them all was not easy."<i></i> He mused out loud. "Judging from your duel from earlier and this here, I would suspect you prefer unarmed combat then?"<i></i> He looked to Katuso, "When I first met Katuso there were a bunch of things I could tell about him by looking at his hand. I think I only got one fact wrong. You're not as easy to observe and reflect upon quickly. Maybe I'm getting out of touch."<i></i> Usually the Steward when meeting a person could get an idea of who they were. He was able to figure out the person's clothing size, and what hand they preferred to use. He could pick up on little trivial things quickly.

When asked if he was the member of an Order, an answer came quickly enough. Sousuke was told that Reiko was a Ranger. Sousuke blinked. Ah. Right. Orders curiously were not just a Sungakurian thing. They were present one way or another in Wind Country as a whole. There was that white haired youth that Sousuke had met on two occasions. The political blunder. There was not much he could do about that. Sousuke certainly had a lasting impression on that man. "That's unfortunate. I was hoping for someone in the family to ..."<i></i> There was an awkward pause. " ... ... it doesn't really matter. You're a Ranger, just not a recorded one in Sungakure. Not that is a bad thing or anything. A little bit of a surprise there."<i></i> It wasn't like Sousuke was going to go around denouncing him or throwing him out. Sousuke tapped his fingers together. He looked to Katuso, and then back to Reiko. "Do you have any pets, are you a person who likes felines, or are you a person who is fond of canines? Do Masashi Rangers ... are they known for an affinity with animals?"<i></i> Eh. Maybe not the best follow up question. Still though Reiko and Sousuke were two awkward individuals before perhaps a far more sociable person before them being Katuso. "Katuso, you've met my canine. The Husky, formally known as Kitchenzilla but is now known as Kitchy."<i></i> There was a very odd story behind that one.