Poisons, poisons, and more poisons (class)

[Yume Izanami]

Mitsuha would be leaning on the wall with a table laid out in front of her. On this table were volatile liquids and gases. She is one to be thinking in battle while others may just dive into the deep end of things without realizing what is going on. This class will help students widen their array of tools and how they tackle a situation. Originally, Mitsuha has this class slated for an Utsumi, but might as well make this class available for anyone that is interested in learning about something that she thinks is widely under looked.

She certainly knows the benefits of using such things in battle. In fact, she has used them on a number of people. It is surely a shame that not a whole lot of other people are made aware of such potent tools that can be easily put into their arsenal.

(147/1000)
(this class is for Utsumi, but anyone is free to join in as well)

 

[Shinrya Sachiko]

Well, she had been told enough times when younger that such a fascination was going to rot her pretty little head - what were card games if not a type of poison already? Gaming addiction could be a serious issue if she wasn't so good at it and other people were, uhm, not, really. And if she wasn't eleven. What did she really have a problem with, ultimately? Winning too much? E ✰ he ✰ he. This correlated in that she figured that she was already so prone to fixation, what was another one? If nothing else, it helped her to be a very attentive student. She loved making things! Making things that paralyze, kill, or otherwise drug people was a little out of her original purview ... but she signed up to be a Shinobi. She wasn't going to back out now just because it got a little mad science-y.

She tapped the side of her cheek rhythmically, mulling this over with a curious glint in crimson eyes. Every step through the hallways of the Academy was silent - not intentionally, but by her body's natural tenor - and it took a surprisingly short time before she had slipped into the classroom, just as quiet as her journey. She lifted a ringed journal and flipped to a page she had already written her introduction on, batting it with her pen to direct her teacher's attention.

( good morning kaguya-san! im really excited to mix dangerous chemicals with you! )

Utsumi has arrived!​

[ WC: 250 / 1000 ]

 

[Yume Izanami]

Mitsuha would sit back until she heard the door open, though quiet as it may be, she is a trained Chunin to know enough to pay attention to the more subtle sounds and indications. She was about to speak up, but the girl known as Utsumi immediately brought up a notebook and shown her the contents of it. She would read it and give a small smile. Not really knowing much of Utsumi, she assumed that the girl just might be shy and therefore have had a thing written out to not have to talk.

"While they are dangerous components, poisons aren't really chemicals to be mixed, as a lot are more natural." She picked up a liquid vial, "But that's a little bit off topic. What we are here for is to learn the potency of these poisons and how to effectively use them in battle." She would pop off the stopper of the one that she was holding and down the vial. It was utterly disgusting and she already felt the effects already happening. Her body is doing a lot to fight it right now.

She would clench her fists to steady herself as she would continue on with the lesson, "Black Lotus. A poison that will eat away at your life force." She would gesture to the empty vial that she had just drank. She would then point to another vial, "If you're up to it. I'd like you to drink a small bit of Serpent's Blood. It is far less potent than the Black Lotus, but it will slow your body down, which can prove fatal when trying to string together a lot of techniques only to fall short of what you actually wanted." She would hand Utsumi a vial clearly marked antidote, "If at any time you feel the poison is too much for you, immediately take the antidote. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. I'll have another antidote on hand if you fail to drink the antidote." She would gesture to a small needle and syringe she had.

(491/1000)
(For context, Mitsuha drank the Black lotus poison, Utsumi will have to drink the serpents blood poison, and both have antidotes to use in case Utsumi can't handle the poison.)

 

[Shinrya Sachiko]

Utsumi tilts her head in that curious way she's used to - first right, then left, almost canine in its attempt at perception - and then lowers her notebook. She hugs it briefly to her chest, fingers tap-tapping on the page in time with Mitsuha's words, then drops it further. She clasps it with one hand at her side, as if unwilling to put it down, but tucks her pen behind an ear so that she could better focus her attention on the lesson.

The smile she gave Mitsuha in turn was earnest and warm, sheer excitement in little red eyes that sparkled their refraction of wonder. Her replies were all eager nods; not to rush, yet simply unable to keep herself still or resist the immediate response. She wasn't usually prone to fidgeting - the idea of constant movement out of character for someone usually as fluid as Utsumi - but she couldn't stop herself from leaning in with a tilt of her head as her teacher picked up their vials. All of her lessons had been books and homework and knowledge checks - writ and read - and this was her first chance for practical application in the Shinobi world. It didn't smell very good.

The lock of shock as Mitsuha introduced herself with the potency of these poisons and then downed one in front of her - almost seeming to grimace but not otherwise balk from the ingestion - overtook Utsumi's widened eyes. She glanced around hurriedly, setting her book on the edge of a desk so that she could raise both hands in front of her and wave them like 'wait, no!' -- a comical if honest reaction to her surprise. Mitsuha, for her graces, continued on with the lesson, and over her coming explanation and the unveiling of the antidotes did Utsumi quickly calm down with a relieved sigh. Her hand to her chest, she took the antidote and offered a sympathetic look to her teacher. She also picked up her directed poison - the Serpent's Blood - with no hesitation, as if her concern came from a place for Mitsuha rather than nerves about the poisons.

She looked between the two vials she held, tilting her head again, and then resolutely nodded towards Mitsuha and popped the stopper out of the poison. She shot it. It was a single, sharp motion, tilting her head back and taking the Serpent's Blood in easy stride with a blank expression on her face. When she brought her head back down, looking over at Mitsuha, she seemed pleasant and controlled for a moment.

All but a moment.

The Serpent's Blood began to set in. She was small, even for her age, and had little in the way of a poison immune system with no prior experience. It hit her chest with a dull thrum, pulsating out in slow, languid waves through the rest of her limbs until her arms started to drag and her ears proffered pounding. Her legs shook as the atrophy set in, just once, then once more, subsequent shakes emotional rather than physical. Her eyes were wide with terror - desperation - as she fought her body to grip the edge of the closest desk. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. No. She couldn't call for help. She opened her mouth with tremoring shoulders and no sound came out - not a fault of the paralysis - and nails like claws dug into the wood as she gasped.

Because she couldn't call for help, her body needed to work. She had to be able to see everything - hear everything - feel everything - or she was unsafe. She didn't cover her hands, or her eyes, or her ears; she relied so heavily on her senses to 'make up' for her inabilities, she couldn't handle the feeling of losing them, too. She moved too slow now. What if someone needed something? What if they passed her by? The room was blurry. The poison itself wasn't that strong - it was more fits of small spasms and lethargy, some nausea - but the sheer fear response to having her senses inhibited at all made her lunge her hands around the antidote and shoot it down less steadily than the poison. Sputtering, her only sounds uneven breaths as she stood hunched over the desk.

She couldn't look up - embarrassed - even as her heart started to slow and the world bled back to normal, her panic subsiding in concerto with the antidote cleaning her system. She moved first to write something, a small tremor remaining in her hands, and held up the note.

Sorry. : ( I'll do better next time.​

[ WC: 1024 / 1000 ]

 

[Yume Izanami]

Mitsuha watched and was ready to administer the antidote to Utsumi should the girl fail to give it to herself. To be honest, she was a little bit scared for the girl. Someone who hasn't seen battle much less never had the effects of poison running through their system could prove disastrous. She would end up rubbing the girls back helping her feel better after she had downed the antidote. It was after this time that the girl would go back to writing and show Mitsuha what she wrote.

She would shake her head and say, "No need to apologize. It was your first time dealing with poisons, so I won't expect much from you. Now there are multiple types of poisons." Utsumi would see that Mitsuha's veins were black, presumably from the Black Lotus poison. Slowly, the black in the veins disappeared until they were back to their regular colors. Instant and lingering poisons. Instant are just that, they happen instantly and that's it. Serpents Blood falls under that category. It is one of the more strategic poisons with the idea of poisoning someone fast and if they don't take an antidote fast enough, their movements will be slowed. As for Lingering poisons, they tend to stick around for a longer time. Because of this, they can prove to be more of an issue if the person does not take an antidote. They will, however, eventually run their course and the body will expel them in due time. Black Lotus falls under that category as it will steadily kill someone, especially if they are not a healthy person." She would then pick up a canister that had an interlock of some type. "Now along with that, there are injury and inhaled type poisons. Both Serpents blood and Black Lotus fall under the injury type poisons as they can be applied to a weapon to directly damage an opponent all the while poisoning them. As for inhaled poisons, such as Tear Gas, it is introduced to the atmosphere for the opponent to breath it in. Now Tear gas is my personal favorite so I'll give you a couple questions to see if you can figure out what it can do. One, is it a lingering or an instant poison? And two, if you were to take a guess, what do you think Tear Gas would to to their targets?"

Unlike before, she would hold firmly the gas canister as she would rather not have an incident of tear gas in the academy.

(912/1000)

 

[Shinrya Sachiko]

Utsumi couldn't help her sigh - just a long, soft exhalation - as the subsiding panic left shame and bristles in her heart. Her teacher was understanding, thankfully, but that didn't mean she'd give any quarter to herself; she should know better than to react like that. She knew the type of person she wanted to be. Strong. No matter the cost, no matter the method, she needed to be strong. Strength did not come from mild panic attacks in your first lesson with a Main Branch Chuunin just because your palette couldn't handle a weak paralysis poison that couldn't have been meant for more than momentary debilitation in a target. Gods, even thinking this she could feel the unsteady skip of her heart from the lingering lethargy. It had all quickly left her system, but the memory alone was still enough to make her muscles tighten.

... It was really disappointing. Maybe not for Mitsuha, but it was for her. A little more. Push a little harder. Next time, she reasoned, she really would be ready. If nothing else, she could simply repress the terror and suffer silently until she passed the lesson. What was the harm in returning to that?

She watched Mitsuha jump into her next explanation, almost in awe of her Sensei's easy continuation even with the poison still being flushed from her system. Even moreso with her clarification on the poisons - Utsumi really had just taken a slowing agent, and her teacher - standing steadily before her - had taken a lethal chemical. Mitsuha was nice. She was nice, and a little terrifying.

Utsumi knew instantly she wanted - needed - to be like her, too.

She went to sign a response mid-way through the lesson, before catching herself with hands weaving in empty air and dropping back to her notepad. She instead opted to scribble out her question, resolving herself to be even that much more attentive. She could still come back from her first impression. She could still be the Shinobi she needed to be. A breath between teeth. Taking failure in stride was just as important as winning. ... Well, no, it wasn't. Winning was so much better. Let's just win next time, okay?

( Kaguya-san! How would you get someone to take them? Wait for sleep? Force feed? Poison weapon? )​

She then jumped into the next topic, not willing to slow down from interfacing with the lesson and running pen over paper until it was full of her next response. Tear Gas? That one, at least, seemed a little self-explanatory - it must be ... well, uhm ... gas ... that makes you cry? Or does it tear your skin off? That'd be a very violent gas. Maybe not! ... Uhhh ... If it's a gas, it must be lingering, though, right? It would stay in the air. Otherwise it would be a Tear Bomb? Maybe? The naming conventions were sort of flowery, so she wasn't sure if she could rely on that, but her inner monologue did translate to the words she wrote on the next page she held up.

As a gas poison, it would be lingering! Wait, this is Mitsuha's favorite? Utsumi could only dream to be that cool. What exactly did she sign up for, as a Shinobi ... ? And, just judging by its name, it's some kind of ... blinding agent? Maybe a more aggressive smoke screen? I wouldn't see very well if I was crying, either. This is really cool! Learning about weird Shinobi things is really cool! She beamed up at Mitsuha, ready to be proud of herself this time around.

[ WC: 1627/1000 ]

 

[Yume Izanami]

As she went on with her explanation, the young girl was trying to get her attention and was gesturing towards her notebook before writing something down. She couldn't help but give the girl a soft smile but also wonder about her. It was starting to dawn on her that the girl isn't really like her when she first started out. Mitsuha was once a shy wreck, but this girl. She seemed very attentive and ecstatic to learn and interact. Her thoughts drifted back to the lesson, "Now you could use the poisons while a person is asleep or even slip it into their food, these poisons are usually used in the midst of combat. To coat your weapon in poison and striking your target with the weapon." She would produce a kunai and dip it into a poison known as Twilight Venom.

Pricking her finger, she would instantly feel the poison taking its effect. Her vision slowly fading away for nearly a minute. While she is basically blind, she would say, "All it takes is the smallest, slight prick of a weapon to hit its mark with poison on it to make the target feel its effects. This poison, is known as Twilight Venom. It practically makes the target blind, giving you an advantage on them." Her vision would clear just as the girl finished writing down about what she thought what Tear gas does.

Shaking her head, she would explain it to Utsumi, "It is more of a chemical that attacks the targets respiratory system. It is because of this that it will slowly eat away at their own chakra pool. Effective if you are the type of person to drag out a fight."

(1197/1000)

 

[Shinrya Sachiko]

How do you do it so easily?

It was the first thing she could think of - the only question that really mattered for Utsumi's purposes. She was, of course, really into the lesson; she had notes on another page, transcribing Mitsuha's responses as if it was second nature. She had considered little of poisons or really any type of Shinobi tools or supplements to date, relying largely on her bare hands and good instincts. She wasn't even very good at any type of Jutsu yet, least of all Shurikenjutsu. She hadn't fought with a weapon and imagined the application of poisons to her knuckles was both a) unwieldy and b) unladylike. She should really get a sword or something. Like in her picture! Mitsuha even agreed it was the best way to apply these deadly toxins in combat.

But this: how do you do it so easily? It was what was really important to Utsumi. Mitsuha had just stricken herself blind. She had imbibed a lethal poison, handled tear gas like it was her weapon of choice (it is, which was insanely cool), and then blinded herself for the purpose of showcasting these properties for an Academy Student. Ultimately, she served just as well at displaying her own aptitude and earning a very piqued little girl's attention. She might have been eager about the subject matter, but she was in awe of Mitsuha. Isn't it scary? Doesn't it hurt? Aren't you worried something could go wrong? Sometimes, I'm not worried about things adults say I should be, and I get reprimanded for not 'considering the consequences of my actions.' I always know I'll be okay. Are they wrong? Is it okay to do whatever you want to if you know you can do it right?

I want to be like you, Kaguya-senpai. I'll even bring Tear Gas.

[ 1934/1000 ]

 

[Yume Izanami]

She would read what the girl wrote down before formulating an answer. Her own impassiveness to inflicting herself to poisons has the girl questioning her about what Mitsuha thinks about how these poisons can effect her. "Yes." She would reply, "Poisons can leave an effect on a person to remind them not to go near such a thing ever again, it what helps all humans survive. But that instinctual fear that is ingrained on nearly everyone won't always be as big or as small as others. How I have overcome it is..." She would pause before speaking once more, "Through instances that are much more scary than some simple poisons. As for considering the consequences of your actions. Well, only you know your limitations of what you can and can't do. However adults say those things because they might worry for you, and often times they speak from experience. If I were to take a guess, they just don't want you to make the same mistakes as they did or worse." She would then shake her head at the comment to be like her. "In all honesty, you should be aiming higher. I wouldn't want anyone to be like me. The sole reason is that I have done things that I am not proud of doing. And along with that, I would not want anyone to have the same trauma that I have had in my youth."

Letting out a deep sigh, Mitsuha would continue on, "It all depends on how you go about living your life. Everyone can give you advice or help push you in the direction that they want you to go in, but you have to do what you feel is right."

She would stand up, "Congrats. You finished the class." She would start cleaning up around the classroom before saying, "Good luck out there being the best you that you can be."


(1514/1000)
(topiv left unless stopped)

 

[Shinrya Sachiko]

She always ended up with an outstretched hand and wordless lips.

Mitsuha's advice was sound, if difficult for Utsumi to apply: the idea being that Mitsuha had been through so much, probably too much, and therefore struggled to be scared of mundane concerns. Like, uhm ... poison overdosing. That must have been a really exciting life. It, at least, left Utsumi beaming in awe, her head laid atop her knuckles as her knees pulled up to a very unstable sitting position.

Mitsuha seemed sad. Maybe not sad, but pensive? Considerate? Utsumi had expected her - with the little quirks she's shown and her downright terrifying aptitude for the poison lesson - to be a little more ... excitable? What's a polite way to describe 'chaotic'? The little Nara had thoroughly enjoyed her time, but she was left a dull ache she couldn't quite place in the pit of her stomach. Of course the spiel was "maybe adults do know better and are just looking out for you" -- sure, whatever, fine, I get that everyone cares, but -- but, it ultimately came from a place of Mitsuha's own unhappiness with any number of events Utsumi would never witness. She was sad. She wasn't sad, maybe, in her own perspective, but she was sad to Utsumi.

Soft lips downturned in a quiet frown. The world rustled outside and around a statue of a girl, lost in her thoughts and considerations of her own future.

You have to do what you feel is right.

Yeah, that would be ideal. If she could just do things that felt nice and were nice and made people happy and think of her - she could probably really do this Shinobi thing right. Ah ... but, is it really that simple? Or would she turn out like Mitsuha - without pride in the actions she's had to take, but carrying on to carry on? Utsumi knew she'd be either. She'd be anything. As long as it mattered to someone.

And here she was, with an outstretched hand and wordless lips, watching Mitsuha's back as she packed up and turned to leave. Unable to ask for more, her hand shifts, and a wave and dim smile is her final offer before the two split ways.

You have to do what you feel is right.
But what's right, really?

[ 2321/1000 ]
[ 5/5 ]
[ class FIN ]

 

[Sazuki Nao]

Both approved for Class rewards, Mitsuha gains extra due to teacher