Rehabilitation. Continuous physical and mental training for the purpose of preparing a person injured in some manner to live among others again. The injury and the aftermath of being moved away from the live style you had grown to know as the only way of life was enough of a shock; when you came back, completely changed, and nothing else is, it leaves you feeling as though something is off. Something is. Its you.
Akiyama Kazuhiko, the doctor who Kari was living with, gave the order not far into her training, once she had regained the most basic of mobility and conversation. Daily, while he worked -- or whatever he did -- she was to go into the town and converse. The logic of it was sound: it forced her to work up her strength to be able to meet the daily social and physical stress that she would have to deal with anyways. It was better to begin to build up endurance now and work on the finer bits of mobility in the evening with him rather than staying trapped in this hospital of a house of his.
The capital, Maruishi, never ceased in activity, though in the mornings it waned to a tolerable amount. How Kazuhiko thought she would ever stand anything of a chance against those crowds, she'd never know; the first days of the private training, she didn't go far, opting to stay within the clan housing area, where few walked through save to leave to go to the actual city. Kari tried going earlier: when fewer roamed the streets; her movements, as mechanical and slow as they were, were dangerous: were one of these Shamans or other believers of the old ways of Iwagakure to see her, she could easily be burned, and staying on the ground in the way was a terrible idea unless she wanted to be further injured.
Though not really searching for it, she eventually found the place she would waste the days' hours away. A short wall blocking of a thin alleyway between two buildings. Stacks of merchandise boxes huddled in front of it for little obvious reason beyond lack of proper storage; Kari took advantage of being capable of climbing it and watching the people crowd the streets without end. She was out of the way: out of sight (well, away from what the denizens cared more about: the products being sold), and out of mind. No more than an apathetic glance was ever given towards the girl sitting on the wall; if people talked about her, she couldn't hear.
That was generally the case, at least. Until some man spotted and eventually questioned it. "Hey kid!" he called against the dull roar of the crowd. "Not sure how much the academy has taught you so far, but be careful up there. It doesn't look like that wall was built too well, like most of the stuff around here." Kari was alert the moment "hey kid" was called; she had to be alert. Kazuhiko told her of people who would burn her if they found out she wasn't human: that she could die if she wasn't alert.
Kari made mention that the wall seemed fine and requested a name from the guy, to which he answered as Sunuke and further questioned why she wasn't in school. Kari had yet to be enrolled into the Academy; Kazuhiko and she wanted it. Kari needed to make a life for herself; she was recovering well, she could handle the basic classes, at the very least. The only difficulty came in that she couldn't get herself enrolled; she hadn't any ideas about how it worked in this country. Seeking Sunuke's assistance, she admitted to not being enrolled yet, despite being of age and apparent talent.
Then the two came. Ii Hissori: former medical chief of Kirigakure, due to his accelerated progress in learning and continuing Nokugara Koroki's research in hematology, he was elevated to medical chief in his early teens, far earlier than any other recorded medical chief in the village. As he was assisting in the evacuation processes during Kirigakure's freeze-over, it was assumed he died. It didn't seem like anyone could survive that. Seeing him here, now, was a shock in and of itself. As great a revelation as it was, it had some worrying aspects as well: Hissori was one of the few that knew Karurosu rather well before he died. If Kari and Karu had any similar quirks, he'd be the one to pick up on it; he could very possibly determine who Kari was, a privilege that was meant to lie solely with Kazuhiko.
The second, a stranger until she introduced herself, now just strange. The first comment she made upon her arrival was the accusation that Kari was a puppet; it frightened her, there was no way that she could discern that, was there? She appeared human. Completely human unless scrutinized to the highest degree; even then, only minor abnormalities could be pointed out. Nothing to suggest she was a puppet. The comment was even enough to scare off Sunuke, an unfortunate thing, as it left her unable to seek assistance from him to enroll into the Academy.
Ryu pulled some puppet from her hat as though she were some street side magician and it began speaking. "To join the academy one must report to the headmaster in the academy building. He will give you the necessary papers that will need to be filled out. I shall be heading there myself to request to teach a class on puppetry. If you like I can show you the way. Also as a side note the academy provides housing in the Spartan Quarters if you so need it."
That Hissori offered nothing to help her now didn't assist in the slightest. He seemed to really be into the conversation mere moments ago; that he wasn't now was strange. The whole situation seemed strange: from the summoned thing Ryu had pulled from her oddly large hat (to say at the least. There was far more to her) to Hissori's sudden anti-sociality. She needed someone she knew, someone who understood the situation and could help her. She needed to get out of here, to breathe. She needed Kazu here.
But he wasn't here. She was on her own. He had his life; Sunuke had just walked off; the one who she knew in a past life didn't recognize her; the one she didn't know seemed to know more about her than she did.
There was some fine line between curiosity and fear, and Ryu was it for her, now. "Okay. Let's go," she finally spoke, turning her head slightly after speaking to look to the medic. "Coming too?"
She was going to take the risk; she was going to get into the Academy.
Akiyama Kazuhiko, the doctor who Kari was living with, gave the order not far into her training, once she had regained the most basic of mobility and conversation. Daily, while he worked -- or whatever he did -- she was to go into the town and converse. The logic of it was sound: it forced her to work up her strength to be able to meet the daily social and physical stress that she would have to deal with anyways. It was better to begin to build up endurance now and work on the finer bits of mobility in the evening with him rather than staying trapped in this hospital of a house of his.
The capital, Maruishi, never ceased in activity, though in the mornings it waned to a tolerable amount. How Kazuhiko thought she would ever stand anything of a chance against those crowds, she'd never know; the first days of the private training, she didn't go far, opting to stay within the clan housing area, where few walked through save to leave to go to the actual city. Kari tried going earlier: when fewer roamed the streets; her movements, as mechanical and slow as they were, were dangerous: were one of these Shamans or other believers of the old ways of Iwagakure to see her, she could easily be burned, and staying on the ground in the way was a terrible idea unless she wanted to be further injured.
Though not really searching for it, she eventually found the place she would waste the days' hours away. A short wall blocking of a thin alleyway between two buildings. Stacks of merchandise boxes huddled in front of it for little obvious reason beyond lack of proper storage; Kari took advantage of being capable of climbing it and watching the people crowd the streets without end. She was out of the way: out of sight (well, away from what the denizens cared more about: the products being sold), and out of mind. No more than an apathetic glance was ever given towards the girl sitting on the wall; if people talked about her, she couldn't hear.
That was generally the case, at least. Until some man spotted and eventually questioned it. "Hey kid!" he called against the dull roar of the crowd. "Not sure how much the academy has taught you so far, but be careful up there. It doesn't look like that wall was built too well, like most of the stuff around here." Kari was alert the moment "hey kid" was called; she had to be alert. Kazuhiko told her of people who would burn her if they found out she wasn't human: that she could die if she wasn't alert.
Kari made mention that the wall seemed fine and requested a name from the guy, to which he answered as Sunuke and further questioned why she wasn't in school. Kari had yet to be enrolled into the Academy; Kazuhiko and she wanted it. Kari needed to make a life for herself; she was recovering well, she could handle the basic classes, at the very least. The only difficulty came in that she couldn't get herself enrolled; she hadn't any ideas about how it worked in this country. Seeking Sunuke's assistance, she admitted to not being enrolled yet, despite being of age and apparent talent.
Then the two came. Ii Hissori: former medical chief of Kirigakure, due to his accelerated progress in learning and continuing Nokugara Koroki's research in hematology, he was elevated to medical chief in his early teens, far earlier than any other recorded medical chief in the village. As he was assisting in the evacuation processes during Kirigakure's freeze-over, it was assumed he died. It didn't seem like anyone could survive that. Seeing him here, now, was a shock in and of itself. As great a revelation as it was, it had some worrying aspects as well: Hissori was one of the few that knew Karurosu rather well before he died. If Kari and Karu had any similar quirks, he'd be the one to pick up on it; he could very possibly determine who Kari was, a privilege that was meant to lie solely with Kazuhiko.
The second, a stranger until she introduced herself, now just strange. The first comment she made upon her arrival was the accusation that Kari was a puppet; it frightened her, there was no way that she could discern that, was there? She appeared human. Completely human unless scrutinized to the highest degree; even then, only minor abnormalities could be pointed out. Nothing to suggest she was a puppet. The comment was even enough to scare off Sunuke, an unfortunate thing, as it left her unable to seek assistance from him to enroll into the Academy.
Ryu pulled some puppet from her hat as though she were some street side magician and it began speaking. "To join the academy one must report to the headmaster in the academy building. He will give you the necessary papers that will need to be filled out. I shall be heading there myself to request to teach a class on puppetry. If you like I can show you the way. Also as a side note the academy provides housing in the Spartan Quarters if you so need it."
That Hissori offered nothing to help her now didn't assist in the slightest. He seemed to really be into the conversation mere moments ago; that he wasn't now was strange. The whole situation seemed strange: from the summoned thing Ryu had pulled from her oddly large hat (to say at the least. There was far more to her) to Hissori's sudden anti-sociality. She needed someone she knew, someone who understood the situation and could help her. She needed to get out of here, to breathe. She needed Kazu here.
But he wasn't here. She was on her own. He had his life; Sunuke had just walked off; the one who she knew in a past life didn't recognize her; the one she didn't know seemed to know more about her than she did.
There was some fine line between curiosity and fear, and Ryu was it for her, now. "Okay. Let's go," she finally spoke, turning her head slightly after speaking to look to the medic. "Coming too?"
She was going to take the risk; she was going to get into the Academy.
WC: 1144