Set 25 years in the past for sake of learning
Yuii age ten
Solo topic
—~~—~~—~~—~~—~~—~~—
"I don't know why I have to bother with all this, " Yuii, aged ten, grumbled for what felt like the hundredth time that day as she pushed away from the pile of open books surrounding her with a sour, self-mocking grin, "It's barely even used as a language anymore. Shouldn't everyone just know the common tongue?"
For weeks Yuii had been holed up in the library, forced to study dusty old books on a language she didn't care for, under the impatient eye of Anbu guards forced to watch her by her illustrious aunt. For weeks she had endured the twisted letters, learning each one until it has some sense of familiarity, then promptly forget it when she went to bed. They each had sounds, just as her proper, useful language did, but to make them she had to twist her mouth in awkward ways and coax the sounds out until they were 'proper'. And proper they had to be, or so her aunt kept reminding her when the red-haired witch thought to look in on Yuii's progress. She'd make her go over every word, every sound, and correct it over and over even if there was no difference in how they spoke. Yuii was starting to think that Kiyo hated her; there was no other explanation for the humiliation she met each day.
Today was different though. For whatever reason, Kiyo had arrived in the morning as always but instead of quizzing Yuii, she had sat and began to read without a word. She looked very cozy in her winter kimono and a woollen shawl that probably cost more than most made in a year, and her red copper hair was bright in the golden lamplight. Yuii found her being there annoying, but she was also glad for it. Kiyo had made herself available to complaints and Yuii had many. She wanted to pick a fight with her aunt and make her every bit as miserable as Yuii was feeling them The trouble was, she was ignoring Yuii. Or rather, she kept answering her in the language she was faltering on learning. It had taken all morning, but Yuii was pretty sure what she was saying now as long as the words didn't change.
From across the small library study room, Yuii's aunt flipped the page of her book- something she knew by now that the deceptive woman didn't even need to do, and hummed sweetly without glancing up. "Διαμαρτύρονται στην αρχαία γλώσσα. (Complain in the ancient tongue.)" she admonished gently in slow Vulgar so that Yuii could pick out the words for the tenth time that day, "Αν πρέπει να (If you must.)"
Yuii felt a wash of victory as the words made sense to her, but quickly fled again as she realized she needed to answer. Helplessly she looked down at her books, then her aunt. She hadn't thought this far!
"αυτό" Yuii made a small, frustrated noise in the back of her throat and began rapidly paging through the ancient texts so quickly it was a wonder the pages held together The alien, twisted language of their ancient people had a dozen good words for how boring and degrading being forced to study away a good, sunny afternoon was- if she could only find them!
"ανόητο,(silly)" she cried victoriously as the dictionary finally gave up its hidden information, "αυτό το ανόητο(this is silly)" she repeated victoriously, plaintively, as if the single insult carried across her adolescent feelings in perfect gravity. Kiyo even looked up from her novel, her violet coloured eyes steady as she studied Yuii's face and seemed to encourage her to continue. Except Yuii couldn't; that had been the extent of her argument.
Like a fish, she gaped and gasped for another word, and when she couldn't find it, made a noise like an enraged animal and turned back to the books. It took twenty minutes, the little clock on the wall told her that, but this time she found three words that properly explained how she felt.
"χάσιμο χρόνου(waste of time)" she said with muted triumph, looking at Kiyo expectantly. Her aunt, who had returned to her book, looked up again with an expression Yuii couldn't make sense of- but it certainly wasn't what she'd wanted to goad out of her aunt. Then she smiled and very seriously said Yuii's phase back in her beautiful, melodic accent that came with the more advanced language Yuii had yet to grasp the twisted version of.
"Χάσιμο χρόνου," then with a patient smile she added a single word that undid Yuii's statement, "γιατί;(why?)"
Yuii screamed in frustration, the sound vibrating in the padded library room in a way that made it echo. To her credit, Kiyo didn't laugh at her, but she didn't need to. Her elder aunts quiet amusement drove her to fits better than laughter ever could.
Worse, even as Yuii raged she could not seem to find the words in her own language to yell at her aunt. 'ανόητο' and 'Χάσιμο' and 'χρόνου' stood strongly in her mind but she couldn't seem to find the words she wanted. After a minute of shoving books, kicking tables and shrieking the same three words over and over, it occurred to her that unlearning a language was about as possible as moving the moon from its orbit. It could only appear this way.
It took a minute to stack her books back in place, another ten to find the proper string of words. "εσύ το έκανες αυτό(You did this!)" Little Yuii cried, pointing at her mouth. Then because she knew there was no other word for the power that was on her, it unlocked itself, "Genjutsu," she accused.
"Ίσως τώρα θα πάρεις τις σπουδές σου στα σοβαρά, bluebird. (Maybe now you'll take your studies seriously, Bluebird)," Kiyo responded, then in common, rising to her feet, "I look forward to hearing what you think of me- next week. Do you have anything else to say today?"
The statement had a finality to it, but Yuii grasped for a new word to call her aunt even as the red-haired woman left her niece to study. "ανόητο" was all she managed to cry though, and this time Kiyo did laugh.
—~~—~~—~~—~~—~~—~~—
It took another six weeks for Yuii to gain enough proficiency in the vulgar variant of the Kumo ancient language for Kiyo to release the genjutsu geas. By then they had fences verbally at length with the ancient language with Yuii trying to anger her aunt while Kiyo deflected and encouraged different topics into their argument until inevitably Yuii ran out of words and had to dive back into her books for more. It didn't even feel like learning, and it would be a decade before in a moment of rememberance that she would realise what Kiyo had done for her but giving Ancient Kumo a purpose.
"I knew you could do it," Kiyo had reassured while brushing her fingers through Yuii's mop of blue and lifting the Genjutsu from its place, "Stop wasting your mind."
Silently, young Yuii agreed and decided her next topic of study would be Genjutsu; she would make her aunt pay.
Yuii age ten
Solo topic
—~~—~~—~~—~~—~~—~~—
"I don't know why I have to bother with all this, " Yuii, aged ten, grumbled for what felt like the hundredth time that day as she pushed away from the pile of open books surrounding her with a sour, self-mocking grin, "It's barely even used as a language anymore. Shouldn't everyone just know the common tongue?"
For weeks Yuii had been holed up in the library, forced to study dusty old books on a language she didn't care for, under the impatient eye of Anbu guards forced to watch her by her illustrious aunt. For weeks she had endured the twisted letters, learning each one until it has some sense of familiarity, then promptly forget it when she went to bed. They each had sounds, just as her proper, useful language did, but to make them she had to twist her mouth in awkward ways and coax the sounds out until they were 'proper'. And proper they had to be, or so her aunt kept reminding her when the red-haired witch thought to look in on Yuii's progress. She'd make her go over every word, every sound, and correct it over and over even if there was no difference in how they spoke. Yuii was starting to think that Kiyo hated her; there was no other explanation for the humiliation she met each day.
Today was different though. For whatever reason, Kiyo had arrived in the morning as always but instead of quizzing Yuii, she had sat and began to read without a word. She looked very cozy in her winter kimono and a woollen shawl that probably cost more than most made in a year, and her red copper hair was bright in the golden lamplight. Yuii found her being there annoying, but she was also glad for it. Kiyo had made herself available to complaints and Yuii had many. She wanted to pick a fight with her aunt and make her every bit as miserable as Yuii was feeling them The trouble was, she was ignoring Yuii. Or rather, she kept answering her in the language she was faltering on learning. It had taken all morning, but Yuii was pretty sure what she was saying now as long as the words didn't change.
From across the small library study room, Yuii's aunt flipped the page of her book- something she knew by now that the deceptive woman didn't even need to do, and hummed sweetly without glancing up. "Διαμαρτύρονται στην αρχαία γλώσσα. (Complain in the ancient tongue.)" she admonished gently in slow Vulgar so that Yuii could pick out the words for the tenth time that day, "Αν πρέπει να (If you must.)"
Yuii felt a wash of victory as the words made sense to her, but quickly fled again as she realized she needed to answer. Helplessly she looked down at her books, then her aunt. She hadn't thought this far!
"αυτό" Yuii made a small, frustrated noise in the back of her throat and began rapidly paging through the ancient texts so quickly it was a wonder the pages held together The alien, twisted language of their ancient people had a dozen good words for how boring and degrading being forced to study away a good, sunny afternoon was- if she could only find them!
"ανόητο,(silly)" she cried victoriously as the dictionary finally gave up its hidden information, "αυτό το ανόητο(this is silly)" she repeated victoriously, plaintively, as if the single insult carried across her adolescent feelings in perfect gravity. Kiyo even looked up from her novel, her violet coloured eyes steady as she studied Yuii's face and seemed to encourage her to continue. Except Yuii couldn't; that had been the extent of her argument.
Like a fish, she gaped and gasped for another word, and when she couldn't find it, made a noise like an enraged animal and turned back to the books. It took twenty minutes, the little clock on the wall told her that, but this time she found three words that properly explained how she felt.
"χάσιμο χρόνου(waste of time)" she said with muted triumph, looking at Kiyo expectantly. Her aunt, who had returned to her book, looked up again with an expression Yuii couldn't make sense of- but it certainly wasn't what she'd wanted to goad out of her aunt. Then she smiled and very seriously said Yuii's phase back in her beautiful, melodic accent that came with the more advanced language Yuii had yet to grasp the twisted version of.
"Χάσιμο χρόνου," then with a patient smile she added a single word that undid Yuii's statement, "γιατί;(why?)"
Yuii screamed in frustration, the sound vibrating in the padded library room in a way that made it echo. To her credit, Kiyo didn't laugh at her, but she didn't need to. Her elder aunts quiet amusement drove her to fits better than laughter ever could.
Worse, even as Yuii raged she could not seem to find the words in her own language to yell at her aunt. 'ανόητο' and 'Χάσιμο' and 'χρόνου' stood strongly in her mind but she couldn't seem to find the words she wanted. After a minute of shoving books, kicking tables and shrieking the same three words over and over, it occurred to her that unlearning a language was about as possible as moving the moon from its orbit. It could only appear this way.
It took a minute to stack her books back in place, another ten to find the proper string of words. "εσύ το έκανες αυτό(You did this!)" Little Yuii cried, pointing at her mouth. Then because she knew there was no other word for the power that was on her, it unlocked itself, "Genjutsu," she accused.
"Ίσως τώρα θα πάρεις τις σπουδές σου στα σοβαρά, bluebird. (Maybe now you'll take your studies seriously, Bluebird)," Kiyo responded, then in common, rising to her feet, "I look forward to hearing what you think of me- next week. Do you have anything else to say today?"
The statement had a finality to it, but Yuii grasped for a new word to call her aunt even as the red-haired woman left her niece to study. "ανόητο" was all she managed to cry though, and this time Kiyo did laugh.
—~~—~~—~~—~~—~~—~~—
It took another six weeks for Yuii to gain enough proficiency in the vulgar variant of the Kumo ancient language for Kiyo to release the genjutsu geas. By then they had fences verbally at length with the ancient language with Yuii trying to anger her aunt while Kiyo deflected and encouraged different topics into their argument until inevitably Yuii ran out of words and had to dive back into her books for more. It didn't even feel like learning, and it would be a decade before in a moment of rememberance that she would realise what Kiyo had done for her but giving Ancient Kumo a purpose.
"I knew you could do it," Kiyo had reassured while brushing her fingers through Yuii's mop of blue and lifting the Genjutsu from its place, "Stop wasting your mind."
Silently, young Yuii agreed and decided her next topic of study would be Genjutsu; she would make her aunt pay.