Mowing the Lawn [O/T]

[Aimi Kaguya]

There was anger in the young girls' eyes. So much rage and confusion, it was hard to imagine what had put it there. It was not something he was unfamiliar with though. Raging as her temper might be, stormy as her doubt and insecurities might make her feel, Aimi knew exactly what she was feeling. He'd dealt with it when he watched his father die, and had continued to deal with it by suppressing his memories and rejecting his heritage. He'd pushed it all back long ago and built a very strong wall to keep himself safe years and years ago. This is what allowed him to stare her down as she glared at him, unrelenting in his stance. He knew and could sympathize. He felt pity for her.

She yielded, much to his relief. As soon as her eyes returned to their normal, opaque hue of white and she turned her back on him, Aimi sealed his gates and returned to his normal self. The effects were immediately apparent. As his skin turned back to normal and his aura of green chakra faded, his hair falling back into place, Aimi slumped forward and took a hold of his knees, taking in deep shaky breaths. His entire body ached, his muscles pulsating from the strain of using the gates for as long as he had, even though it had only been a moment. The every day side effects of straining oneself beyond their normal limit, but they were just ephemeral pains. He'd be fine with a night's rest. Still, he couldn't help but feel a combination of exhilaration and hate towards the throbbing pain felt all over his body. Using the gates gave him power beyond belief. For a brief moment, he was the strongest man alive and he loved that feeling... he wasn't so fond of the pain that came with it.

Blood pumped into his ears, obscuring his hearing. He wasn't entirely sure what Rahael was saying, but he got the distinct feeling that she was trying to give him a lecture even after telling him to spare any lecture he might have. Not that he did have one in the first place. What he could hear faintly was the groaning of wounded men. He remembered then that this was now no longer just a field of grass but a battlefield. One that he had helped settle with as little loss of life as possible. A man had been blinded, several more had their bones broken... but at most, two were dead and neither by his hand. The genin could accept that.

Standing up straight, Aimi let out a groan of his own as he turned and looked for where he had dropped his bundle. Rahael was getting her own weapons, stepping over bodies as she did like it was the most natural thing in the world. Again he was struck with wonder as to what had driven such a young woman to be so cold, but he didn't dwell on it. He walked, stumbled more was more like it, through the grass towards his bundle of three blades and bent down to pick it up, hissing with pain and grabbing his stomach as he did so. These aches were not going to be fun to walk with, that was for certain. Slinging his bundle over his shoulder, Aimi stood up straight again and took in a deep breath, ignoring the pain in his ribs as best as he could. Air put oxygen in his lungs. His lungs would disperse that oxygen throughout his bloodstream. It would react with the chemicals in his body and dull the pain, he knew this from his medical studies. Keep breathing, that was key.

Turning on the spot, Aimi saw that his fellow ninja was heading off further into the grass rather than towards the road. Now, being a shinobi could afford one plenty of training on how to survive in the wild and make it to civilization... but he was at that moment weak and vulnerable and didn't fancy running into anymore highway men. He took in another painful breath and called out, "Rahael!" to get her attention. He waited until she turned around before reaching around himself with his left arm and pointing at the road to his back.

"The road's this way. Come on, we don't want to run into anyone else unexpectedly. We'll be safe on the road... besides, I'm in no condition to be traveling off road just yet either." Bringing his arm back around, he held it out towards her and waved his hand inward at himself, beckoning her over. "Come on, let me show you my country proper," he offered. Without realizing it, Aimi was a pillar of symbolism in that moment. His body was aching and weak, and yet he stood victorious over his would be enemies with his hand extending to an ally who was clearly about to lose her way. He was to her, in that moment, the path leading back to the clear road. A light breeze blew over the field, making the field of grass bend in waves. Aimi wasn't worried about any of the men getting up and attacking them again, he felt confident that they'd learned their lesson. He was only concerned now with getting Rahael to follow him rather than he follow her.

[Hoarfrost Imp]

Tempted to take off in her own direction, to put distance between herself and people where she would be safe and they would be too. Nothing to worry about when there weren't crowds of people looking to take advantage of what looked to be a little girl. Lifting her foot to take off in a different direction she was only stopped by him calling over to follow him instead, flinching, feeling like the tiniest ant again. Something akin to distaste and anger roiled in her gut again, swallowed down without a second thoughts.

"Yeah, yeah." She waved him away or off dismissively, grunting, her mind going to her array of blades and how much fun she could have with all of them now that she had everything but the blades requested by her Kage. Selfish pain in the ass Mayu, it was her fault, had to be or at least a contribution to it all. Her nose flared, tugging the strap of her dual cryo/thermal weapon and sliding it around to look upon the hilt. The two orbs glared up from her, one of fire, one of ice, and yet they existed entirely in harmony despite their obvious clashing and opposites. They attracted. Did that mean she was just going to attract opposites? Attract danger? Attract someone who will see the thing she was turning into and try to be her balance...maybe her end even?

Blinking a few times and clearing cloudy thoughts, she cast a sidelong glance, trotting to keep up as she neared Aimi's side. She wasn't going to thank him, on this particular situation they weren't going to see eye to eye at all. So maybe something else... "What is in Aokusa?" A fair question she didn't remember asking if she had. She took playing with her katana off and off, batting the hilt against the metal guard of the sheathe, chewing her lip. The sky was still nice and bright at least, something to revel in though her mind was focused in the near past, the ruin they were walking away from. Someone would find those bodies, that hole in the forest and, just maybe, come looking for who did it. Could Aimi be trusted?

Looking off to her left at him, putting just a step or two of space between them, she quit the sulking and just righted herself. Walk tall and be proud of your heritage...even if you used it brashly.

[Aimi Kaguya]

Aimi let out a small sigh as she turned around and started walking back towards him. Despite his body literally aching all over, he relaxed a bit. He didn't think that he would have been able to wrangle her back with him towards the road and worried for a minute that he'd have to walk to Aokusa alone. With her by his side he felt safer. She'd proved herself a capable Kunoichi in that little... scuffle, they'd had only a few moments before. Until he was feeling at his best again, he would welcome the company of an ally by his side.

"Sorry," he said to her, apologizing for the situation they'd had to get themselves out of as well as what he'd done to her. It didn't feel adequate, but as he turned towards the road with her in tow, it was really all he could say about what had just happened. He slowly stepped along, regretting that the ground beneath his feet was so hard as he did, stepping over fallen enemies they were leaving behind without a second thought towards them or any potential trouble they might cause. The two of them had very easily dispatched them after all: If they were intelligent, they'd limp away with that life they had left.

Stepping onto the road, Aimi turned away from the forest and began to walk with the Oto ninja beside. "Rest and direction is what's in Aokusa," Aimi explained as they trotted along down the road. "It'll be night before we get out of the country, so it'd be best to stop off at the capital where it's safe rather than sleeping on the road. We can rest up there at a hotel for the evening and in the morning, we can make good time to the Land of Wind. Safe too, especially since it's... well, right next door."

He went on to talk about some of the finer attractions of Aokusa from his previous visits there - restaurants he liked, tourist attractions, fun hang outs for shinobi, things of that nature. Small talk basically while they walked and got to know each other better. He tried to keep the topics light hearted and frequent, not wanting to touch on any particularly sensitive subjects considering how she'd reacted to a man walking out off the woods... granted, that man was likely going to try and rob them or something, but still.

"So why all the swords?" he eventually asked, having seen the fair collection she was carrying with her and the many varied blades that came with it. It certainly made his simple bundle of katanas and the nodachi at his hip look like ordinary luggage. "Being a user of Bousen, I wouldn't imagine you use those swords with god like speed since they don't look like they have much in the way of a sheath."

[Hoarfrost Imp]

Walking with nothing really on her mind but the silence that finally echoed through her thoughts, her 'company' came off as an excited tour guide who powered on through the main attraction of his country and trying to sell her on it. She listened with no enthusiasm, more just wordlessly with a grunt here and there of acknowledgement. "Riveting." Was her contribution to it all. She still had a bit of energy pent up and just needed the physical exertion of it all. Maybe a run. When he inquired about her blades she tilted her head towards him.

"The point of Busosen is not the length of the blade but how you use it, I am sure you know that if you are a practitioner of the art like you said." She'd made a total fool of herself in the span of an hour, but who knew what else the day held. "I carry them all because I come across them in my journeys. The Short swords I bought, the Katana I enhanced, I earned my Tessaiga, the other blades were gifts. I will likely keep collecting them too, till there is nothing left for me to collect."

She broke into a trot "I have a blade I need to pick up in Aokusa, can we hurry along?" Breaking into a full out sprint she took off, expecting him to follow.

{Exit}

[Aimi Kaguya]

She might not have been listening all that intently, but Aimi didn't mind. He just needed to talk to keep himself distracted from his own thoughts and memories. Were it not for that, he'dd likely be shaking with a sick combination of fear and regret. It still hadn't completely hit him that he'd witnessed a man die not long ago. He knew he'd have to eventually... he just wasn't expecting it to be that day, not even a full day passed since he left the village. If he stopped talking long enough to actually think about it, he was worried he might break down.

About to reply to her comment on collecting swords, something along the lines of "does that mean you're going to take mine too eventually?" or something else equally as jokingly, he was cut off as she began to trot ahead of him. "Eh? What? Oh come on..." he groaned, the very idea of running seeming unappealing to him. His legs felt like they were in no condition to be carrying him more than a reasonable fast walk but she wasn't waiting for him. Glowering ahead at the back of the Hyuuga girl, he let out an annoyed grumble before picking up his pace and running along behind her. After all, if he wasn't going to be talking to keep his mind quiet then the pounding of earth beneath his feet and the jack hammering of his muscles' pain ought to keep him busy enough. Aimi followed behind his new companion, thinking that while she was getting her sword he'd be sleeping.

[exit]