The Illuminators: Last Trinity (A Naruto AU) - Story Thread

[FortePlus]

Welcome to the story thread for The Illuminators. If you're looking to follow along conveniently as the story moves ahead, this is the place for you.

The quest proper is linked above. Things will be ported over as necessary to enhance your reading experience. Thanks for checking in.

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Reader advisory: a heads up blanket warning for things that will appear within the story​

• coarse language​
• violence​
• mature references and subject matter, including discussion of death and murder​
• implied sexual references​
• light sexual innuendo (on the part of at least one character, semi-regularly)​
• discussions of sexual assault​
• discussions of physical assault​
• bigotry, including racism, homophobia and transphobia​

This is not an exhaustive list, but rather a warning for what might be common. In the event of a possible rules breach, comment in the thread, send a PM, or hit the report button so administration can handle it.

The age rating for this story should amount to T. At worst, bordering M.

Reader discretion is still advised. Be safe.​

 

[FortePlus]

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>>>​ The Illuminators​

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Episode 1: They Call Me Zeke​

---

"You're an absolute lifesaver, bless you. It's been so hard lately."

"No problem, ma'am."

"You really should charge more, too. I know you said you're only around for the next few days, but I think it only makes sense. The normal freelancers charge inflated prices or just straight up scam you," the woman with dark skin said. She holds her baby against her chest, bundled up securely. "And don't get me started on the shinobi. Just war dogs at this point, poor things. Listen, you take care of yourself. I want to see you around again and fix you a proper meal."

"No promises," you say to her with a smile as you leave her kitchen. The stove was on the fritz, along with a lot of other things. Nothing you couldn't handle for cheap, and she was overwhelmed as it was.

"Just like you, Zeke. Go on, I know you have other things to get to. And spend that damn money on yourself for once!"

You wave her goodbye as the door closes behind you. Another day, another job. More money in your pocket, not that you were exactly wanting at the moment. As you walk out onto the familiar paths of the Hidden Cloud, you tilt your hat up to look at the overcast skies. No rain again today, seemed like. Better for your purposes.

"..."

This was probably the only place besides your old home where you wouldn't stand out much. People tended to mistake you for a local, or didn't think much of your freelance work as they assumed you were from the surrounding area.

You weren't. And 'Zeke' was only one of your names.

If anyone knew who you really were, they'd report you and then the real mess would start. It wasn't that you had committed any crimes - aside from that 'one' that sent you out on your journey in the first place - but you were very closely connected to a certain man, one that made a lot of the Cloud higher ups sore. He made everyone sore, didn't he? That was your Gramps, after all. You wished you had met him even once, before he disappeared all that time ago. Doing all of those incredible things. Taking on the world.

And winning. Easily.

"I don't think I'll ever get that strong." You look down at your hands, turning them over and back. This dark skin of yours was derived from another place, off continent. A place called...well, the Outer Continent. And those people were originally descended from a place called the Original World. It was crazy, and you wanted to study it. But there weren't any books or material to speak of. The shinobi world was pretty self-centered, anyways, so it only made sense. At the least, your auntie Sarah and your extremely organized and bookish friend Noriko were working on that.

"I really wanted to read those," you mutter. "Stupid."

It's been two years since you've been exiled from your hometown, Kennedy Port. Away from your parents, your family, your friends. You wonder how they're all doing...but you've got a job to do. Find the old man. And part of doing that means changing the world. You don't know why he's disappeared, but causing a global shift? That would pull anyone out of hiding, and uncover secrets you could use. What the hell was that man's endgame? If Grams didn't know, nobody would.

"Well...I guess we'll see how things turn out." You shoulder your backpack and adjust your hat again. Always good to be cautious. Now, you should head to your next destination. More work. Then again, Grams did talk about keeping your hands moving and the devil on his back foot.

Alright...time for the next move. You hop down a nearby mountainside and towards the bottom.

---

[] A local woman wants to make a delivery of bread and baked goods. She's asking for an escort for the trip north.
[] A fellow freelancer, rather an actual mercenary, wants some help with a few light local jobs since you know the area better. All you know is that it's a woman.
[] You want to get something to eat before you do anything else.

 

[FortePlus]

You grab something from a street vendor and hurry off to your contact, a man called Face. He's tall, wiry, and talks too much for his own good. He's also an excellent fixer in his own right and has helped you a lot in the past few days, so you let his eccentricities go.

"It's wild, bro. I found out the Gold Reaper is around somewhere. You might bump into her while meeting up with your lady friend."

You raise a brow. "Damn, really...I'll stay on my toes, then. Thanks. Stay safe out there."

He gives you a few hearty slaps on the back as you leave. The Gold Reaper, also called the Golden Shinigami among other names. There are plenty of women with blonde hair, especially around these parts, but that feature was what gave that particular woman part of her title. The other was being a complete war machine. If you needed someone or something obliterated, that was your gal. She kept her identity pretty quiet, changed her hair every so often, moved around a lot. People only caught wind of her through her recent jobs.

But you wondered about the woman you were meeting today. She decided to pick you out of everyone else, and you were curious as to why. Ah, well. You'd figure it out. The walkways layered on top of each other lead you further upwards, floating above the village and the valleys far below. Not that the Cloud needed to be more difficult to invade, but it never hurts to be too prepared.

"This looks like the place." One of those small, modern-looking coffee shops. Cafes, they're usually called. There's a porch out front and you take a seat first, as instructed. A young lady greets you and takes your order; you get yourself a sandwich, two cups of coffee, and tea. You take your watch out of your pocket briefly and whistle as the seconds tick by.

179...180.

Right on cue, you hear the clicking of thick heels and watch as a woman approaches. She stops beside the table and nods politely.

"May I sit?"

"Yeah. Go ahead."

"Many thanks. I will seat myself, thank you."

You nod and watch as she sits down across from you, settling into her chair in a manner you could only call 'classy'. A blonde woman, nearly your height and with a healthy-looking chest. She has a dark blue sweater on, paired with a dark pleated skirt that stops above her knees. Her black socks seem to be thigh-highs and they follow her long, toned legs to dip into her heels, stopping just above her toes. You can see the nails on those, as well as her hands, are painted light blue.

Her violet eyes are scanning you at the same time you look over her. That blonde hair of hers is long and fashioned into a 'hime' cut, you notice. It's just a little on the nose, considering.

"Thinking something?" she asks.

"Nothing bad, if that's what you're asking."

She laughs softly. "I see. It's nice to come upon such a handsome man. I always did have a...mm, fondness for chocolate," she says, running her tongue across her top lip.

Aggressive, huh. Then again, not exactly at odds with the rest of her.

"I'm sure there are plenty of guys around her to ogle," you quip back.

"Humble, too. I rather like you already," she says with a smile. "But honestly, there aren't many others to consider. You have plenty of delicious qualities that I can see already. Anyways, before I truly forget my manners...I go by Dani."

"Zeke," you reply, taking her hand. "It's nice meeting you. Oh, coffee's here and some tea if you wanted."

"Tea is fine."

"How do you like it?"

She pauses a moment. "A touch of honey and cream, if you would."

"Got it." You mix it up for her and push the saucer over gently. She takes a sip and seems satisfied.

"Much appreciated. Very good."

"Glad I could help. So," you say as you remove your hat, "you said you needed some navigational help."

"I did, to our mutual contact. The boy talks too much," she says with her stately tone. "He's a darling, though. I've been able to find quite a bit of work thanks to him." The way she talks makes her sound regal, but not in the arrogant kind of way you usually associate with it. Maybe she came from money, and this was a hobby or sport? Either way, she has a believable kind of swagger and dignity about her...something like that is hard to fake convincingly.

"What's the job?" you ask.

"I met a young lady the other day...she bakes and sells pastries from a small booth on the northern side of the village. A darling little cinnamon roll...her wish was to head further up north, out of town to make a sizable delivery. Transportation will be provided, and the payment will be substantial enough. This is on the way to something that I want to do. There are some ruins that I've been researching and want to head into, in order to check for a scroll and some other items of value."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

"I hoped you would say as much. Also...truthfully, I don't want to take the money she's offering. Not all of it, anyways," Dani says as she crosses her legs over, relaxing a bit in her chair.

"You don't have a need for it?"

"It's not that. I just feel like there's no point to it when she's already obviously struggling. I suppose part of why I sought you out-"

"Ah, I got a rep for not overcharging."

"Yes. You understand."

You sip your coffee and nod. "We'll take the same kind of pay cut. Deal?"

She smiles. "Yes. We have a deal. Of course, if you need...compensation...of any kind. I'm available."

"Piling it on, aren't you?"

"Why not? I could get lucky, couldn't I?" She pouts a moment later. "You must be taken."

"Well...no."

Her eyes light up again, and you sigh. "Goodie! That means I can work on you for a while longer. Talk about luck!"

You want to be annoyed, but...you feel like this relentless teasing is as far as she'll go. That much might be fine.

---

You finish your quick bite and follow Dani uptown, ascending a bit further into the clouds towards the higher platforms of the village. She predictably turns more than a few heads, and the movement she gets when she walks doesn't hurt either. She's probably not 'taken' too, but it's likely by choice more than anything else.

"It's just a touch exotic, I think."

Her voice snaps you out of your thought. "What is?"

"Having someone like me around. It's different. Foreign. Something like that...simply draws people in. Vanilla is a good flavour too, right?"

You start to understand what she's talking about. "You're more than an object, you know."

"You really are kind. But it's not an opinion I'm expressing to you. It's a fact of life. Maybe a little hard to accept..."

"..."

"What about you?" she asks, looking into your eyes expectantly. You tilt your cap down and grunt.

"No comment."

"I see." Dani walks ahead quietly, her hips again swaying softly with her steps. You follow, noting how much hungrier some of the gazes on her are than before.

---

"You're back!"

"As promised."

As you reach your destination, you see Dani and another young woman share a hug. Her black hair is tied back into a bun, and she has olive green eyes. A few bangs are in front of her face, and she brushes them aside on occasion as she talks. She does seem a bit on the 'small and precious' side, as Dani mentioned earlier. Her blue overalls are faded and covered with all manner of different shaped and coloured patches. Sentimental value, then.

"This is Zeke," Dani says. You take the girl's hand gently and nod once. "We'll be helping you out together."

"My name's Gina. I think that Dani told you already, but I'm heading up north for a special delivery and to stay a while. I don't know if I'm coming back to town yet, so I've dismantled the stand for now."

"How come?" you ask.

She rubs one arm nervously. "Difficulties. And the shinobi haven't been...cooperative."

"I get it."

"Thanks. It's hard to talk about. I might go home and see Mom. I have to think about it some more, but let's get out of here first. Oh, and don't worry, the money's in the cart with everything else. Just this way."

"5L Mountain Pass, then?" Dani asks.

"Uh-huh. If we get moving, it'll be just over a day's travel, counting sleep. And it's not like I'm paying you by the hour," Gina says as she shoulders a pack. "So don't work too hard."

"We'll try not to," you reply.

"I hope not. Anyways, let's head out."

It's an uneventful ride down the mountain passage. You watch the high walls and the area behind you while Dani keeps her gaze focused ahead. Gina is in the driver's seat, keeping an even pace. The cart is filled with all kinds of supplies, as well as already baked goods and plenty of bread in particular. Gina encourages you to eat as much as you want, since she has a habit of reusing everything in some way until she can't anymore.

This is supposed to be one of the safest passes out of the village, but you can never be too relaxed out here. Still, this is an okay time to relax. It's late afternoon, though hard to tell with all the cloud cover.

---

[] Talk to Dani.
[] Talk to Gina.
[] Keep to yourself for now.

 

[FortePlus]

Gina asks you a few questions about the passage you're on, and you answer them as well as you can. There's no action so far, Gina leads her horse forward and Dani is quiet. You keep to yourself in the meantime, thinking about what your next move is after this small mission, if anything. Your pockets will be more than fine even if you get nothing out of this, but Gina is going to insist on paying and Dani is going to talk her down to a lower price.

The five shinobi powers at the moment are relatively stable. You know that all of them have an interest in talking to you, though you can discern some motives more easily than others. The Leaf and Sand are relatively unknown, though they're assuredly non-hostile in their advances. Cloud wants to see you out of the picture and to find your grandfather's whereabouts. Rock might want to use you as bait for the Cloud and other nations.

The only true unknown is Mist. You have no idea what they're thinking. Nobody does, and that might become a problem down the road for many reasons. You don't really like it, but it's a problem you would have to solve when you got to it. For now, there's not much you can do with zero information to go on. And furthermore, you're not all that sure what you even want to do at this point anyways. It will take some more exploring and understanding of the world and the things going on inside of it before you can make some kind of decision. All of that might be for the best.

Your group eventually leaves the walls of the mountain pass as they shrink down to nothing, the road opening up and leading you into a forest. You still have your bearings up to this point and lead Gina near the eastern edge, where a stream winds through the trees about a hundred feet to your right. Dani sits up and looks around at the forest view as your cart rolls by. Everyone is still keeping to themselves for the most part as night starts to fall.

"Should we stop?" Gina asks you.

"Let's keep going for a while longer and stop at dawn. It's an irregular time and should give us some more safety. That okay, Dani?"

"Perfectly fine. I'll keep watch for us first."

You nod. "Got it. Alright, we'll get some sleep in a few hours."

Gina rolls towards the stream a few times so that her horse can get a drink, then puts you back on your way. The hours pass by freely; you empty your mind and meditate within the quiet of the forest. The trees are already coming back to life as you enter the midpoint of spring. Winter, while not particularly harsh, lasted a bit longer than normal this year in the Cloud. Snow gave way to cold and sometimes freezing rain as the seasons shifted.

Eventually you feel the cart come to a stop, Gina hopping off and stretching her limbs. "I think I've had enough for now. Can we turn in?"

"Zeke?" Dani looks to you for an answer.

"Yeah. Let's have something warm first. I'll start a fire," you say. Dani and Gina nod before setting off to their own tasks, the latter laying a blanket across the floor of her cart and unrolling a sleeping bag.

"You guys have your own stuff? I've got spare blankets if you need any," Gina calls out.

"I should be fine. Zeke, you can share with me if needed~"

"I'm good," you say to Dani with a smile. She has a laugh at that.

"Alright. I'll keep Gina company. Where will you be?"

"Tree. Good vantage point and the branch is sturdy," you reply, pointing up at the spot in question. "Just make some noise if you need me."

"We'll be sure to. I'll get us something light for the tea," Gina mutters as she searches through her things.

"Everything okay?" you ask Dani as she has a sleeping bag pop out of a scroll. "You didn't seem like your overly energetic self."

"You can't be too much of a bother on missions, you know. Time and place."

"Heh. Right, makes sense. Well, I didn't-"

"Mean to make me out as a foolhardy flirt."

You wince. "Wouldn't go that far."

She pats your shoulder gently. "You're too kind for your own good. It's proper form to be blunt sometimes, you realize."

"Yeah, I might."

"Thank you for your concern, my darling. I'm fine," she says with a tender smile. "Make sure to get your rest. I'll wake you when needed. Six hours or when Gina wakes up. Three on, three off."

"That's cool."

"Good. Can you make us the tea this time? I really did like what you mixed for me yesterday..."

---

After tea and a light snack, you put out the fire and head up to your spot in the trees. You shake your head as Dani blows you a kiss goodnight, and drift off into sleep with a blanket on you and a small pillow behind your head. You have shuriken locked in around the fingers of your right hand, and your left rests on the two kunai laying on your lap. The immediate area is mapped out in your head as your eyes close.

Today brings you a formless sort of sleep. Nothing bad, nothing exceedingly good. You do feel refreshed, though, even before you wake up. It's still early morning as you open your eyes and feel someone on your branch. There's a wisp of perfume floating in the air, familiar enough that you know who it is before you can see them.

"Zeke."

"Dani." Your hands are already tensed on reflex, and she's smartly kept her distance, balancing lightly near the edge of the long branch as you stir. "Morning."

"Good morning. How was your sleep?"

"Good. Feeling good." You grab your pillow and blanket before having them disappear in a cloud of smoke, back into the small scroll you had on your belt. "No problems."

"Wonderful. Gina is still asleep, so take care not to disturb her too much. I trust you to keep watch over us both."

"Thanks, I'd hope so," you say with a laugh. You drop down to the ground and she follows suit, heading back to her spot beside Gina and lying down. "See you guys in three hours. Pleasant dreams."

"Thank you." She means to say something else but holds onto it, laying her head down and closing her eyes. Dani already looks...vulnerable, if you have to say. It's a strange contrast from earlier. Her visible hand is clenched tightly, contrasting Gina's who are opened up to the world as she breathes in and out, occasionally smacking her lips and mumbling something before making a slight turn to one side.

"..."

You wonder about Dani. Maybe you've just met, but she seems like she's looking for something, and the flirting is a misdirection. It's well known in these kinds of war economies that women use their charms and bodies as commodities, if that opportunity isn't stripped away from them first. They do have more agency than ever before, but that really isn't saying a whole lot. Even if it was a woman who literally changed the future of warfare, or they've done ridiculous things like sealing giant chakra demons inside of them in the middle of fights. Right now, the 'fairer sex' had yet to really get their due.

Maybe Dani was a victim turned warrior. Maybe she was escaping an oppressive lifestyle where every aspect of her life was controlled by elite, elitist men. Maybe she was just wandering, trying to find a purpose, or a missing-nin. You didn't know, and she probably wouldn't tell you. There were endless possibilities.

But the word 'vulnerable' came to mind first for you, and you have a feeling that it's some kind of sign. Somebody upstairs is giving you a hint.

You've got a couple hours to think on that and everything else.

---

Gina wakes up two hours later, Dani following suit just a minute after. You eat breakfast; Gina has preserved meats on hand that go well with some of her thick and weighty bread. The girls ask you to brew tea again, and you don't object. That skill was something your mom taught you, and she used to bug you to make pots for her in the same way.

"You're a really good baker, Gina," you say to her as she packs up for the road again. Dani is bringing the horse back from a morning drink at the stream.

"Thanks! I've been working really hard these last three months to make everything I do better. I heard the Hidden Cloud was a hot enough market, lots of hungry shinobi and all that. Just didn't work out. I...ah, I might talk to you about it later. That okay?"

"Yeah, no worries."

"Good! We're not too far from the place I want to stop off. A few baked goods, but mostly some raw ingredients and stuff I got while in the Cloud. Couple of weird imports from a place called...Kennedy Port? You heard of it?" Gina asks.

"Yeah," you admit. "Started up a long time ago on account of some foreigner businessmen."

"Wild, eh? I've got blood in me from across the sea, too. Bit removed right now, though. Anyways, let's get ourselves back on the road again. Thanks again for taking this mission on, I've never felt this safe in my life."

"I find that hard to believe," Dani says as she secures the horse again. "I mean, look at you! You're too sweet to abandon."

"You're something else entirely, Dani. But...shockingly enough, not everyone enjoys the company of country midgets."

"That so?" you ask.

"Yeah." She pouts as she gets onto the front of the cart, grabbing her horse's reins. You and Dani settle into the back. "Fun fact, I'm twenty years old and I look like this. Bet you I'm never getting married."

"Did your mom say that?" you ask again.

"Nah. She's always in my corner and tried to hook me up a few times. Handsome guys, even. You just get...negative vibrations from some of 'em. I'm not so desperate to turn myself into a doll and have some idiot pump me full of babies the rest of my life. It's complicated. Women are complicated. Men are too, but they're way easier to bribe."

Dani wiggles her brows at you.

"No comment," you shoot back. She sighs dramatically and returns her attention to the road; you chuckle and tilt your hat upwards as the cart rolls forward.

---

The roads are becoming more and more worn as you move, and soon the rudimentary signs of paving become clear. You're getting close to a developed area, your destination.

It's getting slightly more humid as you move, and your senses are starting to perk up suddenly. There's something saying you might have to go on alert soon.

Now you're looking at mist. Fog, more likely-

"Eyes open."

"Dani?"

"Blood. It's drifting on the air...I can smell it."

You nod. "Gina, keep us moving."

"Aye." She maintains the same speed for a few minutes, guiding you along the edge of the fog while not moving too far off course.

"Yes...there are multiple bodies. I don't want to make any declarations yet, and this fog is strange. It's getting dangerous," Dani says in a serious tone. "Gina, hold."

The horse and cart come to a stop. Dani reaches into the pouch on her side and pulls out a few kunai with tags on them. Her hand then dips into the pouch strapped to her thigh, just underneath her skirt. A few small pills and more tags.

"The first set goes on the horse and cart. The second you hold onto. The kunai are meant to be used one at a time, and the pills are the last thing you use. Those are to preserve your life and allow you to fight for a few minutes on your own. Protect your property, and when you cannot, protect yourself. Make your way to us."

"Alright."

Dani nods and places her hand on Gina's cheek for a few moments. She leaves and turns to you. "Let's hope it doesn't get that far."

"Yeah. We won't." The two of you head deeper into the mist. "I'm usually up front. Close range, taijutsu."

"Noted. I'll hold anything outside of that range, but I can more than assist you if needed. I use kenjutsu primarily, sensing abilities, and if genjutsu is a problem I have countermeasures for that. I'll cover your back for now."

"Got it. Ready?"

"Yes."

With another few steps, you've reached what you could call the eye of this mess. Bodies are scattered around the immediate area, some chopped in two, but all leaking blood. Dani taps her right wrist and out of thin air a sheathed katana appears in the same hand, the scabbard black with all kinds of carvings on it, and the hilt coloured a rich blue.

"Smart play."

There are three figures. The one in the middle, who just spoke, wears a plain-looking grey cloak, and sports an orange mask in a swirl pattern, revealing one open eye-hole. He turns to properly face the two of you.

"Keep yourself alert. He's probably got a visual technique," Dani mutters to you. You nod and shift your feet slightly, keeping your gaze slightly away from the masked man's.

The other two people are a bit flashier, wearing black cloaks with red clouds on them. One has half his face bandaged from the nose down, a really really big sword resting on the ground and dripping with blood. The other weirdo has senbon in their hands and a mask completely covering their face. The hairstyle should inform you that it's a woman partner, but you can never assume anything these days.

"Coming to us is a good move. Saves us any trouble with your little merchant girl back there. We, ah...took care of this possible nuisance here for the sake of everyone involved," the masked man says. His voice is deep, meant to be threatening and mysterious. It feels...not fake, but also not like the real deal. Just a strong facsimile. Not that you know who this guy is imitating, if anyone.

"We'd thank you, but we don't know who you are or what you want," you say.

"It figures. But...as you might have guessed, I know you. Both of you, actually. It's a stroke of luck that you ended in the same place at the same time."

"Both of us?"

"Oh...you don't know."

Dani tenses up slightly.

"You don't know who she is, and she doesn't know who you are. Well...I see we're in for some entertainment," the masked man says, chuckling. "But I feel like you might not be interested in what I have to say."

"It's up to you," Dani says.

"Hey-"

"It's up to you," she repeats.

"Yes, it's up to you. I wonder what your grandfather would do in this situation...Zeke, was it?"

"..." Okay...this isn't getting any more pleasant.

The masked man folds his arms. "You want to tell her? Or should I just spill all the beans at once? What do you think...Zeke?"

He says your name mockingly, like he really does know something. But does he really?

This isn't too good. It seems like a small situation, but nothing is ever that easy in this world.
---

[] Call his bluff. There's no way some masked random actually knows that much about you, and what he allegedly knows could be deflected easily enough.
[] You might as well blow the lid on it yourself. Use it as bait to figure out who this idiot is...it's not like this situation is new to you.
[] Kick it back to Dani. She's obviously a bit wound up, for whatever reason.
- [] She's obviously someone important enough to sort of blackmail. Have her fess up.
- [] Leave the decisions to her for now.
[] Shut him up. You don't need this kind of trouble, and you think you can take him and his two goons. (Pre-battle sequence)
- [] Have Dani go back to check on Gina while you stall.
- [] Keep Dani with you and go ahead with your plan.
[] Write-in.

---

At this point you don't have jutsu set up yet, so the option to fight will be a set-up sequence where you'll get your techniques afterwards. Otherwise, things will go 'normally' for every other option.
Open for questions as usual.

 

[FortePlus]

Yeah, this is unpleasant. But you're not the only one with stakes here.

"Dani."

"Yes?"

"I'm kicking it back to you. Do what you think makes sense."

She turns her head, violet eyes looking at you with surprise. "E-excuse me?"

"I said, do what you think is right."

"We haven't even known each other 48 hours and you're asking me to make executive decisions for you," she whispers harshly. "I don't know if you're just this naive or you've lost your entire mind on account of this damned fog."

"Dani," you whisper back.

"You are trusting me with something that's obviously important enough to blackmail you over."

"Yeah. And?"

"And? And you could...I could...I..." She stares at you for a moment before her gaze falls to the earth in front of her. Right now, at a loss for words...

"..." You look out at the three people in front of you, patiently waiting, or so it seems. The masked man isn't giving much away, but you feel like you should be familiar with at least one of the other two. It's an itch you can't scratch.

"There's a lot to say," Dani finally replies, quietly. "There's so much...to say. But at this moment, I can only do one thing."

She raises her head, eyes filled with confidence.

"I will reward your faith in me. I will give you the truth."

You blink. "You don't have to-"

"I don't have to do anything," she shoots back firmly. "Don't you go and misunderstand. I can be competent and a woman all at once."

"Well, uh...sorry."

"It's fine. I'm also nervous." She takes a breath in. "Masked man. What you wanted was to place us into an unfortunate situation, distrustful of each other, and ultimately threaten both of our lives in some form. Zeke here is obviously a troublesome character as far as you're concerned. As for me...I suspect you simply don't like me. Did I spurn you in a past encounter? Perhaps you propositioned me and I rejected you? Did I murder a family member? A comrade? A lover? Took work away from you? Is there something I can do?"

"If I told you what you did or didn't do, this would be no fun," the masked man taunts.

"Shame. I suppose I shall have to make this a drier affair than intended." Dani locks eyes with you. "As you could have guessed for yourself, Dani is one of the many names I use as I travel. I won't go as far as revealing where it was derived from, but it has a purpose. Many can move through the world on the strength of their true names. I can do the same, but that power is...overwhelming to many, and utterly terrifying. My true name is Hannah Kuiper."

You think for a moment before it comes to you. "Whoa. The Gold Reaper."

"Very good," she says with a smile. "Among your other charms, you carry a honed mind. I find myself more impressed by you with each hour."

"So that's why you went by Dani. Keeping some sense of normalcy around you, and just being able to go from place to place without fear of retribution."

"A wonderful use of the word. Yes, I have angered many, and find myself solicited by more and more unscrupulous types. I've been killing since I was young. The numbers ascended into the hundreds before the thousands. Then ten thousands. So on and so forth. I tried to keep count but that failed long ago. A slaughter followed by a cold shower. Those were the things I knew. The only things I understood. And of course, there's one more item."

"More?" you ask. You note that the masked man isn't trying to call her out any more. Whatever he meant to start with her has been derailed, which leaves your identity left to snitch about.

"Perhaps the only other thing that this masked character knows. I wonder for a moment if I should say..."

"Don't stop yourself now," he taunts.

Dani pauses and looks towards him for a moment before turning back to you. "As I said before, don't misunderstand. I have my reasons for doing this. For saying these things to you. For trusting you as much as I've done until now. The other thing you need to know about me is that I'm not human. I was born a vampire child."

"Oh," you say with a bit of curiosity. "Is that it, then? You did have this kind of...I dunno, glow about you."

"Glow, you say." She forms a small smirk. "You should be more careful with those words of yours. You're liable to make a lady beg for it by the end of the night."

"Weren't you talking about 'time and place' a few hours ago?"

"Mortals are contradictory creatures like that. Oh, our guest." She nods towards the masked man. "Did you have anything else to spill, or was that all? I'm quite curious as to what else you might know about me. I've lived a terribly boring life these past six years. From soup to slaughter, little else."

"While it was rather noble of you to make such a brave sacrifice in revealing all of your deep and dark secrets to your friend there," the masked man sneers, "we still have the matter of his true identity to get to."

"Whether he wants to reveal that to me or not is his business and his alone. I am prepared to shut your mouth for you," Dani shoots back.

"You do notice I know who you are, and still aren't afraid of you."

"Oh, my. Shall we change that, then?" You hear a low hum followed by crackling before energy bursts outward from Dani, forming itself into a waving shroud of blue-white electricity. A few of her hairs float upwards and the grip on her sword tightens. "What say you now? Still confident? But then, what I do next depends entirely on my companion's answer."

Dani...or Hannah. That's the name she trusted you with. She's willing to go all the way to protect your secret after revealing some of her own. She understands fully what it means to let that knowledge out, and still went ahead and did it anyways.

It's possible that she's hiding a lot more than what she's told you. It's possible that this is somehow part of a larger play, that maybe she's just baiting you for sympathy, or that she's even lying about everything she just said.

But you don't really believe that. Even after all that's happened, the masked man is ready to blow the lid on your secret identity. And given how much the Cloud has been looking for you, it very well might get you killed.

"A word of advice," Hannah says. "You should do what works out best for your well-being. Do not worry about me, or what I might think. While I am rather curious as to who you might be...your safety comes first."

"You think I can't take care of myself?"

"I think you're too precious to see hurt. It would be a shame if you did something to get yourself killed." The other goons take a few steps forward, lining up with the masked man. "My mind was hazy earlier...the Bloody Mist's wonder child. That blade is too distinctive."

Now that you think of it...you know that guy too. "That's...Zabuza. The Demon of the Mist."

"So much for anonymity, then," he grumbles. "We've been putzing around here too long, so let's off these brats before they blab to everyone about what I'm doing."

"Patience, my friend."

"I'm not your buddy, asshole. We fighting, or not?" Zabuza growls at the masked man.

"What would you like to do?" Hannah asks. "Whatever you so choose, I will accept."

---
[] You might as well say your piece and remove any remaining tension. That, and this guy will more than likely let slip who he is in the process with this show he's putting on.
[] Shut him up. You don't need this kind of trouble, and you think you can take him and his two goons. (Pre-battle sequence)
-[] Have Dani go back to check on Gina while you stall.
-[] Keep Dani with you and go ahead with your plan.
[] Write-in.

 

[FortePlus]

You've still got time to close the barn door before anything else can get all the way out, so to speak. Hannah - you still have to get used to that - is on standby, but you probably won't need her.

Might as well make your move.

"Hannah, I'm gonna take care of these guys. You look after Gina."

She gives you a once-over before nodding, taking a step back as her lightning shroud disappears. "I understand. Please come back to us safely, Zeke."

"I will. And thank you. For all of this, Hannah."

"For a darling like you, it was no problem," she replies with a wink. The moment after, she hops backwards and out of sight through the thickening mist.

"Sending your moppet away so soon? I suppose you really don't want her to hear about your little secret, Joshua West."

Ah, so he really wasn't bluffing. That just confirms everything Hannah said about herself. "What's your beef with me, champ? Only thing I've done so far is read a couple of unlisted books, and that got me kicked out of town. Weird mask with one eye-hole and all...anyways, I wasn't really thinking about keeping more stuff from my partner, but this is a convenient way to pick your brain without her having to worry about me."

"You very well might get yourself killed," the masked man taunts. "Three on one would be far too boring...let's see how you handle these two on their own, if you're so eager to fight."

You slide a foot forward and take your stance; loose this time, one hand back high and one low. No need to move on your feet yet, but you've made sure you're not flatfooted. The first step is the most important. Load up the back leg...explode. Just like always.

"Oh, and before you start...I have a little secret of my own that I want to reveal. You see, I've run into your grandfather more than once...the man known as Jacob West. He's been a nuisance in more ways than one. Ridiculous power and a ridiculous busybody to boot."

"Is that why you're after me?"

"I'm just testing you to see what you'll do next, boy."

"Real arrogant of you. So, what's your big secret?"

You feel a sudden, sinister pressure come from the masked man.

"I'm Madara Uchiha."

"What-!"

The next moment is a killer. Zabuza drags his giant meat cleaver at speed and swings at your legs. While you were distracted by the insane declaration, a mirror of ice forms about ten feet in front of you. Out flies the other masked chump, coming high with senbon in between his fingers.

You push off your back foot and change your plans, flipping twice in the air over them as they swipe through the space you were a moment earlier. You land, explode ahead again, and feel your right fist slam into Zabuza's sword as he whirls around to block.

Right hand's the power hand. Unlucky for him.

You follow through with your natural strength, your muscles tensing. The force throws him through the nearby tree as it explodes into splinters, and the other masked guy starts to engage again. He's fast. You're faster. And your taijutsu? Light years ahead. You consider drawing a kunai to defend but don't need it, using your speed to lock him out of range by blocking his arms entirely each time he makes a move to strike. He soon drops back to regain his bearings, and you shift forward into a boxing stance before throwing a hard straight at his face. He can't dodge and your fist shatters his mask, sending him tumbling backwards along the forest floor before he can recover.

"Zabuza...this child is..."

"I know, Haku. He's some kind of super freak. I don't think this dumbass knew what he was getting into," Zabuza says with a pointed glare towards 'Madara'. He brandishes his sword again and starts to circle around your position. It's now that you start bouncing on your feet, both to get a nice lead on your next target and to put more fear into them. Their only real shot at taking you down is with genjutsu. You don't trust the supposed masked old man not to jump in with a visual art, but your speed might be enough that it doesn't matter. Right...Hannah's countermeasure was that lightning shroud. She really knew her stuff, but that's expected of the Gold Reaper, you suppose.

Haku recovers enough to rejoin the fight, holding his senbon in the same position as before. His voice and face walk the line enough to where most couldn't tell he was a guy. But that's definitely a guy. A guy who's trying to figure out your fighting style so he can counter it ASAP. He and Zabuza are definitely a coordinated and seasoned team, judging from the way they move around each other. In your peripheral vision, you can see 'Madara' perched in a tree some distance away. Gina isn't parked too far outside, so you can hope that Hannah can keep an eye on her and check the masked guy here if necessary.

Either way, he's not pushing his luck yet. His mistake.

A two on one? Light work. You're ready to dance.

---

[] Keep to your current plan. Take on Zabuza and Haku together while minding the masked man.
[] Focus your attacks on one player.
-[] Zabuza. He's slower and you suspect his ninjutsu might cause the most trouble.
-[] Haku. Faster, a nuisance, and possesses a bloodline limit. Take him out first if you can.
-[] Madara. He's not doing anything but you don't like the look of him. You don't like much about him, honestly.
[] Write in.

 

[FortePlus]

You flip through your options while weaving through the trees. Haku was the annoying one, so he would be your first target. Ice Release could get dicey to deal with if the fight went on too long.

Genjutsu is pretty much out. You're not good at it and the most you can do is identify it and release when needed. Visual techniques were light enough to counter by using speed. Anything else was questionable territory. Right now the big rule is don't get hit by an illusion or anything like it.

Your ninjutsu is pretty boneless too. What techniques you have are conveniently low cost, but the lack of skill means they don't hit too hard. That leaves them more useful as distractions or set-up moves.

That leaves your taijutsu. And you're really good at taijutsu. You're really strong. You're really fast. You can fight for a really long time. You're smart and crafty.

Yeah, you'll be alright. For this battle and all the others.

Haku is really moving, trying to bait you into something. Zabuza appears through the trees, weaving handseals. If you remember right, there's some sort of water source around, so he's probably making use of it...yeah, there it is.

"Water Dragon Jutsu."

Some distance behind him, a massive water dragon rips through the trees in search of you. You dodge at the last moment, using the spray of water to mask your movements as you head for Zabuza. Your fist goes under his guard and hits him in the chest, spiking him through another tree and leaving it at just you and Haku again. He slides to your side and weaves seals; you can see the water from Zabuza's earlier attack float up into the air before forming into sharp needles on all sides of you.

"Die."

You see the opening already and jump above the water needles onto a tree branch. Haku anticipates your movement and has already formed an ice mirror above your head, so you spin and lash out with a kick that sends him right back into it. The mirror shatters and you drop back to the ground. Two mirrors form again and Haku rips across one into the other while trying to attack you.

The area is getting a bit colder, and you can see more mirrors forming. Looks like he's trying to surround you. Let's take care of that.

You step up and accelerate towards Haku, catching him by the foot as he moves from one mirror to the other. A yelp escapes his throat and he looks at you with terror as you throw him through another tree trunk. He gets up, visibly shaken and winded.

"C-can't...it's not possible like this."

"Haku. Focus. We can beat this punk. He has a weakness, now find it," Zabuza orders from the distance.

"Yes. I'm sorry." You see Haku close his eyes and disappear into the thickening mist.

"Gimmick attack, huh." You can't hear them anymore, let alone see them. Probably the best chance for the masked man to strike, if he is Madara. Then again, the Sharingan probably can't see through this mess either. "What would I do if I was an assassin...probably strike from behind. Or maybe in front. There are two of them, after all. Could have it both ways."

The forest is almost deathly silent now. You can hear the sounds of birds calling in the distance, muffled by the thick mist. Those two have to be moving now. Your primary target is still Haku, and from what you can tell, he's completely invested in stealth at the moment. Plays right into your hands...because moving is one thing, but landing the killing stroke is another.

"Time to take the fight to you, then." You walk towards a nearby tree and slam your hands into the trunk on either side before lifting upwards. The roots around you come up with the tree, disturbing the earth as you keep pulling until the tree is completely out. With that done, you whirl around quickly, disturbing the mist and forcing sounds out of the forest area as you knock over another two trees. Your next move has you throw the tree at what you see is Zabuza, forcing him away as you body flicker to Haku. He's well off balance and you punch him in the face, sending him completely off his feet and into the ground. His body carves a deep trench into the ground and he's out cold.

"Shit! Haku!" Zabuza starts to make handseals but you accelerate towards his position, making him stop as he takes up his sword again to fight at close range. Looks like he's the one that taught Haku what he knows. His blade comes in tight as he wields it effortlessly with one hand, taking his time to try and break you down. He moves towards Haku in a defensive position and you let him do so, holding a loose stance as you wait for what comes next.

"Everything you said about this kid was wrong, masked asshole," Zabuza says out loud. "That's the last time I rely on your so-called observations. He's a genetic freak with ridiculous raw power and a lot of brains. If there's some kind of magic formula to beat him, no way in hell I can figure it out right now."

"I see. Disappointing," Madara replies from above you.

"Disappointing my ass. You're the one that fucked up. What the hell do we do now? I can't fight him and the reaper bitch at the same time if she decides to join."

Haku slowly starts to stir.

"Stay down, Haku. You'll get yourself slaughtered if you try and fight any more."

"Z-Zabuza..."

"Shut up and stay down. I'll knock you out myself if need be."

'Madara' has bitten off way more than he can chew, looks like. Guess he wasn't expecting this...what's your move now?

---

[] They seem to be preparing for a retreat. Let them go, you're not worried about it.
[] Keep attacking. You've got the upper hand.
-[] Try going at Haku again. You might be able to erase him for good.
-[] Focus on Zabuza. He's hardy, but not invincible.
-[] Attack Madara. With Haku out, he's looking more vulnerable.
-[] Try signalling Hannah over, though that means leaving Gina alone again.
[] You've got time. Ask these chumps what their deal is in the first place.
[] Write-in.

---

Jutsu (if attacking)
[] Write-in.

 

[FortePlus]

You hold your stance for a while longer, allowing things to sink in. The mist isn't as thick as before, it might even be thinning by all accounts, which isn't too surprising. It's an occupational hazard if one of the combatants can't really move properly. Haku is punch drunk...more like punch wasted, anyways. Zabuza isn't keen on letting go of his sword or moving from Haku's side. And the masked man is just there until he moves to where Haku is. Something starts to happen.

There's a swirling hole in space that forms from the opening on his mask. Haku is sucked into it immediately and disappears, at which point the distortion in space stops. You can only guess it's a visual technique, and if his claim is to be believed, one derived from the Sharingan. Space-time jutsu.

Pretty ridiculous.

You slowly drop your stance and relax. Zabuza takes note and starts to lower his sword arm until the blade hits the earth. The masked man simply watches, and you make sure to keep your gaze off of his. This seems like a good time for interrogation.

"So. What's your deal, Zabuza?" you ask casually. He grunts and stares at you for a moment, thinking about answering. You continue on his behalf. "The reason you're out of the Mist in the first place is because of what happened with the Fourth. I'm guessing you're in this for the money...not whatever weird ideals this guy calling himself Madara is whispering into your ears."

"You might be right."

"Have you been back to the Hidden Mist lately?"

"I don't need to see it with my own eyes to know that nothing's changed. If you think the Terumi girl is anything other than a puppet of a kunoichi, you might be a meathead after all."

You smirk at him. "Maybe I don't know much, but I know the Bloody Mist is over. That's just a bit more than you've accomplished."

"Fools like Hoshigaki are free to bend their knees to the bitch. I'm not like them."

"Right. This is just a legitimate business venture with the opportunity for extra capital."

"..."

"As for our masked friend, I don't expect him to say much. But he obviously can't or won't kill me, and has run into the old man one too many times. Maybe he's worried about what I can do, but Gramps scares him more. Ah," you say with realization. "You don't know where he is either. I'm sorry to say that I don't have that info either, but maybe you could have picked something up from me? Or possibly blackmailed me into working with you and your merry band of discount mercs. At the least, you could drag the Gold Reaper onto your side."

"You talk too much," Madara says.

"I get into it sometimes, but not very often. Apologies, I guess."

"You shouldn't be insincere."

You shrug. "I'm really not, but alright. I haven't seen the old man outside of photographs. There's nothing I can do for you."

"There is, in spite of your insolence." Madara puts a palm upwards and stretches his hand out towards you. "Your grandfather and I were at odds once. Our disagreement was on...how to deliver peace to the world. How to truly end conflict. He chose an unsubtle method. My plan is far more intricate. It's not something I'm prepared to explain unless you're ready to commit."

"Commit?"

"I want you to join me."

"..." You laugh once. "That all? After the blackmail and attempted murder, you think it's that simple."

"You have no direction. No place to go. The villages are all looking for you, with some having more hostile intentions than others. But if you want an ultimatum, here's one more: I can have the Cloud on you within the day once we leave this place."

"Pleasant."

"Indeed. What do you say? We can find a path to peace and reveal what's happened to your grandfather. Since you've exceeded all my expectations, I think it would be easy. And you don't really want to trust someone like the Gold Reaper anyways."

"Why not?"

"She's a false vampire child. At one point, before her memories began...she was a human being. That's all gone now, and that aside, she's capable of mass murder. Surely you couldn't risk traveling with someone like that, especially with the paranoia of other hidden villages?"

That's a bit of a reach. Hannah has long been operating outside the bounds of the law, so nothing would change by siccing Hidden Cloud war dogs on her behind at this stage. She's also been good to you, in a lot of ways. It would be nice to have a long talk before things got awkward on this mission, which you intend to get back to.

Then again...Madara is right. You really don't have a plan yet, and right now he's one of the last people to have interacted with your grandfather. Whether that was enough to make you want to jump ship and join the ghost of an old warrior, you'll have to weigh carefully.

There's something sinister about this that you can't place your finger on. You don't think joining these guys is a good idea, but you're also not completely opposed. You're an adult. Kind of.

---
[] Accept Madara's proposal.
-[] Be truthful and go with him. You want to see what the group is about first.
-[] Lie and say you need some time alone first. You're not intending to be cooperative at all.

[] Hard pass. These guys are trouble and you don't like Madara...he just irks you for whatever reason.
-[] Peace out and leave it at that.
-[] Be openly hostile. It's only fair after how he 'approached' you.

[] Write in.

 

[FortePlus]

>>>​ The Illuminators​

---

Episode 1 Interlude: Hearts​

---

Well, you've made your decision. He won't like it.

"Hard pass for me, sorry. Anything else?"

"No...that will be all for now. Expect a visit from the Hidden Cloud soon, boy."

"Will do. I'll be seeing you," you reply plainly. Madara says nothing and places his hand on Zabuza's shoulder. The two are whisked away in a swirling void of space-time, and disappear. You're left in the forest again, cleared out from all of the earlier fighting and tossed trees. With a shrug, you walk back the way you came, through the mist as it eventually thins down and disappears completely.

Hannah is on guard in front of the horse and cart as you reach them, eyes closed with one hand on her sword. Gina is napping peacefully.

The horse snorts and clicks its hooves, causing the blonde to open her eyes and give you a warm smile. "Welcome back, darling. Did things go well enough?"

"Considering, yeah. Masked chump back there is a character and a half. Bad news, too."

"I suppose with that and my earlier stunt, operational security is out of the window."

"Not quite. He threatened to have old man A and friends bully us within the next twenty four hours, and I don't doubt they have patrols even out here. We want to book it out of here and to Gina's last stop. Less she knows about us the better."

"Agreed. We're still just Dani and Zeke to her. Speaking of which, we'll throw protocol away as soon as we start the second leg of our little journey," Hannah says. You nod and go to shake Gina awake gently. She rubs her eyes and slides down from the cart to give you a hug.

"Nothing doing?" she asks.

"Nope. All good. Just had to take care of some roughnecks, you know how it is."

"Mm-hm. Just a bit." She lets a hand linger on your cheek as she smiles. "Thank you. Both of you. I dunno what it is you're going through, and I'm not gonna pry. I just hope you make it."

"Thanks, Gina. Same for you."

"Heh. Let's get our butts outta here. Already on the home stretch and all, and nice that I didn't have to pop any of those pills." She gets onto the cart again and tugs once on the reins. The horse lets out a sharp breath before shaking its head out and moving forward, pulling the cart with you and Hannah on it along.

---

You reach the town within the next two hours and help with the delivery. Gina is grateful and happy. She smothers Hannah in a hug, then you. The expected negotiations begin; Dani and Zeke get 500 ryo, sweet pastries and a fresh loaf of bread each, nothing less.

"I seriously won't forget you two. I don't know if I'll set up shop yet here, but it's really tempting. Here," she says, handing you a small card. "I'll more than likely be in the country either way, and you can pop around to get something to eat. Hometown discount and all. You've earned it."

"Don't worry too much about finding a man," you say. "It'll happen once you let it."

"Probably. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Zeke." She shows off a strong, toothy grin. "If you're ever jammed up, we can buy a farm out in the country and get hitched. Make sure I'm one of your last resorts, though!"

"You're just a bit crazy."

"Charming, eh?" She gives you one last hug and a few pats on the back. "Stay safe out there, big guy. I'll pray for you. Thanks again."

You nod and smile before letting Hannah say her goodbyes. The two exchange kisses on the cheeks before waving goodbye. Hannah nods to you and you acknowledge her, taking off in a sprint together and out of the town you were in. There was another place up the road, an hour away at this moderate speed. The casual pace brings you around in forty five minutes; you figured Hannah could keep up with you on her own and the lightning shroud from before wasn't just a convenient crutch. The two of you find an inn and render payment up front for your rooms. You wordlessly head up one flight of stairs and Hannah enters a room down the hall, one door down from your own. You unpack two scrolls from your bag and unseal your extra clothes before taking a shower. Nothing much in the way of dirt or damage. Hitting Haku didn't even produce much of a sting in your knuckles as you assumed there would be. There was a term, a derogatory one for guys who looked like him. Too pretty, too cute to be 'real' guys. Civilized folks just called his type androgynous.

"Huh." You run a towel over your head and get changed; a shirt and shorts would work. The inn is well-kept and clean all around, there's even a portable kettle and some selections of tea on a table. Nice.

A knock on the door interrupts your thoughts minutes later as you grab a book and wait for your hot water to boil. You're guessing it's Hannah.

As you open the door, your guess is correct. She's in pajamas that have a spiral insignia on them in a repeating pattern - the symbol of the long gone Whirlpool Village. Her chest is clearly nice and snug under the shirt, and the bottoms sit loosely on her hips. She smells of wildflowers.

"Quick bath?"

"It was refreshing, yes." She pauses a beat. "I keep saying this. We've only known each other a day. But repeating it won't change how I feel. I...want to have a heart-to-heart. If that's okay with you. If not, we at least need to talk about other things, maybe mission related things."

"Yeah. That's only fair."

"Zeke...I've also implied before that I don't expect you to go and reveal secrets just because I did so for you. It was an operational decision I felt I could take, being in my line of work. You...have a different situation, I understand."

"Something like that," you admit.

"I see. With that in mind..." She lets out a breath and looks at you squarely. There's a steely look in her eyes. "Even if I don't mean it as quid pro quo in any sense...I want you to know this. I will accept your decisions and I will be professional. But I will, on a personal level be...perturbed if you shut me out after all of this."

You rub one of your shoulders. "I wouldn't blame you."

"I'm hoping your kindness will shine through just once more. I would like to know at least some of what happened in the forest, like who that man was and why he was so interested in you. And seeing as he knows who I am and has sent Cloud dogs after my position along with your own, this does start to concern me a lot more than before."

You had considered that, though not this deeply. Hannah leans against your door frame and tosses back some of her hair.

"I also have a rather...important question to ask of you, regardless of how any of this goes. So...might we talk, Zeke?"

---

[] Have that heart-to-heart. She deserves that and to know everything, to ask the questions on her mind, and to be herself.
-[] You're already brewing tea. Hold court in your room.
-[] You could hang out in her room instead.
-[] Outside has a front patio of sorts. Good neutral spot.

[] Keep it slightly more impersonal.
-[] Tell her about everything beyond the fog wall after she left.
-[] Leave out just your identity. Maybe you didn't want to do a 100% trust leap just yet.
-[] It's possible she might not believe everything you say. Operational stuff about Akatsuki would work for now.

[] Eh...it would irk her, but leave it at the mission and just that. It's cold, but...

[] Write in.

---

a/n: I'd like for people to be advised: this is an [Important Thing]. Think about how to interact with this [Important Person] because it will affect your future movements and have implications for how you proceed. No lockouts, no railroads. Just butterfly effects.

 

[FortePlus]

You decide that, no matter what, she deserves more than the bare minimum or to be brushed aside as just another person. It's a good time to open up to Hannah. More than just for the sake of partnership, it feels like she just wants someone to talk with her about more than missions or how many people she's killed in her life. Madara's words from earlier come to mind, and that makes your decision clearer.

"I don't know exactly how much you've been through in your life, and I feel like you have a lot that you're holding in. All that said, why don't you come inside? I was about to make some tea and curl up with a book, but we can talk instead."

She hesitates a moment before her gaze snaps to you. "Oh...you mean that?"

"Yeah. If you're alright with that. And you promise not to jump me."

Her lips curl into that cat-like smile you've gotten used to. She's a flirt and a tease sometimes, but only when you're alone, and never to the point where either of you come to harm. Though you suspect...hm. Something for later. You usher Hannah in and close the door behind her. Her feet immediately take her to one of the chairs, where she pulls one foot into the seat and leans back with her arms on the rests.

"We've gotten familiar in such a short time," she quips. "To the point where you're already expecting me to sink my fangs into you, sensually speaking..."

"Not literally?"

"Mm...blood-drinking in the current era of vampires does still serve traditional purposes, but is now primarily used in hedonistic pursuits. Indulgences and such. Blood cravings aren't really a thing, especially for those who have adapted to the use of chakra such as myself. Not that I would function like a normal vampire, either way. Did he tell you?"

You reach for the warmed kettle and hold up a teabag for Hannah to look at. She nods and you drop it into a mug before pouring out the hot water. "Madara said something about you being human once."

"It was before my memories began."

"Those exact words," you point out.

"I wonder how he knows so much. I've been so sidetracked that I haven't done the necessary research into my family history. They say that one of the Originals is roaming this continent...if I could find one of them, it would make things clear. There's a whole complicated history of vampires, though on this continent it's a little clearer."

You nod and hand her a warm mug. The lights are dimmed, but you don't need them much sitting around and talking.

"Thank you. Ah, so...we're going to have a heart-to-heart after all, then. I really am a bit surprised at the kindness you've shown me. It's above and beyond, and I'm...I really am grateful for it."

"You don't need to tell me again you did it with no expectations," you say with a smile.

"It always bears repeating." She sips from her mug and pauses a moment, letting the warmth flow through her. "Dani is short for Danita."

"Really? That's a beautiful name." You have a seat on your bed, just across from her.

"I picked it myself. I wanted some sort of identity, to help anchor my spirit as I carried on my work. It is to say, quite literally, that only Almighty God can judge me."

"That's powerful. But from what I can see, it fits. You're a strong person in a lot of ways."

"Zeke is short for...Ezekiel. Close?"

"You're totally right."

"It means...God will strengthen. Well, he's done a good enough job," Hannah says with a laugh. You chuckle and shake your head. "Which leads me to the big question, if you're at the point where you're willing to share...who is the man that goes to and fro under the guise of Zeke?"

"My real name is Joshua West," you say casually, taking a sip of your own tea. Hannah blinks and tries to process what you've said.

"You mean to say that the grandfather the masked man was talking about...is..."

"Yeah. My Gramps is none other than the ultra infamous Jacob West."

She lets out a shocked breath. "Goodness. No wonder. All of that trouble, no wonder. It only makes sense. The grandson of the man who came from afar and surpassed the Sage. An alias is how you manage a normal life. We had more in common than we could ever think."

"Crazy, huh. I guess I trust you enough to say so much."

"On my soul, I won't tell anyone without your express permission," she says seriously. "Oh, chaos. The Cloud will be sending all manner of bulls into the china shop after you if this is the information they have. Ye gods," she mumbles. "If you had declined to tell me, I would have completely understood. Even if you're not a criminal, you would fetch a top price alive just on name alone."

"That bad, huh."

"You don't know the half of it. The underworld has been in a tizzy for years since he took the hidden villages to task. You're a hot commodity, in more ways than one, of course. On that note, I must ask who the masked man was, if you were able to find out."

"Get ready. It's on the wilder side."

"I'm listening."

"He said to my face that he was Madara Uchiha."

"..." Hannah narrows her eyes and looks up at the ceiling. Steam wafts up from her tea, and she takes an extra moment before setting her face back to neutral and looking at you. "Not without purpose...something like that. Madara was killed in battle with Hashirama Senju just a few generations ago. They made sure to recover the body as proof. But then, the Sharingan...there's much in the way of legend and lore when it comes to that bloodline."

"You think it's possible he's telling the truth," you conclude.

"If not, he has some grand purpose behind using that name. He said it with conviction, did he?"

"Even said he had beef with the old man. Claimed they had different thoughts on how to achieve true peace in this world, and that he had a pretty complex plan set out to do it. I dunno if he's puppeting that Akatsuki group or he's with them as a side hustle. Didn't get enough info. I know Zabuza and his apprentice there are in it for the money."

"His planned coups against the Mist are an open secret." Hannah sips from her mug and lets out a breath. "Akatsuki uses a lot of middlemen and local fixers. They charge below market rate constantly. They must be making money somehow, because even if they were incredibly popular, those numbers don't grow a business. Especially a mercenary business."

"From what you're saying, it's financial suicide for investors."

"Very much so." Hannah tilts her head. "He asked you to join him."

"Yeah."

She nods. "Only fair. Did you consider?"

"Yeah. Had a bunch of options going."

A smile. "Honest and intelligent. You continue to impress me. I think he wants you alive to locate your grandfather, or as possible insurance for a later date. It's possible he could have tried to kill you, but...this would be a foolish time to take such actions. Probably a decade too late and a bridge too far."

"Hm." You drink down some more of your tea and sigh. "Your call was right, either way. Some kind of visual technique came from his mask. Space-time thing that warped people away, and he could use it on himself. More than likely a Sharingan jutsu."

"I figured as much. Sharingan are on occassion bouncing around the edges of the black market."

"They must be white hot to the touch."

"Without a doubt. And they're originating from the Leaf."

You raise a brow. "Organ donation to raise cash?"

"There are far more lucrative open channels for that. Repeated dumping happens every few months. Someone too stupid to know what they're doing is offloading them into the market."

"Ah, crap," you mutter. "There's a stockpile somewhere."

"Mm-hm. There would have to be a sweep of Leaf to confirm, but I know for a fact we would find something very unpleasant. I haven't been there in a while...things have gotten shifty with a good portion of my contacts."

"Speaking of, what's your job selection like?"

"I have a fixer's fixer in my corner. Eccentric one, with a hippie for a partner. But exceedingly skilled at what they do. Fingers on the pulse of the world on every level, above and below ground. They're currently holding in Hot Water, south of here. Once this mission is over, I was going to see them about the item we're going to collect. Anyways, I double vet my work at the least. My fixer filters requests and then I check them over. Genocide is out, mass murder is out...things like that. Single target assassinations, body guarding, objective elimination...things I can do a lot of at once. Efficiency got me my reputation, as well as quite a few solo defense and liberation jobs. Those were the bloodiest, and I ended up doing most of the killing against those soft, inexperienced targets." Hannah shakes her head. "When you do certain things too well, that's when you get a reputation."

"I'm seeing how all the stories came together."

"Yes, indeed. The yakuza don't like me either. I did work for them when I was young, naive, and desperate. They've been spurned a few times and on the receiving end of my fury a few times more. The unsavoury louts don't deserve my presence."

"Heh." You finish your tea and set your mug down on the table in front of you. Hannah nurses hers a while longer, looking down at the floor and wiggling her toes a bit. She lifts her head to take note of you while she thinks you're not paying attention. Her gaze is gentle, and yet filled with some measure of anxiety. You wonder what she's thinking at the moment.

"So a man claiming to be Madara is after you...and to that end, so is the Hidden Cloud now. It could be a bit worse, considering. Mm. And seeing as you came back without a scratch, you dispatched the Demon and his companion quite easily."

"Madara didn't even fight," you reply. "If that really is him, it only makes sense. He's ancient by now."

"That's true. Hm, I suppose you'll figure it out when you get to said bridge."

"Yup. That's the plan."

"I...did mention that I had a question I wanted to ask. Earlier, I mean."

"Yeah, you did. What is it?"

Hannah sets down her mug and clasps her hands together, pressing them against her chest. "People often mistake being nice for being kind. Anyone can be nice. They can offer gifts, or sex, or some other kind of favour to make another person feel good and rewarded. There are a lot of people who can be nice, who can be generous. But being nice isn't being good. Kindness...it comes from the heart. It's more than being nice, it's reaching towards a person without expectation and...and simply treating them with love and tenderness. I know you're going to say that you haven't done much, but things like making me tea, and being concerned for my well-being...and then in the forest. You trusted me with your entire life. You trusted that I wouldn't turn around and betray you in that heated moment. And now, you've been even kinder, gifting me with a secret so many would kill to have. In these few hours, you've done so much. We've...experienced so much together in such an incredibly short time."

"..."

"Sometimes...people are simply meant to be near each other. To connect. You understand, don't you? Why I flirt and act outrageous. It's not to draw people in. It's a measuring stick. A barrier of sorts. You can always figure people out from how they respond to sexual tension like that. But I don't want sex from you, or even romance. None of that. You're worth more than a fling or a passing date. I..."

"It's alright," you say quietly.

"I, um..." She lets out a shaky breath. "Joshua...I want to be your friend. I want us to...be friends. So, I...I mean...would you?"

You look at her with confusion. "Hannah? You don't...?"

She looks at you with glimmering eyes. "I don't...haven't had time to make any before today. I want to believe you would be my very first friend."

You almost don't believe it. But maybe she really was pushing everyone away. Out of fear, maybe of herself, or of others. Everything about this is sincere. She's been that way since the moment you met, even if it bordered on inappropriate. You liked that about her.

All she really wants is...someone to call a friend for real.

---
[] Sure. Friends it is.
-[] "You were already my friend, Hannah."
-[] "Sure we can be friends. You got it."

[] Maybe you wanted...more? Like...girlfriend more? Why not? Go for it.

[] You...shouldn't. And can't. Let her down so slowly she doesn't realize. Or at least try to. Yikes.

[] Write in.

---
[] Head to bed afterwards. It's been a long enough day.

[] Stay up for a while longer and chat. About...things.

[] Ask Hannah if she has anything in mind.

---

a/n: not as much of an Important Thing but nice to consider thoughtfully when voting.

 

[FortePlus]

More than anything, you want to give her a chance. That speech about connecting hit home...you felt the same pull that she did. Like this was meant to happen all along, something like that.

In any case, friendship is something you want to gift her. And hopefully out of that, she would make more friends, more close bonds like this. It's the sort of thing that changes a life. And changed lives can change worlds.

"We're friends, Hannah. Like we've been from the start."

Her eyes widen and her breath hitches in her throat a moment as you give her a smile. She settles after a moment, warmth visible in her cheeks as she smiles back, her violet eyes sparkling with joy. The glow you mentioned before was for real, and brighter than ever; you can see her hair shimmer and small sparkles of light around her head.

"Thank you," she says with absolute gratitude. "Thank you so much for...everything."

"You're welcome, Hannah."

A small, light laugh comes from between her lips as she brushes back her hair. It's quiet, awkward, and joyful. The heat still hasn't died down from her cheeks, and she looks at you with admiration.

"I've never felt so beautiful. Joshua? Make me more tea, please. I want to stay with you and tell you stories about myself. About things that I thought I would have to keep sealed inside of myself forever. Not everything at this moment, because I want to learn how to tell my stories properly...but something in appreciation of this moment. It's dramatic of me to say this. Diva-like, even. But you've changed my life with that one word. Friend."

"I'm happy that I could make a difference."

"I know you are. That's why my heart melted for you the moment we started talking."

"Heh. You really know how to lay it on thick."

"Don't I?" She gives you a wink and you get to making her more tea.

---

Night drifts on.

You can only assume Hannah had a low estimation of her ability, because she tells captivating stories without trying. She talks about herself and experiences outside of the battlefield. About her insecurities when it comes to dealing with people. About reveling in the attention she gets for her body at times. About unsavoury people and situations. She talks about the feelings after a kill, about adrenaline and fear. Discrimination on account of her heritage, which she kept hidden until recently. Wishing to travel as a normal person and not on secretive business trips. How much she loves children and wants to have her own. A weakness for cake, especially red velvet. Being of noble blood and tempering it with her experiences in the dirt. The first time she kissed a man, and then a woman.

She speaks, but not without looking at you and for you. Her pauses are meant to draw you in and hold you there so she can admire you endlessly. Reaching for you and not wanting to let go. It wasn't lust, or misguided romantic attraction.

A friend is someone you can trust. She trusts you. And she gives you many things that only a person she trusts should hold.

Hannah is your friend as much as you are hers.

Night bumps into morning and she lets out a yawn, signalling that it's time to shoo her into her own bed. She's obedient and lets you walk her to her room. Before you can leave, she hugs you. Her fingers press into your back gently, her head against your shoulder. She doesn't say a word before letting go and disappearing into her room, closing the door behind her.

You turn around and head back to your room, cleaning up from your small tea party and then washing up before you flop onto your bed.

The scent of wildflowers soothes you.

Hannah's lingering warmth guides you into sleep.

---

"I like it, boyo. Good that you got a stomach on ya!"

The woman who cooks for the inn is short and plump. Her teeth are big and bright, from what you can see of her perpetual smile. She feeds you food that comes within a country mile of Grams' cooking. But that's unbeatable stuff far as you're concerned.

"Is that so?" Hannah has an appetite herself, but given her healthy frame, it makes sense. She finishes off a bowl of rice as you both enjoy a late lunch. The inn is fairly busy, and popular given the attention to standards that you could see.

"A healthy belly, and child-bearin' hips to boot! Don't let her run off, boyo!" the chef quips, her booming laugh echoing through the dining room.

"We've only just met," Hannah says with a smile. "Patience is a virtue."

"Strike while the iron's red hot, boyo! Good wife, wise mother! Gahahahaha!" She - mercifully - laughs her way back to the kitchen.

"Do you think you could keep me barefoot and pregnant?" Hannah asks, sipping at her tea.

You snort. "Fat chance of that."

"A fount of wisdom. Joshua, you are truly a gem."

"I try."

"I'm amazed you're single, in all seriousness. I mean, even if you were a bit antisocial and on the scholarly side...how long ago did you come into your bronzed god phase?"

"Three or four years ago at the latest. I started working out, kinda. It was boring just lifting weights and running, so I challenged myself with fun looking things. Sports, competitions with others. Light social stuff, you know?"

"I can see now, yes."

"What about you? When'd you get scorching hot?"

"Thirteen, three years ago. I could tell because there were more head turns than usual from normal looking men."

You chuckle. "Yeah, I remember you told me. Puberty makes life a whole different ballgame."

"You don't know the half of it," Hannah says with a sigh. She dabs at her mouth with a napkin and whips out a compact mirror to inspect herself briefly. "I'm all done. Shall we?"

"Yup. Let's head out."

The two of you pop into the kitchen to bid your friendly chef farewell, where she gives you a crushing group hug first, and plenty of provisions for the road second. You check out with a generous trip between the both of you, and hit the road again. It's a winding path further north this time, and somewhat colder, if you had to say. Not enough to worry about either way.

"The ruins are of a small, obscure village that has long been abandoned," Hannah says as you walk together through the trees. It's getting dark by now, and you're probably going to settle down soon enough. "Allegedly, the former inhabitants were of the Inugami."

You sniff once. "Thought they were a myth."

"Hence allegedly. It could have been some other clan...more than likely. Cloud is...hmph, well," she says while making a face. "If only they were more like kokoahito such as yourself."

"Heh. Maybe you're biased."

Hannah gives you a look of false exasperation before continuing on. "Anyways...the scroll itself. It's of no value to those who can't understand its meaning. So...like many other scrolls, to be honest. Not the point, though. It contains important clues and directions to an even more important item."

"Weapon?"

"Wonderful first guess. Yes. A cursed blade."

"Spooky."

"Indeed. It is a fearsome tool. A lost blade of Kusanagi. Nisshoku."

"Lost blade, I can see. Cursed, though. What's with that?" you ask.

"Mm. It's originally from the time of Susano'o - one of the blades he carried on him. Divine qualities, all of that. Not much is said through the records, but the blade was continually passed down and stained with blood and malice until it transformed into something frightening. Followers of the Sage of Six Paths found the blade and took pains to seal it away. The blade and the research on it were eventually scattered, due to things like invasion, natural disaster, theft, etcetera, etcetera. My fixer picked up a rather oblique hint and passed it onto me. Now we're here. Oh, I'll be paying you a proper sum, don't you worry."

"Got it." You know better than to put relationships in between business transactions, and Hannah does too. Whether you spend the money on a thank you gift or something is your business, but only after you finish up your contract. You learned from watching your parents go through headaches how messy things can get when you mix friendship and money badly.

"Fabulous. Now, the legends say that it's a katana with a blade as black as night, and an aura that devours the souls of men. Anyone who can make the blade submit will take hold of its incredible power."

"The curse thing sounds like a minus. Is it like those, uh..." You rub your head in search of the name. "Kurosawa...no, Muramasa. Those get talk about being cursed all the time, though I understand it's more urban legend than anything."

"Correct. Muramasa blades are of the finest quality, and certainly not demonic. If one is indeed cursed, it's solely because of human recklessness."

You nod. "Makes sense. So Nisshoku would give you a power advantage."

"Not to my liking as it is. I want to see it purified and restored to its proper glory."

You blink. "That so...huh. Sounds like a big undertaking."

"It is. I'll have to call on a certain acquaintance to help with the purifying process. But that all comes after finding the blade, which I know will not be easy. I have another thing to ask you when all of this is done. Hopefully the scroll is where I think it is."

"Same here." You spin around and look at the forest as you walk. "Wanna set up camp?"

"That would be lovely. Let's stop near the stream up ahead. First watch?"

"Flip for it. I call tails."

You fish out a coin and flip it into the air, closing your eyes. It comes down in your palm and you look. "Heads. Your pick."

"I'll sleep first and then watch the sunrise. Fair?"

"Yup."

"By the by. You closed your eyes earlier..." She stops midspeech and laughs. "You really are a boy scout."

"What? I wanted to be fair."

"You're such a good boy, and I adore you for it," Hannah says with one of her teasing smiles. "Come on, let's get camp set up. And I can make you a blindfold for when I take my bath in a few minutes."

"Smart mouth," you mutter. You shake your head and get started on the fire.

---

You have yourselves a light snack out of the inn provisions, conveniently sealed in a scroll earlier. Hannah goes to sleep, resting against a log with her sword at her side.

She looks really peaceful.

A smile comes to your lips as you go back to your watch, rolling a kunai in your hand.

---

Hannah yawns and rubs her eyes before stretching. The sun's poking up through the horizon. "Joshua, darling."

"Right here."

"Time to switch."

"Alright. Here you go, it's coffee this time. Instant stuff isn't glamorous, but...ah, how do you take it?"

"Put in three helpings of cream and a generous bit of honey."

As you go to mix the cream in, you get a sinking feeling.

"Ah, crackerjacks."

"What's up?" Hannah asks. "Joshua?"

"I know you're still waking up, but can you do a scan of the area for me?"

"Not a problem, love. Hold tight." You see her close her eyes before snapping them open. "Oh. There's a sizable sort of pulse."

"Yeah?"

"Correction. That's...a rather big pulse."

"Y-yeah?"

"It's coming for us."

"Yeah. Yeah, of course it is." You put out the fire with a basic water jutsu and dump the coffee. "Oh, sorry."

"I don't drink it black anyways. No worries." She finishes sealing everything away and picks up her sword. "Our next course of action, then."

---

[] Wait for whatever's coming for you. You're not exactly lightweights, but you might have to prep for a throwdown.

[] Get out of dodge. You want no parts of this garbage since it's probably Cloud goons.
-[] Haul butt together.
-[] Split with Hannah and set a rendezvous point.

[] Write in.

---

Systems and data will be updated soon.

 

[FortePlus]

from "E1 Interlude: Hearts 3", Hannah's side.

---

The door clicked shut behind her. She leaned against it a moment, in a small daze. The moment passed and she walked towards her bed, rolling onto it and grabbing the closest pillow. She held it tight against her body and looked up at the light on the ceiling.

She was filled to bursting.

The joy inside of Hannah radiated outwards, to her arms and hands, to her legs and feet. It pooled in her belly and sat there, making her warm and like she could almost float away.

He was so warm when she hugged him. His arms were big and strong and nice. Simple words, simple things. But so very comforting.

She never once thought about a kiss. It was enough and more. All of it.

Hannah let out a breath and squeezed her pillow a bit tighter.

There wasn't a person on Earth who could make her feel this way. Like...someone. Actually someone, and not just a tool or a weapon, or some distant ice cold beauty. There was no tension, no pain, nothing in the air that made her scared or uncomfortable. He was, as she knew, a complete boy scout. Honest and gentle and brave. She liked all of those things, loved all of those things. The smile, the soft chuckle, the light exasperation at her antics.

She loved him.

Hannah loosened her grip slightly on the pillow.

Love was complicated to explain, but easy to understand.

She wanted a lot of things. A husband, or even a wife if it came to it. The former would give her her own children, though maybe medical science could make it possible with the latter. Anything was possible. But this...this kind of love wasn't concerned with titles or children or how much one side got in a settlement. No, this was deeper. It was the feeling she got, the one that made her ask that incredibly bold question in the first place.

Would you be my friend?

But we were already friends, he said. The thought, replayed in her head, made her blush. To think that two people could adore each other before they met. But that was how the heavens flowed.

A brief moment made her wonder if he saw her as delusional or crazy for valuing friendship this much, for thinking it was this deep, for surrendering her heart to a level of intimacy that when compared to many others - lover, family, wife, husband - seemed so shallow and fragile.

But then she remembered his face. His smile. The way those beautiful brown eyes looked at her. The way he let himself pause in space, timed with her breaths every time she resumed a story.

Saying to her that she wasn't crazy. Friendship was that meaningful. That deep. That expressive.

A bursting desire from being alone for so long. That was what it was. To find a companion - any type of companion - was a relief beyond measure. He understood.

"I am just a bit giddy about this," she said to herself. She didn't say a word as they embraced, and neither did he.

"..."

Hannah got up and turned out the lights before heading back to bed. She put her pillow properly beneath her head and laid down.

"...cocoa."

The word was mumbled from her lips. Her excited, scrambled feelings settled to the floor of her mind. Violet eyes closed.

The hands that had been closed to the world a night before opened slightly.

---

She showered and dressed, preened a bit in the mirror, and set out for the dining hall. It was afternoon, after a long night of tea and talking.

"Hey."

"Hello." Hannah tilted her head, confused. Her new friend...old friend...forever friend. He was standing in the lobby instead of in the dining room.

Joshua blinked before understanding. "Just waiting for you."

I do have a long way to go...understanding all of this.

"I see. I'll try not to keep you so idle the next time."

"No worries."

But I couldn't have picked a finer man to make the journey with. This I know.

"Is nothing a bother to you?" Hannah asked.

Joshua rubbed the back of his head. "Well...I wish you would tone down the innuendo a little."

She feigned a sigh before brushing a hand gently across his cheek.

"I'm afraid I can only do so much, dearest."

"Yeah, go figure."

He smirked. She smiled back.

They eventually walked arm in arm, on their way to a late lunch.

 

[FortePlus]

>>>​ The Illuminators​

---

Episode 1.7: They Call Me Zeke

---

​

"I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that there's a dragnet set up," you say as you click in the straps on your backpack. "No way that these guys would charge at us without a plan. Gimme a time, please."

"Tracking...at the current rate, four minutes before they reach this position."

"Trouble." You turn to Hannah. "We're running. Committing to it."

"Yes."

"Ever hit top speed and had to sustain it for a really long time?" you ask.

"No. Nothing like that."

"Alright. You have to pick an option and commit to it, no turning around laying covering fire. They're gonna pick up their pace, and we're gonna hit the edge of that dragnet, so we'll have to go through the gaps at speed. We can't afford to waste time accelerating on the way to that endpoint."

"Understood."

"Trust me?" you ask.

"With my life."

A familiar glimmer is in her eyes. You grunt and tilt your hat down slightly. "Always laying it on thick, huh. Don't worry, you can count on me."

"I know I can."

You nod and look at your watch a moment. "Let's get started. We're hitting that chakra boost. Match my speed. Sitrep every five minutes."

"Standing by. Two minutes to contact."

"Launch."

It was two years ago, within your first month of being kicked out of town. You had wandered into Earth Country and got spotted by shinobi who didn't seem like they were willing to listen to reason. You took off, pushing yourself to the limit by boosting your movements with chakra. It went on for longer than it should have.

By the time you stopped and the adrenaline spike wore off, you were completely down. You had to hide away in a cave for the next day and a half, living off whatever rations you had on hand before taking an agonizing journey to the closest town. It was something you didn't want to ever experience again. As part of your personal training, you made a point of stretching out your speed and endurance so that you wouldn't have to tear yourself apart after an egress.

Worked out pretty well, considering.

Hannah keeps up with you as you tear through the trees. You figured that distance running at top speed wasn't something she ever felt the need to do - her kit was so diverse and her skills sharp enough from what you knew that she likely wouldn't find herself in such a situation. Charming or fighting her way out were the two best options. Fleeing wasn't a staple for someone called the Golden Shinigami.

It was a testament to how much she had taken to you in such a short while.

"Report...fifteen at the least up ahead. One kilometer. Pursuers dropping back. 3 kilometers and increasing."

"How far was our destination?"

"Two days' journey, nearly. Seventy-five kilometers."

"We can't keep this speed up forever, and that dragnet is gonna shift," you reply. "Still trust me?"

"Always," Hannah says with a smile.

"Good. Full power lightning shroud. It'll get the attention of the sensors, but we can't do anything about that. We're ripping through the widest hole."

"Understood. Scanning the area now."

You both make a big jump to cross a stream, sailing through the air to reach another branch. Your ears pick up sounds that aren't your own.

"Fifty six!"

"Full power, now."

56 degrees was to your right, just a bit east of a north-northeast directional heading - that would be 45 degrees. 90 degrees was directly east. And so on.

You drop sharply to the forest floor and plant your foot, taking off like a sprinter. The energy flows through you as you push off, rippling down and to the earth. It's a violent bit of acceleration, nothing like normal. You're taken forward to the next long stride, focusing hard for the right path to take before any sort of tunnel vision could set in. Normally, you wouldn't worry about something so silly, and neither would Hannah.

This however, isn't normal combat speed.

You tear ahead along the ground, listening for the familiar hum of energy coming from Hannah. She's following closely and giving reports as instructed.

"Gaining...one kilometer in the past ten seconds. Dragnet back two kilometers, three now..."

"How you doing?" you yell.

"Steady," she calls back. "I'm not sure ten kilometers will be enough."

"We'll open the gap to thirty and then suppress our chakra. Stay on the ball."

"Right."

As you progress, the forest opens up into grassland. It's colder than before, but you both can manage.

"F-fourty ahead. More than halfway to the destination..."

"We're good. Break ninety."

"Yes." You make a hard turn right and weave into a patch of trees. The dirt is soft, which is perfect; using a bit of wind and brute force, you hollow out a section of earth and lie prone it in beside Hannah. She's trembling, but keeps it together and slows her breathing along with your own. You drop your chakra as low as it can go, trying to match some of the nearby animals on Hannah's recommendation. Luckily there are deer roaming around and you tune yourself to them with her help.

It takes a while for some of the dragnet to reach your previous position. They search the open fields and come close to scanning your area before backing off, then eventually returning the way they came. You can only assume the sensors weren't built to go that fast and didn't make it up here, so they had to rely on regular infantry.

"Should be all clear," Hannah mumbles. "They're well out of range for any sensor I can think of...none of them made it up this way..." Alright, as you thought, then.

"If we get caught from here, nothing we can do about it. What about the big chakra from earlier?" you ask as you rise to your feet, shaking off dirt.

"Never caught up. I don't know what...that was about." You wonder for a moment if was him. Unlikely, but possible. She stands up and starts to walk out of the pit before wobbling on her feet. "M-my legs..."

"Yeah, I know. Easy, girlfriend." You have her lean on your shoulder as you walk. "Moving fast is one thing, moving that fast for so long is another. It's why shinobi don't do it on missions. I'll get you laid up...how far is the next town?"

"From what I recall, maybe five or so kilometers from our final destination. Mm."

"We'll hang out in the wild for now, then. You good to do another area scan?"

"Mm-hm. One second..." She closes her eyes and leans into you for support. "I recognize some fish. There's a stream up ahead, I don't know what the rest of the area is like for sure. Seems to be a clearing..."

"It'll do for now. Push comes to shove, I'll take care of trouble."

"Don't overwork yourself."

"I won't. Let's get to camping."

"Mm." She puts her arms around your neck, and you carry her to your desired campground. Setting her down, you unseal a few utility items and start a small fire. Hannah takes off her socks and heels as you get a few pieces of damp cloth and put them on her legs. She sighs with relief and lies back against a log.

"Hopefully we don't have to do that again. But...I'd rather be prepared. Perhaps I should partake in whatever training you did, since you look fine enough."

"Unfortunately, this became a bit of a routine. Cloud ain't exactly a warm and fuzzy bunch as it is."

"Point made..."

You get some rice from earlier and make her eat. Starches and things of that nature helped after punishing runs, but just eating in general was important. She has plenty of water before you treat her with tea to finish off her meal.

"Thank you, darling. I appreciate it..."

"No worries," you say with a smile. It's mid-morning, and you don't think you should move any time soon, not just for Hannah's sake, but because high noon brought more visiblity than you needed. Speaking of that...hm. "Hannah?"

"Yes, dear."

"You said you were a vampire earlier. I read about them, but I don't know much for real."

She sips her tea. "Mm. Whatever you've heard from the myths are mostly falsehoods. Especially for those who inhabit this continent, where chakra was birthed."

"So sunlight, water..."

She scoffs. "Foolishness, all of it. And you can use whatever kind of stake you like to kill us as we sleep, if you can manage to sneak in quietly, suppress our heightened senses, and then aim true. One myth I don't hear much about is our self-repair ability..."

"Is it like a healing technique?"

"Yes and no. It responds to physical trauma but is limited in speed and scope. Internal repair is much slower, and while the chakra system can be restored if damaged, it takes many months to do on its own, easily years if the damage is severe. The advantage of the ability is that it doesn't require chakra per se to function, only pure life energy and subconscious force of will. If you can fuel the body enough, everything else comes together on its own."

"Oh, so eating just now did a lot more than help with your muscle repair."

"Yes, exactly. You're always so clever," she says with a smile. "I should be back on my feet faster than you were."

"Good to hear. I'll take the longer part of watch today, though."

"I understand. I will focus on recovering, then." Hannah takes another sip of tea and looks to the sky. "Thanks to that scramble, we're not too from the ruins. Things should be done with soon...hm. Then I'll ask now."

"Question? Shoot," you say as you chew on a rice ball.

"I mentioned I was going to see my associate about the scroll. I know we've just become friends, but I was wondering if you...would like to journey with me when this is over. We could become partners, maybe. O-of course...if you want to go your own way, I'll leave you a way to keep in contact if you ever need help. It's all up to you, Joshua. No matter what happens, I want you to know that I'm eternally grateful for you and all you've done. This has been the best time of my life by far."

You nod. "I'm glad I met you too, Hannah. Really glad. I'll...I'll give it some thought and then get back to you. That okay?"

"Oh, perfectly. Do take your time...you are a man with great things before you, after all. This decision has to be yours."

---

You help Hannah stretch out her limbs and check her chakra flow before anything else. She's doing fine, and after another few hours takes a nap to really start recharging. In the meantime, you read a book on ninjutsu and try to figure out what you were doing wrong.

Everything else came so easily, so you were confused as to why you were so bad at it.

---

"I can't claim to understand your pain, and it would be disingenuous to suggest I did."

"Hrm."

"Have courage. You are a talented man."

You give Hannah a nod to acknowledge her encouragement regarding your ninjutsu troubles. It's about twenty-four hours after your great escape. Hannah is slightly sore but able to move quickly and fight without hassle, so you move on towards the next location.

The options are to head straight for the ruins, or stop in the small settlement nearby first. Its possible that they had some relevant information, and maybe supplies you could make use of.

Hannah wants to stop first, insisting there's no rush. But as always, she leaves the final decision to you.

---

[] Stop at the settlement.
[] Head straight to the ruins.

---

[] After the mission, you'd strike out on your own. Where to?
-[] Write-in.
[] Go out into the world with your new BFF. First stop: Hot Water Country and Hannah's acquaintance.


---

a/n: the journey is starting to take shape. Thanks for the votes so far, appreciated.

Any questions or commentary are welcome. And for those who haven't caught up, systems have been updated, and Hannah's entry in the databook is now open.​

 

[FortePlus]

>>>​ The Illuminators​

---

Episode 1 Postlude: Levity

---

​

You decide to stop at the settlement. It's relatively small; makeshift structures dot the area and smoke comes from fires inside and outside of homes. Not too many people are milling about, which is sort of expected. You and Hannah take your time walking in and checking for any kind of shops or merchants willing to sell anything.

"Hrm." You catch a rock as it's thrown at your head.

"Stinking ninja dogs! Get outta here!"

A thin child with a brown mop for hair winds up to throw another rock at you before a slightly older girl stops him. She wears a long, orange dress with big pockets on either side.

"Oi! Cut it out! Stupid boy!" She smacks him on the behind a few times and he blows a raspberry at her before running off. Her demeanor changes and she hits the floor as quickly as she can before the both of you, entering dogeza.

"Do what you want with me. If only you could find it in your hearts to spare this aspiring village and its people. I beg you...please."

"We freelance and are on a personal mission," Hannah says elegantly. "Raise your head and stand on your feet, my darling."

"You are...not shinobi?"

"Nor are we hired by the Cloud."

The girl stands up, wiping dirt from her face. She's thin like the boy before her, but tall for what you presume to be a young age. Her hair is a light brown, straight, and only minimally cared for. "Please forgive us regardless. I am Shiina. That was my younger brother, Sora. We haven't had the greatest experience with shinobi lately."

"Or ever," Hannah says.

"Yes, ma'am. Or ever." Shiina looks at you expectantly for a moment before her expression changes again. "What can we help with? If it's a place to stay, I can talk with my mother."

"We just wanted to stop a while and see if you had anything on sale," you reply. "Thinking about getting some extra supplies and food in our bellies before moving on."

"Are you headed to the ruins? Sora and I go up to play sometimes with the other kids, with Momma's permission if we get up early enough."

You think. "Did you guys find anything up there? Anything strange?"

"Yes..." She sighs. "It's not the only reason we have to be paranoid, but it might be one of them. Sora went ducking into a weird place that was like a cave with lots of doors. We found him and told him to get out. He said there was a 'ratty old scroll' that he couldn't open so he left it on the ground."

"So it is there. That's wonderful confirmation," Hannah says. "That ratty looking scroll, was it still there the last time you looked?"

"It should be. We were up there about two days ago, and from what Momma and the others have said, nobody's gone up there other than us. She's scared that the ninja will come for us, though."

"They very well might. Don't tell them that you were up there, and especially not that you found anything of any possible value. Besides, that's my scroll anyways."

Shiina tilts her head, brown eyes blinking. "Did you drop it there?"

"The heavens saw fit to leave it in that very spot, in preparation for my arrival."

You give a shrug to Shiina as she looks to you for understanding.

"I...I see. Um, Momma can make you some food if you'd like, and I think she has some things she wanted to trade. It takes a long while to get what we need to trade with other people, especially if we need to go to Cloud. I don't like it there. It's...not nice."

"My darling, we will be nothing but fair to you and your Momma. Can you trust us, just a tiny bit?" Hannah asks sweetly. Shiina smiles and nods, beckoning you both towards where she lives. Sora is outside of the large tent, a pot over his head.

"Stinking trash ninja scum! I'm gonna-" His older sister quickly puts him over her knee and spanks, loudly and rapidly. Sora cries out for mercy until an older woman appears from inside.

"Shiina, let him be."

"I'm sorry, Momma."

"Sora, stop being a nuisance."

"S-sorry...M-momma..."

She sighs and pulls him to her side, stroking his hair. At the same time, she takes notice of both of you. Her hair is cut short, a bandana around her neck. She wears a ragged sweater and very worn pants, sandals on her feet.

"You look the part of shinobi dogs, but since you haven't beaten Sora to pulp, I can hear you out."

"Your lovely daughter informed us that you have some items available, and food to sell us."

"I don't sell-" She cuts herself off upon realization. "I'm sorry, I forgot my manners. Sachi. I'm one of the so called elders of this little outfit we have going."

"You don't look a day over 25, ma'am."

"Oh, shut up." Her words are contradicted by the satisfied smile on her face. "I'll make you your food, and you can have a look at what we've got for sale. Come on inside."

Hannah winks and nudges you. "25, huh. You honeypot, you."

"What. It's a compliment."

"A compliment that'll get your bones jumped. Single mother...scratching out a life...two kids she has to look after...and a whole lot of stress. Right there. Recipe for getting your bones jumped."

"She's probably twice my age..."

"When a fruit's ripe, it's ripe."

You shudder.

"Relax. I'll protect you when the time comes."

"Reassuring."

Hannah scoffs at you playfully as you both take your seats on the floor cushions, situated on top of wooden blocks. They're well taken care of, considering. Sachi seems to be working hard all around, having carved out proper common and sleeping areas, as much as they could be called that while inside a tent. Buckets and a small self-made water basin hold their water supply. There are two fire pits, one big one presumably for gatherings, and another that looks to be for personal cooking. Shiina is doing vegetable prep on a makeshift countertop, handling her knife skillfully. Sora starts the fire and builds it up underneath the large pot.

"Making stew from scratch," Sachi says as she drags in a large sack. "Some people are gonna file in. I told them about the two travelers who were interested in making deals."

"Wanna see what they've got?" you ask Hannah. She nods and you nod to Sachi.

"Come on in, first up."

Sachi is resourceful; in the time you've spent considering the offers made to you both, she's already hard at work on the stew with her children. Eventually she takes over completely, and the kids get the offer to play but instead stick around and observe you.

Hannah is having a time of it. She's playful and teasing as she haggles the local people up and down the block. Eventually, they start to get the message and play along, so you go into your good cop routine and Hannah plays the miserly bad cop. You buy things with your cash on hand - you don't reveal the amount because you know it would turn this place into a mad house - and flip some of the things you've got at lower prices. Sachi eventually deems her stew ready and shoos everyone out, intending to eat lunch. It's afternoon by now, and you're definitely hungry.

"That was delightful."

"Gotta admit, that was fun," you say in agreement with your friend. "Didn't think you could have such a good time with economics."

"World's strange like that," Sachi says. She puts the hot bowls on slabs of wood and hands them to you one by one. "Shouldn't be too hot by now. Oh, forgot the bread."

"I'll get it, Momma."

"Thank you, honeybear." Sachi watches as Shiina slices the bread with a smile. "She's such a darling. Truth be told, I didn't know how this was going to affect her, but she's pulled through. Sora's too young to care."

"How long have you been out here?" you ask.

"Almost a year. Wasn't really a planned thing, this. We..." She breathes out. "The Cloud shinobi were indiscriminate on their mission, whatever it was. And when we asked them what they'd do about our homes, our lives, they just pulled out some shitty forms and told us to sign them for compensation. You can see how well that went. I mean, they're not absolutely heartless, don't get me wrong."

"Of course. If you have more money, they have more compassion. Such is society," Hannah says.

"Heh. You speak like a blue blood, but everything that comes out of your mouth tells me the opposite."

"I am of the nobility in some way...but my similarities with them end there."

"Clearly." Shiina provides everyone with thick slices of bread, and you're set to start. Everyone clasps their hands in prayer.

"May the love of heaven shine upon us. Our hearts clear, our spirits bright. Love eternal flow through us. Peace be."

"Peace be," you reply in unison. You take a spoonful of the stew and nod your head. Good stuff.

"Simply delicious. How much to part with the recipe?" Hannah asks.

"You people are weird." Sachi rolls her eyes upwards in thought. "1000 ryo."

"That's a horrid offer."

"2000."

"Please stop."

"Yeesh, sorry."

"No less than one million."

Sachi almost fumbled her bowl. "E-excuse me?!"

"I'll chip in one myself," you say. "Two million. Also...what do you know about the ruins north of here?"

She recovers and coughs into her hand. "Rumours about them being Inugami holdings, but that's never been proven. Some tunnels...I had to look over Sora in case he picked up something, since he said he touched an old scroll."

"We're on our way to pick that up," you say. "If there's anything else we scrape up, we should be able to make a few deals with you on the way back. Sound good?"

"Sounds great."

You nod in response. "Cool. We should be able to finish up everything later. It's not that far out from here, so a few hours at most. Back for dinner."

"I'll cook you crazies something else, then. Been saving some steaks for a good occasion, and this seems like one."

"Looking forward to it." You finish up your stew and Shiina obediently takes your dishes away to clean. The excess items from earlier are sealed away, and you unclip your 'money' scroll from your belt in order to access your available cash. Hannah does the same and you produce two million ryo, to the shock of the mother and her children.

"H-holy crap..."

"Should be enough to do some good things, eh?" you ask.

"You don't know the half...ah...I mean, go on and finish your dumb mission thing. Get, get."

"Momma, you shouldn't be rude!" Shiina says.

"It's okay. We really should be going. Take care until we return, won't you?" Hannah says.

You leave the tent and head outside. Sachi just didn't want to let you see her cry...she was grateful, you could tell.

"Oi."

You and Hannah turn back to face her.

"Don't be too late for dinner, you weirdo city slickers." She follows up with a huge, bright grin. "Remember, it's steak night."

"Yup! We won't be long!" you call back.

As you and Hannah finally get towards the edge of the settlement, you hear footsteps behind you.

"Sir. Ma'am."

Shiina stops beside you, catching her breath.

"Shiina. Everything okay?" you ask. She shakes her head. A hand goes into one of the pockets on her dress. She pulls out a small gemstone.

It's a dazzling sapphire blue. Not a sapphire, but-

"Lapis...Lazuli," Hannah mumbles.

Shiina puts the gem into your hand and closes it. "I...have a wish. I wish that we could have peace. I wish that people didn't need the shinobi anymore, that they would go away. I hate what the shinobi are. I hate it so much," she says with tears in her eyes. "But they're people too."

"Shiina, you..."

"My wish is that the age of shinobi end. I want us to live in peace. Hashirama wasn't right. He tried, but he wasn't right..."

Her hand slips away from yours.

"It's only a wish. I want you to carry it as long as you can. I want a lot of things. But that...most of all. If you can't fulfill it, I won't ever hate you. You gave me and Momma and Sora hope. So much hope. Momma doesn't know I talk like this. That I think these things."

"We can tell her together when we get back. After we finish giving you a new life," you say with a smile.

You only get a sad smile in response.

"Yes. I'll wait here...I know you'll come back. I'll see you again. I know it."

"My name's Joshua."

"Mine is Hannah."

She nods. "Thank you...I'll see you both soon." Shiina runs back the way she came. You look at the Lapis Lazuli for a moment before pocketing it.

"Such a valuable stone to give away," Hannah comments. "Perhaps...she sees it too."

"Sees what?"

"The strength that flows from you. I see you're not yet aware, but you will be soon enough."

"Hm." You shrug on your backpack and start down the road. "Let's get going. We promised to be back for dinner."

---

It wasn't what you expected.

The place was thoroughly leveled, with only the trace remains of walls poking up out of the grass. The well nearby was just about gone, reduced to a circle on the ground. Tunnels had collapsed and filled with dirt, which then had layers of grass over it. Decent obstacle course for the kids, but really just a bunch of rocks on a hill as far as anyone else was concerned.

"I really was expecting a bit more," Hannah says. "This place is much older than suggested."

"Yeah."

You locate the place where Sora found the scroll and try to drop in, since the actual entrances were presumably collapsed. But neither your build or Hannah's was small enough to squeeze into the opening.

Someone once said that explosives solved everything. They weren't lying.

A few moderate booms later, you've busted the hole wide open and reinforced things with your earth jutsu. Hannah grabs the scroll and hops out. There's a small red band on it, looking out of place against the worn outer layer of paper.

"It's working as intended. We'll have our expert work on cracking the seal properly. An extra fee, but money is no object." Hannah puts the scroll into her bag. "How much do you have, by the by?"

"Total?"

"Mm-hm."

"Around 63 million total, 25 liquid, 6 on hand after that last transaction."

"Mm. 100 liquid in various places. 5 on hand now."

"100 million liquid?"

"I've limited access to the rest for now."

You let out a low whistle. "Man. Doing well for yourself."

"It can come and go as it pleases. There are far more important things," she says while looking at you. "I'd sign a prenuptual for you, too~"

"I'd slap you in the back of the head if you did."

She gasps happily. "Well! You really are a wonderful, wonderful friend. So understanding and gallant."

"If you're trying to butter me up, it's only slightly working."

"Progress~"

You roll your eyes before they settle on the direction you came from. "Let's head back. I really do like steak."

"You said your grandmother made the most mouthwatering steak in the world."

"Yup. If we can sneak back into town, I'll get her to cook for you."

"And get her blessing?"

You laugh. "You'll be too full to think about anything, much less getting hitched."

---

Dinner's good. Not Grandma West good, because nothing ever was. But really good.

You trade some more and spend the night afterwards. Then wake up, eat breakfast, trade more stuff, and leave. Sora thinks you're still idiots, but you're slightly better in his eyes for not being shinobi dogs and making his mom happy.

Shiina gives you a knowing look before bowing politely, saying nothing else. You forget to tell Sachi about what she said, and she doesn't try to remind you.

With a mutual look, you both leave it alone. This seems to be between the two of you.

"..."

You'd have to think hard about that dream of hers. Hashirama was wrong, huh...

---

You cross down through Cloud in about two weeks and then pass through Frost to get to Hot Water. There's zero fanfare as you take the longer routes around to avoid any trouble. You don't know what exactly that Madara guy told them, but if it got them to pull out that big of a dragnet, it couldn't be anything pleasant.

Once you cross into Hot Water Country, you're free to let your guard down. Peace is an enduring theme here, to the point where even the country's hidden village is pacifist. A good place to hang out if you're weary from being all the run all the time.

You're currently fifty kilometers north of Hot Water Village. There's an incredible amount of hot springs in the country, and to no surprise villages and town take advantage of this for daily living and tourism.

This small town? No exception. Hot Water shinobi are keeping the peace and give you friendly nods, assuming you're from out of town and trying to keep you comfortable. You've got shopping, food, and resorts all in one convenient place.

"Might we stop for a while?" Hannah asks.

"That's the plan. Roughing a few weeks is neat for character, but nobody wants to do that forever. How far's your contact?"

"Just a bit outside of the hidden village itself. I will send them a message to inform them of our arrival."

"In that case, all the better we put it in park for a while and wait to hear back."

"My sentiments exactly. From the guide here...mm. Since we can more than afford it, we shall aim for quality and comfort. There's a good place with fabulous hot springs nearby."

"Let's check in," you say with a smile. She smiles back and follows you.

The inn looks modest from the outside, but inside is a different story. The halls are well and thoroughly decked with traditional flair. Women in elegant kimonos appear to assist and welcome you, and you head to the front desk to book your rooms.

"Welcome," the receptionist says.

"Two rooms for us, the best you have," Hannah says smoothly.

"Long journey from the Cloud?"

"Visiting on business. Long way from the Iron," you reply.

Her demeanor changes ever so slightly as she nods, acknowledging you as a kokoahito and not a Cloud nutbag. Not surprising the pacifists would dislike the war hawks. "I hope your stay is quite relaxing, sir. And as peaceful as possible."

"Thank you."

You feel like you're missing something. Hannah has been too quiet, and you don't like the sound of that.

"Ah, I did neglect to mention one thing, sir. Apologies."

"Not a problem," you say as your turn back. "What was it?"

"While we do have special areas for women to safely gather together, and private baths for our more affluent guests, this onsen is kon'yoku."

"Kon'y-" Your eyes widen and you turn to Hannah. "You slippery little minx...!"

Her lips curl into that oh-so-annoying smile.

"I hope you both enjoy yourselves thoroughly. Thank you for choosing us."

The receptionist is trying her hardest not to smile.

---

[] No, nope, nah. Mixed bathing, out. No sir.
-[] Hang out on dry land. Nothing good will come of entering the water naked.
-[] You're going to bathe, but you're also going to avoid the little devil at all costs.

[] You might as well enjoy your hot springs experience. Besides, what's a little mixed bathing between friends?

[] Write-in.​

 

[FortePlus]

You grumbled about it, but it wasn't that bad. As long as you kept to the rules - and both of you would, despite certain appearances - things would be fine. You head to separate rooms on the ground floor, spacious and well furnished. Comforts both traditional and modern greet you; the hostesses bring you tea and are meant to wait on you hand and foot. It's awkward in some ways after wandering for the past few years and just getting used to doing everything yourself. Fortunately, the ladies seem to understand and give you a decent amount of space. On the other hand, you have your own hibachi and a fridge stocked with neat stuff.

Evening comes and after chewing through some of your books, you decide it's time to take your long awaited soak in the spring. A heavy sigh escapes your lips at thoughts of Hannah, who's no doubt anticipating your arrival. Some places in the bigger villages and cities allowed you to wear swimsuits and the like, but here was way too traditional for that. Everything you need is provided for you as part of your luxury pricing, so you take advantage and bring out the provided toiletries with you. You put on a bathrobe to start and head to the baths at last.

"Sir, are you by chance heading to the baths?"

"Hm? Yeah, heading over now." A petite hostess smiles and nods as you answer. Her kimono is painted with warm reds and oranges.

"Your companion is the young blonde miss?"

"Yeah. Is there...?"

"No trouble at all, sir. I simply wanted to guide you to the correct bathing area for your current package. She has already gone ahead of you, so if you would follow me..."

"Great. Lead the way,"

She politely nods and you follow her to the common bathing areas, going down a side path. Instead of the neatly structured baths you saw earlier, you're greeted with natural shapes, trees, and partitions of bamboo. Steam wafts upwards from the irregularly shaped pools, some of them having openings that allow them to flow down into each other.

"The male changing area is this way," she says with a gesture.

"Thanks a lot. I appreciate it."

"The pleasure is mine, sir. Do enjoy your bath."

As she leaves, you blink twice before shaking your head. Maybe you mistook that look in her eyes for something else.

In any case...nothing to worry about. You see that nobody else is around in the changing area and take your time, putting your things in a provided wooden bucket and filling another with water. You make sure to thoroughly wash off and clean your hair before grabbing your 'modesty' towel. Apparently there are frequent incidents of foreigners walking around completely in the buff, even women. You didn't want to end up in their company or get yourself kicked out.

You walk along the patchwork design stone paths and to your chosen pool. Looks nice and hot, which is great. Making sure you didn't have any soap on you from earlier, you start to step into the water.

"You're an even finer specimen that I first thought."

"..." You grumble and look up, knowing who it is. Hannah has her long hair tied into a bun as per proper etiquette, and a towel wrapped around her body. "Couldn't find a longer towel?" It's particularly high on her thighs, and wouldn't provide much more coverage once it got wet.

"You could leave it at that, yes."

"Sure." You finish getting into the water and sigh with relief as the warmth hits you. "This is totally awesome."

"It is...mmm, that's so good." Hannah closes her eyes and slips into the water herself, letting out a breath. "Glad we stopped?"

"Yeah. Good call."

"You're welcome. So..."

"So?"

She moves through the water until she's at your side, leaning back against the rocks. "Thoughts?"

"About what?"

"Me, maybe. What do you think?"

"I think...you're physically attractive and in great shape," you say honestly. "That was your question, I'm guessing." The towel doesn't do much to hide her shape; her chest is as big as you thought it would be, and while she doesn't hit the vaunted 'hourglass' shape, she's more than close enough.

"Oh, my. You know me well by now. You're definitely delectable yourself...but I won't tease you too much today."

"Small mercies," you mutter.

"I like you a lot for that. Being honest." She sidles up to you. Her skin is warm and pleasantly soft. "And being honest in a controlled way. What was the word for it...temperance. A balance in all things. Being able to use your words properly."

"I see."

"I'm really only concerned with our friendship. I don't know if being lovers or spouses would change the way I act towards you."

"Why would you say that?" you ask.

"Far as I'm concerned, they're mostly titles. They're not completely without meaning or merit, of course...but when it comes to you and I, even if we didn't ever become physically intimate, I wouldn't mind. Maybe a hug here and there to sate me would do the trick." She looks over at you. "I'm also not opposed to sharing. Or helping you find your love."

"I believe you when you say that."

"Do you? How strange. Those are often talked about as warning flags. Things you shouldn't trip with a woman."

"You're too honest for that. You had your chances to hurt me already. You have one to hurt me right now."

"That almost sounds too pragmatic for you. But you're a child of the battlefield as well."

"I haven't been betrayed by anyone I actually care about," you say. "Not even when I had to leave home. Everyone I loved was fighting for me. I know they still are now, even after I asked them to take it easy."

"Mm..." She raises a hand upwards, watching as water cascades off it. "If I ever ask...for us to become more in the eyes of the world. It won't be without reason. Being by your side is more than enough, but the tides change and shift underneath the moon's pull."

"Some kind of drastic situation?"

"Yes." Her eyes look into yours. "Thank you for looking at me the way you do."

"I don't know if it's anything special I did."

"It is to me." She reaches for your hand underneath the water and squeezes it gently. "You'll understand how much deeper this goes, the more we spend time together."

"Yeah. I understand."

She nods and untangles her fingers from your own. It's silent between you for a while as you rest shoulder to shoulder. Snippets of conversation from other bathers fly through your ears. In the distance, you can hear children playing in the common pools before their parents start to scold them and their voices fade off. The water is still nice and warm, reinvigorating you. The evening sky is darkening, bleeding into night.

"I want to tell you a story."

"What kind?"

"A sad story. A story about myself. About who I was before we met, and who I might still be now."

"Before you start, I want to ask a question. I don't know how cruel it'll sound."

She shifts slightly, her skin rubbing against yours. A breath comes from between her lips. "Of course. Ask anything you desire."

"Am I too pure for you? Is that why you...say the things you sometimes say?"

Hannah turns her head and lifts a hand from the water. She presses it against your cheek and looks into your eyes. "Can you forgive me?"

"I don't want to forgive you. There's nothing to forgive. I know that you're not trying to swallow me up..."

"I treated you like a child."

"You didn't mean it."

"I did. You really are sweet. And I've been used before. Many times before. I know you would never hold that against me, or ever say that I was tainted or impure. I don't believe I am either."

You relax a bit and she smiles.

"You're so grown up. My sweet little boy scout. Thank you for worrying about me...do you see now? Just a little?"

"See what?"

"Why I gravitate to you. I said it before. You're not just some nice guy, or a naive child. You give me kindness, something that I've never known before. Only someone so kind would ask such a question." Her hand pats your cheek before sliding down from it. "Let me tell you my story properly. I want you to hear how I became a woman and a monster all at once. It's been six years since I blossomed into a killer. Four since my innocence was devoured. Three since I grabbed hold of my destiny and become a woman. This year, meeting you, was the first year of the rest of my life."

The words spill from her mouth as she leans back, placing her arms on the edge of the pool behind her. Her profile is visible to you as you soak in her words; the wet towel clinging to her chest while doing a poor job of completely covering it. Her head swivels on occasion to look at you, and you notice how sharp some of her teeth are in comparison to the others. She pauses and licks her lips every so often. Ripples move out in the pool from her occasional movements.

She tells you about how she woke up with no memories and was raised in orphanage after orphanage, then group homes, then single family homes. When she was nine she ran away. When she was ten she came upon a shinobi veteran living out his days in a wood cabin. She enthusiastically learned how to hunt and kill, how to fight, how to use chakra. She was an incredible student, a prodigy. The old man in the forest made her leave him, and they parted amicably. He got her a job as a mercenary. She took work. Good work and bad work. Her killing became better. She grew and changed. She learned about her heritage at eleven and delved into it with off market scrolls and texts. The place she knew - Kuiper House - was long gone, a pile of dirt and rubble.

She grew more and more. More work. More killing. More money. She grasped her heritage with a near-death experience and ran with it. Became a blue-blood in spirit but not in nature. Kept her dark identity secret and continued killing, as a normal prodigy killer would.

At twelve she took the first and last truly wrong mission she would ever take. It was when her innocence was devoured and she woke up in the wrong bed, in her wrong mind, with a wrong person coming out a wrong room to greet her. She went back to killing as she tried to understand what happened, and when she did, she was upset. It hurt. The hurt spilled over until it made her heavy and slow. It wasn't a thing you got over, or just pushed to the side as a small child. An extraordinary killer, but a small child.

At thirteen she felt herself growing and blossoming physically. It was supposed to be filthy, doing the sorts of things with your body that she heard other women did. But killing wasn't just a physical activity. She took up her books and made her observations, learned, experimented. Tried things that a young girl shouldn't try. She gained a taste for the art of seduction, as a tool, and only as a tool. She polished herself into a weapon that would hypnotize each and every target she locked on to. She was still a genius killer, a battlefield demon. It was at that point that relationships were difficult to build and maintain outside of professional capacities. Annoying. Ridiculous. She wasn't a sexpot or some kind of whore. She wanted to be liberated and clever and beautiful. But nobody appreciated her talent in being everything at once. Then there was no need for friends or lovers or husbands or sugar daddies until the promised time.

More bodies. And more bodies. And all the money and prestige that came with it.

Fourteen was when she was gifted the title that made the world tremble. The hypercapable killer with hair that shone like the sun.

Shinigami. Golden Shinigami. Blonde goddess of death.

"We've been in here long enough. Shall we?"

You nod and get out of the water, wrapping your towel securely before extending a hand downwards. Hannah grasps it and you place a hand on her back as she comes up. Her towel is soaked through and leaves little to whatever imagination anyone would have.

But then, you were listening before. This too was bonded to her spirit. She gives you a knowing, trusting look as she stands near you, water dripping from her skin. A slow turn takes her away from you and towards the women's changing area.

You turn and head to the men's area, drying lightly but not washing the helpful minerals from your skin. Your robe goes on and you take your things back to your room.

"My apologies for bothering you again, sir." The same petite hostess from earlier appears.

"Not at all."

"Did you enjoy your bath?"

"It was really nice. I'll have to go back in a few more times, but just today was worth the money. Thanks a lot."

"It's our pleasure, sir. And your companion? Did she enjoy herself?"

"She was really comfortable. It was good for her as well."

"We're pleased to hear that. If you have any questions or desires for your stay, feel free to call on us. My name is Ritsu."

"It's nice meeting you, Ritsu. I really appreciate the hospitality."

"The pleasure is truly mine. Please have a wonderful night." She leaves, but not before casting a look over her shoulder. Her light brown hair is tied into a bow at the back of her head, and there's a sudden intensity in her green eyes. Her walk down the hall is steady and measured.

"Hm." You wonder... "Maybe it's really nothing. But I don't think I have that kind of luck."

You scratch your head and finish the journey back to your room.

---

[] Have breakfast with Hannah.
-[] Talk business for a bit.
-[] Tell her about the weird vibe you're getting from Ritsu.
-[] Write in.

[] Go out for a walk around town in the morning. Might be something to do.
-[] Maybe look for a gift?
-[] Think about gathering info on current world events. Pacifists would definitely be keeping tabs.
-[] Write in.

[] Do something else (write in).

---

[] You should talk about you own past at the next bath session. It's only fair to her.
-[] Basics.
-[] Requisite amount.
-[] Everything. Why not? You're not a weirdo.

[] Let her go back to controlling the conversations. She seems comfortable as is.

 

[FortePlus]

For today's breakfast, you've decided to try both the foreign-style omelette and onsen tamago, which is an egg cooked slowly in hot spring waters. There was probably some section of this onsen that allowed for cooking over or with the water without any interference.

The egg has a unique texture, and a satisfying taste when combined with the provided sauce.

"Mm-mm-mm. That's delicious."

Hannah is enjoying herself. Despite her travels, she doesn't eat out like this much, and if she does, it's hard to enjoy it with all the tension around. Here and now, everything is enjoyable. Your excuse is that you just ate from street vendors so that you wouldn't cause trouble. Not that those were bad, either way. Street food is a bit of a hidden treasure.

The two of you are virtually alone in the dining room, seated at a wooden table and attended to by servers periodically. Your tea is refilled as you give the go ahead and the waitress shuffles away soon after. "Hashirama was wrong...what do you think?" you ask her, continuing some of the earlier conversation.

"I think that girl is insightful and very much correct."

"What makes you feel that way?"

"The wheels of darkness are greased with good will, and the road to hell paved with good intentions," she says as she bites into a piece of toast.

"Harsh, I think."

"But not an uncharitable reading."

"...maybe not."

"Mm." Her gaze falls on you again, light and inquisitive. "Hashirama Senju was an idealist of the highest order, following in line with the teachings of the Sage of Six Paths. He wanted everyone to connect, to come together. It was why he was so adamant on creating alliances in the first place and making peace. Certainly, we live in a far more peaceful era than the times before. Countries are bigger and more stable, people can travel back and forth, and we have proper rules of engagement. But that's not what our sweet Shiina was getting at."

"What's the real disconnect then?"

"Word is bond. And try as they might, word cannot truly be bond when it comes to shinobi loyalties. The shinobi represent their villages and are bound to them on threat of death. Love and patriotism don't override that fact. People are forever divided as we are now. The solution, clear as she and I can see it, is to tear the system down."

"Hm. That means erasing everything that came before," you say.

"Perhaps. But the end of shinobi might very well be the start of a truly peaceful era, one that won't be suddenly threatened by a perceived slight or violation. All of the borders, the alliances, the treaties, they essentially mean nothing if two countries demand blood and don't get it. Further, we have a double-sided ruling structure."

"You think the daimyo are more trouble than they're worth."

"I know it for a fact, my darling. The elite are getting themselves fat off of the current configuration, and while peace is appealing for increased trade, they're in no hurry to even try and help wean the continent off of this steady diet of war. The Kage of the five major nations are chiefly responsible for military matters. The daimyo can wave their hands and say that they like this or dislike that and it won't work. Political and military...things that don't operate in a vacuum."

You rub your chin as you take a sip of tea. "Hashirama didn't think this far out."

"He must have considered it to some degree. But as I said in the beginning, his world was built on idealism and good will. It was built believing that human beings would give their best in the best of times, and everyone would benefit from the prosperity that would result. Or maybe he believed it for Fire Country. Who knows. We saw what came of his experiment, and of his arms control. The sentiment was there, the execution was not." She chews on her omelette a bit before giving you her attention again. "There is a way to make something out of this mess."

"...a common threat."

"Mm-hm."

"Maybe that's what the old man was doing. It seems like it the more I think about it," you say thoughtfully. "Instead of just wiping people out, he was teaching them. Making them think. It was just that because he disappeared, everything got a bit worse...the counterargument to what you and Shiina think is that every step forward is a meaningful step. Hashirama opened the door to a better world even if it isn't perfect, you could say. People came together in the other countries as well, even if it was just in response to the Leaf being built."

"You think that we can come together one day and make things better. It's not such a terrible thought," Hannah says.

"Would you go for it?"

"I would follow you if it was what you wanted. Disagreement need not lead to discord."

"Hm."

"It's not a concession. As you said, every step forward has meaning. If you believe that we have to walk the thorny path to peace, then we will walk forward. But in my eyes, we're better served by burning it all down and starting over. Our acquaintance in Hot Springs has their own thoughts on this. It should make for a lively discussion," she says with a smile. "You haven't exactly decided on anything yet, have you?"

"Not yet," you admit.

"It's not a problem. Decisions should not be made with haste, especially if you're going to change the world."

"You really think I can, huh."

"I think nothing. Shaking the world to its core is something that you carry in your blood," she says confidently. "Even if you deny yourself that power, it will always come back to impact your life. And aside from all of that, the world is heading towards change no matter what we do. Between the secretive arms races and the appearance of that so called Madara..."

"I guess I'll have to make that move soon then."

"Possibly."

"..." You make sure to hold onto that thought. "I wanted to talk about something else that happened. One of our hostesses..."

"Acting strange?"

"Yeah. She's on the smaller side, brown hair, green eyes."

"Her name is Ritsu."

"Yeah. Did she talk to you too?"

"She did. There was something about that gaze of hers. I will take care of the first part...all you have to do is wait for me. Is that fine?"

"That's fine. It's better if it's two women talking, anyways."

"Optics are important, yes. Not to worry...if she wanted our attention, she has it now."

You nod and slice into your omelette.

---

The afternoon passes without incident. You don't see Hannah or Ritsu at all, but trust your friend to take care of it.

"Pardon our intrusion, sir."

You nod absentmindedly before recognizing the voice. Ritsu bows from the room entrance as Hannah slides the door closed behind them. They sit on their knees in front of you, side by side.

"Nice seeing you again," you quip.

"Likewise, sir. I was hoping that I gained your attention...my apologies if you were made uncomfortable by my display. My observations led me to believe that you were not ordinary travelers, and so I..."

"We understand," Hannah assures her. "Services can be provided, if you specify which and they're not too troublesome."

"Yes, I can accept that. Thank you for simply giving me the privilege of your presence. I must speak to you in good faith."

Her eyes start to glow in the same way you remembered last night. Intense...and tinged with some kind of pain.

"My resources are few. My home is a shambles. The most I can offer you in terms of tangible assets is ten thousand ryo at this moment. And with nothing else to my name, I can only offer you myself to meet what I believe would be the minimum for proper compensation. To continue making my plea in good faith...I will show you what you will be accepting."

You sit up once you realize where this is going. "You don't..."

"I must. Forgive my insistence, sir."

Hannah gives you a nod and you back down. Ritsu lets the top part of her kimono slide down, exposing her shoulders and the top of her chest.

"As you can see, the value has diminished-"

"Stop," you say firmly. "Don't...talk about yourself like that."

"I beg your forgiveness, sir. I didn't mean to upset you..." She holds her neutral expression even as you and Hannah look at her. Scars and bruises all across her. Burn marks on the tops of her shoulders.
"May I?" Hannah asks, gesturing to Ritsu's legs. She nods and Hannah pulls back some of the fabric to look. A slow nod confirms what you were thinking.

"How long?" you ask.

"It was two years ago that I ran away. My owner was...is...a ranking member of the yakuza. He tracked me up here a few months ago. I begged him to forgive me, and he did for a price. These blemishes form part of that cost. He has continued to take from me in every possible way. I see no way out other than the obvious. He will consume me until I die. But it was not that which moved me to act. He means to come here and bring the other sisters to ruin."

"What...did you intend to do?" Hannah asks.

"It would be a night where his lust would cloud his judgement. I would use my body as a flashpoint..."

"..."

"The yakuza are dangerous. I know that to be true. They fortunately don't roost in this town, and as I know, this one doesn't make known his trips to see me. He buys off the local shinobi for protection. Some of the...men. They also..."

You shake your head, frustrated.

"I can act on my own. I spent some of my savings for the chance to. But in the midst of all this, both of you came to this very place. I felt hope...I decided that I would give myself one final chance to live. I didn't want to give you details that would influence your decision, but it was insisted upon by the young miss, after asking me to be personally assigned to her for the rest of her stay. Steering you into this...it would make me feel more guilt than anything. Even so, I...I would like your help. I make this plea to you, and offer you my body to do as you please."

"Ritsu..."

"I really do...want to live." She adjusts her kimono and bows low, her head touching the floor mats.

"We will give you our response by the morrow," Hannah says. Ritsu raises her head and nods.

"Thank you for this audience."

"Of course. Return to my room and prepare some tea, then indulge in a cup for yourself. Wait for my return, if you would."

"Yes, of course. Please excuse me, sir."

She bows for you once more before leaving, sliding the door closed gently behind her. You let out a heavy breath and look at the ceiling.

"I'm going for a walk," Hannah says. "Let's have another bath together later, at the same time as before. Is that fine?"

"Yeah. See you then."

She leaves you alone as you flop back onto the mats.

---

"Please enjoy yourself, sir."

Ritsu bows and leaves you alone again as you reach the spring. You sigh and wash off before entering the warm pool. It feels just as good as the last time.

Hannah drops in beside you, towel wrapped around her and clinging to her body as the water soaks into it. She sighs with relief and leans against you.

"You okay?" you ask.

"Yes. Are you?"

"I'm alright."

"If you're not, you can tell me."

"I know. I'm alright."

Her breathing is light as you both sit in relative silence. Not as many people out today, so the surroundings are much quieter. You focus on the sounds of moving water and the fountains in the background.
"It might be a long time before we get to do something like this again."

You nod in response. "That might be it. Regular baths aren't too bad, though."

"They're not. And we don't have to follow modesty rules either." You can feel her laughing softly even if you can't hear it. "I rather enjoy skinship with you."

"I'm not exactly opposed, either...though Mom would say we might as well get married and get over it."

"Traditionalists?"

"Lean towards it, yeah. Pretty...liberal when it comes to physical relationships, my parents. Grams doesn't press the issue too much." You pause. "You've told me a lot about yourself."

"Don't feel like you're obligated."

"I'm not," you counter. "I just want to talk about it some, because you want to hear it. I'm not wrong, am I?"

"Mm, I suppose not." She leans away from you and turns so that her arms are on the outside of the pool, then rests her head on top of them. Her violet eyes are focused on you and glowing brightly. "Tell me a story then, Joshua. Tell me...about yourself."

You start with your sort of humble beginnings. How you used to eat everything in front of you and gained weight. Reading books to the point of possible obsession. Your parents always looked out for you and believed in you. Jonah, your dad, is a former samurai and current politician. Your mom, Condi, is the Iron Country's top diplomat. Your older sister Samantha sails the ocean on business, formerly a naval officer. Your grandmother, Rebecca, runs the local health network and works at different hospitals. Reconfiguring combat medicine for daily use is something she's really good at. Your aunts and uncles are special too, in their own ways. You have a cousin named Mariah who had a crush on you and kept trying to hide it. She probably would have confessed at your trial if she was able to attend.

Your bookworm streak was enabled by your friend Noriko, who you learned languages with just to decipher foreign texts. You decided one day when you were nine that you would get into some sort of shape. On the way you learned about your grandfather. You became inspired by him. You met a blonde girl named Cadence and played together for a few years. She had family problems because she was a Kennedy child, and disappeared for long stretches of time.

The years went on. You got more athletic and continued to read, learning about chakra and jutsu on your own when you were twelve. The pace of your transformation accelerated. You wouldn't accept the title of genius from anyone, including your parents. Cadence would spar with you on her infrequent visits and talk about how awesome you were. You learned more about your grandfather and went around asking about certain books. The adults told you no.

You didn't promise you would stop searching.

The time of relative peace ended when you found a certain book in the library. Noriko testified it was always there, but all the evidence was ignored. You don't even remember what the made up charges were, but it all amounted to some conspiracy to commit treason and to start a world war. A lot of old men with pale skin came down on you hard. Your parents argued on your behalf, even at threat to their careers. Your friends fought for you. In the end it wasn't enough. You were given a choice: leave or face worse punishment from the samurai and the diplomats of the shinobi powers.
You needed to continue living. You left.

Keeping contact with you would amount to treason so you refused it for the sake of your loved ones. The clarion call was made to nearby nations about your exile, and so you were occassionally hunted for the chance to find out where Jacob West was hiding. You kept moving and used your knowledge to get into the mercenary network. You got used to killing, but not used to liking it. Sometimes it was satisfying though, delivering that kind of justice. You weren't a saint. You didn't want to be one, honestly.

You helped a lot of people. You kept up your reading. Stayed in shape. Made money. Rinse, repeat.

Hannah never once took her eyes off you, remaining quiet and attentive.

"There's a lot more about you that I want to know. But that will always be the case. Being closer to you is probably an endless sort of desire," she says.

"That so..."

"Yes. It must be so..." She raises her head to look straight at you. "Thank you. I appreciate you telling me so much."

"It's no problem."

"I know. You always feel it's no hassle. I still appreciate you doing this for me. It's far more than you needed to say...not everything, I can tell. But...it's enough."

She settles back into the water properly, going back to leaning against you. You wonder how her skin is so soft, considering the time she's spent fighting.

"What should we do about Ritsu?" you ask.

"I'm not opposed to taking her up on her offer. If she wants to be a toy, then I can oblige her. And a companion would be nice, even if she isn't like us." She lets out a breath. "I know you're opposed to taking anything from her. Especially that body of hers...there's a jagged sort of beauty in those scars, mixed with her determination."

"Last thing I want to do is take her money. And whatever dignity she has left."

"I know, darling." She pats your hand gently underneath the water. "Tell me what you want to do, and we'll carry it out."
---

[] Help Ritsu. She'll probably snap and do something drastic otherwise.
-[] Take everything she's offering. You can sort it out later.
-[] Take the money, even if it's not much on her end.
-[] You're doing it because it's right. No money or anything else from her.

[] You'll have to pass. It seems too complicated. Though it doesn't exclude Hannah from moving.

[] Write in.

---

next

Episode 2: Word And Bond

 

[FortePlus]

Joshua Ezekiel West
5' 9" (1.75 m), 180 lbs (81.8 kg)
16 years
Born: Kennedy Port, Iron Country
Residence: n/a
Rank: n/a
Shinobi Registration: n/a

Aliases: Joshua, Josh, Zeke

Appearance: Tall, dark-skinned young man (some describe it as chocolate-toned). Friendly face. Athletic build from years of work and training, typical for a trained fighter. Seems a bit intimidating to civilians sometimes because of his size. Hair is curly, cut low and faded at the sides. Brown eyes.

Attire: (default) - regular combat-style vest. Dark grey cap. Black shirt and cargo shorts. Sneakers, reinforced for overall durability.

Misc.: tba.

Base Stats:
Ninjutsu: 1
Taijutsu: 10
Genjutsu: 1
Intelligence: 10
Strength: 10
Speed: 10
Stamina: 10
Seal Speed: 3
Total: 55/80

Taijutsu typing
Elemental All-Rounder
Temperance / Kindness / Humility

Element Level:
Wind 0.5/5
Water 0.5/5
Fire 0.5/5
Earth 0.5/5
Lightning 0.5/5

---

Special Abilities

Contextual Gravity
- otherwise called natural charisma. Draws people and events towards you, in this case for better more than for worse because of the chosen personality traits. The strength of influence increases along with overall ability. A potentially world changing power depending on the path that's taken.

Speed Reading
- awarded for reaching 10 int. Navigating situations will be made a lot easier, in combat and especially in social situations where reading the atmosphere is important. You'll constantly have your mind working towards the best and most efficient solutions, and are less likely to put your foot in your mouth as a result.

Captain Clutch
- an ability that can change the tide of battle. Once every battle in a desperate position, you can use a free opportunity to save an ally in trouble in addition to your other plans.

Jutsu

Body Flicker
- by using the Body Flicker Technique, the user can move short to long distances at an almost untraceable speed. To an observer, it appears as if the user has teleported. It is accomplished by using chakra to temporarily vitalise the body and move at extreme speeds. The amount of chakra required depends on the overall distance and elevation between the user and the intended destination.

Body Replacement
- The instant before they are to be struck by an attack, the user replaces themselves with a block of wood or something similar. Because the attack does hit something, opponents may briefly believe that they've successfully struck the user. But this is merely an optical illusion and opponents will quickly notice what's happened. If users are fast enough, they can use this brief lapse in the opponent's attentions to stage a counterattack.

Transformation/Henge
- this technique is most often used to disguise the user as another person, but they can also turn into an animal, plant, or inanimate object.

Clone
- for this technique, users create one or more afterimages of themselves to move alongside them. Unlike most other clone techniques, these afterimages have no substance and thus are incapable of damaging opponents. Opponents can identify clones from their original through careful observation, as clones won't cast shadows, crush grass, kick up dust, etc.

Fire Release: Great Fireball
- the user kneads chakra in their body and turns it into fire, which they then expel from their mouth.

Water Release: Water Prison
- this technique traps a target in a sphere of water; the water can either be drawn from the surroundings or expelled from the user's mouth. The water that the sphere is made from is noticeably heavy, which restricts the target's movements and can make breathing difficult. The user must stay in contact with the sphere.

Earth Release: Earth Shore Return
- the user slams their hands to the ground or stomps downward alternatively. The strength of the slam is great enough to rip open a section in front of them and leverage it up into a wall.

Lightning Release: Lightning Beast Running
- the user forms lightning in their hand and launches it at the opponent in the form a hound to attack them.The user's hand remains connected to the hound by a cord of lightning, allowing them to freely manipulate the speed and range of the technique.

Wind Release: Gale Palm
- with the user clasping their hands together, wind is compressed and transformed into a powerful gale, which has enough force to knock over a person. When used in conjunction with shuriken or kunai, the tools become more lethal as their speed is increased.

The Eight Inner Gates
- the Eight Gates are eight specific tenketsu on a person's Chakra Pathway System which limit the overall flow of chakra within a person's body. The basis for the idea of the chakra gates comes from the body's limits on the functions within it. This makes the body much weaker, but it keeps the body from expiring too soon. By undergoing intense training, one can learn how to open these gates allowing the user to surpass their own physical limits at the cost of extreme damage to their own body.
>> First Gate of Opening
- located in the brain. Removes the restraints of the brain on the muscles so 100% of the user's strength can be used whereas normally, a person can only use 20% of their muscles' strength to keep them from disintegrating.
>> Second Gate of Healing
- located in the brain. Forcibly increases the user's physical strength and temporarily re-energises the body.

Accelerator Knuckle
- a punch chambered before being delivered with dramatic acceleration. From a short range, the user drives forward in a straight line to land a straight punch with force behind it. The unique style of this technique means it can be launched in all directions from the ground, even as a reverse strike. The power is evened out between both hands so that it's consistently delivered.

Dead Driver
- a devastating attack. A large windup makes this attack relatively slow compared to others. The user channels a massive amount of energy into their fist and delivers an unstoppable downward punch that will shatter any object, easily ruining even steel. The attack is most effective when used as a finisher or from above as it is charged up.

Vicious Impact I
- an attack that uses battle momentum and forward progress. After landing a vicious blow, the attack power will continually rise if the user repeats the technique and lands it again. Can be delivered from or in the air.

Screaming Eagle
- using a combination of speed and chakra, the user creates a blade of wind with their hand or another supplementary tool.

---

Joshua comes from a family with a polished military and political background. His mother Condi is a diplomat for the Iron Country, his father Jonah is a member of the ruling political party and former samurai. His older sister Samantha ascended to an officer position with the navy before retiring quickly and starting a personal delivery service by boat. His paternal grandmother Rebecca is a highly renowned doctor, with rumours of her being as skilled as Tsunade abounding. Sharp eyes and a keen instinct are part of his lifestyle as a result, and he likes to observe as well as keep to himself on important matters unless prompted or he's with someone he trusts.

---

Hannah Kuiper, beloved friend - After meeting Hannah on a seemingly light mission, she shared her secrets with him and asked if they could be friends, to which he enthusiastically said yes. He values her insight, accepts her quirkiness, and enjoys seeing how much happier she is now that they're officially friends.

Ritsu Tanaka, devoted partner - Ritsu joined the party after being saved from the clutches of a yakuza boss, changing her life. She agreed to become a warrior and has worked diligently to get up to speed. Joshua notes she's strong on her own merits, and though she's older in terms of age, he sees her as a 'daughter' to be proud of.

Yukari Uzumaki - a trusted acquaintance and fixer. Expert in sealing arts and has her finger on the pulse of the shinobi world at all times.

Senna Egami - Yukari's companion and an elite infiltrator. Can access the spirit world with jutsu via her bloodline limit, the Yuureigan, as well as perform related spectral activities.

 

[FortePlus]

Hannah Danita Kuiper
5' 8" (1.73 m), 130 lbs (59 kg)
16 years
Born: Unknown
Residence: n/a
Rank: n/a
Shinobi Registration: n/a
Operator Call: 77SR-Raven/Reaper Alpha

Aliases: Hannah, Dani, Gold Reaper, Shinigami, Blondie

Appearance: Taller than average, long legs. Fair skin with an elegant and charming face. Healthy and honed figure, complete with a 'well-nourished' bosom and 'notable' hips. Pulls people in with her natural charm and allure. Long hair, often changing in style but in a princess cut by default. Violet eyes.

Attire: (default) - dark sweater. Skirt that stops just above the knees, paired with thigh high socks that have an opening cut just before the toes. Thick black heels, reinforced for overall durability. Light blue nail polish.

Misc.: Loves red velvet cake. Has her tea 2 parts cream/1 part honey. Shameless flirt with her friends.

Base Stats:
Ninjutsu: 7
Taijutsu: 9
Genjutsu: 4
Intelligence: 9
Strength: 8
Speed: 8
Stamina: 7
Seal Speed: 8
Total: 60/80

Balanced typing; taijutsu and ninjutsu
Lightning expertise
Nobility / Gracefulness / Soulfulness

Element Level:
Wind 2/5
Water 2/5
Fire 3/5
Earth 1/5
Lightning 4/5

---

Special Abilities

Beauty in Blue Blood
- Hannah's natural charisma at work. Affects both men and women, though it's the former that come running more often. She can captivate strangers with a single look if she so chooses, and can add a pull to every movement she makes, ensuring nobody is able to look away.

Smooth Operator
- extending from her charms, Hannah has a deft tongue and razor-sharp wit to match. She has her eye on every situation and keeps herself up to date on whatever might possibly be important. In battle, her movements and actions are fluid, and thus easy to work around or join with, making her an extremely valuable asset in the field.

Ride the Lightning I
- Hannah provides a boost to lightning type jutsu starting at element level 2. Combat speed gets a passive boost, and Full Synchro can be reached in a shorter time as well as carry a longer duration. Training in Lightning Release with Hannah present will evolve this ability.

Jutsu

Attentive Heart
- Hannah's sensing technique. As a skilled sensor, she can detect her targets from a great distance, differentiate persons by their chakra signature alone, and tell when other sensors are using their abilities. Her ability, unlike other sensors, is a blending of vampire perception and chakra sensing, meaning she can configure how she senses people and objects at will.

Body Flicker
- by using the Body Flicker Technique, the user can move short to long distances at an almost untraceable speed. To an observer, it appears as if the user has teleported. It is accomplished by using chakra to temporarily vitalise the body and move at extreme speeds. The amount of chakra required depends on the overall distance and elevation between the user and the intended destination.

Body Replacement
- The instant before they are to be struck by an attack, the user replaces themselves with a block of wood or something similar. Because the attack does hit something, opponents may briefly believe that they've successfully struck the user. But this is merely an optical illusion and opponents will quickly notice what's happened. If users are fast enough, they can use this brief lapse in the opponent's attentions to stage a counterattack.

Transformation/Henge
- this technique is most often used to disguise the user as another person, but they can also turn into an animal, plant, or inanimate object.

Clone
- for this technique, users create one or more afterimages of themselves to move alongside them. Unlike most other clone techniques, these afterimages have no substance and thus are incapable of damaging opponents. Opponents can identify clones from their original through careful observation, as clones won't cast shadows, crush grass, kick up dust, etc.

Fire Release: Great Fireball
- A technique where chakra kneaded inside the body is converted into fire, and expelled from the mouth in a massive orb of roaring flame. The scope of the attack is altered by controlling the volume of chakra that is mustered.

Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire
- The user compresses a large amount of chakra built up inside their body and changes it into a dragon-shaped fireball. The user then skillfully manipulates that great fire, and attacks their opponent.

Fire Release: Phoenix Flower
- This technique creates a volley of small fireballs, which are spat out of the user's mouth, flying wildly in every direction and assaulting the enemy. In addition, the flames are controlled one by one with chakra, so avoiding them all is extremely difficult. Shuriken can be hidden within the flames, creating an unexpected secondary surprise attack.

Fire Release: Burning Ash
- The user spews a stream of chakra-altered gun-powdered ash from their mouth, which surrounds the region. As the gunpowder is composed entirely of ash, it stays in the air around the victim like a cloud. After surrounding the enemy with the ash, the user can ignite it with a flint placed on their teeth beforehand to create a spark, resulting in a violent explosion, burning the enemy.

Water Release: Water Prison
- this technique traps a target in a sphere of water; the water can either be drawn from the surroundings or expelled from the user's mouth. The water that the sphere is made from is noticeably heavy, which restricts the target's movements and can make breathing difficult. The user must stay in contact with the sphere.

Water Release: Liquid Bullet
- Concentrated burst of water from the mouth. Can be charged up and powered up with more chakra.

Earth Release: Earth Flow Rampart
- This technique makes a gigantic rampart rise up beneath the user's feet, by shaping the ground and increasing the amount of earth with chakra. Depending on what the user imagines, the shape of the rampart can be anything from level ground to a steep, needle-like mountain.

Lightning Release: Chidori
- Piercing blade of electricity formed in one hand. Developed by Kakashi Hatake; an assassination technique. Requires high-speed movement for most uses.

Lightning Release: Raikiri
- Piercing blade of electricity formed in one hand. Developed by Kakashi Hatake; an assassination technique. Requires high-speed movement for most uses. An advanced version of Chidori with greatly improved ability.

Lightning Release: Thunder God's Edge
- a hyper-compression of lightning chakra around the user's lower arm. Based on Raikiri, but far stronger. A dull white glow represents the energy present, and it carries the same piercing properties as Chidori and its child jutsu. The shift in technique housing means that it does not require high speed movement and it is much quieter as a result, reduced to an indistinct hum.
>> Light of Ruin
- after initiating Thunder God's Edge, the user compresses the chakra further to the technique hand, points a finger forward, and fires off a single searing bolt of electrical energy. The power behind this technique is devastating, rumoured to be able to raze mountains.

Lightning Release: Lightning Armor
- Shroud of Lightning chakra around the body. Allows for increased movement and reaction time, and with the user's body supercharged, erases tunnel vision and associated speed ailments.
>> Second Stage
- increases the amount of energy. Further increases movement speed and reaction time to dramatic levels.

Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves
- The user takes a deep breath and exhales several blades of wind at different angles as they move their head around. Its power can be increased when used in conjunction with extreme suction.

Wind Release: Great Breakthrough
- This is a relatively simple technique that creates a sudden gust of wind, but its scale varies greatly depending on the user. If used by a superior shinobi, it has enough destructive power to knock down a large tree.

---

A girl who is not human. She once carried an immense despair in her heart, not wanting to truly trust or get close to anyone. She would use her quirky and flirtatious personality to cast an illusion of contentment with herself. Hannah was the result of an experiment, one that sought to revive the ancient vampires whose populations have dwindled across the planet; an artificial vampire. From a young age, Hannah learned how to handle a blade and perform various types of ninjutsu, earning her keep as an elite mercenary and the title of 'Golden Shinigami' as a result.

Not being a regular mortal, she carries the ability to learn numerous styles of jutsu and techniques. Her fighting style trends towards swordplay (kenjutsu) and attacks with great speed. She moves with fluidity and grace to complement her techniques.

---

Joshua West, beloved friend - after meeting Joshua on a seemingly light mission, she shared her secrets with him and asked if they could be friends, to which he enthusiastically said yes. He is the first friend and companion she's ever made, and thus she has an immense love for him.

Ritsu Tanaka, devoted partner - a sweet and loving girl. Joined the party after being saved from the clutches of a yakuza boss, and is clever as well as capable. Hidden within their pure love for each other are notes of lust, though both are acutely aware and encourage it.

Yukari Uzumaki - a trusted acquaintance and fixer. Expert in sealing arts and has her finger on the pulse of the shinobi world at all times.

Senna Egami - Yukari's companion and an elite infiltrator. Can access the spirit world with jutsu via her bloodline limit, the Yuureigan, as well as perform related spectral activities.

 

[FortePlus]

>>>​ The Illuminators​

---

Episode 2: Word And Bond

---

​

"Let's get ourselves out of here first off," you say. You climb out of the water, secure your towel, and take Hannah's extended hand to help her up.

"I do wonder about you sometimes."

"What? You mean the fact that I'm not ogling you?"

"Something like that."

You snort. "I'm smarter than that." She looks confused for a moment before blushing.

"I see. Hm." She brushes back a strand of hair. You note Ritsu walk up the path towards you both, giving her customary bow as she stops. An appraising look crosses her face as she stares at you for a moment.

"Sir, madam."

"Ritsu. Please prepare a snack for me."

"Yes, madam. Preferences?"

"Surprise me."

"Understood. I will be off." She gives you another lingering look, eyes shifting up and down, before leaving.

"..." You wonder what that's about. Then again, you'd have some time to figure it out, maybe.

"Hopefully my decision isn't too out of character for you," you say without turning.

"Oh? So you've decided to take her on."

"Ten thousand on completion. When you have time, write a contract for her to sign..."

Hannah walks in front of you to get your attention. "You're taking all of her."

"Yeah."

You watch as her face radiates amusement. "Well. Not completely unexpected. I know I tease you, but I also know you're not soft by any means. Although, I wonder if you...worry."

"Nothing's figured out yet. After we take care of the yakuza, we'll have to see what really happens. I'm not too worried about anything, even if you're intent on winding her up."

"I see. Then we'll have our meeting in the morning, with all of the proper arrangements. Good night, Joshua."

"Night, Hannah."

You part ways. As you head back to your room, you notice Ritsu is waiting outside.

"Night. Anything you need help with?" you ask her.

"Nothing, sir. I wanted to ask if you needed anything before I returned to the young madam."

"Nothing for me. Thanks, I appreciate it."

"Understood. Good night, sir."

"Good night." She quietly moves down the hall and out of view as she rounds a corner.

---

It's the next morning. You decide on a late breakfast, settling for tea in your room as you wait for the moment to arrive.

"Pardon the intrusion."

The familiar, unchanging voice of Ritsu reaches your ears. You sit cross legged in front of your table, while Hannah sits beside you with a scroll after your hostess secures the front entrance in a way only she knew. She sits on her knees directly in front of you both; it's still early morning and the light coming into the room is soft and dim. Ritsu's eyes glow ever so slightly, to the point where it feels like your eyes are playing tricks on you. She lets down her hair and you watch as it falls around her shoulders.

Hannah doesn't say a word, instead handing a scroll to Ritsu, who graciously takes it. She opens it up and reads. No questions come from her lips, and she finishes, looking up at you.

"Ten thousand on mission completion," you say precisely.

"I understand."

"And the contract. We're taking your offer. It's only right and fair to put it in writing, no matter how simple the mechanics might be."

"I understand. I accept these terms."

"Once you sign, the contract will be enforced," you reply.

"Yes."

You nod to Hannah, and she presents Ritsu with a self-contained pen. The petite woman tips the pen over and waits for the nib to fill slightly before signing her name on the line provided. Her hand trembles a while after she finishes, and she hands the pen back to Hannah gently.

"It's done," Hannah says. "You belong to us. Every part of you belongs to us."

"Yes."

"My name is Joshua West," you say.

"My name is Hannah Kuiper," Hannah follows.

"Lord Joshua and Lady Hannah. My will is yours. My mind is yours. My body is yours. Everything about me on this mortal plane...now belongs to you. I made the offer, and I will keep my promise. My body is yours to use as you wish."

"Joshua. May I?"

You think for a moment and nod slowly.

"Thank you. Name," she orders.

"Ritsu Tanaka, milady."

"Age."

"Nineteen, milady."

"Stand." Ritsu stands. "Undress." She undoes the sash on her yukata and lets it fall around her.

"..." You find yourself staring, for reasons that you already understand. Ritsu stands at attention, looking back at you. The hurried breathing from before slows. Her body unwinds ever so slightly.

And then, her eyes fill with tears.

"Milord? Do you not...?"

"You're not ugly. Was this...was all of it because of that man?" you ask.

"Yes. It was all because of him. All of this...because of him. My family abandoned me out of fear."

"For their lives?"

"No."

You let out a frustrated breath. "We might have to pay them a visit too...when this is all over. Right now, we're going to end the burden that's almost crushed your soul."

"Milord, I...I...these scars...don't you see them?" The mask you saw, the one you kept seeing before. It was helping her stay above water. "Do you not see...?"

"I see. And I accept," you say. "Your value is not diminished."

"Those scars will be part of your story," Hannah says.

She wraps her arms around herself and slides to the floor. You close your eyes and listen to her crying. It's painful. Her sobs aren't loud. They don't shake her to the ground. But they're soulful whimpers and whispers to herself. They're expressions of pain that she held in. She was close to dying. Close to killing herself. Right on the very edge.

A week later. Just a week and a few days and she would have been erased, scars and all.

"This child was meant for something. Only she can realize what it is now," Hannah says quietly.

You nod in agreement. "The ninja enabled this. They took part."

"This world isn't all darkness on their side," she says, playing devil's advocate.

"Maybe not. I might not have been forthcoming with you, Hannah." You fish the Lapis Lazuli from your pocket and look at it. "Shiina always had a point. My grandfather wanted to believe otherwise. I did too."

"Do you still?"

"I want to."

You leave your position on the mat, and Hannah follows. Ritsu looks up with confusion as you both draw closer.

You both hold her against your bodies. She doesn't resume her crying, instead snuggling closer and closing her eyes.

"Brunch sounds better anyways," you mumble.

---

It's the following day. Ritsu is coming off work at 1pm for the start of her off days. She dresses in a skirt with black leggings and a sweater, taking care to hide the scars and bruises from her encounters.

"Any ideas on how we should do this?" you ask Hannah.

"I think stealth is out. We'll end up fighting shinobi at some point," she says. You're both across the street, enjoying takoyaki on a bench as you watch Ritsu. "It all depends on how much of a mess we want to make."

"We have ownership of Ritsu, but that doesn't mean she can't be hurt further."

"Point made. Hmm...she did say she lived in a dump earlier, if I'm not mistaken."

"Slum village, huh. Nothing of value lost if we trash somewhere like that," you muse. "It's also a sort of secure position if we need to guard her, and we probably will in the end. Yakuza might be punks, but they're well connected punks. Need to make sure they can't trace it back to Ritsu or us. This guy has a disconnect with his detail, you think?"

Hannah pops a fried ball into her mouth and chews a bit before answering. "Maybe I was hasty in thinking stealth was out. Couple of options. Get information on his security detail and infiltrate that way, maybe impersonate someone. I can also...be a honey trap."

"Sensing ulterior motives," you quip, rolling your eyes.

"I didn't think I was so transparent." She licks her lips slowly. "Exploitable excuse to get my first taste of little Ritsu. By the by...she's itching to take a ride on your pocket rocket, milord~"

"Shut up. Don't establish things so early. She might see me as some kind of dad figure or whatever."

"She's three years older than us."

"That hasn't stopped anyone and you know it."

"Well...not that much changes. The sweet and pure daughter wanting a moonlight ride on daddy's magical pony isn't a rare occurrence either."

"Aren't we well-read?" you tease. A shinobi from the Hot Springs approaches and talks to Ritsu, or at least gestures something. Ritsu nods and starts away from the inn as he leaves, making sure not to give your positions away.

"Good girl," Hannah says. "So, what shall we do, O peerless leader?"

"Like you said, we've got options."

---

[] Follow Ritsu to her destination and just let things play out. You'll figure out something.

[] Start your operations.
-[] Hannah can set up her honey trap, eliminate the target, and then you can worry about extraction.
-[] Working your way into things with a disguise as one of the Hot Springs shinobi might work.
-[] Write in.

[] Follow Ritsu to her destination and
-[] Use her apartment as a safe zone for the inevitable retaliation.
-[] Forego stealth completely and crush anything that attacks you two.

[] Other option (write in).

 

[FortePlus]

Hannah went as far as believing that she didn't need a real disguise, and ran with that idea. She went with something outrageous; a pink miniskirt that rode dangerously, mysteriously low on her hips, a short white jacket with a fake fur-lined hood, and underneath it a fishnet shirt with gaps wide enough to shove a dinner table through. Her lips were coated in a sparking pink, pressing together as she chewed bubblegum.

It toed the line between "obvious streetwalker" and "fun time party gal". Tiptoed, to be accurate. Joshua made a face at the preview, and she couldn't decide whether it was supposed to represent horror, confusion, or some wonky mix of both. But the important thing was that he found it repulsive.

That meant it was officially "sleazy criminal approved".

Some of the yakuza had free time on their hands and liked to bulk up in order to look tougher and more intimidating. They had their elaborate tattoos, but for some it wasn't nearly enough. This prick was no exception to that little rule.

Ritsu had almost reached her apartment when the man of the hour approached from up ahead, his bodyguards following some distance behind. Hannah observed from her spot in front of the building, keeping quiet, watching, and listening as closely as she could. Joshua was on standby, waiting on the roof and getting visuals. The plan was simple enough. Hannah linked up with Ritsu, made it into her apartment with the yakuza target, erased him, and then the rest would be taken care of. A fight was inevitable with shinobi on duty, and Hannah had already picked out six from her quick sweep. There were probably more around, as much as one man could reasonably afford. It was only a small core of bodyguards with the rest supplemented by shinobi risking their careers for a quick extra buck.

Not just for money, she remembered. Hannah breathed in and out slowly to calm herself down. Wouldn't do to leak a murderous aura and ruin everything before it began.

"If it isn't my little honeypot..."

"Lord Tetsuda...I...I am relieved to see you," Ritsu replied shakily. The man was a giant compared to her at over six feet tall. He flaunted his muscles with a tight, half opened shirt that revealed part of his yakuza tattoos. His hair was dyed sandy blonde, some of his black roots showing at the top of his head. White alligator shoes, a watch jammed with diamonds, and gold rings on his fingers.

He grabbed her by the chin and shook her gently for a moment. Hannah tensed as she saw what was coming next, but couldn't stop it. His open palm sailed through the air and slapped her to the ground.

Ritsu slowly got to her feet and bowed her head low, apologizing for whatever imaginary slight she had committed.

"You ungrateful little bitch. C'mere," he growled, grabbing a fistful of hair and dragging her into him. "You think I'm over being pissed at you?! After what you did?! Huh?!" He yanked at her hair and she yelped. "Answer me!"

"I-I'm sorry...I'm sorry, I don't have any more money, I'm sorry that I ran, I'm sorry..."

"Forcing me to come up here and deal with you...it's so that you don't fucking squeal on me."

"I would n-never-" She screamed as he yanked at her hair. "Please, my lord...! I would never say...anything..."

"I don't fucking believe you. I'm going to make you pay for almost humiliating me. You should thank every god in the sky that I haven't pumped you full of drugs already...you're a pain in the ass. The only good thing about you is your-"

Hannah closed her eyes, wanting to run up and bash the sick bastard's head in. But it wasn't the time. Not yet.

"...and you know it," he growled. Ritsu sniffled.

"I know. I'm only good for my body. I'm only good as a sex doll. Please...let me do my best to satisfy you. I know I'm only...only as..."

"Only difference between you and a sex doll is that you have a heartbeat."

"I...yes. You're right. You're always..."

"Get your ass into your ratty old house and clear out a seat. You get to prove your worth to me. And if the other guys get bored, I'll be counting on you to keep them company."

"Yes, sir. I'll be good, sir. I'll do my best, please believe me."

It was becoming unbearable. Hannah seethed inside of herself, never letting it through to the surface. She shifted into her persona and let the other thoughts melt away.

"Well, hello there! What's a fancy looking group of guys doing out here?" she asked in a bubbly tone as she approached. "Oh, don't mind me just popping up and stuff. I was coming outside for some air, but I found something way way better..."

Tetsuda - it probably wasn't his real name - eyed Hannah suspiciously at first, then so hungrily she could swear she heard his stomach growling. His eyes roamed her body and undressed her over and over; she could feel his slimy gaze and didn't think any amount of baths could rid her of the filthy sensation. "I was just talking to my woman here. It's been such a long time since we last saw each other, and...you know how it is. Oh, she had an accident earlier, hit her face against a wall. Clumsy sometimes."

"Oh, don't I know it. I keep like, rolling my ankle if my heels are too high. So I went with lower ones today. They still work super well for giving your butt a bit of lift, though! See..." She turned and posed for her audience. "Nice, right?"

"Very," Tetsuda said with a nod. "What are you up to, miss...?"

"Dani. I'm just traveling the land and junk, bouncing from place to place...and from man to woman to man," she said with a saucy wink. "Tourist towns like this are super great to just unwind and have some fun...oh, I noticed your tattoo. You're, um...am I allowed to say?" she asked innocently.

Tetsuda chuckled. "Relax, toots. You're allowed to speak of the yakuza. Just not anything bad about 'em, yeah?"

"Yeah, alright. So you guys are yakuza and stuff...you got any...you know."

"Always. The old timers don't like it, but times are changing. Gotta get with the new types of trade."

Used to be that drugs and the like weren't welcome in yakuza circles, much like the mafioso banned such items...hopefully your garbage organization will follow your morals down the drain soon.

"Psh, like yeah. Old people are so lame. But, um...mm. I don't wanna party too hard just yet. I feel like I should be clear headed..."

"We're not opposed to having more company, she and I. Though some of the ninja...they might get jealous. They're on duty but not really on duty, you know what I'm saying? I got 15 of them out here for cheap. Sometimes, they uh...get a little something extra from the missus. She doesn't mind, though. One of her kinks."

"That's super spicy," Hannah said, making a show of biting her lower lip. "You couldn't tell by looking at her...mm-mm. I'm thinking..."

Hannah strode over to Ritsu, who had clearly recognized her by now in that appalling outfit.

"Relax...this will be the last time he gets to hurt you. Think you can trust me for the next little while?"

"Yes...I trust you with everything."

"Good girl. Steady your heart, now." Hannah went back to her stage voice. "You ever kissed a girl before?"

Ritsu slowly shook her head. Hannah smiled and licked her lips sensually.

"Let's change that..."

For a moment, Ritsu was shocked at what was happening. Another girl, kissing her. Not just any girl, the one who was in disguise and about to assassinate her old slaver - ex-boyfriend didn't come close to capturing any part of their so called relationship - and the one who had quite literally taken ownership of her jointly with her kokoahito boyfriend...husband...fiancee...friend? They insisted they were friends, but that didn't-

And then all the moments after that were a blur as her brain melted. All she could think about and focus on was trying to savour every bit of the kiss from her mistress - she had never been kissed like that before. She had never been loved like that before. This was incredibly lewd, but also so incredibly comforting and warm and safe at the same time, a brain scrambling kiss from her mistress who was three years younger than her but age was no substitute for experience-

And then the moments ended and she felt cool air against her warm lips. Ritsu stood in a daze, flushed with heat all over and yearning badly for Hannah to come back to her to do that for just a moment longer.

Hannah stepped back and ran a hand through her blonde hair, a lustful look radiating from her eyes as she locked down her prey, the audience of men around her who just had to be at full mast after that demonstration.

"What a delicious little treat," she said with a breathy tone. "I really am looking forward to more, if she's as...liberated as you say she is."

"You and me both," Tetsuda mumbled.

"Shall we?" Hannah asked gently.

"You heard her," the yakuza boss said to Ritsu. She nodded and ran to her ground floor apartment, opening the door and starting to make the place look presentable - which meant making it look fuller than it actually was. The bodyguards followed her in a few minutes later, and then two shinobi appeared to give the place a proper scan, wearing non-descriptive black uniforms so that they wouldn't be identified as Hot Springs operatives.

"Make yourselves at home as always," Tetsuda said to his associates. "And don't mind the noise either, since you'll be in there once I'm done."

"Don't you worry about sloppy seconds, boys. I like to keep it consistent," Hannah said with a wink before disappearing into the bedroom. Ritsu followed and Tetsuda closed the door behind them.

"This is the only fucking place we can get some privacy, and that's a sad thing," he groaned. "But no need to bring down the mood..."

"Totally." Hannah tossed her jacket into a corner, followed by her heels. She wiggled out of the miniskirt, leaving herself with the thin fishnet shirt and panties. "Like it?"

"Damn. I'm in heaven already." He glared at Ritsu. "Gonna follow her lead, or what?"

"Easy, now. I know you said she's pretty freaky on her own, but it's different when people are watching. I know that from experience, ehehe. I'll guide you through the motions..."

Ritsu nodded and let herself drift away to the sound of Hannah's voice. She pulled the sweater over her head, and the leggings down past her feet. The skirt fell around her as she unbuttoned it.

She was in the same position as a day before, almost naked in front of two people. But things had changed.

Things had changed a whole lot.

"Do you want it?" Hannah asked with a whisper. "I can let you take it. Just tell me and I'll give you the chance to go further than you've ever dreamed."

Ritsu licked her lips. Tetsuda smirked, thinking she was in heat. There was a burning inside of her...but it wasn't one he could understand. Only experience.

"Tell me what you want. I'll give you that deep desire. I'm here," the whisper said. "Show me your heart, Ritsu."

---

[] Ritsu shakes herself free. Hannah takes control at her wish and delivers vengeance.

[] Ritsu grabs hold of the heat inside of her. Hannah guides her to the burning desire. Tetsuda is oblivious.

[] Write in.

 

[FortePlus]

She realized that she wanted it...but want and desire were different from need. Ritsu felt herself shaken out of the overwhelming heat. She was still burning up, but...it wasn't her place to move forward. It wasn't her place to take it from him. It wasn't her place to throw away everything she was and could be for this one moment. She turned her head to face the woman beside her, the one with the glowing violet eyes that swallowed her up like the ocean.

Hannah immediately understood.

"There's something our little cutie-pie wants to say to you, mister handsome yakuza. I can kinda sense it," she said playfully as she climbed onto the bed. Her hands went to Tetsuda's back and gently rubbed it, before she helped him strip off his shirt. The tattoo covering his back gave her pause before she resumed her touching, making him grunt with satisfaction. Slowly, her hands worked upwards.

"Spit it out then," he mumbled.

Ritsu slowly raised her head. "You have been a part of my life for so long. You've been in my mind all of this time. You are so much...a part of who I am. You are why I exist."

"The fuck..."

"Shhh," Hannah breathed out gently. "Let her finish..." Her hands were working on his upper back.

"I mean it when I say this. I really mean it..." Ritsu felt her heart start to race. She was tense, starting to sweat. Her arms trembled as she held them against her chest. Hannah slowly worked with her massage, peeking over the yakuza's shoulder.

I am your angel of death. I am your blade.

The black wings spread from Hannah's back.

I will take away your fear. I will deliver vengeance upon him. Such is the will of Almighty God.

She could hear Hannah's voice in her head. Forceful and clear.

She knew it was time.

"I forgive you."

"Hah?"

"I forgive you," Ritsu repeated. "I forgive you for what you did to me. For what you made of me. I pray that your sins are forgiven. I pray that you see the doors of heaven. I forgive you of your sins against me."

Hannah's hands were on his shoulders.

"Please...I wish peace upon your soul. Peace be. Peace...be."

"Raise your head, my love."

Hannah's hands caressed his neck. Her face was like a stone mask, her eyes solid slates of violet.

"You are beauty. You are strength. Praise be to you...you have given this unworthy one his final rites."

Her fingers pressed into the flesh of his neck.

"What the fuck are you banging on about?" Tetsuda said, about to turn his head.

"Tetsuda."

He turned his head back towards Ritsu, furious. In her place was someone else, a woman he didn't recognize.

Petite. With glowing green eyes.

Ritsu and Hannah parted their lips in sync.

"Fare thee well."

Hannah squeezed with terrifying strength. There was a loud snap.

Ritsu watched the light drain from his eyes. Hannah let go and he fell forward, landing on the floor head first in a crumpled heap at Ritsu's side.

Everything was a haze, moving in slow motion. The smaller girl watched the scene in her head a thousand times over before feeling a whisper in her ear.

She went into autopilot mode and ran to the bathroom, locking the door behind her before she sat in the bathtub and hugged her knees. The world came back into focus and she was shivering against the cold floor.

A moment later there was a loud pounding at the bedroom entrance.

"Open the fucking door, you whores! We need to check on the boss!" a voice yelled. Hannah cast a casual glance at the dead body and ignored the repeated warnings, waiting for them to get tired of waiting.

The door was eventually pried open with the help of a shuriken against the lock. Hannah remained on top of the bed as the yakuza members took note of their young boss' predicament.

"Fucking shit! Get the ninja-"

"We've got another problem outside!"

Five...ten...thirteen. Two unaccounted for, then. Did they run off to get help? Hopefully not. She wanted to believe that Joshua had found the extras and taken care of them beforehand...but he was coming off the roof now, so it wasn't an immediate problem.

The three yakuza and one ninja started to crowd the room. Hannah wasn't going to let them past her to Ritsu, so the new wrinkle was this: would she spare these lives or not? Killing was efficient, but less ideal for the purposes of this mission. But she wasn't in full disguise, and they had seen too much.

Joshua, bless his heart, had given her the green light if she felt things were compromised.

---

Pick an option for each character.

--

[] Hannah
-[] End them. They know what you look like, and you don't want any of them squealing, especially the shinobi. Joshua had control of the rest outside. The sensor is conveniently in the room.
--[] Taijutsu. Nice and bloodless for the most part.
--[] Ninjutsu. Your little go-to is Chidori...it's nice and quick.
--[] Write-in.
-[] Fight to subdue. It might be best if you knocked them out...plus an interrogation later could be very helpful.
-[] Write in.

---

[] Joshua
-[] Go for the knockout. You have the speed and power advantage, so you can conceal your identity while fixing this problem.
-[] Lethal option. You're not sure you want to take the chance of leaving them alive, especially the shinobi...
-[] Write in.

---

[] Ritsu
-[] Do as your mistress said. Stay in the tub.
-[] You're frightened. The window is close by, you can get up and reach it...
-[] Write in.

 

[FortePlus]

Hannah sighed. Events were in motion, then. Poor things...the last sensation they would experience was blinding pain at her hands. Not the worst way to go, but not terribly pleasant either.

She watched as the yakuza unsheathed their long swords, and the lone shinobi prepared shuriken. The room was small enough that four people crowding around the bed took up a notable amount of space.

"Hm." The blonde considered the situation, then reached up to tie her hair quickly.

"What the fuck did you do?" one of the yakuza roared. "What happened?"

"He's dead," the shinobi said. "She must have killed him with her bare hands."

"Oh, perceptive of you. I suppose that intellect of yours wasn't enough to secure a proper promotion, though. Shame." Hannah stood up on the bed, making the four men flinch. "It's not like you can do much as you are. If you turn tail and run, I won't bother with you."

"You sniveling little bitch...we'll teach you to fuck with the yakuza."

"Will you?" Hannah became indifferent to them. "Unfortunately for you, I have a perfect success rate against you trash. That will continue."

One of the thugs started to swing at her legs from behind. Hannah bounced once on the bed, the blade passing harmlessly under her feet as she rose into the air. She came down a moment later and bounced towards the shinobi who threw his shuriken only to completely miss as she bounded past him. Her feet hit the wall and she shot towards him from behind, landing a knee that crumpled the back of his skull and sent him sliding into the wall ahead. Hannah dashed to her right and to the goon in front of the door, faking a high kick and then ducking low as he swung and missed. She swept him off of his feet and stomped down on his groin as he landed on his back, then raised the same foot up and forward to crush his throat, making him flail as he asphyxiated.

The next one frantically scrambled across the bed, but Hannah pulled the sheets from under him and made him slip. He bounced once on his back, intending to right himself.

He was out of time.

Hannah front-flipped in the air above him and came down with a vicious two-footed stomp, driving him into the mattress and the bed down into the floor. She pulverized his ribs and the fragments tore through his heart and lungs on the inside.

The last one swung wildly at her, catching nothing but air each time as she expertly dodged. Her hand shot forward to catch his wrist and crush it, making him drop his sword and scream out in pain. She used the same hand to grab him by the throat, lifting him off his feet as he flailed wildly.

"Guess what?"

He went still as she stared into his soul.

"I fucked with the yakuza. Again."

His scream was cut off as Hannah squeezed down and snapped his neck. She let him drop to the floor like a wet sack and undid her hair a moment later.

"That's that." She heard something like an explosion outside, and saw dust clouding the room nearby.

---

Ninety seconds earlier, Joshua had dragged two unconscious bodies up to the roof and dropped them there. He shook his head.

"Close call, I guess."

He then became aware of movement, and peered down from his perch to see about a dozen shinobi rushing towards the apartment.

"So they've started. Alright, guess I'm on." Joshua skipped down the side of the building and ran around the outside of the lot at full speed before ducking behind the moving shinobi. He hoped that there wasn't a sensor there, and that hope was granted as he noticed none of them turning as he advanced.

Perfect. Pacifist run was a go.

He accelerated towards the first one with pure foot speed and unloaded a left cross to the head of the woman dressed in black. She had only started her unconscious flight through the air when he burst ahead with a body flicker and landed a double neck chop on the two shinobi advancing together. He had counted exactly twelve moving in, and that took care of three.

Another body flicker and he clothes-lined one more from the side before knocking another away with a straight punch. Down to seven.

Now they were just starting to take note, and one stopped to look back. He ate a fist to the face, Joshua holding back power as blood flew from his nose in an arc. The shinobi plowed into the dirt just ahead of the others, who were definitely aware of the interloper now. Three moved ahead; the other three turned and started to prepare jutsu.

Not today.

Joshua accelerated again and hit the shinobi to his left with a slicing right hook to the head, making him crumple. The woman ahead started to orient herself but ate a punch to the gut, puking harshly before folding over and hitting the dirt. The last man turned to run but found himself knocked out as his head was driven straight into the ground.

"Three," Joshua said to himself. He burst ahead as the shinobi reached inside and left his feet, drawing back a fist as he flew through the air. His well-timed leap had him in line with the shinobi at the door, who had a shocking realization that he wasn't going to be able to react in time.

He chewed on a knuckle sandwich for his trouble, sailing into the far wall and making himself a crater. With two left, Joshua stepped ahead and telegraphed a punch. The shinobi drew a kunai and reflexively stabbed ahead.

She missed as Joshua spun in the air and rattled her skull with a kick, sending her bouncing off the wall and to the ground, motionless.

He landed and chambered a punch, then unloaded on the last, wide-eyed shinobi.

---

Ninety seconds later, Hannah waved dust away from her face as she checked the room for chakra signatures. Just one active one remained, and it was the one she wanted to see.

"Hey. Things okay?" Joshua asked.

"Yes, love. You did an amazing job."

"I tried," he said with a shrug. "Hopefully I moved quickly enough that they couldn't get a good description of me."

"A concussion and short term memory loss are blessings as far as they're concerned."

"Hm." He stepped into the bedroom behind Hannah and noted the bodies on the floor. "Couldn't spare 'em, huh."

"I'm sorry, darling."

"Don't be. Like you said, leaving them alive is a courtesy. This might even give us some breathing room, since only a few are dead and the rest are just zonked out."

"Speaking of," Hannah said casually, "did you notice that there were two missing? Of the shinobi, I mean."

"I got two on the roof. Dunno when they'll be up."

"Really, now. Where were they?"

"Far side of the building, like way out. I noticed 'em from the roof but they didn't see me, so I decided not to take any chances. Made me just a bit late getting back though, so sorry about that."

"As if you have anything to apologize for."

"Heh." His smile faded as he looked at the dead yakuza on the floor. "So...what'd he end up doing to you two?"

"Nothing but dying. We gave him a bit of a tease, so he got to see something good before he went. Even that was an ending far, far too good for scum like him."

"I guess after all that he did, maybe it's fitting that he died nameless to me," Joshua said. "I know you're the 'angel of death' and all that...but..."

"I know. I could feel the rage inside of you, Joshua. But leave the dark side of the world to me. I trust you to handle the rest."

"Can't run away from it forever, can I..."

"You can't. But you're above this. Leave burnable trash and the like to me."

"Hannah..."

"Don't argue," she said as she kicked her gaudy miniskirt into a corner. "I already said it once. You're meant for greater things. Let me clear the way for you."

"Fine, fine. I get it."

"Thank you. I'm...just being selfish, is all." She let out a breath. "Let's collect our little Ritsu and get out of here."

"Yeah."

Joshua pried the bathroom door off of its hinges and set it down on the floor. Hannah walked in behind him, and they both looked into the tub to find Ritsu, laid out on the bottom with a shower brush in hand.

She trembled and gulped once, looking up at the two people above her head.

"Ah...how foolish of me. Stupid. I forgot to establish a safety code," Hannah grumbled.

"T...T-Tuesday..."

Joshua and Hannah blinked.

Ritsu sniffled. "Tues...day...dinner feature..."

"Tuesday dinner feature...?" Joshua scrunched up his face for a moment before understanding. "Right. Suzuki tempura. The tea of the day is gyokuro."

Ritsu jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck, showering him with kisses before pressing her head against his shoulder.

"Good work, Ritsu. Proud of you."

She nodded furiously as he scooped her up into his arms.

"Normally we should burn the place to the ground, but I'll settle for blowing the wall open so we can evade possible detection," Hannah said. "Where are your explosive tags, love?"

"Bottom left pocket. Very bottom. I said bottom, not back. Woman..."

She stuck her tongue out at him before sticking the tag to the wall with chakra. The three backed out of the bathroom and waited, hearing a boom and the wall falling to pieces.

"Smoke should be clearing now. Grab what you need, ladies."

Hannah borrowed a pair of shorts to cover her lower half, while Ritsu put on another sweater and dark sweatpants. She went through her drawers and pulled out a small metal container, filling it with a few precious items before closing it again, holding it tightly against her chest.

"Nothing else?" Joshua asked.

"I have everything that matters. In my hands...and in front of me."

Joshua and Hannah blushed at the same time.

"We should go...before more ninja come," Ritsu said gently.

"R-right," Joshua said. Hannah coughed once and nodded. They left through the new entrance, stealthily heading back towards the onsen.

---

"A-as promised."

Ritsu opened her metal box and handed a stack of bills to Hannah. They sat on a bench near the same same takoyaki stand as before, Hannah between Joshua and Ritsu.

"Ten thousand ryo upon completion of assignment. Thanks for doing business with us," Joshua said with a smile.

"You saved my life. That's the very least I could do, milord."

"Well, you already went the extra mile by selling yourself to us," he pointed out. Hannah counted the bills and gave him a nod to indicate everything was there. With that, Joshua took out his own stack of bills and added it to the existing pile. Ritsu tilted her head, confused.

"That'll cover more than a few nights, and the necessary comforts."

"...haven't you already paid for your stay at the inn?" Ritsu asked.

"Oh, this isn't for us," Hannah said with a smile. Ritsu was confused again until it clicked, her eyes widening.

"No! You can't-" She came to a stop, remembering her situation.

She wasn't allowed to refuse anything her master and mistress ordered.

"You silly girl." Hannah chopped her on the head lightly. "You're not going homeless, or staying in a crummy shelter if I can help it."

"But...but the money-"

"Is ours to use as we please. The transaction is completed. You have no further input, my darling."

Ritsu cursed herself. She should have figured that people kind enough to save her life on a dime would also be this stubborn. "Yes, Lady Hannah. I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for, darling. Now go check yourself in. We'll see you in a few days. Don't come out until you're back on duty. Promise me."

"Yes, Lady Hannah. I promise I'll be good."

"Good girl. Be safe."

"I will be...I...when we see each other next," she said quickly, giving her benefactors a deep bow as she stood up. She took the generous gift from Hannah - knowing it was for far more than a hotel stay - and headed on her way.

Joshua and Hannah turned as she disappeared into the crowd, heading for the inn and their rooms.

A hot bath later was going to be the perfect end to an already good day.

---
---

A few days have passed since you and Hannah knocked off the yakuza boss. There was all kinds of excitement, but nothing connecting it to you two. Hannah coached Ritsu on everything she needed to say, and the interrogations - all three of them, talk about excessive - went off without a hitch. Ritsu was incredibly obedient and receptive to instruction; you wondered if it was because of the previous three years of trauma or if it was pure affection for the two of you. The contract was irrelevant at this point.

Speaking of said contract, you decide to talk it over with Hannah over lunch. Today is tonkatsu, and it's delicious. Not as good as - well, it doesn't need repeating. But it's great stuff. Hannah is savoring every bite.

"I can only think of one piece of meat currently more desirable than this."

You sigh and shake your head as she wiggles her eyebrows. "Lewdness aside, this is great. We're definitely swinging through here again sometime."

"Mm-hm." She takes another bite of the breaded fried pork and nods with satisfaction. "So. Ritsu."

"Yeah. What's our plan for her? I mean, we want to let her decide ultimately, but she's pretty receptive to what we ask of her."

"It's almost shocking. She has the disposition of a seasoned soldier already...I can't tell what caused it, but I know that our little show with the yakuza definitely solidified something in her mind."

"She's a civilian in every sense of the word..."

"I think if we wanted to, we could mold her properly. The two of us without shinobi bloodlines learned jutsu and all sorts of shinobi techniques all on our own, so it stands to reason that she could too. Then again," Hannah says thoughtfully, "the kind of life we live isn't for everyone."

"Yeah, that much is true. If we push her, she'll go through whatever hoops we ask. But that just might break her into a million pieces, and even if we put her back together, she would never be the same again."

You both quietly contemplate Ritsu as a mercenary, trying to go through what she would need to do in order to carry herself through the world. All of it looks tough on her end.

"If we leave her here...do we still keep her under the contract?" Hannah asks, snapping you out of your thoughts. "I mean, we won't be around to guide her, and we don't yet have the technology to provide her means of keeping in regular contact. My acquaintance has been working on such solutions, so they say...we'll see at that point in time."

"Thinking about tearing up the contract?" you ask. "I wouldn't object. Accepting that deal was about her more than anything. We could keep a proper eye on her, and it was symbolic in a lot ways. Showing her that she wasn't some broken, useless thing with no value, respecting her willingness to risk everything for a chance at freedom...we don't need a slave or anything like that. And maybe she just needs a fresh start here. Or wherever. I don't know for sure."

"Hm. Much to be decided." Hannah picks up another piece of breaded pork with her chopsticks, and slowly takes a bite out of it before chewing slowly.

"Pardon my interruption, milord, milady."

"Ritsu, good afternoon. What can we do for you?" Hannah asks.

"It's a question that has been bothering me lately...I know that you both are set to leave in a few days, you said towards the Hot Springs Village."

"Yeah. Hannah has a contact we wanted to see. Actually, we were talking about you earlier. Contract and everything."

"I understand. It was on my mind since that 'incident' we experienced together. I wanted to ask...if I could come with you."

You and Hannah pause at that.

"I know it's...risky. It will be dangerous. There will be pain, and suffering, and all sorts of horrors that I might be better off not knowing. And death would be all around me. Even so...I want to experience a new life. I want a new start...to truly become a different person in every way. I think that doing this, trying this, even if I fail miserably and you have to put me somewhere safe...it will bring meaning to my life. I know that I am nowhere near strong enough to be an asset to you. This...it's selfish of me. But I want to try. I won't resent you if you shoot me down. I promise you I won't. I love you both...so much. You saved me. Not just my life, but my very soul."

"Ritsu..."

"Master. Please...give me your answer. Tell me what is in your heart. I will accept your decision. Not for the sake of the contract...but because you loved me when nobody else could."

Her eyes are shining bright, ready to accept whatever verdict you deliver.

---

[] She's expressed her desire to become more than what she was before. Take Ritsu with you.
-[] Go to Hot Springs proper first. You've got something to say to her 'family'.
-[] Head to Hannah's contact directly. Finally time to get things started.

[] As much as she wants to try, you can't let her. Ritsu has to find a new, normal life. She's been through enough.

[] Write in.

---

[] Leave the contract attached as you move on. She doesn't mind.

[] Set her free at last. She deserves it.

 

[FortePlus]

"We'll talk about it later tonight. Hold on until then," you say to Ritsu.

She seems to wind down, going back to a neutral face in the next few moments. "Yes, sir. Until then. Is there anything else I can do for you both?"

"Not for now, my darling. Attend to your other duties and wait for further instruction," Hannah says.

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you." She bows and leaves you alone again. Hannah picks up another piece of meat with her chopsticks and dips it into a waiting ramekin. She slowly chews on it with her eyes closed.

You take an extended sip of juice and set the glass down, waiting for her attention to return to you.

"What have you decided, Joshua?" she asks, opening her eyes.

"We're taking her with us."

"You're sure. I know you're sure. You don't say or do things without meaning." She dabs at her mouth with a napkin. "We'll be leaving for the afternoon, then. There's a small, quiet cafe with corner booths that we can use to our advantage. We'll need to record what we talk over, though I suspect it will be easier in this case."

"You talk, I write."

"Naturally. Fill in whatever gaps I miss, as you're so good at doing."

Hannah is brilliant in a whole lot of ways. Not just smart, like actually one hundred ten percent brilliant. You nod to acknowledge her.

"Ritsu's best bet, and the safest, strongest option, is to specialize in one or two important skills. We are gifted, but we cannot assume she has enough aptitude to carry herself. Her mental fortitude is incredible, but it is no guarantee against the dangers that will emerge on our journey through this ruthless, ruthless world," she continues.

"Let's finish lunch and relax a bit. Then we'll start on the documents and pass them down to her."

"Our standard?" she asks.

"You're the Golden Shinigami. We're using whatever baselines you establish, ma'am."

"Right. We can build from my experience. And yours?"

"Securities and protocol were always part of family life. I'll do my best to follow your lead and make sure any open spaces are accounted for."

"Your life seemed to have its perks."

You shrug. "I can't say with any honesty it was bad, even the past two years were just about inconveniences more than anything. You did what you did from the ground up, practically."

"A good set of skills and a good head are places to start. Those are blessings in their own way. But then, not everyone can spin gold from their looms."

You chuckle as she gives you a smile. The rest of lunch is enjoyed at a leisurely pace.

---

The rest of the day moves ahead as planned.

You keep to your schedule of giving Ritsu your answer later, and set off with Hannah to a sufficiently secure place. Over cups of tea, you both get into the details that you would need in order to establish team protocol. It was almost surreal - in the past month you had gone from wandering alone to forming a team with an infamous super prodigy mercenary and an inn hostess. Even for the times, this was pretty crazy. But you're here, and it's time to act.

The three most important components to be filled out at this time are basic operations security, contingency plans, and team functions from top to bottom. What constitutes OPSEC covers a lot of things, including INFOSEC and COMSEC. TRANSEC will only have vague outlines to be amended later; you're not there until you reach your first destination on this journey. You detail your contingencies and escape routes, standard rendezvous points, and not least your options in case of capture or torture. The conditions for suicidal actions are detailed, and there are several triggers to be met for those. It is purposely moved away from any pragmatic kind of decision, and you stare at each other for a moment after completing that section.

"Just to be clear..."

"It's for Ritsu," you say. "But even she shouldn't be so hasty. We're going to risk everything for each other. You'll do it...I'll do it...and she will too. But sometimes..."

"Then we shall change the tide of history. We will gather that strength."

"...we will." You start on the next section. "Let's continue."

"Yes, let us. My apologies."

She continues with team function. Chain of command, operating strategies, appropriate maneuvers and combat positions. Nothing is too detailed but the baseline is established so that Ritsu can follow along no matter what, and you had an eye on each other no matter what happens. Your assessments will be updated the stronger you become, and as your technique pools grow. More detailed strategy and protocol will only come as Ritsu specs into an area and focuses on it. Secondary things come up as you find yourselves with extra time; Hannah will take care of the requisite information databases, psychological stability and extra training in social areas, you'll handle technical fighting, personal safety, and things such as battlefield awareness.

"How long are you thinking?" you ask Hannah as you finish writing.

"Three weeks minimum."

"Probably should stay safe. Give her a month to absorb everything."

"That sounds lovely. We can go with that."

"Great. I think we have everything we need for tonight and beyond." You make sure the ink dries properly before slowly rolling up the last of your scrolls, fitting them into your bag. Finishing your tea, you leave a tip and head back to the inn with Hannah.

You go for a light run, mapping out 5 kilometers to run up and back while Hannah chooses to meditate in her room. Ritsu brings you some food as you come back, and you take a nap before dinner. You wake up a bit early and go with Hannah to the front desk, asking about Ritsu's employment situation. Her pay was enough to live on, but really only that much without the benefit of generous gratuities. Informing them of your intent to take her with you at the end of your stay, you end up meeting with the onsen owner, a woman of middle age who has an elaborately crafted smoking pipe.

"Miss Tanaka...she's a really good one, she is. Mm. Mm." She takes a puff on her pipe and sighs, her black hair let down as you sit together in her office.

"Will it be a problem if we take her with us?" you ask.

"Mm. Hm. It's short notice."

"Of course," Hannah says. "We realize how much it hurts a business to lose someone so good in such a short period of time. What you lose is more than a good employee."

"Hm. Hm. Hm. I enjoy that kind of honesty." She frowns slightly. "But then. Hm. You're among the best customers we've had. It's asking a lot of you."

"We're okay with it, ma'am. We want to come back here someday, because of all the memories...it's the least we can do."

"Hm. Hm!" She smiles. "You're too much, boy. Any idea how many women would want to gobble up someone so pure?"

"I've been informed...extensively," you say with a look towards Hannah. She puts a hand over her lips.

"I don't think he'll ever learn his lesson," she teases. "Silly boy. I have to protect him from all the cougars constantly. So troublesome."

"Hm. Hm. Hmmm." The owner takes another puff on her pipe as she thinks. "Will it be...dangerous?"

"It will be, yes. A lot is going on in the world. But...we've both resolved to protect Ritsu with our lives," you say.

"I only assumed as much. Hm. Hm-hm. A donation in exchange for her employee file. She's all yours." The owner hands you a scroll. "She'll be paid out at the end of your stay in the next four days. Look after her...I don't know what she's been through, but it's been a lot from what I can see. Thank you for looking after her."

"We'll keep our promise."

"Hm-hm-hm. Sweet...a sweet child you are. Go on before I really pounce on you. And if you need anything in the future...Asuka Tarou. Call me Auntie the next time you see me," she says with a wink of her grey eyes. "Promise there won't be any problems then."

"Ah," Hannah says with realization. "The Onsen Princess herself. You're sitting in front of the Gold Reaper, by the by."

"Oh? Looks like a lucky day, hm-hm. Make sure you keep in touch, then."

"We will. See you when we see you, Auntie." You give her a deep bow.

She smiles and waves as you both leave.

"You really called her Auntie. Amazing."

"What?" you ask. "She told me to."

"Oh, you sweet, foolish boy...if you're not careful, I'll have you wrapped up in me soon enough. Value your agency, won't you?"

You sigh and grumble about weird women under your breath. With Ritsu's freedom secured, you only have a few more things to do.

---

"Pardon the intrusion."

Ritsu arrives promptly at the time outlined; Hannah told her to come to your room after dinner.

"I must apologize to Lady Hannah," she says as she sits on her knees in front of you. "I was terribly nervous about today, and waiting for the reply..."

"There was nothing that you did wrong, and nothing to apologize for. Be calm, my love."

"Yes. I can be calm." She takes breaths in and out, slowly winding herself down. Her eyes look to you with hope and wonder.

Right. This was a pretty big decision.

You clear your throat. "We talked to your boss. She says you're a really good worker, and that losing you would be really hard on the business."

"She said that..."

"Yeah. Things...to get out of the way first." Hannah hands you the scroll with Ritsu's contract. "This thing here..." You grab the scroll with both hands and snap it in two. "Null and void."

"That means...that I'm free," Ritsu says slowly. She's struggling to comprehend it, but eventually does.

"Our contract with you is no longer enforced," Hannah continues. "You are free to do as you like, whenever you like. Just as before we met you."

"Thank you. Thank you...for setting me free."

"Ritsu...what you said at lunch really resonated with me. With both of us, honestly. You said that you were ready to accept anything that happened because you loved us, because you were happy as a result of what we did and provided for you. You said that it wasn't about the contract, and I believe you. You trusted us enough to handle you with care and to free you from the darkness you were facing. I want you...to repeat what you said that time."

She looks at you with determination. "I want to come with you. I want to be by the side of the people who have loved me and cared for me more than anyone else has in their lives. You're warriors, mercenaries. Fighting is part of what you do. Danger is part of what you do. But taking on a risk like me, and going further than that, making me safe...it was above and beyond anything that you needed to do, or should have done. You have big, beautiful hearts...and I want to be like you. No matter what it takes...I want to be like you."

You give her a grin. "Better than I could have hoped. Hannah?"

"I more than approve. Not just cute, but impossibly spirited," she replies with a bright smile.

"We made the decision just after you left at lunch. The rest of the day was us writing protocol and convincing your boss to let you go."

"D-do you mean...you really mean...!"

"Welcome to the family, Ritsu."

She jumps into your chest and buries her face in it.

"Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you thank you! I promise I'll be good! I'll be strong! Thank you! Oh, thank you!"

You smile and hug her back, Hannah following to wrap her arms around both of you.

"Family, huh." Hannah gives you a cheeky smirk. "Gonna put a ring on it soon?"

You scoff at her.

"Mom, Dad...don't fight so soon."

Ritsu smiles and the three of you burst into laughter.

---

You skip the night's dip in the onsen to run over the important things. Ritsu devours information like you didn't think was possible, and you get through OPSEC insanity faster than you would have guessed. You quiz her just to be sure and she passes easily. A lot of other things were field exercises, so you simulate them a bit inside the space of your room. With a grasp on the movements required, it now comes down to speed and execution. Athleticism would help, but it wasn't strictly needed, and certainly not in her case.

Hannah takes over to ask some specific questions, and you realize that she's trying to figure out a specialty for Ritsu so that she can delve into it as fast as she can.

It gets really late, and the three of you turn in eventually. Hannah's 'ownership' of Ritsu for the duration of your stay meant she wasn't going to get in trouble, and Auntie Asuka is aware of the situation. You plan to make use of that and maximize what she can absorb before you hit a turning point.

The next few days are steady. You eat and enjoy yourselves before your time is up. Ritsu grabs her clothes from the hotel she was staying in, you drop in a big donation at the front desk for Auntie, and then grab your few things and move out.

It's not all that far to the hidden village. But you have Hannah send out a message that you won't be arriving for a while yet.

Right now all of your time is devoted to Ritsu. And after that...you've got an important stop to make for her sake. The next month won't see any significant gains on your part or Hannah's - near the top of your games, the kind of training you needed to grow your power would kill Ritsu outright at this stage. So you take it relatively easy and focus on the smallest, weakest member of your team, your family.

She's on the lean side, and at 165 cm, relatively tiny. There's not too much growing she can do at nineteen, so you quash the hopes that she'll have some sort of chakra induced growth spurt. Her choices of clothing are nondescript and functional, fitting properly without being too tight. Clothing could be more elaborate and stylish, like with Hannah, but it also was a symbol of skill; a way to announce that you were strong enough to do whatever you wanted, and that included wearing whatever clothes you wanted, function be damned.

"Hm? I don't worry about flashing my underwear. Most people are too dead to talk about it, anyways."

Hannah did have a way with words sometimes.

Ritsu's growth will depend on how you start with her training, and you had agreed with Hannah that she had an area you should start building on.

---

Ritsu's Element - pick one element to start.

[] Fire
[] Water
[] Earth
[] Lightning
[] Wind

---

Ritsu's Specialty
- this will serve as the basis of her combat growth. While she can expand her repertoire later, it's recommended IC that she start with a single focus because it's already hard for normal humans to get up to speed, especially at her age. She will get a crash course in chakra molding and use, at the least up to the point where she can do the bare minimum to survive a shinobi encounter for 10 seconds. Stats will be distributed accordingly. And yes, the inclinations of the two instructors will factor in if you desire.

[] Social/infiltration - focuses on things such as spying and deception. Covers things like psychoanalysis and seduction arts. Intellectually focused.

[] Scouting/tracking - focuses on scout duties and extracting information from small clues. Favors speed and nimble movement.

[] Sensing - difficult enough to start that it's a dedicated category. Can be developed into both contact and non-contact techniques.

[] Medical - requires fine control but pays off by having some sort of healing on hand. The road is steep to start.

[] Ninjutsu - as advertised. Relatively quick to pick up. The type of ninjutsu will inform accompanying skills.
-[] Ranged - out here, movement speed is less important.
-[] Mid-distance - calls for more balance.
-[] Close - getting in and out asks for a bit more speed and toughness.

[] Genjutsu - illusion arts. Requires good control and will take longer to see results, same as medical.
-[] Audio - good for distance and as a setup for others.
-[] Visual - you want eye contact. You're going to be closer than usual.
-[] Touch - going right into the face of danger.
-[] Smell - discretion has to be exercised for allies.
-[] Taste - a special one. You're really going to want this for a specific build, and you'll probably guess it isn't one suited for direct combat.

[] Taijutsu - punch things. Possibly kick them. Requires the least pressure to learn, but results will vary. This doesn't cover special weapon skills, but can help grow them later.

[] Bukijutsu - covers the use of weapons. Weapons are not hard to use and cover a wide range. Specific techniques are harder, but not impossible. Shuriken/kunai arts are already part of Ritsu's basic kit.
-[] Puppet - basic training for puppet arts. The instructors are familiar with the starting points.
-[] Sword - this also falls under taijutsu. Starting with this will link you to taijutsu skills.
-[] Explosion - strong to start, and can be made deadlier with increasing skill.
-[] Staff - also called bojutsu. Strong, but with a learning curve.
-[] Fan - comes in various flavors. Depending on the type, you have different paths.
--[] Gunbai - non-folding war fan. Same type as Madara used. Versatile, and distinctive. Unlocking secrets will be difficult.
--[] Giant - very tall folding fan. Same type as Temari used. Big curve, but big results once learned.
--[] Single - easy to learn, easy to carry, and easy to use. Small curve but need to claw for bigger results.
--[] Double - with a bit more difficulty comes a bit more reward.
-[] Scythe - weapon with decent range, but slightly longer recovery. Different styles for flavor.
--[] Kama - single scythe.
--[] Kusarigama - sickle with chain. Hanzo's weapon of choice. Hard to start, but possibilities are endless.
-[] Bow - on the tin. Bow and arrow arts. Stationary and vulnerable, but the trade is sniping with optional chakra usage and other nasty surprises. Ninja Hawkeye? Don't count it out.
-[] Other - cool things that if you want I can think about and incorporate. I'm up for a lot of things. Just don't ask about...actually you can ask about "guns" tbh. I'll make it work, probably.

[] Seals - don't expect to see any results for a long time. However, patience is rewarded handsomely.

[] Other Unlisted Specialty - subject to author fiat. Naturally.

---

Ritsu's Stats - base values. These will increase as soon as you pick your specialty. You have 12 points to distribute. I strongly advise against min-maxing but I won't forbid it. What you pick will certainly have an effect on your specialty.

Ninjutsu:
Taijutsu:
Genjutsu:
Intelligence:
Strength:
Speed:
Stamina:
Seal Speed:
Total: 12/80

---

As a guideline, anything that seems like it's going to be hard for a genin to learn is probably going to be ten times harder for a 19 year old tiny ninja dancer. If you're going to pick something that's going to be hard but with big results at the end, think long term and then act accordingly.

Also, assume I'm going to throw in something wacky because like I said in an earlier effortpost, everyone can get swole.

 

[FortePlus]

An accelerated training program. The three of you had agreed to it in principle over the past month.

Ritsu steadily moves in three dimensions on top of the stream as it rains, dressed in her swimsuit. You stand on the water ahead of her, watching her bare feet splash against the surface of the water. Her breaths are steady and rhythmic. Hannah watches from behind her, making sure she's doing everything right.

Over the past few weeks you taught her all of the basics that were common to the major shinobi academies. Everything from chakra to fighting to weapons to strategy. How to incorporate shinobi standards into every day living. She was steady on her feet, steady in everything she did or tried. Steady was what you came to expect from her as a result. If it wasn't fast, or it wasn't the best, it was steady and even. And frankly, you liked that more than anything else.

Her speed and athleticism don't move up dramatically, but they do move up. She's not as good as an academy graduate, but her rate of growth after just a month of hard work is promising.

As for her specialty, it was decided that her focus would be on the social aspect. Infiltration and deception would work well as something to build on; her hostess training and general attitude made her well suited to that focus. Her best area is genjutsu and she rapidly improves on that front. She has solid misdirection options and makes clever use of subtle genjutsu to avoid trouble for a while, more than enough to stall or call for an assist against stronger opponents. Against normal humans, she's got practically no issues.

"That's enough."

"Yes, sir." Ritsu jumps from the water and lands on the shore, going to her knees and breathing deeply. As soon as she catches her breath, she turns to you for orders.

"We're taking the rest of the day off. You've done well, Ritsu."

"Thank you, sir. May I make a request?"

"Yup, go ahead."

"Could we have venison tonight, sir?"

"Sure. Hannah, what do we have on hand?"

"Certainly what our darling has requested," she says as she walks to your side. "A reward for a month's hard work is more than fair. We'll celebrate properly at the next spring we see."

"Great. We'll do that, then. Let's pack up and move out. No chance we miss another hot spring on the way down to town. They're all over, which only makes sense..."

"I've always wondered about the weather," Ritsu says as the three of you walk back to base camp. "And the climate in general, along with geography. Does it have to do with chakra?"

"We somehow don't have weather services in place after all these years, so I wouldn't know. But I have my suspicions that chakra has something to do with the localized weather patterns, and how climate is so radically different from place to place. Fire Country is constantly warm and sunny, but also has such balanced humidity and short term weather. Meanwhile Wind is really arid in a lot of places, so much that it's hard to make a living anywhere that's not in the general vicinity of the Sand or around oases. That puts a lot more strain on shinobi and it increases the weight of missions across the board...which is why it's been so devastating with all the cuts and their missions going to villages like Leaf," you reply.

"Even with the military power of the tailed beasts...I know historically that Sand has asked for arable land, but that proposal was rejected roundly...Wind Country territory is quite large, but they have no leverage since it's basically useless in terms of military and economic growth. Clans did gather to form the Hidden Sand, but out of pressure from the shift created by Senju and Uchiha. The environment is a strong buffer against invasion and infiltration, so it's rare for any village to waste resources trying to take over the Sand. That said, because they're in such bad economic straits, they're trivially easy to manipulate that way. There's even the possibility they would artificially induce a war in order to secure additional funding and spike the required number of missions."

You nod. "Good points."

Ritsu dries herself under the shelter of a tree. You and Hannah sit on logs. "I think that the aims of the shinobi systems were noble. What I don't believe for a moment is that Hashirama Senju intended for things to end up this way. He had a vision for peace and did his best to move towards it, even going as far as handing out the tailed beasts freely to other nations and forbidding children from entering the battlefield. We cannot blame him for every bad thing that has happened...even so, from the remaining records we have, we can see there was a fair bit of naivete in his actions. If the Hidden Leaf was the first of many great clan alliances, then they must also take responsibility for the political system that followed it. In the creation of a new nation, Hashirama and Tobirama after him left major political power in the hands of the daimyo. The daimyo control how villages function. If it were not so, we would not see the chaos of the Hidden Sand, nor would Orochimaru of the Three need to haggle so extensively with Rice Country in order to establish his orphanage and research facility."

"Do you feel the same way as Shiina?" Hannah asks.

"In principle. I think that Hashirama made a mistake in how he carried on. However, I don't necessarily think that shinobi should disappear. What's needed is evolution based on the times. I can't...exactly advocate for complete control by the Kage, no matter how nice they might seem. An intermediary, perhaps. Or something different. All I know is that the daimyo have caused much of the suffering we see here. If not by way of proxy wars, by general ignorance and being so out of touch with everything that happens."

"So not erasing the shinobi, but changing the system they exist on."

"Yes, sir. I simply don't have an idea of how to best do that."

"That's why we have discussions, to figure these things out. It's not something to be solved in a day...but you've shown off some ridiculous insight after just a month with that data. You might be some sort of genius, Ritsu."

"Oh...t-thank you, sir." She blushes brightly and plays with her hands. "Sorry...I'll get myself dressed."

"S'alright." True to her word, she quickly slips on her clothes and gets her pack on. You and Hannah do the same before you head out.

The group heads down towards the Hot Water Village again, and you run into another small natural hot spring where you stop for the night. The three of you celebrate the end of Ritsu's basic training with venison and freshly steamed vegetables. Hannah grabbed some sake a few weeks earlier and it gets passed around for sharing. Naturally as a talented social specialist, and former onsen worker, Ritsu can hold her liquor with ease. You enjoy yourselves in the hot pool until well past morning, then sleep in until the afternoon.

By the time you hit the village proper, it's been a month and four days.

"My Daddy works in construction. He was getting some pretty big projects back when I left...I guess it explains some things."

"Not good enough for me," you say.

"Not that it should be. But we will attempt to be civil," Hannah says. "Siblings?"

"My little sister, Kanna. She's about two years younger than me. It was the four of us, and then our other relatives and family...I couldn't say if we should expect any of them, ma'am."

It's definitely a tourist village, and ripe with opportunities for work of all kinds. Shinobi were effectively reduced to self-defense forces with the move towards pacifism, which might explain why some of them took on jobs posted by Yakuza. None of that excuses what they did to Ritsu...but at the same time, the mismanagement of funding, resources, and jobs would contribute to certain actions.

When Ritsu made that analysis a few days back, she was speaking from a place of brutal experience.

The walk along the finely paved roads brings you around the midtown area, and to a mildly secluded section of the village. Not quite a gated community, but close. You see a big, two storey house painted light blue, with big square windows at the bottom and circular ones at the top. There's a flower garden at the front, split by the brick path you walk on. A front porch big enough to hold dance parties on.

"My, my. You came from this?" Hannah asks Ritsu.

"I did, ma'am."

"And what, pray tell, did you do on your end to get yourself kicked out of this haven?"

"I...I promised to..."

"Darling?" Hannah stops and holds her close. "I'm sorry, I was too casual. Please forgive me."

"It's not your fault. You didn't mean anything by...I just...I think you should hear it from them."

"I understand."

You realize you're not going to like this one bit. Getting closer, you can hear that there are people inside, and one old man sitting on the porch by himself. He wears a tan shirt and matching pants high on his waist.

"Afternoon." He looks at Ritsu, eyes narrowing before he looks back at you. "Shoulda known. Guess the boyfriend sent his goons..."

"We're not yakuza," you say firmly. "But if you screw this up, I guarantee you'll wish that we were. Mind getting the man of the house for us? We'll wait here."

He slowly gets up, glaring at you as he walks inside. You wait a minute or two before someone else pushes open the door and emerges. A woman with light brown hair, a presumably slim figure, and a white dress that nearly sweeps the ground beneath her. Her lips are pressed into a thin line as she tries to keep her composure. You wonder if your anger is already showing on your face.

Hannah puts a hand on your lower back and moves to your side. Her eyes look you over and you nod, letting her step forward.

"Your garden is lovely. I quite enjoyed it on the long walk up your finely constructed path. It must have taken quite a bit of money to prepare, but you can't have your husband wasting time on do it yourself endeavours, can you?"

"I suppose not," the woman replies. "Who might you be here on behalf of?"

"Ourselves. We've requested a meeting with the master of the house, in regards to our companion here. Her name is Ritsu Tanaka. Any relation?"

"I am her mother. Mariko."

"Hm. There is a notable resemblance. I...am curious as to why, when we made one simple request, we were not honoured? Surely it makes sense not to anger guests who you may suspect are in league with the yakuza?"

"I wanted to verify your claims."

"Verify. Yes, a likely story. You insult both of us with the garbage that spills from your mouth."

"Don't you-"

Hannah steps into her face, making her flinch.

"You are going to invite us in like normal people. Then, you will fetch your beloved husband from the backyard, and have him meet us in the guest area."

"I-I will do no s-"

"No, you will. I promise you will. Go on, now. I don't like to be kept waiting."

Mariko's breathing is heavy as she backs away from Hannah. She opens the door and the three of you file in.

"Kanna, come here."

"Mommy, what is it? I'm sorta-" Another brown haired girl, taller than Ritsu but much more energetic. Her earrings sparkle in the light, and she wears a frilly blouse paired with a knee length skirt. "Ritsu...? Big...big sis...?"

"..."

"Mom...Mommy, what's happening? You said that...no, you told me that she...I..."

"There's no time for it, Kanna."

The younger girl steadies her trembling hands and holds back her tears. "...I'll...tend to our guests. Please follow me."

"Thank you. I'll get your father and we can sort out this mess quickly."

Kanna leads you to what you presume is the common room, with all manner of couches and chairs in the area.

"W-would you like tea?" she asks as you sit down.

"Do you have any coffee on hand?" you ask.

"Yes, sir. I can make you some."

"Nothing for me," Hannah says.

"And you...m-miss?"

"Water, please. One cube of ice," Ritsu says quietly.

"I'll be back shortly." Kanna sniffles just as quietly and leaves you. You hear hushed, angry words go back and forth between two people before a new face emerges.

You estimate he has about two or three inches on you. Big, muscular frame under that dress shirt and pants. His hair grows down to his shoulders, dark brown. He stares you down before casting a casual glance at Ritsu.

You're also well aware of the sword in his right hand, and so is everyone else on the team. Dumb. What is this supposed to be?

"I have to wonder just how stupid you are," Hannah says out loud.

"Excuse me?" the man rumbles.

"I am wondering if you have some sort of mental deficiency," Hannah says again. "For you to come out here and threaten guests with a blade, guests who have come here with your eldest daughter in tow. What the fuck are you trying to do?"

"You listen here, b-"

"Choose your next words carefully," you warn. "I told the old man at the front door that you'll wish we were yakuza if you get this wrong. You can hold onto your piece of steel like a safety blanket if you want, just take it easy. Please."

"Please do as he says, Daddy." Kanna returns with your requests, handing you your coffee and Ritsu her water. Their eyes meet for a long moment before Kanna pulls away, retreating to the seat on her father's right. Mariko sits on his left, trembling hands in her lap. Then you become aware of more footsteps, and more people crowding the room.

"This is what we're doing," you mutter.

"Absurd. I've never come upon a level of stupidity such as this," Hannah grumbles audibly. "Little wonder our Ritsu had to run."

"Our Ritsu?" Mariko asks, incredulous.

Hannah glares back at her. "I didn't fucking stutter."

"We're here to have a chat with the Tanakas, and I'm assuming a bunch of you here are relatives and friends or whatever," you say with a sigh. "Just...if you're thinking about throwing down, don't. I can kill all of you in an instant and she can too. Pretty sure just Ritsu can murder the lot of you on her own now. We're not yakuza. We just want to talk. Far as you know, I'm Zeke and my best friend over there is Dani. Mariko, Kanna, and the man of the house is...?"

"Keiji."

"Keiji. Good. We're on slightly better footing now."

"If you're not yakuza, what the fuck are you doing here with my daughter?"

"We've got shit to say," you shoot back. "Specifically Ritsu."

"Why don't you ask her, then? I'm sure she's fed you-"

"Stop! Daddy, stop it! Stop it!" Kanna screams. "They came to us to see what our side of the story was! They came to see what really happened! And I want to know too! I want to know! You told me that my big sis was dead, that the yakuza used her as a flesh doll until she killed herself! You told me all of that, and it was a lie! The past two years..."

Kanna breaks down into sobs. Ritsu is shaking.

"We'll get the truth one way or another," you say. "Up to you."

---

[] Focus on getting Keiji to talk.
[] Kanna is emotionally vulnerable, and she wants to clear this up. Try her.
[] Mariko is nervous and brittle. Get her talking and she probably won't stop on account of guilt.
[] Have Ritsu tell the story herself. She has no reason to lie that you can think of.
[] Write in.

---

[] Joshua leads discussion. Ideally fair and balanced.
[] Hannah leads discussion. She'll be probing and aggressive.
[] Ritsu takes the lead. She has choices.
-[] An honest, emotional response.
-[] A time to put her lessons into play, and use her social spec to pull the absolute truth from her family.
[] Write in.

---

Ritsu's databook entry is coming up soon.

 

[FortePlus]

>>>​ The Illuminators​

---

Episode 2 Postlude: Scar Tissue

---

​

"Joshua, sir. Please...let me do this."

"Ritsu. Are you sure?"

She nods slowly. "I'm sure. I need to bring this to an end, by my own hand. What I'm about to do will hurt, but...it's necessary. I feel like it's something necessary."

"Go ahead, then. We've got your back."

"Thank you."

You notice it right away. Her posture shifts, and the look in her eyes changes. They immediately become steely, giving off that intense glow that you remembered from the first few encounters with her. It was a trick of the mind, yes, but one created entirely by her force of will. You can see her taking everything in before she even parts her lips to speak.

This looks like it's going to be brutal.

"A lot has happened," she starts evenly. "Coming home wasn't something that I thought to do, or expected to happen. It was a miracle that brought me to this point. I almost did die, for real. I thought a lot about killing myself, about ending it all just to escape the terror that I was wrapped in. I...I forgot about all of you. Kanna, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that I betrayed your memory. You would never want such a thing..."

"I...you're not at fault," she sniffles. "I can't imagine what you might have gone through, sis."

"Nor would I want you to." She slowly brings her attention to her mother. "So much has happened. I can imagine living with pain, but not being a mother. It was a close call, I think. I had it in the back of my head that he wanted to get me pregnant."

Keiji is like a rock, unmoving.

"You had to go through so much, Mommy. I'm sorry. I wish I could take away your pain." Ritsu slowly gets to her feet and walks over to where her mother sits, getting down onto her knees. She takes one of Mariko's trembling hands and holds it against her cheek. "Mommy, it's okay. I'm alive. I made it."

Mariko says nothing, nerves starting to consume her.

"When a mother has family around her, family to protect and provide for, she often has to make hard decisions. Terribly hard ones. Shouldn't you be pitied, Mommy? For the hard choices, the sacrifices you had to make over and over? I remember you told us about how hard you worked before you met Daddy. How you pulled yourself up out of the poverty you used to live in. How you really, truly became someone. Letting that slip away...that's not fair. It couldn't be fair." Ritsu pauses and let out a breath. "I remember working in the restaurant. It was nice. I liked serving people, helping them enjoy themselves. Did you know I was working at an onsen the past two years? It's where I met Zeke and Dani. My boss was a nice woman, though she did love smoking..."

"I..."

"It's okay, Mommy. Be calm. Hm, the guy didn't even register to me as yakuza, or else I would have taken more care in rejecting him. I realize now that I'm bisexual. Funny how we discover simple things like that in times of crisis, but that's the power of life experience. But I'm getting off topic...I rejected him quite a few times before giving in, and that's when I found out what he was. Tetsuda..." A scowl forms on her face as she says the name. "He didn't give off the distinguished aura of the other yakuza, which was a sign on its own. But then, distinguished wasn't a word to attribute to him after he drugged me..."

"Wh..." Mariko's eyes shift to Keiji for a moment before going back to Ritsu, who is looking up at her impassively.

The sinking feeling you had before is getting stronger.

"He threatened everyone. You, Daddy, Kanna...and me, most of all. I endured for months until I couldn't anymore. And that was when I told all of you. I talked about choices...you had one to make. Chase your firstborn daughter into an abyss and lose everything in the process, or stay on this side and protect whatever you had. It's a heavy choice. You had so much more to lose from going after me. And so much to live for, so much to hold onto. You had to protect everything you worked so hard for. It wasn't that you hated me...it was that you loved what you had more. I understood that I wasn't going to be protected. That it was my problem, my responsibility. And because I still loved you, I wanted to protect you. I thought that if I ran away to a place you didn't know about, a place that you couldn't reach...you wouldn't need an alibi. You wouldn't need to lie."

"You...ran away to protect us?" Kanna asks, her voice cracking.

"I did. I tried. I tried so hard, but I...made a mistake, I think. I don't really know what I did wrong...but he found me. I had just started my job at the onsen, and within the month...he found me. I was scared. I didn't know what to do, I felt like I was trapped in a nightmare. I broke apart, and I...I let him have his way with me. He would come up to the town whenever he was free, and hire ninja as bodyguards." Ritsu lets go of her mother's hand. "Part of the story you told Kanna was right, Mommy. I was a whore. A living doll that was passed around and battered and abused. Real dolls are lucky, though. They don't have to carry memories."

"Ritsu...I..."

"Mommy. What was it that happened? I just want to know why...why you all had to cut ties with me so suddenly. Why you told my beloved Kanna that I was already dead? How come? Mommy?"

"I...I had to stop her...if she...she kept going she would find you..."

Ritsu tilts her head slightly. "Find me? I don't understand, Mommy."

The guilt is seeping into Mariko. She trembles and sniffles loudly. "F-find that you were...alive and try to bring you back...so I...I told her that and..."

"To keep her safe from the yakuza. To convince everyone that I really was dead, so that they would stop looking for me. To make it look like it was my bad decision, my choice that I ran away. It was a tragic accident, a young girl who went too deep into the waters of adulthood and never surfaced. I understand. I get it. It only makes sense to have a cover story. But..."

Her eyes bore into Mariko.

"...it wasn't your idea. Was it?"

"I...uh, I..."

"Please, Mommy. Please tell me the truth," Ritsu pleads. "Please, I want to know. I just...want to know..."

"Keiji...and I..."

"Daddy's suggestion. Daddy is the head of the house." Ritsu pats her mother's hand. "I know. You only had one option. How could you throw yourself on a sword for me, someone who was so foolish and unrepentant?"

"Ritsu, I...please, I didn't-"

"Mommy. Be calm. Be calm. Relax...now think," she says soothingly, rubbing her mother's hand, "think back to what happened. Think back to why Daddy would make you make such a hard, unbearable choice. Think hard, Mommy."

Mariko starts sobbing. "Please...don't make me..."

"I believe in you, Mommy."

"Ritsu. Stop harassing her-"

"Don't you interrupt now, Daddy," Kanna says fiercely. "I won't let you interfere anymore. You made up that story for Mom to tell me, and because I was young and scared, I believed it right away. I spread that lie far and wide. I poisoned the well. Even if I didn't realize it, I was part of Ritsu-nee's suffering. I have to know what happened, and I won't let you stop the truth coming out."

"Do as she says and stand down," you follow. "You've only got reason to worry if you've done something ridiculous."

"Are you okay, Mommy? Can you continue?" Ritsu asks gently.

"I...we..."

"We what? What happened? Mommy? What happened?"

You've been following the chain of evidence. Kanna was fed a lie that she ended up spreading to the village, even if it was just that Ritsu had died tragically. A blanket statement that kept people from looking for her, from seeking out the truth. What truth that was, was...

"Oh, fucking hell," you mutter under your breath.

"Darling?" Hannah asks. "What's wrong?"

"We should have asked ourselves why they were expecting us," you say.

Hannah pauses before you see her eyes fill with absolute fury.

"You...son of a fucking bitch," she spits at Keiji. "You absolute fucking trash."

"We...knew," Mariko chokes out.

"Knew? What did you know?" Kanna asks, frightened by what's going on. "Mommy, what did you and Daddy know?"

"The contracts...the lucrative, life changing contracts...the fact that work was work...everything," Ritsu says sadly. "I was the one. The sacrifice."

"I don't understand! Ritsu-nee, I don't understand!"

"A month before Tetsuda found me...I sent out what was now an ill-advised message."

"Where?!"

Ritsu closes her eyes. "To this very home."

"I...still don't..."

Mariko is clutching her head, crying openly. "I'm sorry! I did it! I let it happen! I'm sorry! Aaaa...aaa!"

"I didn't think about it until recently. It never crossed my mind how Tetsuda would find me, fifty kilometers away from home, in a small tourist town most people would simply fly through. I was too scared out of my mind to consider it. But it's clear now what happened."

"Tetsuda...the yakuza blackmailed Daddy..." Kanna mentally walks back the statement. Hannah is still seething and you grab her hand to calm her down. "Cover...sacrifice?"

"Are you too much of a coward to say it?" you ask Keiji. His grip tightens on the sword, but he says nothing.

"Calling him a coward implies some sort of humanity on his part," Hannah growls. "And that's quite a reach as far as I'm concerned."

"You snot-nosed bitch-!"

"Was it worth it, Daddy?"

He stands in place, looking down at Ritsu.

"What?"

"Was it worth it? Did you achieve your dreams? Did you get to do at least some of the things you wanted to do?"

"Yakuza...contracts? Daddy?" Kanna asks.

"Money...so much money...all we had to do was...was...he wanted her..."

Kanna's voice becomes distant as she looks at her mother. "Ya...kuza? The boss was chasing...and sis...he wanted sis...you let him rape her? And then after she..."

"Yes, Kanna. Yes. The wolf was let loose to gobble me up. To please the bosses. For self-preservation," Ritsu says.

"Daddy...let them hurt you? Daddy caused this? Mommy and Daddy...the yakuza? The mobsters...my sister? You let them...rape my sister? You let them...let them..."

Tears roll down her face before she clutches her stomach in agony. She drops to her hands and knees and her cheeks bulge before she vomits loudly.

"We should have figured it out much earlier," you say. "You assumed we were yakuza goons for some reason, and kept that assumption even after we told you otherwise. That didn't make sense at all...unless you were expecting your daughter to be with the yakuza the entire time, alive. You wouldn't, couldn't know of your daughter's status after you cut her off. But that mistake she made...trusting you...it was a way back into the good graces of the impulsive yakuza who was pissed that his prize catch got away. You leaked her location after she thought she was safe. And I can't confirm it, but...I'm sure you were getting something from Tetsuda on the side."

"You didn't act shocked at Ritsu's arrival. None of you did," Hannah follows. "Because you knew that she was out there, being visited by Tetsuda regularly. As long as nobody else knew, you could keep your prestige and money. You could continue making the yakuza happy. Because it was those contracts that made you rich...those generous contracts that involved twisting rules and regulations as much as possible before they broke. You cut her off to let go of responsibility. And the husband lied to his wife about the first encounter so that she would easily take his side. Your lives were never in danger. Only your lifestyles."

Ritsu cleans her sister's mouth and helps calm her down. You watch the sad scene with no sympathy for the father or the distraught mother.

"Trash...that's a good way to put it."

Hannah squeezes your hand this time and nods.

"Kanna. I'm sorry. I died a long time ago."

Ritsu stands up and pulls her shirt over her head. Even the peanut gallery properly reacts to the scars that cover her small frame.

"But I'm reborn. Thanks to these two lovely people. They are my family now. You will always be my beloved little sister, but they are the family that I will live with from now on. None of this ever happened. I don't exist here."

"..." Kanna nods from her seat on the floor. She holds her arms out for a hug and Ritsu kneels down to receive it. They embrace for what feels like a long time, but must have been far too short for either of them.

"I love you, Kanna. I will always be with you."

"I love you, Ritsu. I'll always love you." Kanna looks at you and Hannah. "Thank you for saving her. She belongs to you now. Make her strong. Strong enough to change this world we live in."

"We will," you assure her.

"Ritsu. Listen," Keiji says as he puts a hand on her shoulder. She looks up at him, expressionless. "Things have happened. But we're still your parents."

"No, you're not."

She brushes his hand aside and pulls her shirt back over her head.

"You're avoiding the scars. Are you going to acknowledge them?"

"I don't care about the scars," he says, trying to be considerate.

Her expression changes to that of pity. "Of course you don't. You don't see them, because I'm still 'beautiful' on the inside. Because they're just 'a part of your body' and that doesn't measure your character. You don't see the scars, Tanaka-san, and you don't see me. You stopped seeing me a long time ago."

"R-Ritsu...I..."

"Mariko."

The woman's face twists into an unreadable expression.

"Don't waste your words on me. Enjoy your spoils." Ritsu turns to you. "I don't have anything else to say."

"We don't either," you say with a look towards Hannah, who nods in agreement. "Let's get out of here."

"Associate with trash too much and you'll take on its smell. Oh, and by the way?" Hannah says, walking up to Keiji. She grabs his sword by the blade and snaps it apart. "Try investing in decent metalwork." She lets the half in her hand drop to the floor in front of him before walking off.

"See you assholes never," you say. "Kanna, stay safe."

"I...I will. Thank you."

You wave over your shoulder and head out after the girls.

---

"Was that alright for you?" Hannah asks Ritsu. It's been a few hours since your visit to the Tanaka house, and you're heading towards Hannah's contact just outside of the village.

"It was...therapeutic. I think I was a bit numb to it all before, but now...now I think I feel a bit of peace. It will always hurt, remembering how little I meant to the people who gave me life. But I'm able to deal with it now. The training...helped a lot. Certainly."

"We're not shinobi. We don't have any obligation to shove things down or repress memories," you say. "Things like that only whip up monsters in the end, anyways."

"That much is true. I'm alright, I'm just figuring out how exactly to properly process everything. Discovering all of that just...was a bit surreal. Less hatred than this overwhelming sense of pity for them. God, how hard could it have been? What did they have to do to themselves to justify that? I thought about applying some blame to myself for not seeing this coming, but I can't do it. I can't. It's all on them. Ridiculous..."

"If you need anything, just let us know."

She gives you a nod. "I will. If there's something I don't quite get, I'll ask."

"You were quite amazing, though. We were right to have you specialize in social skills...you dismantled that woman with ease," Hannah says proudly. "All of that hard work paid off, I doubt you would have gotten much out of them by simply appealing to their emotions."

"I don't think so either. My only regret is what it did to Kanna." Ritsu nods to herself. "But she's strong. I know she is. And she'll figure out her path."

"Hope she does it soon so she can get out of that hellhole," you reply. "Anyways...from what I remember, we're almost at our destination."

"We're here, actually." Hannah stops in front of the open lot that you intended to pass through. You're on the outskirts of the village, where more trees are popping up as civilization starts to fade out. The spot you're looking at was developed once in the past, but has been left to return to nature for the time being.

"Let's begin." She makes a series of seals before stretching a hand forward and snapping her fingers. The air ahead ripples a bit before settling down. "Follow me."

You and Ritsu follow her in a line as she walks forward and through the air itself, disappearing. As you follow, you see that the empty lot is replaced by a house with a high fence and a neatly trimmed front yard. There are flowers everywhere.

"Wild," you mumble. "Guess we don't have to worry about security too much."

"There's plenty of paranoia to be had, apparently. Let's head in."

The home is a decent size, eastern in scope with a low entrance and floors. You head forward and cast a glance at Ritsu before noticing she's standing stock still for some reason.

"Ritsu? You okay?"

"Oh hell," Hannah groans. "Get out of there, you idiot."

"Nuh-uh~ Not with that lousy attitude~!" a soft, playful voice calls back.

What the hell. Was there some sort of genjutsu you missed? Ritsu's voice has completely changed, and her facial expressions aren't the same either. Her eyes are also...square? She has square pupils, glowing green. She didn't have those before, you know that much.

"Relax," Hannah assures you. "It's just a bout of insanity from one of our prospective partners. What do you want, woman?"

"Nothing from you. Him," she says, pointing to you with Ritsu's arm. "Pay the membership fee."

"Membership?"

"We like to think of ourselves as an exclusive club~ So, if you're interested in talking to us, you gotta pay the pipers! A small fee of five million ryo."

"Five million?" you parrot. That's a lot for just entry to a clubhouse, no matter how prestigious.

"Stop harassing him," Hannah says.

"You don't get in if you don't pay the toll. And...I'll hang on to this cutie for myself if you're not quick. Time's a-wastin'~"

"..." Hannah didn't mention this. So it's customized for you, then. But an entry fee...that wouldn't be a useful barrier for someone who already had their location hidden inside of some time-space field.

The ghost or whoever's in there is having Ritsu rock back and forth on her heels, while Hannah grumbles about 'eccentricities'.

This is very obviously a test. Possibly with multiple right answers.

---

[] Pay the fee, as a sign of good faith. You're good for it, and it's a small dent on your finances either way.

[] Refuse to pay, on principle of refusing extortion. No way you're getting bullied like this.

[] Ask to speak to the person running things directly. It's bold, but it's also to the point.

[] Write in.

---

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Episode 3: Brave New World