Post by Kiore Urahara on Apr 4, 2008 6:25:34 GMT 1
"...the smile I shall never make,
the tears that I shall never shed,
the screams that I shall never hear..."
In a world of make believe and the spinning lies and dreams of foolish, hope seeking weavers of wishes take into heart the truth of it all; because within everything imagined, the ugly truth will unveil itself from the lies. The weavers cease to dream, and the wishes are no longer wished for, hope is merely a thing to fuel the deranged sense of need and want that people want to pretend they have, and the foolish become the intellects. Make believe world's are created to hide the horrible truth of reality, and as hope turns to wishes, wishes turn to lies and lies loophole back to the truth and everything is set in balance accordingly. But when the weavers never dream, and the wishing children stop looking at the shooting stars, and all hope is lost in the face of fear... where does that leave the truth that the lies cover? Do we live within a world of mere truth, without the need to dream? A fate that surely would become the undoing of some of the most fragile and oldest things of time, surely not! Must we limit ourselves to the everyday bustle in the markets? The idle chit chat? The same day playing over and over like a broken record. Surely there is more hope in this world than that-
"Yer readin' that trash again, 'Kiko," Susumu's familiar and easily distinguished words and tone, broke through the near trance like state Akiko had been locking herself away in, for the past hour or so, alert only to the things that she need be alert for. Susumu tended to have a unique manner of speech that was easy recognizable, his tone was rough yet smooth at the same time, but mostly intrusive and loud; breaking into the silences, whether or not he was welcomed was not a thing that crossed his mind.
With a delicate sigh, Akiko bookmarked the page of her current 'book in progress' (as Takumi had started calling this new habit that the Abarai had picked up) she hugged it to her chest as she looked up to greet her friend. His hair was a mess, like every other day, green blue locks were in an array of styles... Susumu had a habit of tucking the hair that would normally be behind his ears, out and over them, whilst everything else was just everywhere. The eyes, much the same, were bored yet slightly amused - he must have been, to try and spark a conversation with her - whilst he wore his everyday attire, mostly just black hued material and a bit of red here and there, his hitai-ate was tied to his left bicep; it would have identified him as a shinobi of Mist, if not for the obvious scratch through the symbol.
Akiko observed him for a short moment, before softly inclining her head in an action that was perhaps a nod, perhaps a slight shrug, perhaps something entirely different. The missing-nin was like that, it was exteremly difficult for people whom did not know her, to descipher what was going on in her mind. When chance might come that you think you understand her, she'll change and you will be forced to start all over again - if in fact, one would find it necessary to do so, to look upon the female as if she was worth the time.
"It keeps me sane," she murmured, and Susumu chuckled in reply. Sanity was a very questionable aspect, for all of them.
"New one, eh?" Susumu inclined his head towards the book's cover, reading a new title and author since the last time he had caught her getting lost in silly little stories.
"Mm," in 'Akiko-language' that translated into a, "why yes, Susumu, it is a new book, how very observant of you." Really, was it too hard for her to at least talk to him, once in a while? Really talk, not little things here and there... even then, the little things she usually said were highly lacking today. "I've got a job to do," she said after a few minutes of comfortable silence. Akiko never referred to the missions she was given by her current employer, a boss of some underground gang, but looking upon them merely as jobs. Susumu grunted in acknowledgment and stood up, offering her a hand that she surprisingly accepted.
"Always runnin' off," the male grinned, observing the matter of how Akiko never seemed to stay in the same place, let alone around people, for longer than necessary. She was here one moment, and gone the next... like the wind, Norio had observed on their last encounter. Sometimes, she could be a gentle summer breeze that was cool and refreshing. Sometimes, she might be the icy prick of the skin when a snow storm was brewing. Sometimes, she left the people around her like a whirlwind, terrifying and brutal, destructive and uncaring. Then, there was the maelstrom that she was when she fought. And then sometimes she was just gone.
Akiko seemed to have taken a scroll out, earlier, and the put she had been reading disappeared - she was always quick, you had to watch so very carefully to pick up most of her actions and movement. "I'll see you," she said gently, pausing only for a moment as she walked away, when Susumu said his farewell and 'good wishes'. Then on the whispered note of a goodbye, the wind carried her away.
Her employer had sent out the request for her assistance merely this morning, to have her take care of a few shinobi whom he had hired, yet supposedly hadn't completely the tasks set out for them, properly. Her employer was not the type to be angered, one must always go to the highest possible lengths to please him. Akiko really couldn't care less about the warnings, all she cared was that he paid her well enough. And well enough was certainly a high amount. The shinobi appeared to be at least former Jounin's of their villages, stated now as missing-nin, so she wasn't going to have it easy... or perhaps she might, it really all depended on certain aspects.
They weren't too hard to find, she just had to follow the signs and habits that they're profiles had stated; they seemed to split up when they were not needed on a job, and each had their different 'hobbies'.
The first of whom had adapted an unhealthy life of earning money, and then wasting it away on gambling at casino's and drinking, a lot of drinking. Akiko found him in Stone. Indeed he was obviously not the brains of the team, but seemed to find that brute strength would be all he needed to get by. He was easily dealt with, and after a lot of buildings collapsing and a few casualties here and there, Akiko finished him off with her first attack (after avoiding all of his until he lost his stamina). She left the scene quickly with only a slight scratch on her cheek.
The second wasn't so much strength, but tactics. A female that Akiko had found in a small village just off of the coast, she did not bother to acknowledge her name nor questions she might have asked, not sure if she had even spoken. This was a task set out for her to complete within a set time limit, she hadn't the time for words uttered or shouted or screamed. The female was clever, and had a talent for genjutsu... but with the right eyes, trained beyond the limits, one could see through them. Genjutsu were things of the mind, penetrating and feeding off of one's fears and weaknesses, after a while they became to be meaningless in the eyes of one whom had seen, experienced and done it all. By the end of the fight, the female literally lost her head, and Akiko walked away.
The third and last of the team had been the one she was most prepared for, drawing out information here and there. He wasn't as strong as his other male teammate, and nor was he as clever as his female teammate; but instead, he was a mixture of brains and brawn. Ninjutsu seemed to be his special ability, and sword play on Akiko's part wasn't going to finish him. Thus, she resorted to her own ninjutsu, and within a maelstrom of thunder and lightning, rain and cloud, harsh winds and freezing temperatures... he was caught unaware. Akiko walked away from the battle, however this time there was a cut down her left arm, which was dealt with later.
Akiko, wearing a black cloak that hid her form from chin to foot - protecting her from the rain, that relentlessly fell from heaven to earth - strode down the streets of Kusagakure, that were still surprisingly packed full of people, probably doing last minute things before the true storm hit. She wouldn't need to inform her employer of the mission being completed, he always was aware if she had or had not, either way. Eyes searched the bustling streets for an inn, one that was preferably rather empty. "Tch," she muttered, stepping out of the way before a child ran into her. Always in a rush to get somewhere, human beings, she licked her lips, thinking of all the reasons why she disliked being in such crowded places.
