Rainy days

It was raining. Not the pouring deluge that caused floods, pelted rooves, and tried to rip the leaves from the trees. Nor was it a sprinkling drizzle that was just a step up from mist and could usually just be ignored. This was just rain, in the calming and almost rythmic downpour of a steady storm. The storm itself had no wind to it and so the rain was smooth, steady, and pouring straight downward. The temperature had been hot for the last few days, and with the rain coming down, it created an enjoyable if slightly cool moderate temperature on this cloudy day with relatively low humidity.

While many would be hiding away from the storm's rampage, at least one youth was out wandering the streets of the town. Seresana happily walked through the streets in the pouring rain, the water soaking her hair and clothes as she walked. Living a little on the outside of the village, Seresana didn't get into the village nearly as often as she'd like and she was fully determined to enjoy it no matter what the weather was like. Seresana hummed a little as she walked, occasionally hopping, skipping, or twirling through the rain soaked streets. Eventually she came to a park and wandered in without a moment's hesitation. Not long after entering, she saw a small gazebo and took shelter under the simple wooden structure. Leaning against one of the posts, Seresana opted to simply watch the rain fall for a moment. She couldn't explain the sense of calm that came to her whenever a storm blew in, but it was there and Seresana felt like she could just fall asleep to the constant pounding of the rain upon the gazebo's roof. The day though was just past noon, and Seresana was wide awake, just taking a break in the no walled shelter.

Seresana's bright emerald green eyes watched the park closely, taking in every sight they could. Her wet clothes and dark black hair clung tightly to her form, the water halfway doing the job of the grey, black, and green bindings tried to do. Her usually baggy black pants seemed to be drug down a bit by the water, but were still where they should be. The bandages around her left arm were drooping a little at becoming so waterlogged, but they were also holding for now if not much longer. Seresana didn't shiver as she stood, despite the cold that would be plaguing most who were as thoroughly drenched in the cool conditions.

{Word count: 424}

Rain was like meth. It was an overly addictive substance for those who were stupid enough to catch it in a heavy dosage. A heavy dosage that made many want more and more until they became mentally unstable without rain. In Kirix the people were mentally unstable either way. They were dope heads addicted to bloodspill, power hungry, emotionless, or cruel. Sometime a combination of the previous descriptors. Yusuri was only the third of those four, if you didn't count her addictive love for the heaven's wrathful tears. To her no opium high could achieve the same feel as the rain, of course it always helped that Rain was a instant high, not some trashy high on disgusting herbs that made you smoke more and more until you were dying, purely from your self-idiocy.
  The girl hidden in over sized trench coats, a dancing gourd, a hummingbird with a single monotoned song from lack of sound. A song she sang as she walked through the mud around her. She could not hear herself, the only noise she could was the almost muted pitter patter noise of rain hitting her ear muffs and running down her coffee colored hair, the tiny trickling streams of despressed heavenly weeping tears of anger down her gentle complexion. Sliding down her neck and onto her long-sleeved shirt. The sloshing mud beneath her not bothering her movements, she seemed at peace. Nature was in a good mood for her. The clouds above sagging heavy with rain that had already fallen, and that of which had yet to fall. Her eyes scanning the perimeter before her she sighed as she caught sight of the girl in the park's small gazebo.
  The girl was drenched, from head to toe in the heaven's tears, and normally this would not have urked her, her tremch coat was doing its job, but she was still somewhat rained upon as well. Rain was not the bother but rather this girls shirt. It was white, easily clear now, by the look of the black band over her upper chest and the other areas of her stomach and torso. Sighing she walked up to the gazebo, and entered the rainless area with this shorter girl. Had she been her old self this girl would habe already been crushed in a bear hug, but now all that urked her was that clear T-Shirt. Removing her trench coat from her self and revealing the grey Scutum symbol on her black, long-sleeved shirt. Setting the trench coat on the girl without a word Yusuri leaned up on one of the gazebo's rails. Looking out at the ran she opened her lips to speak, "You'll catcha cold dressed like that, be more careful."

Word Count: 455/455

Seresana had been too distracted by the rain to notice the other girl approaching, and so when the large trench coat had been placed on her shoulders, she jumped a bit and looked back curiously at the taller girl. Her bright emerald eyes looked the new girl's form up and down curiously, and noted she was mostly dry as compared to the outside of the coat that was now on Seresana's shoulders. Then her attention turned towards that particular garment. Seresana pulled the large coat tightly onto her shoulders and against the cool soaking cloth of her own clothes, reveling in the remnants of warmth that it's prior occupant had imbued the article with before passing it to Seresana. Curious, she lifted the outside of the coat and gave it a tentative sniff, noting how it smelt like the rain that fell all around them. With that done, Seresana once again turned her attention to the new girl and observed her expression, clothes, and features.

Without another word, Seresana leaned forward and hugged the other girl tightly, saying a quiet "thank you" before releasing the embrace. After the embrace, Seresana took a step back to see the other girl's reaction, but she didn't wait long before speaking up herself. "I guess you like the rain too, huh?" Came the first statement, rhetorical in nature, and said as Seresana turned her attention back to the storm raging on all around them. "I've always liked it a lot myself," she added while throwing a happy grin back up to the other girl. "Say, you're Yusuri from class, right?" Seresana asked before jumping up to drape the large coat back on taller girl's shoulders and springing out into the rain again. "Want to play?" She asked while standing in the downpour, the rain instantly succeeding in returning the clothes to a soaked state that they'd started to recover from while under the protection of the gazebo. Out in the rain, Seresana's happy grin and bright green emerald eyes served as a harsh contrast to the grey and muddled colors that had tried to claim most of the scenery for the day. Yusuri's own coat would also be slightly damp on the inside now, after having absorbed some of the dampness from Seresana's own clothes.

Overhead, the skies continued their release of moisture upon the ground and all upon it, not letting up at all for the little girl now standing out in it. "C'mon" she added from where she now stood. "The rain doesn't last forever so we have to enjoy it when we can," Seresana added along with a little spin from where she stood.

Word Count: 444
Total: 868

How does one react? One did not simply react in such a manner as this girl did. It caught Yusuri off guard, whether she meant for it to be doing so or not she had not, but a speckle of a clue. This girl, as Yusuri had started to find out was one of very many classmates of hers in her year. Of course she knew this girl from the academy, she was one of the… oh how had the instructor put it? Spontaneous and energetic children, she was without a doubt horribly optimistic. That much was almost a gross understatement for the petite little girl that stood before Yusuri. She could come to respect that along with the fact that if this girl was, but an annoyance to her it wasn’t an immediate problem. The voices were always a pestering sound to her, so she had shut everything out of her hearing receptacles, or ears.
Sighing inwardly, Yusuri thought over the girls actions in words from what seemed to be only seconds of time. She had gave the girl, who she now recognized as Seresana, judging by her body size and, of course, her almost petrifying bright green eyes, a long thought over her words. When Yusuri had been hugged, she wasn’t expecting it, and by her earmuffs well-crafted body, the ‘Thank you’ was lost upon her. As Seresana backed away Yusuri was able to catch the words said to her then, did she wish to play? Playing was a foreign word to the Clypeus girl, but sighing, she got ready to say a flat no. Opening her mouth to say this response she surprised herself when she said, “Yes, but only if you slip into that coat properly. I gave you that to use so you wouldn’t get sick.”
As the girl twirled, Yusuri put on her porcelain smile. A glass complexion that never showed an actual expression. Like a little girl’s doll that was passed down from generation to generation as the family was simply too poor to actually buy her something new. A doll with a hollow head made of fragile material, empty like the heart of Yusuri. Stepping out into the ran she began to wonder what this little girl had in mind for the two of them to ‘play’. Was this to be a simple game of tag or something else? Were they to play a war games or was this something a more simplistic like the previous mentioned game of tag? It was up to this slowly soaking girl, the one who urged her back out into the weeping heavens, her own shirt slowly becoming drenched the cold anger of the sky above.

Word Count: 450/905

Seresana was happy to hear Yusuri agree to playing, and more so when she stepped out into the rain as well. A fact proved by the large smile on her face as she skipped forward a couple times so that she was standing next to Yusuri again. She didn't however take the coat back and instead grasped at the jacked and held it tightly against Yusuri's form to try and keep the garment on her. "But I'm already soaked, while your clothes are still dry. If I wear it, then it'll get wet on the inside and you'll get soaked too Yusu," Seresana said before spinning away from Yusuri and throwing her hands up into the air as well. "I'm fine see, not cold at all," Seresana exclaimed before letting her arms fall to her side again and she looked about in the pouring rain.

She was actually pondering what to do now that she had someone to play with. "Hide and seek" was out of the question since it wasn't really any fun with just two people, and so was "Simon says" for the same reason. In fact, she only had a few options to really go with given the weather and the fact that it was just the two girls. Her gaze went back to Yusuri then, bright emerald eyes meeting cold looking grey, but not for a moment did she think there could be any trouble, suffering, or hollowness behind them. Seresana was just smiling at the other girl, barely catching the porcelain qualities of Yusuri's smile. "Hmm, you wanna-" Seresana trailed off as she noticed the earmuffs for the first time and then proceeded to cup her hands around her mouth and speak a little louder. "Do you wanna play tag?" she asked before taking a couple small hops backwards, which in turn caused small splashes of water from the puddles she'd practically skipped through.

Word Count: 320
Total: 1188

Again Yusuri was completely caught off-guard. It was like something different ran this girl, she was not another hollow body. Seresana was not the prisoner nor the puppet. She was not like Yusuri’s cage, a emotionless husk, with basic human lusts, the primary of these being duty and curiosity. Though the former is simply a part of the cage’s personality, curiosity was a new one to her. With every new chip, Yusuri was getting free. Free from her cage, free from herself, free from her memory. Surprise was what was brought upon her by this girl, by the force and bewildering behavior that bellowed down her brain to try and jolt a reaction. It did, another chip formed on the coffee haired girls inner cage. One step closer to being filled back up and ridding of the emptiness. She was, after all, a gourd to be filled with what was a unknown substance; emotions. For better, or for the worst.
As the trench coat was yet again bestowed upon her shoulders, Yusuri slipped the over-sized onto her body closing the main gig line of the jacket, and once again concealing her body. Looking at the girl, she slowly figuring out each word the young girl said. With each word taken into an account, “As you wish, I do not approve of your willingness to be so uncovered in this downpour, it can and will make you sick you know.” As she said this the young, green-eyed girl went into a state of contemplation. When she was done she seemed to notice something, when she cupped her hands and yelled it was both inaudible and incomprehensible. She was completely deaf to this childlike academy student’s words. Looking downwards at Seresana, opening her mouth, she spoke again, “You know that entire statement just went unheard Seresana. I can’t understand you unless you are looking at me, and I can see your lips move, no need to shout. Also, I do believe whatever you just suggested is not made for just two people to play at a time.” Yusuri's words were soft, monotonous, but soft like a newly washed cotton blanket. Only they lacked the warmth of a blanket that had been put out to dry, they were the blanket as it was still damp and on its way to drying up and becoming a nice, warm blanket.

Word Count: 395/1300

Seresana "ohhh'd" at Yusuri's words, both the part about how she apparently needed to face Yusuri so she could know what Seresana said, and the part about trying a different game. And so, Seresana looked back towards the park for the moment and the rain soaked things residing in it. There were a few scattered trees, the grass and bushes that made up most of the park, still healthy shade of green despite the downpour that soaked them all. A few brown paths marked well walked area of the park, and their usual brown color was also darkened due to the steady rain. To the left Seresana's gaze traveled, but aside from the gazebo, there was only one larger shelter a bit behind it. Numerous park benches and tables were under the sloped roof, keeping dry in the dreary weather.

Finding nothing of interest there, Seresana turned her gaze to the right to where it fell on some jungle gym equipment. Some slides, monkey bars, and swings were all set into this raised area, segmented off by some wooden beams to mark the general area. Normally full of playing youths, today the artificially bright colored pieces were bare and ever so slightly dimmed by the grey sky, limited light, and constant rain. There were 7 slides in total, 4 of which were open topped with 2 of those being metal, while the other three looked to be covered and like a tube. Two of the covered slides were the smallest, while the last was the 3rd biggest. The largest one was a metal slide, closely matched by one of the other non-covered slides, and the other non-covered slides made up the other positions. There was only one set of monkey bars though, and they stood snaking around between a couple of the raised platforms that were basically junctions for 2 and 3 of the slides, the ones that weren't metal.

Lastly, there were the swings, 2 sets of 4 standing on opposite sides of the segmented off area where all this playground equipment were. One set was notably higher than the other and obviously intended for bigger kids as the smaller one had modified seats for babies and toddlers as well. Seresana pointed towards the larger set of swings before turning back towards Yusuri and making sure the taller girl was looking at her before speaking. "Do you want to play on the swings? Also, you can call me Sere, okay?" Seresana added before walking back next to Yusuri and taking one of the other girl's hands in her own. Seresana's hand would be only slightly warm to the touch, comfortable even in the pouring rain, and with Yusuri's hand in her's, she'd start to back up again. Taking tentative steps backwards, Seresana began to lightly pull Yusuri towards the swings, smiling up happily at the taller girl as she walked backwards and hoping strongly for a positive answer soon.

Word Count: 490
Total: 1678

Yusuri was officially broken, like wind-up toy whose wind-up key was busted off her body. She was on her last swing before going back into a deep, slow reaction like slumber of this waking reality, or in better terms, she was having trouble getting through the impenetrability of this girl. It would seem easy to many, if not most every one to do such a feat. First, came the hug, then the coat being given back. Was this girl some sort of angel? Was she just stupid, or possibly much smarter than her herself? Yusuri could not seem to comprehend this in her logical mind. This girl was simply too nice to her to seem like she was actually just acting like she should. What was this illusion act? Was this even a act? Was Seresana always like this? Yusuri’s mind was slowly cracking from this. Her own origins had come from a place where violence and cruelty came often and kindness was seldom a factor in the raining hearts of the village’s people.
Unable to respond in her own way Yusuri followed Sere. What else was she supposed to do. The girl was already holding her hand, loosely, but holding it. Warmth of the two touching limbs emitting softly between them. Following this cheery girl with little to no hesitation past her slow walking pace. Running a Auto-pilot on Yusuri’s auto-piloted body she found a response before the silent sounds of rain falling became awkward, “I think the swings would be a good choice if that is what you wish, Sere.” She said, quietly. As if she suddenly didn’t know what she was doing or what was happening. The low with every high had taken over and she saw no longer in a monotone, her features seemed to take on a softer, blank look than before.
Following slowly through the rain and mud, the two found their way to the swings. Taking one of the wooden seats she sat down quietly, the water that had fallen onto the swings disappeared into the cloth of her trench coat. Grasping the soaked ropes of the swings she began to swing back and forth her legs making the normal semicircle shaped movement that one did make to build momentum on a swing. Her body starting slowly at first, but quickly picking up pace as she sped up more and more. Turning to the other swing she opened her mouth and asked a question, “What are you doing out in the rain Sere?” This question asked for a simplistic reason. Start with what was a common question, and work onto the more personal of questions. Such as, how this girl was so cheery.

Word Counter: 450/1750

Seresana grinned happily as Yusuri agreed and took a seat on the swings. She mimicked the action while taking her own seat on a swing right next to the other girl. The water on the seat immediately got lost among the water that already soaked most of Seresana's clothes, but Seresana showed absolutely no signs of whether or not it bothered her in the slightest. She also mimicked the same motions Yusuri performed to actually get herself swinging, her legs kicking back and then forward to give her sufficient motion on the piece of playground equipment. Seresana giggled a little as she swung, trying to see how high she could go, and looking skyward at the mass of grey where the droplets of water fell from on this day. She looked over happily at Yusuri with a sincere smile as she tried to match the other girl's motions, so that when one swung forwards, so did the other.

Then came Yusuri's question, but it didn't break Seresana's smile as she faltered for a second and thought about her answer. "I'm out here to play in the rain," Seresana replied simply as she continued to look over at Yusuri. "The rain doesn't last forever, so I try to get out and enjoy it every time it comes around. It's fleeting, so we gotta make the most of it," she went on before looking to the grey sky and dreary atmosphere. "A lot of people don't seem to like the rain, or they think it makes them sad, but I think the rain is a time of relief, like a time to get rid of all the sadness and just be happy again," She went on while watching the sky. Then though she looked back over at Yusuri again and grinned happily once more. "Besides, if I wasn't out in the rain today, I wouldn't have gotten to play with you," Seresana chirped in while still swinging.

Word count: 326
Total: 2004

“I guess you’re correct one that one. I guess we haven’t had a proper introduction. I’m Yusuri Clypeus, Class 4-A of the Konoha Ninja Academy. Pleasure, Sere-chan.” Yusuri said blankly, as she looked at the girl, they were in motion but barely out of sync so watching her lips was a easy task. As the girl spoke, Yusuri focused down and deciphered each and every syllable, it was practice for the young girl. Listening with her eyes to talk, rather than actually hear what was said. She wasn't exactly new to this prospect, she had been learning how to do this slowly for years now. It was so she could talk with others, even on dark and cloudy days like this. Looking up at the gloomy sky, raining its angry tear drops she couldn't help but to agree. When it rained it was a time to let go of sadness.
"I have always believed the world needed to cry. Much like us it lets out its sadness and anger into one formation of the clouds in the heavens. That the storms thundered with the wails and rain fell with angry, sad tears that we couldn't even begin to understand as to why they fell. After every storm though it is calm, as the earth absorbs its tears and uses it to maintain the life of the planet It's a fickle thing, but it is perfectly acceptable in my opinion. Enough of this talk about rain though, it's bad conversation... I think. So Sere-Chan what are your own goals? I know you’re in the ninja academy, but you don't strike me as someone who should necessarily be there without a reason?" Studying the girl had given her this answer. Rain pouring from the sky above still, the drops were slowly getting bigger as she storm got heavier than before. Yusuri, completely unfazed, continued to swing without a inch of space being lost in her movement Her misty eyes never seeming to move off the oddity of benevolence beside her. Seresana, was definitely the embodiment of kindness to Yusuri, a wingless angel.

Word Count: 350/ 2100

Sere nodded happily to the introduction and gave her own in kind. "I'm Seresana Hatasuko," she said but then paused while trying to remember what specific class she was in, but she just couldn't seem to recall at the moment. With a shrug though, she continued to listen to Yusuri's explanations on her thoughts towards the rain. To tell the truth, it was a lot deeper than Seresana had ever really considered, but she still smiled happily through it all and nodded when it was appropriate. Sure she knew that the rain provided much needed water for many parts of the ecosystem and was why everything in the area was as lively as it was, but she'd never really bothered to really think deeply about what it meant and the symbolism surrounding it. An interesting line of thought that found some traction within the youth's mind, but was ultimately pushed to the side in lieu of simpler thoughts about what the two would possibly do next as the rain picked up some.

"My goals?" Seresana repeated questioningly as she swung, her eyes drifting upwards as she tried to think about and back to why she had joined the academy. Had there been a reason? She was fairly certain there was one, but as she tried to think about it, nothing was coming mind. As was now, Seresana was continuing in the training and schooling because it was fun, she got to meet new people, make new friends, and learn how to do some really cool things, yet what had sparked it all. Then she remembered, a distant thought that had been the simple motivation towards wanting to become a ninja. "My goal was to impress my dad," she said once while still looking to the sky, and completely forgetting that Yusuri wouldn't be able to know what she said. Then she recalled the special circumstances for talking to Yusuri though and looked back towards the other girl before repeating, "my goal was to make my dad proud," said with a simple and happy smile. "My dad tried to be a ninja way back when he was a little kid, but he just didn't have the talent for it. He could do lots of things like hunting, fishing, and surviving, but he never could really understand how to use the little amount of chakra he had. He told me though of how he'd always regretted not becoming a ninja and wanted to support me in trying. He even dropped me off on my first day of class," Seresana recalled happily. "What about you Yusu, why'd you join the academy?" Seresana asked then, looking over at Yusuri with a curious smile, and even leaning a little closer to the other girl to listen aptly as she talked. Though the displacement of weight started to throw Seresana's swinging off and little and the swing began to become a tad crooked on it's back and forth path, but she still continued swinging about while awaiting Yusuri's reply.

Word Count: 503
Total: 2507

Yusuri went silent and still, her body as rigid as a stone figure in a singular pose. How was she supposed to reply to that it was not a good subject to discuss. No, not good. Wait! Was she… was she panicking? Over this classmate of hers asking her a question that should have been an easy, ‘Oh well, I thought ninjas were cool and I wanted to be one.’ That was not the response Yusuri could give, what was her reason for this training? She could have come here and simply lived out a more peaceful life? Was it her resolve to become a guardian? To give a meaning to her family’s crest? These were simply answered with a no, she hadn’t even asked to be a ninja, but here she was in a entirely different country training to be a ninja. The only difference being the atmosphere of the two villages. So why? Why was she a ninja in training? Her swing slowed down to a dead halt and Yusuri felt her shoes dig into and submerge into the very outer layer of the mud, only sinking slightly. Yusuri looked up her arms finding their way back inside her trench coat.
Looking to the sodden girl beside her she gave an expression very rarely to appear in such a damaged body; pain. How did one actually decide to be a ninja? How did she decide? Seresana, obviously to impress her father, who had failed to do so. But what about Yusuri? She hadn’t wanted to do anything except make guests happy, and her parents proud… Yusuri’s mind started to wind-up a answer as she turned back to the other child. Sighing she shrugged under the coat, which hid the movement, “I don’t actually have a real reason I guess. I come from Kiri, where… I was forced into training there. I never really asked to be a ninja, I just sort of accepted it as a way to help the people there so- so that no one else would have to hear the pain I did. But I don't really think that was ever a good enough reason to me, it was simply an excuse to keep going. I mean, I'm probably the only Dansa-Nin in this entire village. I always thought the women were really graceful in Kiri despite the horrible tempers that would ruin that image when you stared too long. So to get all this put into a simple statement than the rant I just let out; I have no reason really. I just kept in that direction so I had a reason to be in this village." With that Yusuri took a deep breathe to recover the air that she had released while speaking to Seresana. Avoiding the subject of her village being burnt, at least that was a constant in her book. She always avoided the speech on where exactly she came from in Kiri, It was never an easy subject.

Word Count: 500/2600

Seresana slowed her swinging in turn to Yusuri's slowed movement, and as the other girl remained silent and stock still, she began to get worried. Her smile faltered, and soon became a concerned frown of concern as she watched a waited for Yusuri to reply. "Oh wow, you're from a different village Yusu?" Seresana wanted to ask, but for now she kept quiet and continued to listen to Yusuri's explanation and reasoning for why she joined the ninja academy. She also wanted to ask what a Dansa-Nin was, but she still kept silent for now while waiting for Yusuri to finish the explanation. Taking that at face value though, Seresana didn't press the question any further and instead just smiled over at Yusuri before starting to swing again to see if Yusuri would follow suit.

Seresana then looked to the sky, finally noticing that the rain had picked up just a bit since earlier, the drops hitting just that little bit harder than they had before. The sky also looked just a little bit darker, but Seresana wasn't worried about that. There was still no wind, thunder, or lightning to make the storm any worse, and the rain was still the same temperature as it had been before so she was content to keep playing. Seresana then started to put a bit more effort into her swinging, briefly building up a burst of speed before letting go of the ropes and launching herself from the seat. The 'weeee' that escaped her lips might have not reached Yusuri's ears, but the impressive spash from the puddle she had landed solidly in might have had a few droplets reach Yusuri's sandals. And then the giggling expression Seresana had when she turned back around to face Yusuri clearly shown that she'd enjoyed the little exertion. "Are you hungry Yusu?" Seresana asked then, smiling happily where she stood, rocking back and forth on her feet that were still in the puddle. The dark murky water crept up almost to her ankles, soaking her sandals and feet thoroughly, but Seresana showed no signs of it bothering her.

Word Count: 353
Total: 2860

Yusuri had tilted her head slightly at this girl. This girl was practically shifting her entire psyche as a whole. It was leaving cracks in her subconscious and her cage were slowly being broken through. The chips were now cuts, and the cracks were growing larger, as the two talked. As Serena leaped from her swing she simply stood up and looked at the girl her expression a compilation of blank and calm. She watched this girl grin so wildly it was almost to the point of looking inhumanely large. Like her mouth was much larger than it should be, but of course her fellow in training was normal, and without a huge unnatural smile. She simply had a wide, bright smile. It was oddly calming and completely bizarre to talk to this girl all at once. Yusuri couldn't figure out how to describe talking with Serena. Was it a task she got anxious over? She had gotten anxious not even five minutes ago. Was she calm? Yes, however that was most likely just her high from the rain storm, she was always very very calm on days where it rained heavily. So, of course, this girl was filling Yusuri, who had always been a empty gourd, with mixed emotions of anxiety and strange calmness.
When the younger girl asked if she was hungry, she wasn’t really. All this oddity was messing with her stomach, creating problems in her stomach as it churned. However, she wasn’t about to turn down Serena's offer of food so she simply nodded a yes. It wasn’t right to just flat out say no to anyone’s request for food, and it was even ruder to simply part in the middle of such a conversation as this one. Looking down, her cream colored hair had strands cover over her forehead as they became heavy with the every increasing output of rain dropping to the earth. It seemed the heaviest of the storm was about to hit the two of them as she accepted the offer. Walking forward she twisted with a momentous amount of grace and stopped to look at the other girl. The mud was but a surface and Yusuri showed no sign of slipping or loss of balance, “I hope you’ll give me directions as we talk and walk otherwise I wont be able to talk. So do you have any other questions Sere-Chan?”

Word Count: 400/3000

Seresana shook her head from side to side. "That's not how this game works," she said with a silly grin. "I asked you a question, and then you asked me one. I've asked you another question, and now it's your turn," she said as if it were common knowledge to play this little game. "But you don't have to ask it right away, we've got a little walk to the good place," Seresana added as she once more reached out to take Yusuri's hand in her own. "And don't worry, I can lead you to a good place to eat," Seresana went on as she took a few steps and lightly pulled on Yusuri's hand to get her to follow after Seresana.

Leading Yusuri, Seresana walked slowly though the steadily falling rain, frequently glancing back to flash a smile at Yusuri as she awaited the other girl's question or statement. It didn't take long for them to exit the park, even if it had to be done via the longer route as first Seresana led them out of the little playground area and back across the soaking grass. Then back to the gazebo where they would be off the grass and regretfully on just plain old mud as that was all the dirt paths leading into and out of the park as well as forming up most if not all the streets in the town, could be reduced to. Sandals squishing into the mud and puddles was inevitable at this point, and Seresana still couldn't seem bothered to care about it. She led on without hesitation or reluctance, through the puddles and treads of the streets, and only making a minor effort to avoid any of them. Her focus was almost entirely on Yusuri, and what little amounts of it that weren't, were focused on the buildings they were around so that she could be sure they were still heading in the right direction. Many of the buildings themselves were dark though, only a few showing they had lights on at all, and few of those could be assumed to be stores. These would prove to not be Seresana's intentions though as she continued on right past them, still towing Yusuri along with the gentle pulling. Their goal became apparent soon enough though, in the form of a smaller little side stand, mostly made of wood and with some lightly dripping, cloth covers that had symbols on them. It was a local ramen vendor that Seresana was leading them steadily towards.

Word Count: 422
Total: 3282

Seresana seemed to have a habit of her own, whether this was a good habit or a bad habit Yusuri could not figure out which it was. Sere liked to hold people's hands, why exactly this was Yusuri didn't know. She just knew that this girl's hand was small, soft, and very warm at the touch. She knew she would follow whether or not she was mentally resistant to Seresana leading her somewhere or not. Seresana was warm, the ninja and even her parents always felt cold at the touch. Even her big brother had been rather cold despite him being the kindest of giants. It was that kindness towards his own parents that got him caught in the flames, leaving Yusuri be herself to wallow and grow empty. He had been her really breaking factor.
Coming back to reality from cloud nine, which was momentarily storming with ideas and the rain above them she realized that Sere-Chan had said something to her and quickly looked back into her memory only moments so she could recall what was said, when she had figured it out her eyebrow rose,"When and how exactly did this turn into a game exactly? What is this twenty questions" Yusuri asked, before continuing to speak, “ Besides we are about to sit down and eat, when that happens we have plenty of time for me to question anything I need to. I already know you have plenty more questions you were wanting to ask me earlier."

Word Counter: 250/3250

"Oh, I guess you're right," Seresana said while looking back at Yusuri. Her grin faltered for a second and her demeanor turned uncertain as she slowed down just slightly. A fleeting flicker of worry crept across Seresana's features, but disappeared faster than it had came. "Alright, so do you wear those earmuffs?" Seresana asked with an innocent smile as they continued to walk towards the ramen stand. They'd reach it fairly soon, a fact reinforced by the tantalizing smells that drifted out from the little shack before being drowned out by the rain. No sounds from the ramen stand however could be heard yet as the steady downpour of rain continued to overpower the softer noises, if any, that were coming from the ramen stand.

Seresana's stomach growled as she progressed and awaited the reply from Yusuri, an act that caused a small blush to form on her cheeks, but she didn't say anything towards it because she didn't wish to interrupt Yusuri's answer. She concluded that she'd been playing harder than she recalled and as such, was hungrier than she'd realized. Seresana's mind became briefly distracted by the thoughts of what she'd get at the ramen store, but before she could get distracted to the point where she'd miss Yusuri's reply, Seresana shook her head briefly to recollect herself and come back to reality.

Word Count: 225
Total: 3507

Yusuri had no idea how to answer Seresana on that one. it was touchy subject, but she could easily walk out of this one unscathed without a problem. As the closed up to the ramen stand Yusuri could smell it already, even with the heavy rain blocking up her sense of smell. Thinking further on her rather pitiful predicament. Letting out a dull, continuous note she pondered and it came to her. She could be honest without the details! Why had she not realized this? It made this obviously intelligent girl feel ever so slightly dumber the longer she thought on it. Cutting off her note she got within eye contact of the hand holding girl, “Simple, I got tired of listening… to people.”
Yusuri told no lie she was in fact, she hadn’t even dodged the question. It was a honest answer, simply lacking details. As they continued forward the ramen stand got closer and closer. As they reached the destination, Yusuri continued to hold Seresana's hand, moving the cloth with her opposite. Sitting forward onto the seat she adjusted so she was comfortable. As she sat down the man behind the counter smiled, awaiting their orders in silence.

Word Counter: 200/3450

Seresana took up a seat next to Yusuri, squirming around a little until she was comfortable and easily able to reach the counter. The stand was empty aside from Seresana, Yusuri, and the couple of workers who regarded what could possibly be the first business they'd had all day, quite happily. They took both girls orders happily and proceeded to begin cooking up the dishes while leaving the two to their own devices. While sheltered from the rain thanks to the overhang of the shop, a radiant warmth spilled out of the shop that was quite comforting with the now stronger smells from the food. It wasn't long before the clangs of dishes and utensils joined the good smells and feeling of warmth to complete the scene of the little ramen stand.

Seresana regarded Yusuri's answer however with quite a bit of curiosity. She thought back to all the times it had seemed like her little brother Hitagi had seen to trying to annoy her as much as he could, and she'd wished for something to muffle his annoying cries. And she would have loved to have some ear muffs a couple times when her mother or father had been calling her for chores. She however couldn't imagine what it'd be like to simply block out all noise. There were far too many times where being able to hear had simply proved too useful to want to be without. And then a small realization came to Seresana and she turned towards Yusuri with wide eyes. "Does that mean you don't want to listen to me? And can you hear if you took them off?" Seresana asked quickly while leaning forward and forcing herself to speak slowly so Yusuri would easily be able to understand. Seresana's grip on Yusuri's hand tightened a little involuntarily, as she'd forgotten she was still holding it.

Word Count: 311
Total: 3818

Yusuri had been slow to process what was said this time, as she instead felt her focus drawn to their hands clasped together and unrelenting to let go, one with a grip that had already been rather tighten, and one that continued to tighten. It helped her process the question. Was she simply hiding from everyone? She didn’t know anymore. It wasn’t like she hated to hear about her, however, hearing wasn’t a huge necessity to her. It was definitely disadvantageous, but her gut was all she needed in sensing… right? Her thumb began to run circles subconsciously around Seresana’s small, soft hand. She didn’t even realize she was doing it, she just did it out of a very very old memory, a habit of her brother. Something he had always done when they had to go somewhere in town. Pondering long after the orders had been taken she wasted minutes wondering about the silly little question. || How does one actually answer that without reminding themselves of the bad times, of the sad times, behind her grey eyes was a long casted shadow of pain. A shadow darker than was possible to see in, a black that was putting prohibitions on color, banning every color.
Coming to an answer Yusuri put on another fake smile, a porcelain grin, “Of course I would love to listen to you, I just can’t stand… people… bad explanation, bad experiences. Sorry if I can’t hear anything you actually say to me, even if it does get rather difficult at times to deal with my self-deafening I don’t think I can deal with them being off my head for too long. I’ll finally be able to one of these days. Changing the subject, what are your goals as a ninja Sere-Chan? What do you wanna be?” Yusuri asked. Taking in the scents of the ramen stand and waiting patiently for their orders to be prepared for their eating. She could only hope that they would keep the meat off of her food as she had asked, seeing as she didn't eat the vulgar, vomit-inducing food.

Word Count: 350/3700

Seresana wasn't overly happy with Yusuri's answer, but it had seemed to put some strain on the other girl and so she didn't press the issue any further. There was also the fact that Yusuri had also rekindled Seresana smile with the statements of loving to listen to her own speech and possibly one day being able to take off her headphones for Seresana. The notion of a bad experience in Yusuri's past though kept a presence in her mind and refused to leave. "What could have happened that made Yusu want to no longer hear anyone?" Seresana asked herself, an act reflected on her face by the brief troubled expression that graced her features before the grin took it's usual and rightful place on the generally happy girl, and with it, her grip on Yusuri's hand slacked and relaxed as the brief spot of tension disappeared.

"I want to be..." Seresana started, but then trailed off as a realization hit her like a brick wall, she had absolutely no idea what kind of ninja she wanted to become. Sure, her reasons for becoming a ninja were simple enough and had been explained just moments before, but now that she was on that track, what path did she want to walk? "A good ninja?" Seresana replied simply with a bit of a shrug as she didn't really have a set plan to progress along. Sure she'd read plenty of scrolls about the various kinds of ninja, what they did, how they worked, and the kinds of jutsu they practiced, but Seresana had little to no clue on which she'd go with. "I, I haven't really given it a lot of thought past joining and getting good, graduating from the academy and so on," Seresana said from where she sat.

Before Seresana could respond next though, the cooks had finished their dishes and soon deposited them before Seresana and Yusuri. Seresana's own bowl had lots of noodles, several veggies, and a few pieces of chicken and smelled wonderful, to her at least. Seresana took a deep inhale of the bowl and got her sticks ready to help herself to her first bite. Before it occurred however, Seresana looked over to Yusuri and lightly tugged on her sleeve if she wasn't looking at her so that she was looking over. "What about you Yusu? What do you wanna be?" Seresana asked with blatant curiosity.

Word Count: 401
Total: 4219

Yusuri had watched this girl’s expressions carefully, it contorted for a moment, but quickly returned to its previous demeanor. She knew all too well what that contortment was brought forth from. Her small comment towards her past, something she didn’t wish to really bring up. Something she believed was pointless to bring up in this very situation. Seresana was an acquaintance, not yet trusted that far as to give out the information of her past. It was something she would never discuss without thorough reason and several strikes on the matter, she was one that also needed a lot of trust to share such things. Her thoughts suddenly rolled over to what Seresana had said, she had only thought as far as graduating… Had she not given any thought to anything past that? Maybe she could influence that decision? Yusuri’s grip had slackened, but her thumb continued to roll about her companion’s hand, still she didn’t notice. The food was delivered after she had these thoughts and she bowed, slightly, her head to the cook, as the two girls’ hands parted and she picked up her chopsticks and clasped them between her hands, “Thank you for the food.”
Digging into her food, she swallowed the vegetable on her plate with ease, the egg, despite being one of the few things she disliked in most cooking was quickly swallowed, the broth wasn’t of any sort of animal flavoring, she would have long since been sick had she not already asked them for another replacement for the normal broth, vegetable broth. Oddly enough, this place was very well adapted to people who didn’t eat meat such as herself. Swallowing a long string of noodles, she thought about Seresana’s question. She had been keeping her eye on the girl for a while now. Making sure she didn't miss a single word if her companion said anything else, which she did. Turning her head she took in a breath before speaking, "I have as I said always found the Kiri Dansa Ninjas very graceful and all around amazing, and I just began to learn my own dance and such as well. My practice weapons should be in soon too. Maybe you would like to join in on learning how to be one? Who knows you may like it. Other than that, nothing really. I want something as simplistic as your want to impress your dad. I want to stop needless violence, even if it means being part of it or creating something along the way to help in my journey. No I don't know why I became a ninja, but as this is my path now I will embrace it."After that Yusuri went back to eating quietly, she had ranted almost as much as she did in a year... within only two hours of speaking to this younger girl. It was quite odd how this girl had gotten so much out of her. It was like when she had been speaking to Iku.

Word Count: 500/4200

Seresana nodded and waited for Yusuri to finish speaking before she went back to eating. Her own meal with it's meat and vegetables wasn't lasting long as she hungrily devoured the bowls contents and soon enough, her chopsticks were resting in an empty bowl. With her meal eaten, Seresana leaned back a little and let out a very content sigh. "Ah, that was great," she commented before paying for the two bowls of ramen and proceeding to wait for Yusuri to finish her bowl.

While she did, Seresana would spin about in her seat and look out to the rain soaked world outside their little temporary shelter. The constant patter of rain actually had to fight with the noises from the shop as dishes were cleaned and supplies were put back, but it was still very much present. In the background one might say, right up until one focused on the constant sound of the tiny impacts of water on everything outside. As soon as Yusuri finished, Seresana would hop off her seat and spin about so she was looking at Yusuri again with that usual happy little grin. The innocent and sweet smile she seemed to almost always be wearing that was a pretty good reflection of her entire demeanor. "Ready to go play some more Yusu?" Seresana asked with a little skip in her step. "Ooh, is there any game you want to play? I mean I picked the last one so it's only fair that you get to pick out what we play this time," she added happily.

Word Count: 261
Total: 4480

Yusuri after finishing her long dialogue had worked to swallow and finish the contents of her bowl. The broth, noodles, and vegetables all going down as fast as she could chew and swallow the food. It was really good ramen, in any case, she could definitely eat here again. She had a feeling she would be eating here again soon anyways. Her eye wandering over she looked to see Seresana finishing her food. Going back to her own food she chewed and swallowed the last bite, picking up the bowl she swallowed the last bit of broth at the bottom and went to pay for her bowl, Seresana beat her to the punch before she could. turning off the stool she again thanked the chefs for the meal and stood up.
Looking to Seresana, she thought carefully on what was said as she hadn't seen the girl speak a moment ago. Pick a game... What a wonderfully horrid task she was given, Yusuri was not one to play games. She preferred to take a more adult approach and just practice. Practice was essential and she had no way of incorporating both, what were they going to do, dance? She doubted Seresana could even attempt to do what she did in the rain. Looking to Seresana she sighed, "Sere-Chan, I don't really play games of any sort so what we do is entirely up to you. Besides I'm still unfamiliar with this village. Want to show me around? The rain isn't going to let up for a couple of days anyhow." Of course, walking cold rain wasn't her best idea, but it was better than a game. Maybe she could test the girls intellect along the way that would be fun... fun... that was new to her, another crack, another hour.

Word Counter: 300/4500

"Oh sorry, I keep forgetting how new to the area you are," Seresana replied as she grinned awkwardly before the expression went back to her usual grin. "Yeah sure, I can show you around the town," she went on as she hopped down from the stand's seat. Seresana turned flashed another happy grin towards Yusuri and began to lead her out of the stand and back into the soaked streets and pouring rain outside. The first few buildings weren't that interesting, mainly some of the larger buildings that housed shops with a person's house occupying the upper portion of the building. Those however weren't exactly that exciting or interesting, especially since they appeared closed for now and most of the shops wares were out of the street side view as they were too far away from the front windows. So instead of hanging around this area, Seresana looked around briefly before deciding on a direction and beginning to walk that way.

That didn't mean however that she'd skip over any explanations and the first one was already needed for the buildings around them. "Well, right here's the kind of Market district where a lot of the shops are. Everything from getting something to eat like from that stand we stopped at, to all kinds of clothes, several kinds of weapons, or even other sorts of supplies" Seresana explained with a couple grand gestures to the collections of, closed for the moment, stores. "Some of the shop owners are really nice and a few others are pretty stingy, but all together you can still find a lot of neat stuff around here when they're open," Seresana went on before turning towards the left and beginning to walk that way.

Word Count: 288
Total: 4768