therewerefifty | [Action/Written/Accidental Audio]

[Action/Written/Accidental Audio]

[The day she spends like most, in her usual haunts; she works at Seventh Heaven, she trains deep in the forest. She finds time for a cup of tea in there somewhere. Makie keeps wrapped up more than usual; she's felt a little off, lately, so in case of oncoming summer colds she tries to take care of herself.

She looks for a man. (A particular one, hush.) Still can't find him.

She finally gathers her courage and returns to the smithy to see if someone can repair her weapon. Hopefully she'll see that boy again; he already knows. And if not, she'll just weather any awkwardness. Makie's slowly coming to the realisation that here in this village, it doesn't really matter, but old habits die hard.

When she finally returns home in the evening, she makes a cautious post to the network. She doesn't want to leave this any longer.

...does she really just need to write into the book? Well, then.]

[Written]

I'm looking for a gentleman I met during the time that... Twila arrived in Luceti. Sir, I never caught your name, but I would like to talk to you, if I may. I was the woman with the shamisen that [...uh.] spoke to you from the rooftops in the plaza.

[...this is awkward. She stops there.

Whatever responses she might get, Makie fails to close the journal when she's done. Which doesn't altogether mean that much given there's dead silence for some hours afterward, as she just curls up with a book to read. It's punctuated maybe once by a fit of coughing.

It's only when it reaches about 9.30 that evening that a few stray experimental notes of her shamisen can be heard. And then Makie starts playing. Sorry, any early sleepers. At least it's likely she won't be playing for long. >>;; Learning journal etiquette the hard way.]

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The Battle Dome can also be used to create fake opponents to fight, which is useful. It has safety features that will stop the training session if the person inside is hurt or rendered unconscious.

[Well, hurt more than a few bumps and bruises, anyway.]

Fake opponents...

[That's interesting. How does one create fake opponents that are realistic? More of this magic, she suspects...

...still something she can take advantage of. If she learns. Though she enjoys the forest out here, it's wise to have options.

Either way, she straightens.]

My name is Makie Otono-Tachibana.

[Konan inclines her head politely.]

Konan. It's a pleasure to meet you.

Likewise. [She sheathes the sword, finally, offering up a smile.] I would like to learn, most definitely. Another attempted to show me around but they were very... [What's the polite word. :|] ...dramatic. I felt somewhat overwhelmed.

Dramatic? What did the person look like?

[She can think of a short list of people who fit that description and she's wondering if it's someone she's acquainted with.]

There were two of them. They both wore matching green... costumes. And had the same hairstyles. And much the same enthusiasm.

Oh. That would be Rock Lee and Maito Gai, then.

[With that description, there is no doubt in Konan's mind that it's anyone else but them. Especially the part about the green costumes.]

Did they talk about youth?

[Because that's the best confirmation that it was them, although she's already about 99.9% sure.]

That's them. [There's real amusement in her smile now. They would have been more hilarious to look at...from a distance.] Quite a lot. It seems to be a subject of great importance for them.

[Konan can't help but smile at that. She knows Lee much better than she knows Gai, but she does know that Gai is a great source of inspiration for Lee, and Lee's role model.]

You could say that. It seems to keep them both energetic and inspired, even if that energy can be a bit overwhelming for others.

[She hasn't even been in close proximity with both of them at the same time. Gai is much warier around her than Lee is.]

They seemed like good people. I just wasn't very sure how to deal with them. They are from your world?

They are from a different country than me, but yes. Most people from our world are not quite that energetic.

[Naruto was a reasonably energetic person, but even he wasn't quite that over the top.]

I would hope not. It seems to me such a world would tire out rather quickly.

They are...two of a kind.

[She was about to say one of a kind, but Lee has emulated Gai to such an extent that it's not really an accurate statement. They may be individual people, but they're so much alike that it wouldn't have surprised her one bit if they were blood relatives.]

I imagine our world would be far more productive and a nicer place if most people were like them, though.

[...]

That's true. Though in my world, I fear they would merely be considered insane.

Many people train diligently in my world, so in mine, they are just somewhat eccentric. Mostly because of the degree of their enthusiasm.

[Konan has met insane shinobi. Lee and Gai are a bit odd, but they aren't truly insane.]

Your world seems to be... well, perhaps I have a misleading view. I've certainly met a lot of shinobi who all come from the same world. [She was going to say 'full of shinobi' but that can't possibly be right. Normal citizens are somewhere. She just hasn't met one.]

Shinobi from my world? Or shinobi in your own? There are a lot of shinobi from my world here. Most of them are from the same country as Lee and Gai.

[In fact, if Konan isn't mistaken, Luceti has more people from her own world than from any other world.]

Yours. If there are shinobi from my world here, they are being very quiet about it. [Which stands to reason, really.] It just seems interesting that everyone I have met from your own is in the same... profession.

[Profession. Is that what you'd call it? She has no idea.]

[It's a good point, although Konan has gathered that other worlds don't tend to have such a large shinobi population to begin with.]

Shinobi make up much of a country's military power. Our villages are actually the size of cities. My country is a little unusual in that the head of the shinobi village is the head of the country, too. When you consider that one of the Malnosso's purposes for bringing people here is to fight for them, I'm not entirely surprised that there are so many shinobi.

[It makes more sense to her than bringing in civilians.]

Oh, I see. [That certainly explains it. And she's not surprised either, considering.] In my world, they are far lower profile and very few. I only knew through my father of the role they played. Your world sounds very interesting.

[It sounds like a place she could have thrived.]

[Konan smiles slightly at that.]

It certainly isn't dull.

[Even if she would gladly exchange exciting for peaceful in a heartbeat.]

What role did they play in your world?

They answer directly to the shogunate, performing a role that the samurai class cannot. It's... complicated, I suppose. [To be honest, she doesn't know much about them at all-- barring tails her father told her, once in another lifetime.] Are you familiar with samurai?

I am. In my world, they are sometimes called in as neutral mediators for discussions between the leaders of shinobi villages.

[It is interesting to compare and contrast different worlds, Konan has to admit. The library also allows for this to an extent, but talking to someone from a particular world is more helpful, as there are so many worlds.]

It's interesting that different worlds have the same classes. [It's close to an echo of that sentiment.] But they perform such different roles. Is your world another alternate of Earth?

I'm not certain...it has humans like Earth does, but our countries have completely different names.

[It's led to some confusion when talking with people.]

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