Loss of Banality [solo, nk]

Kozai had finished his gardening work for the day. It seemed that the plants around here had adapted to the rain, but Kozai barely noticed it. He had Hyakkasou sealed, keeping it away from prying eyes, while using his chakra suppression to keep his chakra down, away from those who would seek him out. If Youka or Li were to find him, he would be pulled back into the world of the ninja, a world that he did not wish to be a part of, for the time being. Maybe at some point, after he felt the need to fight and research again, he might... but not now.
The raven-haired man was tired of life as well. If there was anything that he had kept over from his younger years, it was an obsession with meeting interesting people. However, even that desire was slowly beginning to fade away. If he lost that, then who was he?
To make matters worse, he realized that he had failed Iwa. Even if Maku had technically been his superior for some time, Kozai had failed all the people there, by allowing him to destroy the village. Kozai was no longer the type to view people as mere objective numbers...
In his time here in Ame, occasionally he had observed some of the poorer villagers. Today would be one of his first encounters of them, though Kozai didn't know it.
He came across a clearing, which was being made larger by what he saw to be about 4 Ame men. They were extremely poor, judging by the state of their garb: rags, lack of shirts, bodies that had ever only been washed by rain. As he approached, he realised that they were trying to cut down a tree with what appeared to be a not so sharp, old rusty axe. At the sound of his footsteps on the jungle undergrowth, they turned, their faces rural, rugged, and... afraid? Kozai wasn't sure.
He realized that they must recognize him as the crazy neighbor. He smiled at them. Not his old, ambitious smile, but a kind smile, a look of reassurance. Then, he unsealed Hyakkasou, and drew.
At that, the men scattered taking cover. Kozai frowned at them.
"There's no reason to be afraid. You need this tree cut down, right?" With that, his arm would become a blur of motion. Kozai was no professional swordsman, but he knew enough to be proficient. With a single slash, and a powerful kick, the tree came crashing down. Kozai looked around, but the men didn't come out. Were they still afraid? Perhaps their social situation had taught them to be suspicious of strangers. Rightfully so, but... Kozai wished that they were more friendly.
As he walked away, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that they were scurrying out of the bushes, and rolling the trunk away, sneaking glances at him as they went. Well... if anything, Kozai somehow actually felt satisfaction that he had done what he did.
In essence, however, he had used chakra to enhance his slash and the kick. He frowned. What was this... feeling he had? Normally, he would focus on this, attempt to find out how exactly the chakra was interacting with the tissues in his body. However, at this point, he didn't even think about that. He only thought of the rain, and the annoying jungle, and of home. His hut, which he had tidied up a bit, was becoming more and more of a true "home" to him as time went on. It reminded him of the places he had been to when he had visited Ame before.
He got home, and reflexively hung up Hyakkasou on the wall. His muscles pulsed again, and burned. For a minute, he felt a need to talk to someone, as if that would somehow cease the burning. His subconscious concluded that whatever was developing in his system needed some other organic being, perhaps even to the specificity of another human, to take effect, but Kozai himself was not even aware of his own mind working on these things. He sat down, massaging his arms. What bullshit this was. He was weary, however, and desired sleep.
It was at that moment, however, that there came a tapping at his hut door. Kozai stood up abruptly, then slowly moved toward the sound. His steps seemed to echo louder on the dirt floor of his hut. Often enough, he would just stand up and move around, packing the dirt down. It was pretty solid now, and sometimes, when the weather was dry enough, the floor turned even a bit shiny. But today, the drip dripping of the heavy rain through the rafters made that impossible in the utmost. But Kozai was more focused than not on the tapping at his door.
He moved toward it, then looked around. What…?
“Down here, mister.”
He looked down, and there was a dark-haired girl. Perhaps what he would have looked like, had he been about 10 years old… and a girl. Pitch-black hair, a solemn face, deep brown eyes that spoke of hunger and need. As if her skinny, thin and not-quite-tall enough body didn’t speak of that enough. He looked at her.
“What is it, child?” He would speak in a not unkind voice, but not smile. After all, he didn’t know what she wanted yet. Then, he saw what she was holding.

“We wanted to give you this… my papa saw you cut down a tree for him today. We made this for you.” She handed him a box, filled with what appeared to be a pastry. Kozai took it, then looked up at her… but she was off, running toward a nearby hut, where her parents stood out in front of the habitation. Kozai recognized the man from earlier. He nodded, smiling slightly in thanks, and stepped inside. He picked up one of the pastries and bit into it. It was bland, but somehow… comforting.

[WC 1000, that's another 1000 WC towards genesis surgery.
Also, 500 ryo.]