Pier Peers [IO, NK]

Her chakra was much stronger now, to the point where she could form larger and larger clouds of the plasma matter with her energy. Still, though she had the control for it, now her problem was with power. Seriously? Could things get any more ironic? Just last week, she was having issues with control, and now that she'd mastered that aspect, the power had come back to bother her again. Luckily, she had been able to learn a few more techniques while messing around in the meantime. None of them were comparable in power to the immensely strong fireball that her father had shown her earlier, but that was fine. This time around, she knew that she was ahead of Kenjiro in practice. She'd master this signature Uchiha technique before he did. Or at least, that was what she was determined to do. Whether she actually succeeded or not would be up to her own individual talent and the luck she had in practice. Still, she'd heard of people who had mastered this technique within a single day of seeing it. What kind of monsters were able to do that? ... Those with the eyes, no doubt. The eyes that she'd still not expressed, despite her age. 

Her parents hadn't really shown any signs of frustration, but she knew it was there, hidden behind urgings of training and more dangerous missions. Still, she wasn't a person who was easily stressed out. Well, the best way to train was out on the pier, and the fishermen weren't there today, so it would probably be fine. She headed out the door, yelling a farewell to anyone who was still in the house, and entering the outdoors. Was it just her, or had the weather around here gotten a little cooler lately? The soft breeze kissed her skin as she walked toward the pier, and she wondered if it would rain later that day. Waving hello to some of the artisans she recognized along the way, Kozachi continued toward the dock. Cirrus clouds streaked overhead, reminding her of horse's tails (if only because that was the term that everyone used for them). But there was something else about them that was appealing... she just couldn't figure out what. Dammit, maybe she'd figure it out later. She had to focus on how to figure out this jutsu. She practiced the handseals again on her way toward the dock, hoping that there'd be some insight.

Naturally, none came yet. Well, there would be plenty of time for that. Kozachi had arrived at the pier, and she stretched a little before beginning to do her chakra control exersizes. Breathing training, though it sounded simple enough, was a great way to do this. Methods passed down from generation to generation through the clan, using the Uchiha clan's exceptional chakra prowess had finally fallen into her hands. While really only effective for those just beginning her journey, Kozachi fit into that category perfectly. With any luck, soon her ardent practice would pay off.
[504]

Kenjiro kept his promise to Gisei, not even 12 hours after their last encounter he was training by himself behind their house in the gardens as he meditated on chakra and kneading it within his body so that he can control it. He had no way to use any real ninjutsu besides illusion at the moment, but the aspect of knowing his way around the natural chakra system of his body kept him always looking for faster ways to get to it. He did not even hear his sister as she was leaving, the noise around him was drowned out by the familiar almost electric buzzing in his head that numbed his senses of the outer world.

In his head, he had figured out the easiest way to move the chakra was to always be moving chakra in his body and so he would also be ready for whatever life was about to throw at him. He could access his fire chakra at any time, and his ability to analyze a situation and potentially talk himself into a favorable position over his enemy was his strong suit. He noted how fast he was able to pick up on techniques that he had either only seen once or read about...leaving it to the fact that his clan's uncanny ability with Chakra control and movements along with mental clarity lead him to behave in the way he did.

When he finally broke the meditative state he sighed with relief as he looked around the backyard. Within a moment he noted how quiet the area was. It was uncanny and led him to believe that he was truly alone in the compound which was weird because he knew Kozachi had to be around as she was studying hard since her Genin exam. Speaking of which he had yet to really talk to her about the exams. He walked into the house and called out for his sister, and after a brief silence in between yelling out, he noted that he was alone.
"Damn my lack of concentration." He said to himself as he activated the mark seal on his sister and was able to tell the direction in which she had left. He grabbed his shoes and jacket as he left out the front door and as soon as he locked it he sped off towards the direction in which his sister should be. He soon found himself at the piers as he sighed smelling the air as it reeked of fish and salt, even some decay at some parts. Why was his sister here? He would begin searching the piers.

WC:440

It was at that point that she saw Kenjiro's head bobbing towards her at last. It looked like they would meet sooner rather than later. She got back onto solid ground and ran toward him, taking the photo and flyer that she'd found the other day out of her pocket. How had she found such things? Well... that's quite the long story.


One day ago... [OOC: skip, it's just a random informative flashback]

Kozachi didn't have much to do, so it looked like training was in order. After all, was it not written that an Uchiha must become powerful?... Maybe, but she hadn't seen it yet. Either way, she had to go check something first. She remembered that she had been graded by the Hokage, so maybe that was good. In all likelihood, however, it was a bad thing, but there was only one way to find out. First, train a bit, then check the scores. And just like that, she had more or less a plan for the day. It was most excellent.
As she headed out the door, she checked the time. Good, it was still mid morning. She had more than enough to to get done with what she needed, by quite a bit. There was really no need to hurry at all. As a matter of fact, she had whole hours to burn before it was crunch time by anyone's standards. So, really no need to rush, but Kozachi ran anyway. Better to make things faster, to save time in case something went wrong. After all, you never knew what might happen, especially with the modern day's unstable climate, and the fickle nature of variance.

As she emerged, a cold wind swept past, brushing her hair all over her face. Goddamn it. As she walked north, she took an elastic band off of her wrist and tied up her hair. Why hadn't she done that before she left? Mmm, she supposed that it was because having your hair up like that was annoying, but there was no denying the practical aspect of it. It kept it out of her way, and gave her opponents less of a target to grab onto during combat. Alright, sure, whatever. She dealt with it and went on her way, making sure that the two extra bands that were on her wrist were in place. Man, she seemed to lose those things all the time. Not that she was a particularly airheaded girl, but just that they were... well, easy to lose. She knew she wasn't the only girl to have this problem. It was like tiny gnomes came in the night just to take them, which was not really possible. Small, sentient life forms (as well as unrealistically large ones, more on that later) weren't really viable in that sense at all. She shook her head, and the thoughts flew out.

She saw a pamphlet for something called the execution hour float past her on her way up. What the hell? It was that stupid student television program some of the academy students had put into effect. Surprisingly effective, somebody (not her, thank god) had used mob mentality to start weeding out students that were unpopular and lambasting them live on television, using a covert frequency of course. The codes were supposed to be on these flyers, but Kozachi for the life of her couldn't see them. She sure as hell wasn't stupid or bad at deciphering. They'd taught her the basics in the academy, and she'd gone out and done some work herself. No, there was something else about these flyers that really peeved her. Why couldn't she figure out where the code was? In frustration, she snatched the flyer out of the air and stuffed it in her pocket. There was no challenge that she couldn't overcome! She was, after all, an Uchiha, a member of a famed clan. Her talent was in no way too small to overcome such a trifling and trivial obstacle. Still, this execution hour business gave her a bit of a chill.

There was no reason as to why the authorities couldn't stop it. Surely, they could decrypt the mere scribblings of the young and uneducated. Well then, these evil students must have the backing of some greater figure somewhere. Who it was? She had no clue. Still, she diverted from her planned path and headed towards the library. There was no way in hell she was going to let these brats get a hand over HER. Still, if the big brass couldn't figure it out, what made her think she could do it? Ridiculous. She ignored the voice of patronizing doubt in her mind, and went into the building. A bit dank (if you know what I mean), but a solid edifice, all in all, the library housed a decent portion of knowledge for her. The only reason to NOT go here to learn something was if it was sketchy, like certain people who wanted to learn techniques from the scroll of sealing. She shook her head, satisfied with herself. She would never be so ambitious and idiotic in her life. There was one thing that bothered her, of course, and that was that there might not be what she needed here.

Still, either way, she spent hours combing over the texts, trying to compare them to the rather darkly cheerful flyer. Nothing about it really seemed to pop out at her. See, there's something in the brain called the anterior singulate gyrus, a portion of the mind that deal with pattern matching. It's what enables people to see faces in the sky, and hear voices in the wind. It's what makes people afraid of tigers in the grass when there are really none. A weird and mysterious thing, the human mind. But either way, it's also what enables people to see codes. There was something here, definitely, but nothing in the text or arrangement of things really popped out. What was so common among children in the academy that she had to notice? Well, they could certainly all use chakra, but the flyer wasn't made out of chakra sensitive material at all. So, what was the point? In frustration, she closed the book, sending dust flying everywhere. The old man sitting on the table next to her looked over, giving her an ingratiating look. Then, noticing the flyer, his face softened. He got up, moved over to where she was sitting, and indicated one of the study rooms with his index finger, shaking his head solemnly. 

Within that room, somebody had been watching the execution hour, AND recording it on tape. Ah ha! Variance had been kind to her. She took the tape and rewinded it, taking a snapshot every few seconds. Suddenly, she frowned. The figure who was getting fire streamed to the face (how vile) looked and screamed familiar to her. It sounded like.... almost like... Kozachi's breath came a little quicker, and the blood started to drain from her face as she watched the terrifying proceedings. The speaker, off screen accused her of being a blight on the academy society, but she knew what was really going on here. It was merely that somebody had disliked her enough to vote against her, and cause her to suffer this torment. And then she recognized who it was. 

Oh, god. 

When she found out who these TV people were, they were going to have the time of their lives... in hell. Kozachi clenched her fist, then stood up, collecting the materials that she had used and slowly putting them back where they belonged, keeping the flyer and the snapshots she had taken. Her hands were shaking now. 

It wasn't the injustice of the whole thing, virtue and justice were weird qualities to mess with. No, it was more of the fact that they'd hurt someone close to her. But she couldn't let her emotions spill out here, not now. There was nobody else she could go to in the world to talk to this about but Kenjiro, and she wouldn't let anything leak out until she saw him again. She left the library, the weapons of her vengeance sitting in her own pocket.

Back to the present time, at any rate.


When she reached him, she showed him the flyer.

"Execution hour! Someone bothering you? Somebody not living up to the standards of a proper student at our glorious academy? Someone not worthy of being a tool of our lords in the mist? Vote for them, and we'll have them tortured live here, at the execution hour!"

Obviously, someone was good at color schemes and marketing, but that was besides the point. Her brother would probably have heard about this already, but this was her way of letting him know that she was fed up with it. The photo that she showed him next would be a picture of a quiet, sensitive girl in the academy. One of Kozachi's friends who she'd known for some time.

"They got her, Ken." The memories of the tape she'd seen flashed back in her mind as she clung to her brother for support, the tears finally starting to flow. The sadness that she'd kept sealed up for a day came spilling out now. They say that letting it out gives you clearance.... that's all bullshit. This was the worst she'd ever felt in her life. The fear, anger and sorrow came streaming down her face.

"Why would someone hate her that much?" She tore herself away from him, her eyes seeming... different, somehow, on a literal level. "Ken! You've gotta help me find out how to track down these people."

[WC 2113,
requesting 1st tomoe sharingan due to sorrowful emotional stress in the face of another RPC]

Approved

Kenjiro easily found his sister as the mark seal did its job, plus the fact that she was running straight for him kind of made it easy. The wind blew across the water and caught his jacket making it blow in the wind. It was ominous like something was about to happen and the smell it brought with it came from the village made Kenjiro's lungs go in a fit, causing him to cough up a bit as the acrid stench caused him to nearly gag, the sounds of laughter also being carried by the wind as his sister caught up to him. As she explained the flyer that he took from her hands reading as she spoke it. The flyer was brightly decorated to catch the eye and the fact that it was designed to target members of the community at large made him incredibly angry. This would not have happened in the old Konoha...this was the madness that was brought when Kirigakure invaded and took control of the village. It made him sick mentally as he could actually imagine the torture that the person in the photo might have endured all for the sake of revenge or a petty squabble...all for the sake of entertainment. The human mind was truly a garbage bin that constantly regurgitated its filth upon the world. In due time would he become like them...or would he purge the world of these sick fucks with his clans flame burning brightly behind him.

He did not know what to say to console his sister as she clung to him. He felt anger, he felt lost, and he felt sorrow for her knowing that his sister had indeed lost a friend just because of something stupid. Then he just hugged her there on the pier, her sobs were unwelcome, but he understood the sorrow...he remembered seeing into the memories of Gisei and the horrors he had experienced. When she pulled away from him and looked up at him pleading to help her he noticed something different. Her eyes had changed. She was the first of the two of them to unlock the clan's most guarded secret of the Sharingan. He was surprised as he stepped back as she pleaded with him. He was angry that he, the oldest was unable to reach the awakening first, but she was obviously emotionally distressed and that matter could wait until another time. He looked at his sister as he stepped back towards her.

"I will do everything in my power to find these fuckers and bring them to justice. What they did is inexcusable and there will be no justice if we cannot put an end to it soon. No waiting for the higher-ups, no ninja assholes thinking they can push us out of the way. This was your friend, meaning they messed with you...which means they now have to deal with me. Do you have an idea of where to start?" He asked with anger in his eyes, the fire of the Uchiha shown behind his Iris's.

510/950

As they separated physically, Kozachi's expression hardened slightly. She still, of course, hadn't noticed the change in her eyes, still hadn't noticed that she'd finally achieved her bloodline limit, albeit at a somewhat low level. The problem with human cognitive functions is that they can be so easily overriden by the babbling of the midbrain. Of course, to clarify, one might say that the gut can sometimes be stronger than the head. Funny how reactions that happened in the amygdala were somehow confused for reactions in the intestines, right? The ancients had such strange and bizarre ideas, all too frequently.

"It's not about 'justice'", she'd reply brusquely, wiping her eyes with her sleeve, "due process would probably let this scum go anyway." The Uchiha clan wasn't SUPPOSED to take matters like this into their own hands, but she figured that the higher ups would be grateful if they solved such a minor inconvenience for them. Maybe she was just rationalizing her own anger? But such a thought never entered her mind. Her anger was more focused now, and with focus came power. Besides, she'd caught something that she hadn't seen before. Her now red eyes strayed over to the flyer in her brother's hand.

"Hold on a second..." She snatched it away from him, holding it up to the sunlight. There was something there that she somehow had missed before, though such a thing was impossible. Sigils drawn in some marker like substance were scrawled across the paper. It was at this moment, of course, that she noticed the chakra drain from her eyes. Oops. She'd done it... she'd unlocked the sharingan before Ken! If she wasn't so damn mad, she'd celebrate. 

Still, this was a breakthrough. "Ken, check it out!" She began, not thinking about what she was actually saying, "there are symbols here that might give us more information." Of course, if her brother didn't have the sharingan, he wouldn't be able to see them... But what did that mean for the person who these symbols were actually meant for? The rabbit hole only went deeper from here...

[TWC 2463]

"I understand the implications of us getting into something that our clan has no jurisdiction over.  There is no way to do this quietly, but we CAN hide so that those "higher-ups"...he said with air quotations, motioning with his hands. "do not actively seek us out for anything...unless you are wanting to catch that sort of limelight?"  He said with a sly and sarcastic tone before realizing to himself that now was not the time to make wise ass jokes.  He would refrain from doing so in the future.  

When she suddenly snatched the poster from his hands and examined it before holding it up as she tried to show him something that she could see but he could not...he let out a sigh with a low tone as he thought that his sister was either A) trying to set up some sort of stupidly RUDE joke and that there was some secret message.  or B) This was true and she could STILL see something he could not.  Either way, it made him uneasy and a bit jealous.  She was the first of their generation to unlock the eyes...at least from what he knew.

"I cannot see them Koz...whatever is there must be a secret for us people less..." awakened".  He said with that same tone unknowingly keeping the same tone.  "Now what do we do about it...tune in and watch someone else get the ax...or could we possibly set...well I am uneasy to suggest it."  He started as he could probably guess that his sister may have had the same idea or may have been afraid he would ask. "We could make a call and get me on the show and I find a way to lead you to them..."  He said knowing full well this would mean death if he fucked this up.  

He was absolutely not in his right fucking frame of mind to even joke, let alone be serious about this...Yet he still said it.

WC:330/1,280

"Well, we certainly can't get anyone else from the clan involved." She tried deactivating her sharingan to stop the out flow of chakra, and it worked. As she did so, the markings vanished. Whoaaaaaaa...! The facts clicked together in her mind like puzzle pieces. An immediate validation of her previous statement... like clockwork. 

"Looks like you can only see the markings here using the sharingan. That means whoever's decrypting these messages and spreading the frequency to other people has to be an Uchiha, right? I don't think anyone's stolen an eye from us recently..." If someone did, the news would be pretty widespread. Even a fellow Konohagakure shinobi who took a sharingan without clearance would be executed by the clan promptly. Using their bloodline limit was no laughing matter, to say the least. Well, this was a breakthrough. 

After her brother had made his suggestions, she'd think about it for a few seconds. Yeah, they had to be careful about this. They didn't know who was backing up this TV station, or how strong that party was. While using Kenjiro as bait pained her, it did seem like the best option. After all, he was undoubtedly stronger than she was, and the technique that she'd seen the kids on the channel use was only a basic fire stream, and a weak one at that. Only enough to seriously burn someone....... 

"Do you have anyone who really hated you in the academy? I'm sure someone's submitted votes to.... 'off' you already." She began mulling the idea over in her mind. "If we just set up a trap and then infiltrate where their base of operations is, I'd be willing to bet that we could put a stop to them, just the two of us." She was filling herself with confidence now. 

"Yeah, that sounds good. Should I be the bait, or should you?" She knew that he'd suggested using himself, but she wanted to let him know that she was willing.
[TWC 2793]

Kenjiro had to think a moment, his time in the Academy mostly consisted of training his body to be a weapon for the village and to protect his clan until Kiri came to the village. Then there was the constant state of affairs where the Uchiha Clansmen were still looked at with envy, no doubt someone wanted him dead already. He did not care though, as long as he was able to protect those he cared for. Now that his sister had awakened her sight, though he had to step up his game. This was how he was going to do it.

"No I will be the bait, I will go stir some trouble in the Academy...make sure you keep an eye on my back, they will come for me at some point..." He said with a slow sigh at the end as he gave his sister a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Let's make this quick so we can end these fools before the day is over." He finished.

In his head, he knew that whoever was actually backing the project and it was no joke was someone with some serious pull within the village and someone with their clan's eye ability. It did not take long to head to the Academy as Kenjiro made his way to the library, making sure that if anyone was in his way he pushed them so they were not...or he would drop rude comments to those he found himself unnecessarily annoyed with. Most of it was a show, but there was a sliver...that made it true, and Kenjiro knew that. He did not care for those in the Academy as much as his family...so it made it easier to do this task, to become the hunted.

As he arrived at the library he noticed a group of individuals at a table having some sort of game going on. With a sigh he approached the group, took a look at them all, it was a simple card game, but one you could cheat at quite easily. He found the one that sprouted the Uchiha clan mark and decided that this may improve his chances a bit more to end up on a show where it was only broadcast using the powers of the Clan's Eye. With a simple movement, he produced a card from his own pocket, just an identical set to the one they played with. He would then act as if he tripped and would knock over the cards in the Uchiha's hand on the ground as the group looked stunned as the boy went down in a dive to get his cards so did Kenjiro. As he scooped the cards up he hid one of his behind another of the nameless boy's cards before looking at him shocked and angry as he feigned his attitude.

"If you would not be such a lousy card player this wouldn't have happened." Kenjiro would say as he would watch the pissed off boy look up at him, then as he was about to say something Kenjiro would go to hand him the cards, purposefully revealing the card he put in.
"You what the hell kid...cheating too... you are a disgrace to the clan. Why don't you lot take care of this garbage?" Kenjiro would say looking at the group for a moment as he would throw the cards on the table and scoff in disgust before walking off leaving the group at the table to begin yelling and getting themselves kicked out of the library. Having space alone he would fall to the floor saddened as he could hear the yelling outside. He now felt like a bad person, a disgrace to his own clan. He hoped that this little mission of his would be over soon. If it was a joke, he had definitely taken it too far at this point.

"I deserve whatever those fuckers are gonna put me through..." Kenjiro said to himself, more in his head than aloud. The boy had some serious self-issues. He did not notice the others in the library that watched the entire thing happen. He wondered if his sister was among them watching.

Little did he know that his mission was an astounding success.

WC:620/2,000

"Alright, sounds good." She trusted her brother's judgement, knowing that with his talent and aptitude, he'd already formed a plan. Within, something nagged at her. Was she going to let him stay ahead of her for the rest of her life? Maybe that was just how things were meant to be, but since when did her proud clan bow down to notions like 'destiny'? God, she felt so helpless sometimes, though, against the struggle of... well, what was basically an inherency. While she refused to believe that some things were "just meant to be", she had been told by many that happiness came from accepting what the universe dished out to you, no matter how shitty it was. Boooooring!
If she couldn't break those chains of predestination and be more than what she was now, what was the point of living? If her whole life had been planned for her from the start, then all of the entertainment and drive would be gone from her life, and that... wasn't really a good thought. Anything that tore at her ego was probably bad, come to think of it. Not ego in the sense that she was a haughty girl, but more like the appetitic portion of her consciousness.
The clan's tales had a metaphor for something like this. The universe's stream of events was like a big old river. Sometimes it was narrow and fast, sometimes it was wide and slow. It twisted and it turned, like a malign snake. Always, however, it flowed to one delta, out into the sea. The fish within it could fight against the stream; they could take advantage of the places in which the river was weak. But in the end, they would all come out in the same place. This does not mean, however, that they should stop fighting. The fish that evolves first, the fish that manages to beat fate and swim backwards would be the victor.

Naturally, this ambitious attitude pervaded the clan atmosphere, which was generally seen as a good thing. After all, who didn't want  to become strong? Power was a common theme among them, and they worked together and individually to achieve it. Like right now, for instance, how she was working with Kenjiro right now. Still, she felt like Kenjiro was the one fighting against the river and that she was just tagging along for the ride, or even worse, dragging him down.

If she became a burden to him, she'd never be able to forgive herself.
Still, the pat on the shoulder was reassuring. Even if she was a drag sometimes, she still cared for him, and he still cared for her. There were plenty of sibling groups in the Uchiha clan that didn't hit it off so well. Wasn't there a legendary tale of two brothers, the younger of which was dead set on killing the elder? Definitely not a worthy relationship goal... Nevertheless, she was grateful to have Ken there to help her out with this distressing problem.

At any rate, she followed her brother to the library, entering after him and immediately going to a different area, but one where she could see what was going on. Behind one of the two-sided book cases, she moved aside two encyclopedia volumes to get a good look at what was going on on the other side. A card game, huh? Well, that was certainly... interesting. She frowned and closed her eyes, focusing, trying to get that feeling of outrage and sorrow back from the day before. When she opened her eyes again, she had activated her doujutsu.

None of the other kids at the table seemed that strong. Their chakras weren't too bright, which was what indicated this to her. Still, that didn't preclude them from being smart or physically strong. Their staminas and chakras, however, were a bit too small for her to consider them REAL threats. How fortunate, however, that Kenjiro had stumbled across this particular card game. From the perspective of the sharingan enhanced Kozachi, this game meant something a bit different. Even the little scuffle of cards trick that Kenjiro used (something that SHE would never have thought of, to her own chagrin) lost a bit of luster.

On one of the cards that one of the other, seemingly less relevant kids was holding was a series of markings, drawn in what looked to be fresh pen. Of course, with that shade of color, only those with the sharingan's chakra vision could perceive this. Damn, that was clever. The fact that members of the clan controlled encryption, distribution AND decryption all at once was something that astonished her just a bit. While she was certainly impressed by this, the shiny-ness of it was dampened by the recent mutilation of one of her comrades, something that she would not tolerate.

She felt useless. She wanted to get up, run over to the table and point out the new discovery to her brother, but she knew that with Ken's plan, her role was SOLELY to observe and to intervene if things went poorly. She clenched her fists and grimaced safely behind her bookcase. Damn, damn! Even with these eyes, it still wasn't enough. You could say that complacency just wasn't a word in her dictionary. But most of all, she wanted to help Kenjiro so badly, to show him that his sister was just as capable.

Endure, girl! She told herself. You'll get there eventually. But no matter how hard her superego pulled at her, trying to lead her back onto the rational path of thinking, her id pulled harder. Still, she had to admit that her brother had definitely pulled off something impressive before her eyes. He had a comprehension of strategy and tactics that she would probably never have. She had more direct approaches to things, no subtlety whatsoever, which is why she'd never be great at cooking. Either way, she had no choice but to sit and watch as events unfolded.

Easier said than done, she thought to herself. The burning, raging, impotent fire of inadequacy was burning within her again. She'd been able to keep up with the unfairness of it all up till now. The higher test scores were just distant numbers, and the adulation of the clan members for her brother was something she could also take pride and joy in. But now that she actually saw him at work, the ease in which he had inserted himself into the game, and the fluidity that he had set his plan in motion... for the first time, the tendrils of jealousy found their way into her heart. In the end, all her hard work could very well be for nothing.

And just like that, the well of hopelessness burst. Not into tears, as a normal girl would have, but into another marking within her eyes, as one tomoe split and became two. She didn't even notice until she felt the increased drain on her chakra due to the heightened level of the eye. Wow! Well.... this might ease things a little. Still, better not to let Kenjiro know about this. Wait, was it okay to keep secrets from him? She didn't know...

She ran outside to meet up with him afterwards. Of course, she wouldn't say anything about what she'd seen... yet.

"How'd it go, Ken? I was watching from behind one of the bookcases... not really sure what was going on, though."
[TWC 4037
requesting 2-tomoe sharingan due to experiencing hopelessness from another player character's actions]