Let people live how they want dammit (p:Kot,Geni)

Mission: Matrimonial Bliss

It was hot. Hoshigakure was always hot, regardless of the time of year. It was especially hot right now, since it was the middle of summer. Kotetsu didn’t like being overly hot. Being a member of the Yuki bloodline meant that his blood ran much colder than a regular human being, so the warmer climates of Hoshi were not ideal. What was even more ironic was that the Winter Knight of Hoshi had a passion for blacksmithing, which worked around extremely hot forges, the heat turning his newly-built workshop into a sauna at any time of day. Beggars can’t be choosers though, since the heat was necessary to ply his craft, so it was tolerated.
 
Working in his forge was only the latest activity to come up in the list of things that take up time during his day. In addition to working in his forge Kotetsu has regular training sessions with his mentor, Valen Akari. These training sessions were never easy and often left him tired and low on chakra. They were definitely a welcome addition to his schedule though since it helped him improve his skills. Even as a Jounin he was always seeking ways to improve, and the best way to improve was to fight someone that was stronger and learn from the mistakes that are made.
 
Being a Jounin included its own tasks that Kotetsu needs to complete regularly. Patrolling the village, proctoring exams, and completing missions for the village. The missions are as often solo affairs as they are with him either being part of a squad, or leading one. The one thing that Kotetsu did not enjoy about missions, is that they could arrive at any time, with no notice. Luckily for him, his newest mission was delivered to him just before he was about to light his forge. ‘Mixed blessing…’ Kotetsu thought to himself as the messenger delivered the mission scroll and left. ‘I was just about to get some work done…’ He had been working on other ideas for his friend Red. ‘No…’ Kotetsu stopped himself mid thought, ‘Mo-Ri was his name…not Red…’ He had recently discovered the weaponry user’s name via Kenshin, as they were discussing what was being done about a monster that had suddenly appeared in the village. Anyways, Kotetsu was figuring out new designs for either upgrading his friend’s arm, or improving his current limbs. It never hurt to have backups in case other limbs ended up getting lost after all. Sadly, he put aside his tools and went back to his office to read the mission scroll.
 
Ever since Kotetsu and his family had come to Hoshigakure, he had known there was a division between the civilian and shinobi populations. It saddened the Winter Knight of Hoshi because it meant that while both sides were interested in the betterment of the City blessed by the stars, a majority of them felt that their beloved Hoshi would be better off without the other. It was something that needed to be fixed, and better understanding and putting aside differences would be among the best ways for all of the citizens of Hoshigakure to work together and build a better village. It would appear that there are some that feel this way. A shinobi and one of the civilian populace had fallen in love and wanted to get married. ‘A very complicated situation to be sure…’ Kotetsu thought to himself. He was well aware of how frowned upon most families consider marriage between the two different factions, which made no sense to him. ‘If two people are happy together, they should be allowed to be together…’ He thought to himself as he had read over the rest of the document. They needed to find someone who was cosmopolitan enough to marry them, get the documentation to the central administration building for the paperwork to be filed, and protect them from harm until the ceremony is complete and they are able to file the paperwork. The only thing in their favour is that the administrative building was not discriminative when it came to these unions. The rest of the mission scroll had a picture of the bride and groom-to-be, along with their names and where they were supposed to be located. Their home was secure enough that they would be fine before and after the mission, it was simply the time in-between that was the issue, which Kotetsu had no problem acting as an escort. The only other thing on the scroll was that he would not be the only shinobi that is escorting this couple. There would be at least one more shinobi accompanying him, who would be meeting him here since his forge was somewhat close to the couple’s home. That suited Kotetsu fine, it meant that he could always go and check in on them from time to time without going out of his way. The scroll also mentioned that he would be lead on this mission. The Winter Knight of Hoshi rolled up the scroll with a nod. ‘I guess there’s nothing left to do but to prepare my gear and wait for the rest of my squad to arrive…’ He thought to himself as he collected his equipment from his living space that he had incorporated in his new property. He would likely have a little time, so he would also spend some of his time waiting by writing up some notes on a recent project of his.
 
WC: 912

He heard the sound of flapping wings before the large lizard-like beast appeared in the sky in the air above his shop. 'Huh...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he looked at it. 'That's definitely a dragon...And one that's definitely making its way towards here...' The Winter Knight of Hoshi wasn't overly concerned. If it was a hostile creature he had means of taking it down. His course of action was determined when it landed behind his shop, apparently with someone on its back. Kotetsu had only caught a brief glance, and it was not someone he recognized. Neither was the chakra signature of either individual. With a short roar, one of the signatures disappeared. 'Teleportation?..' Kotetsu thought to himself. 'Or was that a summoned companion like that wolf...' With a shrug, Kotetsu placed a hand on a small cube sitting on his desk. Since it was already attuned to him, the cube shifted and crawled up his arm, forming his clothing for the day. His desired design for the day was a pair of blue robed pants with silver trim, as well as a vest of small leaf-shaped scales, coloured black with silver. The silver scales formed a snowflake design exactly like the necklace he wore on the chain around his neck. To better protect it, the pendant was tucked under the vest for now.  He wore his modified Jounin flak vest over top, and his Hoshigakure hitai-ate would be hung around his neck, like a loose gorget. Instead of his backpack, his normal equipment went into his weapon pouches and the pouches on his flak jacket. He had debated on carrying his katana with him, but it was purely ornamental at this point, since he had ways of creating better weapons out of ice. It would remain hanging on the wall, a treasured gift at this point. As he walked down the stairs of his living quarters to enter the back room of his shop, he heard a voice call out. “Hello, HELLO~!” She called cheerfully, “My name is .. um, Genevieve Oasis and I’m here for my new mission partner.”

'Ah...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he made his way towards where she was standing. 'So this is who I was told would be assisting me with this mission...' He made his way towards the door that separated the shop front from the back and opened it. On the other side of the counter was a young woman, dressed in robes that denoted some form of clergy. Had she not mentioned being here for a mission partner, Kotetsu would have immediately put himself on guard. The woman had pale skin, very vibrant blue eyes much like his own, and a very vibrant head of pink, purple, blue, and green hair. It was definitely not the appearance of someone that one would see every day, easy to notice and hard to forget. And not in a bad way either, Kotetsu had to stop himself from admiring the young woman in front of him. She was indeed beautiful, but she wasn't here for pleasantries. In one hand she held a scroll, likely the mission scroll that was issued to her containing the details of the mission she was assigned. After taking a brief moment to compose himself, he would nod and smile. "Well met, Miss Oasis. I am Kotetsu Shinogami, and I will be the squad leader for this particular mission. No one else has shown up yet, so unless you are aware of any other shinobi arriving here, it will likely be just you and me. What do you know of the situation currently? I would also like to know more about you, your skills and abilities so as to best prepare a plan for the mission." It made sense to get right down to business. He would need to know what she knew of the mission, as well as what she brought to the table so that she could be appropriately assigned duties for the mission.

WC: 668
TWC: 1580

His new squad mate smiled and dove right into it. ‘Good… Kotetsu thought to himself as she started speaking. ‘She’s not one to waste time either…’ “Hello Kotetsu Shinogami, but I don’t think anyone else is coming along.” Kotetsu nodded in response to that. “That’s quite alright, it won’t matter much in any event.” In response to his inquiry on her knowledge of the mission, she responded quickly and with another smile. ‘A very cheerful young woman indeed…’ he thought to himself as she provided her response. “Yes, I believe that we are supposed to guard a couple getting married when there are few who will marry them; however, we’re in luck!” The Winter Knight of Hoshi raised his eyebrow at that statement. “Oh really? Please elaborate for me, any information you have would definitely help in the planning process.” It was the truth after all. The more information gathered in advance, the smoother a mission could be run. “I am an ordained Priestess of my Church; I also have the permissions and powers to conduct small matrimonial ceremonies.” Kotetsu blinked. “Yes, that would definitely be a lucky break, since all we would need to do is wed them and make sure that they are safe during the ceremony.” He would say to Genevieve as he stepped out from behind the counter, so as to make the interaction more personable. “As long as the ceremony is under 20 people, I can proceed.” Kotetsu nodded. “Based on what I’ve seen of the situation, I doubt they will have more than a witness or two.” Kotetsu had not expected there to be much support in either community because of the “scandal” that was being caused by their relationship. Not that it bothered Kotetsu, he was always the kind of person to live and let live.

“I’m not very experienced and I just became a Chunin recently, however I am gaining confidence in my abilities and my dragon summon.” She said warmly, as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Kotetsu smiled in understanding. “That’s quite alright.” He said to the young kunoichi. “We’ve all been there, and I’m confident that you will do well.” Kotetsu could remember when he had become a Chuunin himself. It seemed like such a long time ago. To him, he had been a Chuunin for over 10 years. However the majority of that time had been spent in a different version of this world. It had only been a few months prior that his Chuunin exams were completed, one of four members of Hoshi that had been promoted. Of that group, only Kotetsu so far had made it to Jounin. Genevieve interrupted his daydreaming though, before he could reminisce too much. “I’m looking forward to working with you; it’s my first time doing a mission in a while so please excuse me and my rustiness.” Kotetsu smiled at the young, bright-haired kunoichi. “I’m looking forward to working with you as well. As for your rustiness, that won’t be a problem.” Kotetsu told her. “I have more than enough experience for the two of us in this mission. We’ll get you back into the swing of things in no time.”

It would seem that Genevieve had some reservations which she explained to him; “For a mission like this, however, I would prefer to not use my summons; I know it’s hypocritical of me to use one to get here and then say I don’t wish to use them, but I would prefer to not call them in from a small dispute.” Kotetsu could understand why, especially since if that was the only summon that she had access to. Small confines would cause for potential collateral damage, which would not help in this situation. Before he could say anything, the young kunoichi said something else; “However, since you will be leading the mission, it’s my job to follow; so should you tell me to bring them, I will.” Kotetsu paused for a minute, looking at her speculatively. “I can appreciate that, and it is something that I will keep in mind. That being said, I would certainly hope that as a Chuunin, you would have other skills and abilities that you bring to the table if you would prefer to not rely on your summon for assistance. Would you be able to elaborate on what those are? I’m confident that I should be able to handle just about any threat we come across during this mission, however being able to include your abilities in my planning would allow for less complications during the mission.” He didn’t want to come off as cocky so he kept his tone friendly. "I would love to hear more about how you earned the trust of your dragon summon, that must have been quite a feat."

WC: 804
TWC: 2384

“OH, my dragon… well I kind of…” The young Chuunin smiled nervously and rubbed the back of her neck as she laughed a bit, “I fell into a cavern and found him.” Kotetsu couldn't help but chuckle. 'That's certainly one way to meet a companion...' He thought to himself with a smile. 'I wonder if there are other types of dragons out there... I swore I read about some in the library...' He would need to look into that another time. There was work to be done right now.

“In regards to my abilities as a chunin and to attack without my dragon; yes, I’m modestly good at fighting, however, its the ability to push myself to be assertive and have some sort of ‘killing’ intent that I seem to be lacking. I was mainly raised up in the Church, so I am predisposed to refrain from going ‘all-out’ or attacking myself. I am instructed to lead the life of a pacifist and my lack of willingness to kill my opponents is what lost me a passing grade in my Chunin Exam.” 'Interesting how they teach a life of pacifism and non-violence when the religion here is not like that at all...' Kotetsu thought to himself as Genevieve spoke. 'Unless it's a completely different religion that she's a part of...' He shrugged as she continued on. “I’ve slowly been gaining confidence but I just want to be able to push myself out of my comfort zones and be more decisive. I’d like to make sure strong decisions.” Kotetsu nodded approvingly at her last statement. "That's good. With the right training, and with that attitude, I'm confident you will excel." He completely ignored her next statement of “I’m too much of a pussy, I suppose.” because he did not know her well enough to make any form of opinion on the subject, and that was not something he would voice an opinion on until after the Winter Knight of Hoshi had see the colourful kunoichi in action.

“So, shall we begin? Please lead the way to our destination, I’m not too good at navigating this area.” She said to him, which he smirked in response. Before he could say anything though, she continued with “Excuse me, that was rude of me; I’m just so excited to be doing a mission again.” She said. That elicited a laugh from the Yuki Jounin. "I certainly get what you mean, and it's quite alright. Excitement for missions to a degree is a good thing." Kotetsu paused for a moment before continuing. "Yes, we will head over there shortly. Luckily they are not far from where we are currently. It's rather lucky of us because there will not be as many opportunities for them to be attacked while we get everything sorted out. As he made his way towards the front door of his shop, Genevieve said something else.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t explain my skill set. I specialize in medical jutsus, however, as a Hozuki my element is in water. I hope that my skill set will be able to compliment yours, should things sour.” She informed him, “I’m so sorry for jumping from topic to topic.” The young woman said, a note of apology in her voice “You must be so annoyed with me for being such a silly scatterbrain.” Kotetsu waved a hand dismissively as he opened the door and held it for her so she could walk out onto the street. "Not at all." he said to her. "It takes a lot to annoy me, and your method of conversation does not annoy me in the slightest." He said with a smile. Once they left his shop he would point along a side street. "They are a couple streets over. We can cut through here to shave some time." Kotetsu said as he led her towards their destination.

It took them very little time to make their way to the couple's home, which made life simpler. It meant less potential for the two shinobi to be ambushed on the way, to prevent the mission from even starting. Not that it was an issue, since they were not bothered during the entire trip. When they arrived, Kotetsu would knock on the door and wait for a response.

WC: 715
TWC: 3099

It was a relatively short trip from Kotetsu’s new home to their destination. Short in the sense that it wasn’t opposite sides of the village. The pair they were going to be assisting lived just on the outside of the market district, which required him and his teammate to traverse almost the entirety of the Market District itself. Not that it was a problem since the Market district was the second most colourful area of the village. Only the Water Gardens could claim to be more beautiful in Kotetsu’s eyes, at least in terms of the village itself. The reds and purples that predominantly defined the market district’s tents and stalls were broken up by the duller browns of most sandstone structures and the odd splash of other colours. The streets were full of civilians and shinobi, all going about their business. This was one of the only areas where the civilian and shinobi populations held the least animosity towards each other. ‘They don’t really have much choice…’ Kotetsu thought to himself as he watched most of them as they went about their business. ‘If someone has what you want, you’re going to have to deal with them…’ He had been lucky that the majority of the civilian smiths he learned from had all been willing to teach. It was not a common occurrence to have a shinobi blacksmith, so they had taken it as a sign that perhaps not all shinobi were as bad as the clergy made them out to be. Kotetsu chuckled to himself as he thought back on those memories, recent as they were.

It wasn’t long after leaving the market district that they arrived at their destination; a light green door in a larger, multi-story home a couple streets away from the edge of the Market District. ‘Well…here we are…’ Kotetsu sighed with relief. So far nothing bad had happened, which was a good thing. He had totally expected them to be approached while they were walking. He shrugged and knocked on the door, allowing Genevieve to stand in front of him at the door. Almost immediately, the door swung open, revealing a beautiful, lithe male in a flowy and elegant Greek-styled white dress. Thick, natural reddish-orange hair framed their face as the back half of their hair was pulled up into an ornate and intricate style; a golden-leaf laurel in their air with golden leaf pins within the bun. “Hello.” The Hoshigakure Chuunin greeted, “My name is Genevieve Oasis. I am a high priestess of the faith that follows the Goddess-”

“OH. MY. GAWD.” The man said, causing Kotetsu to hide a smirk. He knew this particular couple, and could hazard a guess at why they were having trouble getting married. “OH, you’re just the cutest! Hubby said that we put out a mission for the shinobi-” ‘He likely doesn’t recognize me…’ Kotetsu thought to himself. The last time he had seen Elias and Sebastian was before he had become a Chuunin. “I’m Elias- Oh god, my manners, please, come in come in!” Kotetsu allowed Genevieve to go first, entering last and closing the door behind them. He decided to look through the entrance of the door as it was closing and saw someone leaning against a house directly opposite the home, watching the door. The Winter Knight of Hoshi frowned as he closed the door. ‘Of course it was too easy…’ He thought to himself with a grumble as he followed Genevieve and Elias. ‘Oh well, I guess we’ll have some trouble the minute we leave…’

As they approached a rather large pair of staircases they were met by another man, Kotetsu recognizing him as Sebastian, coming down the stairs in the same style of dress that Elias wore. “Hello, I’m Sebastian.” The man greeted warmly, his shaggy black hair hung about his shoulders in curled waved, but he also wore golden laurels and his eyes were green, as he came to stand next to Elias who smiled happily, “Welcome to our home… I suppose now, you can see- as the mission stated- why no one wants to marry us.” Kotetsu chuckled. “I’ve known you two for a while, so yes, I know why no one wants to marry you.” The pair looked at him slightly confused, clearly not recognizing the young boy that he once was. Genevieve looked just as confused, but it seemed for a different reason.

“Is it the Greek-theme?” She inquired quietly and Elias burst into laughter. Kotetsu chuckled as well, placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, and shook his head. Elias responded with “No, honey, it’s because we’re gay.” ‘Pegged it…’ Kotetsu thought with a sad smile. ‘a sad state of affairs it is indeed…’ Genevieve apparently felt the same way; “Who you are doesn’t negate the fact that you can’t be married; I have the power to perform the ceremony so, please- let’s make this a good night.” She said to the pair of men in front of her. They nodded and led her to a room that had already been decorated with a little arch for the ceremony. ‘That’s convenient…’ Kotetsu thought to himself with amusement. Elias and Sebastian both held hands and looked at each other as Geni headed the room, standing before them and reciting the marriage oath off her church. When she gave them the go-ahead to exchange rings and kiss, they were more than happy to go ahead. When she gave them the chance to say their ‘I do’s and kiss, so there be no interruption, the couple could go ahead and seal their bond and Geni would smile and pronounce them husband and husband. Elias quickly corrected with a “Wife, honey!” and Genevieve happily obliged. Once the ceremony was done, Genevieve looked at Kotetsu for next steps.

“Now comes the difficult part…” Kotetsu said to the trio. “I’m sorry Elias, but you’ll need to put your game face on. You can stop being a Chuunin and back to loving your husband once we’ve gotten the marriage documentation to the records building and get you two back here safely.” He paused briefly before saying “By the way, I’m impressed with your Fuinjutsu on the house, no wonder you haven’t been bothered here. It’s too dangerous for anyone you don’t want to enter the house.” Elias looked at him suspiciously. “Okay. How do you know us, because we don’t know you…” Kotetsu smirked. “Sure you do, I’ve just grown a bunch since you last saw me. I was also a Genin when you saw me last. I don’t look like the Kotetsu you saw a few weeks ago do I?”

Elias and Sebastian’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh my…” The both said. “You really have grown.” Sebastian said with a laugh. “Anyways, we can always talk about that later, there are more important things to do now.” Kotetsu nodded in agreement. “Indeed.” He said to the others. “Let's get the documentation filled out properly and then we’ll all head over to the records building to finalise everything. Once that’s done, we’ll get you two back here and behind the protection of Elias’ seals.” The forms had already been filled out, so there just needed to be signatures of witnesses, which Genevieve and Kotetsu provided. As soon as that was taken care of, Kotetsu handed the forms to Sebastian to hold on to. “You’re going to be in the middle of all three of us. We will form a rotating triangle formation around you. I will take the lead, and we will rotate so that I am the nearest to the largest threat should we encounter any.” Should all 3 be ready to go, Kotetsu will lead them to the door, wait for Elias to deactivate the seals around the door, and head outside. The man that was standing around earlier was still there, and he had some friends it would seem, as there were a couple more men standing with him now. “You three get moving.” Kotetsu said to the others as the group of men made their way over towards them. Kotetsu would move quickly to intercept them before they got too close. “That’s quite far enough.” He said quietly to the men. “I will not allow you to interfere.” His reputation must be starting to precede him, as the men looked at him a bit apprehensively. The first man appeared to have gathered up some more courage than the rest though. “We’ll do what we want.” He said aggressively, trying to shoulder his way past Kotetsu. The Winter Knight of Hoshi responded by moving directly in front of the man and shoving him backwards as Geni, Elias, and Sebastian left in the direction of the records building. "Don't do anything you'll regret." Kotetsu said to them quietly as he turned and left, moving quicker to catch up to the others.

The rest of the trip to the records building was fairly uneventful; Kotetsu however kept up a watchful vigil on their surroundings the entire trip. 'This was much easier than I thought...' Kotetsu thought to himself as they got closer. His relief was short-lived however, when they round the corner and see a half-dozen men standing near the records building, effectively blocking the door. The Winter Knight of Hoshi sighed and took lead again, getting ready to deal with the perceived threat in front of them. Kotetsu made a quick bird hand seal in each hand, and sent not only a blade of wind at the middle of the wall of assailants, but he also sent some air bullets at the others on the far sides of the group. He was hoping to take them all out in one attack so they could hurry up and get back. Luckily for them it had cleared enough of them out of the way to get Elias and Sebastian inside the record office to submit their documentation, properly cementing their marriage. Kotetsu would escort the trio quickly back to their home. They thanked the pair of shinobi for their assistance. "It's no problem." Kotetsu said to the married couple. "I'm glad we could help." Kotetsu would then turn to Genevieve. "You did well. Feel free to stick around and make sure that no one bothers them for now. I will head back to my home and file the report stating that our mission was a success." With that, assuming Geni had nothing else to say, Kotetsu would make his way home to work on that lovely mission paperwork.

[EXIT]

WC: 1755
TWC: 4854

Claiming:
10ap
4000 Ryo
2299WC towards Sage Mode, Non-Animal (3750/3750, 25% max stat discount)
750 WC towards Chakra Disguise Technique (750/750, 25% Max stat discount)
1805 WC towards Shuriken Shadow Clone (1805/3000, 25% Max Stat discount)

Proof of Sage Mode progress: here

Approved