Picking up new tricks [P]

Katsuro was thankful for the larger doors in the training facility. He did not have to bend down to deal with them. Well, not in this area, at the least. He could comfortably make his way though the various rooms, looking for one that was empty.

Go kill them, drink their blood.

Katsuro ignored the voice in the back of his head. Well, he ignored it as best he could. It would keep nagging and nagging at him, until his defenses wore down and...

No, that sort of thinking only made it worse. Katsuro would focus on his training. Beyond all else, he did not want to have to ask Kazumi so soon. It was... embarrassing that he could not control himself. Humiliating that he needed his sister to protect him from himself.

But it is freeing to embrace me.

Katsuro shook his head. He was hair today for only a few things. Him, and his sister, needed to start work on their trainings. They had been slacking for nigh on a hundred years, and it was time to remedy that.

The rumors did not speak kindly of what Katsuro and Kazumi might have to deal with in the future.

[200]

And Kazumi has awoken…

From a rather strange dream, and that was merely the best way to go about describing it. The Lady in Crimson was taken back to a time that was, well…well in the past now. A couple of decades ago in that regards. What started out peaceful soon grew dark, but then again. There was something…comforting about that. Ever since she received Jashin’s Gift, her life had been changed for the better, but that’s getting off track a bit. The dream was of one of her former flame’s and the night her brother murdered them. She never truly understood what compelled him to do so, but then again, knowing Katsuro, it was most likely just because of his nature. During the first few years after that, things had changed drastically, she had become a tiny bit depressed because of it. Since then though, she realized not to get held up by trifling matters such as love, especially when it came to that of mortals. For sooner or later, they would die unless being blessed by the bite of a vampire. Which brings us to today.

Today, that event has only forged the bond between brother and sister in cold iron, mixed with blood, sweat, tears, and…more blood. The two had a certain inseparability amongst themselves, so upon seeing that Kat had gotten up and left the house already, it caused some sense of alarm within the deep recesses of the 94 year old’s mind. Synapses firing left and right, she felt the need to try and go look for him. Lest he would go on one of his mad tirades of bloodlust. While Kazumi was meticulous in keeping up with the required diet, her brother was quite the opposite, frequenting throws of plain and simply not eating until the twin would have to force him practically.

So, getting up and throwing on some clothes, the vampire would get up and proceed to try to find her brother.

It wouldn’t be too long, until she found herself at the training grounds. Walking past the many individual rooms used to better the strength of Kirigakure’s nin, the white haired kunoichi would eventually come across one that was almost empty…almost…save for a single person with similar features shown on herself. It was her brother! Unbeneknowst to him though, she’d take a small sigh of relief muttered so under her breath, that she was assured he wouldn’t hear. I don’t have any mess to clean up…thank Jashin. While that may have been her thought, the words which would be spoken by the sister would resemble a different sentiment; “Brother!!!!” Kazumi would say in a sing-song manner. Skipping over to him, she’d move around to the side where he was facing and lean in close. With a head tilted to the side, her right index finger would bounce off the tip of his nose. Of course, she’d have to do this whilst standing on her tippy toes. ”How’d you sleep last night?
WC: 500

Something deep inside Katsuro shivered. Love, hate, some twisted form of lust, or the throes of addiction, Katsuro had never been able to figure it out. He just had a strong, internal reaction. Kill her. Free us.

Among all his madness, that was the suggestion he had never listened to. Even in the deepest of depths, those he feared he would never claw his way out of, he had always recognized her. Kazumi. His savior. His torture. His charge.

His sister.

Katsuro smiled. It was a genuine smile, but the emotions behind it were far from simple. He began to turn towards his sister, but she had already walked around. He made no move to stop her as she booped his nose.

And he noticed the silence, even with physical contact.

"Kazumi!" He reached out to pat her head, lightly so as not to ruffle her hair or anything.

Well, really he was reaching down, but regardless.

"I slept well last night," he lied. His sister would chastise him for this, he had not eaten for a few days. Well, not in the way that she cared about. She need not know that he spent the last night tussling with his inner demons.

Literally or figuratively.

He was good at hiding it, anyways. It was amazing what happened when your body decided that "bags" were unsightly and incompatible.

"What of you? Did you also sleep well?" he asked before turning back towards the training dummy in front of him.

Aight fancy pants.

Katsuro kept smiling and began punching the dummy some. He needed to get stronger. Had to get stronger. If he got stronger, surely he could control himself better.

We can kill better.
Yes, death brings joy.
Death brings sweet ichor.

Katsuro punched the dummy as hard as he could. Perhaps if he had found a sturdier practice room, it would have withstood his paltry attempt at brutality fine. As it stood, well, it no longer stood, fallen to the ground, obviously bent.

"Good to see you have found me. Did you see my note?"


Nope.

Katsuro blinked. "Oh pardon... I have forgotten to leave one, haven't I?"

'Forgot'

Katsuro realized it must be bad, if they were already affecting him this much. He had meant to, hadn't he?

His sister would likely force him to feed tonight.

You're still fine.
Don't you enjoy talking to us?
Why deny your love?

Katsuro ignored the voices.

Well. He tried to.

---

410 words
610 total

Standing firm in her pose, the woman standing before the white haired, blue eyed shinobi, would let out a smile as the response would be given. There was a portion, a sliver of her which had felt that the phrase which left his lips was actually true, and if so that was good. Meant he was getting more capable to do things on his own. Perhaps there would be change in the nearby future? Although, there was the thought that it could simply be a trick, or a ploy. Something used to merely keep her quiet. Regardless, with the knowledge of this Kazumi wouldn’t let any of it really register upon her youthful, pale visage.

Red ribbons flowing with the locks of hair as they would bob from side to side with the motion of her head being turned around to follow where her brother had moved to near the training dummy. Hearing once more what he had to say, there was some truth to the matter. They have been in hiding for nearly 80 years, so it was about time they finally were able to come out to play. Delighted by the notion, the fair skinned maiden would happily reply, telling Katsuro ”I slept well.” But what came next was…quite in the nature of Kat.

Letting out a bit of a giggle to keep the unseen rouse of, oh boy, not again, she’d still only speak aloud ”What note silly?” Part of the reason in which the verbal answer was made was to help drown out the voices within her brother’s head. She had known for quite some time of his apparent slip down the rabbit hole, but she’d do what she could to ensure the twin didn’t slip any deeper. It was almost like a helpful coping mechanism in a sense. To drown out the other voices, hers would be heard. As light, airy, and feathery as ever.

WC: 321
TWC: 821

Katsuro relaxed, somewhat. There was no times he could be totally relaxed but...

He could relax some. And that was helpful. His smile faded just a bit as he breathed in, and out, and glanced at the mangled punching dummy bag thing. "Maybe we should focus on some other matter, some other method of training. I did notice an empty room as I strolled through earlier. I do say it has a pool of water, as well as an open wall and sea access to try things out."

Drown her in the pool.

Katsuro's smile stuttered for half a moment. Not out of consideration, but of annoyance.

Katsuro would begin walking through the building again, though this time the opposite direction he had gone in before. While not very far away, the room he had in mind was still a bit of a walk.

But there it was, currently unused. Katsuro knew him and his sister had water chakra.

Likely a biproduct of the 'gift' bestowed upon them.

Katsuro stood at the open wall, looking out to the ocean, seemingly specifically chosen to not have buildings around.

It made sense, with how devastating water could be. Who would know better than the people of the islands?

Katsuro took a deep breath, remembering why he had learned this justu, and wishing he didn't remember.

He exhaled.

As he inhaled this time, his hands moved to for the Hare, Monkey, Ram, and Dog symbols, in that order, as he had practiced... far too much.

With his exhale came: nothing, except a wave of exhaustion. It was still outside his grasp. He had tried so hard but...

No, if he lamented too hard, he would...

No, not worth it.

He accepted that he was not ready yet. But he would know it for when he was.

---

302 words
912 total

Kazumi would smile and nod, proceeding to follow suit of her brother through the building to an empty room where they could train some water techniques together. Though she remained silent on the way there, the aura around her remained cheery; a doe like look of happy go luckiness could be seen glinting in the corner of her eyes. The reason in which she tried to remain this way was to help soothe and ease the emotions of others around her. Which was another great aspect of the gift, being more in tune with someone else’s emotions. This helped with things such as navigating social scenarios, getting a general read for a room, and could simply understand someone much easier than most.

But, that’s slightly besides the current point.

It wouldn’t be too long before the pair would get to this empty room. Sitting in it’s center, the pristine pool, and judging from the pipe system below, it would seem as if it was naturally flowing in from the sea. A nice little touch to remind them of how their home is practically the sea. Getting a feel for the area, the Kyuketsuki sister would start slow and simple. Unlike her brother, the white haired one didn’t rush into trying out the technique itself immediately. She instead started by molding her chakra within her hands, and focusing it there.

WC: 229
TWC: 1050

Elbows to side. Arms flat. Palms down. Fingers straight.

Breathe in. Through nose only. Turn palms upwards. Raise forearms, keeping hands straight.

Breathe out. Through mouth only. Turn palms back downwards. Kick out elbows slightly. "Push" air downwards".

Repeat.

Katsuro was vaguely aware of his sister working on her techniques to his side. While he could neither see chakra nor predict her move, he did notice that she seemed to be focusing upon her hands.

He kept looking out towards the ocean, but moved such that he was in line with his sister, just to her side. She would focus on what she could do well.

He would focus on what he knew well.

Yes, improve. Improve such that we may bring devastation.

Katsuro's breathing, and therefore his movements, faltered.

And then he continued.

In. Out.

Palms up. Arms in.

Palms down. Arms out.

Focus on your own body. Focus on that one spot on Kazumi where you can just make out her vei-

Katsuro shouted. A shout of pain; of triumph. His arms sot up, head tilted forwards.

His muscles, while certainly not that large or defined, briefly rippled, likely to be missed by anyone not paying close attention to the man.

And then he relaxed.

And waited.

And collapsed.

Not from exhaustion, but from hope.

He fell onto his back, smile stretching far across his face, panting from pure exhilaration.

"What do you think of that, you fuckers!?" he shouted to no one in particular, almost playfully punching at the air above his head.

---

WC 256
TWC 1168

Even though her eyes were closed, Kazumi still knew that Katsuro drew near her. Getting closer, ever so faintly, besides the gentle tapping of steps against the wooden boards with the occasional creak, but was the fluttering of a beating heart. Somewhat at least. The sound had it’s differences than that of regular humans. It would still be heard, but softer. Quieter. Less rapid, giving it an almost consistent murmur effect. The only question which remained was; why? The Kyuketsuki weren’t considered a clan of undead, and as far as she could understand, their hearts still effectively functioned in the same capacity as a mortals would. But, there wasn’t really much to go off of. Besides each other, and the distant memory of parents, they had never met another member of their clan before, so it’s origins for the most part, still held many mysteries.

In the midst of this all though, the snowy haired vixen would feel as if enough of her chakra had been concentrated to move onto the next part.

Kazumi would envision a stream of water emerging in a single line from the pool before both her and her brother. Much like a thin whip, but viscous. A constantly moving shape of water which outstretched to her hand, which would fashion itself into the aforementioned weapon. Opening her eyes with a flash, the genin would release the gathered chakra and focus it onto the water to do what she had imagined it to do. And slowly, surely. It would start to happen. The water would defy gravity; climb upwards towards the ceiling. At the pace of molasses, albeit, but that was besides the point. After this brief bout of suspension, it would start to form slightly faster, until it would latch onto the lady’s hand, taking hold before sneaking it’s way to the palm and shaping itself into the whip.

WC: 314
TWC: 1364

Katsuro would playfully punch the air a few more times before going full starfish, lying on the floor, panting heavily. It was a good day. After decades of hell, he had come up with a way to silence the voices! He had done it! So much time, so much research, and he was free! Maybe, maybe if he was lucky, this would let him cure himself of the need for blood... Oh, that would be so joyous! It was supposed to remove detrimental effects, after all, and Kats considered this unnatural need very detrimental, and the voices were detrimental to his mental health, if not also his physical health.

He took a few more moments, lying there, absorbing the joy of silence. Sure, Kazumi was making noise in the room, but...

That was in the room, not in his head.

This was a beautiful silence. He could get used to this....

But eventually Katsuro would need to get up, and keep working on honing his skills. He was, after all, working hard to better himself, and that technique would only improve with him. The stronger he was, the better it was, and, at least he believed, the more it would help him to resist the hullshit that plagued him day in and day out, when asleep or awake, with no care as to his preferences or beliefs.

Katsuro noticed his sister practicing with a water whip. That sounded like something he could manage if he tried, but right now? He did not feel particularly like doing that. He was focused on his physical body, on improvement of that.

So Katsuro would start with some stretches. This was actually the third time since getting here that he started the stretches.

It was, however, the first time since Kazumi was also here, and the first time that the voices were not.

---

WC 327
TWC 1495

Beautiful.

Mysterious.
The unpredictability of where the water would flow to, but the predictability in that it would continue to do just that; being amorphous in shape and viscous in texture. Just as sure as the rolling tide crashed against the beaches and shorelines, this fact remained. It was calming just being able to witness the beautiful elemental chakra weapon simply sit there at ease. What once was simple water with no actual definition to it, now was this whip of both the very same liquid and a fine amount of concentrated chakra.

Kazumi, being in a rather playful mood would start to just…dance around with this. She would wrap the fine water whip around her arms, move it past her waist and up a long the spine. Dancing to the beat of her own drum, both metaphorically and now literally. The particular way in which the vampire did this was rather entrancing too. The smooth motions and transitions of both body and extension were done so in such a mesmerizing way that one could simply relax and live as if nothing really mattered. Something the girl had learned to do from a young age. After a certain point in life, almost everything had been either done or seen. So now, it was practically just left with the smaller things, the typical weirder things that one wouldn’t think of doing immediately.

However, to juxtapose this but with an emphasis on that same spark of a jovial nature, Kazumi’s head would tilt slightly to briefly glance at her brother who was now up from the floor and doing stretches. Once he’d not be peering directly over at her, the twin sister would let loose the whip, cracking it downward to strike right in between her brother’s feet.

WC: 296
TWC: 1660