Old Classmates

Today was just the usual day for Kouen, some days he did his duty as a Genin and did a few missions here and there, while other days he had off and took advantage of it. This is one of those break days and it was rather relaxing for most of the morning for him, he debated to himself as to whether he should take on a mission or have a peaceful, slow paced day and he decided on the latter. He usually entertained himself just by being alone and he's pretty content with his thoughts, though the ideas of what could've been does hit him every now and then... maybe should've been more social in the academy, or spend the extra effort to meet with new people but any thoughts of even doing that brings him back to his introvert side, where he prefers the peace and quiet over disruptive and noisy environments.

He ordered from his usual restaurant, taking an order to go where as soon as the food's ready and cooked, he would take it and be on his way. It's a nice little food place that's peaceful to Kouen's tastes, where he knows most of the regulars there by appearance but he doesn't really know them personally, he never even opened up conversation with them. The place itself doesn't see a lot of business probably because of how it looks in appearance. A rough looking sign out on the front and some of the decorations inside looks like they were placed decades ago and rarely, consistently cleaned. If people could look past the first impression of the place and order something, their minds would change completely as the food they cook is quite good in his opinion, which is probably why this place even still has regulars.

At the moment, he's simply waiting at one of the tables of the place, sporting his casual outfit which is a green jacket with a grey shirt underneath, followed by long black pants which connect down to his black boots. A rather casual outfit since he's not on duty at the moment. He already paid for his order and just sat down, looking around patiently until it was done.

Shimiko was in the mood to try something new. She had been running around completing various errands around the village. Her life had become inordinately busy as of late but she relished the action. Every since she was a little girl she had wanted to be a ninja and seeing how hard her brother worked she knew what she was getting into. In the few moments of respite she had, she enjoyed both cooking and eating out. Today was an eat out day and rather than go to her usual establishments she decided to visit this place at the word of a fellow Jashinist. Shimiko practically skipped into the restaurant and gazed at the menu for a few moments. She made her selection and sat down at another table not too far from Kouen. The blonde was wearing her typical attire. A plain white dress shirt with most of the buttons undone thereby exposing her generous cleavage. A black mini-skirt, ninja scandals, and a loosened black tie that hung around her neck. Her blonde hair was done up in a pair of voluminous pigtails that were held together with a pair of small pins with a skull design. Eventually her gaze caused her eyes to fall upon Kouen. Shimiko's brows furrowed as she tried to place his face and then all of a sudden the realization hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Oh Kouen!" she exclaimed and hurried over to his table. Shimiko was as friendly as could be. This aspect of her personality had never changed from Academy into womanhood. The only difference was she was now less shy about revealing the not-so-friendly aspects of her character. "How are you doing! Long time no see." she said with a cheesy grin.

Kouen noticed the woman that had walked in, having a quick look of her appearance before he looked away... a new one. He comes here quite a fair few times and he's never seen her at this place before... though, she's familiar in some way and he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Kouen went to his thoughts once more and she actually reminded him of someone he knew a few years back in the academy, a blond girl with ponytails that showed herself to be pretty cheerful. He had a few interactions with her but they weren't friends or anything, they only knew each other back then and that's about it... his memory finally started to kick and realise that she's Shimiko. "She's a bit famous these days." he thought, he has heard about her reputation every now and then. A thought went into his mind about possibly approaching her and having a conversation but he decided against it since he didn't want to be a broken record about it, especially since he doubted that she would remember him.

At least, until she approached him instead after seeing him and said his name, giving that cheerful tone of hers once more. He got a bit nervous and didn't know how to properly reply to this rather confident approach of hers. He just gave a smile of his own, though not a big one and lightly nodded. "Shimiko, indeed it has... I'm surprised you remember me." that wasn't so bad, he supposed that she could've remembered him with his natural red eyes, that's a feature most people remember him for anyway. He wasn't as well dressed back then and his black spiky hair was a lot more messy back at the academy. "I'm doing pretty okay as a shinobi, though I'm still a Genin believe it or not but I'm moving forward, you know?" his smile reduced down back to his normal face, still retaining that almost closed off, yet straightforward aspect of him. "I've been hearing about you nowadays, I see you've made it as a successful ninja." he then had a quick look at the kitchen door, as if he was waiting to see his order come out at any time, just to quickly return his red gaze at her.

It was definitely Kouen. Those red eyes of his were one in a million. It was something that people with dojutsu tended to have but to her knowledge he wasn't a member of any clan that utilized Eye Techniques. It made him appear dangerous and dashing, both were great qualities in any budding ninja. "I never forget my classmates" she said playfully. Shimiko did go out of her way to be friendly and memorable to others. Part of that required remembering others and staying on good terms with them. She was a bit surprised to hear that he was a genin. He never struck her as an incompetent ninja so she guessed he must have stepped away from his career for a few years. It wasn't entirely uncommon as she remembered that Natsuru had started her career later than most and many other students took up various professions and trades before returning to service. Shimiko had come from a military family so not focusing on advancement was unthinkable to her. She blushed at Kouen's mention of her success.

"Aw thanks Kouen. All glory goes to Jashin" she said as was her custom. She enjoyed being praised but she also liked to be thought of as humble. Whenever someone complimented her prowess she attributed her blessings to God. "What have you been up to nowdays?"

She wanted to get some insight as to what he was doing these past few years. There had to be some explanation for why he was still a genin.

A smile rose on his face when she said that, not forgetting about her classmates. He did regret not building as much of a friendship with others in his generation back then but really, he didn't have as much confidence in himself or being as matured as he is now. He felt like he had a chance to fix that by talking to Shimiko, though his smile somewhat shot down at the mention of Jashin, to which he slightly ignored and got asked on what he's been doing. "I took my job as a Genin at a slow rate, I almost treated it as a part-time duty instead of a full-time one and I did that for a while, taking it awfully slow until it boiled up to this point. I started to take it a lot more seriously this year though and scheduled more missions and trainings. I've even been utilising my Crystal Release, my control of it is still rough and I can't use it yet in the sense of combat, but I've been manifesting signs.. with a bit more training, I'll weaponize my kekkei genkai." a more genuine smile showed itself now as he felt proud of what he said at the last part, it was only a while ago that he felt incompetent for not reaching it sooner, but he plans to make up for it by consistently training this year to catch up to his generation. He's still utilising some of his break days but he's slowly transitioning to make his Genin role a lot more busy.

Though came something else he wanted to ask, that mention of Jashin... he heard talks of the religion but he's heard some questionable things about it, such as the killings and sacrifices. He doesn't tend to let rumours dictate his own opinions on how he feels about it, but if what he hears about the religion is true, he's surprised that such a cheerful and friendly girl like Shimiko is involved in such a religion. It's either the religion is greatly exaggerated by people, or Shimiko is hiding something... either way, his interest is piqued. "What do you exactly do in that religion? I haven't heard the best about it and if someone as nice as you is apart of it, there must be more to it." he had a more serious face once more as he seemed to be genuinely curious in the answer that Shimiko would give.

Kouen had been taking it easy it seemed. As she suspected he had played the role of the part-time shinobi. Shimiko was pretty sure that Natsuru fell into the same camp and while she didn't know Kouen's background she thought it was a common problem with people who came from non-ninja households. She didn't judge him for it as he probably had his reasons. She was glad to hear that he was taking the profession far more seriously nowadays.

"Glad to hear that you'll be back in the swing of things!"

Kouen then asked about her religion. If Shimiko was chipper before then her expression grew to that of someone who was completely ecstatic. She basically bounced up and down as she prepared to get the words out. Jashinism had a very poor reputation not just in Kumo but around the world. But through her hard work and the Lady Superior's guidance they were mending that image. Kouen's suspicions were correct on both fronts: the tenets of the faith were often exaggerated by its detractors and at the same time Shimiko's plesant demeanor was a mask that hid her more ruthless ambitions.

"Jashinism is a wonderful faith. We beleive that our Lord, Jashin, created the universe and gave us the gift of life. When we die we are brought into the void to reunite with his infinite grace. In exchange for him giving us the gift of life, we are obligated to pay him back in blood sacrifices. But contrary to what you might have heard, my Church doesn't just go around killing people. Jashin gave us very explicit instructions that have been passed to our leader the Lady Superior. We only sacrifice those who are deserving of sacrifice.....the rapists, murderers, human traffickers, just the absolute scum of society. These sacrifices free us from the fear of death and the blood that is shed is a reminder of how precious his gift of life is and how death is what gives life its savor."

Shimiko thought for a moment on how to sum it up. A rare moment of indecision when it came to explaining her religion.

"Jashinism is about gratitude and duty. Gratitude for the life that God gives us and a duty to use that life to further his mission."

Shimiko nodded to herself, somewhat satisfied with the explanation. There was of course lots more to the religion than that but for now it sufficed. That's when she got another bright idea.

"You should come to Church with me Kouen!" she offered with a friendly smile.

Kouen never had much interest in religion and if he were to be honest, if this came from a spokesperson knocking at his door, he would close the door on them or just be bored out of his mind listening to them but since this explanation was coming from Shimiko, he gave it more consideration. He listened as she said that while the sacrificing of the religion was true, their targets would only be the scumbags of society... while it sounded good, he has a doubt in his mind that it was too good to be true. Kouen didn't react much during the explanation and just simply kept a blank face as she explained it.

Then came that next offer... he felt uneasy about the idea, his initial thought was to politely refuse it but in truth, he started to learn that to become a decent shinobi, you have to expose yourself out of your comfort zone and embrace concepts that would otherwise be considered weird. This might've been meant more so in the practical sense, but he took it in quite a mental sense as well. He could always leave or politely excuse himself at any moment it felt weird for him so there was that... after coming to that conclusion, which was a few seconds of Kouen thinking to himself he finally gave an answer to Shimiko. It wouldn't hurt him to at least give her the benefit of the doubt and see the religion for himself personally.

"I'll be honest with you, I'm not really a religious person nor have I embraced or considered any sort of religion at all my entire life, but I can give it a try... when do you want me to come?" he felt like he might regret this in some way, but so far it's been nice to reunite with Shimiko and like he thought earlier, maybe the religion isn't as extreme as it sounds and people really take it out of context so it'd be interesting to see what this religion is actually like in person.

Kouen was awfully hard to read for just a genin. He had a neutral expression on his face but from what Shimiko gathered he wasn't entirely enthusiastic about the prospect of visiting. Perhaps he had only been asking to be polite or out of a mild passing curiosity. She tempered her expectations but to her surprise he appeared to take her up on her offer. Shimiko perked up and her smile grew wider as she said: "This Sunday would be great! Trust me, Jashinism is not like any other faith you've encountered before." As if on cue, the waiter brought her food on a tray. She had gotten some fried goat ribs. It was the most exotic thing on the menu and when she picked it, she guessed they had to have a Mountain-Man working in the back as a cook. She began to tear into her meal but not before asking him a series of questions:

"Sooo, do you have a sensei yet? Any comrades? A giiiiirlfriend?"

The waiter also came along with Kouen's order, several pieces of barbecued meat were placed in an orderly fashion in his plate, Kouen looked a bit confused at first and when he looked up at the waiter, he quickly said "I know you wanted it packed up to go, but when I saw you were talking with the girl, I assumed you wanted to eat here." and with that, the waiter walked off. He didn't seem to mind it, he's just glad that he had his food now after all the waiting. He picked up the appropriate silverware that was placed with the plate and grabbed small pieces of the meat with it, genuinely enjoying it as he listened to Shimiko... but he immediately froze at that last part! He quickly swallowed and already tried to respond to her. "Girlfriend? afraid I haven't been that lucky, hah..." well, that incited a bit more of a reaction in him to the point his face almost went red, but he calmed it down soon after and his normal expression came right back. "But in terms of comrades I've met a couple of people here and there, but not as apart of any squad if you were wondering. A few of them also helped me train so I guess they might've been temporary sensei in a sense? as it stands, I don't really have a squad and the ones I've trained with aren't really people that I would call close friends, you know? probably my fault for being so lax as a shinobi."

He started to slowly eat his meal a bit more slowly, that question of a girlfriend can't seem to slip his mind. He soon stopped eating once more just to talk again, trying to get that thought of his mind. "I'm sorry if I'm not that talkative or giving much to the conversation, I'm not that good at small talk... I think you might've picked up on that back in the academy, but I am really glad I got to meet with you again, I'm glad you you're still the same sweet Shimiko that I remember... makes me think how everyone else in our year back from the academy are doing." he was on somewhat indifferent terms with the rest of the class but he was quite an observant person at a young age, even though he never spoke with them, he practically knew them from the actions that he watched them do. They could be completely different now considering it's been years, but he wouldn't know for sure until he met them again. It seems to him though that Shimiko hasn't changed that much from the academy, still carrying that sweet attitude of hers even to this day. It's refreshingly honest to Kouen.

Shimiko had finally thrown him off of his calm, cool, and collected demeanor. She had always found that trait to be cute in guys and it was funny when she managed to break it. "Don't worry" she said. "There's someone for everyone. My boyfriend Sakata is perfect for me in every way" she said humble bragging a bit. She let the talk of relationships die though as she didn't want to make Kouen feel bad about his lack of love. That being said, she felt a bit sorry for him that he hadn't made any comrades yet. He blamed himself which Shimiko felt was unfair. She ate and listened to him lament when suddenly he paid her a compliment. It was an easy way to make her blush and smile, and blush and smile she did. Shimiko liked it when people found her nice and friendly. When she was younger she lived for that kind of positive attention but now that she had matured, she was much less dependent on it. She still liked it though as it made her believe that despite her religion and her approach to warfare, she was a good person.

He wondered aloud what the other people in their class were up to. Shimiko didn't really keep tabs on the vast majority of her old academy classmates. She had a few friends here and there but they had grown apart over the years. Jashinism had become her world with a few notable exceptions. One of those was someone from her academy class: Natsuru Senou. After Kouen had finished speaking she chimed in.

"Don't feel bad Kouen, lots of people are quiet, its usually the sign of a good listener....Oh speaking of!" she ate some of her food and then did a happy food dance in her chair to lighten the mood and make Kouen laugh (also because the food was really good). "You know who is doing pretty well from our class? Natsuru Senou. The really spoiled rich girl with purple hair? She was pretty quiet but in more of a stuck-up 'I'm better than you way'...so turns out we were placed on the same squad. And uh, let's just say...." Shimiko ate more of her food and took a drink of water from a glass that the waiter had brought. "We didn't really hit it off well at all. Long story short though we became friends. There was another girl on our squad who was just the most awesome-est girl you'll ever meet. Ryuko Shizu Von Rose, hopefully you'll get to meet her someday. Anyways, Natsuru is doing great these days. From what I hear she has contracts to build all sorts of useful infrastructure for the village and she's really good with a bow. I think I'll introduce you two" she said with a sly wink.

At the slight hint of what she was suggesting, his mind went rampant with what he really would do in a relationship, he hadn't thought that far yet in his life but when she mentioned a boyfriend, a bit of relief went over him as he thought she was possibly hinting at something, but he's glad to see that she's just being nice about it. He held back his laugh a bit, to the point that he held a hand over his mouth believing that it wouldn't be appropriate to, and started to pick up on his meal a bit faster as she talked along, pausing a bit as he tried to remember who Natsuru was. The description of her actually made it a lot clearer, one of the other people in his class who was also quiet. He kind of liked her in his own weird way, but mostly because he assumed she was like him in a sense, but hearing how she has the "know it all" attitude went against that.

Then she mentioned another girl, Ryuko... it didn't sound familiar so he could only guess she came from a different generation from the academy, assuming she went there at all. Though a slight pause hit him against when she suggested introducing her to him, once he had swallowed the load of meat that were in his mouth, he cleared his throat to chime in. "As great as that might be, I think I'll focus on myself as a person and try to be more... confident, so to speak before I go for a girlfriend, you know?" He knew his flaws, he tried to become more driven and more confident in himself as a person but his inherent, introvert side made that difficult for him. He could only hope to move past it as he grows into a independent person and if that doesn't do it's thing... well...


He wouldn't focus on that at the moment, he felt like the conversation went a bit deep again and he tried to turn it around. "So, a boyfriend? I guess someone with your reputation would catch a few admirers, tell me about the lucky guy." a part of him wanted to hear what had drawn Shimiko to this "Sakata" as he imagined he must be a capable person to get Shimiko's affection like that.

Kouen's reaction suggested he wasn't quite ready for a girlfriend yet which made Shimiko smile. It was adorable and admirable that he was willing to focus on himself before being responsible for the feelings and needs of others. Shimiko had always loaded herself up with responsibilities. Those responsibilities created a lot of pressure. Both to advance her career and to also be a darling to those who were important to her. She had managed pretty well so far but she saw no need to put that kind of lifestyle on Kouen. He then asked her about her boyfriend and in response she gave an exaggerated sigh as her eyes wandered off to a corner of the room. It was as if she was searching for the words to describe him. The tasty food was forgotten and she was lost in thought for a few seconds.

"Sakata....how would I describe him..." she said in a dreamy haze. There was a lot about him that made him a complex and attractive figure. However, some of that information was told to her in confidence and she didn't feel comfortable revealing it to Kouen. He may be an old classmate from the Academy but she wasn't that close to him.

"He's really stoic but in a confident and strong kind of way. I remember him being really hard to read when I first met him. So mysterious and aloof...but he has the biggest heart of any shinobi ever. He's really protective and fierce when he needs to be and he has the skills to back it up."

Shimiko stayed away from the lewd and lurid details of his physical attributes. That kind of talk was reserved for her besties Ryuko and Natsuru, although even they probably wouldn't want to hear it.

"He's just my kind of guy." she said not wanting to prattle on. She had bragged about him before and had gotten the sense that it wasn't really all that appreciated. He was her first boyfriend though so she wasn't hard on herself for talking him up to those who asked.

Kouen listened patiently, as he was curious to know the type of man this guy is to draw in someone like Shimiko, stoic, confident and strong... he imagined that this Sakata would pull it off in a more cool way, where as compared to Kouen he's more stoic because he's not as confident in himself. It kind of motivated him that there was someone... sort of like him out there and doing well as a shinobi, he had doubts that with someone of his personality, he wouldn't make it far in the shinobi world but from what he's hearing about the traits of this guy, which feels similar to how Kouen is at least in his eyes, he's a bit more amped up and a smile came up on his face.

Kouen was slowly eating his food as the conversation went on, and before he realised it he completely finished the meal, his plate being completely clear now of any food. He stood up from the chair and used a nearby wipe cloth to clean his mouth, before placing it down on the plate. "It's been good catching up with you Shimiko, but I had best head off for now. I'll consider going to the church." he was still iffy on it but as he thought up before, it's best to expose himself to concepts he never considered before and grow that way, otherwise he never will.

With that said, Kouen gave a smile and a light wave towards Shimiko before walking off, waving a goodbye to the owner as well before finally heading off.

(Exit)

They finished up their meal together and said their goodbyes. "Yeah, we should do this again sometime. I promise if you come to Church you'll have a blast!". Shimiko paid for her meal and then left soon after Kouen. It was nice seeing him again. She was glad that he was taking up the ninja lifestyle again and she hoped she'd be able to give him a tour of the Church.

Exit