The Comet Graces Us

Akihiro was a bit taken back by her reaction to his inter-dimensional travel. Oce he thought about it for a second, the way she reacted was pretty normal. But he was so used to looking at it as little more than a memory that the very fact that Zurui and him had crossed dimensions seemed...not that impressive. "Well I don't think any normal person could live on a comet. The environment would likely be too hostile. But if that person can use chakra to an extent....then perhaps. It could even be a creature, I guess." That was pretty much what they were doing at the moment- guessing. And until they had the technology or ninja technique capable enough to catch a comet, they would be guessing. Unless of course the comet fell to the earth for some reason... but what would be the odds of that happening, right?

"Hmm let me see if I can remember... Oh yeah, we were invited to a great ball at a castle. But once we got there, things became...weird. We got suspicious, so instead of attending the actual ball we..." he felt a little bit guilty saying the next part, but he ended up shrugging and continuing. "We decided to try and rob the castle. Then it got even crazier. Pumpkin men, ghosts, spirits...you name it, we've seen it. At some point we got teleported into a strange dimension where all sorts of dangerous weapons were kept safely. We ended up coming back with nothing, except for a tale to tell. The castle has been sealed off through powerful jutsu ever since then, so I can't take you there. But... would you like me to show it to you?"

Upon receiving a positive answer, if it ever came, Akihiro would release her hand and use his free one to touch Kimiko's chin, gently turning her face and glance from the comet back towards him so he could look her in the eyes. He would then approach a little- not that he needed to, he just wanted to. Afterwards and through the power of the Sharingan, he would share the memories of the White Room with her.

There was no horizon in there. But no walls either. It was an infinite plane of white space, and yet he seemed to be in a museum. There were all sorts of things on display there, from spears to fans and even ancient looking kunai and shuriken. Some weapons looked so strange Akihiro himself wasn't sure of how to use them. And in the very center of the exhibition was a beautiful golden crown on display. Count Volseig's crown. Kimi would see from Akihiro's perspective as he took the crown and the world dissolved around him and Zurui, leading them back to the castle's throne room with a crown in hand.

Then, the vision would end and they'd be back at the rooftop. "Well, that was it. We had to go through a few crazy obstacles to get there, but that was the other dimension." He had left out the most traumatic part of the experience, which had happened before the throne room. "Are you happier now?" he would ask, removing his hand from her chin and smiling.

"Aliens." Kimiko said matter of factly in response as Akihiro said that it was unlikely anything could live on the surface of a comet. As if that simple concept proved her point completely and she need not say any more. "They gotta get here somehow, right? Comets. They're vessels." She was starting to sound a little bit like a conspiracy theorist. Perhaps this was the start of an invasion. Kimiko had heard of the Blood Prison's huge breakout, and from the reports, there were certainly some oddities that were held there. Perhaps even aliens had been held there. "I mean, you think it's just a coincidence? Blood Prison gets destroyed, and then the comet shows up once again? There's been theories out there that the events are related somehow."

Perhaps there was something more to it than she'd originally thought. She had dismissed it before, but Kimiko was starting to think, and that was dangerous.

But then Akihiro began to answer her questions. He regaled her the story of his trip to the Count's castle, and the ball. Kimiko was a bit off put that she hadn't been invited to that, but it wasn't super important, because she was pretty enthralled with his story. She grinned mischievously as he told her he tried to rob the place. So there was more to the boy than met the eye eh? He had a bit of a mischievous streak himself it seemed.

After explaining, he even offered to show her. Kimiko's head bobbed up and down enthusiastically, eyes lighting up. Notably, the blacks of her eyes had started to shift back to a normal white instead of her unique shade. The Sharingan remained active, but it was as if, at least in this moment, she was able to be normal.

He directed her gaze towards his eyes, and their Sharingan locked onto each other once again, though this time, Kimiko found herself transported into a memory. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough. As she came back to the rooftop, Kimiko gasped. The vast expanse that was the white realm, she felt as if it went on forever. "Am I happy? No! I want to go there and explore it myself!" She said no, but her tone was one of envy. She was clearly satisfied enough with how it went so far, but it left her wanting more.

Akihiro shrugged at the aliens comment. She wasn't entirely wrong since the Otsutsuki were aliens. But they didn't come from another planet, they came from another dimension. She seemed so entertained with her thoughts however that Akihiro hesitated on correcting her. "Well I don't know about any aliens but I can assure you the Blood Prison wasn't destroyed by those. Psychopaths? Yes. Aliens..probably not." Then again, did Honiko count as an alien? Ah it didn0t matter since she hadn't actually participated in the destruction of the prison.

Akihiro couldn't help but notice the retraction of the black shade in her eyes as they lit up in life and brightness. Did this mean he was doing something right? He certainly hoped so. He found her eyes beautiful either way, but seeing them looking at his own like that brought a certain happiness from within him. Unfortunately he would not be able to grant Kimiko's wish. At least not until the castle was released from its barrier again. "I'm sorry, I wish there was a way to break the barrier and show you that dimension but at the moment its virtually impossible... no one can go there." There was a certain key of sadness in his voice. Not because he particularly wanted to go back there, but because he'd like to make Kimiko happy.

"But tell you what, when the next grand ball comes up I shall invite you and we can go together. Who knows what sorts of adventures will wait us there? Maybe we'll have the opportunity to plan our own grand castle heist together. Would that make you happy?" Akihiro had only ever went to one ball so in his experience these events always granted him some sort of grand adventure.

"Psychopaths, huh? I heard it was a bunch of criminals that did it. Some large scale coordinated thing, but that that one group, the Society was the biggest player on the field. That girl Nozomi, the Jinchuuriki did most of it. They don't strike me as psychopaths, but still. It wasn't that I meant the people that attacked it are behind the comet, but more..." Kimiko fell silent as she thought of her wording for a second. "The place housed some dangerous people for sure. The report, from what was disclosed, was that they broke in to free a single person specifically, right? And I'm sure there was someone that ordered the entire operation. It doesn't make sense to me. The Society was largely quiet for years. They show up at Kumo's Chuunin Exams, and then attack a Prison?"

She had been following their public showings for a bit, knowing that she might have to deal with their agents in some capacity at any moment. Nozomi and Bayushi and Honiko were all in their Bingo Book, and Kimiko liked to know who she may have to deal with. The Society seemed to be the biggest threat to them at the moment, given that they had some powerful shinobi. "Blood Prison fell, and now there's anomalous threats that were freed. Beyond that, there are aliens, and other dimensions? I bet the Blood Prison had some extradimensional detainees."

Her mind was firing at a million miles a second, forming connections where most wouldn't. It wasn't that she really knew anything, and she hadn't been there so she didn't know anything specific either, but it was a possibility. However, speculation was best left to people smarter than her. Kimiko wanted to improve her intelligence, but right now she wasn't particularly knowledgable, just incredibly bright and perceptive.

Shifting back to their conversation though, Kimiko was a bit disappointed that there was no way to actually enter that dimension that Akihiro had shown her. She frowned slightly, but more thoughts were beginning to form. If they existed, and they could connect here, then that meant that, at least theoretically, they could be opened from their end as well. And that meant that they could be visited.

"I want to go to a new dimension, even if only briefly. Let's do it. I'll need your help, but theoretically we should be able to do it. It'll probably involve some space-time jutsu, some powerful fuuinjutsu, especially to give us an anchor to here, and a bunch of other planning and preparation, but..... we can totally open up a doorway elsewhere. You're smart enough that with planning, anything is possible for you." Kimiko said, with such conviction that she convinced herself it was not only possible, but would be a reality.

"The Blood Prison had some certainly dangerous individuals indeed. In particular the woman they broke free. Which is why we should have killed her when we had the chance. We held every advantage and yet we still lost, because they wouldn't let us play the game by our own rules." There was a certain resentment in Akihiro's voice. The unleashing of Chiheisen into the world was on him and Gin, but mostly it was on the Warden. Their sole mission had been to prevent the woman from being freed because that would have meant a disaster. In the end, they should have slaughtered her in cold blood. But the Warden had been too greedy. He had believed he could study the woman and gain power from the knowledge he acquired.

He'd been a fool. and by the time he realized that, it was too late. So of course Akihiro resented the man. Had they been playing by the Sparrow's rules and those Society bastards would have never gotten away with Chiheisen's living body. He closed his fist and squeezed it tight in anger for a second, tensing up before relaxing. That was alright. They wouldn't get away with it. Just like he hadn't forgotten Satomi's murder, Akihiro hadn't forgotten Gin's murder either. And while the assassination of their Clan Leader took precedence over the death of a shinobi on a mission, Akihiro would repay both debts in kindness.

"I'll be a bigger threat to them than them to me, if they cross my path again." the phrase was cold but factual. He had spared Raijin. Gin hadn't been shown such mercy. In the end, he regretted his decision. Back when he had been fighting at the Blood Prison, it had been just another mission. Sure he had fought them, but it was nothing personal. Just a professional trade of blows, a fight between  opposing parties. It was business. This was why he had spared Raijin. Gin's death had angered him sure, but he had kept it well under control. But listening to Kimiko claiming they were a threat awakened something within him. A deep desire to crush them there and then for personal reasons. Not business, just pure pleasure and satisfaction. He wondered why he was now feeling this.

Listening to Kimiko planning their trip to another dimension calmed him down. It reminded the Uchiha that despite his misfortunes in the past there were still good things in the world, things worth seeing and people worth protecting. He smiled while she spoke words of fierce conviction. They weren't merely the words of a child who refused to beliece Santa wasn't real. They were the words of a grown woman whose growing power and potential could very well turn whatever dreams she had into reality. He was glad that the Uchiha had someone with such ambition and potential to achieve it within them.

"Well if that's what you want to do, I'll help you. I didn't think it was possible to create a dimension gate, but I'll believe you on this one." He'd say, a little disappointed that she had ignored his invitation to a grand ball. But that was alright, Kimiko was a girl who seemed to easily get lost within her own mind and thoughts, wondering about the infinite possibilities within her dreams. She was very much like Akihiro in that regard, but Akihiro's job had rarely been affording him time to indulge in such luxuries. So instead of resentment or sadness, he actually felt a little envious of her but marvelled at the look on her face as she spoke of such things.

Something about what Akihiro said piqued her interest. He spoke like he was there. Personally. And that there was more than just a hint of personal stake in this. They had failed to protect it and it wasn't his fault. Kimiko's gaze washed over Akihiro, who for once seemed.... angry? Not quite. Resentful maybe. Bitter.

"You're that strong then? I mean, Nozomi won the championship in Kumo, and then destroyed the Blood Prison. She alone is pretty tough. And she's not even the strongest member of the Society. Honiko trained her, right? And Kumo gave us the Bayushi's records. He's a nature clan member. I don't envy anyone that fight. Maybe together we could take out a couple of them."

She knew that it wouldnt be easy, but Kimiko was a different sort of fighter. She wasn't honorable. She didn't follow the rules. Kimiko's dark side was fierce and protective of herself, and didn't play by the rules. She was a dirty fighter. One Uchiha was hard enough to fight for sure, but a pair of them working in tandem? They'd be unstoppable, the two of them.

"Even one way doors can be opened fron the wrong side if you are determined enough. You just gotta know the right way to do so. We can figure it out for sure. Maybe find one of those dimension hopping aliens. They'll be able to help for sure."

Akihiro pondered on Kimiko's words for a bit. She wasn't wrong, Nozomi was indeed quite strong and had proved herself time and time again. Akihiro had even been able to witness her power from up close at the World Tournament and then once again at the Blood Prison. If they one day ever fought, Nozomi would be a tough opponent. Bayushi didn't worry him as much since he had easily and effortlessly defeated the guy back at the Blood Prison, but Nozomi... Nozomi would be a tough cookie.

"Yes, she's tough alright. Who knows if I'm strong enough to defeat her? But." At this point Akihiro's lips formed a smirk which implied that, as everything that related with the Sparrow, there was something more beyond what appeared to be a pure match of strength. "I don't need to be stronger to be a threat to her, or to the Society." Akihiro held more than a couple of secret weapons he had never bothered to reveal or use back at the Blood Prison. The rewards there weren't worth the revealing of his schemes...and since then, he had acquired another couple of weapons and a third was very close to blossom.

"Either way, it doesn't matter if I'm strong enough." He'd smile at her, easing up the tension in the air. "I've got you by my side. What could possibly go wrong? We'll take on the whole damn world and whatever gods it has if they piss us off." He sounded confident. For a while now Akihiro had grown out of boyhood and the short and sort of shy boy genius of once had grown into a proper clan leader.

"I suppose. I mean, we could be a threat to literally anyone if we set our maximum efforts to it, right?" Kimiko grinned, flashing her perfect teeth. He was right. Being a threat doesn't guarantee a win, but it would be difficult to kill Akihiro regardless, and that makes him a big threat. His intelligence alone would let him figure out some sort of way to capture or defeat any opponent given enough information or time.

"Anyhow. What next? We don't need to keep talking about the Society right now. I wanna enjoy tonight, but not get heated up by enemy talk."

Kimi thought about something else to switch the topic to. "Do you like animals? I've always liked cats. They're pretty great." She was a little bit of a bad conversationalist after a while, when she didn't know what to talk about, and since she just swapped from topic to topic, and was easily distracted, holding her attention for any length of time tended to prove difficult to begin with.

"Humm... I guess I don't mind cats, they're pretty interesting," Akihiro pondered for a bit before replying. These weren't things he'd ever given much thought before. "But I think I'm more of a bird person. I like owls!" Akihiro's family used to have an old owl back at their house in the Clan District. It was one of Akihiro's childhood friends, but unfortunately the poor old animal passed away right around the time the young Sparrow entered the ninja academy. It was a bit sad, but somehow whenever Akihiro remembered the conversations he used to have with the owl he could draw strength, courage and wisdom from those memories.

"Am I boring you?" he would softly ask, noticing the sudden shift in conversation subject and perhaps a slight discomfort on Kimiko? Akihiro could fake entire conversations just to get within a target's trust circle, but when it came to his true persona he did sometimes bore people with what he could only assume was boring conversation topics. He deeply hoped Kimiko wasn't one of those people. Gently, he would touch her hands and lift them up a bit, only ever so slightly. "You have to tell me if I am. I can...ramble a bit sometimes."

"Regardless, I really do enjoy your company. And I'd like to do this more often, with or without the comet. Would you...perhaps be interested in joining me at Mockingbird? I'm sure the organization could use someone with your talents, and my daily routine could use some more of you."

"Owls creep me out. They're always staring at me, judging me." Kimiko's nose scrunched up slightly as she thought about the way their eyes just pierced into her soul. "I like sparrows though. Most birds really, they're pretty cute, and some are majestic as hell. Falcons are probably my favorite. Or uh... Ravens? Maybe crows? Wait... what's the difference between...." Kimiko's endless thoughts trailed off as she continued her debate more or less in her mind, not really noticing that she'd stopped speaking until Akihiro asked if he was boring her. She was slightly confused by the question, and shook her head.

"No, you're not boring me, I'm just bad with talking about things. Small talk isn't exactly the easiest thing to come up with. Always the same thing, so I'm trying to come up with more new things to ask, ya know? Things don't flow that easily, and this Society talk is more job stuff cutting into relaxation time. I couldn't think of anything else to swap the conversation to fluidly so...." Kimiko trailed off, shrugging slightly, letting the unspoken sequence explanation continue in Akihiro's mind. He could figure it out easily enough.

"Me? Join Mockingbird? Sure, why not. I wouldn't mind being directly under you." Kimiko said, laughing. "And you think you ramble? Have you heard me? Can't keep a thought under lock to save my life. My imagination runs wild sometimes. I can't help it. There's so much to think about and talk about. That's why its so hard to make a decision on what to talk about. Even simple shit just.... bam! Explodes into so many options." Kimiko's free hand emphasized the 'bam', going from closed fist to splayed out.

"Like, even now, I'm thinking about Hagoromo's comet. Hagoromo founded Ninshu, and that's the connection between every single person via chakra. And all these people have chakra. And they're all looking at this comet, talking about life and stuff. We're all connected through that, each and every one of us. Enemies, allies, Kage, genin, we're all equals tonight. Hagoromo left behind a legacy I'm not sure he knew would be quite like it is, but here we are all as one. Isn't that something special?"

Their conversation continued on as the two Uchiha got to know each other a little bit, basking under the glow of the Comet streaking above them. Kimiko found that she just continued to ramble on and on about herself, and Akihiro tended to simply listen to her, keeping silent unless prompted by her, so it was very one sided after a while. Not that she minded all that much. Kimiko's mind was rarely quiet, so she just fed into her own thoughts, verbalizing more or less everything that she thought about at any given point in time.

As the night drew on though, Kimiko began to feel the pull of sleep moving her, but she didn't really want to leave, so she just kept talking, growing more and more silent, until eventually, she fell asleep mid sentence while explaining her thought process behind military formations and how most militaries were more or less bullshit. Ninja didn't train too much in large groups, and so their military formations didn't make sense when it came to massive wars with thousands of troops in a given area. Mobilizing a lot of tiny 2 or 3 man squads made the most sense, since Ninjutsu attacks could easily wipe a large area in a fight.

How she got onto that topic, she wouldn't remember. But Kimiko fell asleep on that roof, holding hands with Akihiro, who may or may not have been asleep by that point himself. She had zoned out into her thoughts long before and wouldn't have been surprised if he had fallen asleep as well.

-Exit-

The night spent under the stars watching the comet was one Akihiro would forever engrave in his memory. It held a special and dear place in his heart as it was one of the rare occasions during which he could fully enjoy the company. Kimiko was an interesting girl, with a passion for the Clan and the ninja world unlike the Sparrow had ever seen before. He could, and did, listen to her speaking for hours on end without ever getting bored.

At some point however, the roof grew quiet. And Akihiro who had been drifting off up until that point, suddenly opened his eyes as he realized her voice was no longer there. His heart calmed when he turned his gaze towards the girl and found her peacefully sleeping next to him, her hand still gently held by his. The young Uchiha promised himself he would never let go of this treasure he'd found right here at home.

He leaned in closer to her, and with a gentle movement he kissed her forehead. He would then caress her left cheek below the very special kind of Sharingan Kimiko possessed, and made would make his way with his hand to the back of her neck, ending up touching her lower back. There, he left a mark. He wasn't entirely sure Kimiko would approve of this, but Akihiro deeply wanted to be there for her in case she needed it, and perhaps it would be some time before she actually found the mark. Afterwards, he let himself fall next to the girl and eventually fell asleep, dreaming of the future.

Used:
FTG mark

[Exit]