Invitation to the Mountains

[HeadofVecna]

Brows furrowed with consternation, Marko speaks hesitatingly, "I ... I don't want to sound impertinent Kisaragi-sensei. But this sounds really different from the missions I've been on before. Usually I have ... I guess you'd call them handlers, who tell me where to hide, and then when to peek out and read or nullify the target. So I'm not not sure what you need me to do, at least not exactly."

[Agita]

Kagura listens quietly to Maiko's explanations and answers with closed eyes, smiling slightly at Marko's question. Without opening her eyes, she says, "To think for yourself, I suppose." Between sips of tea, the miko opens her eyes slightly to cast a glance at the scrawny kid. "And to put your feet on the ground rather than the chair, if you'd be so kind."

[HeadofVecna]

Marko, who had blushed and sat more or less normally when Kagura had first asked, looks down in horror to find that he had unconsciously shifted back to his accustomed perching stance. "Eep! Sorry Yayoi-sensei!"

[Nick]

"Its a 'training exercise' isn't it Marko? It will make a man out of you" nodding at the boy with apparent self-esteem issues.

[AlterFrom]

Grudgingly, Ayu shifts his feet to the floor. He now sits awkwardly far from the table.

After Maiko's speech, Ayu holds a stoic expression. Most of the talk of demons and sealing and prophecies went over his head; the only part that interested him was the prospect of getting a chance to tap 100% of his power, something his uncle had never allowed.

"Excellent..." he mumbled to himself.

[Flay Crimsonwind]

Though he knew it was something the boy would have to learn to cope with, he was never one for the harsh training of someone who was spiritually tapped and not psychologically prepared; it left a bad taste in his mouth to just tell the kid off. Though he did like Miss Yayoi's style, and internally it made him smile out of humor. "Marko, if you came here looking for instruction, even if by your father's command, it was definitely a wise choice. I agree, you will learn to stand on your own. And since you will not just learn it by being in the fire, I'll be your first instructor....

"If it is alright with you, of course." He said this to Marko, but his tone was directed very obviously at the Dojo-maiden, whom the boy was obviously intended to be taught under. He didn't intend to step on any toes, though he did intend to form the group into a unit, if they were to act as such. Also, should his.... unusual... sword pick up on something best dealt with by himself, a group was easier to avoid than a mob. But for now, it was for cohesion.

[Nick]

Maiko nods, this is as much a training exercise as a worlds-spanning crisis. If the team could strengthen itself before dawn, all the better.

"Anybody else with questions?"

[HeadofVecna]

At first nods to Rinzen, acknowledging but noncommital, and obviously not wanting to breach etiquette with Maiko. When she nods, Marko smiles at Rinzen, though with a trace of hesitance.

[Nick]

OOC
[spoiler]Apologies, been busy abit.[/spoiler]

Satisfied with the arrangements thus far, Maiko gives herself a weary smile and nods her head.

"Alright, please follow me back to the Dojo and enjoy the hot springs before dinner."

Leading the group back up the extremely long spiral staircases, where apparently Maiko and Kagura at least had been used to such climbs, the group reaches the back of the dojo where the private hot springs and dormitories are.

"I have some engagements that require my time, please make yourselves comfortable until dinner time, which is about three hours time."

With that, Maiko leaves.

OOC: Alright, you guys have 48 hours Real Time to interact with each other further, upon which I shall shift the scene again.

[Agita]

"Maiko, wait." Carrying the tray with the empty tea cups back to the kitchen, Kagura stops Maiko just before she heads out of the dojo. "You did eat your lunch, right? Also, if you're too tired, you should rest and leave the patrol to me." She looks at the girl with a concerned, but steely look that makes it clear Maiko won't be overworking herself if Kagura has a say in the matter.

[spoiler]Of course, she could convince Kagura to give her a hit with her Energizing Healing.[/spoiler]

[Nick]

Maiko looks around to ensure that there is nobody else. Satisfied, a glint appears in her eye.

"Oh Kagura-sama ! Of course I want some healing~"

So saying, the tengu pounces towards the miko face first with a mask of utter adoration, affection and lust !

"I. Want. Your. Love !"

[Agita]

"No, that's not what I meant-" Kagura accepts Maiko's glomp with dignity, attempting to lessen the tengu's momentum by spinning her around - which is difficult, as Maiko is a good bit heavier. "Maiko, Kagura-sama's healing is difficult to use, right? So it's easier if you lie down on a bed and relax. All right, Maiko?" Kagura talks softly, as if trying to calm a hyperactive child, and strokes Maiko's head slightly to appease her, though subconsciously she's aware that this is likely to add more fuel to the proverbial fire. "Also, even if you look around to make sure noone's looking, the boys might still hear you..."

[spoiler]Kagura's reaction went through like five versions before I was happy with one of them. [/spoiler]

[HeadofVecna]

"Oh Kagura-sama ! Of course I want some healing~"

"I. Want. Your. Love !"

Marko, who had been wandering/lurking in the halls, unsure of what to do with himself, stops short when he hears this. He had 'happened to overhear' plenty of classified conversations growing up on the UN base. But a lesbian love fest between his teachers, his *hot* teachers, was an order of magnitude more interesting than anything he had come across before.

"Also, even if you look around to make sure noone's looking, the boys might still hear you..."

Marko inhales sharply, then decides to round the corner and try to play the whole thing off coolly. But seeing the lovely young women's embrace, the best he can manage is to moderate the degree to which he goggles. "I ... err ... um."

[Agita]

"See, Maiko? At least, try to be more discreet when you have guests over," Kagura gently chides the taller girl, doing her best to avoid having her voice muffled by Maiko's chest. Trying to twist out of the tengu's embrace, at least enough to address the accidental pervert with some dignity, she gives Marko a disapproving look, even though it's not really his fault. "Kuroto-kun, we need you and the others to stay in the hot springs for a while. Is there something else you wanted to ask?"

[Nick]

Maiko's eyes turned huge at Marko's appearance, that strict and extremely formal and stern sensei image that she had presented herself utterly destroyed by this boy's appearance !

The air around Maiko turns dangerously sharp as her eyes glaze over in a murderous glint. Materializing her weapon, she appears behind Marko too quickly to be anything but teleportation.

"Shinmeiryu Ougi. ZANKANSEN !"

Drawing the weapon at the speed of light, the blast of the strike kicks the still surprised boy way out of the room and right into the men's hot springs without nary a single injury, but a sharp 'tok !' on the boy's skull in an expert attempt to knock that few seconds worth of memory out of that grey matter.

After sending the boy away to his proper place, Maiko sheathes her blade and dismisses it into magical space with a sigh. Turning around to face Kagura, her mask of righteous demeanor melts into a trembling girl.

"Kagura-sama~~~~"

[Flay Crimsonwind]

Rinzen, hoping to get away, had floated about 400 ft into the air to meditate, and talk to his sword. Even so he heard, and saw the aftermath of something inconvenient.

"Shinmeiryu Ougi. ZANKANSEN !"

Drawing the weapon at the speed of light, the blast of the strike kicks the still surprised boy way out of the room and right into the men's hot springs without nary a single injury, but a sharp 'tok !' on the boy's skull in an expert attempt to knock that few seconds worth of memory out of that grey matter.

As the boy went flying, Rinzen thought he'd better step in for the other newcomer. Still, he sighed. He swooped down, and putting out one arm, the boy's flight abruptly stopped in what might have been an uncomfortable way. Without a word, but a sigh and a turned down look, Rinzen let the boy flop off his arm gently. "You really should be more careful with those two... it could be a temptation, I'm sure, but when one or both of them is willing and able to kill you..." He stopped for a moment, and thought to himself. He then looked down at the kid, blinked once, and immediately put a hand on his sword.  To Marko's probably relief, he removed the sword from the belt-lock, and placed it with the handle pointing into the spring. Rinzen immediately undressed and stepped in, his body scarred and lithe. "Marko, get in... if I'm your teacher, then do as I say and work to quickly align yourself to the mountain." Ignoring the possible homosexual innuendo, Rinzen leaned his head back and sank slowly into the water...

[AlterFrom]

Slipping off his clothes to the sounds of the . . . incident next door, Ayu slips quitely into the spring. He submerges himself up to his nose, and starts mumbling to himself with his eyes closed.

"GLurBle bLuRB urPlbeBLE . . . GuRlbs."

[Agita]

Kagura moves to intercept Maiko as soon as she notices what the latter is up to, but it's already too late - the miko only makes it half of the way before Marko is already sailing through the air. When Maiko turns around to face her, however, she is met with crossed arms and a cold, admonishing glare. "Not 'Kagura-sama~~~'. You can't just send guests flying if they walked in on you through your own fault. I'm really disappointed, Maiko... is it that much fun to cause me trouble?"

[spoiler]Kagura is disappoint. [/spoiler]

[HeadofVecna]

Marko just sits there blinking, unsure of exactly what happened, but trying to process juxtaposed visions of motorboating and eyes filled with murder. Still stunned, he slowly gets up and follows Rinzen to the edge of the bath. Finally, his brain clicks over, and he starts to disrobe and get in. "Um ... yes Rinzen-sensei."

[Nick]

Twiddling her fingers with a pout Maiko just mumbles before the (technically) older Kagura. Her big eyes turn watery as she tries to explain herself out of trouble.

"But...but...what..its..private..and...the...image...but..but.."