[Ishikawa Ren]

     A gust of wind blew a piece of trash into Ren's face as the train blew past, rattling the tracks. The genin peeled the rain-wet wrapper from his cheek and tossed it into the bag with exasperation. For once, he was a little irritated. In his mind, it was a bit of a waste of time. All he was learning was that certain people were lazy and inconsiderate.

     He'd already been here on the subway platform for nearly half an hour, slowly picking up refuse. Ren at least took pride in making things look nice - he'd always hated seeing garbage littering the streets of Amegakure. In most parts of the city, it wasn't a problem. But here in Himin Machi it could get a little absurd.

     Most of the big things were already in his bag: mulchy newspapers, candy wrappers, plastics, various other pieces of refuse. There was only one more corner, by the subway service access door, left that still had loose trash. After that, it was simply a matter of scrubbing the floors, cleaning the grout, removing the graffiti and making sure everything sparkled.

     Thankfully the station had been closed off from use, so he wouldn't be bothered or ridiculed during his work, but he still had the trains blowing past to try and ignore.

D-Rank Mission: Subway Service
1/2 Solo Mission posts 10/7/23 | 217 words

1/10

[Ishikawa Ren]

     Ren forked the last piece of trash up with his grabber, then deposited it in the bag. He cinched it up and tossed it with the others in the storage room. Now the hard part, he thought, with his hands on his hips.

     The walls, he saw, were covered from the top to the bottom in graffiti. Down with Sanosuke! one said, painted in popping yellow on blue. One could spot '-ifth'! behind it. Seems that particular guy has been at it a while.

     Some people will always hate change, he thought to himself as he nabbed cleaning materials from the room. They plonked with a metallic cling as he dropped them in his bucket. Ren walked up the side of the wall, momentarily experiencing vertigo, before hooking the bucket - now seeming to hang to the right in an odd inversion of gravity - on a metal piece for that express purpose.

     Too bad I don't know suiton yet. Being able to create his own water would've been a boon for this, though he was content to merely practice his tree walking technique. He fetched a second bucket, of water, hung it and knelt down on the wall. Channeling chakra into his legs, he stuck to surface with a well-practiced ease. He got to work scrubbing the first few tiles.

2/2 solo Mission posts for 10/7/23| 219 words

2/10

[Ishikawa Ren]

     The grime came off easily enough. Only a few scrubs-and-dunks and the water in the bucket was already a dark, dark grey. The paint underneath didn't come so easily. Ren grabbed the little metal scraper from his pocket and began to peel the layers of paint away. Years and years of societal discontent, funny jokes, and teenage delinquency came off like pencil shavings.

     With a few more scrubs, the original smooth tiles began to peek through. Ren leaned back to see how little he'd really accomplished. The train sped past again, buffeting him and nearly causing him to fall off the wall. His little corner was, maybe, a 1/100th of the total area of the walls. This would take quite a while.

     Minutes passed uneventfully, Ren left with his thoughts while he scrubbed and chipped away - his body mostly acting on its own. The disconnect meant he could very easily become lost in thoughts. This time, he was thinking about history. Amegakure was full of it, just like any other village. Yet it seemed to him that very few other ninja cared very much about it.

     When he asked about the three 'great' wars, he was more often than not met with shrugs. The broad strokes, everyone knew of course. But the details? The exact who's and when's? Those were a little harder. Masao would know, he thought, though what interested Ren more were the why's. He wasn't sure Lord Second could be trusted to deliver those to him truthfully.

1/2 Solo Mission Posts 10/8/23 | 251 words

3/10

[Ishikawa Ren]

     Perhaps being the Lord Assistant would give him more access to good sources. He was sure Lord Sixth had plenty of old texts lying around in the tower, though how many of those had been censored or altered by the prior five, he couldn't be sure. Ren's body continued to scrub on its own.

     There was plenty to be learned in the past. Plenty that Ren could use to inform his decisions going forward. There would be a lot more responsibility placed upon him now. He needed good information if he were to make good, informed decisions. He resolved to take the time to research Amegakure's role in the last three wars: perhaps some of the old lords could help.

     Those old events explained the modern web of alliances and all the hostilities and grudges. Ren scrubbed another tile clean. There was some residue that wouldn't come off so easily. He pulled out his scraper as though it were a kunai, and stabbed underneath - lifting the muck from the wall. He tossed it down to the ground.

     His future seemed uncertain now. Before, he figured he'd be content enough to just middle around and make a good salary to send home. Now there were bigger expectations placed on him, much bigger than the Ishikawas' back home.

2/2 Solo Mission posts 10/8/23
216 words

4/10

[Ishikawa Ren]

     His train of thought was interrupted by a whoosh behind him that blew his hair around. He looked around to see that he'd already cleaned the majority of this wall off. The original surface shone through, though it didn't yet sparkle. That'd come later.

     Ren unhooked the buckets and took them up to the street, slipping past the barricades that blocked the way. He poured them down a sewer drain nearby, watching rats scatter far below once the water exploded onto the ground with a splash. Cute little guys, he thought.

     Another Genin was nearby, cleaning off the street. Ren shot him a signal, agreed upon beforehand that meant he was done with the first wall. The Genin ran off, to tell someone higher up that the train needed to be rerouted now so that Ren could clean that wall - as well as the tracks.

     He made his way back down to the station, setting the buckets and tools down in a corner and fetching the proper stuff for cleaning the tracks. He sat down on a nearby bench to stretch while he waited for word that the trains had been stopped - now was not the time for training his reflexes.

1/2 Solo Missions posts 10/9/23
201 words

5/10