[Akira]

She was working well and what Hotarubi appreciated was that he was able to tell that she was putting effort into it, she was trying out what worked for her in the way her hands moved, testing against the tough restraints. "... Well done." he would say when she finally managed to pop herself free of it.

Looking up at her and not at her extra eyes - she might've expected an intelligent answer from him. "I guess. I've always wanted to know what the back of my head seems to do after I've washed - or like... seeing around corners while being hidden?" His voice was curious: but soft. It wasn't like normal where he would be monotonous- it was a nice thought exercise but it wouldn't stop him from trying again with her.

"Yes. Lets." Hotarubi would waste no time - but it wouldn't seem to matter what he did as he stood up, picking up the rope as he went on and then behind her: because - and he wondered... it was evident enough on his face that he wanted to know how the eyesight was working for her and if she could see him from behind. Not .. everywhere, had eyes, right?

Hotarubi had always heard from his instructors that they had eyes in the back of their head, and from behind: that's what he would check. Perhaps just a bit of folklore, a bit of a tall tale: when they probably just knew that trouble at the academy was likely spurred from him because he was a little shit and it was an easy guess.

Now, this time - one hand in her front, the other in her back and it would be an opportunity to try again. "One last thing." Hotarubi would finish, standing himself up: he would put a boot to her back and push her. Not a kick: just enough to knock her over. It might've been seen as a bit cruel - but it was necessary. "This is a better attempt. A more realistic attempt - someone might try to move you to a secondary location. You might have your chakra sealed: knowing the different ways, all the moves that someone can pull. Like a repertoire.

It was similar in the way he had taught Touwa previously: know the moves, and know which moves to pull. But again - he was doing it from a position of trying to help her.

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[itako noro]

It was interesting to hear the perspective from someone who could never see eye to eye with you. How do you explain to one what it is like to have extra eyes, what the world looks like? Thus, instead of correcting Hotarubi, she simply nodded. A fair assumption of him all in all. 

Noro offered up her hands and wrists for the bindings, the one in the back and one in the front situation immediately felt more restrictive. Hup! A grunt left Noro's mouth after she was kicked to the floor, her immediate instinct wasn't as if it was some personal attack, but to start trying to apply what she had learned thus far.

In treating this like a more practical exercise, the first hand to start with would be the rear hand, currently wedged between her own back and the floor at the moment. An untrained eye might see Noro squirm or readjust occasionally and deem it to simply be discomfort. These however, are the signs of Noro's rear hand readjusting and slowly going through the process of rope escape.

One successful execution of the technique in ideal settings doesn't equate to mastery. It does lend itself to Noro repeating her learned steps, at an accelerated pace even. The sensation of where exactly the breakpoints for the jutsu to be effective had been experienced by now, so she could approach them more comfortably. 

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[Akira]

He was standing now - watching her and kind of circling her ravenously as he watched her back and whatever he could of her front to see how she was working from a sedentary position. What he had expected (and she hadn't done) was that she would sit up, since he'd not forbade it. But, given the circumstance there were times it would be better to do it from the sedentary position.

But he watched and she was doing well - taking to the lesson for herself, not requiring much instruction from him as he provided a comment here or there.

She was one of the gifted ones. "You know, I've taught a few of these lessons now and except for my shit show of a brother, you and Touwa are the only ones worth a damn right now." Hotarubi crossed his arms - why was it such a shit hit-rate with the academy? "Why are your academy students so weak? Do they not try hard enough?" Maybe he was being callous as he asked - and there was some reason to it. Obviously he didn't mean to say that she was the head of the academy but her fellow acquaintances and fellow Shinobi in training.

Being selfish, but a good commander meant that he was trying to clog her mind with multi-tasking, to focus on her chakra control while he gained information that would be valuable to him. It was well thought out, even if he wasn't thinking it consciously: teaching while learning.

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[itako noro]

The gradual building of muscle memory was always the most extreme at the start. She laid on her wrist as a figure eight of chakra wrapped around her thumb and hand, with her ligaments and joints supported with chakra. 

All it took was a fair amount of writing around, focus and trial and error of applying too much, too little and ineffectively applying chakra. From time to time she'd acknowledge pointers Hotarubi dished out with nods or grunts. 

Then came the front set. It was more of the same, nothing unique, just repetition and fundamentals applied. With her rear hand now free (she had yet to reveal that), it felt a lot easier to wriggle in ways that made the tension a lot easier to deal with. 

Taking in what Hotarubi was saying while working on the jutsu felt a little counter-intuitive, but as she went to say "Let me finish this first", her pride swelled. She was going to handle both talking AND practicing.

"I have no hobbies or interests that can be exercised in this village, I cannot leave this village and if I fail to become a shinobi I will be left to fend for myself. Others may find different avenues to success, I cannot. I am also older than the average academy student by a few years, even then some of those groomed for shinobi arts outshine me in every area. Such is life..."

Grunts and sounds of labour interlaced her speech, eventually she'd trail off, clearly losing the rhythm she'd built in executing the rope escape jutsu.

"Was the standard higher when you were an academy student...10, 15 years ago?" She had assumed Hotarubi was in his late teens or early twenties, and based her guess from there. A few moments after finishing her question, her front hand finally found itself free of the binding, taking much longer than her rear hand. Rising to her feet after pushing herself up, she dusted off the hind parts of her legs and back as much as she could.

Akira

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[Akira]

That was it: she was a no lifer. That wasn't a bad thing, as he had been learning it was good to keep people human long enough to do their job. He had his own hobbies, so he would nod, hopefully this market research would be helpful. Then she'd continued on with her sentence and his mouth opened slightly, and he felt a tinge of burning at his ears. At first, Hotarubi wasn't - he was just shocked, unsure of how to answer. Being a Yamakira his impulse reaction was anger but it died away as he spoke. Right.

"Howfuckinolddoyouthi-" he would begin to sputter, actually embarrassed at her assessment, did he really look at old? He touched at his head - if there were any lines forming.

"Ha. Haha. Hahaha." Hotarubi simply began to laugh- palm to his head. She was young but it had been funny. What he had perceived to be a serious moment had been undercut by her unintended offense. And - thankfully, Hotarubi wasn't all bad and found it funny enough to wipe a fake tear from his eye (obviously; rock)

But no, he would not answer her question. Or was it a statement? Either way, he wasn't going to dignify it with an answer. She would break free of her bindings. "Good work. That's it for today." They had been there already an hour.

"Keep up the work and you know how to find me if you need extra lessons." Hotarubi would allow himself to depart at that point unless she had any questions

[exit ?]

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[itako noro]

While this reaction, physically, verbally, and otherwise, would've been clear to anyone with an ounce of comfort in social cues, it took a mighty amount of deliberate thought for Noro to get a glimpse of what it all meant.

Externally, this came alive with a simple tilt of her head 45 degrees. A question mark could almost be seen forming above her head. 

"You are younger? You teach more effectively than many of your seniors here at the academy then." A Noro more wet behind the ears when it comes to modern social customs may have mentioned that he still looked within his most fertile years, the premier age for the people she hails from.

Nevertheless, once Hotarubi had said his peace, Noro gave thanks to him and a slight bow, something she learned quite early on. While there might be many cultural aspects she has yet to grasp, learning how to show thanks was something she sought out immediately, a cornerstone to any good interaction or transaction, social or otherwise.

Whilst Hotarubi left, she gathered her things and followed suit a few moments later with a sense of accomplishment, she might just have to take him up on that offer for more lessons after all.

[exit]
Akira

MADE BY VEL OF GS