Kaori: Trained by an old knight: C Rank: Solo: Private

Kaori woke up much earlier than she'd expected and found herself unable to go back to sleep. It was supposedly the side effect of becoming a celestial wizard, rather than being born a celestial wizard. She was told that she'd have to alter her internal clock to re-align with the natural resonance of earthland. The reason being was that when she became a celestial wizard, her internal clock had been aligned with the resonance of the celestial world, which made it think that it only needed to sleep once every thirty days in earthland time. Kaori looked around the darkened, moonlit room she was sleeping in and began wondering how long she would be able to stay here at the magic using clans castle. Her presence alone is a danger to the clan, and they still let her stay. Her mind quickly began focusing on the memory of the man who nearly died from blood loss after one of Saia's officers had cut his arm off as a means of challenging Kaori. It was one of the curses Kaori had since she was a child. Her psychic powers have always been stronger than her magical ones, and as a result, they acted on their own at times. One of her most notable, but less appreciated powers was that she could look into the past of anyone and anything near her and learn the truth. That power had often times activated on its own when she began thinking about the past too hard.

The world faded to that of the castle's dining hall, and an all too familiar scene had taken place... "Kaori Lareci!" a voice came in soft through the door to the dining hall filled with fear, and panic. In her bed, Kaori clutched her sheets with fists filled with hatred; not only for Saia, but for herself for letting it get this far. "Kaori Lareci!" it repeated moments before a man with a missing arm stumbled through the door and laid on the ground and began breathing heavily. Kaori remembered the look on his face. He was crying from the pain, and his eyes didn't look like he was ready to die. Kaori could tell he wanted her to go out there and die so no one else would have to feel the pain he was feelings; and he knew if she lived more would get hurt. He was bleeding profusely from the wound where his arm was removed. Looking at the sight through starstruck eyes, Kaori couldn't imagine why this man didn't seek medical attention first. She got off the ground, took one step before vanishing and appearing next to him on her knees. "Who did this to you?" she asked in a worried tone, no longer concerned with showing respect to the clans' leader. Thinking back to it now, it was a stupid question. The clan of magic users was a knowledge based clan, they had no enemies. The only enemy they could have, is the enemy of one of their allies... Kaori's enemy. "Out front..." he said before coughing up blood, a dark red spot appearing in the middle of his chest. Kaori quickly removed his clothes to find the head of an arrow with a bit of the shaft stuck in him. Kaori, looking back on the memory wondered why she even needed to see the arrow. Even in the heat of the moment Kaori can think of a hundred plans, and still be in the middle of fighting with minimal loss to her efficiency. But in that moment, she hesitated... She was actually surprised that Saia would have someone harm her allies to draw her out.

"Uh-Um... Miss Kaori?" the soft, caring voice came out from Kaori's bedside. Hearing it, Kaori snapped out of her partial trance and looked to the source with an inquisitive expression about her. "Ch-Charlotte? What are you doing here?" she asked, forcing herself not to panic. Kaori didn't let others see her face, not because she was ugly, but because only her family was allowed to see it by rule of her clan. She was able to let Gisen off with it as a way to repay her for all she'd done, but this was becoming ridiculously common. "We sensed you were afraid... so I came to see if you were okay." Charlotte said while holding her hands over her heart and looking at Kaori with a genuinely concerned expression. Kaori slowly raised her hand and felt her face, hesitating and hoping by some miracle her mask was on. Her hope was destroyed when she felt the fair, smooth skin of her own cheek and she immediately had to make a decision. "M-Miss Kaori?" Charlotte asked.

'She's a fairly spineless one, and she isn't much for gossip or blackmail...' Kaori began thinking, meanwhile Charlotte's worries began increasing due to the silence. 'Celestial spirits are also supposed to be fiercely loyal, even towards abusive wizards; so I could in theory trust her.' Kaori let out a sigh and grabbed Charlotte by the waist. In reaction, Charlotte's cheeks turned bright red and she shouted "M-M-Miss Ka-Kaori!?" in a half terrified, half embarrassed tone. Kaori pulled her into the bed with her and began holding her close, pressing her hed into Charlotte's chest and pulling the two of them to lay down. "M-m-m-m-m-Mi-Miss K-k-K-Ka-or-i..." Charlotte stammered out while holding her hands above Kaori and shuddering slightly. The Celestial Spirit's heart was pounding rapidly, but Kaori was enjoying the sound. "Wawawawawawawawawa..." Charlotte began nervously stuttering with her face fully crimson from how flustered she was. Kaori held Charlotte closer, nuzzling her head into the girl's chest more while closing her eyes. "Hey Char...?" Kaori said, causing the spirit to pause her panicking. "Y-yes...?" she replied. "Can I ask for a favor?" Kaori asked in a very soft, very sincere tone. "Huh?" Charlotte said, confused, and afraid- but mostly afraid. "Never tell anyone you saw my face. Promise me that." Kaori requested while relaxing her arms and staying pressed against Charlotte. The spirit nervously rested her arms, letting herself hold Kaori as she realized that she was being entrusted with something. "O-Okay." she said and began holding Kaori. Charlotte wasn't sure why Kaori requested that, or why she was snuggling up to her; but she was alright with both the request and the situation. Charlotte had been afraid of Kaori up till now. The first thing she remembered from Kaori was a look so cold that she felt her veins freeze, and words so sharp her heart felt like it was punctured. This Kaori was... loving, and kind of cute.

Kaori woke up to the sight of sunlight blasting through her bedroom window, filtering through the stain glass to cast a myriad of colors on the floor. Due to the way light bent, rather than remaining the same all the way through, the image on the floor only slightly resembled the glass window; but it was still pretty looking. Kaori's snow white bangs had drooped down, sliding over her eyes and obstructing her view of the world around her as she looked on it through sleep drunken eyes. She brushed the white locks aside and moved the rest of her hair behind her shoulders. It would help with keeping it out of her face, but not as much as pinning it up like she normally did. Kaori rubbed her eyes, brushing the sleep from them and lifted her arm, using the other one to pull on it while leaning to the side to stretch as she grunted to greet the morning. She looked at the empty spot on her bed, feeling a bit sad that Charlotte didn't stick around; but she was grateful that she spent time with Kaori at all. Kaori knew that Charlotte was afraid of her, but she didn't know why. As far as she was aware, Kaori had been nothing but nice to her. During their first meeting, Kaori showed concern for her well being by trying to remove her from the ship that was about to charge head first into certain death. She even warned her to find a safe place when the fighting began. Kaori was always mindful of her during a fight, and never once used attacks that might send harm her way. When training, Kaori even held back a lot to prevent her from getting hurt. For someone like Kaori who was normally the most dangerous person on the battle field, all of that was a lot of caring to show someone. Though, she could also tell that Charlotte was trying her best to be Kaori's friend which was really all the masked ninja could ask. Charlotte was a good person, and she hadn't given Kaori any reason to distrust her so Kaori wasn't worried about her telling anyone what she looked like.

Kaori got up and moved to her beauty stand and looked in the mirror. Her eyes shifted from being awake and alive, to being somewhat dead inside. She picked up her mask and turned it, placing it in front her face without actually mounting it on her head and looked at it. "I am a lie... nothing more, nothing less." she said in a solemn, but saddened tone. It was the creed she took up when she joined the other warriors in her clan's army. Everyone wore a mask, and everyone was trained to be deceptive. Everyone there had lived their lives learning to fight face to face, as well as assassinate targets. No one had a true personality since they changed personalities so often. Kaori was no different... Over the past decade, Kaori had worn many costumes, many masks, many personalities to accomplish her missions. She had been a high ranking officer for the government, an insane and blood thirsty fiend, a prostitute, a thief, and even a vagrant a few times. Kaori had no concept of who she truly was; as was the life of a Lareci warrior... an assassin. Her mask however, was different from the other clan members. The normal members all wore black clothes with black masks, each with accents that were a slightly lighter shade of black. Hers was white, a color that was extremely high profile and easy to spot in almost any situation. It was like this so Kaori could be spotted in combat, and thus, made an easy target. The reason she wanted that is because it meant she needed to have better skills to compensate for being obvious. She needed to be better at sneaking around, not making noise and drawing attention. She needed to be fast so her opponents couldn't be able to track her movements. She needed to be able to hit harder than anyone in her clan so she wouldn't need to worry about being hit. Because of those high profile clothes, Kaori had to be the best; and she was the best. Kaori put the mask down and grabbed her hair ties, pinning her hair in twin tails to keep it from covering her eyes up or flowing about too much. After that she mounted her mask, tying off the white ribbon to keep it held in place. The ribbon had a pattern that worked like camouflage, helping to make it blend into her hair so as to not stand out too much.

Kaori got up, moving to her wardrobe and taking out one of her sets of clothes. Kaori took a pink top out with a crimson border and floral pattern on it, wearing that as her base layer. This was tucked inside a dark pink, pleated skirt that hung down just a bit under mid-thigh; maybe an inch or two. On top the pink kimono top, Kaori wore a thick black sash that wrapped around her bust and kept her breasts from bouncing around during combat. While it made her look flatter than normal, Kaori didn't care what men though of her chest or anyone else for that matter. She wanted combat efficiency, not sexiness. Over her skirt, Kaori wrapped a pink sash with red flowers loosely. The sash matched her kimono and added a bit of cuteness to her attire. Over all of that, Kaori wore a white shirt with a light blue trim. The shirt was longer than normal ones, hanging down to just below Kaori's rear end and while it did have buttons on it, Kaori left it open so she didn't get too hot with it on. She pulled out a pair of white slippers and put them on, adjusting the heel to be comfortably in place. Once dressed, Kaori left her room and made sure the door was locked behind her.

Kaori made her way down to the armory in the castle where they kept an assortment of useful explosives and tactical items. It was also the place that Kaori kept her sword from time to time, normally after maintaining the blade. She took the sword and looked at it and sighed. The blade was virtually useless against skilled opponents. It was normal, and made of low quality steel. Kaori could snap it if she tried, and would break it if she wasn't careful of where she hit. It was something some guy was selling at a prop shop that Kaori confused for a weapon shop, and didn't feel like replacing since she had the sword skill to make it work. She grabbed the sheathe for it and slid the sword inside before mounting it on her waist, figuring that she'd eventually come across a better one; or even better, she'd find materials to make a better one. She then grabbed her tool belt and went to the different areas and began filling it. Six lacrima explosives were first, and then a set of smoke balls that were followed by a set of flash lacrima. A pair of bombs that released a wave of compressed air upon detonation were stuffed in the belt, which completed the set. Kaori closed the clasps on each compartment before grabbing a holster from a rack and sliding off her shirt. She mounted the holster over her kimono and grabbed a pair of explosive charges, slipping them in the back portion of the holster. There were to clips on the back end that Kaori used to store her fusion cores from her motorcycle, an extra set of bombs she used frequently when she needed to do some massive damage. Kaori put her shirt back on and left the armour, getting on her motorcycle and leaving the guild hall at a fast, but not terrifying pace. The destination for this day was Beanstalk Village, where she had a meeting with a special someone who challenged Kaori to a fight.

Arriving at the village, Kaori noticed the massive bean stalk growing in the middle of it that stretched to the sky. Standing next to it was a fairly old man who was a bit chunky around the middle, but the look in his eyes made Kaori respect him. He had a focused look about him. His eyes were narrow, sunken into his skull so the light casted a shadow over them, and they looked as though he'd walked through hell a hundred times. Kaori was truly honored to be his opponent, just from that look he had. She pulled her bike up to the entrance of the village and set it on the kick stand before walking up to the man. "Are you Ponk?" she asked in a serious, but respectful tone that was muffled by her mask. "Yeh, you Miss Lareci?" he asked in return. His voice was calm, unphased by Kaori's less than rugged looks and it lacked the stereotypical gruff, brutish tone to it that most seasoned veterans had. "Yeh." Kaori replied. The man with a strange name, Ponk, had slammed a set of swords next to him and rested his hand on their one of their hilts. Kaori looked at them and felt no magic coming from the blades, but she did notice the craftsmanship in them. "You made those yourself." she commented, the old man putting on a smile. "You could tell from just a look, huh? Guess you really are the badass I heard you were." Ponk replied. "I wouldn't say I'm that good. I'm just lucky is all." Kaori replied bashfully. She wasn't accustom to being complimented or admired, so it always made her turn a bit red when someone did it earnestly. "Modest too I see. That's a good thing kid, never think of yourself as hot shit. Always let your opponent underestimate you, then beat the ever loving shit out of them. It may be dirty fighting, but there's no rules to winning a war; I doubt you need me to tell ya that." Ponk said. He could tell Kaori listened even if she was silent. "I'll make you a deal. Beat me and I'll make you a sword to replace that crappy stage prop." he said, something that caught Kaori's attention. Kaori agreed, stating if she lost, she'd show him her face.

The two of them got set up to fight. Ponk had enchanted their weapons so they didn't actually cut, but rather phased through each other and left a red line in place of a cut. Kaori waited for Ponk to move towards her. He waited for her to move to him. 'Assassins always attack from behind. He'd be expecting me to go for the neck since it's a guarenteed kill.' Kaori thought before adjusting her stance. Kaori vanished and Ponk instinctively tried to block his back. A red line appeared on his left arm and leg, as well as his right ones. Ponks eyes grew wide and he grit his teeth, having realized that Kaori had outsmarted him from the very start. He relaxed and looked at Kaori. Ponk began laughing and said "I guess that's what I get for being out of action for so many years! A deal's a deal kid, I'll make that sword for ya."

His wife had invited Kaori to stay over for brunch, which Kaori accepted as an honor. She only slid her mask up enough to expose her mouth while eating, which made the meal somewhat awkward, but everyone pulled through alright. Kaori found out that the man was tired of living out on a farm and wanted to return to battle, and that he was only here because his wife wanted to be. When he finished and went out to his workshop to start on the sword, his wife told Kaori that she wanted him to be happy but didn't want him to be in a position where he might die suddenly. Kaori offered to have him put on her ship. It wasn't guarenteed fighting; but it would allow him to get some excitement from time to time. She said that it'd be acceptable, and Kaori and her drew up a contract to lay out the terms of his employment. This contract was later signed by Ponk when he finished Kaori's sword. It wasn't phenomenal, but it was better than her current one.

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