Our Last Days as Children

[Zach Kaiser]

"Huh, and here I thought snow was supposed to cool you off, Sarah." Eld gave her his best cheeky grin. He knew Sarah was going to get him...badly. But more he played it up the more time he'd give Toushikyo.

He took a few steps back, both to put a little more distance between him and Sarah as well as to draw heads further away from the two. "Careful there; I've been reading, and they say anger issues can lead to high blood pressure and other complications..."

I really hope you appreciate this... It was sad that it was necessary, but given how shy both of them were nothing was going to happen so long as they had eyes on them. He just wished he could have thought of a better plan than making Sarah want to him pound him into the ground.

I'll apologize to her later and explain what I was doing. Not that it mattered much at the moment, but she'd probably be glad to know that he hadn't turned into a tremendous jerk suddenly.

[Nayt]

"E-Eldridge, I don't think that was a good idea," Akizetsumei remarked on the situation. Whatever feeling of abject terror Eld lacked, she was experiencing for him.

"My bets are on Sarah," Noah said nonchalantly.

"That's not a fair bet," Oboreru chimed next to him.

"Betting's never fair," replied Noah, "I'd teach you how to play the odds, but I'll be honest--gambling's not good."

"It's an easy to way to get extra change, though."

Noah rolled his shoulders. "Remind me to have a talk with you a little later, kiddo."

After cracking her knuckles, Sarah began to walk for Eld. She was okay with something fast, though. She was going to give him a face full of snow. The details of that included a face full of dirt, too. Without much adieu, she'd outright grab Eld by the arm and drag him closer to her, so that she might have the chance to get him into a strong hold and potentially bowl him face first into the ground.

". . . well, didn't see that coming," Emily remarked. Though, she wasn't exactly looking at Eld or Sarah. Instead, her attention was set elsewhere . . .

Not that Eld would have the opportunity to see the fruits of his labor. He would be far too busy with an arm around his neck, grabbed and wrestled into the snow to get his just desserts.

[Zach Kaiser]

Ordinarily Eld would have been vaguely offended at absolutely no one thinking he could take Sarah. Well...it was probably true. Sure, he'd been practicing martial arts, but it was kind of hard to do anything technical in thick winter clothes. And in sheer strength and speed she still had him beat. But...he liked to think he stood a chance, if he took things seriously.

Not that he was really fighting back now; he might've done it for a good cause, but he had lobbed a snowball into her face. He sort of deserved a bit of revenge for that.

So he didn't offer much more than a token resistance when she pulled him into a headlock and brought him down to the snow, just enough to try and get his arms over his face to minimize the damage. Not that it did much about the strong arm around his throat.

[Nayt]

"Asshole," Sarah scoffed as she let Eld go, "You know I hate the snow."

Noah honestly felt tempted to help Eld back up to his feet. He felt a little sorry for him. But he refrained. After all, Eld brought that onto himself.

Emily wasn't the only person to see what Eld had not, though. Sarah and Noah may not have noticed, but Toushikyo's family wasn't quite as invested in Eld's personal squabbles, at least not enough to watch the train wreck in progress. Ultimately, it was only Eld, Noah, and Sarah who remained out of the loop.

It might have been easy enough for Eld to figure out what happened, though, what with all the Terra clan looking at Maya and Toushikyo, all wearing their own unique expression of surprise (except Gestahl, who was a mostly expressionless man), how even Toushikyo's cheeks were red, and how Maya now had both her arms wrapped around Toushikyo's arm and rested her forehead again his collar.

"W-wow. Huh," Akizets was, too, visibly and audibly surprised. "Th-that . . . I . . . huh."

[Zach Kaiser]

Yep. Definitely gonna need to apologize and explain later, Eld thought as he coughed and sat up. It wasn't like he could've picked another target though; he didn't have the heart to hit Akizetsumei, pegging Emily would have resulted in Sarah after him anyway probably, hitting the couple would be counter-productive, and hitting one of the other Terras would have ended much worse for him via Gestahl.

For now he simply had to grin and bear it, standing up and brushing himself off as though nothing had happened. Fortunately, even Sarah wasn't strong enough to hit dirt through three feet of snow, so he was more uncomfortable than hurt. Hopefully he didn't get a cold from it.

Fortunately, judging by the look of the couple, the distraction at least took enough attention off of them. Not that he could blame them for being shy, he wasn't much for public displays of affection either.

[Nayt]

The surprise didn't last too long, and the spectacle was even shorter. Sure, Maya and Toushikyo were much closer than everyone thought, even his own family, but that fact was trumped by Toushikyo's departure in the very near future. Katalyna took a step for her son and set her hands upon his shoulders. Maya took it as a silent prompt to let go, step back, and give the two of them room, as Katalyna wrapped her arms around her son.

"Ohhh, Toushikyo," she said his name with the utmost fondness, "I'm so proud of you, you know that?"

A look of confusion then crossed Toushikyo's face, before he returned his mother's embrace. He opted, though, to say nothing--not because he preferred to say nothing, but because he hadn't a clue what to say.

"Yes," Gestahl spoke up, "What you're doing takes immense courage. The militia's training is the harshest test of physical endurance this land has to offer."

". . . I know," Toushikyo replied.

"And I believe you're more than capable of handling it," Gestahl concluded.

Toushikyo looked to the snow covered earth at his feet. ". . . thank you."

Oboreru and Akizetsumei, too, made it a point to hug Toushikyo. They weren't going to see him for awhile, and none of them were really accustomed to someone from their family just up and leaving for a couple of months. The experience with their elder sister's sister sudden departure still stung too much, leaving behind a wound that never healed up quite right. It was, though, the first time Akizetsumei showed (in public) any display of familial affection for her brother.

"I'm gonna miss you," Akizets said amidst the hug, "Even though you're a huge jerk."

"I'll miss you, too," replied Toushikyo, "Even though you're a huge brat."

Until then, it was just the Terra clan. Everyone else was there, but they were outside of the meeting. Anything more would have felt wrong, even for someone as intrusive as Sarah or Emily. The Terra clan was strange like that. They were a very reserved family. Not secretive, just reserved. Family events were generally family events, inter-clan moments that few outside of the clan ever saw much of--and were they there, it was always so family-bound that it simply felt wrong to interject. However, that moment broke a bit when Katalyna addressed Maya.

"Oh, Maya, in the meantime," Katalyna said, "You're invited over, even when Toushikyo isn't around. We've gotten quite used to you!"

"O-oh, um, th-thank you," Maya would have blushed a little at the invitation where her cheeks not already red from both cold and embarrassment.

"And the same extends to you, Eldridge," Katalyna turned her attention to Eld.

"Though, Akizetsumei is around much more often than I will be," Toushikyo remarked, unable to help but make a jab at his sister. By this point, his deadpan, toneless delivery would have likely ceased to come off to Eld (and others) as antagonistic. It was just the way he talked, even when he was teasing. Which he could do. In fact, that explained the bulk of his insults.

"H-heeeey!" Akizets stamped her foot in the snow, "I got a job! I'll be busy, too, you know!"

[Zach Kaiser]

"Your old job, actually," Eld said with a small smirk. Toushikyo had made a good messenger, but he had a feeling once Akizetsumei got the hang of it they'd wonder what they ever did without her.

While he appreciated the invitation, he wasn't quite sure he was ready to go over to the Terras without Akizetsumei or Toushikyo around. While he had little doubt both parents were fond of Maya (and probably Oboreru too) he was still a little intimidated by Gestahl.

Though given how busy he and Katalyna were, perhaps he should offer to sit for Oboreru if they need it.

More seriously, walked up to Toushikyo and asked softly, "So...this is something you think you need to do?" It was an innocuous enough sounding question, but he'd get the deeper meaning behind it, Eld had little doubt.

[Nayt]

"Yes," Toushikyo nodded his head firmly.

Indeed, he got the deeper meaning of Eld's question, and this was sincerely what he felt he must do. He was not like Akizetsumei. Somehow, someway, Eld reciprocating her feelings managed to pull her out of debilitation. But Toushikyo? He knew, now, that Maya felt strongly for him. It was a confounding idea, and one he hadn't really put much thought into before, but it was on his mind now, at the very least. Still, he didn't feel any different, either better or worse, and he never figured he would.

"Well, it's like your pop said," Sarah stated from behind Eld, pausing to step forward and stand by his side, "You'll do just fine. I've seen you kick Eld's ass before. I mean, he's a pansy and all, but he was tryin' back then and you whooped him good. That's gotta say somethin' 'bout your chances out there."

"I appreciate that your vote of confidence is founded on that," Toushikyo replied.

"Eh," Sarah shrugged her shoulders, "Just an example."

[Zach Kaiser]

"H-Hey, just because I can't beat you two doesn't make me weak," Eld protested. "You guys are just really good." Sarah was more powerful than anyone their age, and nearly as fast as Akizetsumei--which was nothing to take lightly. And like him, Toushikyo practiced in his spare time, and had been doing so for much longer, probably.

That aside, he considered what his friend said. It seemed like love wasn't going to cure his "condition" like it had for Akizetsumei; but then again, that sort of made sense. Their conditions were a bit different, so the "cure" probably was as well. Eld could only hope that this trip helped heal Toushikyo.

"In any case, don't worry about things here. Do what you have to." Not that there was much cause for concern, but nevertheless he didn't want him to be distracted by worry while training.

[Nayt]

Toushikyo shut his eyes and nodded. "I expect you to keep everything in order, Tsukimono."

Of course, he didn't need to say what would happen if Eld let him down. That just went without saying. After all, Toushikyo was already fairly well honed in his ability to put Eld down. Now, he was going off to what was essentially basic military training. It could only be expected that the aforementioned "ability to put Eld down" would be greatly enhanced following these next couple of months.

"I'll sock 'em if he hurts Akizetsumei, don't worry," Noah added.

Honestly, Noah and Toushikyo didn't know each other that well. All Toushikyo knew was that Noah was a guy that essentially babysat Akizetsumei when she wasn't old enough to work. He was a trustworthy enough guy. Nevertheless, Toushikyo was all right with anyone willing to protect Akizetsumei's interests.

"I appreciate that," Toushikyo replied. Of course, Toushikyo would still sock Eld after returning, too, but the more punching, the better.

[Zach Kaiser]

For a moment, Eld's face flashed to one of indignation. "I would never-!" But then he caught himself and his expression fell to one of regret. There were more ways to hurt someone than just physically.

"I won't," he assured instead. He would ensure nothing like what happened before ever happened again.

"Just...worry about yourself, alright? You're tough, but even you can get distracted if you're not careful." Honestly, more than anything else he was worried Kyo's fighting record against him would give him a big head; there were likely to be others who'd been training for the militia as well.

[Nayt]

Toushikyo nodded his head. He wasn't one to really get a big head on his shoulders, though. He tended more to grow disinterested in something than he did arrogance. The only person he felt even remotely competitive with was Eldridge, and that was only under very choice circumstances.

"If I'm not mistaken, though, that's kind of the point of isolation," Noah remarked after a moment of deliberation.

"Distractions?" Sarah inquired.

At that point, Toushikyo nodded. He recounted the reasoning like a recorder. "Militia training occurs at a choice location that is not advertised to the public. During the eight week program, no leave time is offered. This ensures all recruits are without the distractions from home."

"I guess so," Akizets chimed in behind them, "But doesn't that just mean people will get homesick or something?"

"You would be surprised, Akizetsumei," Gestahl added, "It is . . . quite simple to lose track of time and locale when isolated and busied during all waking hours. In these types of programs, homesickness is only realized by the third month."

"Oh," Akizetsumei blinked, "Okay."

Gestahl hadn't said much thus far, but when he did speak, it seemed like he was very knowledgeable on the subject. Extremely knowledgeable, in fact. That particular psychological detail went a bit beyond the knowledge a parent of a fresh recruit would actually have.

[Zach Kaiser]

"Is that so..." Eld gave Gestahl a searching look. It was awfully specific knowledge to have. But there was a lot he didn't know about Gestahl, and by his look he'd easily believe he had some kind of military experience.

He did hope that he was right, in any case; it would mean that the training would be over before most recruits started to feel homesick. He wondered how Kyo would take it; he was a fairly stoic person, but Eld knew that there was a lot more going on under the surface that he didn't show.

"W-Well, in any case, I was talking about distractions that come from up here," Eld stated, pointing to his head. Though he was a little hesitant to come anywhere near contradicting Gestahl.

[Nayt]

"Conditioned out of you," Gestahl replied knowingly, "Eventually."

"Oh, honey," Katalyna lightly tapped Gestahl's chest with the back of her hand, "You really are the worst at being vague."

". . . It's all right," Toushikyo said, "We've discussed this before."

Indeed, Toushikyo and Gestahl already had this conversation before, during which Gestahl was much more vocal than he was now.if only for Toushikyo's sake. He was supportive of his children when they had direction, but he also wanted to be sure that was where they wanted to go with their lives. It was important to have direction, but it was also important to do something one could at least tolerate for the rest of one's life.

"Oh, well, yes, but Eldridge hasn't," Katalyna motioned to Eld and the others.

[Zach Kaiser]

I wonder if it'll ever be conditioned out of me... His grandfather had mentioned that as one of his weaknesses; while he was good at ignoring outside distractions, if he had too much on his mind it was difficult for him to set it aside and train. Apparently this had been especially obvious during the time Etsu had been around.

It was probably best if he didn't think too hard about why.

He kind of wanted to ask Gestahl about how he knew all this, but when a person had military knowledge but never said where they got it there was usually a reason they never talked about it.