Fifty-Eighth Keychain - [Voice/Action]

[perplexme]

[Housemates will probably find Roxas in the kitchen with newspapers on the table, a palate of paint, some paper...and a very disgruntled cat who doesn't understand why his human wants him to dip his pretty paws in the wet colors.]

Nea, come on. You were doing really well, too. You can't just give up now.

[There's a hiss from the cat before he swats at the paint palate. Roxas sighs and shakes his head, giving up for now. Artists can be pretty temperamental, after all. Instead he'll focus himself on the journal, opening it up and idly leafing through it. His conversation with Naoto's been on his mind, and he has an important question.]

So...what's the main difference between being a boy and being a girl? I mean, girls can do things boys can, right? So what difference does it make? [He doesn't quite get why people were upset with Naoto for being a girl detective, that's all.] Answer me that.

And answer me this: how come everyone else got a horse last week except for me? Total bummer.

[Filtered to Axel]

I've got something cool to show you, but you have to go to the battle dome with me.

[/Filtered]

[Filtered to Xion]

Do you need anything? [He's worried about you, bff dos. He's in overprotective mode now.]

Comments

[perplexme]

...hey that's not a bad idea. I'll have to let her know. What's your name though, just so I can tell her.

It just seems like a lot of effort for something that shouldn't be a problem in the first place. I don't know how you can deal with that.

[projectiled.livejournal.com]

My name is Tenten. [ She offers a nice smile. ] I can summon weapons from a scroll and disable them with hundreds of projectiles, or fight with close range weaponry.

You just aspire to prove them wrong some day. It's this mindset that drives me to prove that any woman can be just as strong as a man.

[perplexme]

Nice to meet you. I'm Roxas. [Well she seems nice enough, anyway.] ...really? That sounds...pretty cool, actually. Have you always been able to do that?

Sounds like you've got the right idea at least. Is it working at home for you though?

[projectiled.livejournal.com]

It's great to meet you too. [ She has a similar opinion on Roxas, and already likes him because he's not caught up in gender bias. ] I've trained myself to do that, but I've been with weapons around my whole life. I can also summon fiery dragons that explode on impact, iron walls, and an entire ship that sails the seas, but I normally keep my scrolls storing weapons. I've been able to do this for abouuuuut [ She's seventeen now so after some brief math. ] seven years, so since I was ten.

[ And then there's a bit of a pause for her to reflect. ]

Sort of. Some are proven wrong by my abilities in combat, and how I'm one of konoha's, my home village, greatest weapon users and I was able to hold my own against high ranked criminals, but, others are pretty adamant about all females being weak.

[perplexme]

That's a really long time to be training. [And the more she talks, the more impressed Roxas is starting to get. All of that sounds really cool.] That makes it even dumber for people to to classify you just because you're a girl. How many other people can do what you can?

...guess that's what's nice about being here. The Malnosso give all of us an equal chance to fight. [It's kind of a morbid thought, but it doesn't make it any less true.]

[projectiled.livejournal.com]

It is, but it's a normal time to start training for most. I've known people who started training when they were four. [ She shrugs. ] Most people can seal weapons inside scrolls but not too many are proficient like I am. About three have actually used this technique though, and one of them combined it with magnetism but he's dead. The other one just uses it generically, so he's nowhere near my skill level.

I didn't know they made us all equals. Hmm.. [ morbid? yes. The fact that she can take down a nine-tailed fox is a feat of its own but seriously. ]

[perplexme]

Still, that says something. Natural ability or otherwise...

Think about it. At least they're not holding back and saying you can't go because you're a girl. [He's kind of annoyed, that's all.] Then again, they don't even care if you can't fight. But it's still a way to prove yourself.

[projectiled.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Not too many people seem to recognize my talents until it's too late. [ because hundreds of blades is A Very Big Issue. ]

That's true. I can prove that both female and males are equal, but then again, my scrolls shouldn't be limited in this environment since it came pre-loaded. Sealing all of the items back up may take more work since my chakra reserves are a bit low, but I don't think I'll be fighting here often either.

[perplexme]

Shame for them then.

Everything's limited here; he kind of sucks. What makes you think you won't be fighting often though?

[projectiled.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I guess.

Well, I fought often and usually had matches back to back. Yet, two to three weeks here and I've only been sparring, not getting into dangerous situations or heated conflict. Compared to what I did back home, which was fight often, I wouldn't be doing any of that here. In short, it's more of a relative term, I guess.

[perplexme]

Gotcha. I guess sparring doesn't count much since you're not really going in to annihilate your opponent. Does it really bother you, or is it a welcomed break?

[projectiled.livejournal.com]

I'm always striving to work harder so if everyone's on the same level that creates a problem for improving my abilities in hopes for proving them wrong. Besides, most people can wave this off as a forced handicapped and then all of the work I've tried so hard to accomplished will be shitted on for nothing. [ she sighs. ]

Sometimes you can't win no matter what the option is.

[perplexme]

Tell me about it. [Sigh. He gets that.]

There has to be a way to still pull ahead though.

[projectiled.livejournal.com]

It takes a lot of hard work and determination but it may be possible. [ she shrugs. ] If I can spread my influence else where while I'm here about being powerful, it could change someone's view on women.

[perplexme]

You've got time. People will listen...they have to.

[projectiled.livejournal.com]

People listen sooner or later, most of the times when it's too late. It usually takes some life changing experience like being saved by a girl or something, which is bullshit.

[perplexme]

Still, it's a start. Maybe it doesn't have to be being saved by a girl. Maybe you should put on a demonstration or something.

[projectiled.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree. I wouldn't put on a demonstration cause knowledge can turn the tide in a battle. For example, the leader of our village can kill with a single punch. If people knew she could kill with a single hit, people would fight her from long distance, right? [ She pauses. ] Well, long distance may not work for other reasons but that's besides the point. So I guess that places me in a catch 22 for now, huh?

[perplexme]

Yeah, I guess so. [Not that he quite understands what a catch 22 is, but he can guess.] Well...let me know if I can help, whatever you decide to do.

[projectiled.livejournal.com]

Do you like to spar often? [ This comes after a self-assured hmph, but, she still likes this guy anyways. ]

[perplexme]

Yeah, you could say that. A few of my friends and I head out to the battle dome every couple of days or so just to have something to do. Up for a match sometime?

[projectiled.livejournal.com]

The battle dome? What's that? [ She hasn't quite heard of that facility, if only because her teammates seem to stray from it, or at least use other sources of training. ] I'd love a spar, actually. I can't get rusty just because I got kidnapped. [ What do you mean there's a growl to the end of that which is a giant, "fuck you" to her captors?! Preposterous!

Actually, no, she does growl in reference to her kidnappers. ]

[perplexme]

It's a giant building where you can basically run simulations for practice. You've really never been out there? I can show you later if you want.

[projectiled.livejournal.com]

No. I've only been here for a couple of days now. Showing me later sounds fine though, thank you! What type of simulations are available anyways?

[perplexme]

Oh, right...okay, you're forgiven then. [Hmm...he pauses for a minute to think of how to explain.] Anything you want, really. You kind of program it to do whatever you want with however many opponents you want.