Gone for a Swim~ [ Open | No Kill ]

Anshō took a deep breath, running a hand through his dark hair, holding the air in for a moment before blowing it out, letting it take the tension that he had been feeling away as it moved out into the cool evening air. He honestly didn't know what he had been expecting after being invited to dinner by his family. Every time he visited his family they were always the same, and he always seemed to be the brunt of all the loathsome conversations. He didn't know what he had been thinking, letting the hope that maybe this time they would actually change their minds about his occupation. But, obviously their distaste of what he did was still present in the way that they had spoken with him. Perhaps he should just stop accepting their invitations, even when they only came a few times a year just to keep himself from letting hope rise for them. God knew how many times he'd argued with them to the point of raised voices about how what he was doing was important.

But they just wouldn't see it. As a family that was wealthy and dedicated to their empiric monopoly of the Octopus fishing industry, having a member of their family take on an occupation that they saw as 'lesser' was a horrible thing. Of course Anshō had been in the occupation since the moment that he had set foot in the academy at a young age, after much begging, but they still didn't get it. Admittedly, at first his older brother had thought that it was an amazing thing, but that had only lasted for a few years, letting himself get corrupted by their parents. The good thing was that he hadn't had to live with them since the moment he had joined the academy, as the academy was in the village, not below in the Port of Dreams. Since then, he'd been living in the same small apartment, paying for it on his own, as his family had all but abandoned him save for the random dinner invitations.

Of course, he knew he couldn't refuse their invitations. He'd done it a few times in regards to missions, and it had always brought them to act even more distasteful with him the next time he went around to visit them. Somehow, despite having done so much to support himself and get away from them, they still had him wrapped around their fingers, as much as he disliked that. If he were to cut them out completely, they'd do their damnedest to ruin his reputation with as many people as they possibly could... and he kind of needed what little reputation he had left in their world. Sometimes it helped with his occupation as a shinobi.

Anshō took another deep breath, doing the same that he had done before as he walked towards the edge of the docks. It was a little late, so all the boats were already in, and for the most part only some straggling workers and wandering tourists were still wandering the docks. Most people were likely to be in the main festive part of the Port of Dreams. Anshō though, new precisely where he was going. It was a place that he'd spent a lot of time as a child, waiting around the boats that existed in his father's company. With a hum he found himself at the edge of the docks, looking out on the water that had lights from the port sparkling on it now. The sun that had set it aflame as it set had gone down nearly an hour ago, and the air was cool with the sea breeze.

He'd been back in the village for about a week now, and the bruises that he had been sporting were fading nicely, but they still had some ways to go to be completely healed, and his body still ached some. Not that he minded. He had indeed had much worse injuries before. This time 'round, he'd at least managed to escape going to the hospital. With a hum, he moved to sit on the dock, pulling off his shoes and letting his feet caress the water. "It's been some time, hasn't it?" He greeted the familiar water as it lapped his toes, as if it were a living creature. And, to Anshō it always had seemed like the water was just that, a living creature.

With one swift movement, he pulled off his top, laying it and his jacket, with his shoes, before slipping into the water. A swim would help him calm down some more before he went back to the air port to find a flight back up to the main village so that he could get some sleep. He hoped that the late flights were still running, he hadn't even bothered to check, and he really should have, seeing as he hadn't been in the village for more than a week after being away for nearly a year on a mission. Anshō tread water for a few moments before allowing himself to sink, letting the cool water wash over his face and hair before moving back up.

Breaking the surface of the water, Anshō swept his head back, letting the water plastic his thick black hair back against his skull. The water was so refreshing around this time of night, it was wonderful, and he was pleased with how it made him feel. Being in the ocean made him feel calm, like the water was melting away the tension of the night's events. With a smile, he looked up at the calm slightly cloudy night's sky. The stars were beautiful, and he knew that they would be more so if they didn't have the light pollution of the main port, and the village above them blurring them out. It was annoying to him how the lights that they used could so disturb the beauty of nature. But, that was just how life was around here. Co-existence with nature, was filled with compromises, sometimes horrific ones.

Anshō closed his eyes as the cool sea breeze licked at his face for a moment, making his skin feel cooler than it should have been because of the water on his face. It was always calm and soothing out here at night, with no horrific noises of boats. Or, like when he was a child, neither of his parents yelling at him to get out of the water. He chuckled slightly, recalling a moment in time that he actually stole a few of the still alive octopi from a recent catch and ran down the docks before leaping into the water with them. It had been one of his first rescue attempts for the poor creatures. And it had been successful. Of course, he had earned the wrath of his parents. Oh how they had shouted at him demanding for him to get back on the docks 'this instant!' That was when the Ocean had easily become his friend and escape. He'd simply shaken his head at his parents, and dove under the water. Refusing to listen to them as he got farther and farther away. That moment, being in the Ocean, at peace, away from all those who would ridicule him was nice. He'd come more and more to the Ocean after that.

That memory was nice, even with his parents. He'd felt exhilarated by doing what he knew to be the right thing. Or at least the right thing for himself. For a few moments he tread water, simply thinking about the area, his past, his love for the Ocean, before allowing himself to sink down into the water again. He loved the feeling of water enveloping his body. It was like the most intimate of hugs. Nothing similar to what any of his family had ever given him. It was pure. He smiled. It was like the god Susanoo was approving of him. He sank before moving on, swimming farther out into the water, away from the docks, and he paused for a moment when he saw bubbles move past him. Those certainly weren't bubbles from a fish. Those looked like bubbles someone would make from their lips. Raising an eyebrow, Anshō moved up to the surface once more to get some air before diving down in the direction that the bubbles would have originated from, hesitating when he saw a blond woman come into focus in the night darkened water, sitting on the sandy bottom of the ocean.

A grin formed on the Anshō’s face as he witnessed a little fish nibbling on the nose of the woman. It was nice seeing someone take such joy at being in the water and the life within it like he did. It wasn’t often that he saw such an individual and it was pleasant, compared to most who would simply take from the water for food and unneeded sport. He hated seeing people taking from the ocean like his family did. In in the water, unheard, and the woman’s laughter was infectious and he found himself laughing as well, shoulders shaking for a moment, trying to keep the air that he had inside of himself. But that didn’t last long, and he let go laughing openly, even with the salty water plunging into his mouth. For a moment he gagged before pushing himself up and breaking the surface getting some much needed air.

The cool seabreeze battered his face for a moment and he took another deep breath before diving one more time. This time, he’d join the woman on the floor of the ocean rather than simply observing her from afar.  Down he went through the cool water until he saw the white hair, waving in the water. That was another thing that he liked about his element. It was much like gravity no longer had a hold on you. You weren’t limited to the laws that ruled the normal world anymore. If it was possible, he would live in the water all the time. But there was only so much a human body could handle.

Still, that wouldn’t keep him for trying to live under the water as much as possible, and if this woman could perhaps show him the technique that she was using for breathing under water, it would make it all the more possible to be able to spend as much time as possible in the water with her. He smiled warmly as he swam toward the woman before moving to sit in front of her on the sandy bottom of the ocean. Once settled in front of her, giving the sand that had been shifted from his movements a chance to settle so that his motions would not be obscured or misconstrued as something anything less than friendly, he waved.

For Anshō it was gratifying to see the sign language that the woman decided to use as her way of communicating with him. They were all taught a rudimentary form of sign when they were in the academy, used for stealth missions when they couldn't speak, but more often than that, if they wanted to they could add on to that with a more in depth form of sign and it looked like the woman had done so just as he had. That was good. It meant that they would be able to communicate under the water in silence. Actually speaking was out of the question because the water would simply flood their mouths and distort their words, but perhaps at sometime in the future he could create a bubble jutsu that would work just as well as signing. It was a thought.

Still, for now, sign was just as good as anything else and he was content to use it to communicate with the woman, raising his hands through the liquid surrounding him and forming symbols with his hands to convey his reply to her. "Hello, Kouki, I'm Anshō. It's a pleasure to meet you. I indeed enjoy the ocean. I think it's a good escape from the world above." He smiled. And it was really, an escape. Away from his abrasive family. It had been a mistake to attempt to visit them, really, but he knew that if he hadn't it would have been worse. They simply didn't understand himself or Neo.  His eyes moved from the silver haired woman to look over the fish that milled around them as a pair. They were always so inquisitive of the trespassers in their world.

Fish, and other aquatic animals were always so fascinating to Anshō, and his affinity for them had always angered his father. 'They're food.' he had always told  him as a child, hating him for both being effeminate and sweet to the creatures. It had been hard to watch his father and his fishing company hunt the octopus like that, but he knew that it had been a necessity for the food staples of their village. He grinned as he watched a black tentacle peak out from underneath some coral. It was good that his father's company hadn't completely desiccated their population. There were always more.

Edit:

WC: 2249
Trained:
STR C1 -> C3 1100/1100
REA C1 -> C3 1100/1100

Extra WC 49