Description: Or train, anyway. Waiting outside the Southtown central train station for his ride to Kyoto, Frei runs into Sakura, who he hasn't seen in some time. The two discuss just what's going on, and the monk makes a few requests of the Ansatsuken prodigy before he leaves.
Southtown's a busy place, travel to and from it being a major industry in and of itself. It thus stands to reason that, with the popularity of high speed train travel inside the country and mass transit inside the city, that Southtown would have a truly impressive central train station as well. With crisscrossing tracks bouncing between municipal and national lines, it takes up a narrow but lengthy row of city blocks, the long and nondescript white and grey building is fairly boring. However, to keep up civic beauty, every few blocks are park-like rotundas. In the winter they're somewhere to get a hot sweet potato; now, in the spring, carts and food vendors sit sunken down from flower boxes waiting to sprout flowers.
Sitting as he is on the retaining wall of one such box with a suitcase at his side, Frei Renard looks like nothing less than Country Mouse, about to head home from visiting his cousin in the big city. The comfortable and worn clothing, the wooden sandals, and the small weatherbeaten suitcase give him a rumpled appearance. Short as he is, his legs don't reach 100% to the ground from his perch, and he swings them back and forth, wooden sandals beating against the brick behind them with rhythmic *clack* noises. He alternates between munching on a set of meat skewers lying on a bit of newspaper to his side, and drinking from a large bottle of green tea. He LOOKS peaceful enough, if not his normal exuberant cheer.
The truth, however, is that he has a lot to think about. Tran's urging, Hotaru's plight, Kentou's training, and most of all Kataki's appearance in his life have finally brought him to the point he's at now, and the sign on the building behind him indicates it clearly: inter-Japan departures for Kyoto Prefecture. He's heading back to where this all started, breaking a seven year taboo, and confronting all of his personal demons all at once... because if he doesn't his friends are going to go on getting hurt.
The worst part, of course, is the waiting. But the satay and the tea, the watching of passersby, and the sudden surge of spring weather... they're at least a momentary distraction.
Southtown is, as always, busy. And the bullet-train station is, as always, one of the =busiest= places in the city. Thousands upon thousands of people flock through here every day, all making their way to other locations via public transit, or just good old-fashioned walking.
Sakura's one of the latter, but she's not really going to or from another city in Japan. No, she's just heading into the mall that's attached to the train station. After all, it's Japan, there's not a single major train station -without- an mall nearby.
As luck would have it, the closest entrance to her happens to bring her right past the Country Mouse. ... Well, insofar as a non-stop throng of people will allow, anyway -- not that a huge disharmonious crowd has =ever= obstructed Southtown's fighting fangirl from getting where she wants to be.
And right now, having spotted the monk sticking out like a sore thumb, where she wants to be is right beside him. Slipping through the crowd with the greatest of ease, the Seijyun student stops just short of him, clad in a maroon hoodie and blue jeans. "Hey, Frei!" she offers with an amiable wave. Glancing down to the luggage, she asks with a raised eyebrow, "You ain't leavin' us, are ya?"
Predictably, Frei's caught with food halfway in his mouth, as tends to be the norm when he's in public and runs into someone he knows. It may simply be that his enjoyment of food verges on the level of 'hobby' rather than him just being hungry now and then. For a second he's a frozen tableau, satay skewer held up to his mouth as he blinks green eyes wide with surprise. His gaze finally locates the source of the comment, and decides that he can finish this bite before he replies, and does so. There's a second of chewing, his free hand held aloft with one finger up, asking for the indulgence of Sakura's patience until he's done, which for a Kirby-type like Frei isn't all that long.
However, when he does talk, his expression becomes momentarily... artificial. The smile is pleasant enough, and it seems like it belongs on the monk's face, but it's as if it's poured on like a mask even as he sets the skewer down on the newspaper. "Not permanently," he responds carefully, reaching down and patting the top of his suitcase like it was a pet following him around instead of an inanimate object. "At least I don't think it's permanent. The truth is I'm not entirely sure what's going to happen."
At this last, his expression clouds with obvious uncertainty for a moment, but it soon fades and he shrugs, returning to 'default', neither falsely cheerful nor suddenly introspective. He offers one untouched skewer to Sakura, as a matter of protocol, and mms in the back of his throat. "Have some, I bought too much... I have a lot of time before my train leaves, but I didn't feel like waiting around the Center."
Kasugano watches as Frei eats... but of course she's got to take a moment mocking him, stuffing her hands into her hoodie pockets and tapping her foot like a character in a bad sitcom. When she finally gets to listen to him speak, she tilts her head to the side -- as if she's questioning the artificial smile she's being given. Something's off, she can tell =that= much. "Mmmm..." she comments, non-committally.
When offered food, though, she raises a hand. "Ahh, no thanks -- I just had something on the way over here..." If you're riding the bullet trains, you don't want to buy food on the train. If you're riding the express trains, you won't want to have eaten food within hours of =boarding= the train. So she might in a bit, with an answer like that.
"... Is it cool to talk about here? Do you mind if I sit down for a bit?" Kasugano had gotten some information from Kentou, so she has =some= inkling of what's going on, but she figures it best to let Frei control the pace of the conversation. She's a good girl -- occasionally.
With a shrug, Frei takes the skewer and decides to eat it himself. He's a hardy traveler... which is to say, within a few seconds of being on any vehicle he's not piloting in some way he's unconscious within about ten seconds of settling into his seat. In the long run, being stuffed with food helps that, and since he has the metabolism to make it possible, eat he does. However, Sakura's question catches him off guard, ignorant as he is of the Ansatasuken prodigy's recent dealings with Hotaru and Kentou. He moves over to make room for Sakura, but the gesture is symbolic; since spring has only just sprung, the place is mostly devoid of hangers on, the majority of travelers preferring to get their food and leave.
There's a moment while another chunk of spiced meat is chewed thoughtfully, and then the skewer gets set down and Frei shrugs, suddenly seeming a bit tired. "As far as anyone knows, I'm going to Kyoto." He pauses, then looks over at Sakura with a faint raising of one eyebrow. "I left them a note. I mean, people in our profession go to and from all the time, I didn't think it would be a big deal." The tea bottle is uncapped, a long swig taken, and then he resumes exposition. "I don't want anyone chasing after me. And if my brother finds out and follows me to Kyoto, all the better."
Pausing, Frei leans back on the wide concrete top of the retaining wall and lets his hands splay behind him in the cedar chips laid down to make bedding for eventual future spring flowers. "What I didn't tell them is that I'm going home. That's the real story, or part of it anyway..." He pauses, then turns to Sakura with an earnest look. "That's between us, alright? For now."
Kasugano takes the offered seat, setting her hands on her lap like a proper Japanese lady should. That Seijyun place will take the fight right out of the tomboy if she isn't careful. "Kyoto, huh..." Kasugano doesn't remember =where= Frei said he was from -- just that he came from an odd family. And he had a brother with a weird name that escapes her at the moment ... and another brother, which Kentou seemed to have had an encounter with. She flashes a tempered smile in return, just glad that the fighting monk is dispensing details... if in a bit of a circumspect manner.
"Uhh... sure!" is her deer-in-the-headlights response to the request for confidence. At least now that Frei doesn't want to be tailed, Sakura doesn't feel bad about not remembering where he was from. She offers a brief smile in response: "But, uh... if you're running off to certain death, uh... can I request that you don't?" The smile fades, as she adds, "I mean, just a request. I know you gotta do what you gotta do, an' all."
It might not seem like an appropriate response, but at the suggestion that he's about to walk into certain death the monk lets out a sharp, high-pitched bark of laughter, suddenly causing a number of pedestrians to turn his way at the intrusive and attention-getting sound. His eyes widen in surprise at his own voice, but the monk shakes his head and, with a single heaving motion, yanks himself sitting upright, going a little too far and slumping forward, arms dangling just in front of his already-dangling legs, giving him the look of a puppet whose strings were suddenly cut, moving only as the wind would, devoid of will.
He sits up a little straighter, and shakes his head in the negative, but doesn't turn to look at Sakura right away as he replies. "I appreciate the concern," he says, with a touch of amusement in his voice, "but I'm not risking any real physical harm." He sounds sure, but even as the words come out of his own mouth, he's suddenly not sure. It's been so long. Is Isis Tsukitomi a psychopath now? Considering her level of skill with the sword, even a seasoned fighter like Frei wouldn't have a ghost of a chance. If she wanted to hurt him -- REALLY hurt him, much like Kataki appears to -- could he stop her?
Fighting down that sudden turn of thought, he finally sits all the way up and brushes a lock of red hair out of his eyes, his long bangs only partially held back by his trademark headband. "I'm not going to say I might not get hurt, but it's not going to be physical." He pauses, then turns to Sakura and puts on a smile. A genuine smile, a *tired* smile, but a smile. "I'm going to talk to my mother. You can blame Tran for setting me off."
Kasugano looks away as soon as the guy starts laughing, shifting her seat to make it look like she's a total stranger. Who? What? I DON'T KNOW THIS GUY REALLY. It's hard to pull off that kind of act when you're sitting next to someone, and no one else is sitting ANYWHERE, but that won't stop Sakura from trying to distance herself from the loooony!
... Not that she gets =up= or anything. When he finally does sit up, she skeptically glances over at him from the side, an lopsided smile crossing her face. "I can blame Tran for a lot of things, yeah..." she adds with a chuckle.
Even still... she wants to hear a bit more. "This got anything to do with Kata... Kataki?" Her smile growing a bit sheepish, she adds, "Kentou filled me in. Kinda."
The air freezes for just a moment, atypical for Frei, but it happens now and then. The moment passes quickly, however, but Frei's smile fades in the process. It's replaced by a subdued expression, eyes downcast, energy repressed. "'Kinda', huh..." Well, that explains a lot, including the sudden concern for Frei's welfare. But it also means more people drawn into this little drama, and more potential victims for his surprisingly observant brother too... it's not a fun scenario in his mind. But now that she knows, the monk feels an obligation to say something. Still, better to ask. He turns, tilting his head a bit, looking at Sakura sideways. "How much did he say? I'm guessing he was focused on Hotaru, which shouldn't come as too big a surprise..." After all, it's no secret that he's a trainee of Hotaru's, though few know the young man also trains under the monk as well.
Before Sakura can answer, however, he leans back and looks at the sky. "Yes, it's got something to do with Kataki," he says with a breathy sigh, more frustrated than anything else. "He's the... catalyst. It's not *about* him, but he's involved because he's family. And because I don't know what his deal is, but I know he's not going to tell me. So there's really only two options left to ask." Sitting up, Frei holds up two fingers on one hand. "One is my other little bro, Threnody..." He pulls one finger down, and leaves the other up. "The other is my mother. And I haven't seen either of them in seven years."
Well, Sakura would be concerned if anyone leaves her, mostly because there's a chance she'll never see them again. It's happened, even within the young prodigy's short lifetime. She's found that she values life even more after having inadvertently taken lives in the Thailand incident. And Frei's a friend, so of course she's concerned for him.
"Not a--" she starts... but then she gets cut off by the monk leaning backwards. She swallows her words for a moment, to listen.
Good, he named Threnody. She'd never remember the name otherwise. "He only mentioned Kataki... and really, I forget the details, since he wouldn't hush up about Hotaru." She smiles warmly, there -- knowing that she =has= helped to a fair degree over the past couple weeks.
"It just seems kind of silly for me to worry about her and not worry about you too, y'know? You're older'n me, I know you know what you're doin' and all, I just..." She smiles, leaning back onto her palms. "I dunno. It's a family deal, right? Take care of it. Just do the right things for the right reasons."
There's a pause, and then Frei's face softens, remaining tired but shifting from troubled to embarassed with reasonable alacrity. It's been some time since he last saw or spoke with Sakura, but her earnestness and desire to be helpful are pretty timeless, in the monk's estimation. As much as she claims Frei's being older gives him perspective, he might say back that her youth gives her that advantage, always looking to the future, unencumbered by the past. His cheeks do redden, and the monk notes with some grim amusement that it's people younger than him, people who've praised him for his wisdom, who given him that to think about.
When he speaks, though, he keeps those thoughts to himself. "I don't know what I'm doing," he admits, shrugging his shoulders slightly, shaking his head. "I know I need to go. I need to find out. Other than that? I'm winging it, moving as I go." He pauses, then turns and looks at Sakura. "Flying blind. I wish I weren't. If I knew what I was doing he wouldn't have messed with Hotaru, wouldn't have cut up Mizuki or Tran so bad. Would have saved everyone aggravation."
Kasugano likes to consider herself pretty receptive to emotions. ... When she =wants= to be, anyway. Really, though, it's hard to miss the reddening cheeks, which causes Sakura herself to look away again, her palms shyly resting upon her knees. Yes, from the tomboy of all tomboys!
Until the monk speaks, though. At which point she looks up, musing aloud without looking directly back at him. "... If you knew what you were doing, would you even be talking to me? No, you'd be off meditating somewhere by now in your own little nirvana." She glances back over to Frei, shaking her head. "Every stone cast into a lake makes ripples, for better or worse, right? You can't predict all the patterns that'll form from each and everything you do."
Kasugano shrugs, with a faint smile. "As long as you always do what you feel is right... that's all you can do."
Ryu's teachings are definitely rubbing off on her.
A faint smirk, and Frei reaches over and very lightly cuffs Sakura one on the shoulder. "Are you trying zen on me? You're actually trying zen on me." And then he laughs, a good and genuine laugh, the first he's had in some time. It's a welcome sound, a bit of the pre-Kataki norm that the monk might need to face whatever it is that's ahead of him. "I'm not mad that I didn't see it coming. Who could have? Stuff happens and we adapt. If we knew in advance it'd just be... well, 'knowledge'." There's another pause, then Frei clears his throat. "I don't know if you saw it or not, the SNF I ran in on. Sakura, I've only been that furious in my life once before then, and it was at the woman I'm about to see. The one whose school and family and life I abandoned."
Shaking his head, Frei looks down at his hands. Was it worth it? The question he's asked himself every day since, and he doesn't have a satisfactory answer. He knows he has no regrets. What's past is past, and isn't changeable... but it's hard to read its effect on the present or, more importantly, the future. "It's hard to throw everything away. That's why Buddhism has so few true proponents. Because you really do have to discard everything you are and knew, divest yourself of... of *context*. Be forged anew." He slips off the wall and turns to look at Sakura evenly. "It's good advice. But I don't know what's right. I never have, or the problem would never have come this far. I have to walk around in the darkness and figure it out, somehow."
Kasugano really has to snicker at being cuffed on the shoulder, here! "Haha, I guess I am! It's just so hard /not/ to, these days..."
She shakes her head, afterwards, adopting a more serious expression. "Nah... I haven't been watching as many SNFs as I ought to. I went back to watch Hotaru's last few fights, and... that's about it, 'sides the ones I've been in." She nods her head, slowly.
"Mmm. I.... I think I see where you're going with this... yeah. But when I get confused, when I get lost?" She slips off the wall, herself, curling her arms about herself as a breeze brushes past.
"I trust in my friends to help me /find/ the way. It's only dark when you're all alone." Smiling, she inclines her head to the side. "And you're not, so you figure out where I'm going with that!"
"Maybe," Frei says evenly. His conception of it is a little different, though he doesn't seem to disagree too strongly with Sakura's way of characterizing things. Instead, he adds to it. "I'm not alone, you're right. People I know have been guideposts, or maybe little bright spots in the darkness I'm fumbling through. But ultimately everyone makes some journeys alone." He pauses, then shrugs. "It's not that I mind that. I'm grateful for all the things people have done for me, and my friends live on in my decisions and my feelings, but... I've always done things my way. I value that freedom more than anything."
He seems about to crack some sort of joke when, unexpectedly, there's a trio of tones from the speakers mounted on the curbside wall of the station announcing the arrival of the highspeed train headed to points north. Green eyes widen, red eyebrows go up; Country Mouse needs to go. "I guess that's it. I meant what I said, Sakura... this is between us for now. And..." He pauses, then puts a hand to his chest. "I know he's done terrible things so far. I don't excuse them. But I don't think Kataki is 'evil', not really. I don't believe in that sort of thing. That's why it's so important I find out what's going on from a reliable source. And I WILL do something about it when I get back." A hand reaches down, snags the handle of the suitcase, lifting it effortlessly. Apparently he packed light. "Don't let him hurt anyone, if you see it. But... don't let them hurt him, either. Please."
Kasugano smiles faintly. It doesn't seem like she told him anything he didn't already know ... but then again, he didn't really ask for =advice=, either. She's just offering her support, in a very roundabout fashion.
"It's cool. Like I said, y'gotta do it." She slugs him in the shoulder -- well, lightly. It's not even a flesh wound. "If I see 'im, I'll keep an open path for 'im. Promise." Not that Sakura even knows what Kataki looks like, really... but she can keep that promise because she almost always breaks up fights when they're grossly imbalanced in one direction or the other, as a matter of habit.
Kasugano folds her hands before her and bows properly, with a bright, hopeful smile. "Have a safe trip, Frei. And don't forget about us!"
"Don't worry," the monk says carefully, not flinching from the punch (but probably noting the eventual bruise later). "I don't forget anything. No matter what the day or time, no matter the place or person, I'm always... me. You can count on that."
With that, he turns and stalks into the crowd, suitcase slung over one shoulder. Short as he is, he's soon lost in the crowd, and then out of sight.
Log created on 18:27:49 04/08/2008 by Frei, and last modified on 22:03:29 04/08/2008.