| [Jun. 10th, 2013|03:45 am] |
“Don’t fuck up,” Raidou suggested.
Genma gave him a flat, level look. “Really? That’s it?”
“You wanted a road map?” Raidou said, then relented. “It’s pretty much what you’d expect. Lot of running, lots of fighting. The only wrinkle is that we try hard to freak the candidates, and there’s always that one idiot who gets rattled and tries for a kill-shot on an ANBU. So, dodge.”
Genma sketched an ironic salute, touching two fingers to his temple. “Dodge, got it,” he said, with an actual smile. “As far as freaking the candidates, the idea is to stress them and observe, right? Not actually take them down?”
“Depends on the higher-ups. We did some weeding last year—makes the threat more believable if people actually go down, but we’re not allowed to kill anyone.” Raidou tapped his fingertips against his empty cup. “Or permanently cripple anyone. They frown on that.”
Genma nodded seriously. “Plus, there'd undoubtedly be paperwork. And who needs that?”
“My point exactly,” Raidou said, entertained. He looked up when a pair of shinobi rose and left, followed by three more, and sighed. “Time’s up, lieutenant. You have your kit ready to go?”
Genma drained the last of his tea and set the cup aside. “Pretty much. I was going to stop by the Quartermaster’s and pick up a few more senbon and a couple of things, but other than that I'm ready to go.”
Reasonably organized. Good sign.
“Here’s a piece of real advice, then,” Raidou said, getting to his feet. “Take a shower before you go. You’ll thank yourself.”
Genma took him at face value on that, presumably having done more than his fair share of back-to-back missions. “Excellent point. Thanks.” One hand went to the end of his ponytail, tugging it absently in a thinking-tic Raidou made note of. “Guess I’ll head to the showers in the barracks before I hit up the QM. When and where do you want me to meet you, or am I just aiming for the 1400 muster out with everyone?”
“Muster’s fine,” Raidou said.
“Great.” Genma nodded and stood, swiping Raidou’s tray before Raidou could pick it up—because, right, lieutenant, which Raidou wasn’t anymore. It was going to take some getting used to.
“Thank you,” he said.
“I’ll see you at 1400 at the flapgole,” Genma confirmed, then hesitated. “What do you want me to call you? Captain, Raidou-taichou, or just Raidou? Obviously in the field you're… Moon-man?”
Raidou didn’t twitch. “Crescent Moon,” he said neutrally. “Captain’s fine, Raidou’s fine. Namiashi’s fine if you want to play it up for the rookies. Tanuki for you, or is it a panda?”
“Tanuki. It’s got a kind of pointy nose; I think a panda would be more flat.” Genma hooked the mask off his belt, turning it so Raidou could see the sharp lines of its face. “Also, I’d rather be a clever trickster with tremendous balls than a cute bear with fertility issues.”
Not a sentence you heard very often.
“You know they’re not actually supposed to be a reflection of your personality, right?” Raidou said.
“I’d hope not,” Genma said, with a twinkle. “Otherwise I’d have to guess you were a lunatic.”
Because lunar.
“You punned,” said Raidou, with a groan. “You punned badly. You’re banned from the team. Get out.”
Genma hung his mask back on his belt and saluted with his free hand, humor glinting in his light eyes. “See you at 1400,” he said, and left with the trays.
Shiranui Genma, was, Raidou suspected, a little bit of a smartass.
Well, Raidou would take that over a dumbass any day.
He stood, stretched, and stole a final fortifying rib from the hot counter before he left to pack for the challenge ahead.
Burn cream this time. Lots of burn cream. |
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