It had taken a full hour for Masahiko to finally force himself out of bed and into his clothing for the day, overcoming the urge to wallow in the memories of the events of a few nights before, his hands still shaking as he drank from his cup of coffee and as he fastened the yellow jacket over his person before moving to the bathroom in order to brush his long strands of brown and blue hair down so that they would be free of curls before finally moving on with the rest of his morning routine.


Eventually, Masahiko had gotten fully dressed and headed out of the small apartment he called home in order to meet with his friend and training partner, Kaede, who had made the suggestion of the two meeting in the Training Grounds for some sort of practice or another - something which he was more than fine with, seeing as he wished to train himself to the best of his ability and he knew that perhaps it would be best to not do so completely on his own.

Slowly entering the Training Grounds, Masahiko gazed about and did his best to find where Kaede was waiting and - soon enough - he had done just that, moving over to her before calling out with a small smile: "Ready..?" He asked, raising a brow in a gesture that seemed to, when combined with his facial expression, only accentuate his feminine appearance with soft skin and a rather slim body despite how often he trained, even the scars - if they had been visible to the woman - would have made him look fragile almost.

This however was likely why Masahiko acted with so much bravado and rashness when it came to fighting or interacting with others, not because he enjoyed being seen as a rather unpleasant individual but because he did not wish to be seen as weak.

He nodded idly towards a nearby open field, finally continuing on from when he had previously spoken: "That looks like as good of a place as any, you think?" he asked, stretching his arms above his head slowly as he yawned and awaited an answer from his partner, wondering just what she would want to do. Although honestly he would be fine with anything, he just wanted to do something to get his mind off of all that had been bothering him for the past while as well as from the shakiness in his hands that showed even now as he laughed to himself nervously before speaking up again. "Just don't try to play dirty while we're training..." He said, a pang of resentment of the man who had changed his life running through his mind as a frown crossed over his lips.

He then slowly crossed his arms over one another, awaiting for Kaede to speak while shifting back and forth on his feet, hair flowing idly in the breeze as the blue part of his bangs covered part of his eyes from above and the long strands of brown flowed down his back in a cascading waterfall of auburn. He would wait for his partner to make a decision before doing anything else, being silent otherwise unless she spoke to him directly or asked him a question.

Masahiko had taken his partners 'compliments' with a relatively good nature, chuckling along with them as he smiled and gave a simple shake of his head: "Honestly, you are something, aren't you?" He said while placing a hand on his hip idly and letting the woman speak.

After the ordeal with him mentioning possible less-than-polite tactics and his own visible shakiness, Kaede had mentioned about him being able to tell her anything and how she seemed to be concerned for his health, to which he gave a shaky sigh before responding in a somewhat more quiet tone as his eyes seemed to haze over: "I've just - I've had a long week." he responded, a frown forming over his lips as he shook his head slowly before beginning to walk to their area of training.

He began to speak only after a few more moments had passed, his gaze focused upon the ground as he did so: "I feel as if I'm changing, and there is nothing I can do about it.." He admitted after the long pause, running one hand through his own long locks of hair before looking over towards the woman who was his training partner. "I never thought - I never even imagined, that I would . . . Even after my family left years ago, Even after - Even after I was attacked . . . " He whispered, tears forming in his eyes as he vigorously shook his head to clear both them and his mind before sighing deeply.

He attempted to change the subject, speaking up quietly after his admission: "This place is much more quiet than the rest of the Grounds . . . We should not have to worry about anyone bothering us while we train." He said finally, waiting for the other woman to say anything as his gaze remained focused upon her, arms crossing over his chest as if he were hugging himself while doing so.

Masahiko seemed to calm down somewhat from the hug which the woman had given him, nodding softly at her words as a faint smile began to form on his lips as he spoke quietly in return to Kaede's words: "Thank you.. Honestly." He replied, letting out a deep sigh. "I just need some time, to get myself together is all . . ." He explained further before slowly moving back and stretching his arms out again.

He would then look up towards the sky, blinking before speaking once more. "I'll tell you all about it some other time, promise.." he offered, before then looking back towards Kaede. "But right now, let's just try and forget about troubling things like that..." He concluded, waiting for the other woman to respond now as he rested a hand upon his own hip, once more making the same raised eyebrow as he did so. "Alright..?"

Masahiko gave a small shake of his head at Kaede's seemingly cheerful nature as he simply nodded before responding in kind with a gentle tone that was now free of the shakiness he once held moments ago: "I think we should focus on working together first and foremost - I mean, what's a team if they can't rely on each other, you know?" He says, smiling as he said this before reaching out to offer a hand to the woman before him. "What do you think?" He asked, waiting for her response patiently.

He would then make a short pause before speaking again, raising a brow as he did so: "Unless your idea of team-work is gushing all over me.. - If so, then you are definitely good at it." He teased lightly, a soft giggle escaping the feminine male's lips as he used one hand to brush aside the few blue locks of his hair while awaiting an answer, gazing curiously to Kaede's eyes with his eye as he did so.

Masahiko was perhaps being a bit teasing towards his teammate but honestly, he could not help but feel warm on the inside from how kind the woman had been to him and how much she had even complimented his appearance earlier, as he was much more used to being ridiculed for being so feminine and lacking in physical appearance of power - although, anyone who knew him well would know the reasons why perhaps or at the very least understand that he was more than just met the eye.

His mind wandered to his old friend, briefly, the one who had betrayed him that day upon the Training Grounds - admittedly upon this very same spot, which was his true reason for deciding here rather than anywhere else specific. He could still remember the man's name, Keiichi, a name that he would come to hate and dream of the day that he destroyed the one whom it belonged to and even after having taken a life and having regretted it, deep down he knew that he would do anything that it took to rid the world of the one who betrayed him, no matter how many others he had to kill in the same fashion.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Masahiko returned his gaze upon Kaede and gave a small smile, waiting for her to speak further before doing or saying anything else, hands on his hips idly as he did so.

A soft sigh escaped Masahiko's lips as he had snapped out of his momentary lapse to look upon Kaede and listen to her words carefully, nodding as he brushed aside his hair with one hand before speaking up in a voice that seemed more firm than it had been before, less filled with worry but his eyes however still told that he seemed to have other things on his mind than the training, mostly because as he looked around the space that Kaede had drawn a ring within, the memories of his encounter with Keiichi were coming back to him unbidden.

"Yeah, uh -- A spar might be nice, just . . . give me a minute." He said, pausing somewhat between parts of his sentence, looking around as his mind began to flood with those aforementioned memories. His eyes seemed to go distant as he began to see Kaede as the man who had betrayed him, the Kunai in his mind being covered in his own blood as Masahiko looked down to his side and swore that he had seen the very wound which he had received from the man on that very day and so, without a word, he drew his own kunai in reality - despite the imagery which he was seeing being a figment of his own worked up imagination.

His deep red eyes narrowed as he looked towards Kaede, speaking in a low tone: "Why did you do it? Why did you want me dead?! What makes it worth betraying me..?" He asked aloud to the likely oblivious Kaede, whom he was still seeing as Keiichi, the man who had attacked him those years ago. Masahiko walked forward, drawing his own kunai after having asked these question, tears forming in his eyes as he did so while at the same time trying to remain firm by holding his kunai up towards the woman who he was envisioning as his betrayer, desperate for answers.

In this moment, he was utterly lost in his nightmarish daydream which he would hopefully break out of relatively soon, if not, there may be a problem between the two friends that would end up making this more than a friendly spar. Masahiko had these feelings pent up for years from his betrayal and the events of the other night had made things even worse, bringing out a side of him that Masahiko did not know he even had - that of a killer and one who would do anything to take revenge on the one who had wronged him and left him for dead. Today, it seemed, his emotions were running high and his silence about what he had done was breaking him to the point where things like this may happen more than just this once - if there would even be a chance for such afterwards, seeing as it was not certain what may happen.