1 The Turnabout Birthday (private/invite) Wed Jul 31, 2019 7:48 pm
Akaneya
C-rank
The day had started much as any other. It was a special day, but such special status was afforded to it not by Akaneya - nay, she saw it for what it was: a day much as any other. When she woke in the darkness of her room, the sun hidden behind perhaps buildings and perhaps blinds and perhaps just things in the way generally, but by all means the sun was quite low and the sky quite orange. She didn't feel well rested, she never did, but she dragged herself out of bed anyway. Donning the same old mesh shirt and tight shorts, the same old dress, her outfit was quite standard. She'd opted for a pair of boots rather than her wrapped shins, a habit she was getting into these winter months.
The morning started with some stretching, some yoga, quite similar to what she'd done with Chiaki not too long ago. Basic, but efficient, certainly not on anybody's model of what yoga should be but yet matching all the conventions that yoga has. While her mind was groggy and sloggy, she could at least work out her body, right? Nothing too intensive for the morning and all that. Well, she started to feel a bit more awake in little time at all, and so with a brief drink of plain milk, she quickly grabbed her coat and headed out. It was that 'cute' pink coat that Chiaki had picked out for her, and all the fastenings were done as she walked.
She spent her time in meditation, for the most part. Akaneya stood in the silence of the chilly, but not nearly as cold as outside the village, garden, or park, or other general green space. She engaged in her usual manner, of course, closing her eyes and feeling out the space around her. The chirps of nearby birds revealed their locations, and the sounds going hither and thither, bouncing off of nearby walls, dampened by the confused mesh of matter that were clusters of leaves, it painted a picture in her mind. The walls were vibrant, vivid, clear, while the leaves seemed almost like a gap in the image, a fading, a black hole where nothing could escape.
The sounds of the gentle winter breeze rustling the grass and bushes likewise gave her an idea of their positioning. They swayed gently, every now and then twitching as the air hit something at just the wrong angle. The hard stone she stood upon, meanwhile, was another gap of negative space - it didn't rustle at all, it made no noise, gave off no sound, no vibrations, and so she could tell by omission precisely where it was. This was all fairly standard to her sensory abilities, though.
She only deemed this a type of meditation for the lack of a better word. It was serene and peaceful certainly, but she wasn't emptying her mind at all. No, she was training it, honing it, keeping her senses on their guard and making sure she wouldn't lose details. She doubted that the ability would fade, at least, that it would fade from disuse so quickly just because she hadn't been on a mission in a while, but it didn't really matter. Training, even to keep up what one already has, was well worth the effort.
She gave this quite some time, before taking out her flute and playing her songs. Her mournful, lonely songs, alone, afraid, and most of all without closure. The notes flew by and into the air, enlightening her to the environment in an even clearer fashion. As the cries of her flute rang, she prepared to draw to a close - but fumbled on the last note. She played an extra! Now, she didn't technically have any standard form or sheet music of any sort for these songs, the extra note rubbed her wrong. It felt like it disturbed the older, albeit perhaps unfinished, ending, but nor did it provide a new one satisfactorily. Akaneya groaned and put her flute away, a small mistake but she was ready to move on to something more physical anyway. Knowing she had left her tools back in her apartment, because physical training was in a different place entirely, she began the slow, calm walk back to 'home'.
She approached the door, and unlocked it. If someone had snuck in, they'd been clever enough to re-lock the door once inside. She had no suspicion that someone had, though. Who would? She had nothing to take and was hardly a valuable asset herself. Akaneya opened the door and stepped inside, eager to get on with it all.
The morning started with some stretching, some yoga, quite similar to what she'd done with Chiaki not too long ago. Basic, but efficient, certainly not on anybody's model of what yoga should be but yet matching all the conventions that yoga has. While her mind was groggy and sloggy, she could at least work out her body, right? Nothing too intensive for the morning and all that. Well, she started to feel a bit more awake in little time at all, and so with a brief drink of plain milk, she quickly grabbed her coat and headed out. It was that 'cute' pink coat that Chiaki had picked out for her, and all the fastenings were done as she walked.
She spent her time in meditation, for the most part. Akaneya stood in the silence of the chilly, but not nearly as cold as outside the village, garden, or park, or other general green space. She engaged in her usual manner, of course, closing her eyes and feeling out the space around her. The chirps of nearby birds revealed their locations, and the sounds going hither and thither, bouncing off of nearby walls, dampened by the confused mesh of matter that were clusters of leaves, it painted a picture in her mind. The walls were vibrant, vivid, clear, while the leaves seemed almost like a gap in the image, a fading, a black hole where nothing could escape.
The sounds of the gentle winter breeze rustling the grass and bushes likewise gave her an idea of their positioning. They swayed gently, every now and then twitching as the air hit something at just the wrong angle. The hard stone she stood upon, meanwhile, was another gap of negative space - it didn't rustle at all, it made no noise, gave off no sound, no vibrations, and so she could tell by omission precisely where it was. This was all fairly standard to her sensory abilities, though.
She only deemed this a type of meditation for the lack of a better word. It was serene and peaceful certainly, but she wasn't emptying her mind at all. No, she was training it, honing it, keeping her senses on their guard and making sure she wouldn't lose details. She doubted that the ability would fade, at least, that it would fade from disuse so quickly just because she hadn't been on a mission in a while, but it didn't really matter. Training, even to keep up what one already has, was well worth the effort.
She gave this quite some time, before taking out her flute and playing her songs. Her mournful, lonely songs, alone, afraid, and most of all without closure. The notes flew by and into the air, enlightening her to the environment in an even clearer fashion. As the cries of her flute rang, she prepared to draw to a close - but fumbled on the last note. She played an extra! Now, she didn't technically have any standard form or sheet music of any sort for these songs, the extra note rubbed her wrong. It felt like it disturbed the older, albeit perhaps unfinished, ending, but nor did it provide a new one satisfactorily. Akaneya groaned and put her flute away, a small mistake but she was ready to move on to something more physical anyway. Knowing she had left her tools back in her apartment, because physical training was in a different place entirely, she began the slow, calm walk back to 'home'.
She approached the door, and unlocked it. If someone had snuck in, they'd been clever enough to re-lock the door once inside. She had no suspicion that someone had, though. Who would? She had nothing to take and was hardly a valuable asset herself. Akaneya opened the door and stepped inside, eager to get on with it all.