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Izuna is sitting in the complete dark, surrounded by silence.
This is the very least of her concern; if anything, it'd only makes her more excited, the calm before the storm.
20 seconds. The word "Ninja" stands for those who endures and persists, she tries her best to live up to it.
She was told to keep her eyes and ears closed for 30 seconds before she begins her solo manhunt.
It's a simple game of hide and seek; Sensei, or "Aruji-dono" in her words goes hiding while Izuna has to find him.
Starting from 15:00, time window is three hours; hiding locations are limited within Hyakkiyako central district.
He won't hide in any interior spaces or places Izuna does not have access to, such as male bathrooms or the clubroom of Yin-Yang Club.
And of course, no outside helps are allowed, not even from the Ninjutsu Research Club. This is her fight alone.
Izuna has to find Sensei and calls him out for him to hear, if he chooses to run away after hearing the call then it's an automatic lose for him.
If she wins, her Aruji-dono will take a day off and spend an entire day p̶l̶a̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ practicing ninjutsu with her. Yup.
15 seconds. She can feel the small-scale whirlwind caused by her wagging tail.
Aruji-dono is a man of just and kindness, but Izuna knows that he's also an expert... ninja?
Well... Yes and no. Uhm, something like that... yeah. So he said, close enough!
Izuna strives to be best ninja of all Kivotos, if she can learn more from her tutor, then she can make another significant step toward her goal.
5 seconds...! Izuna is mapping out her search route rapidly within her mind.
He exited the room out and to the right at the beginning, Izuna felt it with her feet through his steps thumping on the floor.
She exhales. Four, three, two, one- And inhales again.
"Here I go! Aruji-dono! Nin-Nin--!" The gleeful fox missile takes off from the Ninjutsu Research Club's clubroom.
First, the heights! The aspiring ninja thinks to herself.
Realistically, Izuna doesn't consider trees good hiding spots; too many bugs! And her big orange tail often gives her away.
And although trees are plentiful in Hyakkiyako, most of them are too small to support the adult's size and weight.
Her Aruji-dono at one point also claimed that he's not that good of a tree climber.
Or perhaps it's a mind game!? Izuna's fox ears perk up. All warfare is based on deception...!
"Alright!" She readies herself. "Starting with the strong and tall ones." And readies her Shuko (wearable hand claws) as well.
Her ember eyes cast the sightline onto one of the trees around her vicinity; it seems to fit all the standards, with enough branches to climb onto.
Izuna approaches the tree with a Sa Sa Sa and begins her vertical ascension.
With Shuko, enough elbow grease and an undying passion of ninja and finding her Aruji-dono, she makes it to the highest branch with ease.
The air up here is breezy and cozy; there's a bird nest at the neighboring branch; and most importantly, the sight is amazing.
She's now resting above essentially all the buildings of Hyakkiyako central district; the pedestrians are less than half of their original size.
It's a good chance to spot her target if he's out in the open; Aruji-dono looks and dresses distinctively apart from everyone else.
But he's probably aware of that already, so Izuna doesn't have high hopes to begin with-
"HAH!?" She almost falls from the branch due to how violent she jerks up on her feet.
Her target is right there, in the middle of the street, looking at her in the eyes; she is certain those smiling silver dots captured her.
There he is! Izuna found her target. Now just one last thing to do:
"ARUJI-DONO-------------!"
Her phone happens to buzz at this incredibly good timing. She fishes it out as if it's a ticking bomb in her pocket.
You said anything?
Izuna can see her expression turns into (ˊ◉ д ◉ˋ) through the reflection of her screen. Gotta calls him out for him to HEAR!
And when she moves her sights back into the people below, Aruji-dono has disappeared.
"Hah! W-wait for me-!" The young literal tree hugger rushes herself back down the tree in a hurry.
Unfortunately, it was in vain; he has gone with the wind and into the unknown.
"Izuna won't quit this easily...!" It is but a minor setback. She has plenty of time to catch him anyway.
Can't fall for his provocation, or I'll be led by the tail! She channels her focus, commitment and sheer will.
And dusts all the doubts and frustrations away with her imaginary tail in her head.
"Let's try another area!"
To blend into an urban area is rather easy.
Just walk with the crowd, avoid eye contacts, reduce sudden movements and act natural. Simple.
For someone like Izuna and her target, who sticks out among the people due to various reasons, it's another story.
What did Aruji-dono call it again? Something about escape and evasion? She can't quite recall.
Point is, the escapee needs to dial it up even further; clothes, discernable body features, even habits like how they walk and body languages.
Nonetheless, in this case most of these will be hard to change in Izuna's keen eyes.
She has a clear picture of how her lord look and sound like; especially she just got her memory roughly refreshed.
He's wearing a black Happi with a light gray T-shirt, a pair of tan cargo pants, a pair of brown hiking boots, a black watch and a navy-blue sling bag.
The fox girl strides in confidence on the street. No esapce from me this time! While eyeballing anyone who enters her vision thoroughly.
She doesn't forget checking those alleyways and gaps between buildings; but all she has seen so far are nothing but emptiness and occasionally stray cats.
Person after person; alley after alley, no sight of the one she longs for. Izuna has been repeating this for at least an hour, bystanders are noticing her.
As the time progresses, her struggle begins to surface again; her fox ears are curling inwards.
She feels like a lost child drowning in the sea of pedestrians; eyes darting place to place looking for the one person that can save her.
The word "Ninja" stands for those who endures and persists. Izuna quickly wipes off whatever is welling up in her eyes, definitely not tears.
Her phone buzzes again.
I've already left there
It's almost as if he's watching over her all this time.
You were close
Almost got me
Keep it up, little ninja
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"Aruji-dono." She blurts out; ears are uncurling, smiles reblooming.
The little ninja regains her energy. "Izuna won't throw in the towel just yet!"
She shouts out her line from the bottom of her heart as she moves on, knowing her beloved tutor will hear her.
Completely unaware the amount of passersby's attention she just attracted.
The street of Hyakkiyako central district is convoluted.
So by extension, there're plenty of secluded area where the sun doesn't shine.
They're way less populated and more often than not are the place where Mouryos hang out.
Not that they're scheming anything malicious, they're simply there to chill; even delinquents need some time and space to recharge after all.
Chatting, napping, refurbishing their masks and so on; as a matter of fact, they're rather peaceful if people leave them alone.
Izuna had the idea of asking them about the adult's whereabout, but since they count as outsider, it's against the rule.
Instead, she simply wanders her way around the edge of these Mouryo's gathering area and tries her best to act normal.
No look, no talk, no eye contact...! In these Mouryo-ran zones, the fox girl is on the mission.
She's walking a fine line, a tip-toeing among potential dangers, and it has worked so far.
"Hm? Hey! You!" So far. "You over there! The fox-eared one!"
In her fourth disguised stroll in a small square, one of the yellow-haired girls with a Tengu mask detected her.
"Eh!? You mean me...?" Izuna is startled like a fox caught in the headlights.
"I know you! You are the one with the adult who ruined our job before!" The small Tengu is reaching for her rocket launcher.
Must be one of the Mouryo that was taken down back in the first meet with her Aruji-dono. What a small world...!
"Wait, that's the ninja you mentioned before?" "Finally, some actions today!" "Uhm... What are we doing again...?"
The others are gearing up upon hearing their comrades' uproar. It's turning into a four-on-one.
"Looks like it can't be helped!" The ninja unslings her submachine gun with one hand and reaches for the smoke pellets with another.
Only one of the hands touched what they want; she finds her pocket empty of her life-saving ninja tool.
"!..." She gasps in shock, feeling her heart skips a beat and her body tenses up like an arrow string.
The world in slowing down in her eyes; the tip of the rocket is daggering her pounding chest, indicating that within a moment they will meet.
Izuna has no choice but to instinctively covers her face, close her honey-gold eyes dead shut and hopes for the best. This is gonna hurt!
Then she hears a ting of something metallic is shot.
And a BANG- erupted by the catastrophic malfunction of the rocket launcher, the following shockwave sending her back several feet.
The ninja does a quick roll and gets back up on her feet with its inertia. Wha- What is happening!? Her voice in her head sounds nowhere near as cool though.
A full second after does the little ninja realize that she should be running, now that there's a huge opening. Fighting them is not the mission here.
"Excuse me, but Izuna must leave now! Aruji-dono awaits!" She darts out of the square, leaving what looks like a lucky accident behind.
She has an even more pressing issue at hand; her time is running out.
At the place where we first met
You will find me
If you can make it in time, that is
BigBadAub02 sent you an emoji.
At first, she thought he meant the secret spot where they watched the fireworks of the Cherry Blossom Festival.
But that place is closed during regular time, so it's out of the question.
Then she remembered that one time when she had a standoff against him and Inner Discipline Club.
However, that part of the street is out of bound; it's in the area just outside of the central district.
Five minutes! Izuna is panting aggressively, full-throttling forward down the road.
The very first time when Izuna and her Aruji-dono met: near a certain inconspicuous corner of the road, when they collided into each other by accident.
It's on the other side of the town; she needs to cross the entire central district to get there.
She has given up the ninja running style she has been keen on doing; efficiency is key now.
Two minutes...! She's well aware now: she will not make it in time.
She's giving up "Izuna the aspiring ninja" title; she's just Izuna, desperate to get to her most treasured person on earth.
Her lungs are working on full swing and it's not enough; her legs are screaming for mercy.
Still, Izuna does not slow down at all. One minute. She doesn't want to.
She sheds a tear, it's hard to blink it away for how blurry her vision gets.
The word "Ninja" stands for-
"-Öugh-ah!?" Her terminal velocity is suddenly dipping.
Her axle is taking a 90 degree front dive, into the ground, no, into someone.
"WAAAH-!?" The two tumbles for at least several yards. "OUCH... Are you okay!?"
Great. She not only failed the mission, and now she hurt someone, what an absolute disgrace.
Izuna feels like digging herself a hole and never come back out for the rest of her fox life.
Or maybe she'll do what she saw on those ninja dramas? Put on a Ronin hat and leave Hyakkiyako?
"Ugh... Hey Izuna." The victim finally speaks up. Izuna recognize that voice.
It follows. "Congratulation. You found me." Ceremonially, exhaustedly it says.
"...Eh?" The fox girl wipes her feline eyes clear. The face she yearns to see is right within her reach for some reasons.
She's straddling right on top of her target. "Aruji-dono." She blurts out again.
"Yup. That's me." Warm hands are rubbing her face and ears tenderly. "You did it."
The gleeful fox missile zeroes in on its target. "ARUJI-DONO-!" And lands with a sparkling smile.
"I hear you now." Sensei receives her passionate plunge with a hug. "Little ninja."
The scenery of Hyakkiyako at dawn is breath-taking to say the least.
It's a campus built for tourism after all, so everything looks clean, neat and photogenetic.
With two glaring exceptions today.
Sensei and his proud, bubbly fox girl are both covered in dust. Neither of them seems upset by it, however.
At first, he fancied the idea of sneaking back into the clubroom of Ninjutsu Research Club and wait for her return.
And give her a surprise~ and grants her the prize regardless, for her effort.
But that means Izuna would be out there searching for what wasn't not even there for hours; he didn't have the heart to see so.
So he chose the second-best option: tailing her throughout the whole manhunt while staying under her radar.
He can make sure she's safe, and it can be a challenge for himself as well. A win-win situation.
It's a good thing she tunnel-visions often and rarely checks her back. The adult muses.
The final collision was a complete accident; he was trying to intercept since she wouldn't make it in time, but Izuna was way faster than he thought.
Besides, even Izuna failed to reach him within the time limit, he'd probably find some excuses to give her a pass. But it all worked out in the end, and it was poetic to a degree.
As for that Mouryo encounter, taking a shot with a suppressed 147-grain 9mm round from everyone's blind spot was indeed a challenge.
That rocket was a firework round the Mouryos hand-crafted since they were low on their budget ever since they lost their jobs.
In hindsight it was reckless for him. Still, seeing his little ninja gets hurt over some hide and seek game is the last thing he wanted.
Izuna is happy and satisfied for today; she's even more elated and energetic than before the game.
"Oh! Maybe we can try breathing under water with a tube!" Izuna continues her chatter, it's been 10 minutes.
She can probably dust herself clean by how fast her gigantic, fluffy tail is wagging right now.
"Okay, okay. Tap the brake a little." The adult attempts to sedate her via a head-pat feat. "We'll have the entire day, alright? Just you and me."
"Just you and me." Izuna repeated ghostly. Something is going on in her head; she's still figuring out what.
Sensei goes on to offer his hand to the little ninja. "Mm-hmm. So let's just head back to the clubroom and take a break, shall we?"
The fox girl hooks both of her arms around it joyously. "With pleasure, Aruji-dono!"
They'll have the whole day together, just them two.
Izuna and the adult will have fun trying out all kinds of ninjutsu, hopefully not on each other.
And perhaps, just perhaps.
She can also find out the answer of what this warm sensation tugging her heartstring is.