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Entry tags:

Open!

Who:

onerous & you
When: 6/10ish
Where: Around
What: Mostly just a way for Yuri to catch up with people and make sure everyone's settling in okay. An for people to catch her for the same thing!
Rating/Warning: None so far.

[A]

[Being a shrine maiden isn't really tough work. Sure her robes are a little strange and elaborate, but she's getting used to them-- the fact it's the same style of robes worn by the dead shrine maidens in her world notwithstanding. She doesn't even mind the weird headpiece or the cloth over her eyes.

Honestly, it's giving her a way of trying to understand the old shrine maidens, a feeling of connection, but- That's neither here nor there.

If you're someone she ran into in ViViD (however briefly and here's where you're free to handwave that maybe they saw each other in passing), Yuri approaches.]

Excuse me. [How does she see through that thing covering her eyes?? She raises a hand and gently lifts the veil to reveal her face and nods in greeting. Normally she'd also wave with her free hand, but that arm is currently cradling a...bouquet of flowers?? Weird.] Hello. I just... Wanted to know if you were doing well. The first day was a little...

[She trails off, because how do you even begin to describe that? So she decides to skip over it and continues:] Are you settling in alright?

[B]

[Alright so this whole "offering her abilities as a service to people" thing was good in theory, but she's been getting a lot of requests from your friendly everyday NPCs. And mostly it's to find stuff they misplaced and could probably find if they actually put in any effort or something.

'I'm not bitter,' i say bitterly with a bitter expression. Okay maybe she's not actually bitter, but she is a little exasperated.

Currently it's a case of a missing ring. Anyone sensitive to supernatural things (or maybe the city itself is just being weird and letting it be shown) will see a vaguely humanoid shape walking off before disappearing after a moment. Maybe it's even headed right by you when it disappears??

Yuri, assuming most people can't see it, just grips the ring box tighter and nods her head in passing, staring intently at the place the shape had been. She looks around a moment, frowns, then turns to address you] Sorry, have you seen a ring around here...?

[WILDCARD]

[Maybe Yuri's your waitress at the cafe and you recognize her, or maybe while at her shrine maiden gig or around town you recognize her as the girl advertising her ability to find anything and anyone and you want to put it to the test? Anything goes!]

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[A perfectly dismissive answer, and Neji's a little relieved for it. He'd have been alarmed to get a straight reply- then again, he wonders if he'd have been surprised. Yuri was, after all, showing herself to have a tendency to be unpredictable. He hums in understanding at her brushing off his offer. Wonders briefly what in the world she could message Lee with- smoke signals?- then remembers the CereVice. Do people really lug that thing around everywhere...?

She moves. He follows. It reminds him of something else he should tell her.] I also wanted to tell you to not feel obligated to talk to me if you should be working instead. [Because if she wanted to chase Lee when she shouldn't-- Lee wasn't going to evaporate, for heaven's sake-- then that was on her.

If she would be caught, questioned on why she didn't want to take on more jobs even if she was (seemingly) capable, reprimanded, then that would be her own affair.

Neji would feel bad being the cause, though, or a part of it. So he listens intently now. He could scurry off if only she'd give him a reason to.]

Oh, no-- Not that job. [Yuri pauses a moment, reordering her thoughts. She's honestly a little...touched? Thankful?? That Neji's concerned enough about that to bring it up at all is strangely compelling for her. It's still a little strange, knowing people cared.]

Hmm... Sorry, that doesn't make much sense, does it? Let me start over. [PAUSE. REWIND.] I work as a priestess, but it's a job that gives me a lot of freedom to move around. I can wander just about everywhere and we don't really do much.

But, I also help people find things. Lost things-- or people. I can do things like that. I like helping people, but I'm starting to get a little bit of a reputation for it and I don't want to be side-tracked by something I can't say no to.

[What a weirdo.

And that was definitely not how Neji would have guessed a job as a 'priestess' would be described, so he guesses that's just proving his theory of this girl being utterly unpredictable in what she says. He almost has to wonder if she even hears herself. He even has to huff out a breath- it's not a laugh, honest.] Ah. [Yeah, no, that's all he's got.

Give him a moment.] Seems like a good problem to have.

[She looks to him a moment and then offers that little smile again] ...Yes, it is I suppose. Back home, I...

[She trails off, not sure how to explain or if she even should-- he probably didn't care after all. Yuri gives him a mildly considering look before deciding to just forge ahead. Why the fuck not.]

Abilities like mine are rare now, and people tend to react with either laughter because they don't believe it, or they attack you because they don't understand and they're scared. So... It's just... different, I guess, being open about it. People know and they ask me for help, and they're not making fun of me; it's nice, but it's still taking some getting used to.

[And yet again: there it was. This time Neji quirks a brow back when she smiles, a very small 'gotcha'. The playfulness is short-lived, but at least it's reared its head. He'll be seeing a lot of her, he thinks. So where's the harm?

And anyway, if she gave him another piece to the puzzle that was Her And Lee, it was the very least he could do. So there was one reason of many others for her defensive outburst that first day.] I'd understand the ridicule [because he had ridiculed], but were you attacked often for what you do, Yuri? [Because he's curious. Because he had attacked, too.

Again, he'll give her an out if she'll want to take it.] You're doing right by not taking on more commitment than you feel comfortable with right now. It'd go easier if you were louder about your intention to keep yourself sane, though. [Instead of sneaking, and ducking out of sight here and there.] Nobody would mind.

[Yuri rolls her shoulders a moment as if to relieve tension there. Attacked? Well...

She recognizes the out he's offering and she's grateful for it, but decides, this time, not to take it. He's close to Lee, and Lee knew a lot about her-- it's only fair she share as much as she can. Though, granted, Lee didn't even know this part of it all.

No, she didn't mind. It happened, she can't take it back, so what was the point in remaining tight-lipped about it? ...Besides, it was the first time he'd actually expressed an interest about it all.]

Attacked... Not exactly. It was... [Yuri gives a soft huff of bitter amusement; despite steeling herself to talk about it, she's not sure where to begin.] I didn't know what was happening to me. There was no one left in my family to talk to, and no one in my town had dealt with things like this before. I tried to talk to doctors, but they... They said it was simply shock. That I was sic.

[She smooths her fingers idly over the flower petals.] In the end, they didn't believe me. I was locked up for a while, until eventually I just...pretended everything was fine. I couldn't see things. I couldn't hear things. I was normal, and okay and not sick anymore. I wanted to believe it so badly. In the end, it convinced them so they let me go, but it all came back not too long after I was out, and I was even more alone than before.

My friends thought I was crazy and weird-- I didn't have any control over my powers at that point, so I was picking up all sorts of things I shouldn't have. I was able to know how they really felt about me, their feelings and everything... It wasn't pretty. So I cut myself off from them, too.

[And it had driven her right to a cliff's edge-but she won't bring that part up. Instead, in an effort to make this a slightly happier ending, she continues:] But eventually, I met Hisoka. She had similar abilities, though not as powerful. She... saved me. Literally. She took me in and was teaching me how to use and control it, and where she lived the people still mostly believed in these sorts of abilities. They respect them more, and people often came to her for help or advice. It's... nice. And I hope I can live up to her one day.

[It's nice to have goals, even if she's still on shaky ground when it comes to the future. Making long-term plans and goals is strange.

This is also probably the most she's said in a conversation between them, maybe not counting the initial "welcome to Cereal" bullshit and explanations]

[So had obliged him anyway. Neji showed his appreciation, he thinks, by casually averting his gaze when Yuri's fingers went to stroke the flowers. If she needed something to focus on rather than her words, or her walk, or her company, then it wasn't something easy that she was recalling. So when Neji had previously thought her being alone hadn't been all that literal (certain clans weren't known for their closeness, even among close family), he gets confirmation that it had been soon after. And that was her own painful affair and not one he was interested to take stock of.

It kind of reminded him of what a dick he was, if he thinks trying to avoid pain in others somehow made him a good person.

Anyway. He nods every now and then to show her he hadn't lost track of her words, though she went on and on and Neji was surprised she could talk for so long, honestly. He won't delude himself and say he didn't feel a stab of apprehension at the knowledge that she could sense... what, feelings? just like that? just by looking at someone?

Everything, she had said.

But he won't dwell on it. He won't slow his step or add distance between them. He simply won't react. This was fascinating, morbid as it was. Yuri knew that. It was why she told it.] Your Kekkei Genkai expresses itself in others outside of your immediate family. [An observation, a fact. He thinks. Gods, he can't be sure- not if he's relying solely on her word.] Its history- do you know it? Was it stolen, at any point? [Musing to himself, really. Maybe.] It might explain why the doctors wouldn't know a thing about it.

['Kekkei Genkai' is unknown to her, though she can pick up enough context clues to make a guess.] The mountain where I live now used to be the home of shrine maidens who had this power--I think it only showed up in women. But they were closely guarded, the power didn't spread on purpose.

[She tilts her head, trying to put the timeline together again in her head] They were secluded, and the only ones allowed on the mountain were people who came to end their lives-- that's what their role was. They would watch people die and comfort them in their final moments. So there wasn't really any worry of that power getting out with anyone.

[Morbid, but true.] But like I said, people get scared of things they don't really understand. A man came to die on the mountain and decided he couldn't stand the shrine maiden's eyes-- so he fled. And... killed all the shrine maidens he could. The ones that lived ran away into the surrounding villages.

So...it's possible my great-grandmother was one of those shrine maidens, and the power just didn't show until me. Or maybe my mother had it too, but not as strongly. I'm not sure. [She never got the chance to ask, after all.]

[Neji was no idiot but he was also a far cry from a scholar. It piqued his interest that only women were allowed the powers, and wouldn't that just make it all the more easy to lose track of? If a man was born to a Shrine Maiden and not kept under reins, and then he went on to sire children- and some day a daughter would find herself seeing what those around her couldn't-- what a mess.

And he wants to argue that these techniques are never lost on purpose, hence the smarter guardians utilizing seals... but for one, it'd be impossible to keep his own bitterness out, and for two, he's not so convinced a brand is ever a particularly smart thing, nevermind the efficiency of it.

A man killed the shrine maidens. Yuri had no family. She didn't know who in her family had the bloodline limit, as hers had expressed itself after the fact.

Neji neither knew nor cared about Sasuke's history apart from the Obvious, so it's impossible to draw the parallel.]

Hisoka has been your only teacher, then?

[Yuri gives a soft hum of confirmation.] And she learned from some of the women in the village, but they passed on before I came. So now she's teaching me, to the best of her ability.

[Though Yuri's abilities far outstrip Hisoka's at this point.] My abilities are stronger, and I can do more than she can, but... she's doing her best. Something is better than nothing. [Of course she doesn't have anyone now, but so far that hasn't been too much of a problem. Maybe.] This ability can-- Well. I didn't want to say 'kill me' but if I'm too reckless I'm sure it could. They can be dangerous, but I'm sure that's true for any of these sorts of things.

[Something was better than nothing- Neji could agree with that, feverently. He would be willing to bet anything he had learned more about the Byakugan's use with the sparse trainings he'd had with his lord Hiashi than he had ever grasped at by trial and error on his own. And he thinks, maybe, if he'd stuck around long enough in the realm of the living-- maybe his abilities would be stronger than the old man's too.

Neji snorts.

Good on Yuri for having wanted to learn, though, rather than fighting against her nature. Again.] I'm sure it is.

[He knew eyestrain and the blindness of overuse. He was sure the physical strain could wear a body down worse.

He just wasn't sure if he should tell Yuri.] Just as I'm sure Hisoka taught you how to keep such a thing from ever happening.

[Yuri tilts her head, considering, then shrugs lightly.] I suppose...? I was just told to be careful if I'm following the trace of someone who's dead, because their spirit might attack me.

But...I've been dealing with things like that since this ability showed up. So I'm not too bothered. [There it is again, that strange disconnect when it comes to her own life. But she pauses before continuing with:] But I'm careful. They had ways of dealing with the priestesses who used their powers to the limit, but it's not exactly...

[HOW DOES SHE POLITELY WORD THIS]

It's not exactly a... feasible solution here. [She shrugs.] I guess I'll just have to be careful. I don't really have any other choice, other than not using it at all, which... If it can help people, I don't want to do that.

[Her eyes were there to comfort the ones who welcomed their own death. The ones who would seek out that special mountain, in particular, to go and commit their suicide. Neji could put together that much. Yuri talks about the trace of the dead, and he wonders if she would have figured out he had welcomed death too, albeit in a slightly-- in a different way, if he hadn't gone and told her first. Again, that she may be able to see so much has him apprehensive.

The dead had spirits. It wasn't just an old tale. He wasn't just a-- body, with old memories. That was a relief.] Hopefully there aren't too many people eager to end their own lives here.

[And she can focus on being a glorified attendant to the Lost and Found, and Neji didn't mean that in any cruel way. He sighs. Thinks about asking... something. About himself. Then decides no, he really doesn't want her attention on him.] Your eyes can track objects, but not Lee? [Not living persons? That was wonderful, really. No, really. And:]

You've told me about the priestesses, but never the name of your powers. I assume they have one.

[He's absolutely fucking ensnared by curiosity.]

[She smiles a tad, amused despite herself. No, she really hoped there weren't any suicide-happy upswings anytime soon.]

I can track living people too, but I need something of there's. Something they wear a lot, a picture of them, a note they wrote... I don't have anything of Lee's with me right this second. [There are some limitations, but at least criteria for tracing someone is broad enough.

Yuri's pleased he's curious though-- it's nice to, you know, have an actual conversation] The ability to track things and people down, or getting some kind of impression from objects, is called kagemi. The other ability is... being able to relive someone's death, see their last moments--things like that--that the priestesses used. It's called mitori. [Cheerful.]

[She had his heart.

Which was a totally idiotic, cheesy thing to even think, and yeah. Neji supposes he's amused too. Why else would he even still be around? He'd only stepped out to explore, anyway, and even with a passing glance now and then at their surroundings, following Yuri's lead through the area, he's certain he's learning.

He files the actually useful information away for later.

So now he'll have to ask Lee for something unmistakably his, because having a sensory type apart from his cousin to pester in trying times (see: Hunger Games Dating) wasn't a terrible thing, though he still felt abhorrently helpless with having to enlist help.]

Mitori is the one that gives you trouble because it isn't as easy to practice.

[Isn't easy to practice.

Is actually unpleasant to practice.

One and the same.] With Kagemi you can hone your skills with your work, by continuing to offer your help to others. I guess that's what you were going for when you began the business.

Mm. There aren't exactly a lot of dead bodies that get left behind here. [Yuri hesitates a little and looks quietly at him, as if debating. She might as well tell him, even if it might damage some of their tentative friendship here. He deserves to know.]

The person doesn't always have to be dead. Sometimes I can access their memories if they're sleeping, and this place has been making the mitori act strangely. Sometimes I can grab memories even when I'm not trying if I touch someone. Not always, it's pretty rare, but it happens sometimes.

[Another moment of hesitation and she continues with a little reluctance:] It's how I knew about you before you came here. Lee didn't really tell me much of anything-- I accidentally saw his memories. You were in some of them. Of course, he ended up seeing some unpleasant memories of mine too, but... [She's not sure seeing her attempted suicide really counters that. Especially since it had given Lee nightmares.]

[Was that not supposed to be funny? Because it gets that not-laugh of a chuff out of Neji regardless. Then Yuri's giving him that odd glance again and Neji's quick to school himself back into composure. As if it ever took longer than a blink, anyway. Try as he might to remain casual about it, her powers, Neji now found himself solemn.

To see so much of a person- he wondered if this was the unnerving vulnerability opponents to the Byakugan felt. Scratch that, he knew it was.

He wondered if he was good at hiding it. Knew that he must be, because he'd taken missions more difficult than befriending Lee's crush before, and had come out of those in one piece.

His jaw tightens. He lifts his chin a hair's width, as if denying the past. Of course he wanted to ask which memories--] As long as he knows. [Of what she's capable, then Lee can handle those matters himself.]

[Thankfully, Yuri's powers hadn't grown enough that she could fully read someone with her eyes alone, which is probably all that saves Neji from being over-analyzed and his emotions read. Luckily, Yuri isn't a behavioral analyst or anything, though she definitely heard that little huff of his.

She can't help but wonder why he bothers hiding it--then again, she can't really say anything, can she?

Ah-- here it is. She doesn't need mitori to observe that reaction. Daring her to judge him for it, maybe? It's not like she saw all that much--brief glimpses, the emotions that followed... It had painted a curious picture of a younger Neji, but she had reason to believe he'd matured from that.

So, no judging here. For now.]

He knows. It doesn't stop him from hugging me or anything, despite the risk. [Her tone has a little bit of exasperated fondness to it again. Despite Yuri warning him that physical contact could trigger it, it hadn't deterred Lee in the slightest. Typical.

Another moment of hesitation] I can... try to show you, what he saw. You're his friend, so... It's only fair, I suppose. [They're close so she'll open herself up like that if it'll help reassure Neji, somehow. He's Lee's closest friend, so she wants hi to know her as well as Lee does. His opinion might not deter Lee any (nothing short of an act of God could do that, and even then...), but it's still important to her. And hiding things from him isn't the way to go about earning trust.

Something about in order to get trust, you have to extend trust first or something, maybe.] I can't pass on his memories, at least, I don't think I can, but... [She trails off a little. It's something. Maybe even a little bit of an apology for misunderstandings between herself and Neji before and the rather hostile nature of their first meetings. She'll expose her vulnerabilities for this.]

[Of course it wouldn't deter Lee. Neji internally matches Yuri's exasperation though he figures it's for different reasons. The bushy-browed blockhead would befriend the boulder dropped on him if only its surface had the word 'sorry' scrawled on it.

A totally different scenario than forgiving a dear friend for an intrusion, Neji knew, but it didn't mitigate the fact that Lee was, actually, y'know. An idiot. An idiot Neji had no choice but to trust the judgement of right now.

Because it was for Lee's sake that they were both doing this. There was no convincing either of them otherwise.] No.

[No, her powers won't stop Lee's affection for her and everyone knew and loved Lee for that reason-- that he wasn't afraid to pursue... whatever the heck it was that he wanted. No, Yuri shouldn't go and try to buy Neji's... trust? with something that was so plainly hers to own and see and know. No, he wasn't comfortable at all with the thought that she thought it was so simple to just give away something so frightfully intimate to a proxy.

Then again, his world revolved around information and using it to hurt, gathering it in a way that won't get you killed, and keeping your mouth firmly clamped to ensure it is known by no one but who it must. And dead or not, Neji would like to think he was damn good at doing his job.]

I don't need that much from you. [Didn't need collateral.] You have nothing to prove to me. I'm curious about you and your world because both are foreign to me and I'm curious about what Lee sees in you because he is my friend. That doesn't mean I have to see you through his lens any more than I should see precisely what he has.

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