Although Taitsuke's odd Chi bothers them, the two agree that it is in their best interest to leave the mystery as is until after they finish their training. Mai walks back toward her pile of rubble and Taitsuke holds out his hands to create a new barrier.
Seeing this, she quickly yells, "Ryoko! Stop!" He quickly suppresses his Chi, and looks at her all baffled. "You can't just leave it standing! It'll end up taking too much space. After you make barrier, you have to destroy it right after. You're not the only one who is using these grounds," she nags.
Taitsuke feels a weird, familiar atmosphere with her. 'Is it me or is her attitude just like Honoka?' He thought. He gives a short snicker and does what she says. He tries to destroy the tree. 'Just retract the Chi from the tree so becomes weak. Then kick thro-'
*Thwak*
"OW! For the love of..!" He loudly howls. He hops up and down, holding his throbbing right foot.
Looking at him with barely a smidgen of empathy on her face, she sighs, "What in the world are you doing?"
Still in pain, he sputters "I tried.. to destroy it.. but FU-! I think I bruised the top of my foot!"
Seeing the maple standing sturdily, Mai inspects the tree. "That's weird. Usually the user can easily break through their own creations... Try breaking it by using Chi."
Still in pain, Taitsuke tentatively tries once more. Concentrating his Chi to his legs, he kicks. *Thwak* "GRRA! MOTHER F-" He holds his left foot and falls to the fetal position.
'I can't believe anyone could be scared of that,' she thinks. "Aren't you training to become a Chibushi? How can you not kick down a simple tree?"
Rubbing the tops of his feet, he groans, "I seriously gave that my all."
"Hmm." Curious, she moves him over to the side and says, "Here. Let me try." With her feet, she creates a formation around the tree. After a minute, she stomps down on the ground and the earth underneath tree splits like how it did during their sparring match. Another minute passes when she stomps once more. The earth collapses underneath the tree. It sinks down until only the top of its highest branch peaks out. She takes a short break before filling the hole back up. After about 5 minutes, all that remains of the tree is a lone seedling looking branch in the middle of the training circle. She tries to pull out the seedling until, just like the leaves, her face turns red.
Impressed with her idea, Taitsuke praises, "Wow, that was pretty cool. I wish I was able to use my Chi like you."
A bit out of breath from using a lot of Chi and energy, she wheezes lightly, "Well, I guess I could give you some tips."
"Really?!"
"Yea. We need to finish this task before moving on, so why not? Anyways, your first tip is that that's not a what wood-barriers should look like. You're probably copying Naoki-sensei's demonstration from a few years ago, but you shouldn't do that. That was only an exercise. What you're making is literal tree not a barrier. I'm sure you've seen other wood users in our class make it during training they create a barrier from wood that is similar to a shield or dome. Actually, now that I think about it, wood-users and earth-user techniques are kinda similar since our elements are made from something solid." After her lengthy explanation, she recovered energy. "Here, let me show you."
She gathers her Chi to her feet then stomps on the dirt floor. A two and a half person barrier rises in the form of a shield. A bit of disappointment shows on her face.
"I see," he says. After some contemplation he asks, "When you are making a barrier, what do you think about? When I followed Naoki-sensei's way, I made that thing." He points to the little twig-looking maple branch popping up from the ground.
"Let's see.. I think of the shape I want. Though for me, it doesn't really turn out the way I want it to... Also, I never imagine anything too big because when I do, I get easily get tired easily and use too much Chi like when I'm using formations." Her face turns bashful. "I'm talking as if I make them all the time, but it's only yesterday that I stopped having to chant 'release' before forming one. The truth is I only started working on this yesterday because Yua-sensei showed me how. The truth is I always worked on formations because I couldn't ever find any books or people to explain how pure-earth-Chi works. The techniques I know were because my parents showed me when I was younger. Before I knew it, I quick release skills became so hard that I dreaded them."
"Aren't there other other earth-users in our class? Like Taira-san," he asks.
"Yea. But when I followed the way he did it, the barrier was so brittle that you could punch through it even when I strengthened it with Chi. You know how they taught us how there are subdivisions of some of the elements? Taira is a metal-user, meaning he is technically a earth-user, but can only manipulate metal substances. I'm a pure earth user, so his techniques don't work for me. Subdivision element users have to carry their specialized element around the with them, which is why Taira is always covered in metal jewelry and chains. I manipulate dirt and rocks which are always underfoot."
"Ah. It's kinda like how some wind users are good at manipulating the air by itself while others need to use Chi-instruments. In order to use their element, some people need a mediator."
"Mm. I never really thought of it like that, but I guess so. Anyways, when you make a barrier, just think of what you want it to look like. It doesn't need to be huge. As long as you can infuse a good enough amount of Chi in it, you'll be fine. Like I said, I only started working on this yesterday, so I'm not that good," she admits. "But if you need help just let me know."
"Oh. Then we're kinda on the same boat," Taitsuke points out.
With a tiny smile, Mai agrees, "..Yea. We I guess we are."
Mai returns to her training in the circle while Taitsuke heads in the forest just in case he makes another impenetrable tree. Once more, he hold out his hands and gathers his Chi to his palms. 'Just think of a large shield or dome.' They glow white. "Release!" A white dome large enough to cover him and six other people surrounds him. Sick of these nice, yet annoying surprises, he murmurs, "Why can't I just be normal!"
~~~
Yua travels inconspicuously toward the C.O.D.E. district. Trying not too bring much attention to herself, she wears a borrowed lab-coat from Honoka's closet and ties long white-her hair up in a bun rather than her usual pony-tail. With the district's walls being protected by well-trained guards, she decides to use the gate rather than attempting to sneak in.
With Yua being Yua, her incognito look only brings more unwanted attention. The eyes of two young male guards shine brightly seeing her walk toward them. Wanting to greet her, they open their mouths, but become to shy to express any thoughts. Yua gives them a small nod for their attempt as she passes. Once she's in, she heads toward a secluded area and disappears.
Taiyou sits in his office reading reports on Shikakokka. His left-eye twitches at least once after every single paragraph. Rust-haired Taira senior stands in the corner near the double doors, polishing his armor. Feeling her presence, he looks up. "Ambassador, I believe she's arrived."
Taiyou puts down a stack of papers and goes over to open the curtains in back of him. Bright sunshine floods into the dark room. He opens the window wide and after a moment, Yua appears on the sill. "Hey."
She climbs down sits down in his seat then props her legs on the top of his desk. "Man, why did they have to give you an office on the highest floor of the highest tower on the top of a damn mountain?" She complains.
Taiyou flicks her forehead. "You know why. And excuse me, I do believe that is my seat. Don't put your feet up like that."
She rolls her eyes and moves over to a less comfortable chair in the front of his desk. "I'm sorry Mr. Ambassador."
"Sure you are." He closes the window and blinds then looks to the corner of the room and signals Taira Sr. to leave the two of them. The rusty haired man excuses himself and shuts the door. Yua scans the office for any bugs. Relieved to see that Taiyou already took care of all of them, she begins, "This place is as evil as the castle back home."
Sitting down, Taiyou nods with a dull expression. "It's gotten worse in the passed few years and will only continue to worsen since you've returned. They're probably becoming more and more wary of us now that you hold official power."
Tossing her head backwards she bitterly rants, "It happened again yesterday, but not at ours. They went to Taitsuke's this time. And this morning I had an encounter with a spy sneaking out. Luckily, it was at the time I planned on waking him up for training. When I did a walk-through, I saw that they even placed bugs in places I've never seen them place them before. They even looked through the food I gave him. Then, when I went back before I got here, they placed an active seal on the front-door to know when he comes home. It's insane! They honestly think that we're planning on using him to become terrorists or something."
Taiyou exhales deeply. "If only they could until Taitsuke can proves himself as a healer, everything would have been fine." The rests his chin on his hands. "How was he today?"
Yua whips her head back up and smirks. "He's a natural talent. I even think he might be able to surpass us in the future. I wish I could just.. never mind..."
Taiyou's blue eyes glare a challenging expression her way. "Don't stop. What were you going to say?"
Yua turns her face away. "Nothing much. I was just going to say that I could have returned earlier so that I had more time to teach him."
He leans back in her chair, disappointed that she still won't reveal anything. "But after a few of their mistakes and your return, we can have some peace of mind for his immediate safety. For now, he live normally."
"Normally my ass. This place is in no way normal. Becoming a Chibushi or Heishi is literally stuffed down the throats of the new generation. They act as if its an option, but with the entire culture centered around the Alliance's CODE, how the heck can a kid choose something else?" She argues. "They're encouraging the kids to lay their life on the lines for a war that's not theirs. Why has the art of Chi only become about fighting?"
Taiyou grimaces at her words then apologizes. "I know. It shouldn't be this way.. Everything is like this now because of me. If I just-"
She quickly leaps out of her chair and bangs on the wooden desk. "Don't say that. No one could have known what was going to happen that day."
The man face darkens even more than usual. "It was my job to protect capture him, but I didn't. I was given orders to assist Ryuu, but didn't. I had the chance to kill him, but didn't. I wanted to protect everyone, but didn't. Because of me, hundreds of thousands of people died. Our village was burnt to ashes. Our family..."
"GET OVER YOURSELF!" She snaps. The desk splits into two. "Why do you still act as if everything was your fault? How could you know what he was planning? How could you have known that Ryuu fail the mission? The answer is you couldn't. And if you continue to speak that way, I'm sure that Dad, 'Baa-chan, Ryuu, Chiahi-nee.. and Natsume-san will never forgive you." She sheds no tears, but her face is definitely crying. "No one can blame you. No one. That day was something that could have never been predicted. No one could have prevented it then. But what we can prevent is it happening again. We can prevent those Council member bastards from having their way. You're the one who has gotten us this far. You. Because of you, we will be able to save our country. You, me and Honoka will be able to protect Taitsuke."
A pain and guilt still sits deep within him, but his determination overtakes them. He stands up from his chair and to flick her on her forehead again. "Jeez, I can't even call you a little brat anymore... We're so old now, but I always forget you're not the same timid kid I met that day." He leans back and stretches, feeling refreshed from her pep-talk. "But at least you haven't changed everything about you. You're still a bad liar. You almost showed your cards again today."
Yua holds her forehead and turns her away. "Again? When was the first time?"
He smirks the scoffs, "Back at the restaurant. You slipped up during story-time. First of all, since when did a landslide ever occur on Kametochi's soil? They specialize in the engineering and construction. Regardless of if they are protected by a earth-Chibushi or not, they would place a village in a landslide-prone area. Second, since when did rain ever stop you from anything? If I recall correctly, you once competed in a competition with Taira-san during a thunderstorm to see who would win in a race around the island. Which, now that I think of it, was pretty dangerous considering he refused to take off his armor.."
"Ah. Well I mean-"
"And third. Since when would would you, someone who was taught by the best healer in Shikakokka.. no, in the world, ever need a help healing a sick person?"
Yua stays quiet for a moment then cheekily responds, "Heh, seems you're overestimating me. You're wrong about the last one."
Taiyou is momentarily lost for words. Although she played it off as nothing, the significance of that comment was nothing to laugh about. Knowing that she wouldn't say anymore about it, he doesn't touch on it. "Regardless, if you tell too many lies, you'll end up slipping Yua. I also taught Honoka to sharp just as I did with you. As for Taitsuke, he's very sensitive to the words and expressions of others. I wouldn't be surprised if he's caught on to a bit of your inaccuracies. You're lucky that they are very trusting, so they won't ask too many questions. From now on, it's probably best if you run by stories like that with me first beforehand."
She raise her left brow. "Run it by you? I could barely figure out what your plan was when we were walking to the restaurant. I think it's best if you run by your little schemes with me beforehand first! Do you know how stressed I was trying to fool everyone while you just sat there cool as a cucumber?"
Taiyou laughs heartily, "That's funny. You didn't seem to show it on your face. But, I'll be sure to warn you before I pull something else if you promise me you won't break anymore of my furniture." He coldly motions to the broken desk lying in front of him.
"Hehe.." She laughs nervously. "..Deal."