The Training Game

Damn it, Au'lani, Hayato cursed as he stood up. At least Yuzuru had only tripped him, or he would have lost his flag. It was strange. Yuzuru seemed very distracted. Probably just tired of this game so he was refusing to play it or something or he was trying to just run and delay until the end, but he could have easily finished Hayato off and taken his flag. Oh well, no use dwelling on it.

The sound of footsteps could be heard coming from the direction where Yuzuru ran off to. Au'lani most likely returning from an attempt on Yuzuru, hopefully she managed to get him. It was Au'lani, who apologized to Hayato for failing at getting one of Yuzuru's flags. Hayato was certainly annoyed at her for not being fast enough, but he just shrugged, "He didn't get any of our flags so I guess there is no harm done. We'll just have to try harder next time."

Suddenly, Hayato noticed another set of footsteps approaching. Waving Au'lani to hide he waited to see the newcomer. As the figure became more clear Hayato realized it was the housekeeper. She still had her flags too. Perhaps this engagement didn't turn out as bad as he had thought.

Putting his sword away, Hayato leaned against the wall. Holding his arm as if he were in pain, Hayato called out Masumi, "Is that you housekeeper-san? Please forgive me for I am having trouble remembering everyone's names. Could you perhaps take a look at my shoulder, I took a bad fall and think I may have dislocated it." Though this was a blatant lie, there was a small amount of truth to it, his shoulder did hurt from the punishment it had taken today.

Oniya wrote:Putting his sword away, Hayato leaned against the wall. Holding his arm as if he were in pain, Hayato called out Masumi, "Is that you housekeeper-san? Please forgive me for I am having trouble remembering everyone's names.

For the first time in awhile, Masumi found another Assassin. She was surprised when he called out to her. "Hello. Yes I am the house keeper. My name is Masumi. You are Shou-sama?"

Oniya wrote:Could you perhaps take a look at my shoulder, I took a bad fall and think I may have dislocated it."

Masumi paused. Something seemed... off, but she couldn't quite but her finger on it. Watching him with a bit of suspicion in her eyes, the house-keeper replied, "Dislocated shoulders are easy to fix, but if you tore the shoulder I could be causing more damage. Can you tell me what happened?"

Thiago scanned the area. From what he could tell, only Hayato, Au'Lani, Yuzuru, and Mei remained. A brief series of scuffles had just involved Yuzuru, who looked to have dropped a flag. It was untelling if it was his last or not. Still, he made no effort to wrest the flags from the others. Thiago followed the young samurai, intent to find the source of his distress and leaving the flag on the ground in case he or someone else picked it up.

The young novice didn't lose her chance this time as she watched Hayato bring in Masumi-sama. She felt a little evil as she was as quiet as she possibly could. When she was sure that the house keeper's soul attention was on Hayato, Au'lani leaped from the building, landing right behind the other female. She brought her leather-gloved hand to her mouth as her father had taught her and thrust her training weapon (the hidden blade) into her side. Again, the position of which she chose to put the blade was not lethal at all if it were a real weapon.

"Sorry Masumi-sama," grinned Au'lani, feeling slightly guilty for tricking her, but unable to hide her childish grin. She then released the house keeper, still smiling proudly of her handiwork.

Yuzuru skidded to a halt, his heart pounding in his ears. Something was wrong. Looking around frantically, he could hear the voices of the people around him in much greater detail.

"The daikon is how much?""This sword is a genuine...""My mother will be..."" "Is that you housekeeper-san? Please forgive me for I am having trouble remembering everyone's names. Could you perhaps take a look at my shoulder, I took a bad fall and think I may have dislocated it."

Hayato. House keeper? Masumi?

"Sorry Masumi-sama."

They wouldn't dare...

Sweat poured down Yuzuru's face as he took all this in. The voices around him were making his head hurt, but something clicked. Spinning around, he sprinted back the way he came. There was no reason to be subtle. He was not an assassin. There was no reason to be silent. He was not an assassin. There was no reason to hold anything back. He was no longer in a solid state of mind. Hayato was there in front of Masumi, Au'Lani behind. "You vermin!" Launching himself into the air, he planted both feet in Hayato's chest, riding him to the ground. Then, drawing his sword with the ease of practice, he smacked Au'Lani's wrist with the back of his blade, smashing the hidden blade on her wrist. "How dare you taint your blade on the flesh of the innocent?!"

He heard a loud disturbance in the distance. It sounded like Yuzuru. As tightly wound as he had been lately, this could absolutely not be good news. Thiago dropped into the alley to quell the issue. He saw Masumi surrounded by Au'Lani and Hayato. Yuzuru held a bokken and Au'Lani held her own possibly-bleeding armwhith the remnants of a training blade at her feet.
"Que diabo {What the Hell} is the commotion? Hayato! Au'Lani! What are you doing with Masumi? She has no flags! Yuzuru! What are you doing breaking these weapons?"
Thiago wasn't normally one to lose his cool, but these three were pushing his nerves.

Her karma was smiling on her today. Mei had gotten back on the roofs, and had sniped some assassins of their last flag, before she smiled, spotting a group of three surrounding Masumi. They seemed to be taking care of her, but she was confident enough in her bowmanship not to hit the caretaker. She pulled out a dummy arrow and pulled the bowstring back.

First went for Aulani, aimed for the center of her back.

Second was for Hayato, going for his shoulder.

Third flew at Yuzuru, right for the chest.

"Nothing is true, everything is permitted."

"Well you see, I had a scuffle with Yu--" before Hayato could finish two feet slammed into his back, sending him sprawling to the ground. He was caught completely off guard and wasn't able to brace himself properly. His shoulder flared up and he let out a cry, it may very well be dislocated this time around.

Recovering his senses, he missed the sight of Au'lani getting attacked by Yuzuru's blade. The next thing he knew, Thiago was shouting at them, saying something about Masumi not being part of the game.

As Hayato tried to find the strength to push himself back to his feet, he said, "But, she clearly has flags tucked away. The tip of one can be seen coming out of her pocket!"

As if things couldn't get any worse, the twangs of a bow could be heard repeating in quick succession. A practice bolt hit Hayato clearly on his hurt shoulder, making him let out another pained cry.

((Out of curiosity, how many flags does Mei have remaining?))

"You vermin!"

Au'lani had shared a cheesy grin with Masumi, no longer having her in the hold. Still feeling rather guilty at the trick when someone yelled at them. She blinked and watched as Hayato was suddenly thrown away, her eye twitched in wonderment at seeing him suddenly go flying, though she didn't have much time to ponder it as a blade suddenly slammed against her wrist, if it wasn't for her wooden training blade, she was certain it would've been snapped, though she pouted as her training weapon was broken.

"Hee-" she started but was cut off at the samurai's shout, "How dare you taint your blade on the flesh of the innocent?!"

"It wasn't real," Au'lani said, revealing the wooden pieces that were dull and round, not able to penetrate human flesh, "Thiago Sensei gave it to me to train with." Au'lani explained, "We were just playing the game-"

"Que diabo {What the Hell} is the commotion? Hayato! Au'Lani! What are you doing with Masumi? She has no flags! Yuzuru! What are you doing breaking these weapons?"

Au'lani jumped at Thiago's harsh tone and immediately flinched. The last thing she wanted to do was anger the one that had taken her under his wing when she had first entered Nakagi. She refused to make eye contact, clearly upset, ashamed at making the mistake. "A thousand apologies-" Au'lani started before she saw something in her peripheral coming straight at her.

She turned to the side, spinning with the weapon and snagged the arrow that would've penetrated her chest. She snapped it in half and looked up at the fellow assassin. Waving one of the ends of the arrows in the air, as a show of playful teasing towards her, a grin on her face.

Au'lani wrote:The young novice didn't lose her chance this time as she watched Hayato bring in Masumi-sama. She felt a little evil as she was as quiet as she possibly could. When she was sure that the house keeper's soul attention was on Hayato, Au'lani leaped from the building, landing right behind the other female. She brought her leather-gloved hand to her mouth as her father had taught her and thrust her training weapon (the hidden blade) into her side. Again, the position of which she chose to put the blade was not lethal at all if it were a real weapon.

Everything moved very quickly. Masumi didn't even hear Au'lani land softly beside her, but only registered her presence after the gloved hand clasped her mouth to muffle her shocked cry, as a blunt point was jabbed into her side. The house keeper's hand dived into the her kimono sleeve, clutching a package of powder that would burn the eyes of her assailant.

Au'lani wrote:"Sorry Masumi-sama," grinned Au'lani, feeling slightly guilty for tricking her, but unable to hide her childish grin. She then released the house keeper, still smiling proudly of her handiwork.

"Eh? Owie-san?" Masumi loosened her grip on her concoction. The house keeper staggered forward a step upon her release. "Why-?"

Kasai Yuzuru wrote:"You vermin!" Launching himself into the air, he planted both feet in Hayato's chest, riding him to the ground. Then, drawing his sword with the ease of practice, he smacked Au'Lani's wrist with the back of his blade, smashing the hidden blade on her wrist. "How dare you taint your blade on the flesh of the innocent?!"

She was startled by the ferocity of the samurai. Am I at fault? the housekeeper wondered, unable to comprehend what was happening. At this point, she was more concerned with that Assassins that faced Yuzuru's blade than she was worried about her own predicament. "I am fi-" but was cut off by the arrival of the mediating Master Assassin.

Thiago Lopes wrote:"Que diabo {What the Hell} is the commotion? Hayato! Au'Lani! What are you doing with Masumi? She has no flags! Yuzuru! What are you doing breaking these weapons?"

Masumi didn't try and say anything at this point, with too many people talking at once, and Masumi having not seen Lopes that infuriated since the incident with the shinobi (Like a Bull in a Tea Shop). Masumi was feeling very meek indeed. Absently, she spied a bag of flour on a stall. Possibly for frying something?

FlameDarkfire wrote:Her karma was smiling on her today. Mei had gotten back on the roofs, and had sniped some assassins of their last flag, before she smiled, spotting a group of three surrounding Masumi. They seemed to be taking care of her, but she was confident enough in her bowmanship not to hit the caretaker. She pulled out a dummy arrow and pulled the bowstring back.

Masumi, oblivious to Mei's intentions and having witnessed the power of training arrows, only knew she didn't want to end up shot. So, when the arrows started flying, Masumi grasped the flour with both hands, and hurled it to the ground, sending flour flying everywhere. By the time the air had cleared, the civilian of the group had ducked into an alleyway and was well on her way to fleeing the scene. Promise or no promise, she had every intention of disappearing until the game's end.

The old man could not hold in the laughter. He had spotted Mei on the rooftops moments before and had suspected what she was going to do, but it had been many a decade since he had least seen someone catch an arrow in their hands. And now, the housekeeper had used a bag of flour as a smoke bomb before she disappeared. Could this day get any more surreal? Still, he tried to regain his composure just long enough to give his instructions, "Hayato, that was your last flag; return to the base. Au'lani, congratulations, but you and Yuzuru are both down to your last flags. You both want to run. Agora {Now}."

Yuzuru angrily sheathed his blade. "You're wrong, Thiago. By breaking Au'Lani's training blade, I claim her last flag." As he said this, he jerked the flag from the assassin's belt. "Perhaps you should remind this one of your three tenets."

Nothing mattered at this point. Whatever Thiago had to say next, he was not interested in hearing. All that mattered was getting home. But first things first. He hailed Mei, gesturing to stay put. Finding a ladder, he climbed up to the roof she was on and handed her his flag. "Nice shot."

"I don't think the samurai like me very much," Au'lani stated bluntly, before returning her gaze to Thiago, "Sensei, did I do something wrong?" Worry was evident in her voice as she tilted her head in her confusion.

Kasai Yuzuru wrote:Yuzuru angrily sheathed his blade. "You're wrong, Thiago. By breaking Au'Lani's training blade, I claim her last flag." As he said this, he jerked the flag from the assassin's belt. "Perhaps you should remind this one of your three tenets."

"You are right, Yuzuru. Deculpe {Sorry}, it is so rare to see that, I must have lost myself for a moment."

Au'lani wrote:"I don't think the samurai like me very much," Au'lani stated bluntly, before returning her gaze to Thiago, "Sensei, did I do something wrong?" Worry was evident in her voice as she tilted her head in her confusion.

"Sim {Yes}, Masumi is not playing this game. She is was only mediating. By surrounding her like that, she was rendered unable to carry out her duties. Were this not a training exercise,she could have been hurt, and the first tenet of our creed is to stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent. Anyhow, return to the base. This looks to be over soon."

((Mei has two and Yuzuru has one))

It was a small, western-style building with crates stacked behind it. Crates became stairs for the former beggar, as she took refuge behind the building's decoration. When she pressed her ear to the surface of the roof, she could hear the strange language Kirishitan hymns, very different from the Japanese folk music with which she was familiar. She let out a small frown when the voices fell silent, unable to recapture the foreign sounds in her mind.

The housekeeper was still unable comprehend what happened. Why did Au'lani attack her? Was Shou acting as a lure? Why did Au'lani use sama as an honorific when it didn't make sense for a member of the warrior class to show that level a respect to a servant? What caused Yuzuru to attack if he wasn't after anyone's flags?

As she sat up, a flash of color caught her eye. Reaching behind her, Masumi tugged the piece of fabric that didn’t belong, and fished out a brightly colored flag. “What is this?” Masumi muttered aloud, puzzled by how a flag made its way to her sash. She reached behind again, and retrieved two additional flags. Her face knitted into a troubled expression as she studied the three identical cloth articles. As many times as she replayed the day in her head, the house keeper simply could not recall receiving any flags. Then again, the Assassins had the ability to “plant” something on someone, to put something on a person without detection. The exact methodology was beyond Masumi, aware of the difficulty that came with ordinary pick-pocketing. Still, it was possible, and the housekeeper could not fathom another explanation of how the flags appeared in her possession.

It would explain why Owie-san and Shou-san ambushed her in the way she did. They must have mistaken her for a player. This meant she would have to report this to Lopes-tono, as this could very well change what happened to the duo. Still, even Masumi’s sense of obligation was not enough to motivate her to risk the fray of the game, and was more than content to stay put. Come nightfall, which was not far off, she could begin make her way back to the den via moon light and memory. Hopefully by then the winner of the games would have already been announced.

“Who would do such a thing?” Most of the Assassins in the training exercise certainly had the means, but the question was why. The only candidate Masumi could come up with was Cheung-san, or perhaps a person loyal to Cheung-san. Cheung*, is this your idea of a prank? If you weren’t my superior, I’d tie you to upside down to a tree. Of course, Masumi was certain she’d never be able to make that threat, and instead settled for indignantly attempting to burn holes into the roof top with her glare.

*She is dropping the honorific on purpose.

Thiago had called the game to an end with Mei at two flags and Yuzuru at one. The sun had set and the game was over with a victor determined. However, the purpose of this game was not to find a winner, but to train them in all of the abilities they would need in order to be effective members of the Order. However, there was a second purpose behind this all: he needed to see where everyone's strengths and weaknesses lie. He began with the top four:

"Hayato, you were the first down to one flag, but you were still there until the end. You achieved this not by being the best fighter, runner, or sneak, but by being clever. You showed an excellent ability to outwit your opponents in a pinch that will no doubt serve you well. I want you to take this copy of The Art of War by Sun Tzu. He was a very respected and dangerous warlord in ancient China. You would do well to study and learn his tricks. I have no doubt you can become an excellent tactician just as he was."

"Au'Lani, you are perhaps one of the nimblest recruits I have ever seen. You managed to catch an arrow and outrun an alarmed man in the same day. I have something for you. It is a hook blade. You may have noticed that I use one myself instead of a normal hidden blade. They are popular in Grécia e Turquia {Greece and Turkey}. I can teach you how to use it."

"Yuzuru, you are an excellent student and a fine warrior, but you are too tense. You need to learn to relax. Do you know why Date-tono leased you here? It is because he sees a great potential in you and wants to make you into the leader of the Mutsu Assassins, but he doesn't know how to handle you. If you learn to think with a clear head, then the battlefield will be under your control. Your name can carry a weight to make even Oda tremble in his socks. Unfortunately, this is a difficult thing to teach. It is my wish that you meditate when you pray. Clear your head of its clouds. Take this rosary. I do not know about the Kirishitan here, but these are sacred to outros católicos {other Catholics} in Europe."

"Mei, excellent job. However, how did someone steal a flag wile you stood atop a tower? Awareness is key to being a master archer. Take this: two ryo. Go buy whatever you wish."

Then, he focused on the cheaters, "Igarashi and Cheung, I know our creed states that everything is permitted and that fighting with honor has never been our priority, but it is a privilege, not a right. You abused that privilege in order to cheat. Did you seriously think I would not know? Cheung, you were caught offending this more than once. So, I will accept your version of the Creed while I concoct an appropriate punishment for you both."

He turned his back to them for a moment and took a deep breath, "Hayato and Au'Lani, you jumped Masumi in the alley. If you can provide me evidence that what Yuzuru and I saw was a mistake, you will not be punished. However, we need to find Masumi first. I have not seen her since that incident."[i]

Hayato stood at attention as Thiago explained the results of the game. His shoulder hurt, but after further inspection, the damage wasn't as bad as he had originally thought. When Thiago had finished going over Hayato's actions during the course of the game, he could not help but interrupt, "Pardon me, Lopes-sensei, but until Yuzuru-san had kicked me in the back and Mei-san shot me, I still had all three of my flags. I hid my flags to make people think I was down to my last. In the end I still have one flag." Hayato glanced over to Au'lani and gave her a smile that seemed to say, Sorry, I tricked you.

Hopefully they would find Masumi soon. There were flags on her, that was for sure. Masumi wasn't the person to were brightly colored clothing. All Hayato could hope for was that she would come back soon.

I hope I haven't inconvenienced anyone. Masumi stood before the den half covered in flour and in general disheveled in appearance. She felt hungry and overwhelmingly exhausted, and was tempted simply to slip inside via one of the windows, and curl up somewhere for the night. Instead she stepped inside, calling out, "Tadaima,*" as she slipped off her sandals.

She hesitated a moment, before stepping into the commons area, "Um, pardon the intrusion, but has anyone seen Lopes-tono? I have important news for him."

*Literally means "just now," better translated as "I'm home."

Oniya wrote:Hayato stood at attention as Thiago explained the results of the game. His shoulder hurt, but after further inspection, the damage wasn't as bad as he had originally thought. When Thiago had finished going over Hayato's actions during the course of the game, he could not help but interrupt, "Pardon me, Lopes-sensei, but until Yuzuru-san had kicked me in the back and Mei-san shot me, I still had all three of my flags. I hid my flags to make people think I was down to my last. In the end I still have one flag." Hayato glanced over to Au'lani and gave her a smile that seemed to say, Sorry, I tricked you.

Hopefully they would find Masumi soon. There were flags on her, that was for sure. Masumi wasn't the person to were brightly colored clothing. All Hayato could hope for was that she would come back soon.

"The flags you wear are the only thing we can use to keep score. By hiding the other two flags, you handicapped yourself and still came down to one flag first."

Though this was an outcome Hayato had expected, he couldn't help but feel some resentment towards Thiago. He had no way of competing with these other assassins. Hiding his flags was the best way for him to compete. If he hadn't hidden his flags he would have been unable to strike up his partnership with Au'lani and would have just been game for the rest of the players.

Hayato still did not understand what this organization was about. It seemed as if they were some sort of military organization, but their methods were strange. Their enemies were people fighting for the same goal as the Assassins or so it appeared to Hayato. Everything about this group just didn't seem to make any sense and the more he saw the more he regretted taking Thiago up on his offer of joining. But the warm bed and hot food was such an improvement over what he used to live in, that he wasn't ready to bail just yet.

Hayato politely bowed to Thiago before waiting for Masumi to come back. Hopefully he wouldn't have to deal with any more inconveniences today.

Masumi wrote:I hope I haven't inconvenienced anyone. Masumi stood before the den half covered in flour and in general disheveled in appearance. She felt hungry and overwhelmingly exhausted, and was tempted simply to slip inside via one of the windows, and curl up somewhere for the night. Instead she stepped inside, calling out, "Tadaima,*" as she slipped off her sandals.

She hesitated a moment, before stepping into the commons area, "Um, pardon the intrusion, but has anyone seen Lopes-tono? I have important news for him."

*Literally means "just now," better translated as "I'm home."

"Ah, Masumi. Welcome back. We were about to go searching for you. Where have you been? Also, we have an issue that we need to address. Tell me everything that happened between you, Au'Lani, and Hayato."

Thiago Lopes wrote:"Ah, Masumi. Welcome back. We were about to go searching for you. Where have you been? Also, we have an issue that we need to address. Tell me everything that happened between you, Au'Lani, and Hayato."

"I apologize Tono, I didn't mean to cause you trouble. I have something to show you." Masumi's hand retrieved the flags from within her kimono sleeve. "I found this tied around the back of my sash. I couldn't say how or why they were there, for I don't recall ever receiving these flags."

"As for what happened exactly, I don't know entirely myself. Shou-sama was asking me to look at his shoulder, and the next thing I know is that a hand is clasping me in the mouth with something was pressed to my side. I'm just glad I realized it was Au'lani-sama in time, or else I would have- er, moving on." Masumi inwardly winced at the thought of possibility burning the novice's eyes with her powder. Once again gesturing towards the flags, Masumi continued, "With these in my sash, they must have mistaken me for a participant of the game. They honestly didn't cause me too much trouble, I was just really surprised. Then Yuzuru-sama arrived and started attacking Shou-sama and Au'lani-sama, but he didn't seem to be after their flags. After that, you arrived." Masumi hesitated a moment. Generally society discouraged questioning the motives of a superior, but her time with the Master Assassin gave the housekeeper enough confidence to ask, "Um, Tono, I mean no offense, but do you know why Yuzuru-sama attacked if he wasn't after the flags?"

"He probably intended to protect you. Still, rest assured that I will never put my students against one another again."

Thiago Lopes wrote:"He probably intended to protect you. Still, rest assured that I will never put my students against one another again."

"Yes sir. If you'll excuse me, I have a trip I need to make preparations for." With the long day done and time off earned, the house keeper excused herself. What a strange day indeed, it seemed the Assassins functioned differently than any other organization she had heard of. Foreigners and Japanese natives worked hand in hand. Lines of social hierarchy became blurred and fluid. They worked in stealth and shadow like shinobi, and yet held respect for the lives of the people as much as any honorable samurai. Masumi's world was changing fast, and became increasingly aware of the need to redraw lines in her understanding of reality.

"Sim {Yes}, Masumi is not playing this game. She is was only mediating. By surrounding her like that, she was rendered unable to carry out her duties. Were this not a training exercise,she could have been hurt, and the first tenet of our creed is to stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent. Anyhow, return to the base. This looks to be over soon."

Au'lani could go two ways about this, she could either argue with Thiago who she saw as an Instructor to her, or she could simply take whatever punishment he saw fit. The young teenager decided it was probably best to just listen, as her father had taught her long ago to respect authority in every situation, this being one of them.

"As you wish," she stated instead and turned on her heal blending into the crowd and returning to base.

---

Lani played with one of the throwing knives lazily as she waited for the others to return to base, she was lounging in the shade as she twirled the knife in her hand. When the first started to appear she jumped to her feet and watched as the rest of the recruits started pouring in and lining up. Au'lani followed suite as Thiago finally made himself known and entered the courtyard of which they stood, and listened.

"Au'Lani, you are perhaps one of the nimblest recruits I have ever seen. You managed to catch an arrow and outrun an alarmed man in the same day. I do have something for you. It is a hook blade. You may have noticed that I use one myself instead of a normal hidden blade. They are popular in Grécia e Turquia {Greece and Turkey}. I can teach you how to use it."

Taking the hook blade, Au'lani gave a gentle bowed, "Thank you, very much. I look forward to your teachings, I won't let you down." She had never seen such a weapon, she curiously looked at it, but tried not to look too much like a novice or child with her curiosity. Au'lani was very excited to become a student once more, that's what Au'lani was always good at, learning. She was also very happy that Thiago thought so highly of her, and couldn't help but beam as he noted her strengths in her swift and agile movements, but tried not to let it go to her head too much.

He turned his back to them for a moment and took a deep breath, "Hayato and Au'Lani, you jumped Masumi in the alley. If you can provide me evidence that what Yuzuru and I saw was a mistake, you will not be punished. However, we need to find Masumi first. I have not seen her since that incident."

Hayato stood at attention as Thiago explained the results of the game. His shoulder hurt, but after further inspection, the damage wasn't as bad as he had originally thought. When Thiago had finished going over Hayato's actions during the course of the game, he could not help but interrupt, "Pardon me, Lopes-sensei, but until Yuzuru-san had kicked me in the back and Mei-san shot me, I still had all three of my flags. I hid my flags to make people think I was down to my last. In the end I still have one flag." Hayato glanced over to Au'lani and gave her a smile that seemed to say, Sorry, I tricked you.

Hopefully they would find Masumi soon. There were flags on her, that was for sure. Masumi wasn't the person to were brightly colored clothing. All Hayato could hope for was that she would come back soon.

The half-Hawaiian nodded slightly, it was true what Hayato said. The two had allied with one another to each get flags as a team. When both had noticed a flag on Masumi-sama, they had simply assumed wrong. But Au'lani wasn't focused on that part of the training, but more of what the Samurai had said.

"It doesn't matter, using the flags was merely an excuse," she stated harshly, "if this was a real situation, and someone was dressed in fancy robes yet I held no proof that they did nothing wrong, would I just charge in sword drawn? Of course not." Au'lani realized in the back of her head, that both situations were entirely different, and maybe it was just what her father had beat into her, but in the end it all seemed the same to her. "I'll take whatever punishment is fit for coming close to breaking the Creed, and if you allow me to, Ill fight to gain your trust once more."

Spoiler: