I woke up at 5 the next morning feeling decidedly confused. The walk hadn't burned off a lot of energy - which was nice, considering that the old me would've been winded after a tenth of the five miles I put in and dead on his feet by the end of the first mile. It had given me some time to think, though, and I was fairly sure that what I really needed was... More time to think.
I'd been fairly confused when it happened. I remembered hugging Sacchan and Misty when Romulus went down. I remembered making plans with them to celebrate afterwards -- there was a new restaurant/spa in St Martial that Misty had suggested. I also remembered hoping that it would be over quickly because I had to work the next day, and being annoyed because my ankle was bothering me again, and being honked off at myself for not bothering to clean up the mess that was my little bachelor pad for umpteen days running. I remembered the years of training, leaving Lightning Country for the outside world, Paragon City, the Rogue Isles... Years of working tech support and playing with computers, daydreaming of some sort of more adventurous life...
Wait. Rewind there a second. ... Because I had to work the next day - that's TODAY!
Right. Hurry through breakfast, pick out some decent clothes... Never mind. The 'blues brothers' suit would do, I could just take off the tie. It wasn't like I wouldn't use a henge anyway... And then I remembered one of the other techniques I'd learned in that non-existent ninja village. A kage-bunshin was set to cleaning the place up while I checked the Hanagawa email drops, found a note from Misty and chuckled - apparently I'd missed some commotion. Too bad Fox hadn't been playing In-chan or Nogi, but Misty was cute, and fun... Hmm.
I had already decided, by this point, that I didn't want to abandon my original identity. It wasn't as if I was the kind of uncaring bastard who'd just abandon her family... And thankfully my personality wasn't so different from my own that I'd be twisted out of shape about it. I hoped.
Twenty minutes' drive and another kage-bunshin later - this one with an appropriate henge applied - I had the time I needed to think. I also had my laptop and a wireless hotspot (amusingly enough, at the local gaming store where I was, in Chris's persona, a regular customer. They didn't know Misao from Eve, though... But, hey, cute girl, game store, I'll be fine. For now.
Until I figure out what I'm going to do with my suddenly double life.
[[Comment: Dark Armor secondary. "Kagetsuki" (tr: 'Shadow-Moon'). Yes, Misao uses shadow-based techniques, like the Nara clan in Konoha. And yes, one of those is Kage Bunshin. If Ebisu can keep up a dozen long enough to hunt down Naruto, then Misao-me can keep up two long enough to clean an apartment and get through a work-day doing tech support. Especially if she doesn't expect to need chakra for much else.]
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.
I'd been fairly confused when it happened. I remembered hugging Sacchan and Misty when Romulus went down. I remembered making plans with them to celebrate afterwards -- there was a new restaurant/spa in St Martial that Misty had suggested. I also remembered hoping that it would be over quickly because I had to work the next day, and being annoyed because my ankle was bothering me again, and being honked off at myself for not bothering to clean up the mess that was my little bachelor pad for umpteen days running. I remembered the years of training, leaving Lightning Country for the outside world, Paragon City, the Rogue Isles... Years of working tech support and playing with computers, daydreaming of some sort of more adventurous life...
Wait. Rewind there a second. ... Because I had to work the next day - that's TODAY!
Right. Hurry through breakfast, pick out some decent clothes... Never mind. The 'blues brothers' suit would do, I could just take off the tie. It wasn't like I wouldn't use a henge anyway... And then I remembered one of the other techniques I'd learned in that non-existent ninja village. A kage-bunshin was set to cleaning the place up while I checked the Hanagawa email drops, found a note from Misty and chuckled - apparently I'd missed some commotion. Too bad Fox hadn't been playing In-chan or Nogi, but Misty was cute, and fun... Hmm.
I had already decided, by this point, that I didn't want to abandon my original identity. It wasn't as if I was the kind of uncaring bastard who'd just abandon her family... And thankfully my personality wasn't so different from my own that I'd be twisted out of shape about it. I hoped.
Twenty minutes' drive and another kage-bunshin later - this one with an appropriate henge applied - I had the time I needed to think. I also had my laptop and a wireless hotspot (amusingly enough, at the local gaming store where I was, in Chris's persona, a regular customer. They didn't know Misao from Eve, though... But, hey, cute girl, game store, I'll be fine. For now.
Until I figure out what I'm going to do with my suddenly double life.
[[Comment: Dark Armor secondary. "Kagetsuki" (tr: 'Shadow-Moon'). Yes, Misao uses shadow-based techniques, like the Nara clan in Konoha. And yes, one of those is Kage Bunshin. If Ebisu can keep up a dozen long enough to hunt down Naruto, then Misao-me can keep up two long enough to clean an apartment and get through a work-day doing tech support. Especially if she doesn't expect to need chakra for much else.]
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.