There he is again. Far from over. Now wearing a traditional hakama and bare-chested. He repeats the drills being ordered to him through his brand new headphones connected to the communicator app.

Senshuken has chosen the New Grove for her prayers today and she is about to depart when she notices the bare chested Kaiu working out.

"Hey, handsome!" He hears a perhaps familiar by now voice coming from the woods.

/D5, LM, stealth/agility vs Setsu | 5k4 ⇒ 32 (TN: ?)

With his headphones on... yeah, he doesn't really hears it. He doesn't notice the Scorpion either.

Setsu keeps whining and sweating like a pangolin in summer while doing his push ups.

The Scorpion walks closer until he is able to see a pair of black and red checked sneakers a few feet away from him.

"Ahem!" She bends over him. "Give me twenty more." She says with her mask taken off so he can try to read her lips, at least.

As Setsu sees a lady approaching much closer then he would ever expect, and out of virtually nowhere, he nearly stopped. Her lips though, encouraged him to find the inner beast, as he shouts out loud the power of blue.

"HIDAAAAAAAAAAaaaaa!!!!!"

Twenty it is, and then, he drops into the dirt. Defeated.

--
D5, LM, Athletics/Stamina, VP for Skill | 3k2 ⇒ 23 (TN: 10)

"Oh! Wow!" She exclaims surprised at first but then she joins him with a shout of her own.

"BAYUUUUUUUSHI!"

When he lands graciously on the ground victorious, she sits down in seiza across him.

"Good morning, Kaiu san." She greets him and grins before remembering to put her mask on again.

He turns his head up to see her better while still laid on the ground. With his left cheek painted in ground colors, he says, "Good morning, pri-" He coughs some dirt and completes, "Bayushi-san. I hope you had a good breakfast."

"Yes, I did. It was..." she acts playfully pensive, "as good as breakfast can be when one has it alone." Which makes it about perfect, but that's not the point in this conversation so she doesn't mention that part.

"How about you? Did you have company during breakfast?" She asks. "Oh wait a second." She reaches for his cheek and attentively brushes the dust away. Then she takes a wet tissue out of her backpack to clean her hand.

Setsu is actually taken by surprise as the Scorpion touches his cheek. He blinks a bit trying to better digest the breach of etiquette.

a) Should he be offended that she didn't ask his permission like many others would?
b) Was this an abusive flirt attempt?
c) Or were her real intentions light hearted and caring?

Deciding he isn't someone to judge people without first trying to understand them –– and simply because he wouldn't play the victim in a situation like this –– Setsu figures out that the benefit of the doubt is the compassionate outcome.

He asks, trying to hold a potential blush, "Why didn't you leave a dirty samurai like me with dirt on?"

"No dignity can be found in the dirt. Would you leave a fellow samurai with mud on their face?" She asks with a tilted head and a broad smile.

"I would not. Even my opponents deserve a clean cut, and baths. Many of them do need to bathe." He says, putting himself up over his knees in seiza. Dusting out his chest, he looks at Senshuken and provides a formal bow, "Thank you, Bayushi-san. You may call me by my chose name, when you feel it is appropriate."

She offers a formal bow from her seiza, as well. "And I extend the same courtesy, Setsu san."

She looks around her and then back to the man. "You have chosen a peculiar place for your training. Is there a hidden meaning that I don't get?"

"Oh!" He chuckles, "It is not hidden, it is just not very common." He raises his hand as in asking for a moment, and fetches his densai. Finding the text, he reads out loud, "And open quote, 'The Crab berserkers manifest their unique and dangerous gifts after spending some time – often months, sometimes even years – on the most dangerous worlds in the galaxy.' Quote close. So... this is, to my understanding, one of these places –– I hope it is. Else I would need to break some rules which my allies might not enjoy if I am caught. Which a clean samurai like me, and thank you, shouldn't do."

She seems pensive for a few moments. "There is this game, I've been playing for a while now, in which there is the option for the berserker advanced class. You get an excellent bonus in stamina and strength, the damage is just amazing and you simply don't die unless you are a total noob. But the character's intelliegence is capped at a cruelly low level and the social stats drop to the abyss the moment you frenzy." She looks at him so as to make sure that they both speak geekish. Well, he is an engineer. If he doesn't speak the language, there is no hope for gamers in this cruel world. "How are they in reality?"

He smiles at the analogy and rubs his chin, "It is a tough choice. In a game, it is perhaps the best option to keep on leveling the same stat for maximum gain, if you have additional cards to play defense. In real life, though, balance is a life accomplishment goal. There's time for the mind, time for the body, and time for the spirit. I am in phase two. Phase one I have been kicking ass for a long time."

He laughs, "I am to be the smartest berserker ever to have lived."

She joins him in laughter. "I truly wonder now what phase three entails. You are far too young to join a monastery once you have achieved the physical transformation you are dreaming of."

"With this pace of progress I am having," He looks at his belly with a chuckle and tucks it in while holding his breath, "It might take a lifetime for me to pass phase two. Phase three will be something for my next life."

This makes the Scorpion laugh. "Come on now, Setsu san! You already have the muscles, it's only a matter of molding it into something you like. Such self doubt hardly fits a handsome man like yourself." She says with a wink.

"I won't insist on the third phase, however. Do tell me. How can I boost your ego?" She asks pretty seriously. "The rumor mill is killing you and I simply cannot understand why. You are smart, polite and more than charming with an absolutely great sense of humor. It can only be the fact that you, yourself, refuse to see the truth, that leads to all those people talking."

He gives her a genuine smile and tries to explain in the best way possible, "This isn't self-doubt at all. I am just pragmatic. There's fat that needs to be burned and muscles to pop out. There's no better way than being disciplined at my own pace. I can't be irresponsible as to get a muscle snapped and not be able to work."

A hint of a blush appears as he gets complimented. "You already boosted my ego. Now I have hopes that in two years, perhaps, I might marry such a beautiful girl like you. Just that is worth all the shit I am going through and more." The Crab laughs a bit to mention, "But only if you become Crab. I would be a sad, sad Scorpion. My name is already marred in this planet."

With a shake of his head, Setsu says, "I don't mind people talking. As I said, it is partially my fault. Then again, talk bad, talk good: talk about me. My duty to the Clan is completely detached from such opinions and rumors."

She nods. "Unfortunately I'd probably be a sad, sad Crab myself. I'm kinda spoiled, if I have to be honest, even if a recent family argument has reduced me to living almost like a poor ronin." She totally exaggerates and winks.

"Do tell me though. Is it beauty that you are looking for in a spouse? It cannot be just that."