Bad Connection [Training]

Age : 31 Posts : 1836

Training | Special Characteristic | Unique Traits | Lucid Dream State

Spoiler:

• Preceded By •
The Long Road To Safety

“Shichibi!”

The brisk call cut through the tranquil air as the speaker turned abruptly on his heels, the serene meadow around him dissolving simultaneously into an endless expanse of darkness. Masquerade took a step forward, boots crunching over the stone floor, and approached the figure suspended several meters in the air before him. The chains that bound the Bijuu clinked as she shifted slightly in response to his appearance. Masquerade stopped and looked up to meet the eight eyes of the Shichibi, his expression unreadable and obscured by his mask. The Bijuu’s own armored visage left the task of deciphering her thoughts to be a difficult task. Nonetheless, it was clear from the atmosphere that both of them were treating this situation seriously.

“Aw, somebody’s mad. Why are you mad, my little host?”

Well, maybe not both of them. The degradingly playful tone made it seem like she was addressing a child, and she was clearly doing it just to annoy the host. An unseen narrowing of eyes was the only reaction Masquerade gave in response to the giant insect’s teasing. Otherwise paying no attention to the bug’s words, the Nukenin began to speak in a cool, drawling tone. “Back in that town, with those corpses… You never came to my aid, Shichibi. There had been numerous instances where my life had been in peril, numerous moments when I could have benefited from your help. Yet, you never once offered to help me. You did not even try to help me.” He paused to look steadily at the creature he was addressing, and to make it clear what he was saying to her. He spread his arms apart at her in a questioning manner, cocking his head to one side. “Why not? Do you not care if your host dies?”

As stated already, it was nearly impossible to read the Shichibi’s emotions by just looking at her face. However, as ridiculous as it was, there was something about the impassivity that made still made it easy to decipher her thoughts. Though odd, Masquerade was able to tell that the Shichibi was highly amused by his words, and if she had had a human face, he imagined that she would be eyeing him with a grin and a cocked eyebrow. In fact, her answer was enough to convey her amusement. “Oh, you know why. I promised you that I wouldn’t help you unless you specifically asked me to. We agreed that without your consent, I would not take possession of your body or assist you in any way. I simply kept my word back there. You were the one who didn’t ask for my help, therefore you didn’t receive any. The only one to blame is you. Wouldn’t you agree?”

The beetle demon of chakra spoke the truth. Every word she had just said had been absolutely correct. Masquerade had demanded that she never help him unless he asked her to. He had told her never to use him like a puppet, as an extension of herself. And as far as anyone knew, he hadn’t asked her to assist him during the incident in question. There was no fault on the Shichibi’s part here; as she had so aptly put it, the host was the one worthy of blame. And Masquerade acknowledged that fact fully. Slowly, a corner of his mouth curled upwards in a smirk. “Yes, I agree, Shichibi; completely. I was the one at fault, not you. You kept your promise, and for that, I thank you.” He pressed a fist on his chest, over his heart, in a show of gratitude; though the smirk made it difficult to tell whether he was being sincere or not. Anyone who knew the blonde would know that he was grateful that the Bijuu had kept her word. It was comforting, was it not, when a demon of such power agreed to the whims of a weaker being? He may as well convey his appreciation for the Shichibi’s honesty in some way. A simple “thank you” ought to be enough.

“Now, let me get to the actual reason why I am here, which I am sure you’ve already deduced by now.” A more solemn look slipped onto the male’s face as he lowered his hand from his chest, continuing to speak in the same thoughtful drawl as before. Expressing his thankfulness had been a necessity, but there was a more significant matter to be discussed. I did seek your assistance during that mission. I did ask for your help. However, no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t seem to enter this realm.” Gloved hands were waved around to gesture at the area the human and the Bijuu were currently in. “I was unable to communicate with you at that time, regardless of how much effort I put into accomplishing the task. Yet, right now, I am able to meet and speak with you as usual, as if such an issue had never been present… So I ask you this question: why was I unable to contact you during that mission?”

The Jinchuuriki could vividly recall the moment when he had been hiding in an alcove of a building, not long after dismissing his Summon, and attempting to speak to the Shichibi. An attempt that had failed initially and every time after that had. At that time and up until now, Masquerade had been of the opinion that the Shichibi had been purposely ignoring him, or somehow blocking him from entering this part of his subconscious. Now, however, he was convinced that the Bijuu had in fact not heard him at all, or he had not heard her responses. In any case, there had been a case of bad communication, and Masquerade wanted to know the reason for it. He wished to know how to prevent such an inconvenience from occurring again.

There was no need to convey these thoughts to the Bijuu, because she seemed informed of them already. With the same amount of seriousness that her host was displaying, the insect Bijuu gave her answer. “It’s simple. Right now, you and I do not share a strong enough connection to be able to communicate as effectively as we can. We have only spoken to each other a handful of times, and that has not been enough to strengthen our link. At the moment, you can only enter this realm when you are calm and concentrating primarily on this task. During that mission, you were too busy trying to stay alive to be able to focus your mind on speaking to me. Even if you were trying your hardest, you were still too focused on your surroundings to contact me. That was the reason why your words failed to reach me. The solution? You must strengthen the connection, and to do that, you have to learn to enter this part of your subconscious at anytime, anywhere, regardless of what you’re doing at that time. How could you accomplish that? Easy. Just come talk to me more often.”

There was again: the slyness that made Masquerade want to frown and smirk at the same time. This time, the latter expression was more apparent, mostly because the Nukenin found the Bijuu’s suggestion to be almost hilarious. Hilarious or not, Masquerade understood what the beast was implying. Basically, he had to train himself to be able to summon up the mental focus needed to enter this realm, irrespective of the situation that was occurring in the real world. This whole act had to become second nature to him, as effortless as thinking. Yes, that shouldn’t be too hard. “Well then, I suppose we’ll be having these little chats more often, Shichibi,” Masquerade remarked humorously, a fake grin of amicability stretched across his face. To say that he was looking forward to interacting with the Bijuu more often would be incorrect; so would saying that he was dreading it. He was indifferent towards the thought of connecting with the Shichibi. It was a required course of action, one that could be of immense benefit to him; therefore, there was nothing more to be thought of it.

“Fantastic. Until we meet again, Kai,” a chuckling Shichibi called out as the Nukenin turned around to leave. However, Masquerade’s body froze the moment he heard the Shichibi’s words. Or rather, the last word she had used. A dark scowl appeared on the male’s face as he glared over his shoulder up at the Bijuu.

“Don’t call me that. I am Masquerade. Address me as such.”

Neither the venom nor aggression in his voice fazed the Shichibi. “No. I’ll call you whatever I want. You’ll just have to get used to being called by a name you don’t prefer.” If anything, the Bijuu sounded even more challenging than the human, and the latter could sense as much. The Nukenin’s face darkened, but he did not say anything further. As much as he disliked the prospect of the Shichibi calling him by his real name, he was also not in the mood to get into a pointless argument about how he should be addressed. Therefore, the Nukenin simply sighed and waved his hand at the Bijuu in silent acceptance of her stubbornness. She had helped him a number of times already, and was facing the humiliation of being sealed in the body of a being much weaker than she. Masquerade may as well give her the option of calling him whatever she wanted; he could learn to live with it. After all, the Shichibi had to endure the annoyance of her host never using her actual name. Though, in this case, Masquerade was not even aware that the Shichibi actually had a name. He had never asked, or even considered the possibility.

What a surprise that revelation would be for him.

Word Count: 1641/1000

~ Topic Concluded ~