It was a D-rank mission, but the pay was good, and it was stable work, so of course, Kokoro took it. On stormy nights, there was always a listing up for watching the coast and rescuing any ship that went under. There was a good chance that no ship would go down on any given night, which meant that Kokoro was paid to stay up overnight in the rain. It suited Kokoro just fine and they usually took this mission. They were familiar with the usual rotation of genin would take this, and the usual supervising chunin.
They bowed quickly in greeting to their supervisor as they bustled into the lighthouse.Today was a particularly stormy and windy night, getting up to the lighthouse had been a bit of a chore in itself. Kokoro's shoes were caked in mud.
Their supervisor was a man Kokoro was familiar with. He was lazy. He knew ijutsu and should have had constant rotations at the hospital, but because of his family he did "light fieldwork" instead. Kokoro was unsure if he had ever taken a mission outside of Kirigakure proper. Still, Kokoro would rather have him than most of their other supervisors. He didn't make things unnecessarily hard on them, though he did leave Kokoro with almost all of the work.
"I'll take first shift." He told them, after the pleasantries were done, heading for the stairs.
Kokoro nodded politely. "Of course shinobi-san." It was a familiar routine. He would take first shift and then sleep the other two shifts unless something happened. Even if something did, he wouldn't likely leave the lighthouse unless it was a big ship that went down. He would be on standby for healing survivors brought to him and to keep an eye out for any other ships that went down. Only two people could leave the lighthouse, someone had to be on shifting watching at all times. Only if things were particularly dire would he leave to help them or let one of the genin stay behind instead. The other genin would have to be an ijutsu user or particularly useless.
Once he was fully out of sight, Kokoro bustled about getting comfortable for their shift. They took off their garish rain poncho. Revealing their tight fitting attire that Kokoro only wore for missions like these, where getting wet was more likely than getting grabbed. They hung it on a hook near the door and then carefully removed their muddy shoes moving over to a primitive sink to wash them clean.
The sun was still in the process of setting so their shift companion wasn't late yet. Kokoro had no intention of fighting with them over who took second or third shift. It was all the same to them, they wouldn't sleep. Kokoro found it a bit difficult these days to sleep at night. The thing in their heart stirred, and the shadows around them seemed heavier.
Kokoro stiffened. One shadow in particular drew their eye. The one cast by the sofa and the staircase seemed particularly dark and just slightly the wrong shape. They weren't alone in the room. Even though the lighthouse keeper was sleeping on a higher floor, their supervisor was on the top floor, and their companion had yet to arrive, Kokoro was struck by the very very familiar feeling that they were not alone. They took a breath and bent over, slipping on their clean shoes, forcing the animalistic clawing panic away. And then turned their back to go put the kettle on for tea. The feeling didn't go away, but it didn't intensify either. Outside of the first time they encountered the monster, it had never hurt them. Still, there was a reason Kokoro preferred working at night then sleeping.
They bowed quickly in greeting to their supervisor as they bustled into the lighthouse.Today was a particularly stormy and windy night, getting up to the lighthouse had been a bit of a chore in itself. Kokoro's shoes were caked in mud.
Their supervisor was a man Kokoro was familiar with. He was lazy. He knew ijutsu and should have had constant rotations at the hospital, but because of his family he did "light fieldwork" instead. Kokoro was unsure if he had ever taken a mission outside of Kirigakure proper. Still, Kokoro would rather have him than most of their other supervisors. He didn't make things unnecessarily hard on them, though he did leave Kokoro with almost all of the work.
"I'll take first shift." He told them, after the pleasantries were done, heading for the stairs.
Kokoro nodded politely. "Of course shinobi-san." It was a familiar routine. He would take first shift and then sleep the other two shifts unless something happened. Even if something did, he wouldn't likely leave the lighthouse unless it was a big ship that went down. He would be on standby for healing survivors brought to him and to keep an eye out for any other ships that went down. Only two people could leave the lighthouse, someone had to be on shifting watching at all times. Only if things were particularly dire would he leave to help them or let one of the genin stay behind instead. The other genin would have to be an ijutsu user or particularly useless.
Once he was fully out of sight, Kokoro bustled about getting comfortable for their shift. They took off their garish rain poncho. Revealing their tight fitting attire that Kokoro only wore for missions like these, where getting wet was more likely than getting grabbed. They hung it on a hook near the door and then carefully removed their muddy shoes moving over to a primitive sink to wash them clean.
The sun was still in the process of setting so their shift companion wasn't late yet. Kokoro had no intention of fighting with them over who took second or third shift. It was all the same to them, they wouldn't sleep. Kokoro found it a bit difficult these days to sleep at night. The thing in their heart stirred, and the shadows around them seemed heavier.
Kokoro stiffened. One shadow in particular drew their eye. The one cast by the sofa and the staircase seemed particularly dark and just slightly the wrong shape. They weren't alone in the room. Even though the lighthouse keeper was sleeping on a higher floor, their supervisor was on the top floor, and their companion had yet to arrive, Kokoro was struck by the very very familiar feeling that they were not alone. They took a breath and bent over, slipping on their clean shoes, forcing the animalistic clawing panic away. And then turned their back to go put the kettle on for tea. The feeling didn't go away, but it didn't intensify either. Outside of the first time they encountered the monster, it had never hurt them. Still, there was a reason Kokoro preferred working at night then sleeping.
