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▱▰▱Akaran sat at a table at the Gurinbare-to inn across from a grifter he had met just thirty minutes prior. "Ayy, how about a friendly drinking contest to win a staff?" The bar patron slurred his words out as he was already quite deep in his cups. Akaran was as well but he was not really feeling it. He had already gulped down a bottle of sake himself. His inhuman alcohol tolerance seemed to stir in the other man a sense of machismo. He was certain that he could outdrink the young punk wasting away in the inn. Akaran shrugged in response before taking a few moments to articulate himself. "O-kay, it's your..." The word "funeral" was on the tip of the dotard's tongue for several agonizingly long moments of silence. "Ugggh, par-ty thing that happens when you die." The unwashed man who sat across from him chuckled drunkenly at Akaran's dull whit. He was certain that the alcohol was slowing his mind when in reality Akaran was still essentially sober. Akaran's tone of voice was deep and slurred naturally as well. The bartender brought them another bottle before Akaran's drinking opponent piped up. "You're on then! Everyone, gather 'round if you wanna see mister horns here get drunk under the table!" The man confidently announced as many patrons moved their chairs and stools to watch the competition. The vagrant placed his fancy staff to the side and Akaran stared at it pensively. Big club. Looks expensive. The taijutsu user had little interest in wielding a weapon but figured he could sell it for a good price. When the drinks were poured they did their cheers as both men pounded their cups. Then the second round happened, then the third, then the fourth, and so on. Each drink was repetitive but felt slightly different each time, almost like a play. The crowd watched them drink as the man seated in front of Akaran got dizzy and fell back. Akaran then chugged the high alcohol content jug of sake that would kill any man of his size. The crowd drunkenly cheered as Akaran stood up and shattered the glass bottle on the wooden floor as he stood up and accepted their praise.

▱▰▱Akaran continued showboating before he was approached by Akihiko. He grabbed the staff as he watched his incapacitated opponent get carried off somewhere to sober up if not get treated to prevent alcohol poisoning. Akaran did a few swings that he thought made him look really cool but in reality were immensely clumsy and uncoordinated. One of his swings smashed a beer glass but the patron to whom it belonged too was too drunk to care and simply laughed at the sight. Akaran flinched at his mistake before sitting down again to listen to Akihiko's proposition. "Fancy robes, you a magic or in a clan?" He jokingly meant to ask if Akihiko was a sorcerer but had trouble finding the word for it so he figured that "a magic" would suffice. Akaran then presented the symbol on his own red robes indicating the Kaguya clan. "I'm in the Ka-gu-ya clan." He smiled brightly at his introduction before trying to remember what he was offering. "My name's Akaran Ka-gu-ya. What's yours?" Akaran tried to change the subject to introductions as he had no comprehension of what Akihiko was offering. Did he want him to go somewhere else or stay here? Akaran really was not certain. At this point. Akihiko would have ample reason to wonder if Akaran was actually drunk or just slow.

▱▰▱Akaran smiled sweetly and gullibly at Akihiko's introduction. When asked if he was just a Kaguya he shook his head. "And a samurai but without the sword." He had no clue what Akihiko could be hinting at even as he stared with obvious suspicion at his horns. He thought for another uncomfortably long period of time about Akihiko's offer. "O-kay, but I'm short on cash." Akaran would go if his new acquaintance was lonely and needed a friend but he had no interest in drinking anymore. It was killing his wallet and he was not even feeling it so what was the point really. With the staff in hand, he walked out of the bar and walked a couple of blocks with Akihiko. Akaran smiled at everyone who walked past him like the clueless lug he truly was. "After this I need to find Ma-sa-to Umechika to learn Kyo-to-ryuu. It's the style of using hands as swords. That's what I need to be a great samurai since I'm not so good with weapons." He said with genuine yearning to prove himself before stepping into the new bar with Akihiko. He found a table for them to sit down at and order drinks but was prepared to continue the conversation or scheme that Akihiko had in mind.

▱▰▱Akaran stared off into space with a blank expression when asked what he knows of Masato Umechika. "They say he's the best tai-jutsu master in the world. I figure he can teach me Kyo-to-ryuu." All he had was word-of-mouth to go on given his status as a foreigner from the Land of Iron. "He lives at a place called the warrior summit in the fire country. He trains at this place. I'm on my way there." Akaran's motivations that carried him from destination to destination in the shinobi lands were quite simple. He was hitting many bumps in the road but he was determined to get to this place somehow. He smiled widely with a gleam of obvious naivety as the drinks were placed on the table. He immediately lifted his beverage from the table's surface and put it away in less than a second before placing it back down. His smile turned to a frown when he heard Akihiko's following question. "No! I don't think so!" It was clear from his frustrated tone that the questions cut to his core. He felt an inflamed sense of rage at the questioning although it was not directed at the individual asking it. These were the questions that instilled doubt in him that he had to move on from in order to make it this far from his disapproving homeland. "The hands are the blades in kyo-to-ryuu. That's why I need to learn it. Once I master that I'll go home as a great samurai!" Akaran was absolutely determined that this was the path he needed to walk to be accepted back home. However, this was not the only path, a road to finding his mother ran parallel to it. He needed a full understanding of himself in order to become the great warrior he was born to be despite his limited skill set. Although, he was less likely to discuss his secondary journey to find his mother with a stranger. Akaran's frown disappeared into a determined smile as he affirmed his goals. "You have a dream like that?" Akaran asked Akihiko if only to change the subject. He was worried that Akihiko would ridicule him further and wanted to avoid that. Akaran already had enough naysayers in his life.

▱▰▱Akaran returned to smiling goofily in the wake of Akihiko's compliment. His cheeks became rosy from the praise for his dream. "Thanks man! You're pretty smart." He rested his chin in his hands as the redness in his cheeks persisted from the flattery. He hoped that Akihiko would appreciate his compliment in return. The white-haired male used a lot of advanced vocabulary words that were beyond his own scope which he found genuinely impressive. He then lifted his chin only to nod at his statement regarding his desire for a simple life. Akaran rested his chin again as he felt as if the alcohol was weighing his head down. But he was forced to look up before he could continue his conversation with his new acquaintance. He sat up again with his smile still plastered across his mildly drunken face. When a girl approached him and started sniffing him he became nervous. Is this common in these lands? Akaran felt awkward as he considered the implications of this being some sort of shinobi custom. He hailed from Zaishin so naturally, he had no idea whether or not this was common. However, he lacked the common sense to consider the fact that he had been traveling for quite a while and this was the first occurrence of sniffing. Nonetheless, he leaned forward and sniffed her in return like a dog before sitting back and nodding. "Akaran! Nice to meet ya!" Akaran shouted with a friendly tone before he saw Akihiko activate his technique. His friendly smile became tinged with nervousness as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, strangers, you should be more careful." Akaran nodded after Akihiko spoke but did not understand the sardonic tone behind it and assumed that it was genuine advice for the young women's safety.