Kazuki Hihara - 火原和樹 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
forsaintcecilia) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
victory_road2018-12-12 04:10 pm
forsaintcecilia) wrote in victory_road2018-12-12 04:10 pm
6th [video network post]
Hey everyone!
[Kazuki waves at the camera. One thing about him immediately sticks out-- He's wearing traditional Japanese clothing. On his shoulder is his Sensu Oricorio, who is also wearing a loose jacket, behind him, his Primarina, wearing a cute furisode with fur trim, and finally, near his feet, his Vulpix, wearing a tiny yukata made for a four-legged Pokemon.]
[The Oricorio looks quite severe, but the Primarina and Vulpix are obviously having fun playing dress-up. Kazuki himself looks proud, and also a bit bashful.]
There's a point to this, I swear. [He chuckles nervously.] It's my birthday today-- and before you say anything, it's okay that you don't know if you don't know! I'd have to tell you it was coming up first for that to be something to worry about! And that'd be too embarrassing, you know? Hey! My birthday is tomorrow! I want a cake! [He laughs again.] Nah, there's no way I could do that. I don't mind things like this.
But anyways-- I'm turning 20! Back in my world, in Japan, 20 is when a person comes of age. It's a tradition there that the January after you turn 20, you wear formal clothes-- either or a suit or old-timey stuff like this-- and go to the prefectural office for the seijin-shiki, the coming of age ceremonies. Then you usually have a party with friend and family...
Anyways, I know it's not Coming-of-Age Day yet, but I figured I'd celebrate early since that isn't a thing here. I flew up here to Ecruteak to rent some clothes for the day, and, well, these three insisted on joining in on the fun.
[His Primarina opens a fan and flutters it demurely in front of his face. The Oricorio shakes it's head and shows him the real way one handles a fan. Meanwhile, the Vulpix looks up at her trainer with shining eyes.]
I've always felt younger than I actually am, but I guess I really feel like a man when I wear these clothes. I think I'm gonna try to be more mature from here on out!
Oh-- And if you've got a tradition like Coming-of-Age Day in your world, tell me about it! I'd really like to know!
[Kazuki waves at the camera. One thing about him immediately sticks out-- He's wearing traditional Japanese clothing. On his shoulder is his Sensu Oricorio, who is also wearing a loose jacket, behind him, his Primarina, wearing a cute furisode with fur trim, and finally, near his feet, his Vulpix, wearing a tiny yukata made for a four-legged Pokemon.]
[The Oricorio looks quite severe, but the Primarina and Vulpix are obviously having fun playing dress-up. Kazuki himself looks proud, and also a bit bashful.]
There's a point to this, I swear. [He chuckles nervously.] It's my birthday today-- and before you say anything, it's okay that you don't know if you don't know! I'd have to tell you it was coming up first for that to be something to worry about! And that'd be too embarrassing, you know? Hey! My birthday is tomorrow! I want a cake! [He laughs again.] Nah, there's no way I could do that. I don't mind things like this.
But anyways-- I'm turning 20! Back in my world, in Japan, 20 is when a person comes of age. It's a tradition there that the January after you turn 20, you wear formal clothes-- either or a suit or old-timey stuff like this-- and go to the prefectural office for the seijin-shiki, the coming of age ceremonies. Then you usually have a party with friend and family...
Anyways, I know it's not Coming-of-Age Day yet, but I figured I'd celebrate early since that isn't a thing here. I flew up here to Ecruteak to rent some clothes for the day, and, well, these three insisted on joining in on the fun.
[His Primarina opens a fan and flutters it demurely in front of his face. The Oricorio shakes it's head and shows him the real way one handles a fan. Meanwhile, the Vulpix looks up at her trainer with shining eyes.]
I've always felt younger than I actually am, but I guess I really feel like a man when I wear these clothes. I think I'm gonna try to be more mature from here on out!
Oh-- And if you've got a tradition like Coming-of-Age Day in your world, tell me about it! I'd really like to know!
Video;
[Nobody should see those things, really, but especially not someone like Kazuki who would've been utterly unprepared for what he'd see. Not that there is anything that can really fully prepare you for the aftermath of a battle, but even so.]
Titans are... let's call them monsters. [Humans turned into monsters, as he had learned from Annie but he can't be open about that. Not that Kazuki would be a concern, but it might get back to Jean or the others via him and that would raise questions.] Generally, they are between three and fifteen meters tall, though there are exceptions. As you probably saw, all they care about is eating humans.
Part of what makes them so hard to deal with is that they heal very rapidly. You could use a canon to take one out at the knee, and its leg would repair itself within minutes. In fact, the only vulnerable spot they have is at the back of their necks. What our training prepares us for is handling titans. And we use something called the Three Dimensional Gear, or gear for short, to do so. You can't fight titans on the ground. It's a death sentence. The only thing that works is getting up into the air and getting behind them, so you can cut through their necks. Our gear helps us do that.
It's... a little difficult to explain, but essentially, we use anchors and a gas-driven motor to move off the ground. Of course, it really only functions in an area with plenty of tall structures to grapple onto. Trees or buildings or things of that nature. Using the gear isn't easy. To be honest, I never really got good at it. Not like Jean or the others. We train for three years because that is about as long as it takes to be able to pass the combat readiness test. Though compared to a true veteran, our gear skills at the end of our training are still pretty green.
Re: Video;
[Kazuki listens in respectful silence as Armin sorts out his explanation. What he imagines the 3DMG to be like is totally wrong, but he understands the concept at least.]
So it's a machine that helps you kill Titans by helping you to... sort of fly? But it's really hard to use, so you need a lot of training.
[He gets the gist of it.]
I didn't know the Titans were so ferocious. I've never heard of a living thing that can heal like that. Especially not something that's that big. It must be terrifying.
Video;
[It's a side effect of being good at it, Armin figures.]
It is.
[There is no denying it. Even now, Armin has the occasional night where he's wake up with cold sweat running down his back, recalling the destruction of Shiganshina, or Trost, or the Female Titan (doesn't matter that he knows it is Annie now) knocking him down, bending over him, removing his hood.]
The first time I faced off against them I froze. I prepared to fight them for three years, but I still froze. [There is still a touch of old self-loathing in his voice recalling that.] But even if they are terrifying, this is something we have to do.
Video;
[Kazuki looks upon Armin with sympathy, not pity. How could anyone be expected to fight a monster like he just described? It was an impossible task, yet he still decided to take it on.]
Can I ask... why you decided to fight Titans? You weren't forced to, were you?
Video;
[And bruises, honestly, are just par for the course for them. The old scars Armin has from the gear have been fading. They are still visible here and there, might possibly always be visible, but in other places, they've slowly gone away.]
No, we all joined the military of our own free will. I know that is apparently hard for people to believe here, but it is true.
[Twelve years olds can totally make decisions like that. He's also quiet for a few moments, weighing the words in his mind.]
When I was ten, Titans broke through the outmost wall surrounding our homelands. They destroyed the city I lived in and the people who survived had to retreat back behind Wall Rose. Humanity lost a lot that day. I was lucky. I didn't lose anyone when the Titans destroyed our city, but my friend lost his mother. Part of the reason things were so bad is because people had gotten complacent. We had been safe behind the walls for over a century, so some people started disregard Titans as a problem. They started to think that, as long as humans stayed behind the walls, we could never be hurt.
[A mistake, obviously!]
Because people thought like that, we didn't really have any competent, trained soldiers standing by in our city. There were some of them to handle little incidents, but most of them were lazy and drunks. We also didn't have any artillery on top of the wall or evacuation plans ready.
After all of that happened, Eren swore he was going to destroy every last Titan. He didn't want anyone else to die like his mother had died. And I agree with him. I don't know what someone like me can do, really, but if it might change the future for humanity, I want to help. Even if it is just in a little way, I want to do my part.
[He averts his eyes, looking a little embarrassed.]
And... I suppose I had some private reasons as well, but those, honestly, aren't really that important. Not compared to the overall picture, I mean.
Video;
That's really brave of you. Even if that happened to me... I don't think I could make that kind of decision.
But, even though you don't think it's important, do you think you could tell me that last reason? Like, why you did it. I want to know that.
Video;
Video;
Video;
And it is. I'm not sure if our world looks anything like this, but I hope it does. Though there is still so much more I want to see.
Video;
I hope that you get to see everything you want there-- and everything you want to see here too!
Video;
Most people would never set foot outside of the walls, whether there is a law or not. And it is not like people going outside of the wall carries any risk to the people inside, not when there are ways to do so without opening the gates. So it really begs the question who this law is meant to protect. Plus, it doesn't just outlaw people from going outside the walls. Even just discussing what might be out there, questioning the history we've all been taught or making plans to go there is enough to be executed if the Military Police gets involved.
Video;
...You must be right. [He was surprisingly convincing when he wanted to be!] But why? Doesn't the Military want what's best for the people?
Video;
I think, on the whole, a military force is going to want what is best for whoever is in control of that military force.
Video;
Video;
[He's always been of that opinion, but ever since hearing what Annie had told him about their world, it has only become more cemented.]
Video;
Maybe that's why Annie was so curious about how my country runs its government...
Video;
[Super duper casual, for sure. No ulterior motive for wanting to know about Annie's ways, nuhuh.]
Video;
Video;
[The kind of one of a kind that can turn into a giant woman, but that is neither here nor there.]
What sort of things do the two of you talk about?
Video;
She wanted to know all sorts of things about Japan, and compared them to where you guys live. Oh, and I told her about the trumpet too! She didn't even know what a horn was-- I promised to give her a performance when she decides to come around these parts.
Video;
But good. If that is all they have discussed-- that is fine. This world can be a second chance for Annie. If everything which she has told him is true, it is not like she had a lot of agency in the situation. Not that knowing that makes Armin trust her, as evident by feeling the need to check and make sure her conversations with Kazuki were aboveboard. Kazuki is a good guy and a little naive, and Armin doesn't want him to get hurt.
That's right. We don't really have many musical instruments back home. It's mainly fiddles. And wooden flutes.
[Simple, folksy stuff.]
Video;
[Kazuki ends that sentence like it's all he's going to say, but then something else occurs to him:]
Oh! And the performance thing totally counts for you guys on Sevii too! I'll even fly there, anytime! Friends benefits!
Video;
[Not that Armin won't enjoy listening to Kazuki play! Just, that he can also just show up at any time he wants without anything on him, and they'll still be happy to see him.]
Video;
[He didn't need much in the way of convincing when it came to playing for others, but still.]
Video;
[He literally wouldn't know. Not out of some personal desire not to be a bother or anything. Just. He doesn't know the first thing about trumpet music.]
Video;
Video;
Video;
Video; 1/2
Video; 2/2
Video
Video
Video
video
video
video
video