[center][h1][color=39b54a]Toko Ling[/color][/h1][/center]

Staring up at the ceiling, Toko laid completely still in his bed with thoughts constantly circling his head. Today they were going to start the first mission, and it would put his life in danger more than once. He needed to have his mind on the mission and stay focused, or a silly and foolish distraction would be the end of him. Rubbing his eyes, Toko slipped out of bed and continued to make it, straightening out the edges and flattening the sheets before he made his way into the shower. Hopefully this would all go well, he had been looking forward to this for a long time and now that it was finally here, he was overthinking it. Get in, finish the mission, get out, that's all there was to it. He wasn't supposed to lean on his emotions too much, and the only reason he did was because of Seichi. He needed to get the guy out of his head and move on. It was time to grow up and leave a petty crush that couldn't possibly lead anywhere behind. Toko was a ninja, a warrior, they both were. Entering a romantic relationship as a ninja wasn't a very good idea to begin with, facing dangers every single day and risking death with every mission. 

Toko dried himself and slipped into his undergarments before he slid his black cargo pants on and his t-shirt. Sliding into his fingerless gloves and arm protectors, Toko finished by putting his belts on along with his sword. [color=39b54a][i]"It might get cold..."[/i][/color] Grabbing a slightly oversized black hoodie, they all were, Toko put it on walked out of his room. This was it, the day he had been waiting for. He put his ninja slippers on, seeing how his father was reading the newspaper in the kitchen with a cup of coffee slowly producing faint traces of steam due to its warmth.

[b]"Good luck, Toko."[/b]

[color=39b54a]"Thanks, dad..."[/color] With a soft wave, the boy would leave their home and started down the street towards the gates, his hands in his pockets as they often were when he was walking. [i][color=39b54a]"Have to concentrate. No more bullshit, Toko. You're fifteen, not eleven. Be professional."[/color][/i] Nothing was ever going to happen between him and Seichi, it was time to accept that and move on. Speaking of Seichi, he was already standing by the gate with their Sensei, her face buried in a book. [color=39b54a][i]"If anything, I'll need to keep my focus up not to get killed by that psycho."[/i][/color] She'd be sooner to kill him than the enemy would. 

[color=39b54a]"Hello."[/color] Approaching the two, Toko spoke quietly before he leaned against the gate and breathed out. Now they needed to wait for the rest. It felt like they were always waiting for something. Twiddling with the sleeve of his shirt, it was big enough to cover up most of his hands, revealing only the tips of his small fingers as Toko absentmindedly tugged at the stretch bands. [color=39b54a][i]"I'm not feeling anxious at all, despite the dangers we're about to face...the only thing that scares me is if I get distracted and that jeopardises the mission.[/i][/color] 

Looking up, Toko saw the lush forest outside of the gates and remembered the test. This was going to be so much worse than that. This time not only their Sensei would be trying to kill them but also a bunch of enemies you actually [i]expect[/i] would want to kill you. Gently tracing his fingers across the leather wrapped hilt of his sword, Toko turned his eyes back to the two, seeing how their Sensei had her nose in a book still. [color=39b54a][i]"I've no interest in proving myself to her...but I wonder what she knows about all of our skills. She saw everyone else in the test and will probably assign different tasks to us based on that. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.[/i][/color]

Concentrating on his fingerless glove, Toko gently pulled his sleeve up to see the orange hue glimmering off of it. Such a small piece of cloth wasn't hard to enchant, but he needed to make sure that he'd be able to in the heat of battle, would he ever lose his sword. If he faced opponents much larger and much physically stronger than himself, Impact would be required to make the battle shorter. He dropped his sleeve back to place and allowed his hand to return to his side. Next, he would use Strengthen on his forearm protector. That worked as well, but being able to enchant one thing at a time, his sword was going to be his first priority. Ken always stated that Toko needed to learn to automatically be able to use Strengthen on one item at a time but that was difficult to say the least. He needed to practice a lot more before that was possible.