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Taylor's sitting up on a small wall, she's looking at the sketch in her lap, She's just glad that the Twins let her look at their hidden blades so she could figure out what to do about rebuilding hers. Though she had other things on her mind too.

"If you were given the chance to lead a group of people... Only because they think you'd be the best for the job, even though you're still only a Novice.... Would you accept the offer?"

She was just glad that they weren't asking her to lead the WHOLE brotherhood, just a small subgroup of about thirty people. Most of them were double her age, though those were the men and women that had suggested that she lead them.

"Or would you come and hide here vowing never to return?" Because really, that's one of the options she's liking more because really, she's no leader, she just wants to go on treasure hunts, and surf. Neither option is really leadership qualities.

To top it off, she had just found a perfect store front for an antiques shop, which would give her something else to do here.

The sketchbook with the plans for her new hidden blade went tucked away into one of the pockets of her cargo pants.

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"It totally ruins my rep as a carefree kinda girl though." She smiled at the twins. "Hell if I see those traits though. I mean yeah, I helped set up the compound on the island for them, even got us a boat so we aren't stuck there, but with four people who are good at naval navigation, it was easy enough to figure that would be how we'd want to come and go from there." She rubbed her arm which would have the hidden blade if it hadn't been destroyed a while back.

"The others of the group that want me to lead are all mentors of their own. And well, I was raised by people that are against their beliefs." She started to answer Minoru. "Hell, by their standards I'm a novice when it comes to my training. I still don't know how I managed to earn their trust enough to be considered a Mentor. I mean there have been a very small number of Mentors in their thirties. Someone in their twenties? I'd probably be the first."

It was clear that it was something she wasn't sure she wanted. It would mean she'd have a bodyguard around all the time. Yeah, there were two people she wouldn't mind as it, but it would also mean no more surf competitions.

“Does it?” Minoru shrugged. “Or, well, does it have to?”

“Minoru, to a certain extent, such things are unavoidable. With leadership comes a level of responsibility - for oneself and others.” Isamu countered as gently as his often-stoic tone allowed.

“Not ALL of it. Not ALL of the time.” He insisted.

“Clearly, if you took charge to provide a boat, you have accepted some degree of responsibility before. Perhaps without even being asked. And dare I say, your willingness to acknowledge those with the strengths you need to complete the task at hand, in this case, your navigators, shows quite a bit of conscientiousness in and of itself.” He continued. “And age does not make one a mentor. Experience does.”

Neither of the twins knew that Mentor had a capital M, that it was some kind of title. Honestly, neither of them knew what kind of leadership role she was being offered.

She listened to both twins. "Ugh, I don't want to have to be responsible yet!" She groaned hugging her sketchbook to her chest. "I mean I haven't beaten Uncle to Atlantis, and don't even get me started on all the other adventures we planned."

She chuckled at that. "Isamu, most of the people who want me in charge, have already commanded armies! I'm not really a fighter, I mean I can if I need to, but I spent most of my childhood buried in books and taking lessons on how to be a 'proper lady' and respectable in high society. I've been trying to ditch that since I left." She wouldn't correct him on the capital M bit. Since really that was something that should have stayed within the organization. Though she knew none of them would let it slip to anyone who could be a threat. "I really don't think I'm the person they want to run a group of covert ops." Ooops another slip up.

Isamu was about to note the benefit of diversity in leadership when Taylor let that last bit slip. He paused, mouth open, and he slowly lowered his finger.

Covert ops? Not, say, her world’s version of a city council? That was… different.

Minoru, though, was less shocked. Unlike Isamu, he didn’t have a specific preconceived notion in his head to back track through. “Well, is it a thing you HAVE to accept? Or, even if you do, is something you have to accept right now?”

"I think they're going to give me a few weeks to decide. Only because my leap ceremony is coming up. Right now I'm really not officially in the group. They want me to get another week of training before I get a new blade too."

She glanced at Isamu. "Don't worry, the group I'm with only go after really bad guys, the kind that want to steal free will from others."

Isamu was still not entirely certain what to make of the admission. This added another layer of complexity to the question and potentially made the situation much more delicate. While Isamu was deep in thought, Minoru was only starting to realize the possible implications.

“…this isn’t the kind of thing you can actually say ‘No’ to, is it…”

She shook her head. "I don't think so. Mom... These are the people that Mom worked with before she was murdered. They were supposed to bring me in if anything happened to her, but they couldn't until about a year ago." She rubbed her arm. "I mean I probably could, but Mom was supposed to bring in Dad and my Uncle. I agreed to be in the group to make sure that the two of them could still have their lives. And yes they know what I did."

She rubbed her arm. "And really the group of them that want me to lead them do care about me, they're not like the other branch." She glanced at her closed book. "They've become more of a family than my blood family since I only found out that I had blood family about the same time as we were thrown together." Okay not exactly true, she had known the others her whole life, well other than her dad, but he was dead... or thought of as dead so that complicated things.

“Oh…”

“While I do not wish to be so bold as to automatically assume similarities to the Yakuza, or Japanese crime syndicate, I must admit that is the first thing that crossed my mind.” Isamu admitted, blushing slightly. That was not an accusation he wanted to make. Still, he tried to put this into perspective. “Though, I suppose a more appropriate comparison might be closer to a shinobi clan, albeit there is a fine line between historical evidence and legendary exploits. But there would still be very specific rules and regulations that are best adhered to.”

She gave a faint grin at that. "Shinobi of the past would be more appropriate, though still not right." She thought a moment trying to think of how to put it in Japanese historical terms. "More like Samurai, when we are done training we have a blade that is suited to our combat style. Many of modern times don't use them though." She glanced down. "Our Mentor would be the Daimyo, and the one that is the head of our order right now, wishes to keep the ones I'm with hidden away, as well as me, saying we're all too Novice to help. What makes that funny is most of the people I'm with have been Mentors, in wars that make what he's dealing with a small skirmish. But, they're all non-traditional. They took the rank by changing the system for the good. Not hiding in the shadows."

Isamu listened carefully as Taylor described a bit of the structure of her world’s society. “I am afraid I may be squarely out of my area of expertise…”

“Bro, change is still change. Not feeling like you’re good enough. Not feeling ready to handle something. That’s pretty universal.” Minoru shrugged a little. “Truth is, you never know what something’s going to be like until you get there.”

Usually, for Minoru, that worked out just fine. Like picking up and moving to a new city, and looking for a new job, every time his brother changed schools. He followed him into interdimensional space, after all. They both lived and worked here in the Nexus.

“You won’t know if you can handle it until you do it.” This time, he thought more about going back to school and then dropping out. “And if it turns out you can’t, you figure it out as you go along. Until you find a way that works for you and you can.”

She was silent a moment thinking over what was told to her. "You're right. At least they understand I'm still fighting through all the BS ingrained into me from David. I'm sure they'll be fine if I ask them if I'm Mentor on paper only, and they continue to train me properly, since I missed that growing up as a Templar."

Just saying that last word made her shudder, that wasn't her. She had never fit in with the order and strict laws that they went by, she was too much of a wild child, which was why as soon as she could she escaped. Setting her book down she hopped up from her perch giving both of them hugs and a kiss on the cheek. "Isamu-kun, Minoru-kun, Domo arigatou gozaimasu." She knew she didn't have to be that formal with them, but they had helped her.

When Taylor started brainstorming possible solutions, Minoru nodded eagerly. Sometimes the right answer wasn’t ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Sometimes, it’s ‘yes, and…’

“It doesn’t hurt to ask, right?” He encouraged, and was soon met with a hug.

Hopefully, Taylor would forgive the disgusted expression he made to being kissed on the cheek. He tried to be polite, but that caught him completely off guard.

Isamu, however, smiled. He replied back in matching formality, humbly insisting that it was no trouble at all.

“We are pleased that we could provide some comfort and advice during a moment of need.” He added. “While the circumstances may differ, Minoru is right. We have all faced similar hurdles. And sometimes, we could all use a sounding board.”

"You're right."

Taylor chuckled at the look, she knew public PDA was kind of a no-no in Japan, And she really didn't mean anything romantic by it, so she wasn't going to take the look personally.

"I did, thank you. Would have felt weird talking to the group about it."

The twins, while from a Japanese family, were actually born and raised in the United States. Their parents came to America for their masters degrees and ended up staying. The reaction had nothing to do with cultural norms.

This was really just Minoru’s personal quirk - the feeling of wet lips on his skin was icky. (There’s a reason why Ziggy’s always nuzzling him on the top of his head. That fluffy hair is a kiss shield!)

“I can see how that would be awkward, yes. But now you have a plan with which to structure your conversation. So it will undoubtedly be less so.” Isamu smiled. “Good luck!”

“Yeah, let us know how it goes!”

Taylor nodded. "I will. Don't worry none of that mess will come here. Though the two who have taken to personally training me have told me to come here if they give the order. More so until I fix my blade or have a new one built for me."

Basically they liked the idea of a safe place for her to go if they thought it was too dangerous for her, all because of the agreement they had made with her family to keep her safe.

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