Right punch. Left kick. Water whip. Mitsuko transitioned from move to move, attacking the dummy with everything she had. Today had been her weekly training session and her coach seemed to be particularly hard on her today. She understood why, if she wanted even a chance at making it onto a probending team she needed to be better than everyone else. The competition was high and it seemed as if the popularity of the sport had grown even more, making it so that the best of the best were all fighting for a spot to make it big. Mitsuko had taken part in competitions before and sparred with others but she hadn't made it on a team. Not yet anyways. She still held out hope that she could make it onto one, Mitsuko was young after all. She had time to really be pushed to become an extraordinary bender and although she was currently drenched in sweat and her braided hair messy, Mitsuko was grateful that her coach was forcing her to improve.

Her increasing chances to making it onto a team wasn't the only reason she was grateful however. Tensions had been steadily rising ever since she arrived in Republic City three years prior and she feared that someday soon she would need to use her bending to protect herself. Due to this, although she was only scheduled once a week, she found that there were days she wandered in, in the hope that she would be able to work off her fears. Practicing bending seemed to clear her mind and in a city where she was on edge at the turn of certain corners, it was a much needed relief.

When she first joined the dojo, it was because she had completely stumbled across it by accident. Mitsuko's brother had been a firebending coach when she first moved to the city and it was only when she needed him one time while he was working, did she realize that she didn't have a clue what his place of work was actually called. She had gone out searching for a dojo in the hopes that she would find him but instead she found a coach and a home away from home. Mitsuko had been thankful she made the mistake ever since, especially after her brother disappeared. It became a place of comfort, somewhere she could be safe and just focus on doing what she loved instead of all the growing turmoil.

After performing a few more moves she was told she could leave for the day and Mitsuko couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. Despite her loving to bend, today she was exhausted and ready for a nap. After dabbing her face with a towel to make herself appear more presentable, she left the room to find a short girl with brown skin and beautiful brown hair that was loosely tied into a ponytail. Mitsuko offered a smile, she felt as though she had seen this girl in the dojo once before but she never had never spoken to her. Now seemed like as good a time as any, things had gotten quiet in Mitsuko's life recently and after the events of her brother, she had withdrawn into herself. She was ready to meet people again, perhaps even make a new friend.

"Hello!" Mitsuko waved, "I don't think we've met before. I'm Mitsuko."

Dharini sighed as she swept a few more times, although she was still pretty sure there was nothing really there to sweep up, even under the chairs and other things that might have dust under them. She was vaguely aware of the sound of footsteps as someone exited the training area but it didn't sound like her uncle.

She turned around anyway and had to admit she didn't recognise the girl standing near her who seemed to be around her age, she guessed anyway she wasn't always very good at working things like that out. But the girl seemed nice.
She had wondered if maybe she'd seen the girl going in? Maybe she had?
"Hello!" She smiled back, "No I don't think we have, I'm Dharini but most people call me Rini,"

"Nice to meet you, Rini!" Mistuko examined the girl once more and couldn't help but notice the slight similarity in Dharini's looks to her coach. She pondered whether or not they were related and came to the conclusion that she would probably never figure it out unless she asked. "This might seem like an odd question but are you by any chance related to the coach that works in this dojo?"

If she was, Mitsuko wondered if she were a bender herself. While it was usually obvious back home who could bend and who couldn't, with the diversity of Republic City, Mitsuko quickly learned not to assume anything. There were people she was sure were benders only to find out they weren't even related to one and vice versa. It was something that had surprised her immensely when she first arrived but now it became something that she loved about the city. There were many tiny things about the city that had ended up surprising her and the clash of different cultures, how smoothly the city had melded all the different nations together was what truly shocked her the most. Growing up in a city based on tradition it was quite different from what she was used to, but getting out of her comfort zone was always something Mitsuko had enjoyed. Granted, even though she lived in an area based on tradition her own family had broken it slightly. Her mother had been Fire Nation and her brother was a firebender, one of the only ones in the Northern Water Tribe. Still, her family followed all of the water tribe's traditions and although she knew a little about her Fire Nation heritage on her mother's side, her mother had always been quiet about it. Seeming as if she wanted to forget about it or preferred the Northern Water Tribe over it.

"I apologize if the question is a bit intrusive, you just look a little bit like him." She didn't want to offend or make Rini uncomfortable just after meeting her, so Mitsuko hurriedly added on in an attempt to show she was just curious.

That was yet another thing different from the tribe. While it wasn't necessarily small by any means, it didn't seem to be as populated as Republic City. Back home she had grown up with everyone, spoke to all of them as soon as she could speak. While she wasn't close with everyone and definitely did not get along with every person there, she generally knew much about everyone who was around her age and they all knew much about her. It just happened when you spent nearly every day with the same people for about sixteen years. Here she felt as though she hardly knew anyone but Mitsuko never saw that as a bad thing, she just used it as an excuse to meet others.

It didn't surprise her that she was asked that, most people seemed to know her as "Bu's niece" and if not that knew her as "The Rhu's who run the petshop's granddaughter," made sense since well that was where she spent a lot of her time.
"Yeah," Dharini grinned, "He's my uncle!"
She shuffled her foot slightly as she thought about what to ask her, it was nice to be talking to someone who seemed to be her age "So..You've been coming here long?" she racked her brain for a moment trying to think if she had seen anyone matching her description here or if her uncle had mentioned her or just around anywhere. She didn't think she had but it was a bit City... lots of people she hadn't run into yet. 

Mitsuko's eyebrows raised in surprise, she hadn't known Bu had a niece. Then again they never really discussed their personal lives with each other, any emotions she had she worked out in training through bending. There had been one time she opened up to him after her brother had disappeared but that was largely it. She didn't mind it though, in fact she enjoyed the escape of thinking or talking about what was going on in her life. It was nice to have a distraction sometimes.

She nibbled on her lip as she considered the question, "Um not that long. I started coming a little over half a year ago. I've only been in the city about three years now which I know is not that long since some people have grown up here. So while I actually haven't been coming here for that much time, it's certainly something that feels like I have been considering the amount time I've been in the city for. I like it a lot here, I've definitely made it my home."

Mitsuko laughed softly as she thought back to her first day in the city. It had been quite an eventful one filled with a lot of shock, confusion, and excitement. "What about you? Are you from Republic City or have you been here pretty much your entire life?"

"Oh" Dharini nodded and then wondered for a few moments why she hadn't run into her before. Dharini shuffled on her foot as she thought a bit more before she started to talk again, "I've been here a couple of years now... I think I came here around the same time you did, actually. I wasn't born around here but my mum is from here..." She stopped before she found herself rambling, Mitsuko probably didn't need to know everything that happened, "I live with my grandparents, and my uncle helps me learn how to bend properly, there wasn't really any Earthbenders where I grew up," Dharini shrugged.

Mitsuko nodded her head as Dharini and found herself surprised by how they had managed to arrive in the city at roughly the same time and to have never run into one another. If anything, it made her more interested to learn about her as they would likely have much in common.

"I guess that's where I'm lucky, the Northern Water Tribe had a lot of Waterbenders. However, no teacher really compares to your uncle so I'm glad you have someone that can help you learn. In terms of living conditions, I live all by myself and its surprisingly not bad. I enjoy it at least, I think I'm happier here alone than I would have been back at the tribe." Mitsuko bit her tongue, a small blush of embarrassment rising on her cheeks as she realized she was probably blabbing on about details of her life that Dharini wouldn't have been interested in.

"However, I work at a small flower shop and the lady who owns it is basically like family to me at this point. But is it the lack of Earthbenders that brought you here or was it something else?"

Dharini was still racking her brain trying to think if she had spotted Mitsuko somewhere over the last couple of years, it seemed weird but at the same time not. I mean Republic City was a big place right? But she had to admit she was very curious about the other girl and it would be nice to see if maybe she could be a friend? Or at least someone to talk to.

"Oh I see... Hey some of my family apparently come from there, I mean quite a while ago like a really long time ago, I don't think anyone's gone back there for a long time," Dharini laughed briefly, "That's on my mum's side, there's water and earth benders so my mum's a waterbender and well obviously my uncle is an earthbender and on my dad's side it's mostly firebenders." She paused, "Oh you live alone? I live with my grandparents and my uncle, they run a pet shop might have seen it? It's called Rhu Imports I help out in there sometimes-" She took a breath hoping she hadn't spoken too fast then, she was trying not to ramble. "Yeah that's it really? My mum was born in the city and went travelling and ended up meeting my dad and they ended up staying in one of the trading ports so that's where I grew up, and then yeah there wasn't really anyone around who could teach me earthbending so they decided to send me here-"

"Ah gotcha! But I actually have heard of Rhu Imports, I always like strolling by when I have the time. I love animals and as much as I wish I could get one, I really don't have time for it in my schedule. Between work, training, and a few other things, I feel like I'm not even at home much anymore." Mitsuko let out an airy laugh, "It's nice though. I like to stay busy. In my experience, the more things I can do, the better."

In reality, she liked to get her mind off of certain things and by always doing something, she never even had the time to think about the negatives in her life. She had always liked just going with the flow and trying everything she could, constantly adapting to the world around her. In that sense, it was quite fitting that she was a Waterbender and her relaxed attitude often helped with her bending.

"Speaking of doing something, would you want to? I mean there's so much to do in the city and I-" She glanced away slightly embarrassed, "I haven't exactly spent much of my three years here exploring it with a friend my age. You don't have to if you don't want to, I'm sure you're busy but you know, if you want?"

Dharini nodded and shuffled her foot a bit again, "Yeah I find that too," She smiled she found herself really warming to Mitsuko and was still wondering just how she hadn't managed to run into her before but then it was a really really big city, and even back home where things were small she sometimes ran into people who'd been there for years that she'd never ever seen so...

She reminded herself not to drift off, that was a bad habit. And then she grinned,
"You know what, I'd love that!" She chuckled, "My uncle only needed me to sweep in here and well... I've done that so I'm sure I can go out for a bit!"