Be Prepared! [Taijutsu class 0/6]

[Kishiko Nagisa]

Kenshin began to walk towards the park. He decided to try something different. He still brought his crates but placed them in a patch of flat earth. It was early morning and Kenshin would begin marking the the ground in a large oval. Each yard or so, he would mark it with a little burnt grass. Low level fire jutsu were no problem for him. As he finished, he would look around. The students would be arriving shortly. The notice board had listed this as a taijutsu course. It would turn into that but first it was a different start than other classes.

Today Kenshin was wearing his black training gear. His golden earring glinted in the rising sun. He wiped the sweat from his brow and kept an eye out for the students. He would wait for all of them to arrive before beginning.

"Alright you lot. The name is Yuu Kenshin. I am main branch Sennin and your instructor. Please introduce yourself before we can get started. I like knowing the names of my future genin." Kenshin would say his voice calm.

[topic started]

 

[Hitsugaya Ryoku]

Ryoku was only partially excited for his second class. He had overhyped himself so much for his first class that the underwhelming nature of it caused it to become a blur in his memory. If there was one thing that he learned from that class, it was that he had no interest in becoming a medical ninja. Apparently seeing such an amazing fight as his first shinobi encounter had caused him to set his standards too high. Obviously not every ninja could be that cool. At least this class focused on a combat aspect of being a ninja. Taijutsu. Ryoku wasn’t entirely sure what that was yet, but he did remember hearing Jun talk about it at some point. Apparently it was some forms of techniques using the body for combat, so he managed to retain some level of excitement. Even if it was due to an extremely vague definition that he barely remembered from his brother.

When he finally arrived at the class site, Ryoku saw a figure that seemed all too familiar. It was the unique silver hair and golden jewelry of a man that he could never mistake for anyone else. It was the stranger who had saved him and his brother from that underground psychopath. Ryoku didn’t expect to meet him so soon in his ninja career. He found his excitement levels rising quickly. He still didn’t even realize that he was grinning from ear to ear.

When “the stranger” finally introduced himself, it all finally made sense. He was the best of the best. No wonder the fight was so amazing to watch. Ryoku’s goals became clearer. He had to be able to fight a Sennin one day.

“I’m Hitsugaya Ryoku!” he blurted excitedly. His fists were clenched and shaking with excitement. “It’s nice to officially meet you, Kenshin-sama! I can’t wait to fight you some day!” Because of his overwhelming excitement to learn from such a powerful ninja, it seemed that he was not fully aware of the statement he had just made to a high ranking village officer.

WC: 345

 

[Santaru Kaede]

Daenerisu had made sure to wake up extra early this time. She was dressed, ready, and eating breakfast by the time her grandfather had came to make sure she was awake. Taijutsu classes had always been some of her favorite ones. After she shovels down her breakfast, she slings the sword over her shoulder and rushes out the door.

“Shut the door beh… And she's gone. I swear sometimes that girl…”

Her grandfather shakes his head and walks over to the front door. He watches as she rushes down the street eventually disappearing into a crowd with his exasperated look slowly fading into a hrin and a chuckle. He shuts the door and returns to his own breakfast.

Danii snakes her way through the steadily growing morning crowd as she makes her way towards the training ground in an excited run.

“Excuse me… ‘scuse me… sorry…”

Danii stood among the gathered students and listened to Kenshin introduce himself. She had never met the man, but she had heard Maikeru talk about him before. He was supposed to be pretty strong. Hoping to learn something useful from him, she tries her best to listen carefully, but ends up staring at the crates halfway through. She can’t help but wonder what is inside of them. When the person next to her steps forwards and throws his fists up as he introduces himself, it pulls her quickly out of her thoughts. She quickly stepped forward as the other student finished his introduction.

“Nanjirou Daenerisu.”

She gives Kenshin a polite bow and steps back in line while adjusting the sword on her back. She wears her normal outfit consisting of a white cloth dress, leather belt, longsword on her back, and hair pulled back in a messy bun. She seems to have added a rather intricate bracelet to the ensemble though which appears to be a blue and gold dragon head with it's mouth laying at the base of her wrist. As she finishes she looks back over at the crates and quickly adds.

“What's in the box sensei?”

WC: 345

 

[Oshiro Junpei]

Junpei was excited! He woke up early and was getting ready before anyone else in the house. He tried to be silent, but he was moving too quickly and ended up feeling very much like a bull in a china shop. The harder he tried to be quiet the worse it got. He was excited though because today was his second class, and it was on Taijutsu! He didn’t know of anything about Taijutsu; well, besides the name and that it was much more physical than ninjutsu or Genjutsu. Needless to say, he felt it should be very informative. He had been hoping to get another class with Asuka-sensei on genjutsu, but this sounded fun too; it was even being held at the park! He finished getting dressed and eating, and then finally packed his lunch before running out the door.

The walk to the grounds was peaceful. Birds chirped melodically overhead. He stopped and paused for a moment, enjoying the serenity and the beauty of such a peaceful day, before finally starting up again towards the school once again. He was one who always loved to stop and smell the roses.

It was only his first time being at Kitsune Park, and it wasn’t the kind of park he was expecting. It was more like a stadium. It was easy to find though thankfully. He strolled in casually, knowing he was still a little early. It looked like a couple other had beaten him there. He didn’t recognize either of the other students and so he silently took his place next to them before the instructor spoke. The name rang a bell though, but Junpei wasn’t sure where he had heard it before. Oh! Right! Ryujou from his last class spoke about him, referring to him as “Old Man Kenshin” which caused a smile to creep up on the boy’s face.

Junpei listened quietly as the other student spoke, mentally repeating their names so as not to forget. Finally Junpei answered softly, ”Oh! I’m, uh, Oshiro Junpei.”

Word Count: 338/1500

 

[Kishiko Nagisa]

Kenshin looked around. It seemed there were 3 of them. They all seemed to be excited. Well let them see how excited they remain after some training.

"The box is for later. Right now it is some warm up exercises. Stand apart from each other. Follow me." Kenshin would begin to stretch. As they stretched he would talk. "So this is a taijutsu class meaning we will be focusing on physical combat between shinobi. We are doing these stretches to limber you up so you don't hurt yourselves. It is very important to stretch before practicing. Injuring yourself will set back your progress." Kenshin would continue for about 5 minutes before stopping them.

"Now you see where I have burned the grass a little? It is time for laps. We will do 3 laps. This is not a race and I will be doing it with you albeit a little differently. When you are ready, start. "

Kenshin would then do a handstand and begin running using his arms instead of his legs, his lower legs bent to help him maintain balance. He moved rather fast for an unconventional way of "running" but he was doing fine.

How would the students do with their 3 laps? Kenshin hoped they could keep up.

 

[Hitsugaya Ryoku]

Ryoku couldn’t help but be slightly disappointed that the Sennin barely acknowledged him. Did he even recognize Ryoku, or was he just a faceless damsel? It didn’t matter because they were starting. He began to imitate his teacher’s stretches and listened to his explanation of the class. “So Taijutsu is ‘physical combat’ eh?” he thought to himself. “This is exactly what I was hoping for!”

Once the stretch was completed, it was time for a run. As Kenshin-sama described the task, Ryoku found that he wasn’t worried about the exercise. He ran all the time picking up supplies for his parents’ restaurant, and he was pretty fast too. Running was probably his favorite way of getting around.

Ryoku watched as his instructor got on his hands and began running at an impressive speed. Ryoku’s face slowly grew into the huge, creepy smile that tends to take over his face whenever he’s amazed. “So cool!” Ryoku exclaimed, quickly breaking off into a sprint trying to keep up with the Sennin.

After only a few seconds, Ryoku realized that he was running at a speed that he was not sure that he could maintain for three whole laps with his untrained body. But he had to keep up with Kenshin-sama if he ever wanted to even dream about attaining a power level comparable to a Sennin. “Kenshin-sama!” Ryoku yelled out while trying to control his breathing. “If this isn’t a race, why are you moving so fast?!” He found himself getting exhausted and his teacher wasn’t slowing down.

“I can’t go down that easy,” Ryoku thought to himself. “This is just the warm up!” It was then that he decided to clear his mind and push out any pain his body was feeling. Instead of focusing on his body, he began to focus on his environment. The breeze brushing against his face was his favorite part about running. It was like the body’s naturally cooling reward for doing something so tiresome. Every time one of his feet hit the ground, he noticed how flat the surface was. It felt so controlled. The birds. Singing. The feelings in Ryoku’s legs and lungs were no longer feelings of pain. They were nothing more than just sensations at that point. For once, the smile on Ryoku’s face was a smile of elation.

WC: 387/732

 

[Santaru Kaede]

Daenerisu frowned as Kenshin explained that the box was for later. She really wanted, no needed, to know what was inside the box. She let out a silent pout and returned most of her attention back to her instructor. Even as she listened to Kenshin and began her stretches, Danii kept one eye on the box. There must be something exciting in there if its contents were for after the warm up part of the class. Despite half her attention being drawn towards the box, Danii made sure to stretch slow, deep, and thoroughly as her grandfather had instilled into his teachings. Her training had so far consisted in a balanced training of agility, stamina, and strength. Throughout most the stretching Danii would prove to be limber with a decent balance, but occasionally she would sway and momentarily lose her balance as her attention was drawn towards the box or Kenshin or her classmates or one of a thousand other shiny objects, but she always managed to right herself before the fall to save herself some embarrassment.

Danii finishes her stretches and looks out over the field. The rough track made by following the burn marks didn't look too bad. She tightened the straps holding the sword to her back so it wouldn't jostle about while she ran. She was surprised when Ryoku took off at almost a sprint, but she was even more surprised when she looked ahead and noticed that Kenshin had flipped upside down to run on his hands. She began following at a brisk, but steady, jog. With her steady pace, it wasn't long before she found a rhythm and caught up with her classmate, but neither seemed to gain much ground on the teacher.

“He's fast… even on his hands…”

She manages to spit out a few words between breaths as she runs with her classmates and tries to keep up with her teacher. She focuses on maintaining her rhythm knowing they will all end up at the same place as Kenshin said it wasn't a race. Danii slows as she reaches the last “checkpoint" and stops next to the teacher. She takes a brief moment to catch her breath and take a sip of water from the bottle she carries on her belt.

“That was a good warm up! Do we get to find out what is in the box now?”

Despite the run, the box was still on her mind as she looks back over at it and then towards Kenshin.

Total WC: 763

 

[Oshiro Junpei]

Junpei raised an eyebrow when the instructor mentioned the box, but he didn't think too much further into it. Junpei silently followed along, copying Kenshin's stretches to the best of his ability while listening to the teacher intently. He hadn't realized just how inflexible he was until just this moment though. The boy mentally scolded himself for not stretching more often, his lack of it was probably obvious as he moaned and groaned through most of the stretches. It seemed like they were stretching forever before they got to move on, however this curbed his enthusiasm only very slightly and his grin returned full force as they moved on to the next part of the class.

They only had to do three laps! This would be easy! A piece of cake! Junpei got up from the ground where he had been stretching and watched in amazement as Kenshin flipped onto his hands and began to run, with one of his classmates sprinting closely behind him. Suddenly, even though they had been told the contrary; it kind of felt like a race. Junpei kept up as best as he could, keeping only a few paces behind Daenerisu. The track now seemed much larger than it had before he had started running. His heart was working so hard it felt like it was about to beat right out of his chest. His sides began to burn, he wasn't used to running this fast. The worst part was, Junpei knew this was only a warm-up. He felt like he was dying, and the actual training hadn't even begun. His previously large grin faltered. Obviously, he needed this class by how his body reacting, but it wasn't going to be as fun as he had hoped.

Finally, they all reached the finished line. Junpei was breathing heavy, but it didn't take long for his labored breathing to return to normal. He watched as his classmate drank some water they had brought from home and Junpei sighed softly, making a mental note he should start bringing some water to class for now on also. It seemed like only seconds before his classmate asked about the previously mentioned box. Wasn’t she tired at all? Junpei looked to Kenshin in await of his answer though.

Word Count: 378
Total: 716/1500
[MFT]

 

[Kishiko Nagisa]

Kenshin would reach the finish line first and watch the rest of them join him. He would pass out water to those that did not have any. He himself would take a bi swig of water.

"Hold on now. One thing before another. But you will find out what is in one of these boxes shortly. Actually both of them now I think about it."

Kenshin would open one of the boxes and pull out a few slightly dented and rusted training dummies he would carry a few of them and kind of slam them into the ground. They would make a clanging sound but remain upright. He did this 4 times before going over to the other box. He would open it up and gesture for the students to come over. INside they would find basic wood weapons of different kinds almost any they could think of.

"Take a weapon and move to a dummy. At my mark show me what you know." Kenshin would wait until they were all ready and and then shout "Begin!"

 

[Hitsugaya Ryoku]

Ryoku watched the Sennin place the dummies and immediately knew what they were about to do. He hoped that before they started attacking the dummies, they would receive some kind of instruction on form or technique. After all, the only “combat” Ryoku had ever experienced was a fist fight with his brother when they couldn’t decide on who would get the last dumpling at dinner.

Kenshin-sama motioned them over and revealed a bunch of wooden weapons for them to practice with. The first thing that caught Ryoku’s eye was a bokken. He reached for it and pulled it out of the box to examine it. It was long, but lighter than he expected. He waved it around for a minute to get a sense of how fast he could swing it, without actually swinging it while surrounded by his classmates.

Ryoku moved over to one of the dummies, as instructed and his teacher said the dreaded words.

“Show me what you know.”

This was probably to give him a decent baseline for what he had to teach his students, so Ryoku didn’t worry about embarrassing himself. Instead he let himself get distracted with the idea of getting closer to becoming a real shinobi. He didn’t know anything to show, so instead he just did what he could.

He stepped up to the dummy and got in a terrible battle stance while he waited for his instructor’s word to begin. His feet were parallel and shoulder-width apart, and he held the bokken in front of him with his fingers intertwined to hopefully help with grip strength. Once he got the word, he pulled the wooden sword over his shoulder and brought it down onto the dummy with all of his might at the dummy. His feet firmly planted, his legs unmoving, and his weight unshifted. It had to have been an awkward sight. It definitely felt awkward to Ryoku but he had no clue why. Either he was just not used to the movements, or it was wrong.

The next time he swung the training sword, he pulled it to his side and stepped forward with the swing, to see if that felt better. The motion of the wooden blade felt worse, but the shift in the momentum felt nice. He tried to do the first swing he did over the shoulder again, but this time he stepped into the swing. It still didn’t feel great, but it felt better.

Ryoku continued this method of guess and check until instructed otherwise.

WC: 420/1152

 

[Santaru Kaede]

Daenerisu finished rehydrating herself and capped her water bottle. She clipped it back to her belt and watched excitedly as Kenshin went to open the first box. What could possibly be in there? It could be weapons. It could be boxing gloves. It could be a spooky, shapeshifting monster. Ok, probably not that one, but she had heard stories of creatures like that hiding in closets and under beds. It could even be a bowling alley! Again, probably not that.

She stood up on her toes and leaned forward a bit to get a sooner look at what was inside, but she didn't walk forward despite nothing stopping her. She grinned as she pieced together what they would be doing and was practically jumping with joy when Kenshin opened the other box to reveal weapons. She hurried over and grew a little disappointed when she saw that they were wooden. She would prefer to use her own sword on her back, but she shrugs and chose a large wooden sword built like a greatsword. She lined up at one of the open dummies and took a stance with the greatsword hanging over her shoulder as if it was sheathed on her back.

“Ready!”

She yelled as she lowered a bit into a sturdy stance. On Kenshin’s mark, she “drew" the sword in a flash and brought it down with two hands in a diagonal slash across the dummy. After connecting once, she pivoted back and twisted the large sword in her hands to reverse the direction and bring the blade back in a wide arc, horizontal cleave. She appeared to be letting the weight of the weapon do the majority of the work as she guided it in its path. After following through with the cleave, she brought the sword back over her shoulder and struck a ready stance with one hand in front of her in a half seal and the other holding the hilt of the sword over her shoulder. Danii continued with similar heavy-handed swings until Kenshin stopped the exercise.

Total WC: 1106

 

[Oshiro Junpei]

Kenshin-sensei was was kind enough to pass Junpei some water. The boy thanked him enthusiastically before guzzling it down, it was cold and refreshing. He sighed audibly in contentment with a large grin plastered to his face. The instructor didn't take long to show them what was in the box. It took a moment before he realized what the teacher was pulling out of the box and setting up; it was training dummies! Of course! That made sense to have for a class on physical combat. Almost immediately after Kenshin-sensei show the kids what was in the other box also; wooden weapons! And tons of them!

The other children seemed to grab their weapons quickly and got in to position to start practicing. Junpei stood their longer, looking at the seemingly infinite options. He didn't have experience with any weapons, and none of them seemed to grab his attention. The longer he stood there though, the more his anxiety of not having already made a decision mounted; making it even harder to decide. FInally, Junpei reached in and grabbed the first thing he could; a wooden bo staff. Having finally decided, he proceeded to follow suit with the other children and stepped in front of one of the free dummies.

The teacher then asked them to demonstrate what they already knew. Junpei just kind of stood there, not sure what to do since he didn't really know anything at all. In essence, by doing nothing he actually was showing what he knew. His classmates seemed so good though, especially Daenerisu. He snapped his gaze away and looked back at his dummy and then the staff in his hand. The boy took a poor fighting stance and began to whack clumsily at the dummy. He kept swinging and whacking, not wanting to fall too far behind the other kids.

[MFT]
Word Count: 308
Total WC: 1024/1500

 

[Kishiko Nagisa]

Kenshin would watch them carefully. He would wait until they did what they could before calling for a stop. He would go down the line and give advice.

First, it was Ryoku who picked a bokken. A sword wielder. Not surprised. Kenshin grabbed one of the wooden swords around the same length.

"A beginner! No worries I like working with those who have yet to develop bad habits. Now let us go over basic swordplay. First your stance. You need." Kenshin would spend a good 5 minutes going over everything from how to hold a sword to how to swing a sword and get the most out of it. He would use the wooden sword to correct Ryoku's posture. No blows but a sharp tap. "Now I want you to practice simple sword swings. Follow through with the strikes. At most I want you seeing a double swing. Do it, then realign yourself, then do it again."

Kenshin would move over to Daenerisu. Great swords were a little flashy for shinobi but they worked all the same. Stick them with the pointy end.

"Not bad. The only problem is that the weight of the sword is more or less pulling you. Momentum is great until a well placed leg trips you up. I want you to swing with the moment. Practice that leg work. Put your back into it. Think of it as muscle training. Start simple with a double strike across then above until you feel comfortable. Then try that combo you used but using the strength of your arms with the moment."

Kenshin would approach the final student, Junpei, who decided on a bo staff. Kenshin would grab a bo staff from the box and join the student spinning his own out of habit more than showing off.

"Ok another beginner! No worries. Now You will be doing something a little different." Another 5 minutes would pass with going over basic forms of using a bo staff. "Now the goal with a bo staff is to be nimble. WIth each step I want you to be swinging. Step with the staff like so." Kenshin would show how how he swung the staff how his legs traveled. HE did this a couple of times then put the staff on his shoulders behind his neck.

"Right so all of you go over what I just caught you. Nothing fancy and don't push yourself. Begin!"

 

[Hitsugaya Ryoku]

In between swings of his sword before the Sennin had given anyone further instruction, Ryoku glanced over at his teammate. The small girl with the large sword definitely seemed as though she had seen her way around a sword before. It was impressive considering their rank. As for the other student, he seemed more on the same level as Ryoku. It made him wonder whether they were behind or if their female classmate had been working at it longer than them.

Kenshin-sama grabbed a similarly-sized bokken from the box and approached Ryoku to assist with his form. As he explained what had to be done to improve his form, Ryoku listened intently and positioned his body to what he thought his instructor was describing. His teacher had to tap him several times with his own sword to fix minor things here and there, but once the tapping stopped, Ryoku took a minute to memorize exactly how his body felt in that stance.

The stance felt awkward and new, but powerful and sturdy. Once Ryoku felt that he had sufficiently absorbed the essence of his new stance, he struck the dummy in front of him and was sure to follow through, as instructed. This blow felt best when compared to all the attacks to the dummy thus far. Ryoku reset his form and repeated this strike several times.

In between swings of his “blade” Ryoku listened to Kenshin-sama’s advice to the other students. Maybe paying attention to how all weapons work can help him understand and counter all fighting styles at some point. Maybe even understanding how a powerful ninja views these weapons can help Ryoku gain insight on what it takes to be powerful himself.

Ryoku went back to swinging his wooden sword.

WC: 293/1445

 

[Santaru Kaede]

Daenerisu slowed the blade and came ro a rest as Kenshin stopped the first round exercises. She watched and listened as Kenshin gave pointers to Ryoku and used the time to take a breather and drink some water. She would even attempt to copy the stance Kenshin was teaching Ryoku. She had seen most of this before, but it never hurt to do extra work on the basics.

Daenerisu listened to Kenshin’s pointers. He had some good points about her footwork and her posture. She practiced the swing like Kenshin told her, but it felt off. Putting so much strength behind the swings felt counterproductive and didn't mesh with the training her grandfather gave her or her instincts as a Nanjirou. She tried a few variations and eventually found a happy median between using her strength, the weight of the sword, and deliberate, precise swings. Throughout the exercise she remembered to keep her feet planted firmly and her back straight. She works through the practice swings that Kenshin recommended. Before he left for the next student, she took a break to give him a bow.

“Thank you sensei. I will work on combining your suggestions with my own style and training.”

She quickly rehydrated and returned to her practice, eventually working back up to the combo she had started on with a slightly better footing. It would take some time for her to perfect, but she was heading down the right path. She paused briefly during her practice to watch Kenshin and Junpei work with the bo staff, a weapon she had never practiced with. The technique seemed different from the sword, but she made note of Kenshin’s advice on swinging with each step. Her weapon might be entirely different from his, but maybe she could work something similar into her own style one day.

Total WC: 1411

 

[Oshiro Junpei]

Sweat glistened from the boy’s brow as he awkwardly tried to figure out his chosen weapon. Junpei had watched his other teammates beat the dummies with their swords, though the contrast in sword size was comical. He should’ve chosen a sword, he could’ve followed his classmate’s lead then, Daenerisu certainly seemed capable with her weapon.

It wasn’t long before the instructor ended the first part of the exercise. He took his time talking to each of them. Junpei watched and listened as Kenshin spoke first with Ryoku and then Daenerisu. He was glad when it was finally his turn and the instructor walked up to him. He was glad to be reassured that being totally new to using weapons was okay; seeing how good his classmate was had him a little worried.

The boy watched Kenshin closely as he showed him the correct form and movements of using a bo staff. He had been way off. Here he had been swinging it around more like a sword instead. He adjusted his grip and took a moment to shake out any tension and to loosen up. The boy did his best to keep himself loose and nimble in between each strike against the dummy. He was still kind of clumsy and awkward, but he could definitely feel that he was starting to get it, and that was enough to plaster a big toothy grin on his face.

It was frustrating that his hands didn’t always seem to want to cooperate though. He knew mentally what he was supposed to do, but sometimes it just didn’t translate correctly to his hands. It began to agitate the boy, so he stopped to take a couple deep breaths momentarily before starting back at it, but his staff was starting to get real heavy in his arms real quickly.

[MFT]
Word Count: 304
Total Word Count: 1328/1500

 

[Kishiko Nagisa]

Kenshin would let them all practice for another 5 minutes. Each one of them were showing improvements and also a little wear and tear as they practiced really hard. Good a little sweat was good for them. Still, the wooden weapons would get heavier as they practiced. Time for a cool off before going to the final step.

Kenshin would call for them to stop and come over. He would hand out more water and towels.

"Good work you all. Really good work. Now let us do those stretches again to make sure those muscles get relaxed after that hard work. Kenshin would say as he looked at them and he would lead them through the streches again for a few minutes before shaking himself off.

"Right now for the final portion of the class. You can hit a stationary object but can you hit a moving target?" Kenshin would form a few handsigns and clones would appear one for each student. "Your goal is to hit your Kenshin 2 times in the next 10 minutes. They will not hit you but they will attempt to dodge. They are not moving at full speed so you should be able to hit them. Now when you are ready, tell your Kenshin and from that point you have 10 minutes."

Kenshin would move away to watch his clones engage with the student. Let us see if they could put their practice to good use!

 

[Hitsugaya Ryoku]

When their instructor had finally instructed them to stop, Ryoku took a minute to catch his breath. He took a couple of sips of his water and continued to catch his breath as he followed the Sennin in stretch. When they were finished with the stretch, he shook out his arms and legs as he listened to his teacher’s new set of instructions.

Ryoku couldn’t help but let his excitement slowly take him over. The class got better and better with every new phase. Now he got to test his accuracy against Kenshin-sama’s speed. He wouldn’t go all out but it was still a big deal. He obviously wasn’t going to make it easy for them, so Ryoku was excited about it. His first real test.

With his Kenshin clone in front of him, Ryoku readied himself. “Kenshin-sama,” Ryoku said, just audibly above a whisper as he tried to contain him excitement, smile slowing spreading across his face. He dropped into the stance his teacher had just taught him minutes before and said, “I’m ready.”

The Kenshin clone gave Ryoku a quick nod, and Ryoku immediately dashed forward with his sword and started with a downward swing, attempting to come down on his sensei’s shoulder. As expected, the clone quickly sidestepped the attack. Ryoku followed up with a move inspired by combo performed by his more experienced classmate. He stepped forward and attempted to immediately follow up the first attack with a horizontal slash of his wooden sword. Unsurprisingly the clone dodged this attack as well, simply by stepping backwards. The clone’s movement seemed effortless, but Ryoku did not expect to land a hit right away. His main goal at first was getting a sense of how quickly the clone was moving.

He thought about going in and swinging rapidly in an attempt to wear the Sennin down, but he would no doubt wear himself down first so that plan was out. There was no way he could hit the Sennin with his own speed, so the only way was to predict his movements. The problem with that was that Ryoku had no battle experience to base his predictions on. Everything he guessed would be based on assumptions. However, one thing he knew for certain was that it was incredibly difficult to dodge while not touching the ground. If he could get the Sennin to leap off of the ground, since he was avoiding offense altogether, Ryoku could capitalize on such movements.

Ryoku finally finished the stroke of his last attack after thinking through his next movement. Then he launched himself at the clone again, hopefully before he recovered fully from the last movement, but it was clear that he had already fully replanted his footing. Just before reaching the clone, Ryoku dropped down and attempted to sweep kick. The clone quickly stepped back on his back foot, stepping over Ryoku’s leg. Ryoku, without slowing down his spinning motion from the kick, attempted to swing at the planted foot with his bokken. The clone leapt over the attack, just as Ryoku had hoped. Ryoku couldn’t help but smirk as he spun around one more time and brought his bokken up vertically at the clone. The clone, almost effortlessly, reoriented his body midair to avoid the swing. It was both graceful and impressive.

Ryoku was now in a position where he could not reorient his body quick enough for an attack and he was wide open for a counter. If the Sennin was fighting back, Ryoku would have lost. Ryoku had already learned so much. It was then that he realized that he wasn’t focusing enough on the form that Kenshin-sama had shown him.

Ryoku quickly reset his stance and looked the clone in the eyes. He had the same cool look that Kenshin-sama always had. Ryoku took a deep breath and focused on his stance. “’You should be able to hit them,’ huh?” Ryoku muttered under his breath, still smiling widely. “Looks like I have a long way to go.” Then he reengaged on his instructor. He wasn’t going to give up that easily.

After several minutes of failed attempts at hitting his instructor, Ryoku didn’t let himself become frustrated. He knew that he was learning just by being in the situation. However, that didn’t mean that he would allow himself to finish this training without landing something. Ryoku had a plan for a last ditch attempt to hit his teacher. Of course it would never work in a live battle, but he would take advantage of the class conditions to get a point.

Ryoku lunged his body at the clone, right shoulder first, sword low and to the left, ready to be swung left-hand dominant. As he had gotten extremely close to the clone, an attack that was extremely easy to counter in a real battle, the clone was forced to leap backward quickly.

That was the instant.

Ryoku quickly flung the bokken forward at the Sennin and it hurled towards him, spinning wildly like a sideways windmill. This was obviously not a valid strategy in a real battle, but Ryoku fell desperate. The moment was now out of Ryoku’s hands so he watched it unfold, heart pounding against his chest and sweat streaming down his face.

The clone’s toes were barely touching the ground when the moment for him to dodge came. Would he take the hit or would he catch it? Either way, Ryoku saw it as a point. He watched the clone closely and then it happened.

The clone pulled his feet backward so that his knees slammed to the ground and he brought his head backwards to the ground and dodged the sword like he was playing a game of limbo.

Ryoku stared in disbelief. “He’s having way too much fun with this,” he said with an awkwardly uncomfortable chuckle.

Then time was up.

The whole situation made Ryoku dizzy. He just wasn’t quick enough to hit the Sennin. Ryoku dropped down onto his butt and tried to fathom what had just happened. It was almost comical, but not surprising.

WC: 1015/2460

 

[Santaru Kaede]

Daenerisu stopped as Kenshin called off the exercise. She sets down the practice sword and takes another drink from her water bottle. She accepts the towel and wipes the sweat from her brow. She follows Kenshin's lead in the stretches and enjoys the small cool down after their workout. When they finish their stretching, Danii listens to Kenshin as he explains the final part of their class. She seems to grow excited at the idea of putting her training to some use. Compared to her other classes, this one was proving to be a ton of fun and helpful at the same time. She picks the practice sword up again and takes a ready pose in front of her Kenshin clone.

“Ready when you are.”

The Kenshin clone nods and Danii briefly closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. A few seconds later, she opens her eyes with a new look of determination, a look that seems to have knowledge beyond her years. Her stance straightens a bit, almost unnoticeable to the normal eye, but Kenshin would surely notice it. She pushes off with her back foot and charges at her clone enemy. She brings the sword down in a cleaving arc, but the Kenshin clone effortlessly steps backwards and out of the way attack. Danii takes a deep breath and rotates the blade to bring it back with a similar, but better aimed, backhand that she had been practiced. Kenshin again hops back out of the way, but she was a little closer this time. Something guides her to keep pushing and she uses her momentum to keep the swing going for a roundhouse strike. Hands seem to guide her strike as she swings around maintaining balance on her feet to prevent the loss of momentum. She channels a bit of chakra into the blade forming an invisible layer around the blade. After finishing the rotation, she plants her feet and uses her own muscles to finish the slash and carry the momentum as Kenshin had told her to do. The clone does more than just hop backwards this time as he jumps away. He lands smoothly about 10 feet away. Danii swings her sword into a “sheathed" position on her back and looks up at him with a grin. She exhales and releases the chakra she had gathered into that attack. A small cut appears on the Kenshin clone’s abdomen barely drawing a drop of blood.

“That's one.”

She charges back in knowing that it would be hard to pull off that Nanjirou trick again, but still maintaining the look of a seasoned swordsman on her face. As the training goes on, the wear of maintaining the trance-like state begins to show. She eventually drops the trance, but continues to push through with her barrage of attacks. Despite getting a hit in early, she comes to the realization that the clone had been holding back. Even after he stepped up his game, she had a strong feeling that the clone was still not going at 100%. Every time she got close to hitting him again, the clone managed to pull from his reserves and move even faster. When the real Kenshin finally called for time, she plopped on the ground and finished off the rest of her water bottle in one pull. She sat their composing herself and catching her breath while wondering how the others had fared.

Total WC: 1,982

 

[Oshiro Junpei]

His arms were already so tired, he wasn't used to using weapons like this, and now he had to fight a clone of his teacher. Junpei sighed softly, knowing that these classes were supposed to make him tougher and were designed to be challenging, but wow was Taijutsu harder than he had ever thought before. The boy watched as his classmates started the new portion of their class, beginning their fight with the clones. They both seemed to handle themselves pretty well, so that bolstered his confidence a little at least.

Junpei looked at the clone in front of him, ”I’m ready.” He wasted no time in charging at the instructor’s clone, gripping his staff tightly. He tried to remain loose and nimble, as the instructor had shown him. In practice and in application were two very different things, and it was much more difficult with a moving target. The Kenshin clone jumped and dodged expertly as the boy swung his staff at him.

He could move so quickly! And this was only a taste of Kenshin’s real speed? Crazy! He really did have a lot more training to do! They only had ten minutes to hit this clone and it had to be closing in soon. The longer the battle wore on the more difficult it was getting, meanwhile the clone wasn’t slowing at all. Junpei continued swinging the staff around quickly and wildly until finally he felt a ‘THUD’. Somewhere he had managed to hit the clone once. That meant he only needed to hit him once more.

Junpei stopped for a moment and stared at the clone, thinking very quickly of a strategy for the second hit. He was halfway done, and that was awesome, giving him a little extra encouragement. The boy smiled as he charged at the clone, and then proceeded to trip. The boy wasn’t sure how it happened, but as he tumbled forward with his staff in hand, before he actually hit the ground, he felt another ‘THUD’ as the staff hit the clone during the tumble.

Junpei got up and brushed himself off and smiled just as this portion was ending, drinking the rest of the water the teacher had given him earlier.

[MFT]
Word Count: 371
Total WC: 1699