(no subject)

[burningbow]

Who: Mirai, Miyume, Shizuru - and interested parties.
Where: Archery Dojo.
When: Weds 12th and Fri 14th April.
What: Watching and meetings.

An irritable low hiss came out of the third-year student's mouth as the arrow slipped out her fingers and clattered on the floor. In the quieter atmosphere of the club, she had found it easier to relax than where the loutish young men were practicing their soccer and swimming. This would be where her plans fell through, though - the noise of her failure was drawing the attention of people in the room. "Has it gotta keep missing?!"

"Yeah," Mirai said. "The way you're drawing the bow is wrong. It needs to be this way instead."

He was approaching quite slowly. He had given his apologies and was sauntering away from another third-year to help. But how silly to imagine he was doing it for her good! He was picking up the arrow from the floor before he had quite gotten there. He handed it over with a smile. And he gave a guiding hand. His offer of help didn't come from the front, though. It came from behind. He looked down at her over the shoulder of her hakama and stood peacefully behind her. The gap between them was quite close, almost non-existent. When he did move, he shifted and encircled her with his arms, and getting her to move against him didn't take very much.

"You load it like this." Something brushed on the fingers she had over the bow - his own. He gently pushed her arms down toward the ground and kept the bow pointed down with his right, thinking about safety till he knocked her legs into the correct stance by breaking them apart with his knee. "You'll turn into a tree if you stand like that."

There was a moment or two of further adjustment where he was taking his time. His hands slid back down her arms to keep the bow and its arrow in the best position he could, and the emotion in his eyes was the most warm thing. He gave her right arm a subconscious rub and tried to keep her elbow out the way, "Three fingers, not two", till he was satisfied with her stance and gave a kind smile - simply because he thought she would let him get closer that way.

That happened to be the moment he let go. There was a moment of silence as the student's white arrow flew through the air, and they watched with bated breath - till it flew a few more yards ahead then clattered to the floor a second time.

Comments

Friday, April 14th

[phantomcloud]

Miyume watched the practice from a spot on the bleachers, not far from the door, cane propped up beside her. She'd opted to wait until practice was sure to be well underway before heading to the gymnasium, slipping in as quickly and discreetly as she could. Somehow she wasn't surprised to see Mirai assisting a female club member so enthusiastically, especially after the rumors she'd heard at school this week. The girls in Room 401 had gotten into an argument and Mirai's name had been mentioned.

Of course, she'd guessed what type of boy he was already but having a theory about someone and seeing the reality of it before her eyes were a bit different from each other. Briefly, a mixture of emotions played across her features - sadness, disappointment, and even a touch of envy though exactly who it was meant for was unclear. Then she was calm again and her solemn gaze shifted from Mirai and the girl completely to rest on another rather handsome boy practicing with his bow.

Re: Friday, April 14th

[burningbow]

Mirai turned to the student with a smile at this. "That was much better," he congratulated. "Keep trying. Try - be at ease in your own skin. I have to observe that your stance is getting better also. Keep it up."

He spoke in such a gentle and friendly way that he would have looked like a saint no matter what he was doing. He also plucked with utmost skill an arrow from her quiver. Far from desiring to make a game of their close contact, he simply handed it over. But there was something he did want - and wickedness came to his eyes. They seemed to pay her all of his attention.

Then his interest was gone. Gently he let go, stepping back and leaving her arms in mid-air. He turned on his heel and stared at Miyume.

"Excellent," he said. His eyes settled on her with the expression he knew what she was thinking. "Thank you for coming. It's a pleasure to see you here."

Re: Friday, April 14th

[phantomcloud]

Miyume didn't seem to notice Mirai speaking to her. Her gaze continued to linger on the archer she was currently observing. The tangle of emotions from a moment before was nowhere to be seen now, instead replaced by a steadily blossoming smile of such purity, pleasure, and innocent interest that it seemed to belong more on the face of a nymph or some other supernatural beauty. The boy, in question, looked up as if sensing he was being watched. Upon spotting her, he broke into a smile of his own and gave a friendly little wave which she returned shyly.

Not once did Miyume's eyes show the slightest hint of straying back toward Mirai.

Re: Friday, April 14th

[burningbow]

Mirai seemed unconcerned by this. He could see that she was talking to his kouhai because she wanted him to be uncomfortable. Except he simply could not imagine himself ever having to compete with one of the juniors. He stood there watching every exchange and expression. For his gaze would not move.

There was a break in the silence; students were firing at the range. Then Mirai was calling to the boy in question, gesturing to the empty vessels first - which needed to be refilled. He was staring at him with his cold eyes to get to work. It would not be received strangely - helping new people was his role.

Re: Friday, April 14th

[phantomcloud]

Miyume suppressed her laughter but couldn't completely hide her amusement. For an instant, her smile shifted into a slight smirk but the change was so swift, it could have easily been dismissed as a figment of imagination. Once the boy had been sent off to fill the bins, her gaze slowly drifted back toward Mirai. Upon seeing him, she smiled brightly, appearing genuinely thrilled to see him. Miyume tucked a lock of hair behind one ear and leaned forward slightly, the very picture of barely concealed excitement.

"Hello, senpai," she greeted, waving to Mirai with far more enthusiasm than she had the boy a moment ago.

Re: Friday, April 14th

[burningbow]

Mirai's smile grew. It was not unattractive. He saw, perceiving through even the thickest of Miyume's darkness, answers to many of his suspicions that she tried to hide with her keen mind. Not being a fool like the student, he flashed a little devious smile and chose to grant her secrecy.

"Miyume-chan. It's been a long time."

A short greeting. Then the urge to put her on the spot, "Would you enjoy a lesson with us?"

Re: Friday, April 14th

[phantomcloud]

The girl smiled with a pleasant blandness that contradicted the glimmer of arousal in her eyes. Her cheeks were a little flushed, her lips slightly parted, and she fidgeted a little on the bench. As if suddenly feeling very self-conscious, she pressed her knees together.

"Oh, I don't know, senpai," she said, twisting a lock around her finger in a very convincing display of beginner's anxiety. "I might mess up. I don't think I have the upper body strength for it."

Re: Friday, April 14th

[burningbow]

Mirai felt his greed rise up. Obvious ploy or not, Miyume was cleverly giving him exactly the image he wanted, and seemed to understand. She believed a little tenderness was something he needed. He went cheerfully into the bleachers, with quite a nice smile on his face as he sat down next to her, one hand on his side.

"Is that what you think?"

Underneath his smile, not for the first time, was something deviant. "Sounds like you've listened to your mother. She's right, I'll admit that. But... the truth is she's not here. My feeling is you can do it if you want it," he said encouragingly.

Re: Friday, April 14th

[phantomcloud]

"Oh, that's not what my mother says. That's what I say," Miyume said with another of her mysterious little smiles, tone light and vaguely teasing. "It's what I know."

The whole time she was speaking, she'd been scooting closer toward him in a very obvious manner. Just when it seemed like she might keep going until she wound up in his lap, she stopped just when her thigh was barely brushing Mirai's hand.

Re: Friday, April 14th

[allisnothing]

Later, towards the later end of the practice, Haruka found her way to the archery dojo, listening from the near the entrance and ignoring the occasional glance her way.

She distinguished voices and who seemed to be doing well and who were cursing more than others and who sounded like they were getting smacked by their stringbows. Arrows clattered against the ground, thunked against boards, and whistled through the air (or in one particular case, the archer was distracted and the arrow only got a few feet).

Overall, she'd developed a decent mental map of things.

Re: Friday, April 14th

[burningbow]

Mirai stood at the end focusing, with noises of arrows flying past him at his left ear. The conversation with Miyume had happened so fast that, at first, all he could think of was releasing his energy. He lowered his bow to load an arrow against the string and the slender fingers of his left hand pulled it back tight. Though he could feel the weight of the bow when he lifted it in front of him, there nearly wasn't as great a weight on his shoulders.

He was letting the string go. The release was a great weight off his mind, and as soon as he dropped the tension the arrow penetrated the target with a satisfying thud. Although he had no idea Haruka was that close, and he simply murmured "ch!" to himself in frustration.

Re: Friday, April 14th

[allisnothing]

Somewhere in Haruka's mental map, she started mapping where she heard Imaizumi. He was pretty close to her right now.

She'd been hearing a lot of things about him too, in the sound-scape.

'Wow, most be great to be captain.'

'Tch. Already after first years? Seriously?'

'He corrected by stance and I started hitting the middle consistently! I almost to mess up my stance again teeehehee...'

'Did you see the way he was touching her? Am I really the only one noticing that? He totally chased me away just so he could have her!'

The gossip seemed to have winded down mostly but she still caught snatches here or there.

Interesting mix.

After hearing Imaizumi's frustrated sound, despite his arrow going 'thunk', she commented, "Miss what you were aiming for, senpai?"

Re: Friday, April 14th

[burningbow]

After another round of firing arrows and listening to the rumours, Mirai was forced to accept that he would be the topic of conversation for a while. He carefully fired another arrow into the centre - again without regard for what was happening around him. They were firing weapons and too stupid to understand what had happened.

He drew his hand slowly down his own bow and smiled. That was all he needed. He lay the weapon on the floor when he heard another of his special friends speaking to him, and it lay there as he turned to give her a smile.

"Kiri-chan! You just can't stay away, can you? What if people talk?"

Re: Friday, April 14th

[allisnothing]

Haruka tilted her head, listened for a moment, and then nodded towards the direction of general chatter.

"Huh. Already sounds like a lot of talk without me here," she replied. She shrugged. "I can always still leave."

Re: Friday, April 14th

[burningbow]

"No, please. It's very nice having you here," Mirai said to her. His voice was very quiet and unemotional. "You don't even seem afraid. I can't believe you would willingly come here knowing all that." He looked around - no doubt meaning the crowd and the rumours it spread. "If you come here of your own decision, you can't really blame me for anything."

His tone began sounding hopeful. "... So now, this means you will stay a little longer?"

Re: Friday, April 14th

[allisnothing]

"I'm an actor. I could be secretly trembling inside," Haruka said with a straight face, but she didn't show a trace of it fear or bother. At the crowd or being around Imaizumi.

"But I choose this fate of my own will, to increase my spiritual experience and to just hang. And I said I'd show so yeah."

Re: Friday, April 14th

[burningbow]

Mirai collected his weapon and arrows together and arranged them in a pile beside his feet. "True. But I also told you - come to me an hour before the end and I will show you something special. Maybe," he said, "you should be more careful with your time."

Nothing was said, either then or for a while. Mirai finished collecting the arrows into the vessel and climbed to his feet. "That tardiness will become dangerous as you near finals, won't it? Or is it possible you were lying and didn't want to visit me at all?"

Wednesday, April 12th

[waterholdmedown]

And two days before Miyume, Shizuru was stretched out in what looked like it couldn't possibly be a comfortable position on the same bleachers, watching a similar scene with decidedly less reaction. It was helpful in one regard: she could tell that archery wasn't going to be for her. Too much precision required, too much patience.

And now that she thought about it, ikebana was kind of the same, wasn't it? Made sense that the two clubs might attract the same people. Though it seemed there might be some who had other ideas.

Re: Wednesday, April 12th

[burningbow]

The lesson was progressing quite nicely. Mirai closed the gap between him and the female student he was talking to and gave a smile not unlike he would give on Friday. He added the arm-touching and a couple of pleasant laughs - and learned he only had to make the barest contact to make her blush. He controlled himself however, and only asked her for the bow she was holding.

The precision Shizuru had been thinking of was then displayed when he did a few things. First, he drew an arrow from the vessel in front of him, which he loaded into his bow and pulled back, to raise his bow to a clear height and shoot in what seemed like a single motion. Second, the arrow he fired was ten times more accurate than most in the class, and penetrated deeply through the middle of the small target on the ground, a good distance away. And the third reason was that he went to the next vessel and repeated himself. He then brought the bow down and passed it back.

"Hey, Benten-chan. Why don't you come and say hello?" he asked. He didn't think he needed to go over to her side to bring her into the spirit of things.

Re: Wednesday, April 12th

[waterholdmedown]

Shizuru collected herself from the heap she'd arranged herself into and hopped down the bleacher rows, drawing a few puzzled looks in the process from those who weren't presently occupied.

"Didn't wanna interrupt." She shook out her messy mane and peered around before turning her attention back to Mirai himself. "Not bad. I see why you're in charge."

Re: Wednesday, April 12th

[burningbow]

A smile appeared on the corners of Mirai's mouth. He was thoroughly entertained by Shizuru's mannerisms. He inspected faces, and took notes of body language. Too many people were shocked, in spite of their obviously weak attempts at stoicism.

"Thank you," he said. He took note of her disheveled appearance. "Would you feel better if I got you a chair? Or would you prefer a lesson?"

Re: Wednesday, April 12th

[waterholdmedown]

"Nah. Not my style. I'm good watching."

Unlike Mirai, Shizuru had already taken in all she needed to around her with a quick glance, but she had less interest in the finer details than he did.

That, and it was mostly things she'd seen more than enough of already. Nothing interesting enough to catch her attention. "Can see why you like it," she added, deadpan.

Re: Wednesday, April 12th

[burningbow]

Mirai left the smile on his face, but the one behind his eyes turned a little darker. There were plenty of interesting things to find in a crowd - if only she would look.

"Oh? You don't think it's exciting?" Twang! He went back to help a student with his bow momentarily. Coming back, he apologised, "Sorry. You haven't found anywhere exciting, then? So you come here?"

Re: Wednesday, April 12th

[waterholdmedown]

"Not what I'd call it. Kinda... slow? Not quite. Takes too much patience." She shrugged, figuring the meaning would get across.

"Haven't found anything good yet. Still in the go-home club," she added, tossing off the bit of blatant rule-breaking like it was nothing--changing clubs was one thing, but the requirement to at least be in them was strict.

Re: Wednesday, April 12th

[burningbow]

"You're not a fan of discipline?"

Mirai was watching Shizuru as she talked, silently and with rising admiration. This answer pleased him. He began to feel like an enlightened individual. He thought she was far cleverer than people realised and looking at her gave him a general reminder of himself. It might be that she was braver, though.

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, you need not worry over it around me. Boring or not, this place is my sanctuary. I don't mind sharing it's safety with you. Please treat it with respect."