harmonize_rpg | (no subject)

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.

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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.

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.

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."

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?"

"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.

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?"

"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.

"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."

Edited 2013-08-20 12:39 (UTC)

Shizuru's eyebrows inched up a fraction, then the corners of her lips followed. Just a twitch, nothing more. "Sure. Thanks." For once, it was actually possible to hear a little gratitude in her tone as well as her words.

"Anyways. It works for some. Just not me." Another shrug, a one-armed thing that was almost a roll of the shoulder. "Seems like some people might have other reasons? Being here, I mean."

"Well yes," said Mirai. "Everybody has a reason for being here. Do you wonder what they would say if you were to ask them directly?"

He gestured with a sweep of his arm across the entire hall. There was a large collection in his domain, all different people. He smiled as nicely and pleasantly as if he were doing Shizuru a favour.

"Well, who would you like to ask?"

Shizuru spared them only a quick, uninterested glance. There were a few whose attention had been drawn by the odd pair, but nothing besides the sort of attention she was used to. And, of course, the ones who were more interested in the captain.

"Ehn. They'd prob'ly say the same things. Discipline, all that stuff." Her always-hooded gaze fell on him, with a look that was utterly unreadable.

This was where Mirai gave her a look that was completely open - and for several moments he also looked totally uninterested and bored. Which of course showed he viewed the idea of discipline the same way. He hid his expression again after a moment, and just stood there. He was smiling rather curiously, and making no move of any kind.

"Very true. But as you might conjecture, I am forced to come here to find a little relief. This routine takes a lot off my mind." Then came his question. "You're not the disciplined sort are you, Benten-chan? You mentioned the other week that you stay up quite late as well."

"Yeah. Usually out. Roommate kept asking questions. Still does, but less chance to now."

Shizuru gave a one-armed roll of the shoulder that was almost sort of a shrug. "Didn't mind, but she didn't like the answers."

Mirai glanced around the whole of the dojo and ferreted out the club members listening to their conversation. Then, chasing them off, told them to practice their aim.

Satisfied, he turned back to Shizuru. "That's a problem. ... What are you going to do when she passes your answers to somebody who will make you do something about it?"

Edited 2013-08-24 00:49 (UTC)

"I'll deal if it happens," she answered, waving off Mirai's concern with a vague gesture. "Not the first time."

While that fact might have been expected, she didn't elaborate on the circumstances--not that she elaborated on much of anything in general.

"I see," Mirai said after a moment. "That is a shame. It would be nice if someone could be considerate of their friend. But, my offer is open like I said."

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Wednesday, April 12th

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