(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.

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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.

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.