(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

Re: Friday, April 14th

[burningbow]

After this, Mirai was straining his eyes to try and catch the truth of the matter - and kept missing. He tore himself away from the mystery he had embroiled himself in and sat on the bench.

Then he parted his hakama a little and slipped his phone inside. He was a thin and lean fellow, and it showed when he weakly tugged his clothing back into place, only for it to drape down.

"Certainly. But if you want to know something about me, know that I think of myself as the ocean," he was now curling his hair around a finger, "and you seem to be swimming in deep and murky waters."

Re: Friday, April 14th

[phantomcloud]

Miyume listened thoughtfully to his words, relieved that he'd sat back down, at least. She got up briefly, straddled the bench, and sat back down so she could face him directly. She was still very close and the only obstruction between him and her panties was the cloth of her uniform skirt.

And of course, the archery club members still practicing on the range.

"I love the ocean," she said simply. "It's beautiful. Some places are deep, dark, and dangerous. Some things appear twisted and grotesque but if you educate yourself about them, you understand them more. And understanding is the ultimate enemy of fear."

A short pause.

"Can you tell me more about what these deep, murky waters are like? I want to understand so I won't be frightened."

Re: Friday, April 14th

[burningbow]

Mirai listened to each opinion as it came to him, holding his cards close to his chest first. Then he showed her the pictures. He was giving her a view of how he was a friend and an excellent archer. She could see the trophies and the accolades he had earned - though there was something about the smiling that seemed like something wasn't there.

He crossed over a leg and inspected his nails. Now she saw something mostly real, when he was staring from his height down on her; he raised a hand and ran it through his head back down over his neck. There was enough emotional distance to give her a view of what he was thinking.

"Let's not talk about this, shall we?" But his voice was kind, and he found the point he was trying to make and brought it out. "This mystery's what makes the ocean interesting, right? ... Do you want to lose that? I would feel so horrible."

Re: Friday, April 14th

[phantomcloud]

"We're not as different as you think, you and I," Miyume said just as kindly, regarding him openly with gentle understanding.

Thinking wasn't her strong suit. Miyume didn't like thinking or reasoning or anything at all that might bring her down to earth or interfere with her view from above it.

"There is nothing inside you that I won't find interesting or unworthy. I won't hurt you. Nor will I push you or put you in a cage. I can wait. As long as it takes, even. I'm not going anywhere."

He'd shown her some of his cards. To not do the same would be insincere. She smiled softly and reached out to tuck a strand of his hair behind his ear.

Re: Friday, April 14th

[burningbow]

Mirai helped her to pin a number of the loose strands of his hair and clutched her wrist with his other hand. Then he brought her hand to his mouth, his hair falling across it, and then blew gently across the skin. It began to feel like something else might happen - but he did nothing.

The conversation was blooming quite nicely. That was reward enough. He took Miyume's hand in both of his own and returned it to the bench between them. He gave a glance to the row of archers below them, and then beamed a smile.

Re: Friday, April 14th

[phantomcloud]

Miyume glanced at the club members, unable to keep a warm, happy smile of her own off of her face. Most of their faces were rather indifferent. After all, it just looked like a concerned senpai cheering up a distressed kouhai from the outside. There were a few here and there, however, that appeared to have possibly caught on to what they were really doing. A few girls viewed her enviously and appeared to on the verge of gossiping right in front of them. The boy she'd been watching earlier seemed a little upset, much to Miyume's regret, but it had been a necessary casualty to achieve a greater purpose. Besides, he'd recover and have forgotten her completely soon enough.

Enough had been resolved enough for her to be content leaving things as they were for the time being. There was no need to rush into things, after all. There would be plenty of time to see where this led.