vivarium | The Kendo Club forms! OPEN

Sasuke seems more intent on blocking than making any attempt at a strike himself. It's here where his fast reaction speed shines as he deflects swing after swing.

He allows himself to be pushed back to some extent, though he does begin shifting to the side where he can. If possible, he'll deflect Hershel's blade one way as he moves the other, aiming a quick strike at his exposed wrist.

Edited (iconssss) 2014-09-10 04:07 (UTC)

"He's goin' for a kote hit!" Heiji called to Hershel, who was really doing quite well considering how recently he'd started learning. "Remember, redirect the strike -- don't meet it with force!"

He was absolutely thrilled that the new kid knew what he was doing. What were the odds?

Edited 2014-09-10 05:12 (UTC)

"Right-" What the heck was a kote, you kendo nerds. Actually he knows what that means, thanks Coach, so he redirects the strike. Honestly he was impressed too, Sasuke clearly knew what he was doing, way better than Hershel. He almost wanted to throw a dry comment out that one day they'd need to try fencing so he could beat you nerds for once, but he had to concentrate.

He tried a strike of his own, probably kote wrist area because all the other areas he learned were too dangerous without padding or armor, this time trying to take all of Heiji's advice to heart. He was doing better but there's a clear opening at his side, some sort of bad habit his fencing probably gave him. Go for it Sasuke, finish him.

It's becoming clearer just how inexperienced Hershel is with kendo in comparison to Sasuke. It... makes sense, if Hershel had only just learned. But being able to execute the movements so automatically without any memory of why he's so familiar with it continues to leave him vaguely unsettled, even if his actual expression gives no such feelings away.

Besides that, even if he knows the movements, it's almost like something is wrong with his body-- he doesn't feel like he's actually moving exactly the way he needs to. Was he just out of shape...?

Although his blade is redirected, he recovers quickly, avoiding Hershel's own attempt at a kote strike and taking advantage of that open side to go for an abdomen strike this time. Even if he isn't at top performance level, he's still quite fast.

"Yame!" shouted Heiji, calling a stop to the match. Sasuke seemed like he knew what he was doing, but if he couldn't stop in time, a do hit would really hurt. And in any case, it looked like they'd pretty much sorted out who was good at what.

"'It's something like this', huh?" he said, grinning at Sasuke. "Well, ya seem a little out of practice, but you've obviously done this before. You should practice with us! Trust me, them magazines are gonna get old fast."

Yeah, Hershel knew he was beat. He froze when Heiji called the match, looking a bit sheepish about his glaring mistake before he couldn't help but smile at Sasuke. He loved it when they figured out things about themselves on their own, screw you Zero.

"I guess we know a little more about you now, Sasuke. I'd love to see you and Heiji spar one of these days." He said, tapping his shinai against his shoulder thoughtfully. "How do you feel? Muscle memory suddenly kicking in is strange, right?"

Sasuke stops as well, the blade pausing just before connecting with Hershel's side. He immediately lowers it, relaxing into a more casual pose.

"...It's strange, yeah." That's easy enough to admit. But it's Heiji to whom he turns, seemingly puzzled. "You noticed too? Even though I felt like I knew how I was supposed to move, my body wasn't able to keep up." Had he stopped practicing for some reason?

"Yeah, you seemed a little wobbly. Maybe you've been slacking?" said Heiji. His grin widened. "Oh, and don't think I ain't notice you calling me 'Hattori', you little punk!"

Gaijin got a pass, BUT NOT YOU, BUDDY, and if Sasuke didn't move aside, he was regret it as Heiji jumped off the couch arm to muss up his hair.

"We certainly have plenty of time to practice so-" Hershel began, pausing as Heiji decided to try and assault the poor kid's hair. He wasn't sure whether to find this amusing or scold Heiji on being a punk. He settled with amusing because yeah, welcome to being friends with Heiji man you got used to it. Have an apologetic look.

Good thing his life is full of forgotten regrets already. Although he tenses up a bit at first, he doesn't actually put up any kind of fight once Heiji's got him. Have at, dude.

"...You said you did fencing, Hershel?" See, he can remember to use first names! "Does that mean you have one of the fencing swords from the shop?"

"Haha, that's what I told him he should got, but this guy opted for a shinai instead." Oops, oh well those coins were just gone forever now. One day Heiji might manage to save up some more once he was done giving them away to everyone and their dog.

"Said it'd be easier than tryin' to spar with a foil. Well, can't say I disagree with that..."

"Yes, it's actually one of the few memories I received while here." Hershel explained with a smile. "Heiji figured it out earlier than that though, from callouses on my hands, no less. I'm convinced he must be a detective from one of those hard boiled novels."

He glanced at the shinai. "I think this was a better investment, I could hardly spar against Heiji with a foil, they're far too flexible to go up against a shinai. Besides, learning kendo is one of the few fun things to do around here, and now you can borrow it to practice too or spar with Heiji, if you'd like." See? Right choice.

He looks surprised to hear that. "Just from the callouses?" That's some pretty sharp observational skills. He's not sure he'd be able to tell exactly what kind of work resulted in what sorts of callouses forming - much less for something like fencing.

"...If that's the case, I'll save up for my own," he says as he shifts his grip on the shinai, holding it out to Heiji. If he's going to participate in the kendo practices, he'd rather not have to constantly borrow one. Hershel and Heiji were the ones who earned the coins to purchase the shinai in the first place, so they should be the ones getting the most use out of them.

Heiji laughed. "Well, you get different calluses from diggin' or writing or so on than you get from holding a sword. Right? Although I think maybe Hershel thought I was gonna read his palm or something."

"Responsible, ain't you?" He took the shinai back and leaned it up against his shoulder, then held out a hand. "You want me to look at yours, too?"

"I was a bit convinced Heiji was going to reveal himself a psychic at the time." Hershel mused. Is he joking? A little, but at this point not much would surprise him.

He leaned against the back of the couch, watching their interaction curiously. Maybe he'd actually read Sasuke's palm this time, that'd be exciting. "You can borrow mine anytime, Sasuke, it's no trouble."

...It is admittedly a pretty good way to figure something out about yourself. After only a brief hesitation, he'll nod and hold his right hand out.

Heiji may notice that, despite knowing kendo, he doesn't appear to... actually have any calluses that would indicate that. Of course, given how he struggled with it before, it's probably as they expected; he's out of practice. He does, however, have a few on his fingers that would indicate he wrote a lot, which would make sense if he were still a student. That, and the center of his palm appears to be pretty tough. A climber, perhaps?

In response to Hershel:

"It's fine, really. It will give me something new to work for." Besides the obvious food, of course.

Heiji took Sasuke's hand and felt his palm and fingers, looking curiously intent as he did so. Then he whistled.

"Well, looks like you ain't been swinging a shinai for a while -- look how soft the skin is around here! But I don't think it's because you got sick or anything." He prodded the center of Sasuke's palm. "Otherwise you wouldn't have this here. I think this is from some kinda weight-bearing activity. Well, since you're not an adult, it could be from hobby climbing."

He smiled at Sasuke. "Looks like you take notes old-school, too!"

Hershel leaned in a bit, interested in Heiji's callous fortune telling party over here. He looked at Sasuke's hands- he could see where Heiji got the comment about taking notes, though that was hardly surprising.

"Sasuke is probably a student." He commented, leaning back a bit. "I can't say I'm sure about your age but you're probably in highschool, right?" Then again they had people who looked way younger or older than they actually were, who knows.

The climbing bit was interesting though. Sasuke didn't strike him as the type to scale rockwalls but what the heck did he know about climbing? Apparently nothing.

...Huh. It looks like he wasn't expecting the climbing part either, judging by the look of surprise Heiji gets.

"Probably..." He can't really narrow it down to any grade, but he does feel more like he would be in high school rather than junior high. It's hard to say exactly why, though.

At any rate, it's his turn to check, flexing his hand a bit as he observes the toughened skin on his palms. His next words are a low mumble, mostly thinking to himself. "Did I switch from kendo to climbing for some reason...?"

In a way, it seems to have brought up more questions than answers.

The Kendo Club forms! OPEN

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