A Little Practice? [Private]

Ailin followed her zanjutsu teacher as he walked around the empty dojo, making sure everything was in place. She had talked to him earlier about finding her another student to spar with. Someone she didn't know so that she couldn't predict their moves. To her it didn't matter what year the student was as long as he could handle his weapon properly.

"I'll try to get you another senior, but I can't make any promises. Either way it will be worth you time to take this training seriously Ms. Tao." He had said, though from the way he said it he was sure who he was going to pull from class.

"Thank you Mr. Nagase. I really appreciate you doing this for me." Her voice was quiet as she bowed. She watched him leave, telling her that he would make sure the student had exceptional fighting skill. That hopefully the student he chose was just what she was looking for.

"Just what I'm looking for." She said under her breathe after he had left, moving to the area where they bokken were kept. The dojo's selection was different than the others, the white oak katana that she had been so attached to lately wasn't here. 'This is a little. . . Disappointing.' She thought as she grabbed a katana that was a little smaller than the white oak katana, but was the same in weight, if not a bit lighter. 'I think this will do.' She thought, the difference between that one and the one she would regularly use was minuscule so it shouldn't be a problem for her to adjust.

Turning her head to look at the door that had just opened, she wasn't expecting what she saw, but kept the surprise from her face.

Tatsuya had been practicing his zanjutsu in a solitary corner of a full dojo with a male partner who for the most part had no real skill with a katana. Usually in 4-5 moves he was able to quickly disarm his opponent. Tatsuya just sighed in annoyance after he disarmed his opponent for the 5th time. At this point Tatsuya was approached by Mr. Nagase.

"Sensei." Tatsuya bowed to the instructor and immediately returned to his former posture. "Is something the matter, Sensei?" Tatsuya asked.

"Oh, not at all. I just simply needed a sparring partner for one of my pupils in the next dojo, and you seem to possess exceptional skill. I was hoping you could help me out." Mr. Nagase stated with a smirk across his face.

"Certainly, Sensei. It would be my pleasure." Tatsuya replied. Tatsuya followed Mr. Nagase as he led the way to the dojo. Tatsuya carried with him his nodachi sized bokken when he entered the dojo. He saw the petite young woman standing before him and turned to Mr. Nagase "Is she my sparring partner, Sensei?" Tatsuya asked.

"That's right." Mr. Nagase replied. "Hmm, should be interesting." He stated with a smile across his face while approaching the young woman. He stopped a few feet away from her and bowed while introducing himself. "Tatsuya Okibi. It's a pleasure to meet you." He returned to his original posture, towering over the young woman.

If there was ever a time in her life that Ailin didn’t like her lack of height. . . It was now.

Her eyes scanned up and down taking in his appearance. Mr. Nagase certainly did have an odd sense of humor, assuming that it would be nearly impossible to do any real damage to someone wielding a weapon as long in length as she was tall. ‘He’s at least 2 feet taller than me.’ Ailin noted in her head as heard him introduce himself.

‘Even bowing he’s still taller than me.’ She thought, but didn’t comment on anything. She smiled as she stood there, trying to think of feasible ways to disarm him, but nothing was coming to mind. Her hand automatically tightening around the wooden katana she had in her hand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Mr. Okibi. My name is Tao.” She said, returning his bow, her silver hair dangling in front of her shoulders. Her voice was quieter than normal, but she didn’t know why. She didn’t feel nervous, but maybe a little insignificant. She turned to her teacher and bowed once again. “I can’t thank you enough for setting this up for me.” The words came out smooth and she returned to standing at full height.

“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what year are you? I don’t recall seeing you around campus.” She asked, the smile still present on her face. In her mind she was running through the very few kidô that she knew and could perform well, but wasn’t coming up with much.

"Well Tao-san I'm actually a sixth year. Ever since I started my third year I stopped confining myself to the campus grounds. The only reason I hang around on campus is for exams or when instructors ask for assistance with the underclassman. Like today for instance." Tatsuya stated with inquisitive eyes, looking for any type of nervousness that would appear on Tao's face.

"I was actually helping out with the first years when Sensei Nagase asked for me to spar with you. Sorry if I may have mislead you." He stated while turning to face Mr. Nagase.

"Well, it is certainly unexpected, but I did tell Ms. Tao that I would try and find a senior student for her. In truth I thought you looked familiar, but I just couldn't figure out from where." Mr. Nagase stated without changing his demeanor.

Tatsuya turned back to Tao. "If you desire I can find someone else for you to spar with. There are plenty of capable up-and-coming fighters in the class I was helping with. I won't feel the slightest bit discontent." He stated with a sincere appearance on his face.

‘A senior who hasn't been around the academy very much for four years. Well that explains everything.’ She thought. The answer Ailin had gotten from him wasn’t anything like the answer she expected. Yes, she was hoping to spar with another senior. Yes, she was hoping that it wasn’t someone she recognized; in her mind, a spar with a stranger was a lot better to try to achieve improvement than a spar with an acquaintance.

“Finding someone else would actually go against my wishes. I think that a spar with you would be interesting. . . Different at the very least.” Her voice was calm, that smile still ever present on her face. “I hope I don’t disappoint you.” She finished. He had experience outside that of what the school trained in, and thus he wouldn’t be like the others.

Her eyes averted to Mr. Nagase for a moment, wondering if he intended to stay during the entire session.

“Shall we begin?” She asked, looking back up at him. She had no intention of attacking first, but in her mind she couldn’t help but wonder what would happen once he landed an attack. She knew nothing about his fighting style, except his weapon of choice.

"Oh, well I don't consider very many people to be disappointments. I tend to think in a more logical point of view. There is always someone better. That's the best way to view things. At least that's how I see it." Tatsuya stated while walking away from Tao. Tatsuya always had a knack for reading opponents and Tao didn't really have a look that resembled a fighter. He wanted to see how she would handle his first attack. A split second after Tao finished her question Tatsuya leapt into the air with his sword in his right hand and made two quick complete spins of his body parallel to ground before coming down with a powerful straight vertical swing.

“Always someone better.” Ailin repeated, it was as if the words had been pulled right from her head. But the way he said it, it was obvious that the same phrase had a different meaning to him.

‘He’s fast.’ Ailin noted in her head as she watched him jump into the air, her eyes narrowing slightly as she jumped towards the left, barely missing the blow. She jumped once more to extend the distance between them, close range didn’t seem like a good idea to her at the moment. Kneeling down on one of her knees as she landed, she turned around as quickly as she could, her right hand pointing in his direction, the index finger extended.

“Hado #1: Sho!” She said, trying to push him back, her voice strong and sure. Lifting herself from the ground, she was running towards him; the bokken in front of her, her right hand in front as her left hand steadied from the back of the hilt. Swinging the blade from the bottom, she aimed the katana at a 50-degree angle up from his left side.

Tatsuya slide back as he was pushed by her "Sho" technique, not breaking his fighting stance. He immediately switched the blade in his right hand from the traditional grip to a reverse grip when Tao began to charge towards him. He began to turn to his right leaning away from the oncoming blade and dropped to the ground, placing his left hand on the ground. He continued turning, bringing his right leg around in a sweeping technique in an attempt to throw Tao off balance. Tatsuya had quickly formulated several outcomes in his mind for this technique. Should he succeed he would reach around with his left hand and grab Tao, throwing her on the ground to his immediate left side, and placing his sword by her neck. Should she still be able to maintain her balance and counter attack, the reverse grip of his blade would provide an adequate defense from practically any angle sword attack, and he would proceed with Hado #1- Sho, to push her away with his left hand.