Academy Days

At first, Gun had really hated the sparring. The idea of trying to physically hurt each other was not her cup of tea and combined with the fact that usually everyone stood around and watched the two who were sparring... just a recipe for Gun's nerves to be on their worst behavior. But her ability to see and react to  a lot of the other kids' attacks allowed her to stay one step ahead of them. This allowed Gun to develop into a rather evasive fighter, relying on a counter to overcome foes rather than outright savagery. Of course, she'd taken a few blows here and there, even losing quite a few times from indecisiveness. But as she began piling on the victories, she began to be confident in the sparring matches. Even when she lost, she recognized why and felt like she'd grown stronger because of them.

She had become really impressed with Kana's tenacity in those matches. At the beginning, before they began sparring, some of the other students had mocked Kana behind her back because of her poor physical capabilities. Gun had never done that, partially because she wasn't the type to downplay someone else's attempts at bettering themselves, but also because she had no one to talk to besides her mother. Once they began sparring, Kana had shut those kids up pretty quickly. She would do anything to win and made some kids who'd been trained by their parents to fight for years turn their heads when the instructor was trying to find her a sparring partner. And, Gun had noticed, she'd done all that while skipping lunch more days than not. For the last week, Gun had packed extra food in her lunch so she could share... but she hadn't gotten up the nerve to approach her about it. She was pretty confident that Kana would attack her preceded by her taking the gesture as Gun looking down on her and pitying her. Gun had to admit that she was pitying Kana, not the person that she was, but the terrible situation she was in. All of the physical activities that shinobi were expected to perform, even at this low level of academy students, couldn't be easy without a steady intake of calories. She wondered how much easier Kana's journey to become a shinobi would be if she were properly nourished. She wanted to see that... and she wanted to be there with her.

This was the first time that Gun had realized her own desire to become a shinobi. Prior to that, she'd wanted to make her mom proud and live up to her expectations whatever that entailed. But now, for the first time ever perhaps, Gun wanted something for herself and it was a time of evolution deep inside her. Her desire to become a shinobi outweighed her fear of being the center of attention, her fear of losing, and her meekness. She even stepped forward so that the instructor would let her spar with Kana. Her face was still red from the attention and her eyes were looking downward, but the gesture was clear. "Yes, Gunshin, thank you." Unlike some of the other students, Gun didn't want revenge or to make Kana look bad and she didn't want to use Kana as a stepping stone to getting better... she wholeheartedly wanted them to get better together. This spar, if Gun's intuition was correct, was just the first of many for the two potential kunoichi. As the saying goes, iron sharpens iron.

WC: 589
TWC: 3290

Kana stood with a careful eye, meeting the gazes of those who sought to challenge her or eager for revenge, her mind already trying to figure out what would be her best approach to inflict the most pain against them so she may edge out a victory, some of the kids she was certain she could win against so she paid them no real mind, no her focus was on  the few who were truly capable of demolishing Kana's tactics and as much as she hated to admit it, some of those few would still easily defeat her. Mixture of skill, talent and of course, her biggest weakness, body differences. Knowing how to hurt people didn't matter when she lacked the strength and speed to truly hurt them, the bigger of the kids could afford to take a few hits that would leave others wincing, faster kids could duck and weave out of her desperate grapple attempts. She had some vague ideas or plans to overcome a few of those kids but plans often went out the window when a fight begun, too many of the smarter kids found that out the hard way.

What Kana didn't expect however was for Gunshin to step forward, volunteering herself as her latest challenger. Kana's eyes narrowed, she had been watching the taller girl for quite some time and there was a reason she didn't challenge her yet. Kana had seen Gunshin in action, she seen how the crybaby proved herself as a capable fighter, while Kana's style relied on hurting someone to the point they want to stop fighting, Gunshin's style seemed to relied on wearing down the enemy, dodging and striking back in the opening provided by the whiffed attack. Her natural speed aided her and it left Kana uncertain if she could win, she had plans and ideas to use against the taller girl but she wasn't confident enough to act on them, she had wanted to wait until she narrowed that physical gap between them first before challenging Gunshin but she had taken that choice out of her hands. Worst part was that Gunshin still seemed almost scared, so meek and unable to look her enemy in the eyes and it fueled Kana's rage as she prepared herself for a tough fight.

The instructor lead them to their respective spots on the matts, taking center stage and asking either of the two girls were ready, all the while Kana glared at the taller girl, her focus entirely on her enemy as she tried to think best how to approach this. Gunshin was faster, stronger, bigger and well fed, if anything the girl had been bulking up with how much food she had been bringing to the academy lately. On paper, the fight would already be over but Kana wasn't going to give in, she would never give up and even if this turns out to be a loss, she won't let anyone say that she was weak. "Ready." She finally spoke, taking a deep breathe and listening for the words of her enemy. Once Gunshin said she was ready, the fight would begin. Yet she wasn't going to have the first move.

Almost as soon as Gunshin would confirm she was ready, Kana would be on the move, a full on sprint toward the taller girl as Kana would begin her assault with a quick right jab aimed at the taller girl's face, regardless if it would land or miss, she'd sweep her left leg into the right leg of Gunshin and end her small opening combo with her right elbow aimed right into the girl's face. Her pace and movements were quick, determined to not give Gunshin the time to think or prepare, Kana's only hope was to completely overwhelm the girl's defense, forcing the girl to remain on the defensive so Kana can slowly grind down those defenses.

WC: 651
TWC: 3,425

Moving to the mats made this all seem more real than it had been just moments earlier. Gun still wasn't sure this was a good idea, but she wanted to test herself and better herself, but maybe even more than that, she wanted to support Kana's growth as well. Of course, to do that, Gun couldn't just stand there and let the smaller girl do what she wanted... she had to give everything she had. Gun wasn't fighting to prove herself superior and she wasn't fighting to prove Kana inferior, she was fighting so both could become stronger. That meant using her skills (as minuscule as they may be at her current level) to prove to Kana that she wasn't alone, neither of them were, unless they chose to be. Gun somehow wanted this fight to convey her feelings, the feelings she didn't know how to convey with words, but Gun wasn't sure how to make that happen. She'd only been sparring for less than a month.

As the instructor asked if they were ready, Gun's eyes moved up from the floor. That wasn't too out of the ordinary, as she often began her spars in this way. It was kind of like turning a switch on, as she went from meek, little girl to prospective kunoichi. She also just had to see what her opponent was doing, so she had to be looking at them. She looked Kana eye to eye for probably the first time since the time they met in the hallway on the first day of the Academy. Kana's eyes still seemed hard and full of determination. Gun wasn't sure what her eyes said of her, but she lacked ill will towards Kana,. For the first time,, the girls had something in common: both girls were fighting for something they wanted, to achieve success.

Gun was just taking her opponent in, the shift of her weight, the movement caused by her breathing. "Ready." It was probably the first word most of her classmates had heard Gun say. It wasn't mumbled, like most of the things she said, and loud enough for everyone to hear. It wasn't exactly full of confidence, but Gun was confident that she was on the right path for her and that had given her the strength to speak clearly. She was no longer aimlessly meandering through this world, she had a goal and she was going to do her best to achieve it, regardless of the possibly uncomfortable feelings the journey might bring up within her.

Her arms moved up in front of her, providing protection for whatever Kana might attempt. Sure enough, Kana came rushing at her, one of her hands flying towards Gun's eyes. Seeing the fist come towards her, Gun still wavered on what to do. Going full speed and countering this first punch would more than likely lead Gun to victory, but she didn't just want to beat Kana. She had to convey that they were in this pursuit of strength together and victory wasn't her main concern. Despite that, she couldn't simply take it easy because Kana would know and think she was pitying her. She had to walk the fine line of going all out and using enough strength to make it enjoyable.

She weaved to her right, allowing the jab to miss her by centimeters, but as the fist began to move away, Gun realized that Kana's legs were moving abnormally. Before she could react, the sweep caught her right leg, putting her off balance. Gun shifted her weight in an attempt to reclaim her balance, but Kana's elbow came hurtling towards her nose. Gun was just able to get a hand up before the elbow smashed into it, knocking the unbalanced, taller girl to the ground. She rolled backwards,  getting herself to a position where she had a knee and a foot on the ground. Her right eye brow was bleeding a little, likely from the collision of Kana's elbow into Gun's hand and the knuckles hitting herself. It actually hadn't hurt that bad and Gun stood up quickly, waving off the instructor, indicating that she would continue. She was sure Kana would continue rushing towards her and she planned to show Kana her own determination and tenacity now that she had a goal to strive for too.

WC: 725
TWC: 4015

Mid-Thread Claim: claiming 4015 WC
40 stats to speed
481 WC to Blacksmith - combined with my banked 1519 - 2000/2000
2000 WC to Augmentation 2000/2000
Bank 1534/2000 to Eyes of Medusa stage 1

Kana didn't like that look in Gunshin's eyes. Something about it rubbed her the wrong way, yet she couldn't put her finger on the exact reasoning why it seemed to ignite a mixture of rage and frustration in her. The others all had different emotions in their eyes while she fought them, scared, angry, nervous or even excited yet none of them had this same.... Look. And Kana didn't like it. She didn't understand it. She only added this anger onto the fuel that she'd be using to push herself, she needed to strike with everything she had and overwhelm the girl, she couldn't give Gunshin time to think and Kana couldn't give herself time to think or hesitate either. So as she rushed in, she wasn't really surprised by Gunshin's defense, the taller girl brought up her arms to intercept it in some way, yet Kana saw it. That briefest moment where she paused. She hesitated.

That pissed her off more than it should've. Even with that brief moment of hesitating, she was still fast enough to narrowly avoid Kana's jab, the first flying by harmlessly yet she didn't expect Kana's aggression to continue, her shin connected with the flesh of the taller girl's right calf and opened her up for the continued attack, that moment of instability opened the guard and Kana capitalized, knocking her elbow into the taller girl's face yet she was still fast enough to react, to soften the blow and she fell back, looking up with only a small scratch on her eyebrow for all of Kana's work. It was a start. But it wasn't enough, she was holding back. She wasn't supposed to hold back. She wasn't supposed to be hesitating. She was supposed to fight her for real. "Fight me properly or don't fight me at all!" She'd cry out after the girl, her voice unnecessarily loud for the training grounds they were at but she didn't care. Kana wasn't going to be taken lightly, no matter who it was, they'd face her as a real threat.

Not even bothering to wait for the girl to reply, she'd continue on with her onslaught, Gunshin would fight back properly or she'd fall. It wouldn't matter to Kana either way. She swore it wouldn't matter. If Gunshin refused to fight, it wouldn't be Kana's problem, she'd crush her time and time again until the girl became a kunoichi or the girl gave up entirely. It wasn't fair that she got all these things in life while Kana had to fight for each and every little thing in her life. Gunshin could meekly ask for the world and have it placed in the palm of her hand! This was the real world, things were fought for and if she wasn't going to take her serious, then she wouldn't be fit for the life of a kunoichi! Vaguely in the back of her mind, Kana was aware these issues weren't just Gunshin, the other kids, the ones from these big fancy clans, all of them had looked down on her and Gunshin, the two were often the only ones to be left alone but unlike Kana, Gunshin had that potential to be so much more. If she would just grasp it with both hands. Yet the shy girl let it go. She refused. What Kana would kill for, she had refused. And it drove her wild.

Rushing Gunshin once more, she threw a right hook toward the girl's face, aiming to knock Gunshin off her feet with the miniscule strength Kana had, yet she expected the attack to miss, instead she'd follow it with another hook from the left hand, aiming for the girl's ribcage, before trying to follow it up with another right hook toward the other side of the girl's ribcage, her focus was entirely on the offensive and throwing hits until either she fell or Gunshin fell, it didn't truly matter to Kana other than using all her pent up rage until she was exhausted. Switching up her offense, she'd bring her right knee into the girl's left thigh and once more try to deliver a final desperate hook toward the girl's face, hoping to simply overwhelm and bring her down through the sheer number of attacks.

WC: 714
TWC: 4,139

In their short time knowing each other, Gun had kind of figured Kana out. She was tenacious beyond compare and she wanted to become a shinobi, which meant she tried harder than any of the other students, as far as Gun could tell. She studied during lunch and pulled out every sort of tactic she could think of, including intimidation, to defeat foes that were stronger than she was. Even when she lost, her brutality in the ring was an intimidating factor to onlookers who might become competitors the following day. Whether Kana did this on purpose or as some sort of byproduct of her own nature, Gun wasn't sure, but it was clear to Gun that hand to hand combat wasn't where Kana would make her mark on the shinobi world if she was going to make a mark at all. And part of the reason Gun was taking it easy on Kana was not to infuriate her, though her remark did seem to suggest that she'd succeeded in doing that even though she hadn't tried to, but it was because she wanted to push Kana towards trying new things. She wanted to see what Kana would come up with next; she also, in a way that wasn't a concrete idea in her head, wanted to push Kana towards realizing that with her lackluster physical capabilities, her mind and other skills would be more beneficial to her as a shinobi than her hand to hand skills.

Gun, this time not wanting to be caught off guard, was prepared when Kana's right hook came. Gun placed a palm just below the fist and pushed it just enough so that it would miss her face. The hook which followed from the other fist was given the same treatment so that it missed Gun's ribcage. For a second, she wondered which of them would tire out first. They'd done endurance stuff and Kana had seemed pretty strong there, but she was also putting a lot more energy into this offensive than Gun was on the defensive. Gun didn't have time to consider this long though, because another right hook came hurtling towards her ribs. She stepped back enough to let the fist go by without causing her any harm. As Kana's knee came up towards Gun's leg, Gun's right hand went down to stop it with brute strength. Beginning to worry that she may not be able to outlast Kana, her hand slid around Kana's leg, gripping her thigh and pulling upward. The move would pull the shorter girl off balance and make her last hook unable to connect. Her left hand moved to the front of the leg and pushed forward with all her might. The shove would push Kana's leg into her body and, likely, knock her backwards.

Gun's eyes went down to the floor again, mad and frustrated at herself for being unable to pull Kana's tenacity and ingenuity out. She was sure that Kana could keep going, and likely wanted to, but Gun's fighting spirit had disappeared. "I resign." Gun said, rushing out of the room. She realized that even with her superior physical capabilities, she still had weaknesses that she would have to learn to overcome if she really wanted to be a shinobi.

WC: 547
TWC (since mid thread approval): 547

Gunshin was fast. Far faster than Kana expected. Each attack she delivered with as much speed and force she could muster and Gunshin was just effortlessly redirecting them away, guiding Kana's desperate barrage of hooks away from her body with ease, only Kana's last strike made the girl move, her right hook that should've been battering the girl's ribs sailed through the air harmlessly as Gunshin moved out of the way. But it gave her an opening, bringing up her knee to the girl's exposed thigh, she was completely caught off guard when Gunshin displayed the strength difference between the two, stopping Kana's knee dead in it's track, disrupting her flow entirely as her next attack found itself flailing in Gunshin's general direction rather than the usual force Kana applied between her strikes. She barely even had enough time to react, her leg was caught, the taller girl was simply too fast and strong, this would be her victory if she would simply reach out and grasp it. Yet like so many times before, she refused. Gunshin used her chance to knock Kana to the ground, the shorter girl landing flat on her back yet quickly bringing up her arms and knees close to her body, preparing for the potential follow up attack that would never come.


The words echoed in Kana's mind. Gunshin had crushed Kana almost effortlessly. Throughout the entire fight she had landed two blows and Gunshin didn't even bother returning a strike of her own. She simply pushed her over. Pushed her over like she had nearly done just as effortlessly on the first day of the academy. Even with the stronger kids, Kana could at least say she had managed to fight back, she had landed more than two strikes, she had always made them bleed. Yet Gunshin had only been struck twice. Two times. Both were unexpected attacks, the opening strikes had caught her entirely off guard, aggression had given her that small edge, an edge that was viciously torn apart when Gunshin was prepared. If the fight went on, would Kana be capable of pulling off another trick like that? Would she even be able to land a third hit? Could she make Gunshin bleed if the girl had taken her seriously from the start?

Wide silver eyes watched the retreating form of Gunshin, Kana's hands were trembling with an odd mixture of emotions. Rage. Confusion. Fear. Uncertainty. The instructor was speaking, maybe trying to call out to the crybaby, maybe trying to move the class along onto the next fights, whatever the man was saying right now was lost to Kana as she watched Gunshin flee from the quiet room. Kana wasn't the only one staring. People had watched Gunshin fight before, but never like this. Kana's reputation as a vicious fighter who could at least make the other person hurt even if she lost had been broken. She could some whispering between the kids, yet those too went ignored even as Kana got up and stalked after the meek girl, she wasn't going to run away that easily, she wasn't going to hide from the world anymore. Kana would drag Gunshin out of her shell kicking and screaming if she had to. She wished she knew why she felt the need to do it. Maybe it was some desire to at least show the rest of the class that they'd lose just as easily as Kana did, saving some of her reputation. Maybe she was getting sick of the shy crybaby wasting away. Whatever the reason behind her drive, she knew she had to speak with the girl.

WC: 609
TWC: 4,748

Gun had let her nerves get the better of her and she'd reverted to her previous self when she felt the pressure that Kana had been placing on her. She had wanted to show a tenacity to rival Kana's own and force the girl to use her brain and new tactics, but Gun had failed in her endeavor. The ever attacking Kana had made Gun's resolve waiver and when it had, she had shoved Kana away. In her mind, Kana had won which is why she had resigned. Kana may not have been a physical match for Gun, but she had pushed her mentally into a corner pulling out Gun's fight or flight response. It was a stipulation that Gun herself had added to the spar, but she'd failed nonetheless.

She had made her way to the bathroom and closed herself in one of the stalls, sitting with her face held in her hands. She was on the verge of tears, but wasn't crying. She realized that she'd lost, but she also understood that it took time for things to change and evolve. This was just the beginning of her evolution from a meek, momma's girl to a full blown kunoichi and there was plenty of time to fully complete the evolution. In truth, she was a bit proud of herself for stepping forward and fighting Kana as well as she had. Gun just had to continue on this path and eventually she'd be happy with who she had become, or so she hoped.

That's when someone else entered the bathroom. Gun was worried it was someone coming to check on her, because Gun understood how the fight looked to others. She had been doing well and knocked Kana down and then resigned with no explanation, no indication of an injury, or any reason to suspect she could not go on. That was when Gun realized how furious Kana would be, for Gun to run off in the middle of the fight like that. She wanted to apologize, but she wasn't sure if she could. She opened the stall, bringing her face to face with Kana. While they weren't quite the same height, they were pretty close in height and now they were looking right at each other.

"Sorry." Gun's voice was low, almost like she was trying to keep Kana from hearing her, but in the confined spaces of the restroom it would still get to Kana's ears.

WC: 409
TWC: 956

Kana listened for the sound of Gunshin's retreating footsteps, the girl was fast and if she was trying to escape from Kana, she'd do so with ease but she instead seemed to be running deeper into the building rather than out of it, so Kana kept power walking toward the taller girl. Chasing after her wouldn't help, if she got spooked, she'd be prone to running out of the school and back home to her parents. At least that's what Kana told herself, she wasn't entirely certain what she would be doing with the girl, she knew she needed to talk to her but what would she say? What would she do? The rage inside her demanded her to force Gunshin to fight, to trap her and demand an actual fight even if Kana knew she would lose, yet another part of her didn't want to fight. She wasn't sure why either. Maybe she was scared of getting in trouble or even kicked out for attacking the little teacher's pet, maybe she truly did just want to talk to the girl, to figure out why she was holding herself back, maybe she just wanted to scream and yell until Gunshin chose to fight back.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a door open and shut, undoubtedly Gunshin was hiding away somewhere, probably the washroom if Kana guessed her position correctly. She had memorized the school's layout and she felt confident in saying the noises was coming nearby the washrooms on this side of the school, it was that or a classroom was left unlocked. Regardless, Kana prepared herself for what was to come, whatever it may be. She'd find Gunshin and see what would happen, losing herself in what ifs would only weaken her resolve, she had always been focused on the present first and foremost.

Entering the washroom, Kana still wasn't sure what she was expecting. A misty eyed Gunshin stood before Kana, her entire demeanor was meek and shy, hiding in on herself yet she had chosen to open the stall and face Kana to apologize. That grated her nerves, this was the girl who had crushed her effortless in combat and yet she felt the need to apologize. "Why the fuck are you sorry?" She'd bite back, her silver eyes narrowed as she looked into Gunshin's golden eyes. "For that matter, why the fuck are you so scared of me? You're taller, bigger, stronger, faster... You're just better.... Yet you act like I can push you around... Like everyone can push you around. You're so scared of everyone but you're probably one of the better fighters in our year." She'd find herself unable to stop herself from ranting at the taller girl, moving closer as she demanded answers for the girl's self imposed weakness, admitting that Gunshin was better strung but it was a fact that everyone had seen for herself. A fact that Kana would work to fix eventually but right now she just needed to know why Gunshin chose to act so weak when she clearly was so much stronger than she lets on. Silver eyes glared up into golden ones as she waited for her answer, her frown intense despite the scar on her face stretching it upward at it's corner.

WC: 548
TWC: 5,296