Rain [Kiyomi]

[Kiyomi Kato]

He pivoted faster than she had seen any other man ever pivot, halting and changing his momentum with an unmatched skill. The sound of wood striking wood echoed around the dojo as he fluidly brought his sword up, spinning it in his hand,, easily deflecting the blow she had hoped to land on his exposed fingers. One thing she had always prided herself on was her speed, yet this samurai could keep up with her, and was able to judge her attacks as if fighting her was second nature. She could see why he had earned the title 'Kensei'. If all the Emperor's samurai could fight like him, she knew now how they had fended off something as dangerous as a demon. It also scared her a little. How would she ever assassinate the Emperor and escape facing this kind of strength?

Her thoughts were interrupted as his foot came down hard on her bokken, and Kiyomi let out a slight, feminine grunt as she tried to pull it from under him. However, it was stuck fast, his weight trapping her weapon firmly. She had two choices, free herself and loose her 'sword', or attempt to upright him, putting him off balance so she could retain the weapon. Eyes wide, she watched his upper body, wondering which move to make. She didn't particularly want to be disadvantaged without a weapon, but she couldn't stay stuck where she was.

“Yet it seems that you are going to be the one to disarm me” she said, hoping that the conversation may distract him a little. She didn't want to lose yet. How could she be worthy as an 'Emperor's Hand' if she could be beaten so easily?
The samurai moved again, pushing his foot further toward her hand, and she felt the 'sword' get heavier, his weight nearly tearing it out of her grip. He followed his move by swinging his blade up, aiming at her exposed chest, a thrust that in battle would have impaled her.

Using her free arm, she swept her guarded wrist around, striking his blade on the side, trying to push it away past her shoulder. In doing so, she was turned sideways to him, minimizing the amount of her body that he could strike at, and attempted to plant her elbow firmly between his eyes. If the attack hit, then he would be stunned, maybe floored. Even if it didn't he would hopefully have to change the way he stood upon her weapon, meaning she could free it, evening the odds once again. “I suppose what can appear to be an opening can quickly become a trap... she said with a smile, happy with the manoeuvre she had made, the decision she had taken to try and close the gap between them.

[Kensei Musashi]

"True enough!" he remarked, chuckling. At once, she'd moved her arm in to intercept and redirect his own blade's thrust, giving him that little more of an insight into her fighting style - If he had to guess, regardless of any weapons training she received, she had felt most comfortable in unarmed martial arts, using a style he couldn't quite put his finger on. But it mattered little - He knew he had to watch out not just for strikes from her weapon, but from her own fists as well. Or rather, in this case, he had to watch out for an elbow as, as soon as she'd moved in, sliding the blade past her shoulder, she thrust her elbow forwards towards his head, aiming for right between the eyes with her strike. He now had only a split second to make his decision.

Seeing the thrusting elbow move right for him, he knew instinctively that with his bokken thrust out, blocking the attack was impossible. Not to mention, with this kind of speed in her strikes and the flawless counter she'd created, he had little to no time to dodge. So, rather than attempt to fully neutralize the strike and fail, he took the easier option - even as she thrust her elbow out, he pushed his foot down on her sword, pressing it back in such a manner as to stop his own forward momentum and go in reverse. As a result, even as her attack managed to strike him in the forehead, he'd softened the impact of the strike due to his backwards movement, reducing it to little more than a small bruise on his forehead at best as he stepped back, off of her bokken and recovered his guard.

"You're very skilled, I'll give you that. You combine your use of a weapon flawlessly with your own skills in hand-to-hand combat. I suppose this is what you meant when you said we received different training, I suppose" he praised her technique as he resumed the proper chudan stance, keeping his right foot forwards while the left stayed back, the heels slightly raised, while his back remained straight, head up with his bokken held up, tip pointing towards Kiyomi's throat. At once, he began his next move, taking another run forwards as he now struck out with a horizontal strike aimed for the stomach, known as 'Do' in Kendo. Another basic technique, but he wasn't planning on showing off with fancy moves in this spar. This was simply a test of skill, after all.

[Kiyomi Kato]

Kiyomi felt her shoulder connect with the samurai's face, although not as strongly as she might have hoped. He had, in the second he had foreseen and thought about the attack, been able to lessen its impact, stepping off her sword in doing so. He had avoid any injury, any chance of being at all stunned, but relinquished her weapon to her. Smiling, pleased her gambit had paid off, Kiyomi quickly drew her sword up off the floor, took a few steps away from him, and assumed her earlier stance, side on, pointing the bokken toward him.

The tips of the wooden blades were both pointed at throats of the combatants, seemingly equals despite their different preferences. Inclining her head a little, Kiyomi nodded her approval to the samurai. “You aren't terrible yourself, Musashi-san.” However, her eyes never left his body, clearly waiting for it to move, watching the way he stood for any sign of attack. “And I've always preferred to use my hands. If you fail, there there is nothing to blame but yourself. You can never fall prey to poor craftsmanship.”

When the samurai ran at her again, she felt more ready than she had before, better prepared for the assault. She watched the way his shoulders moved, the way his arms angled themselves, and she realized he was going to sweep the bokken horizontally, aiming for her stomach. In combat, such a strike would most likely disembowel her, and due to its wider area, she couldn't dance to the side as she had with the horizontal slash. Knowing that, at the height it was swung, she could not move over the attack, she would instead have to go under it.

Running forward to meet the strike, she used her back foot to push off the floor, while at the same time dropping to her knees. Arching her back as far as she could, her back parallel to the floor, she used the momentum gained from her push to slide forward, and felt the rush of air only inches from her face as the sword passed above her. It was a risky strategy, and if the samurai predicted it, he could quickly change his strike and hit her with the hilt of his bokken, or even punch her, but she hoped that she had maintained the element of surprise.

Her strike this time was an almost vertical thrust, and she punched her sword up toward his nether regions, knowing that as a man, he would do almost anything to protect that rather sensitive area. If she hit, then he'd hopefully drop in pain. If she didn't then he might have been caught a little off guard, giving her chance to capitalize on his confusion. “Like you said Musashi-san, always create your own openings. Don't you find the best openings are the ones that target your opponent's weaker body parts?”

[Kensei Musashi]

As his blade passed over his opponent, he stared in momentary surprise at his opponent's strategy and movements - Apparently choosing to continue moving forwards, she arched her back until his blade merely swept over her without striking, her back parallel to the floor, she slid forwards towards him, intending to strike up from below. He now had only a moment to react as she, in a risky move, attempted to create her own opening as she thrust upwards towards a part of the body that was indeed a weak point - the groin. At once, Musashi decided the best method to deal with this kind of attack and suddenly took it without a hint of hesitation despite the unusual form. 'Do-kaeshi-do' he thought to himself, suddenly cutting back along the invisible line he'd drawn in the air with his first attack.

Using this, he swiftly parried the strike away from him, the strike barely grazing his outer thigh as he moved it away before pulling his right arm back, keeping the bokken flat and parallel to the ground as he extending his left hand forwards. With the new opening created, he thrust the bokken forwards, angled slightly downwards to strike her in the stomach. This was a special 'Gyaku-Hiratsuki', a reverse of the left-handed flat thrust using the right hand that he aimed to use to take her down. She was apparently too good for the basics, so he decided to see how she reacted to more advanced techniques. It would be interesting, in any case.

[Kiyomi Kato]

The samurai had foreseen her attack, and surprisingly, had come up with an effective counter before her bokken had come anywhere near its intended target. She was powerless as her weapon was pushed away, the tip merely brushing the samurai's thigh. Gasping a little, this movement had surprised her, and there was much more power in it than in his previous strikes. Clearly, his intent to go easy on her had let up now that he knew she was not treating him with the same courtesy.

Looking up at Musashi's serious face, now lacking the smile she had, over their short meeting, come to associate with him, Kiyomi felt remarkably foolish. She wondered what on earth she had been thinking, trying to show off, diving under his swing when in fact a simple parry would have sufficed. She had been trained in both basic and advanced weapon techniques, and while she didn't like using swords, she was skilled enough to perform a number of parries. She had wanted to try and prove her skill, prove herself superior, and in doing so, had opened herself up to attack.

Cursing under her breath, she was unsure of what movement to take as she saw Musashi's bokken snap straight toward her stomach, the speed and flow of the attack reminding her somewhat of an uncoiling snake. On her knees, her sword arm too far out to be of any use to her, she had but one option; try and deflect the blow with her free arm again, though in doing so, she risked unbalancing herself.

Snapping her free arm across her body, she felt it slap her opponent's blade hard on its underside, and a shudder ran through her arm with the impact. However, she could not let off, and was forced to push the blade past her neck, and her cheek, until it met with the mat. The move caused her to fall flat on her back, and breathing heavily, little time to think, she had to find a way out of her predicament.

She decided to strike hard at Musashi's knees, it being all she could reach. She needed to buy herself time, make sure she could get up, regain her footing. She stood no chance of winning this sparring match if she spent the rest of it on her back. If she could bring him down to her level though, there was still a chance...

[Kensei Musashi]

Despite the awkward position she'd put herself in, Kiyomi apparently had managed to just barely escape a direct hit as she used her free arm to push his thrusting attack just out of range, though in doing so she had lost all balance and fell to the floor just as the tip of his sword hit the ground. Her ability was definitely beyond what he'd expected, though even he had to admit her technique just now had been over-doing it - rather than sticking to the basics, she'd decided to open him up in an unconventional and risky manner. Still, at the very least, she had tried and unfortunately what they could see in hindsight was not something they could use to change the outcome of anything. But now that she was on the ground, he had his best chance to attack - this was the most vulnerable position she could be in aside short of him standing behind her, aiming for the back of the neck.

Even as she swung up at his knees in an attempt to halt him, he had been a step quicker - pressing down on his sword for a moment, he used it in conjunction with a hop to vault himself upwards, above the range of the sword strike, before suddenly twisting the edge of the bokken inwards. The fact was, in any other instance, he would not have expected the thrusting attack to hit. In swordplay, a thrust was best used as a surprise attack rather than any sort of opening move. It was too risky. Which was what made the Hiratsuki technique special - While it was indeed a flat thrust, it had the advantage of the user being able to, at will, turn the edge towards the opponent should it miss and, with little loss of speed, swipe inwards. Even if she dodged the first strike, now was time for her to face the swipe.

Whilst still in mid-air, he twisted his body and swiped the sword inwards, intending to strike her with the tip of the bokken whilst she was on the ground. The side-swipe was the key of this attack - it was his best chance to hit in this situation. "You react quick for a downed opponent, Kiyomi-san. Unfortunately, I know the reach of a katana like the back of my hand" he spoke softly, informing her of his knowledge. It was at times like these that his genius in the art of swordsmanship showed through - Even he, a calm, relaxed man at heart, could prove a strong opponent. Though even now, he still had respect for her - he honestly expected his flat thrust to hit her directly. That she managed to evade even that surprised him.

[Kiyomi Kato]

When her sword hit nothing but thin air, Kiyomi knew, instinctively, that she had lost this fight. The samurai had managed to outwit her, plan for her every move, and he had stuck to his simple swordsmanship. He used reliable tactics, working with what he knew best. There was no flair in his movements, no massive improvisation. That is where they differed. That is why he had come out on top.

As he vaulted over her, she tried to roll a little, but to go one way would have her roll into her opponents sword, and if she rolled the other, he would land directly atop her. Rather, she did her best to tilt her body one way, hoping that the swipe she knew was coming would be off target. However, as the blade came down, she knew there was nothing she could do to avoid it. Her arms were of no use to her, too far away to block the attack, and her sword was still flailing from it's missed swipe.

The bokken struck her chest, between her neck and her left breast, and a stinging sensation flooded through-out her upper body. Wincing with pain, she did her best not to cry out, and after initially tensing to deal with the blow, allowed herself to go limp, arms out to the side, one still clutching her wooden sword.

She had lost. That much was clear. Yet while rage built up within her, angry at her failure, the more positive side of her rational applauded her decision to stay for tea. In one sparring session, she had learned so much about an enemy she may one day have to face. Imagine if she could have numerous more like it?

“It appears you do Kensei. It appears you do.” She did not turn her head toward the samurai, or bother visually acknowledging him at all. Rather she just held up her hand, palm splayed out, as if asking for help. She had a plan, and just thinking it over made her smile.

“Would you be so kind Musashi-san, to help your downed opponent to her feet?”

[Kensei Musashi]

After the blow struck, Musashi landed back on his two feet, firmly braced against the ground as he slowly stood back upright, returning the bokken to his obi sash as though it were a real sword. In that exchange, he had won, it seemed. He let out a sigh, releasing a held breath he hadn't realized he'd held. In the aftermath of the sparring match, he could safely say he was somewhat surprised yet satisfied by the match, Kiyomi having reached and surpassed the expectations he'd had of her. He didn't think she would have been such a good opponent, not that he looked down upon her skill beforehand - she'd merely exceeded what he thought of her, not having realized her talent in the art of combat. It was a good fight, and part of him was interested in asking where she had learned her fighting technique, but that could wait another day.

Watching his downed opponent raise her arm, he smiled softly to her and took a firm grip of her hand. "My apologies if the strike was a little too hard - I ended up getting pretty absorbed in that sparring match, if I do say so myself Kiyomi-san" he remarked. Really, he had meant it - if she'd managed to evade the last attack, he would have started switching out of the basic stance he'd been using throughout and focus on a more offensive, threatening stance he usually reserved for real duels, which luckily were few and far between. Pulling on her hand, he helped to pull her off the ground and back onto her feet, not wanting to seem rude by leaving her to lie there all day. He chuckled as he helped her to her feet, giving her another smile.

"You were a really good sparring partner. It is a shame I did not meet you before today" he remarked, chuckling. "Though certainly, if you are ever in the mood for some tea, feel free to come by this dojo again - I've rather enjoyed your company today so far, Kiyomi-san" he spoke of her, having indeed found the time flying by so far since she'd joined him for some tea. It wasn't often he got visitors outside of training hours, so he always appreciated it when people came by. The only other real company was the Emperor's family and the other Samurai, which was while he was on duty. "Certainly, I don't think I have seen your style before. It is a rather interesting change to the styles I have seen in my travels. I will have to remember it".

[Kiyomi Kato]

As Musashi's hand closed around hers, his grip firm, Kiyomi wound her own fingers around his wrist, holding onto him as tightly as she could. This had been the most friendly and intimate social action she'd experienced in quite some time, and it made her smile, even despite the ulterior motive it held. “It is no bother Musashi-san. I learnt much from our session. I think I shall take the knowledge of how much it hurts to be hit with a bokken away with me, and try to avoid it in the future.” Her smile only widened, becoming a grin. Her attempt at a joke, although poor, showed that she had warmed a little to the samurai, his equalling, or rather besting, her in combat showing him worth her respect.

She let Musashi pull her to her feet, aiding him a little by keep her grip on him strong, pushing against the floor with her own bokken so as to take a little of her weight off of the samurai. Reaching a standing position, she inclined her head a little, thanking him silently, but kept her grip firm on his arm, and her sword. “I have to say the same to you Musashi-san. You shocked me with your skill, and while I had heard of your talent, I hadn't thought you would be that impressive. I am left quite awestruck.” She tilted her head a little to the side, amber eyes scanning him over, looking him up and down as if he were some new species that she had just laid eyes upon. “I am sure I will come again, so long as I have such a warm reception and such good tea.” While what she said seemed non-committal, she had meant it as a promise. She would be visiting the samurai much more now, even if only to learn a little more about his fighting techniques.

Kiyomi bowed her head once more, ready now to repay him for his beating her, to take her revenge in an attempt to regain some of her lost pride. When she lifted her head back up, her face visible again, she continued to wear her smile, only this time there was something dark and mischievous in it, a glint in her eye that meant she was about to play dirty. “Still, after you teaching me a little about the use of bokken, I feel ashamed that I have not taught you anything...” She still held his arm, and now, her grip tightened.

Stepping forward quickly, she hooked her foot about his ankle and swept his legs away from him, pulling him off-balance by tugging at his arm. She didn't wait long before continuing her manoeuvre, instantly mounting his fallen body, resting her knee on his chest so that he couldn't move. She pinned his right shoulder with her left hand, and brought the bokken she still held to rest against his throat. Grinning, and then leaning forward, she let her fringe fall into his face, getting closer to him so that her point was made.

“My lesson to you; never trust your opponent, and even if you think you've won, make sure your enemy is dead. You never know when they might come back to haunt you.” With that, she let off a giggle, somewhat girlish despite her normally serious manner, and relaxed the bokken pushed against his wind pipe.

[Kensei Musashi]

"Oh? My, my, I am quite honored to have you speak so highly of myself, Kiyomi-san, but I truly do not feel that I deserve it. There are many swordsmen out there with great skill as well, after all" he remarked, downplaying the praise he received with the same modest nature he always had shown. Even though he was quite willing to give the praise to someone else, he rarely ever allowed himself to receive it without remarking how he didn't really deserve it. "Moreover, even my swordsmanship is not perfect, and the outcomes of fate are always uncertain. I am quite sure there will be a day when people look to someone else as Kensei instead of myself" he added, giving another one of his smiles. For a brief moment he cast his gaze towards the window, where he saw, to his displeasure, the rain still fell.

However, Kiyomi managed to get back his attention as she commented on how, so long as she received this kind of welcome, she would be sure to come back. He let out a low chuckle, feeling a warmth in him again. "Do not be worried - I assure you I make all of my guests feel as welcome" he told her, before listening in as she continued, expressing a sort of regret that, for all he'd taught her in their sparring match, she had yet to teach him anything. He shook his head, holding up a hand. "It matters little. This world may run on give and take, but there are always those willing to give without taking anytime. I do not require you to teach me anything - simply the experiences I take home today will do, I am sure" he told her, though in her next move he would see she would teach him something anyway.

Suddenly, without warning, he felt his feet get swept out from under him as though caught in a big wave, a brief moment of weightlessness before finally he fell down upon his back, lying on the ground after having been taken down. Before he could move, a weight pressed down upon him - Kiyomi's body, more specifically, as she pinned down his form and held the tip of her bokken against his throat. She then gave her own lecture, her own teaching - that he should make sure of an enemy's demise before he declared a fight over. A bit surprisingly, she let out a girlish giggle at the comment, earning his own raised eyebrow as he looked up to her. But still, he chuckled, before giving a light laugh. "You are a quite mysterious woman, Kiyomi-san! I don't think I have ever had this happen to me before" he commented.

[Kiyomi Kato]

Still smiling down at him, Kiyomi considered her next move. She could pin him there a little longer, proving that she wasn't easily as beaten as he might have thought, or she could let him up. The first, while it was an attractive thought, wouldn't show her ability to lose gracefully, and nor would it show any respect to the man who had beaten her fairly. The last thing she wanted to do after being shown such hospitality is appear rude. Pressing her knee on him slightly more forcefully, she winked, and tilted her head. “You've never been pinned by a woman Musashi-san? Here was me thinking it would be a regular occurrence for one of your renown.” The innuendo in her words was impossible to miss. Flicking the bokken up from the man's throat, she stood slowly, legs either side of his shoulders. She then poked him hard in the center of his chest with the tip of her wooden blade, and simply said “Dead” as if to prove her point.

She then stepped off of him, and held out her own hand, this time for him to take. As she waited, she commented on what he had said earlier, hoping that he had not taken her deception badly. “Well, I hope now that I have taught you at least a little, even if it was a lesson you may already have learned but forgotten over the years.” She shrugged a little, as if to say such a thing was highly likely. “And I do hope you pardon my mysteriousness Musashi-san. It seems to have become, somewhat inadvertently, my way of life. However, it is always good to have a surprise left in you, wouldn't you agree?”

She figured that while he did, it was not often something he practised. From what she had seen of his swordsmanship over their quick sparring session, the way of the samurai was a way dominated by honour, strength, courage and simplicity. There seemed to be little movement for deception, sneakiness or underhanded activity in such doctrine. “Anyway, would you allow me to help you back to your feet, now that your lesson is learned?” She shook her hand, as if to remind him it was there, and waited patiently for him to take it.

[Kensei Musashi]

"Ah, ah... Not like that, not like that..." he remarked, his face turning a bit red at her comment, immediately recognizing the slightly more... adult undertones of the remark. Truth be told, that was certainly one thing he could get flustered about - fact was, he was young. In all of his time, he'd really only been with one woman, and even then - no, he stopped himself. He needed to stop thinking about her. He needed the rain to just pass and stop hounding him already. Unintentionally as his mind stuck on the image of a woman in his head, he brought his hand to his forehead and groaned lightly under his breath, only to stop himself and shake his head, returning his gaze back up the the woman atop him. Feeling a light thud against his chest and the comment of 'Dead', he got exactly what he meant as she got up.

"You needn't worry" he told her, his thoughts finally pushing that image to the back of his mind. "I suppose it too was an important lesson for someone in my own position. Certainly, if I wish to avoid 'dying' again, I suppose I should make sure to not forget it, shouldn't I?" he remarked casually, thanking her for the lesson she'd given him, even if it was in a somewhat unconventional way. "And you needn't apologize for your mysteriousness. As you say, everyone has their own surprises. These include their secrets - everyone is entitled to their own" he admitted, not minding it at all - rather, the fact she continued to give a few surprises was perhaps, what made her interesting. She was almost like an enigma or a riddle with no answer.

Taking a firm grasp of her hand at last, he allowed her to help pull him up, a reverse of their situation moments ago as he got to his feet, cracking his neck a little as he stood back up, holding his bokken. Turning, he walked over to the rack and set the weapon back down before turning back to Kiyomi with his usual smile. "Thank you kindly for the help up" he told her, before continuing. "I am grateful for the lesson you have given me, at least. Unfortunately, it does not seem like the rain is letting up anytime soon" he told her, still hearing the pitter patter against the roof of the dojo's tiles. "No doubt the crowd you mentioned earlier are still busy in their own area. Unfortunately neither of us could stop the rain, even if we could" he said the last sentence with a little more regret than he'd intended, almost letting slip his own carefully concealed guilt show through. But he held it in still - he was not going to bother Kiyomi with it. She had her own affairs to be concerned with.

[Kiyomi Kato]

Kiyomi took a few steps back as she pulled Musashi to his feet, locking her arm so that she could hold his weight. He aided her somewhat, keeping his grip firm about her wrist though, to make it look as though she was doing the majority of the work. She held back the urge to smile. Even despite his beating her, and her taking her somewhat uncalled for revenge, he still treated her with respect. He was quite something this Musashi-san.

As he rose, he tilted his head a little to the side and his neck cracked, no doubt his way of keeping his muscles limber, stopping them from freezing after intense usage. She herself would have to stretch, but a little more extensively. After arching her back in that manner, and trying to bend her limbs as she had, she would need at least an hours stretching to stop her aching the next day. “I'm sure in future you will remember. And if you don't, you can only die once.”

At Musashi's mention of rain, Kiyomi cast a long glance toward the door she had come through earlier that day. Despite the fact she tended to detest company, especially that of male's, and had somewhere to be, she found herself wanting to stay, desperate to not leave the peaceful dojo or the calm aura it cast upon her.

Quickly looking back at her sparring partner, Kiyomi noted that a sadness had overcome him, as if he too did not want to be alone. She thought for a moment, highly doubting her theory, but it made her feel less foolish; it made her feel as though he wanted her to stay. Stepping toward him, she gestured to the tea still at the low table.

“Well as the rain has not stopped, would you mind terribly if I had another drink? I could keep you company a little longer. I myself am in no rush to once again join the crowds.” With that, she quickly gathered her over robe, slipped it back on, tying the obi-sash off to one-side, and made her way to where she had been sat previously, before they had started their sparring session. She seated herself gracefully, and, eyes wide, turned to regard the samurai. “Come along Musashi-san. The tea will not pour itself.”

[Kensei Musashi]

"Ah..." he spoke, taking a second to reply. "But of course. Please allow me" he told her, walking back over to their small table. Taking a hold of the teapot for a moment, he felt the weight and could tell there was still some in it, though it needed to be heated up a little bit. "Please excuse me a second" he told her, picking up the teapot and walking back towards the small kitchen. Walking through, he set it down on a stand above a small fire, letting it heat up for a few moments as he stood there and sighed. Ah, his company was good. Certainly, he had no problems with Kiyomi. It was just... This rain. It always brought down his mood, reminded him of that night. Every moment he was left to remember that horrible, stormy night three years previous. He hated it, but he couldn't run from it - after all, how does one run from themselves? It was his fate to bear his guilt for all eternity.

"Certainly, it is a dreadful enough way to live on it's own. But even this feels too light a punishment" he whispered quietly to himself, unable to be heard by the woman in the other room. With his tea finally heating back up, he took a hold of the teapot and lifted it up, putting back on his soft, sensitive smile. Turning on the spot, he walked back out to where Kiyomi was again, his smile widening as he walked towards the little table and knelt down, once again pouring her cup first before pouring his own cup second, once more pouring to the exact measurement of roughly three-quarters of the cups full. Setting the teapot down between them, he sat and took his cup, raising it to his mouth and sipping it slowly. Ah, the delicious taste running down the back of his neck almost made him forget his troubles.

Setting the cup back down, he looked towards Kiyomi again and smiled. "Ah, as I said before I believe, this tea is good" he spoke aloud at last again. "Tell me, Kiyomi-san - What was your master like? Was he a good man? Was he a stern teacher? There are many different kinds of teachers in this world - I only know of my own, so I wish to know whether or not the environment I was taught in was the same for all others" he addressed her, curious about her own training growing up. He was certainly impressed with her skill and resourcefulness - he wanted to understand what kind of background that came from.

[Kiyomi Kato]

Kiyomi watched carefully as Musashi moved about his small kitchen, and for the second time that day, she felt at home. There was something calming about the rain, the solemn, dignified, manner in which the Kensei acted in the peace of his dojo. It was a strange feeling, one she was not used to, having not felt it in what seemed to be a lifetime. She smiled to herself, and a warmth rose inside her. It was something that she could certainly get used to.

Shaking her head a little, she broke her own reverie. She couldn't think like that. If she did, she would become complacent, and complacency lead to an early death. She couldn't allow herself to become too attached to Musashi, or her feelings of relaxation. She had to remain alert, remain focused. Her life; her sister's life, depended on it.

Retraining her attention on watching the Kensei move, she noticed that his shoulders had slumped a little. He moved with less vigour than he had, and he seemed to be lost in his own actions. Her eyebrow raised. What had happened to cause such a change in his persona? Had she said or rather done something to upset him? She couldn't think of anything, and so she resolved to ask him at an opportune moment. Kiyomi liked to have the upper hand against her opponents, both physically and mentally, as without both, one could not succeed in battle.

When Musashi turned and walked back to the table, she noticed that he had attempted to wear his former smile, straightening up as he approached her. Had she not seen him look so defeated, she would have been taken in by this act, this masque of happiness. But in seeing his shoulders slump but for a few seconds, she knew that his friendly attitude was naught but a charade to cover a darker emotion lying deeper within him.

She accepted her drink with a quick “Thank you” , and then took a quick sip. “As I said before Musashi-san, it is certainly good tea. Perhaps good enough for a quick story.” The second part of her sentence acted as an answer to his question about her former master. Inhaling deeply, she took another sip. Torn for a moment between opening up a little and remaining stoic, she surprisingly erred on the side of telling him a little about herself. She was not sure why.

“My first master, my father actually, was a fantastic teacher. He knew...much of the world, and was very practical. He taught me how to use my surroundings to my advantage, how to watch people and learn from their every move. He said strength came from more than just skill, but from one's ability to improvise with said skill in any given situation. He went as far as to suggest the level of one's skill, or one's style, had little influence on a fight, and in fact a manipulation of exterior factors would lead to victory. Many thought of him as some sort of chaos theorist, and I would for the most part agree with them. However, I learned much from him; in that respect anyway. Kiyomi paused, glancing away from the samurai and down into her cup. “Since then, I have had many masters, each one trying to teach me a different set of skills, although none quite as radical as my fathers. Surprisingly, though they focused on more widely taught skills, none were as good a teacher as my father. He had something special about him, a charisma, a gentle sternness that cultivated learning. Then again, perhaps that just sprang from a girl's admiration and unswerving respect for her father.”

Her last sentence seemed somewhat sad, wistful, and she finally raised her gaze to Musashi's, sadness in her eyes. “What about you Kensei? What was your mentor like?”