Flèche to the Heart

[Bloody Bender]

xxxxxx

This is a private roleplay between Konosuke Kai and a good other. So please no outside posting.~



Plot Summary: Friendship, one of the most important things in this world today. Some come and go but best friends are supposed to be forever. Back when they were younger Sora and Riku shared this bond. They lived on the same island, played together all the time, and even went to the same school. Things were going great and they doubted this would ever end. Seeing as how time has a way of changing things the exact opposite happened. Once they graduated from their junior high years a major shift happened, they stopped having as much in common. They continued to hang but the time spent together seemed to lessen and lessen until they ceased completely.

Now with Sora in his sophmore year, and Riku in his Junior, they have new friends, interests, and overall lives. Sora seems to have become invisible to the social eye while Riku became a star athlete. They share classes and even lunch but they hardly look each other's way anymore. But will one coincidental event cause all this to change? One day they both unknowingly sign up on a sheet of paper for the same thing: Fencing Club. Can one miniscule club bring two people back together or will it push them farther apart from intense competition? Only time will tell.

[a good other]

It was exactly 2:50pm. School had let out, therefore the commons were packed with uniformed teenagers making their way back home. Destiny Academy had an enrollment of approximately three hundred students, and they turned the quiet, grassy knoll outside of the main doors into a sea of white and blue. Three hundred students.

And Sora was only one.

He nervously waited by the gates. As soon as his last class let out, he rushed outside to try to make it ahead of the crowd. Sora fingered the camera that he held in his hands, trying to calm himself with its familiar weight. His heart was pounding a mile a minute.

And then his moment finally came.

A girl walked by. She had long, auburn hair, a slim build and a beautiful face. A few of her friends were walking with her, and none of them looked in Sora's direction. It was a scene that replayed itself over and over again for the past year and a half. However, today was going to be different. Because today...

"Excuse me."

Sora spoke up.

The girl stopped in her tracks, which caused her friends to do the same. She squinted at Sora, as if trying to place where she may have seen before. "Were you talking to me?" she asked.

"Y-yes," stammered Sora. He cleared his throat, and then he raised his camera. "I'm with the yearbook committee, and I wanted to know if you guys wanted to take a picture. Since you're all in the cheerleader team."

"Oh sure!" said Kairi happily. She opened up her arms and her friends gathered around her. They held onto each others backs and smiled prettily for the camera.

It only took a few seconds to snap the picture. By now, Sora was an expert at it. He discovered his love for the camera when he was a young boy, and he hadn't put it down since. Once he was done, he gave the ladies a small smile. "Thanks!"

"Anytime," said the girl. She resumed walking with her friends after that.

"Uh," began Sora. He raised his hand, trying to stall her a little longer. "My name is Sora."

The girl looked over her shoulder and gave Sora an odd look. ".. Okay. Nice to meet you Sora. Thanks for the picture!"

It wasn't enough to stop her from walking. She continued on, and Sora's hand came to a rest by his side. "And you're Kairi," he said quietly. The girl that never noticed him.

That was all going to change. Today was just the first phase in a long line of changes that Sora was going to make in his life. He wasn't going to be the guy that took the pictures anymore. People were going to see him, and they were going to know his name. Somehow, someway. So he squared off his shoulders, and then he made his way to the gymnasium. The fencing club was starting, and he didn't want to miss the first meeting.

After all, a cheerleader needed something to cheer for. Therefore, Sora was going to try his best to get Kairi to notice him.

[Bloody Bender]

яιкυ

``ιη уσυ αη∂ ι тнєяє'ѕ α ηєω ℓαη∂...``

xxxxxx

"C'mon...c'mon..." Riku couldn't help but tap his foot anxiously as the last seconds between himself and freedom started tic by. Not that he could call the ending bell 'freedom' today. He had been tricked into doing something he wasn't even interested in. How could this happen, you might ask? Well, let's just say at a very recent party he was the unlucky winner of a stupid dare that said he needed to join a club. Not just any club though, one that he had never even looked at before. The Fencing Club. It was well known that he was quite the athlete, but that wasn't a sport to him. It was more like dancing, and dancing was stupid. He didn't mind it every now and then but dedicating his personal time after school for it...that was just great. Note the extreme sarcasm.

As the seemingly slowed clock finally let out its obnoxious, yet oh so sweet, bell of excuse Riku lifted himself with a roll of his eyes; throwing his already packed bag over his shoulder. If he wanted to get to the club meeting on time he'd better move it. Even if he had a good amount of time to get there chances were he'd get waylaid at some point and have to stop...then listen for ten minutes to one of his friends ramble about something bizarre that had to do with either their social or sports life. It didn't bother him, since his friends were a big part of his life, but right now just wasn't the time. If it weren't for those friends of his he could stand around and chat then go home, but no. Here he was headed to the other end of the building to do some stupid club activities. What a life, eh?

He made it halfway to where he was supposed to go when he found himself right in the middle of a big drama fest, the center of which was of course his friend Tidus. Yeah, Tidus was a freshman but he'd always been around and had things in common with Riku so they got along. Plus they were on a lot of sports teams together over the years so they had kind of grown attached to each other.

"Hey Riku, are you excited for your after school activities?~" The younger blonde sneered at him with a complete tone of mockery, of course he was kidding. Riku only rolled his eyes at him, trying to push his way through the group with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.

"I dunno, what about you? I hear you and your mommy have nice plans today," he tossed a smirk back over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of the red faced boy. He had obvious hit him in a soft spot and now the tables had been turned. Before the younger could turn the attention back onto himself Riku was out of there. Though he hadn't run away he had definately jolted a good ten feet just to get out of the other's range of sight. Once he was away from the crowd he was home free. Now to get the stupid afternoon over with so he could go home, do homework, sleep, and wake up the next day to the same exact thing. Life got so darn repetitive after awhile.

The gymnasium was his target location, and in a few minutes he'd be there. He counted off the steps disinterestedly in the back of his head until he reached where he was going. Eyes glazed over with annoyance he finally gripped the handle and started to tug at it, it didn't budge. Obviously the person in charge hadn't even gotten there yet. An irritated twitch started to become apparent as his eyebrow jerked up and down quickly. Extending his arms out in front of himself he uttered a few words to try and retain his previously calm (sort of) composure. He figured that if they weren't here soon he could just skip out and go home early anyway. To avoid being called out for leaving too soon though he slipped his backpack off his shoulder and pressed his back to the door, eyes peering out at the emptying halls around him. Now all there was to do was wait, and if nothing happened soon. Well...good riddance.

[a good other]

Sora was lucky, he had made good time in crossing the fields to make it to the gymnasium. He thought that he would be the first one there, but as he neared the double doors, he realized that this wasn't the case. His stomach lurched when he recognized the tall, athletic boy that was milling about.

Riku. The sight of him always brought back a flood of memories. Memories of building sand castles on the beach, pretending that they were pirates while they built forts out of sofa cushions, building robots, fishing together, swimming together, drawing treasure maps -- all those things and more always came to Sora's mind when he thought of Riku.

However, they had been a lot younger at the time. Things changed when Riku graduated from elementary school. He made new friends in high school, and they weren't interested in adventures or sand castles or things of that sort. Instead, they talked about girls, played sports and listened to music on their iPods. They had dates and parties, and they would never be caught dead with some skinny kid that spent his Friday nights building with model kits. The ages of twelve and thirteen were only a year apart, but when it came to maturity, it might as well have been an eons worth of time.

To this day, Sora remembered how crushed he was when he realized that Riku didn't want to be his friend anymore. It was never said outright, but Sora had gotten the drift. Riku didn't come over to play anymore, and when Sora invited him, he was always turned down. Sometimes Riku fed him an excuse about homework, but then later on, Sora would spot him at the mall with a group of his friends.

At the time, it broke his heart so bad that he cried for a week. It wasn't until he started his own Freshman year at high school that he finally understood the distance that had grown between them. Growing up was a hard thing. The pressure and the expectations from other people forced Sora into maturity, just as it had to Riku. Even so, the memory of that one terrible week, after he saw Riku laughing and having a good time instead of doing his homework at home, still made his heart ache.

Sora didn't know what to say. This was an awkward moment for him, even if Riku didn't care anymore. They never talked to each other. Sora didn't even look at him if he could help it. It was hard to raise his eyes to him now. Still, he didn't want to be rude, so he said a brief "hi," and then he took a lean against the wall furthest from Riku. He didn't say anything else after that.

[Bloody Bender]

яιкυ

``ιη уσυ αη∂ ι тнєяє'ѕ α ηєω ℓαη∂...``

xxxxxx

A few minutes passed and Riku was already starting to feel the boredom of the situation creep up on him. He shifted some to relieve his restless tendencies when the sound of footsteps reached his ears. Though it was half fake a grin drew up on his face, now at least he knew he wasn't completely wasting his time here. Maybe this meant they hadn't got enough members and were just going to close down the whole operation...okay that was overly optimistic but you could still hope, right? It wasn't until the owner of the footsteps appeared that the teens expression switched from something semi-light hearted to something...sort of indescribable.

There, not too far from where he sat, stood the one person he hadn't seen in what felt like forever. Despite that they shared many daily activities this was the first time Riku had truly been forced to look at this person again. Sora. A quick lookover of the brunette only went to show that he hadn't changed all that much since the last time they had been together, and since that had been a few years ago that was a pretty interesting thing.

He remembered like it was just yesterday when they had played games, run around on the beach, and done countless other childish things without a care in the world. The memories of the smiles they exchanged, the laughter they echoed, and the pure joy they shared were beginning to creep back up from the dark crevices of his mind. He had to remember that he and Sora weren't friends anymore, and whose fault was that? His own.

The first day of high school had changed everything for him. Though he had promised the younger brunette that things would stay the same he ended up having to back out on the promise. The idea of new friendships and new prospects in life started to rise like a cloud of smoke, the thing being burned to create that smoke though was his old friends. Leaving them behind in order to create something new he didn't even look back as the carefully constructed friendships burned to the ground and remained rubble to this very day. Somewhere deep inside him the teen often wondered why he had chose to do what he did. He'd had wonderful friends, ones that would never abandon him when he was in trouble, and yet he tossed them aside yet they were an old toy. Worthless, boring, and overused. The stain that had been on his conscience seemed to have long since faded, but the unresolved inner confusion kept it from disappearing altogether.

As he found the silence between the beginning to lengthen he was about to say something when a very distant 'hi' could be heard as Sora retreated to rest against the wall furthest from him. No surprise there, Riku knew Sora probably hated him for what he did. Hell he couldn't blame him, but that was in the past. They weren't friends anymore, they had no ties...so why this tension? Though he was almost positive it'd just be fueling a flame that'd come back to burn him later he opened his mouth for the first time since he had gotten there to speak. "Hey. You joining Fencing Club too? Never figured you to be the type." Though he had meant to stop on the second sentence the third one just seemed to naturally slip out, he almost instantly wondered why he'd bothered to say that but pretty much let it go instantly. If they got in an arguement here, so what? It's not like they saw each other enough to make a big deal out of it. All Riku could hope was that maybe he had gone to the wrong location and that the stupid fencing club was somewhere. If Sora was in the same club as him things were either going to get really bad or really good...and he wasn't so sure about the second one.

[a good other]

Sora didn't expect Riku to say anything back. Maybe the other boy would nod at him, and that would be that. Instead, Riku actually said something, and Sora felt a feeling rise up on him that he had never felt before: anger. In the time that had passed, he never felt any kind of anger towards Riku, but now that he was older he was able to ask the questions that he couldn't when he was a child. What right did Riku have to deem him a worthless human being? What made Riku so special that it mattered who he judged to be worth talking to and who wasnt? This was not the Riku that Sora grew up with, and Sora was not the kid that the old Riku played with anymore.

"You don't know me," said Sora in a stronger, confident voice. The moment he said it, he knew how absolutely true it was. A lot had happened to him in the last year and a half, and Riku had missed it all. How dare Riku presume to know what kind of person he was? Suddenly, Sora was determined to show Riku just how much he didn't know.

Anything more that could have been said was stalled by the arrival of the the club leader and several other people. The fencing club was run by a senior named Setzer, and today he was flanked by Leon and Cloud, fellow seniors who were carrying the equipment that they would need. There were rumors that the fencing club would fold once they graduated, because they had won many awards for being masters of the craft.

"Ahhh," said Setzer with flourish of his hands. "Two new fencers, and quite early if I may say so myself. The others should be arriving soon." He walked to the double doors and used his key to unlatch the locks. Both doors were pushed open, granting them entrance to a well-lit, clean gym that was already set up with several fencing dummies and taped floors to indicate the fighting ring. "Naturally, we needed time to set up," continued Setzer. "Come in."

Sora's eyes went wide and bright when he beheld the scene before him. Already, he could feel the excitement making his hands and spine tingle. Fencing was going to be beyond awesome. He eagerly followed behind Setzer as he looked over the weapons and the body armor that they would have to wear.

It wasn't long before others club members arrived. Some of them were upperclassmen, and others were new recruits, like Sora. Those that recognized Riku, even if it was in passing, gave him a wave. None of them expected him to be there.

"First things first," said Setzer in a loud voice. "Body armor. Fencing is a gentleman's sport, and it is also very dangerous. Please report to the locker rooms to be fitted for the correct armor, and then you will return to the gym to choose your weapons. Be quick, we have a lot to do in within the next hour and a half."

Sora couldn't wait to start. He headed over to the lockers to get changed.

[Bloody Bender]

яιкυ

``ιη уσυ αη∂ ι тнєяє'ѕ α ηєω ℓαη∂...``

xxxxxx

Though he was more surprised than he let on Riku's only response to the statement was the lifting of his eyebrow. True a lot had changed since the last time they'd even spoken to each other, along with the obvious, but he definately hadn't been expecting that. Yet at the same time he had been. It was a weird thing, and he figured it was best for his own health if he just he just stopped thinking about it for now. Luckily he was offered the chance to do just that with the appearance of the club masters coming into sight. As they opened the doors he shifted himself back up onto his feet so as to follow behind them. As the doors opened up to him he had to squint to adjust to the newly lit area along with the all the brand new sights that lay ahead of him.

Despite his original lack of interest in fencing he had to admit that the setup was pretty impressive. He'd heard various rumors being spread around about the three that were apparently leading the whole operation. They were supposed to be the best of the best, at least at the school. How they did outside the walls of their academy he could only guess, and since they didn't know each other it wasn't all that important to him. Though they did have his respect, and so he'd at least try and learn the trade. Even if he really didn't want to be there it'd be an even bigger waste of time for him just stand around and do nothing the whole time. At least it wasn't being run by some old teacher with nothing better to do with their life who decided to start a random club and see how it went.

Upon the request to go to the locker rooms Riku took no time and going. Fitting...ugh. It couldn't be worse than get fitted for clothes or something, right? At least armor sounded at least somewhat cool. He hadn't needed to do something like this for a long while so he was trying to figure out exactly what he'd be doing when he got to where he was directed, nothing came to mind. Except for that when he went in there he'd have no armor, and then when went out he would.

The number of members that had definately caught him off guard, and it showed by the glisten in the backs of his eyes. He'd expected maybe a few but this was over half a dozen. Was fencing really that big a deal? Apparantly it was and he'd just never noticed, that was certainly something. He had gotten a few waves of recognition when they'd all first went into the gym but he'd been so wrapped up in checking things out that all he could give was a quick nod to each one with barely a second of eye contact. It was just great that people he knew were here, that meant he'd have to keep showing up for sure. What a lucky day. A few of them had even noticed he was moving towards the changing rooms and had turned to follow him, chattering mindlessly at his side about something he wasn't catching. He wasn't even sure what some of their names were they just happened to be on the same sports teams as he was at one point or another within the past few years.

Unintentionally his eyes flickered over to where Sora was excitedly making his way to the same place as everyone else, what he had said was still echoing in the back of his head. He wouldn't deny the truth behind that simple statement but it made him curious. What had changed over the past few years? What had he been overlooking ever since high school started? And since when had Sora ever been interested in a sport of any kind? Even if this wasn't really what most would call a 'sport' Riku was positive he'd never seen the brunette join any other club based on physical activity before. As the questions formulated in the back of his mind the teen found himself already inside the locker rooms. Uh oh.

A simple scan of the area left him completely stumped. Things he had never seen before in his life lay scattered across the room like fans at a concert. So many of them and so similar that he couldn't discern any particular object. Most of it was armor but even then he had no idea how to judge what'd fit him and for the moment there was nobody there except for himself and the other club members. From the sound of it himself and Sora were the only new members so he was a bit anxious, if he didn't figure it out and fast he'd look like a complete idiot in front of the others. Whether he was sure what their names were wasn't important, they knew who he was and if something particularly embarassing went down everyone else that he did know the names of would be talking about it. Then he'd have to come to club everyday knowing that the others were just waiting to hear what other stupid stuff he did while learning, or failing to learn, fencing.

"C'mon Riku, ya slowpoke! Move it!" The voice didn't ring a bell but it was apparently coming from one of the guys standing next to him. He watched as the other moved ahead of him and started doing things that he wasn't sure about. Seeing as he'd only just gotten here, and had never learned a thing about fencing before in his life, imitating what the guy speaking to him was doing was far from easy.

"Yeah, yeah. In a sec' geez," Feigning annoyance he allowed a slight grin to come onto his face to at least offset the irritation in his brain. The one hope he had was that he wouldn't be the only one to not figure out how to do this. So, in attempt to get started, he took his first step forward towards all the gear. "I hope that I don't screw this up..."

[a good other]

While Riku angsted over what people would say about his lack of ability, Sora didn't have any problems at all. It wasn't that he had any special knowledge about the equipment, it was that he wasn't ashamed to ask for help when he needed it. He walked over to the senior named Cloud, and asked him if he could help him figure out how to wear the armor.

Cloud took one look at Sora, and immediately said that he would need the smaller sizes. He gathered up a pair of breeches, a form fitting jacket, a guantlet, gloves, knee high socks and shoes. The senior helped Sora to sort out where all the padding went and how to strap it into place. Cloud made sure that the gorget covered Sora's neck appropriately, and that the plaston meant to protect Sora's underarm was on his dominant side.

By the time they were done, Sora was dressed from head to toes in white armor. The finishing touch was the mask and bib. Since they weren't fighting just yet, Sora wore the mask on top of his head like the other members of the club. He thanked Cloud for his help, and the senior simply nodded at Sora. Then Sora returned to the gym with no repercussions or hard feelings over asking an elder student for help.

The class was progressing quickly. Setzer asked Sora to choose the weapon that he would train with. There were three choices: the foil, the épée and the sabre. The foil was light and flexible, and the rules of engagement determined that users of the foil could only strike the opponent on the chest and back areas. The épée was the heaviest weapon with a bell-shaped guard and a three-pronged terminus which would snag on clothing. It's user could target any part of the human body. And last, the sabre. It was purely designed for cutting. The sabre was the only weapon that garnered points by slashing at an opponent instead of just touching with the tip, and its target area included the chest, back, head and wrists. Because of the sabre's slashing properties, its user would have to rely on good footwork, and they were prohibited from using the flèche maneuver.

"In fact, while we are on this topic," said Setzer to those who had gathered. "The use of flèche is strictly prohibited in this school, whether you are using a sabre or not."

"Excuse me, but what is a flèche?" asked Sora. He stumbled a little over the odd pronunciation.

"It is a surprise attack," explained Setzer. He pulled himself into a fencing stance, and used his arm as a surrogate sword. "There is little space between you and your opponent. And then suddenly you step." Here, he crossed one foot in front of the other his movement so fast that Sora barely had any time to react. Setzer's finger pressed itself firmly on Sora's chest, right over the place where his heart was pounding. "And point," finished Setzer. "Many eager beginners desire to use the flèche to win, but it typically ends in tears... and blood. Only the masters ever use that maneuver. The arrow to the heart."

Setzer tapped Sora's shoulder in a friendly way, and then addressed the rest of the classroom. "Well, if you are all ready. We begin with formation, and we will review the terminology."

All of the club members lined up in a straight line. Sora ended up choosing the foil as his weapon since it was light and easy. He quickly got into line, and as Setzer began calling out words, he moved with the others to perform the act. Although this was the first time he participated in fencing, it was obvious that he had done some studying before-hand.

"Advance! Ballestra! Pass forward!" called out Setzer, as if he were directing an orchestra. The gym was soon filled with the sound of dozens of feet pounding and moving at the same time as the fencers practiced their footwork.

[Bloody Bender]

яιкυ

``ιη уσυ αη∂ ι тнєяє'ѕ α ηєω ℓαη∂...``

xxxxxx

It took Riku a good few minutes before he finally decided that he was going nowhere fast. So rather than beating around the bush any further he swallowed his pride and approached a senior, who went by the name of Leon, and asked him a few questions about how to get ready to go. Being an amature the elder had no issues with giving him a few pointers, though Riku definately felt foolish for needing to ask. This was going to make him the joke of the school, at least the sports section of it. He needed to make sure everything he was told today was committed to memory so he wouldn't end up making an idiot out of himself through something small.

The older, higher ranked, student didn't move onto other things until he was sure that the inexperienced newcomer had everything arranged correctly. It had taken a bit longer than either of them had first anticipated but at least they hadn't been the last to leave the locker rooms. Riku wasn't sure what to make of all the gear. He couldn't even remember what half of it was called. He thought he remembered something called a plastron, and then a bib...what'd they need a bib for? It made his mind instantly shift onto thoughts of drooling infants and a crestfallen look landed on his face for a few moments before shifting back to a thoughtful one. He thanked Leon casually, in which he received an equally casual nod, before he headed back out into the gym.

From there things seemed to pass so quickly that his head almost spun around on the spot. Weird as it was he actually understood most of what was being taught, he figured it came from years of learning different sports. Picking them up must've been easier for him now. "At least hearing about them is..." Listening to someone talk about a sport was one thing but actually doing what they were being taught was completely different. The level of finesse within fencing seemed much greater than it was in the majority of other competitive activities. That in itself was something the teen was nowhere near adapted to. When it came time to select a weapon he had to think a moment. Foils wouldn't work for him, way too light for his tastes and physical strength. So it was either an épée or sabre. Finally he decided on the épée, it was the heaviest but he didn't have a problem with that. It'd help train him in the sport along with keeping his muscles well exercised.

While he was deciding Riku had overhead the sub-lesson about what Setzer had called "flèche". He furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to think about how that could be considered a cheap move of sorts but ended up not getting far. Though he didn't understand that part of fencing he decided it'd be best to just go along with it and try to avoid using that move. It if could end in 'blood or tears' then it probably was more dangerous than the description made it out to be.

The teen mindlessly fiddled with gloves as he slipped into line with the other club members. He didn't recognize anybody next to him but that was probably for the best. The less people he knew the better. As could be expected he hadn't looked into this at all before he showed up, which could be easily noted by his awkward imitations of the moves demonstrated. After a few tries he got some of the basics down, well sort of, and was starting to understand more of the things he was being asked to do but the second he got one move down they started a new one. Then going back to the first one became a challenge, fencing terms apparently weren't his fortè. Seeing as half of them sounded french to him he had to pay more attention to what was actually done than what was said.

By the time a break was reached Riku was amazingly tired, at least compared to the other club members. He had sweat more in that half hour period than he ever had in a single soccer practice or basketball match. The precision required to make each move was strenuous and foreign to his body so it took much more effort. Using a single hand to wipe the sweat off his forehead, mask still resting firmly atop his head, he decided he would go into the restroom to try and avoid contact with any of the people that had probably noticed how much he struggled his first time. He would figure it out but until then he didn't need to be reminded of how badly this first attempt had gone. Being distracted by the idea of just getting to the locker rooms he mindlessly bumped into someone but quickly muttered and apology, when he noticed who the person was he paused a moment before offering a simple pat to his shoulder though it be considered a form of mockery.

"Sorry Sora, I better watch it. Wouldn't want you to run me through," Though it was truly meant just as a joke, because they were in a sword-related club, he wasn't sure that's how it'd be taken. So rather than waiting for a response he moved quickly towards the locker room; his pace much faster than it had been earlier that day when originally coming to the club. The familiar sight of the locker room was welcome to him, he didn't really want to see anyone right now. Steps falling into a slower movement pattern he went over to the porcelein sinks on the far end of the room. Just above the sinks lingered simple glass mirrors that seemed to be gunked over with stuff that he probably didn't want to identify. He filled a single palm with water before splashing it on his face and rubbing slightly; to cool off some. "Ugh...halfway through. C'mon just gotta outlast the clock."

[a good other]

As the lesson progressed, Sora found himself surreptitously checking on Riku. The older boy looked like a beginner, but there was no denying the potential that he had in his movements. This was bad. The last thing that Sora needed was for the indominable Riku to join the fencing team. If Riku got good at fencing, then everyone would pay attention to him, and Sora would fade to the background again. He could see it now: Kairi would come with her squadron of pretty girls, and they would make chants about Riku while he made short work of opponents with his épée. It just wasn't fair.

Sora tried to shake off his thoughts and concentrate on what he was doing. He didn't come here to worry about Riku, he came here to learn how to fence. Before he signed up for the class, he had been practicing at home with a wooden sword. It was a little different now that he had a foil in his hands, but with practice he was starting to get his form back. His technique caught the attention of Setzer, who now appraised the new recruit with new eyes. Setzer began paying more attention to Sora, sometimes with praise, and other times to correct his posture. He exchanged a significant look with Cloud and Leon to indicate that this one had potential.

Riku, on the other hand, was a different case. Setzer also saw potential in the teenager, but it was obvious that his heart wasn't into the sport. He expected the boy to drop out within a week of work, which was a shame. Someone of Riku's caliber would have made an excellent fencer, but without the spark of interest, there would be no magic. Setzer spent a significant amount of time correcting Riku's moments until he got it right.

About forty-five minutes into the lesson, Setzer declared a break. Afterwards, they would practice against a fencing dummy, before taking partners to spar against each other. Sora was grateful to finally have a chance to relax. He could feel the sweat pooling at the nape of his neck. The heat of Destiny Islands was unforgiving to those who wore body armor from head to toes. He took off his mask and went to the bleachers so that he could fetch the bottled water that he left there. No sooner did he grasp the cool bottle that he was suddenly jostled by Riku.

Unfortunately, being pushed around was something that happened often to Sora. He was so short that he was easy to overlook. When he saw that it was Riku, he gave the boy a frown. Why did Riku insist on speaking to him? Was he trying to be friends again? Sora wasn't sure what he felt about that. It was hard to forgive him, because he was sure that Riku would just forget him the moment that he was back with his new crowd. He didn't want to hurt the way that he did in the past again. Not over Riku.

But maybe.. this was his chance to get rid of him. If he could get Riku to leave the team, then he would be home free. So Sora gathered up his courage, and he followed Riku to the locker rooms. He held his mask under one of his arms as he spoke to the other boy, "Hey Riku, you didn't look so hot out there. It's kind of obvious that fencing isn't really your thing. How come you don't just go back to the other stuff that you do? You're better at those things."

The words sounded harsh, but Sora had used a friendly, encouraging voice. It was hard for him to be underhanded. Anyone could listen to him and clearly hear the please please go away message that was hiding beneath the surface.

[Bloody Bender]

яιкυ

``ιη уσυ αη∂ ι тнєяє'ѕ α ηєω ℓαη∂...``

xxxxxx

Riku muttered a few choice words under his breath as the sound of footsteps approaching reached his ears. Perfect, why would someone be coming in here? Maybe for the same reason he was but still, couldn't they just go somewhere else for a little while? This was his chance to recooperate and...oh it was just Sora. As the familiar voice sounded he turned glanced cooly at the boy, eyes pretty much blank aside from a minor hint of interest; reflecting that he was at least paying attention to what was being said. That being so he caught the obvious hint mixed in with the statement, so that's how it was gonna be.

"I didn't realize you were paying so much attention to me. What's the matter Sora? Can't take a little competition? Maybe I decided I'd give something else a shot, what does that have to do with you?" Each word came out sounding a friendly as it would when he was talking to any of his friends but the blatant undertone of mockery remained. A smile had also wound its way onto his lips, Sora must've seen him as some sort of threat. If he didn't then he would've left him alone and just done his own thing. Unless he hated him so bad that the sight of him drove him mad. That couldn't be it though since they shared classes each day, so it must be the first idea.

As he lifted his arms up to rest behind his head he took a few steps towards the person he had once called a good friend. Now though, he was pretty much title-less. He continued forward until he was right next to the brunette, their break was going to be over in a minute, since it had been a simple breather, and thus he decided it'd be better to head out there now and see how Sora reacted. If he followed and continued the "conversation" it'd be interesting. If he didn't though Riku would hold a sense of victory. So either way it didn't matter to him, it was entertaining enough. "I thought I didnt' know you anymore, so what makes you think you know me?"

Though the comment may have seemed random it made perfect sense to Riku. Sora had been talking about all the things he was supposed to be good at but how would he know if he actually enjoyed them? Obviously he did but how could Sora be so sure? It wasn't as though they had actually talked about this sort of thing so if he was going to say that he had no idea who he was Riku could shoot the same trick right back at him. Arms follded over his stomach while his weapon waited for him back out in the other room he stepped slowly away from the younger student.

[a good other]

Sora watched Riku placidly as the other boy began to walk away. Even so, he answered his question. "Everyone knows you Riku, you're popular. All of your trophies are out in the hallway," said Sora. That answered why he thought that he could comment on what Riku was good at, and what he wasn't. "I just thought that you didn't like to struggle, that's all. But, if it's really what you want to do, then good luck."

All of this was said in the same friendly tone, but there was no denying the disappointment in Sora's eyes. He placed his mask back over his face and walked back into the gym. By now, everyone had refreshed themselves, and now they were ready for the next phase of the fencing lesson. This time, they were assigned to their own practice dummy. There were several markers placed on their target, and they had to hit each one using the techniques that they learned.

"In lieu of electronic sensors and all that flashing gadgetry," said Setzer loftily, "we'll have to make do with this ancient technique of practice. It worked in the past, and it will work now." He paused beside Sora, and after a few moments of watching, he asked, "Sora, do you have any free time after practice?"

"Huh?" said Sora distractedly. He barely paused to look over at the club leader before attempting to pierce the target once more. "Sorry, there's somewhere that I have to be after this. How come?"

"I can tell that you are an avid fan of the gentleman's sport. I would like to tell you more about it's history some time," offered Setzer. "Are you certain that you don't have any time?"

"I am pretty busy," said Sora apologetically. "But the second I have some time, I'll let ya know. Is that okay?"

"Of course," said Setzer smoothly.

In the background, Cloud and Leon shared a significant look.

"Your plastron is coming loose," said Setzer. Before Sora could say anything about it, he tugged the strap to Sora's coat, making the already form fitting attire that much more tighter on his small frame. "You are built for speed, use it to your advantage."

"Speed.. right!" Sora thought that was great advice, and he worked even harder to hit his target.

After a half hour of this, Setzer regrouped the club members. It was time for the final event of the day. For the last fifteen minutes, everyone would pair up and spar each other. Since Riku and Sora were both new, they were deemed an equal match and therefore were set to duel against each other.

"Remember that this is a gentleman's sport," Setzer called loudly. "You always begin with a salute." He raised his own saber vertically in front of his face to demonstrate what a salute looked like. "Then follows the conversation." He grinned as he spun around to take in the entire gym. "Salute!"

Sora lifted his weapon upwards in a salute to Riku, as did all the other students in the gym. For some reason, his heart was pounding.

"..Converse!" called Setzer.

Sora immediately began circling Riku with his foil. Waiting for an opening to strike.

[Bloody Bender]

яιкυ

``ιη уσυ αη∂ ι тнєяє'ѕ α ηєω ℓαη∂...``

xxxxxx

The reply took him off guard, and had they been fencing rather than talking Riku would've called that a flèche. The words echoed in the back of his mind: "Everyone knows you Riku, you're popular" Never had he heard such a load of garbage in his life. Except for the few that did nobody in the school knew anything about him. Sure they knew he was rather sports savvy but that was it. Did they know what went on in his head beyond sports? No. Did they knew what he did outside of school activities? Most likely not. So how could Sora say that "everyone knew him"? It was completely ridiculous, and though he didn't have time to deal with it right now he'd make Sora regret saying that. He had no ill intentions towards the brunette, but he definately wasn't going to let this go so easily.

As practice continued Riku found his ability to wield his weapon go up with each passing swing, but still he couldn't call himself good quite yet. He was decent but nowhere near talented enough to take on anyone else there. Aside from Sora, that is. That thought gave him an idea, eyes rolling back and forth in thought a clever smile drew up on his lips as he thrust his épée directly into the chest of the dummy. If things went his way he'd have time to prove his point. He wasn't as much of an open book as the school took him for, Sora would soon understand that he had a lot to learn.

When the pairs were deemed the teen couldn't help but feel that luck was on his side. Paired with Sora he found a vacant expression presented on his features, he wasn't going to let his opponent get into his head right now. To be unpredictable you must also be unreadable. Riku had learned that through many years of sports tournaments and other activities. As he lifted his épée in salute he shot a single look of challenge towards the other before it shifted back to vacancy. He fell back into his normal wielding stance as the conversation was initiated.

Sora was circling him, that made it a bit difficult to approach him but easy to defend against. All he had to do was turn as he did and there wouldn't be any direct openings for attack. He shifted as in tune with Sora as a radio station in a car before he finally decided to do something else. As Sora seemed to be planning to continue his current movements Riku took a chance as moved forward. Taking a few general stabs at the other he was easily deflected, as to be expected from someone as fast as Sora. He'd somewhat overheard the conversation between the senior student and his sparring partner so he had a feeling that would happen. It didn't stop him from trying though. He stepped back some as the return fire came at him, he blocked them effectively but that wasn't his concern. He had other plans anyway.

Keeping his weapon close to himself at first as he started to draw closer to his opponent again he extended his arm further and took an inward swing to attempt to strike Sora just beneath the arm. His movements weren't the swiftest but they were strong and if they were to be countered he couldn't be budged, but his strike would be deflected. He would just remain in the safe general position. Eyes locked onto that of his opponent he mouth a few simple words. "You're wrong."

[a good other]

Cloud had been designated the referee of their match, but that lasted only the first few minutes. Setzer shooed Cloud away from his post so that he could watch the goings on himself. For some reason, he seemed very interested in the battle that was playing out between Sora and Riku.

Out of all the things that could have happened, Sora wasn't expecting to be paired up with Riku like this. There was too much hurt still trapped inside him, and the potential for it to all come out was still there. He didn't want to face this cold, emotionless Riku that was willing to do anything and everything to hurt him. All he wanted was for Kairi to notice him.

First you abandon me, then you stand in my way. When will you ever leave me alone? he thought in his mind.

He was caught by surprise when Riku suddenly lunged with his weapon, and the defense that he had hoped to use fell apart. The épée cut beneath his armpit, but thankfully his body armor protected him from any damage. Since both of them were wearing masks, there was no way that he would be able to read Riku's lips, but the message was loud and clear. Riku wasn't happy with the exchange of words that they had earlier.

"Point," said Setzer without delay.

What do you care, he thought as he gathered himself. Since when does my opinion matter you? It doesn't matter how much I hurt you. You hurt me ten times worse.

"Speed, Sora," said Setzer. "Your opponent is stronger than you, but not faster."

Sora tapped his mask to make sure that it was still in place, and then he went back into a fencer's pose. His face was screwed into one of determination. He had heard Riku. Now it was time for Riku to listen to him. He took Setzer's advice and used his speed to arc around Riku, and feint a blow to his chest. If Riku riposted, then he would reveal his true intentions - a stab right at the center of his chest.

[Bloody Bender]

яιкυ

``ιη уσυ αη∂ ι тнєяє'ѕ α ηєω ℓαη∂...``

xxxxxx

As he landed the blow he felt a small surge of pride go through him but it didn't last long, he had other things to worry about. Backtracking a few paces Riku listened as Setzer commented on Sora's movements, what a biased statement. It didn't bother him much though. Since this wasn't his top priority he could do bad or good at it without it really effecting his daily life. As far as he was concerned whether he won or lost this round was completely meaningless, though it didn't seem to be the same way for his opponent.

Sora's movements were unreadable in emotion to the teen but he was starting to pick up on things. This wasn't just a match between colleagues, this was full of depth and unexchanged conflict that had been kept away for a good while now. Keeping his épée poised and ready to strike at any given moment he was alarmed when he was caught off guard, the temptation to counter was great. He was so close to doing it too, already forgetting the talk about the fléche and how it was currently an illegal move for him to make, but something else refrained him from acting upon his instinct.

"I'm gonna beat you this time Riku!" The small brunette kept his wooden sword out in front of him, a playfully challenging smile rested upon his lips. Standing his ground Riku held one of the same things in his hands, he couldn't help but laugh at the antics of his friend as he lazily swung his toy back and forth. A single eyebrow rose up as he crossed his arms firmly over his chest.

"Oh yeah? Then come and get me!" The ten year old across from him only nodded in agreement. It was on. They both moved around at a what could only be considered average speed for two pre-pubescent boys but to them it felt like they were moving at the speed of sound. The sound of wood clashed against wood echoed across the beachy terrain as Riku backed up, just then though Sora came at him again. Riku swung out of instinct, self defense, and what followed wasn't pretty. Though he hadn't really hurt his friend too badly he had torn the shirt he'd been wearing and left a fairly nasty looking scar that would easily fade over the course of a few weeks, yet the amount of blood unnerved the both of them at the time. It was awhile before they played that game again.

Coming out of his reverie the only thing that registered in Riku's mind was the light pressure of the foil's landing. His eyes flickered down as the sound of Setzer's voice finally gained entrance to his trail of thought.

"Point!" He stood still for a moment before he trailed back some so they could start another round. What was that all about? That incident had happened years upon years ago, so where had it come from? The quote "History repeats itself" seemed to answer that question in his mind, yet somehow this was different than that. Sora was different, he was different, what would it have mattered had he retaliated? Sure it was against the rules but he was still a newcomer so he could've passed it off as a mistake. His eyes lingered specifically on Sora as he got back into position. This time around rather than waiting to move until after the other did he went on his own.

His choice of tactic turned out differently than he had originally intended but somehow that was just how it had worked out. Carefully footed movements got him across the space in a matter of seconds before he lifted up the épée and brought it down, oddly not on any part of Sora's body though. Rather than that it had ended up directly hitting his foil, not even close to hitting the sopohmore's form at all. The resonating sound reminded him a bit of the noise their weapons had made back on the beach, how ironic.