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 Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 6:17 pm
 
This is a private role-play between Kotone [shyanimegrl] and CuiYan [Tooaya].
Setting:
A quiet area in the Academy for personal training, Cui's reserved spot, except he won't be alone today...
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Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 6:32 pm
Early afternoon.
While for most people, the time was better spent taking naps or relaxing after a good lunch, it was not the same for CuiYan. Although, if one were to judge his actions according to their purpose, the young man's plan to train would, strangely, fit into the category of relaxation. For him, playing with sword was not a tiring task, but something to be enjoyed, something to look forward to. What could be a better way to spend the afternoon than improving your skills and knowing they would become useful in the future, when it was the time to shine?
Of course, Cui would easily disregard any disagreements to that thought, despite the fact there were likely many of them.
Well dressed (and fed), sword at his waist, the young man was ready for a full afternoon of sword-training. There was a particular spot that he liked in the academy, and, luckily for him, the place was generally not crowded in the afternoon. Being the intellectual young man that he was, Cui had easily done all his schoolwork in the morning, so when everyone else was rushing to finish their academic works, the young man had all the times for himself. The wonders of being a genius.
The training area (or so he called) was a small pebble field in the middle of a garden. Though the presence of flowers and plants often hindered his movement, Cui learned to restrain himself in such an environment. Moderation was the key to success, as once an unnamed saint taught him. Knowing his powers and limits, therefore, also helped in making him a better swordsman. Cui decided that if he were to become a true hero, he would be the elegant, charming type, not the wild, barbarian kind. While he was far from reaching his goals, it was never too early to start preparing for them.
Thus taking the opportunity today, the young man set out from the classroom for his usual training ground. He had visted the place often, so Cui took the chance to consider other events while walking. Another day, another little step that would lead to success.
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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 7:20 pm
Kotone had been looking forward to lunch the entire morning. However, it was not because she was eager to partake in the activity of enjoying a meal. The reason was because she was feeling deprived--deprived of the usual amount of time she spent outdoors.
And the cause of her feeling of deprivation could be found by recalling the later events of the day before. And though Kotone had been warned of the chase that transpired yesterday, its commencement had still surprised her. She had been warned that, in light of the fact that she declined her mother's instructions and failed to return home promptly on each of the three days previous to spend time studying at home for a change, if at that present day she did not return within the second hour after academy dismissal, she would be fetched.
So for the whole of the morning, after toiling at her academic work on the preceding day under her mother's vigilant watch immediately following having been returned to her residence, Kotone had been taking comfort in the fact that yesterday's pursuit turned out to be an hour of decent exercise before she had been captured and delivered to the Hayashi Estate soon after. And thus, the moment lunch was upon her, she had managed to vacate her seat in the classroom and climb a tree in no time at all, where she then proceeded to get her meal out of the way. Kotone fully intended to maximize the period that allotted her the opportunity to avoid her academy texts.
So, Kotone's lunch experience today was a sum of a bit of choking and coughing in the process of consuming her bento at a failed attempt to rush through her meal, humming an invented koto tune, and some impatience as she occupied herself with knitting during digestion. This spectacle was then followed by Kotone hurriedly untangling herself from her knitted creation when she felt she met the recommended minimum time for sitting still after a meal, stuffing her in turn unraveled creation into her backpack together with her just adequately wrapped bento in like fashion, and descending today's eating spot in as much of a risk-free manner she could muster as a stomach-ache safety precaution.
"Awh," her soft voice gave a sharp, sudden whine as she paused momentarily during her descent at the realization that she had nearly forgotten once again the documents regarding her transfer that her teacher had requested from her. Today being the fourth day since the request was made, Kotone dismissed the option of putting off the documents' submission yet again and rushed the errand to her teacher's office as quickly as she could without running.
Then after having shut the door behind her and taken a number of steps away from the office, she breathed an accomplished sigh as her cheery strides continued to carry her forward. And that was when the hilt of a weapon traveling beside its owner caught her attention and in the next moment, she had jumped straight to the conclusion that this individual was going to train. And so, her investigation began as she followed after the Lunarian clad in green and red. Her footsteps softened when she shifted onto the tips of her toes as she defaulted to playing a spy on a mission in her curious exploration, albeit pulling off no stealthiness whatsoever.
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Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 5:00 pm
CuiYan was not a mind-reader nor an acute animal. However, he was trained enough to sense other people's presence, especially ones unpleasant to him. It didn't take a long time before his people-sensor alarm went off in his mind. The message was obvious: someone was following him. To make sure this was the case the young man purposefully stopped for several seconds before turning slowly to scan what was behind his back. He saw a few peasants passing by, perhaps returning from the morning market. Other than that...
No one, at least no person to be suspicious of.
Which, incidentally, confirmed CuiYan's belief that he was indeed being followed. After all, what kind of stalker would allow the subject to discover himself easily? The young man smirked to himself, whoever was following him didn't fail the basics of stalking someone, that was at least a plus. So after confirming the truth Cui walked on, without looking back. He was not worried about the stalker, for he was confident enough that nobody would be interested in him at the moment. The thought, however, pleased him. Having a stalker could only mean he had the person's attention, and attention was certainly one of the aspect in which the young man would feed his endless thirst for fame. On the other hand, CuiYan was confident in his own skills. If the stalker were to do anything harmful, he would simply fight back, crushing his poor opponent.
So with several thoughts occuring at once the young man finally arrived at his training ground. The stalker had not lost him, but seemed to have no intention of showing himself either. Cui shrugged, and chose to ignore the said person, at least on the surface. He positioned himself in the middle of the empty area, hands draping freely beside his waist. Raising his chin slightly, he breathed in and out several times, before finally reaching for his sword---but that was when the problem occurred. Despite trying to convince himself that the stalker was of no importance to him, CuiYan found it difficult to concentrate with another person's presence nearby. He could not reach for his sword, because his mind would not calm itself, being constantly on edge. If Cui was in mortal combat, he would not hesitate to draw his sword, but if he was training, he wanted to do things his way, and that was, the artistic way of completely merging oneself into his surroundings, where his mind was at complete peace.
What could have been neglected became a pest in this situation. CuiYan hang his head as if he was defeated, and turned to the direction that his people-sensor pointed to.
"Although I've tried to not interrupt your activity, it is, unfortunately, disrupting my training. Would you like to show yourself, since your presence is already known?"
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Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 11:57 am
Playing make-believe was nearly always a given during Kotone‘s strolls. And often pretending to be a ninja undercover in the estate gardens since she was a child had managed to instill some basics of stalking in her it seemed. So when her target had turned around to check if he was being followed, she reacted using the ‘blending-in’ strategy, diverting her path to following other passersby in the meantime. For what better way was there than adjusting in likeness to what was most like you (i.e. other Lunarians) in order to fit into a scene? Being the eccentric girl she was, despite pursuing a fellow student like a crazy person, her logic also happened to remind her that this was different from playtime. So, it registered in her mind that the methods with the highest success rate for her should take precedence over trying to blend-in like a bird or tree per se.
And it was only after he resumed heading to his destination and she returned to tailing him that Kotone suddenly realized she was being a stalker again. Why hadn't she just gone up to him in the first place and spoken to him, she questioned herself. Her steps slowed at her reluctance to continue after her prey now that she was more aware of her behavior. But then, her legs still hurried forward so as not to lose sight of said prey as her curiosity coaxed her onward.
His physique was slim, she began to note observations. The way he carried himself impressed upon her the air of one very well-disciplined in an art. Moreover, how he and his weapon appeared to match one another so smoothly, Kotone presumed the Lunarian's praiseworthy swordsmanship. She wondered if he would be willing to trade to let her watch him train. Some similar requests she had made in the past were declined and some accepted, so overall she viewed such inquiries as worth a shot making.
And then, he had stopped and Kotone ducked swiftly behind a tree to continue observing him. Her heart was beating quickly in her chest as she was both anticipating the start of his training and worried that she would soon be caught. She should really say something to him, she considered again.
A few moments passed and then she wondered why he had yet to commence his training. And yet again, another thought struck her: it was certainly possible that he wasn't heading to training to begin with. He may have gone here simply to enjoy the garden scenery.
And when he looked in her direction, she cringed in surprise. His words confirmed that he knew she was there. And Kotone then began to hiccup, which further added to her embarrassment as she stayed hidden at a loss for what exactly to do next.
Several hiccups later, she stepped into view a little shakily, inwardly telling herself over and over to calm down. "Um.." she began to speak, but wasn't sure if her voice would carry and took a few hesitant steps forward, regaining her legs' stability gradually.
"Ah..uh..Hello, I'm Kotone, Wakahisa no Kotone," she smiled and bowed with her introduction and then inquired while she restrained another wave of nervousness to just a tremble in her next syllable, "Um..May I ask..what is your name? You look really strong." Though her features did not show it, Kotone was displeased at how poorly she was delivering her thoughts and with hiccups as well. But still she pressed on, "I wanted..I was wondering if you would maybe like to trade, please? I would like to watch you train..if you would like to trade to let me that is."
Kotone, in an attempt to rid herself of her hiccups, then proceeded to hold her breath as she awaited the Lunarian's reply.
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Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 5:07 pm
CuiYan's expression remained gentle as he patiently waited for his stalker to reveal herself. Although, his gentle expression was merely a mask, an expression that he often wore whenever he found other expressions wasteful on the individual receiving them. In other words, Kotone made no impression on him. A female Lunarian, meek, quite a foolish one, definitely less intelligent than he was. Cui partially followed the girl's words and partially analyzed her. Black hair, not the best face he had seen from a female, plain. Kotone's words gave the young man a further ego boost. Of course, he was much stronger, and much smarter than she could ever be. At this point Cui was convinced that Kotone followed him because he was someone to be admired instead of being hated. The young man tilted his head, am amused smile emerged on his face eventually as Kotone finished her short introduction and request.
"A trade?" Cui spelled out the words slowly, then shrugged and looked sideways for a brief moment. In addition to being plain, this girl definitely did not know her place. At least, her boldness was something Cui found amusing. "You speak interesting words, miss Kotone." He chuckled, playing the word in his hand. "If I allow you to watch me, what would I gain in return?"
It wasn't an unreasonable question. A trade, after all, was an exchange. Cui had no intention of giving up his alone and peaceful time, but he was nonetheless curious about what Kotone was prepared to give.
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Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2010 1:29 pm
As if rooted to her spot, Kotone watched the green-haired Lunarian as intently as she listened for his answer, curious as to what he would say, how he would respond. She wondered if by looking she could thus see and predict what his words would be. However, that was a negative as she found it difficult to find anything her brain translated as a yes or no wordlessly on his features. But, something else did come from this. By concentrating on observing his face, at a closer proximity than when she was following him, wear gentleness, a smile, she found herself admitting in her mind that he was very handsome.
Immediately after having thought this though, she caught herself. She then willed herself to vigorously shake her head only in her imagination with the purpose of regaining her senses and reminded herself of her resolve to avoid being distracted by such things. Another one of her hiccups next had her inwardly pouting at herself in disappointment as she attempted to hold her breath a second time. What kind of aspiring fighter are you, Kotone? Hiccups and all, was her self-criticism at that moment.
And when he spoke, Kotone tuned in, determined to catch what he said despite any other hiccups that may escape and try to deter her from hearing his words clearly.
"If I allow you to watch me, what would I gain in return?"
“Uh, yes, sir, um..” At his last query, Kotone jolted slightly upon her motions’ commencement of removing her backpack, followed by kneeling while in the process of swinging it to rest on the ground in front of her. From said backpack emerged her unraveled knitwork from earlier which she placed on her lap, succeeded by her wrapped bento. Both these objects slid from her lap and onto the ground in front of her as well with a gentle thud as she continued hurriedly. When she had successfully wrestled another clothed-wrapped bundle past her texts, she sprung back up quickly to stand before the swordsman again, lumpy bundle in her left arm. With her right hand, nimble fingers untied the oddly-shaped bundle’s knot and took from it a round, orange item. “Um..I can trade mandarin,” Kotone’s soft-spoken voice came again as she referred to the small fruit, hiccups having disappeared in the commotion, “..Or money..Or..ah..” She impatiently gave herself mental instructions to lessen the hesitance in her speech and figure out how to say what she wanted to already. “Or um..I can trade..um..I can show you staff skills,” she offered as the thumb and index fingers of her still mandarin-equipped right hand fluidly drew, using a downward pull, her staff from the ring of its accompanying belt at her right side with a fast and accustomed handling motion. The lower of her right arm having been swung sideways up to bending and tucked close to her body, her hand with staff and orange held the items at shoulder-level, “Uh..or I can trade a combination of these three things if you’d like?”
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Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 12:17 pm
The young man watched as the girl in front of him hurriedly took out her backpack and shuffled through them like a squirrel foraging through its food source. The word clumsy immediately appeared in his mind. Clumsy, and messy. Cui wondered if the girl ever considered organizing her backpack so objects would not be dropping out as soon as she opened it. He quickly brushed the thought away, however, as Kotone clearly failed to present herself well enough for Cui to have such faith in her.
Not moving, CuiYan merely stared at Kotone's actions out of curiosity, folding his arms close as he had no intention of helping her. Eventually the female stopped searching and decided on her end of the bargain. Cui raised an eyebrow, looking back and forth between the mandarin orange and her staff. For a moment he looked surprised, not believing in what the girl had just offered. Then, his lips curved up as Cui began to grin, eventually bursting into a series of laughter---though to others it sounded like faint chuckle. If anyone else was around the two they would be certain that the young man was pleased, and that his laughs were nothing but genuine. However...
"I do not want them."
His expression was as happy as a child who had just gotten his favorite piece of candy, yet the cold and stolid tone betrayed the cheerful smile on his face. The words did not come out due to humbleness, they were of his true opinion. What was this girl thinking, giving him such mundane objects in hopes to trade for his precious quite times? It was foolish on her part, but that was to be expected from someone less intelligent.
"If those are what you can offer, I'm afraid I must turn the trade down." Politely yet stern, Cui bowed to Kotone. Then, as if to make a point that he was serious about not accepting the deal, the young man turned and stepped away, casting the girl a glance that said "if there's no more business, please leave".
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Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 2:28 pm
Kotone’s trade offers had been declined in various ways, such as from being ignored to yelled at. But this was the first time she had received a declination so..graceful and yet cold at the same time. For some reason, she felt as if her hair could stand on end. What’s more, it was as though she was petrified by the shock of the contradiction between his tone and his expression. Only when he gave his final glance did she remember to move. Her knees shook for a moment ever so slightly as she staggered for two small steps in place but she managed to remain standing rather than buckle at the knees. And all she was able to reply with at that moment was a nod, a sudden fear touching the depths of her eyes.
Kotone returned her staff to its ring at her side by reversing the motions she used to draw it just as swiftly and smoothly as previously. These motions served as a brief comfort zone for her to recuperate in given the chill she was feeling. What is this feeling, she wondered curiously to herself as she partly concentrated on quickly kneeling and returning her belongings into her backpack, and partly on being wary of the man. Donning her backpack once again, her movements as she stood back up were with a calm she wore well with practice from her upbringing after having momentarily closed then opened her eyes while taking in and releasing a breath. Though her voice was failing, she could still reciprocate his bow with her own. And thus she did so and then went on her way while not sure why she proceeded with the floating steps instilled in her as fitting for a noble Japanese woman.
She continued to walk in such a manner until just after she had both sighted an alley and turned into it, leaning against one wall to recollect herself from her confusion. Such an odd feeling this is, she commented about herself again and then sounded out syllables to test her speech. She was relieved to find her voice functioning again. And next, she took easy breaths as her mind wandered while she rested further.
Now that she came to think of it, his grace reminded her of her mother’s and how she had responded to him was similar to her behavior when she was reprimanded at home, how she would at times unconsciously shift to the appropriate behavior she had been taught and what a scolding from her mother was known to be capable of bringing about from her. Kotone didn’t expect to be reminded of her home.
Moving on to other thoughts, Kotone could not help but wonder if the swordsman fought with a similar air to the one she had last observed. A sudden surge of excitement washed over her and a grin spread on her features at the thought of how worthwhile it would be if she could face him in a spar and figure out how to deal with such an aura. It was intimidating, but intimidation was one of the things a warrior was to learn to confront.
Being reminded of her aim to continually improve in her combat skills as though rejuvenated the merriment in her as she lightly bounced away from the wall she was leaning on to stand upright once again. Then deciding to begin one of her strolls, Kotone walked through the rest of the alley and exited at the other end.
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