aterat | Down an unknown road

Entry tags:

Down an unknown road

Who; Nida

areasontohope
What; Sword fighting
Where; Near the Gullwings office
When; Mid June?
Warnings; None

There had been an idea in the back of his mind for a month or so, probably for longer if he thought it over. And it really hit home when he saw Mono and thought of his younger cousins Kisa and Momiji. What if somehow they showed up here? It had bugged him and the thought stayed in the back of his mind that he couldn't be a casualty like Jacob had been or even Caelan if some demon should appear again. Of course the more he tumbled it around in his mind, the more he recalled Miss Yuna being out there fighting too that night. And he'd done nothing but stayed in his little apartment, hoping nothing bad happened.

But what if children had gotten hurt? While he certainly wasn't Miss Honda, he was sure she would've been out there too that night, trying to save as many kids as she possibly could while that demon thing roamed the streets. After all, she'd gone after Kyo when he'd transformed into that awful monstrosity after his bracelet had been taken off by Shishou. And while he could fight Kyo all day long and win, that wasn't the point here. Their little petty fights were child's play compared to this place.

He had to be more useful than just growing flowers and medicinal plants.

As he'd accused Kyo, saying 'maybe it's not like a hero's supernatural power' but to 'get a clue and realize that there's only things you can do.' Right. And that included wanting to keep the kids safe. Maybe not for himself, but for adults who couldn't fight at all. Maybe they couldn't protect their kids.

What if he'd been stronger and had been able to protect his friends that night from their cruel fates?

So this made him get dressed and head out to find the one person that knew Jacob too. The man he sought had trained his boyfriend and had always been so proud to display the moves he'd learned. So it couldn't hurt to at least ask. Standing in front of the Red apartment now, he raised his hand to knock on the door. But as he went to do so, a lady came by and told him that Mister Nomura had moved to the Green apartments.

Informing Yuki as to which particular unit Nida was currently occupying, the silver haired man felt his nerves gnawing at his insides. But he couldn't fail people anymore. He couldn't run away like he'd accused Kyo of doing when the orange haired boy had said he had 'failed to protect' Miss Honda. No, he had to do this.

He stood in front of the correct green door and sighed, looking at it with a stern face. He had to do this, so he raised his hand and knocked.

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Well, it's about as much as Nida can expect. He considers and shakes his head.

"Need to spread the hands more, but it really depends on the strikes. We'll teach you that. Okay, know any battle dances, Yuki? I wanna see how you move."

He tried to set his feet apart and spread his hands though he was unsure as to how far apart they were supposed to be. But the last part had him confused. He had no idea what Nida was talking about here.

"No I don't."

Huh, maybe it was a language barrier. Nida picked up a staff of his own, moved to a clear part of the mat, and offered Yuki a brief bow before demonstrating. He went through a relatively simple practice kata he had been trained with at the Garden. But of course they hadn't called them that. When he was done with the quick and simple set of strikes and spins of the staff, he bowed to Yuki.

"Some thing like that?"

Yuki was half amused and half happy to see Nida bow to him and it made him wonder if he'd ever been to Japan. But he said nothing and watched the other with something of a smile on his face. "With a katana, yes. But this is a staff and I don't know how to move with it like you can sensei."

However, he was a fast learner.

Well, at least the guy knows some of what Nida means. He tosses the staff back toward the wall and then pushes up one of his sleeves to reveal the straps on his forearms. He unstrappled the single tambo there and held it out.

"I doubt it's strong enough, but show me anyway."

Taking the tanbo from Nida, he hadn't let on how impressed he was. It was interesting to learn that the man had been hiding his weapons all of this time while they were together.

But he took the tanbo and then bowed. Stepping back, he went through the motions as if he was drawing it, demonstrating with both of his hands at pulling the blade with his right and pulling the imaginary sheath back with his left. He then made a first cut by keeping the pretend blade a little lower than the handle, but keeping even with his shoulder. The tanbo then went slowly up over his head, pulled it back and went straight down with it.

His next move was to raise it to a forty five degree angle, then raising it up over his shoulder to bring it down. Then he made as if he was going to sheathe the weapon again.

Edited 2021-07-22 21:24 (UTC)

Not bad. Clearly the kid was serious and disciplined to pull that much off, especially with something that would be balanced all wrong and unwieldy. Yes, this one would take to learning better than Jacob had.

Still, he gestures for Yuki to do it again.

"Faster this time."

It was on the tip of his tongue to ask why, but Nida was the sensei and what sensei wanted, he would get. So he repeated his pattern a little faster, but it took more concentration which slowed him down because he didn't have the length or the balance of a blade.

So once it's completed again, he gave a half bow.

Hmm, that was interesting. Nida stepped forward and held his hand out for the tanbo.

"I'm not sure you have the speed for tanbo. We might just have to go right to a polearm. Or... a long sword."

Oh wouldn't that be a thing. Nida, teaching someone a sword.

"A long sword would be more along the lines of what I'm used to." Yuki admitted. But he would practice with whatever Nida sensei gave him. He was always good at new things, but he'd been so focused on the balance of the tanbo which wasn't the same as the usual katana practice.

He'd try again though.

Of course it would. Nida doesn't wince. That would be bad to do. Okay. Just... focus. He takes the tanbo and replaces it in his arm sheathe.

"A long sword might be very different from what you're used to."

"Longer and straighter than what I'm used to of course." Yuki replied. He had to admit that a long sword was different. Still, he was curious about the tanbo. "How long have you known how to work with those?"

His grey eyed gaze was still on the now sheathed weapons.

Ah, so he's familiar with them.

"I starts with polearms at eight, and tanbo a year later. I took up a sword at eleven, so really, not a master on that."

That had been Elijah teaching him.

"That's okay. I guess we'll learn together."

And if it was too much, Yuki could always learn what he could from Nida and go talk to the Gladiators to see if they were willing to take on students. But he was determined as ever to learn so that he didn't run and hide anymore.

"I guess we will," Nida agreed, grabbing up the basic staff again.

"Come on, let's get you some starting stuff here, just to get you into some practice."

Yuki only smiled when Nida's back turned. This man seemed to be a kind caring man even if he tried to appear gruff. Besides, he already pretty much had a jump on the man so to speak since he was Jacob's trainer and he'd heard plenty of stories already.

So he tilted his silver head. "Ready when you are, sensei."

Hey, gruff worked for him at one point. He guessed it didn't work as much now. Ignis had done so much to soften him back up. He moved to offer the staff back out to Yuki.

"I'm guessing you're not going to let me insist you just call me Nida, right? If not, how about Instructor Nomura? I know to respond to that one."

Then he moved to the wall to grab a plain staff for himself as well. He moved to Yuki and stood facing him.

"I'm going to show you a stance and way to hold the staff. Basically consider me your mirror, okay? I can't afford to put ones up in here."

He tried not to smile as Nida was now busy handing him a staff and straightening out the name business. "Would just Instructor work? I can call you Instructor Nomura if we're in front of anyone else." But if Yuki were talking to say, Mono or Detective Watts, he would refer to Nida as 'Sensei' because that's who he was.

But then he nodded and cocked his head. "You need mirrors in here?"

"Instructor works," Nida offered with a shrug. He just didn't know Sensei and the term really held no weight in his mind.

And being able to call for an instructor's attention in a rush was important he knew.

"It's a lot of money I can't drop on a place that might suddenly get made all in line with the rest of the city," he answered over the mirror as he set himself into a basic forward stance. "I'm saving up for a wedding and hopefully a non-dorm home."

Edited 2021-07-30 20:03 (UTC)

Yuki nodded, but before he moved himself into position he couldn't help but smile. "Congratulations on the wedding. When are you getting married?" Weddings were wonderful and this was good news. Plus Nida was saving up for a home? Well that was happy news as well.

People who came here against their will deserved to have good things happen to them in his mind.

The congratulations has Nida temporarily beaming in pride. He loved his partner enough that it was worth being excited every time the word even came up.

"This fall. We're still picking a day. I know, it's soon, but this place doesn't tend to work with your will always."

Nida was happy and that was very easy to see. And even if Yuki didn't know this man much himself, seeing someone happy was always a good thing in his opinion. "Is there some way I can help?"

True it might be slightly brassy of him, but this was his teacher. And if he could help, so much the better.

"Really?" Nida asks, still smiling from the residual pleasure of thinking of his beloved. "I'll talk to Ignis. I don't even know. He's the master mind. I'm only good at plotting how to break into someone's house to leave bugs."

Which is a bit of an admission but he'd come to terms with what his life had been. That wasn't who he was now after all.

Yuki's smile went from a genuine one to something of an unsure expression. He really did want to help and if either Nida or Mister Scientia could put him to work and help out somehow he would.

Yes he planned to pay his Instructor in currency he earned from his office job, as he had a small amount of savings put away already. But he planned on regular payments and helping with the wedding would be repayment too. He just wouldn't say as much.

"I..wouldn't think you knew how to do that."

Paid? For teaching? Nida wouldn't even know what to do with that. He'd absolutely refuse payment if it was offered to him.

"See, that's what makes a very good spy. We don't look like spies."

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