musubi | thirty-third breath ✧ voice/action

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luceti

thirty-third breath ✧ voice/action

[Today, Isamu makes a public post from a public place. That is to say that he's sitting with his journal open in the middle of the clothing store, up on one of the tables where he's moved aside a pile of assorted coats.

He looks serious, thoughtful, though he hasn't actually picked out anything yet.]

Those of you who work with the filial spirits here... How did you get them to work with you? Because I'm trying to figure out what makes them work with some people and not with others.

[For the longest time, the only one that would respond to him was Nala, and he feels lucky to have managed that much sometimes.

What this has to do with him sitting among piles of clothes isn't all that apparent.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Can't hurt your chances.

[Probably won't improve them either, but shh.]

Haha, right.

[He needs protective gear.]

Where you wanna meet?

Doesn't matter to me.

Oh fine, leave it in my hands, then.

How about your place? I don't know if my yard is the best sparring location.

Um... [He takes a moment to mentally review the state of the house and its occupants.] That's fine. I'll wait outside for you.

Sweet. I'll be right there.

[And then he shuts the book to head on over.]

[When Isamu gets to House 55, he'll find Don in the yard, practicing with his bo and making it obvious that he's spent many, many hours doing exactly this.]

[He'll just watch for a little while, feeling suddenly more unskilled than he already knew he was. His own staff is sitting on his shoulders, hands lightly holding it in place.]

[Don catches the bo with a hard thwack, half-turns, and decides to get in a little dig.]

Hi. Just warming up.

[Of course he's just warming up. Isamu rolls his eyes, but is smiling when he starts walking toward the turtle.]

Showing off is more like it.

[Completely unashamed:] That too. Ready to lose?

I do see a good bit of losing in my future.

[He holds the staff in a ready position, trying to keep that confident look.]

You can quit whenever you want.

[But for now:]

Hajime.

[Oh it's on, isn't it? Isamu doesn't exactly feel prepared.

He takes a defensive stance, figuring that if he's going to end up on his ass, he can at least delay it an extra couple seconds.]

[Fine then, Don will attack first.]

[He strikes high, to draw Isamu's block, then quickly switches his grip and drops down to sweep his opponent's feet from under him.]

[If Isamu wasn't so out of practice, he might have caught the feint. As it is, however, it catches him.

And, as he'd predicted, down on his ass he goes. He does try to remain on his back, at least, keeping his staff up in the hopes of blocking any follow-up attacks.]

[Hey, Don doesn't attack guys who are already down on their ass. He steps back, waiting for Isamu to get up.]

[He's not above a little taunting, though.]

I was hoping you were a little better than that by now.

You just caught me off guard.

[Isamu is a bit red in the face from embarrassment when he gets back up.]

Let's try that again.

[Seriously, off guard? It's a sparring match.]

[Don lets the lame excuse slide for now, and starts again with the same attack.]

[Most of his excuses are lame. It's how he rolls.

Isamu successfully blocks this time, but he's still on the defensive, reacting rather than attacking.]

[Nicely done.]

[Don presses the advantage, challenging Isamu to predict his strikes and block them. They're all over the place, alternating height and side, but sometimes twice in the same spot to see if Isamu is "off guard" again.]

[The teen does his best to block. At first, the counters are rather desperate, but after a few he starts to fall into form a little bit better.

He's still struggling, of course, but not quite as badly.]

[Don continues the pattern until Isamu almost looks like he's good at this. Then, in one swift move, he disarms Isamu and knocks his hat off.]

[Just to prove that he's better.]

[He sputters a bit after that, just sort of staring and glaring at the turtle.]

...Now that's rude.

[Poor hat.]

You should have blocked.

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