[taneda risa]

THE SECRET IS NOT TO DREAM

Apparently, just hand-to-hand taijutsu fighting wouldn’t be good enough if Risa really wanted to be a shinobi. She had to be able to use swords and kunai and shuriken too, and aim and throw them all perfectly, and it was hard. Most things at the academy she was learning pretty well, she thought! She wasn’t top of the class or anything, but she got decent grades, and she didn’t feel like she was struggling too much with anything—except bukijutsu. Chucking a kunai right just seemed beyond her. Still, she had to learn! So even though she barely wanted to, she dragged herself out to the training yard after school, dug through the supply closet for some wooden kunai, and trudged along with the weight of the world on her shoulders towards the training dummies. She perked up considerably, however, when she realized someone else was already there—Dansui! "Dansui!” she said brightly, waving her kunai at him. "Are you practicing too? Wanna train together?” Her dad always said that his best friends were people he had met training with all the time—and she hoped that would be true for her as well. She hadn’t made very many friends since moving aboveground, and she missed swimming and playing with the other kids in the Ama compound all the time… but this could be something, she thought! She just had to put herself out there.

Dansui -- 241

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[Dansui]

It had been a bit of a long day for Dansui, he hadn't slept much the night before. Nightmares plagued his dreams too much. The faces of his parents which he could never be expected to remember. Of course, he took out his frustration through training. Otherwise, his brother would notice, and Hato had enough to worry about already. 

His Taijutsu training had been going well, so he decided to switch it up a bit today. He grabbed a couple wooden Shuriken and Kunai from the supply closet, stuffing them in a pouch on his side as if he was on a mission. 

However, training Bukijutsu just made him more frustrated. Why were the targets so hard to hit! He threw Shuriken after Shuriken, Kunai after Kunai, but he'd barely hit the target at all. Reaching into his pouch once more, he realized he was out of tools. So, he went to pick the ones he'd thrown up before stuffing them back into his pocket. 

"Okay, slower this time." He would say to himself, reaching to grab a kunai from his pouch once again. He slowly went through the motion of throwing it once again. Once he finally threw it at a normal pace, a voice surprised him! His shock added to his own lack of skill in Bukijutsu caused him to miss yet again. 

"Ahhhhhhhhh why is this so hard!" He voiced his irritation before looking back at the source of the voice. It was Risa, someone Dansui was vaguely familiar with. They'd never trained together before; he was usually with Hato anyways. He was a little embarrassed that she had seen him in a different way than normal, he was usually a happy-go-lucky kid. However, Dansui wasn't opposed to the idea of training together, "Oh, sure. What did you have in mind Risa?" He asked. Maybe he'd be lucky, and she'd have some pointers for his aim. Or maybe they'd both be bad at it together, either way it'd help his frustration.

[taneda risa]

THE SECRET IS NOT TO DREAM

Oops, she’d startled Dansui—and he’d missed. Again. And it was her fault. Ugh. Do something right for once in your life, Risa! He didn’t seem to be mad at her, though, just kind of frustrated with what he was doing—so maybe it was okay? At the very least he wasn’t shooing her away, so she carried right on. "Well, I wanted to practice bukijutsu too,” she said, glancing at the target he’d barely managed to hit. "I’m not very good at it—aiming is really hard, you know? I thought maybe we could help each other out. Like, look…” She held three wooden kunai in her hand, and she took up the position she’d been taught in class next to Dansui, aiming for the target right beside his. She took a deep breath, squinting at the target, and threw the kunai hard… but it sailed right past the training dummy’s head. She tried to compensate for the force of her throw, but the second kunai fell short at the dummy’s feet, and striving for somewhere in the middle meant that her third kunai smacked against the dummy’s upper leg… but with the flat of the blade. Risa sighed. "I suck at this,” she said miserably. "I’m never gonna graduate like this.”

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[Dansui]

Despite being startled, Dansui was still happy to see Risa. He wasn't nearly as close with her as he was with Tota or his brother, but she was probably the next best thing. 

It seemed that Risa had come here for the same reason as him: To practice Bukijutsu. From the sound of things, he wasn't the only one that was hopeless. Two heads were better than one though! "I'm fine with you joining me, yea. I'm not very good at it either, obviously. Maybe we can find a way to help each other though!" 

As he responded, Risa took out three wooden kunai and got into position to throw them at the target. She was clearly aiming at the target next to his based on the direction of her stance. The first kunai was thrown much too hard, causing Dansui to hear it slice through the air. It would've been cool, except it missed. The second kunai was thrown much more lightly, but that one stopped just short of the bottom of the target. It seemed like the third was the perfect in between, a decent middle ground. Dansui was proven wrong as it hit the target's leg, but with the flat end of the blade.

"As you saw, I'm not much better. Tota might be the only one out of us that's any good with Bukijutsu honestly." He would respond as she started doubting herself. "But hey, things like this take time and effort. If we keep trying, there's no way we won't pass!" With that said, he took three of the wooden kunai he had out of his pocket, getting into posture to aim back at his target. His eyes focused, he felt the breeze and understood that it'd interfere with his throw. With his first kunai, he threw it just a bit too hard. At least it had the arm, even if it didn't stay in. The second one, he trying to lower his force just a little, but he lost focus as he flung it, causing the weapon to veer to the left and enter the void that was the forest. The third one, he took a deep breath. Trying to control how irritated he was, he threw it. It just barely struck the shoulder, before the force from the throw cause it to continue moving, falling on its backside. 

"See, I'm just as bad." He would say, giving Risa a smile.

[taneda risa]

THE SECRET IS NOT TO DREAM

"Hey, that last one was pretty good!” she said excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "You hit the body! Though I guess… center mass, is that what sensei called it? I dunno if the shoulder counts.” Risa didn’t think it did, but she didn’t want to discourage her friend. "I think, um… I think you have to throw it pretty hard so that it flies straight, right? Otherwise it’s too heavy and the pointy bit will fall down too much for it to actually, like, sink in. Maybe…” If she needed to practice her aim and her force, then maybe they were starting from too far away? They were a good thirty yards out from the targets, so Risa grabbed three more wooden kunai and shuffled closer until she was only twenty yards away. This time, instead of aiming for the head, she aimed for the torso—a bigger, closer target would be easier to hit, right? And she tried to focus on keeping the same force behind each throw, strong enough that its momentum would keep it straight, but not so strong that it would careen off its flight path and go the way of its brothers into the woods. The first two were wide, one sailing past the left side and the other sinking into the right arm, but with a little course-correction on the third kunai Risa was able to hit the target squarely in its dummy gut. She whirled to beam at Dansui. "A little better, right?!”

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[Dansui]

Dansui listened to Risa's encouragement, as well as her advice. The latter seemed to give Risa the idea of moving closer to the targets. Though, her statements gave Dansui a slightly different idea.

He let her go through with her idea first though, watching as the first kunai zoomed past the left side of the dummy. The second landed in its right shoulder. Finally, the third landed exactly where the girl had aimed! "A lot better!" He exclaimed, the girl had managed to hit what he was pretty sure she was aiming for.

"Another idea, what if we added more to the dummy? Like wood shapes or something to make it easier to see where our kunai go and how far off the mark we are?" Dansui asked the girl as he grabbed three more kunai from his pouch.

He launched the first one at the dummy with similar force as he had earlier, when he had hit the target. It landed to the right of its throat, a killing blow! Though, it wasn't like that was where the boy was aiming. Launching the second one, it managed to land just above center mass. "So close!" The boy said, trying to pump himself up instead of getting discouraged. Finally, on his last kunai of the set, he managed to hit the same spot as Risa, center mass!

[taneda risa]

THE SECRET IS NOT TO DREAM

Wood shapes or something? Hmm… that would definitely make it easier to see how much she needed to adjust her aim. She thought it over as she watched Dansui make his own attempt with the kunai. The first kunai hit the dummy right in the throat! She cheered, pumping her fist as Dansui threw the second and third kunai, which also struck the target—center mass! Well, the third one anyway. The second one wasn’t quite on target, but it was close enough!! "You’re doing amazing, Dansui!” she said, bouncing up and down. "You’re way better than I am at this! Let’s try that wood shapes thing though, I think that’ll help a lot!” Looking around the training area, Risa tried to find something that would suffice… when she was suddenly struck with a brilliant idea. "Hold on, I’ll be right back!” she called, and dashed away towards the storage room. In short order, Risa returned with an armful of arms. Wooden arms, from training dummies that had perished in the line of duty and hadn’t yet been repaired. Most of them were splintered or hacked, damaged in some way, but they would probably work for what the two students had in mind. Unceremoniously, Risa started jamming the arms into the groove that kept the front of the dummy attached to the back of it, until the dummy that Dansui had been throwing kunai at was a nine-armed monstrosity that should never have seen the light of day. "What do you think?” she asked, her chest puffing up with pride. "Try throwing your kunai again now!”

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[Dansui]

Risa watched as Dansui threw his next set of Kunai, but she seemed to be deep in thought too. She complimented him despite how many tries it had taken him to get a direct hit on the dummy's center mass. It seemed that she had been thinking about his idea though, adding on more parts to the target. 

"You hit center mass before I did so I'd say you're the better one Risa! But yea let's try the wood thing before continuing." Energetic as always, he complimented Risa as he tried to think of a place with what they need. 

Before he could come up with something, Risa told him to hold on before heading off somewhere. He took the time to gather his kunai until the girl came back. 

When she finally did, she brought with her nine training dummy arms. "Oh! That'll work!" He quickly helped Risa carry the arms over to the dummy, placing the arms in the groove that Risa had. Now the dummy was some sort of monstrosity, but at least they had more to hit! 

At Risa's request, Dansui got back into position. The first kunai zoomed into the right ribs of the dummy. Not bad. The second kunai landed right above center mass. The third, stuck out of opposite side of the first one, in one of its many arms. Dansui decided to throw a fourth, thinking he'd found his groove. The fourth one landed exactly center mass, knocking his earlier kunai off the dummy.

[taneda risa]

THE SECRET IS NOT TO DREAM

While she wanted desperately to hang back and watch Dansui destroy their monstrous creation, Risa had a more important task at hand: crafting her own training dummy chimera. Off she ran back to the closet, and back she came with an armful of arms, a leg or two, and the best find of all: an extra head. She set about setting up her own dummy, cramming the extra limbs in wherever they would fit before carefully and lovingly shoving the second head right in next to the first. Perfection. When she was done, she surveyed Dansui’s handiwork, and saw that it was excellent. "You landed all of them!” she cheered. Only one of them had hit one of the extra arms, which seemed like fine work to Risa. "Okay, my turn!” She thought about what Dansui had been doing, what his stance was like, how hard and how high he through the kunai. She took a deep breath, stabilizing herself, trying to clear her mind of all distractions. The goal: kill the training dummy. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. One after another, the four kunai flew: one in one of the right-jammed arms, one in one of the left-jammed legs. Third center mass, a perfect hit. And her crowning achievement: ”Headshot!” Risa crowed, pumping her fist. It was the extra head she had shoved on there, but still.

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[Dansui]

Dansui took his shots as Risa went to make another training dummy abomination. By the time she'd come back from the closet, he was just about done. He watched as she attached extra arms, legs, and- was that another head? "Hey that's not fair you get two heads which means the proba... the chance to get a headshot is higher for you!" He was obviously joking, but the fact that Risa had gotten a headshot proved his point a little too much. He smiled at the girl, "Nice! You killed 'im dead!" 

Her form had been pretty good too, all things considered. Now they just needed a little more practice. The boy took out three more wooden kunai. He had enough for two more groups of shots. He'd figure it out before then. He cleared his mind as best he could, which was never easy with how hyperactive the boy was. His enthusiasm was just a product of that. Releasing each kunai at about the same height as his neck, Dansui watched the three weapons hit their mark. One landed on the heart, instant kill. Another on its head, the actual head. And the third landed dead center. "That was awesome!" He said as if the thought of landing three killing blows was exhilarating. "Aight Risa, you got this!"

[taneda risa]

THE SECRET IS NOT TO DREAM

Risa stuck her tongue out at Dansui, but… honestly, he was kinda right. Sheepishly, Risa went up to retrieve her kunai—but not before carving a little smiling face into the second head, and a little frowning face into the main one. "There,” she said, satisfied. "I won’t hit him again b’cos that’s our friend. And.. he’s being held hostage. So I have to get the bad guy without hurting our ally!” With the roleplaying scenario in mind and Dansui’s encouragement in her ear, Risa’s resolve was cemented. She breathed deep, took up her stance, and adjusted her aim. Thunk thunk thunk. Body, body, head—the correct one this time, and while she didn’t get an insta-kill the way Dansui dead, the bad guy was most certainly dead. "Let’s race now!” Risa said breathlessly, jogging up to gather all her kunai—about twelve of them. "Throw your kunai all in a row, and whoever does the most damage the fastest wins. Ready… go!” It wasn’t cheating—she was just ready to go! Risa flung her kunai, one after the other, her brows furrowed up in concentration and her tongue poking out between her teeth as if that would help her aim better. One after another the twelve kunai flew—one missed completely, given that she was throwing much faster than before, while five hit various limbs, and the remaining six were littered about the chest and head. Well, heads. Risa had killed their friend again. She turned around in a whirl to see Dansui’s handiwork, eager to find out if she’d won.

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[Dansui]

Risa apparently felt bad about having two heads to hit, so she gave one a smiley face to signify it was their friend. The boy couldn't help but laugh at the silliness of his friend. "That works for me!" As the girl took aim, Dansui picked up his kunai. He was satisfied with his target practice at this point, so he didn't feel much need to keep going. At least, not for today. However, Risa had challenged him to a race. Dansui was always the more competitive between him and his sibling, so he couldn't just forfeit! They both had their twelve kunai now, so Dansui got ready to shoot.

At the word go, Dansui threw his kunai one after another in the dummy direction. Three landed where its right hip would be. Another four landed on the original right and left arm, two on each. Four headshots and three dead center. He looked over at Risa’s target, taking in where her shots had landed. "Looks like I win Risa!" He'd playfully stick his tongue out before going to gather his weapons and put them up. "I'd say that's enough for one day, don't want you killing our friend too much, right?" He'd say as he started taking the spare dummy parts off.

[taneda risa]

THE SECRET IS NOT TO DREAM

Eager to find out if she’d won… and disappointed to find out that she really, really hadn’t. Risa blew raspberries in a long, drawn-out sigh, but forced a bright smile, trying to be cheerful for her friend despite her disappointment in herself. "Hey, you did really good!” she said, and her cheerfulness only sounded a little forced. "But I’ll beat you next time for sure.” Dansui went to go start taking all the spare parts off, so Risa stepped up to her own dummy, reaching up on her tiptoes to wrench off the extra head… and paused. He really was a very good friend, even with the two big dents Risa had left in his face. "Hey, Dansui,” she said, a mischievous grin curling at her lips. "... what if we. Left them?” She tapped her fingers on the side of the friendly head, then reached up to add some more crude detailing to the faces: eyebrows, ears, short little lines like blush on the cheeks. "Next class to come out will have lots of new friends to make.” And with that she shot off to the supply closet to rummage for more spare parts, determined to discover exactly how many of the training dummies she could vandalize into multi-limbed monstrosities. [fin.]

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