Day 5 [LM] Pincers and Tails

[Bayushi Suteichi]

I hope you find what you're looking for Kogo-san...

He continues the lessons not really engaging Kogo on the subject, but he knew that she was uncomfortable. He hoped her discomfort would help her break her shell.

[Matsu Kogo]

She varies the patterns, her mind and body flowing well together. It has been too long since she has practiced, but it does not show intensely. "Is it beginning to make sense Suteichi-san? Have you started to feel some of the idea?"

[Bayushi Suteichi]

"I am." he answered, continuing the training. "It makes sense. I could use this training if for nothing else than to better defend myself. You have done well in training me. I am sure there will be more lessons to follow..."

[Matsu Kogo]

The frustration at his words flows through, but she allows it to continue flowing, moving in the pattern. "Good. We'll finish with the shadowing drill at a bit more speed. Ready?"

[Bayushi Suteichi]

"Hai. Let us begin." he simply said. There was a slight satisfied smirk on his face. It would be unclear if it was because he was catching on to the lesson, getting Kogo to rethink herself, or both. He followed her lead once she began.

[Matsu Kogo]

Kogo increased her speed, finding the particular place in her practice where it seemed the world began to make greater sense. And as she did, Suteichi's words began to be clearer. He was not saying to say nothing or hold everything back. He was telling her to stop broadcasting her moves, like an immature swordsman whose attacks could be stopped simply because he led from the shoulder too much and broad casted his long, slow strokes with his movements. It was a habit she had to be trained out of, like many, for it was an easy mistake to make. Watching the other's sword with your eyes too closely, flicking one's eyes to where one plans to be, moving with one part of the body instead of as a fluid whole, there were a thousand ways to do it.


As she pondered, her speed increased again, pushing the Bayushi a little further, but not quite to his limit. At least his body is not as soft as the average courtier's. I suspect Akil-kun's Doji love would not be able to keep this up on her first day.

[Bayushi Suteichi]

The sweat was irritating to him and yet somehow he liked it. The speed and intensity of the training was coming along. His footwork could be better. Suteichi could hear a voice of approval in the back of his mind. He shook his head and continued the training. Once the stopped, he spoke.

"Well...I learned quite a bit. I have something to work on in my spare time now. Domo Kogo-san."

[Matsu Kogo]

"You are welcome Suteichi-san." She pauses. "I think I understand what you were saying a bit better now. It is not that you are asking me to be dishonest. It is that you wish me to stop telling the entire world what I am doing, so that like a swordsman, I am not telegraphing my moves. Is this what you were trying to say?"

[Bayushi Suteichi]

Suteichi gave her his faint smile and nodded.

"Lions do not announce that they are hunting. They just pounce."

[Matsu Kogo]

She thinks over his words, finding little fault with them in this context. He is not speaking of fear, he is speaking of tactics.
Strategies.

"Lions do not care too much for fairness in the wild. They care about survival." You are still acting like a cub Kogo. He is right.

"I will continue to think on what you said Suteichi-san." She smiles a wry smile. "I fear I may be in debt to you for far longer than I am comfortable with, at this rate."

[Bayushi Suteichi]

"Hmmm... you came to this conclusion on your own. If I would have missed the opportunity to shut up you would have missed this opportunity all together. Sometimes it is good to be quiet and let others forge their own victory or defeat. This is what I was trying to get across to that...Usagi a few days ago. Speak when necessary then shut up. People learn better when they listen and observe."

[Matsu Kogo]

She smiles. "Perhaps, on this, we will have to disagree. But there is truth. Your tactics in staying quiet forced me to relinquish my ground. It was an ingenious strategy. I will remember it for the future." In a teasing tone, she says "When a Lion learns tactics from a Scorpion, I am not sure if Akodo-no-Kami is proud or shaking his head."

[Bayushi Suteichi]

Suteichi chuckled.

"One day you will learn that there is no such thing as a fair fight. Kakita believed one sword, one strike. Mirumoto believed in using two swords. Who's right and who's wrong? A question that will never be rightly answered. Do you know why the Scorpion swims?" he walked by her and stood at her side. He leaned in and whispered in her ear.

"It swims because the frog unknowingly taught it after giving its trust over. It matters not if I fight fair. It matters that I fight." Suteichi walked over to the side to get a towel and wipe the sweat from his face and arms.

[Matsu Kogo]

She startles at the whisper in her ear. Suteichi is not usually so familiar. Her friend seems to be shifting and morphing as she watches. Her face blushes with the proximity but she makes no other reaction.

She turns to watch him as he moves to the side. "I suspect you are also trying to teach me that anything is a weapon, bladed or not." Even affection perhaps, in the hands of a Scorpion. "You prove right the words of Akodo-no-kami. 'Whether in court or on the battlefield, the Scorpion rarely attack in an expected manner.' I will remember that."

She seeks a towel of her own, to dry herself and cover her blush.









/ooc

So hilariously, on looking that tale up, there's a ton of different interpretations on whether its old and whether its from the Pachatantra, an old series of folk tales from India. I knew it sounded familiar from childhood. Little note.

[Bayushi Suteichi]

"Always expect the unexpected. Remember, if you're not sitting at the table eating the meal, you're on the table as the meal. And I am often a hungry individual."