(Day 7, LE) Hold Me... In a Headlock

[Matsu Kogo]

She smiles. "You raise a good question Monkh-san. I guess, I wonder do you wish you could go back to them? Would you live them again? Do you think you will wish you were back in them in the days to come?"

[Shinjo Monkhbaatar]

"Nope. I had them already and they're gone. Imagine if I went back, fixed a mistake I made, ended up getting promoted, and as a result of that promotion was simply selected to marry someone important? I wouldn't meet you. Or maybe I mess something up worse and end up dead? I don't make it here. Wanting to relive it is wanting to change it... but I regret nothing about my past."

[Matsu Kogo]

Kogo ponders his words as they continue through the motions. "I had not thought of it that way Monkh-san." She thinks. "There...is much to what you say. If it had not occurred as it had, we would not be here. I would not be in this moment. All the moments rely on each other." She thinks quietly, looking at him, slightly wondering. "I would surely not be learning this lesson, as I teach you."

[Shinjo Monkhbaatar]

"That's why it's best to simply appreciate the past, enjoy the present, and look forward to the future. Worrying only leads to questioning and guessing things we often don't have control over," he replies with a smile, drilling the movements carefully.

[Matsu Kogo]

Kogo listens, drilling with him, but her mind slightly wandering. "But then how does one plan for the future? How can one plan for what hopes for, if one is staying solely in the present?"

[Shinjo Monkhbaatar]

"You plan for the future by acting now with the hope for desired outcomes later, but there is no guarantee. The best laid plans can be torn apart by the unforeseen," he replies, continuing his work.

[Matsu Kogo]

Kogo moves into new positions, indicating with her hands on his arms (and just a hint of blush) the next set of movements. "Now like this, but with more of a grappling look. You're hoping to flip me over the hip here." She thinks over his words as she demonstrates and indicates. "Akodo-no-kami says something about that. I had not thought to apply it off the battlefield."

[Shinjo Monkhbaatar]

"Akodo-kami and I seem to have a great many things we say in common," he says with a smile as he goes through the moves. "I'll definitely need to get that copy of Leadership from you. Perhaps I'll find that he wrote my life story?"

[Matsu Kogo]

She laughs, startled for a moment out of her thoughts. "I suspect it would be an education for you, as well as I. I have lent it to the loaning library for the time being, so it is yours to borrow from there at any time." She smiles. "I am also quite knowledgeable of the work, so you could ask me any questions about it. Learning it is part of passing our Gempukku." She moves, showing the way the hip throw is supposed to work again. "Ok, now give it a try."

[Shinjo Monkhbaatar]

He concentrates on the throw and performs it too slowly first, which doesn't seem to work for a throw. But then gives it thought and effort eventually completing it properly.

"I wonder if I will have time to do so, or if I will be leaving Dark Edge village in a few days time?" he asks out loud.

[Matsu Kogo]

Kogo thinks for a moment, in between moments of sort of not being thrown. When he completes the throw and she sails properly, she falls well. "Excellent! That is exactly right."

She gets up, dusting herself off. "It is a question Monkh-san. But I will be getting the book back before the end of the miai. If you do not have a chance to read it before then, I will make sure it ends up in your hands. A wedding present, no matter what occurs." She smiles. "It is not anyone's first choice, but it is that or a statue to Benten, and I suspect one of those of being of more use after the miai."

[Shinjo Monkhbaatar]

He didn't know the custom that for personal gifts between individuals the best things were useless but with sentimental value. He just wasn't that far along in understanding etiquette. So a useful gift seemed like the better option. But he also though that gifts and the refusal ceremony for one that hasn't been given yet was awkward. "We can concern ourselves with that when the time comes. We may not need worry about gifts."

[Matsu Kogo]

Kogo nods. "You raise a valid point. Now, try the hip throw again, but this time, make sure you follow through." She waits for the throw and smiles, enjoying the push and pull of muscle. "I am glad we did this. It has been too many days of just talking."

[Shinjo Monkhbaatar]

"It has. It's good to get the non-riding muscles moving," he says, just before he does the hip flip. This time when he follows through he takes a dominant position and smiles down at her. "And I'm enjoying getting to know your movements while learning from you."

[Matsu Kogo]

Kogo's blush moves back in. "As...am I." She lays on the ground a moment, slightly stunned. "Enjoying myself, that is."