The New Winds

Kenji stood on the practice area of the dojo dressed only in his Hakama. His sweat-soaked Gi was lying on the floor somewhere nearby.

In front of him was a straw dummy, in his hands he held a bokken that already had several notches. Enraged he hit the dummy again and again. The mantra "disappointment, failure, dirt" echoed in his head. It was the words and voices of his parents that haunted him and he just could not fade them out.

If you looked at his face it would be difficult to tell if it was sweat or tears that were streaming down his face.

Rather lost Kaidan was looking for a place to find fish for his kitten. For some astrange reason he arrived at the Dojo to a sweaty Kenji. "Kitty, I don't think they have food here." he sighed whispering to his cat. "Nya!" Kaidan petted the little guy.

Haruki wanders into the same area as Kenji, politely ignoring the cat while looking at the various bokken on display, looking for anything eye catching about them.

D3 EE: Investigation (Notice)/Perception, details about the bokken: 7d10o10k4 28

Kazuko enters the dojo, ready to train but putting a hold on that thought once she sees the kitty, petting him if allowed.

"Oh, kitty! How cute, is it yours, Kaidan-san?"

She pauses again once she sees Kenji, but there's no easy way to console him in front of others. Doesn't mean she won't try though.

"Kenji-san, do you want to train together after a short break? Kaidan-san brought a kitty here!"

Kaidan blinked a few times but allowed the strange girl pet his new furry friend. "Yes, Kakita san, I found her yesterday." He offered the girl to pet the cat. "You can carry her, if you like."

With a loud crash the straw doll went down in front of him. The post that had held the straw dummy was splintered and wooden pieces lay around on the ground, and the bokken now had a big dent.

He had heard Kazuko, but he just couldn't bring himself to smile, he still had the mantra in his head.

He went to the bokken stand and put down the dented bokken. (The bokken are of good quality and usually not dented).

He loosely put on the sweaty Gi and went to Kaidan and Kazuko for courtesy. He had an empty look. "We can train later if you like" he said hollowly.

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D3 EE Kenjutsu/Agility TN20 Can Kenji destroy the Straw Puppet?: 9d10o10k4 42 <-- double exploision on Fluff Rolls, nice, thx oroks

Kaidan shook his head. "Center..." Just a whisper from Kaidan to Kenji. "Clear... Remember my failures in Hirosaka." Kaidan smiled under his mask.

Bayushi Kaidan wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 08, 2020 4:49 am

Kaidan blinked a few times but allowed the strange girl pet his new furry friend. "Yes, Kakita san, I found her yesterday." He offered the girl to pet the cat. "You can carry her, if you like."

"Thanks, Kaidan-san, you're just as nice as Kenji-san says you are! Does she have a name?"

D3 EE Animal Handling/Awareness Fluff: 4d10k4 22

Ignoring the newly formed mess, she scoops up the cat in her arms and scratches the cat behind her ears as it purrs contentedly before handing it off to Kenji in an attempt to snap him out of whatever stupor he's in. The cat also gives her a pretense to be close to Kenji as she continues petting the cat. She smiles twice as wide to make up for Kenji's lack of enthusiasm. Someone has to try and lift the mood after all.

"She's such a cutie, wouldn't you agree? Reminds me a bit of my own cat."

Kenji took a long breath and closed his eyes. He concentrated on the here and now and the voices in his head disappeared. He opened his eyes again, looked at Kaidan and nodded.

He only now noticed the kitten and Kazukos tried to cheer him up. He briefly let his arms circle, shook his head and straightened his hair. "It is really very sweet" he said with a smile. He took the kitten and petted it.

"How have you been doing so far?" he asked. So far he had concentrated only on himself,...

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D3 EE Meditation/Void Centering himself TN20: 7d10o10k4 47 Okayyyyy now Oroks is mocking me

"Ninya... her name." Kaidan told Kazuko. He turned to Kenji. "Understand... your failures... learn... progress. Nothing is easy." He asked for the kitten back.

Kenji gave the Kitten back. "That's a sweet name" he said.

”Thanks...” He nodded. ”I... Should get going... She is kind of hungry and I want to continue bonding with her." He knew that Kazuko might want a private moment with the Kenji. He moved to the where the broken were bowing to Haruki then taking his leave.

//Exit unless stopped.

"Sorry to interrupt your train of thought Kenji-san, but could I ask you a couple of questions?"

Bayushi Kaidan wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 08, 2020 11:14 am

...

"Understandable. You can ask one of the servants if the kitchen has anything for Ninya. Tell them I sent you. Thanks Kaidan-san" he bowed and turned to Haruki.

Kaito Haruki wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 08, 2020 1:37 pm

"Sorry to interrupt your train of thought Kenji-san, but could I ask you a couple of questions?"

"I will try to answer you as best I can, Haruki-san."

"Have you noticed Hitoshi's performances today? He seems to be doing much better recently."

(Ooc, totally forgot the train of thought my questions were going to be originally)

Kaito Haruki wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 08, 2020 10:33 pm

"Have you noticed Hitoshi's performances today? He seems to be doing much better recently."

"Forgive me, Haruki-san, but since when are the achievements of this Hitoshi my problem?" he asked tense. "I have to,... improve my own performance"

"My apologies, sometimes multiple issues creep into my head at once. Now I assume from the way you have been hitting that training dummy that you are looking to improve in the martial aspects. I could show you a rather simple, but unorthodox method of training your ability to defend if you would like."

He relaxed his tone of voice again "Apologies accepted. Someone who has fought off a dozen of the Zokujinn, I would like to be shown such a thing, Haruki-san"

"Well, first can I ask for some less expensive bokken? Usually when we do this, we're using tree branches roughly shaped to resemble swords. Function before style, you know. We will also need some rocks, a couple of servants willing to throw them from different angles, and some blindfolds."

Kakita Kazuko wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 08, 2020 6:08 am

...

Kenji looked at Kazuko: "Do we even have low quality bokken here?" it was a serious question, Kenji only ever saw the high quality ones in the academy. Even the dented ones, like the one who is now on the rack, usually get's replaced in a few days.