>>2690017
>‘No point giving me a handicap if I’m going to lose either way. Fair and square.’ (Disagree)

>>2690017
>>‘No point giving me a handicap if I’m going to lose either way. Fair and square.’ (Disagree)

>>2690017
>>‘No point giving me a handicap if I’m going to lose either way. Fair and square.’ (Disagree)

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‘There’s no point giving me a handicap if I’m going to lose anyway,’ you declare firmly. Whether your lips tasted dirt or sky, you didn’t like being treated like glass (Although it may have been useful to have that train of thought getting beat up in back alleys); you weren’t a snowflake and if you were going to get your butt kicked, you might as well have it done in the most dignfied manner that fate would roll for you.

Tenryuu raises an eyebrow of her own, apparently intrigued by your blatant rejection for mercy. The girls around the both of you, however, look extremely apprehensive at the thought of a human play-fighting with a KanMusu that could level a whole town on a whim ... and you can’t blame them for doing so.

‘Fair and square,’ you emphasize, hoisting the metal rod overhead and resting it on your shoulder. The weight could probably cleave through a cinder block partition in the right hands. ‘Don’t hold back on my account.’

‘You say that, but,’ Tenryuu pauses, ‘I’m not actually keen on finding myself at the bottom of a banishment request.’

‘You have my solemn promise I won’t even think about it, hospital stay or no,’ you say insistently, cricking your neck. ‘What’re they going to hold you for, anyway? It’d be my fault for telling you not to hold back in the first place. So are we going for this or not?’

Tenryuu wears a sarcastic smile, shrugging and drooping her shoulders. It’d look like she’d been convinced.

‘Right, so,’ she pauses, turning to one of the girls to the right; she seemed familiar. ‘Mind playing referee for us, Naganami?’

‘Eh? Me? But ...’

She throws you a brief, worried glance, before sighing and stepping up between both you and Tenryuu. Tenryuu backs off slightly, giving the both of you some distance and tapping what appeared to be a divot into the grass. It wasn’t a lot of space; more or less the same distance for a kendo match run up ... which was moot, anyway. Tenryuu was a KanMusu ... and she’d close any gap in the blink of an eye.

‘Don’t you be scared now,’ Tenryuu calls out, grinning brightly. ‘And don’t hold back, either!’

‘That’s a given,’ you reply, lifting the rod off your shoulders and assuming a stance of your own. ‘So we’re playing for first hit or points?’

‘First hit,’ Tenryuu answers. ‘Nothing lowers than the elbows and disarmament means disqualification.’

You agree to the terms with a nod.

‘Don’t you hold back now,’ she continues.

That was impossible.

You barely knew how to hold the rod straight.

‘Ready?’

The both of you turn to Naganami.

‘Yes!’

‘Go!’

You were wrong.

It wasn’t even a blink of an eye.

>Counter! (Roll a 1d6 each)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpxF1F2hYfA

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>2690214
This might hurt.

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>2690214
For Hueland

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>2690214

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>2690214

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>2690214

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>2690017
here goes f rank luck

File: Shwing.jpg (186 KB, 736x1072)

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To call it instinct would be arrogant.

To call it skill would be presumptuous.

But Tenryuu’s sword is parried by a quick movement and a shift of your feet. She’s strong. A lot stronger than you’d anticipated. The metal rod is lucky to not flip out of your hands from the sheer physics of the moment, but your fingers are able to grip the blade tightly enough that the handle digs into the palm of your hand. You hear gasps all around, but pay them no heed. Your mind is already racing for the follow-up. The sense of pride and arrogance you thought would come awash with the revelation of your recent accomplishment doesn’t come. You find yourself too transfixed on the next move, the next strike. Tenryuu wasn’t an amateur; to think that she hadn’t estimated the probability of a successful parry wasn’t just naive, it was suicidal.

You don’t vote for the acrobatic. You can’t do it, anyway.

Your weapon slides down hers as you plant your feet to push her off at a perpendicular angle. You’re half successful, as Tenryuu moves two steps up and spins with her gathered momentum to get a clean shot to your shoulder. She’s fast, probably twice or thrice more responsive in this state than any professional athlete, any fighter. A machine of war was built for fighting ... and if she couldn’t fight, there would be no purpose. Your sword clashes against hers again, causing you to stagger. Tenryuu wasn’t fighting to kill you, but if the first parried blow denied her of the pride befitting a Light Cruiser with a list of achievements as long as hers, the second one promised that the next blow would connect ... and that she would make good on that hospital stay.

The image of a livid Akashi is enough to have you raise up your sword in a defensive moment, the vibrations from the strike digging through your skin and all the way through to your knuckles in sheer pressure. That had been the third strike, third parried blow by a slightly overweight human against a revenant for the purpose of battle.

Tenryuu lets out a grunt, her eyes wide in surprise as you close the distance with a jab step and put the weight on your shoulder before shifting it through your body, locking the both of you in an unexpected stalemate. You can’t overpower her, but the sword wasn’t a part of her body. She had to be gripping it just as hard as you.

But your sword was above hers.

One step.

Another step.

Your knee taps against her thigh, throwing her at a dead, ineffective angle.

If you couldn’t get her in strength, you’d play her in tactics.

Even if she was as fast as lightning ...

‘H-HIT!’

This was how you won.

Hot damn.

‘V-Victory: Vice-Admiral!’

>‘It’s my win, Tenryuu.’ (Stoic)
>‘Good match.’ (Friendly)
>‘Your CQC is sloppy.’ (Serious, Professional)
>‘I am awesome.’ (Prideful)
>Write-In

>>2690827
>‘Your CQC is sloppy.’ (Serious, Professional)

>>2690827
>Write-In
Flop down and sit on the floor. Catch our breathe and relax our tortured hands.

“Owweww, that really hurt. I dont think im going to be able to repeat that.”

>>2690827
>>‘Your CQC is sloppy.’ (Serious, Professional)
>>2690017
This is a training arena. Tenryuu prefers professionalism.

>>2690881
Do this afterwards.

>>2690827
>‘It’s my win, Tenryuu.’ (Stoic)
>>2690881
yea, do that off the field
gotta keep that cool factor man
>>2690827
Hueland votes for Friendly

>>2690883
>>2690892
Its a face saving measure for tenryuu. She just lost a match where she wasnt holding back. To a human. Infront of an audience. Shes gonna be feeling hoeribly embarassed and shamed. She surely doesnt need us to tell her her faults in this match, she definitely knows.

So acting fairly ridiculous should take the sting out of this loss. Especially the emphasis of not being able to repeat the performance.

>>2690827
>>‘Good match.’ (Friendly)

>>2690827
>>2690881
this

>>2690827
>>‘It’s my win, Tenryuu.’ (Stoic)

>>2690929
Why do that when we can crush her pride, have her driven before us, and hear the lamentation of her friends?

>>2690943
now now, lets save that for the Abyssals
and anybody else we gotta deal with

>>2690943
No bully~

>>2690881
>‘Good match.’ (Friendly)

>>2690945
>>2690947
Fine, but I expect instant barbarians later.

>>2690883
>>>‘Your CQC is sloppy.’ (Serious, Professional)
Switch to >>2690881
>>2690929
>So acting fairly ridiculous should take the sting out of this loss. Especially the emphasis of not being able to repeat the performance.
>inb4 we repeat it.

>>2690989
Mechanic actually doesnt allow vote changing. Once voted, its locked in unless he releases it for some reason like leaving out options.

>>2691002
He's still using that system?

>>2691003
yup, we've gotten better though

>>2691008
Better at what?

>>2691010
not fuckin up
though when we do fuck up, its a spectacular fuckup

>>2691023
>though when we do fuck up, its a spectacular fuckup
We need more of these.

>>2690827
>‘Your CQC is sloppy.’ (Serious, Professional)

>>2690827
>‘Good match.’ (Friendly)

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>>2690017
That wash of euphoria vanishes as quickly as it arrives. For some reason or other, you find yourself frowning as you survey the damage: a Light Cruiser, a revered weapon specialist, nursing the aftermath of her defeat by a human that had been spouting a gut an inch from his waist not two months ago. The words are at the tip your tongue, but the scrutiny takes time to build, the time for the execution not quite right. You hadn’t expected victory; in fact, you would have been more comfortable being stomped to the ground in a show of excessive force than taste anything resembling a good fight. Tenryuu was a KanMusu. She was built for war. You had recited this to yourself many times over; you had seen them in action often enough to know that in any situation, victory was an impossibility even in the most favorable of situations.

Because if you could eke out a win, what did that mean when she stepped back out on the field?

‘Your CQC is sloppy,’ you mention pointedly, glancing in distaste at Tenryuu’s sword before turning your gaze back to her. If her students had anything to say, none of them bothered to interrupt the dressing down of your KanMusu. ‘I don’t know if you made mistake angling the sword on my weak side, but you shouldn’t have let me close the distance on you enough to get a clean shot. If you did that out on the sea, the enemy would be aiming for your head instand of a smack to your arm.’

‘I know that.’

‘Then revise it,’ you reply crisply, jabbing the tip of the blade into the grass. ‘The whole point of this class is to apply knowledge to practical situations. If you’re letting me close the distance within a few yards for a counter, then—’

‘I closed that distance,’ Tenryuu cuts in, scowling. ‘I could’ve tossed you right up if I’d just activated myself, you know?’

‘Then you would’ve lost the fight in a collision of equals,’ you counter, glancing around. ‘You’ve got a good first strike, but your response to a counter to an ineffective first strike is to match movement. If you’re going up against someone with the same brains, same measure of finesse, you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage. You could’ve torn my butt in half, Tenryuu. I ain’t about to go around saying that I’d be able to tear your heart out in a fair fight, but ...’

You trail off, unsure of how to go on.

Then you are.

‘If I can cut through you in an even match, what do you think’s going to happen when you meet an Abyssal that plays the same game I do?’

‘Then I play dirty,’ Tenryuu shoots back, wrinkling her nose. ‘I know the difference, sir.’

>‘See that you do.’ (Firm)
>‘If you did, then I wouldn’t be the guy who won.’ (Press)
>‘Look, I’m not trying to drag you through the mud.’ (Apologetic)
>‘Well, whatever it is, I hope you’re able to get it sorted.’ (Wash your hands)
>Write-In

>>2695640
>‘See that you do.’ (Firm)

>>2695640
>>‘See that you do.’ (Firm)

>>2695640
>‘See that you do.’ (Firm)

>>2695640
>‘See that you do.’ (Firm)

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‘See that you do,’ you return firmly, taking a step back as you give the sword one last tap. Humiliation wasn’t on your agenda—and you weren’t in this t try to get a rise out of Tenryuu anymore than you had sought to show off. As her superior, however, you still needed to show that you weren’t above overlooking her mistakes—it was your job to set her straight on the road ... and if she was going to be angry about it anyway, then that was fine by you: better alive and annoyed than torn apart by ignorance.

‘Hey.’

Tenryuu’s voice catches your attention again. She looks up at you with uncertain eyes, an expression that tells you that there were words that had are on the tip of her tongue, weighed, considered, before given value. You don’t try to rush her into her sentences; considering just where the both of you were at this very instance, you didn’t think it would be in the best interest of her students to have you press and spring their instructor stepping out of the acrimony of defeat by almbasting her anymore than you already had.

If that could be called lambasting at all, of course.

Then again, advice never traveled through a stable medium.

‘You sure that was your first time swinging that thing?’

‘Pretty sure,’ you answer quickly, a small grunt of amusement shaking from your throat. ‘If you’re willing to brand me as a Swordmaster, I wouldn’t mind the addition to the title.’

‘Don’t get ahead of yourself, sir,’ Tenryuu retorts, scowling. ‘Just ... I mean, that move that you did. It’s not exactly outside of the textbook, but you gotta be pretty reck—’

She groans, cutting herself off.

You can’t help but wear a coy smile as Tenryuu, the smartest KanMusu on record, places the two most obvious blocks of knowledge together. Frankly, it surprised you that it took her so long to even consider the fact that someone of your particular background wouldn’t resort to such a turn of offense at all. You are no tactical genius, but you were pragmatic, direct and inclined to take the path of least resistance.

After two months, you thought she would’ve picked up the sequence of your methodology.

Maybe that was why being intelligent didn’t mean that you were automatically observant. An old saying, maybe, but one that held up time and time again. Then and now.

‘You know, outside of Nagato, I expected that you would be the one to actually count my habits,’ you let out in amusement, throwing her a wink with your good eye. ‘If you can’t win through your strengths, you gotta play where they’re weak. No use making something long and messy if I can keep it short and sweet.’

Tenryuu only grumbles.

You throw up a playful salute.

‘Keep up the good work.’

>Approach Ikazuchi/Inazuma’s group
>Approach Yamato’s group
>Approach Sendai’s group
>Approach Murakumo’s group
>Leave
>Talk to another KanMusu (Specify)
>Write-In

>>2695682
>Approach Yamato’s group

>>2695682
>Approach Yamato’s group
teach me, yamato-sensei

>>2695682
>>Approach Yamato’s group

>>2695682
>>Approach Murakumo’s group
Wanna see our girl in action

>>2695682
>Approach Murakumo’s group

>>2695682
>>Approach Murakumo’s group
i want to see more fluffykumo

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There aren’t many KanMusu in Yamato’s group. Nor does Yamato appear to be as vocal as Tenryuu or Murakumo in her instruction. The collection is half a dozen girls who look as though they’re auditioning for a stage production more than they are preparing for combat. Yamato stands with her umbrella on her shoulder, the girls switching form and stance, their umbrellas twirling as they do so in eerie synchronicity. Unlike the other groups, none of them seem to be engaged in a spar with one another, their weapons spinning in their hands as they translate and flow through move and form. Clumsily and hesitantly, but overall without a disruption to flow. You’re keenly reminded of a cheerleading routine from school, only without the acrobatics. The girls didn’t seem to be moving much from the spot (or rather, that’s how it looks to you). One foot is always planted on the ground with every pirouette, acting as a sort of base point for the movement, every jab of the umbrella forward looking like some sort of ...

‘It’s a defensive maneuver,’ you whisper to yourself, realization dawning upon you as they pull back their umbrella, switching from one foot to another as they move into a motion for a deflection, a parry. Planting the next foot and motioning for the next strike, a crude correlation of spear techniques from television shows comes to mind, but the motions here ... they’re not choreographed, imperfect; there is a hesitancy present to each motion, each repelling strike forward, each warding motion, but you can’t tell how it’s—

‘The point of the umbrella is to open a gap up.’

You turn to find Yamato, already offering commentary on the actions of her students.

‘Gap?’

She lifts her own umbrella—much smaller than the rest, but significantly advantageous in length—and holds it out to address the point. Yamato’s arms are long, much longer than yours ... and the pole and the conical barrier at the end emphasizes just what she wishes to communicate. It was actually quite comparable to the concept of a boxer playing the game of space instead of wishing to be dug in, now that you think about it. The umbrella would act as a sort of a forceful shove to leave a clean strike open for any follow-up of the wielder’s choosing. Despite looking akin to an oddly-tipped javelin or banner, Yamato’s continued demonstration gives you more of an insight to its purpose.

It did, however, strike you as a little ... impractical, given the context of its application.

It was essentially a shield on the tip of a pole. You would’ve just mounted one on your arm and be done with it.

‘Seems a little ... out there as a concept,’ you say pointedly, watching Yamato reel her arm back and set the umbrella back on her shoulder. ‘How much mileage do you get out of the application?’

‘Quite a bit,’ she emphasizes. ‘Especially when you’re trying to find optimum range.

>>2695811
>'Aren't you guys super strong under the Stream? Shouldn't one kick just get you the distance you want?'
>'Not a lot of students.'
>'So why were you there with Tenryuu? Trying your luck?'
>'Shouldn't Musashi be here?'
>'How does it actually work? I find it hard to believe an Abyssal can't just chew or bite it right off.'
>Write-In

>>2695811
>>'How does it actually work? I find it hard to believe an Abyssal can't just chew or bite it right off.'

>>2695812
>>'Aren't you guys super strong under the Stream? Shouldn't one kick just get you the distance you want?'

>>2695812
>>'Aren't you guys super strong under the Stream? Shouldn't one kick just get you the distance you want?'

>>2695811
>So not just positioning but holding them there?

>>2695833
>>2695836
Just want to point out that the Abyssals are pretty much in the same weight and strength classes.

>>2695812
>'How does it actually work? I find it hard to believe an Abyssal can't just chew or bite it right off.'

>>2695812
>>'How does it actually work? I find it hard to believe an Abyssal can't just chew or bite it right off.

>>2695818
>>2695842
+1

‘How does it actually work?’ You inquire, watching the movements of the KanMusu, switching from one foot to the other, pivot to pivot. ‘I mean, it looks even from here it looks a little ... brittle. I find it hard to believe than an I-Class can’t just jump out and chew it right off.’

‘Kantai Steel operates as a channeling conduit for a multitude of purposes,’ Yamato explains, not missing a beat. ‘You’re familiar with the concept of the built in energy repulsors within our system, Vice-Admiral. Same deal, same concept. Only difference is that it’s an external conduit, so you have to actually know how to do it.’

‘So that’s what you’re teaching here?’

Yamato laughs; it’s the first time you’d heard her even sounding amused since her arrival.

‘Not in the slightest,’ she replies, wearing a slight grimace. ‘Channeling our spiritual energies and all that ... it’s not a practice that a lot of KanMusu are particularly partial to; I think Murakumo’s filled you in with the details about the girls having something other than our standard gear swinging around?’

That she did.

It had been the sole underlying purpose to why this makeshift dojo was held in the first place.

‘So,’ you clear your throat as you take a pause, ‘basically you channel it as a sort of repulsor-shield-slash-spear thing with a layer of spiritual energy to protect the structure and to serve as the executing factor of the application.’

You pause.

‘Sounds like something right out of a science fantasy novel, if you ask me.’

Yamato wears a small smile, turning back to her students.

>‘So, what’s up with all the dancing if you don’t mind me asking?’
>‘Not a lot of them seem keen on picking up what you’re giving out.’
>‘So what were you doing with Tenryuu?’
>‘Why isn’t Musashi here with you?’
>‘Well, I’ll leave you to it. Sounds a little too advanced for me.’
>Write-In

>>2697706
>>‘Why isn’t Musashi here with you?’
>"i take it she is not much for using something other than her own fists?"

>>2697706
>‘Why isn’t Musashi here with you?’

>>2697706
>>‘So, what’s up with all the dancing if you don’t mind me asking?’
Huelands vote

>>2697706
>‘So, what’s up with all the dancing if you don’t mind me asking?’

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‘Why isn’t Musashi here with you?’

You’d expected Musashi to be hanging around with Yamato instead of leaving the brown-haired, gentle-faced woman to tend to her students all by her lonesome. After witnessing just how attached the former had been to her sister back in the hospital, the smart money would have been on Musashi continuing her imitation of a loyal puppy in regards to Yamato with her instruction of her students, either as one of them or a makeshift assistant. Yet, here Yamato stands, twirling her own parasol in her hands, watching the smaller KanMusu work themselves to what you can only surmise to be her instruction, shifting and shifting without so much as a complaint or a squeak. The hint of satisfaction on Yamato’s cheeks give off the vibe that the lessons are going well, if slightly … slow, for your taste.

It’s loud everywhere else.

In Yamato’s corner, it’s almost as though everything had been … straightened out.

‘Musashi ... she prefers getting things done with her fists,’ your charge reveals, to none of your surprise. ‘That being said, when the Admiralty signed her up for martial arts classes, she couldn’t even be bothered to get past the first two months of lessons.’

‘Never tried to convince her to pick something up?’

‘Like I said,’ Yamato sighs, wrinkly her nose, ‘she prefers to get down and dirty with her own hands; it’s a matter of preference for her than it is anything resembling effectiveness. I’d like for her to pick up something, of course, but if her battle effectiveness is maintained by her own preferences, I’m not going to force her to do something that would potentially decrease that effectiveness.’

You chuckle slightly at the analytical stance that she takes.

‘It’s nice to see that that military mind’s still intact.’

‘All of us are attuned to a measure of performance,’ Yamato declares with slight amusement, before sighing as she continues, ‘but not everything’s an exact science.’

To that, you can only agree.

‘Nothing is an exact science,’ you concur, rubbing your neck as the last few days rake across your brain. ‘If it was, we’d be calling numbers.’

‘Maybe.’ Yamato shrugs, sounding non-committal, but—much to your relief—a lot less distant than she had been previously. ‘Plus, it’s not as if Musashi has the discipline for the mastery of such a tool, anyway. Precision’s a lot more important than sheer force when working with a parasol.’

As much of a strike that was against your Battleship, you couldn’t fully push out the idea that Yamato’s words were akin to an annoyed parent or older sibling offering some dip of insult in the context of the relationship.

Because if there was one thing that lasted between siblings, it was ribbing.

‘Aren’t you taking a little too much away from her?’

Yamato snorts.

‘You tell me, Commander—she’s your Battleship.’

>>2697911
>‘So, what’s up with all the dancing if you don’t mind me asking?’
>‘Not a lot of them seem keen on picking up what you’re giving out.’
>‘So what were you doing with Tenryuu?’
>‘Well, I’ll leave you to it. Sounds a little too advanced for me.’
>'You're ... chirpier than usual.'
>Write-In

>>2697918
>>'You're ... chirpier than usual.'
>"guess you like teaching others somewhat?"

>>2697918
>'You're ... chirpier than usual.'
>You must like having a new umbrella in hand.

>>2697918

Combine these I guess
>>2697932
>>2697952

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You can’t help but laugh again, placing your hands in your pockets as you stand next to Yamato. Even if you weren’t bonded with her in the same way you’d connected with your Division, the fact that she was here letting out playful remarks in the same mould as Nachi and Tenryuu … it came as a bit of a relief, really. Not to say that you had a measure of confidence that she had tugged herself out of her rut just yet, but … progress is progress, and that was how that saying went. You’d take anything that put things back in a positive frame, temporary or permanent.

‘You’re … chirpier than usual,’ you mention lightly, bobbing your head a little. ‘Thought you’d never get out of that mire of yours.’

She doesn’t answer, her eyes taking a steely quality as she continued to observe her students, biting her bottom lip. Chancing another glance at her reaction, you wonder—if, as usual—you had gone and said something that shouldn’t have been mentioned at all. The dread comes over you as you feel as though you’d brought up an ugly divorce to a child that had just acclimatized to the fact after a year of ugly spats between their parental units.

In short, you’d found yourself back in that tendency of putting your foot in your mouth.

It was a shortcoming that you had always been keenly aware of.

However, for some reason, it disappeared every time you needed the reminder.

‘I suppose I am,’ Yamato finally speaks, albeit in a small, hesitant voice. ‘It’s the first time that I’ve actually been able to … get my mind off things, really. Ever since …’

She trails off, shaking her head. Yamato dislodges the umbrella from her shoulder, walking up to the six KanMusu, who immediately stop their act. The Battleship lifts the umbrella into the air in some sort of odd demonstration, thrusting the tip to her sides as the KanMusu listen intently to the lecture of their instructor, one in the back even mimicking her movement … to which Yamato immediately steps up and chastises her, repeating her own motions and emphases.

Maybe you were just ignorant, but you don’t see much of a difference between Yamato sticking her arm out and the KanMusu’s. As far as you know, you’re seeing them both imitating a thrusting motion to follow with a swipe … and a repeat of the KanMusu letting out a clueless whine to Yamato’s call for correction. The other girls follow suit, and you see Yamato’s shoulders slump at the collective action … before spinning on her foot, switching the weight from the left to the right, pulling back the pole and thrusting it forwards. A series of appreciative nods and sounds follow … and the girls go right back to it as Yamato trudges back towards you, a slight scowl on her face.

‘Sometimes I need a reminder that I’m the only one that bothered picking this up,’ she grumbles, taking her place next to you. ‘Honestly …’

>>2698179
>'Eh, doesn't look that hard, honestly. Just looks like some weird form of ballet to me.'
>'Maybe you're holding them to too high a standard?'
>'To each their own.'
>'You think that I can have a go? Looks like fun.'
>'Well, you look like you're busy. I'll see you back at the barracks, then?'
>Write-In

>>2698182
>>'You think that I can have a go? Looks like fun.'

>>2698182
>'You think that I can have a go? Looks like fun.'

>>2698182
>'You think that I can have a go? Looks like fun.'

>>2698182
>'You think that I can have a go? Looks like fun.'

>>2698182
>'You think that I can have a go? Looks like fun.'
one dancing whale in a uniform, coming right up

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It’s subtle, but you notice changes in sequence and stance. There’s a little more motion now, a little bit more weight to each jab made, each shift from foot to foot. You’re able to discern a little more from the bolder movements of Yamato’s students. Namely, the crude mechanics of each so-called strike made. Every jab, every strike, wasn’t so much a counter as much as it was a deflection—a parry—of every attack coming from each direction. Every twirl, every twist, was made as a way ro deflect the oncoming impact of the attack. You had been wrong in your observation: it wasn’t a pole with a canopy at the tip. It was a defensive lance, used to repel any oncoming attack and to set up a counter for the KanMusu in question. The shoulders moved with every pivot shift, with every twist of the torso, there was a follow-up movement. While you can’t quite put the exact connotations on each of them, you’re able discern that every parry redirected every prospective strike and blow rather than take it head on. Each step, each stance and twirl … was done with purpose.

As fancy, as clumsy s it looked at times to you, you can’t say that there isn’t a method to the madness when it came to technique. The thrust opened the gap, the swing redirected the strike and the turn was the counter move into an offensive strike of the KanMusu’s own making. Complex, fluid … and didn’t look like it could be revised and adapted to in one afternoon.

That was one answer as to why Yamato merely had six students compared to the others, if nothing else.

Yet, watching them … you couldn’t help but be drawn in yourself.

As rigid as the imitation became at times, you can’t help but be tugged by the entrancing rhythm that the girls had imposed upon themselves. Imperfect, of course, but you couldn’t discount the effort they put into the timing, as hard as it is.

Plus, it looked …

Fun.

‘You think I could have a go?’ you inquire, glancing towards Yamato’s stern expression.

She turns to you, frowning, before asking, ‘A go at … what?’

‘That.’ You point to the collection of KanMusu, sweeping their legs back and tucking the umbrellas to their side with the motion … and swinging them forward in a mirror of their leg sweep, jabbing and drawing the umbrellas back and repeating the motion. Some of them are out of sync, but the rhythm, the beat … is there.

Yamato laughs.

For some reason or other, you find a hard cut to your arteries as she raises a hand to her mouth, trying her best to not make her amusement … too brazen.

She fails.

‘Vice-Admiral,’ Yamato starts, her voice taking a patronizing quality. ‘No.’

‘Huh? Why?’

‘I don’t think that I’m prepared to … humiliate Nagato or Musashi by putting you through such … gentle nuances.’

Forget Bismarck.

Yamato could pass off as the First Admiral’s actual granddaughter.

>>2698772
>'Come on. I think that I can keep up.' (Insist)
>'Fine, fine. I'll leave you to it, then.' (Leave)
>Write-In

>>2698772
>'Fine, fine. I'll leave you to it, then.' (Leave)

>>2698772
>'Fine, fine. I'll leave you to it, then.' (Leave)

>>2698772
>'Fine, fine. I'll leave you to it, then.' (Leave)

>>2698773
>>'Come on. I think that I can keep up.' (Insist)

>>2698773
>'Come on. I think that I can keep up.' (Insist)

Know no fear or missing body parts.

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>>2698773
>'Come on. I think that I can keep up.
Cmon guys what's another public humiliation gonna do to us?

>>2698772
>>'Fine, fine. I'll leave you to it, then.' (Leave)

>>2699463
+1

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You get the hint.

‘Fine, fine,’ you wave it off, scratching the side of your cheek, ‘I’ll leave the rest to you, then.’

Yamato gives a thankful nod, dropping into a formal bow before stepping back to allow her tend to her students (who had apparently miscued a timing set or something, if the aggressive stride that she took was any indication). It was a welcome change to see her so proactive instead of lamenting her run of luck … at least for this brief instance. You don’t know what tomorrow holds for you, for her … but you’d take Yamato chastising half a dozen KanMusu and swinging her weapon of choice around in the way a school play director did over her usual self any day.

As you turn away from Yamato’s attempts to initiate another dance, you can’t help but wonder if in another world, Musashi would be the one going through the motions. It was a hard task trying to keep her sister’s spirits up, but Musashi? Boisterous and cheerful Musashi? You couldn’t even fathom how you’d be handling her denial of an invalid state of self. Could you have taken them both? Perhaps. You’d survived half your essence getting ripped out with one almighty chomp from the latter. You wouldn’t have any qualms repeating the process.

But maybe that was how it worked: not everything could go your way.

It’d be selfish to snarl at the notion that it could … or would.

You do what you can with what you have.

‘Yamato-shishou, this is hard!’

You chuckle, shaking your head and walking away from her little group.

>Approach Murakumo’s group
>Approach Tenryuu’s group
>Approach Ikazuchi/Inazuma’s group
>Approach Sendai’s group
>Leave
>Talk to another KanMusu (Specify)
>Write-In

>>2699618
>Approach Murakumo’s group

>>2699618
>>Approach Murakumo’s group

>>2699618
>>Approach Murakumo’s group

>>2699618
>>Approach Murakumo’s group

>>2699618
>Approach Murakumo’s group

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Murakumo’s group is easily the easiest to make out … even if Murakumo wasn’t at the head. The girls were the most enthusiastic, swinging their staves at each other at a speed between reckless abandon and disciplined, calculated strikes. It’s like watching a collection of amateur martial artists swinging the tips of their spears in either thrusting or swinging movements, trying to pry an opening in each other’s defences … and letting out a cry with every attack or a loud grunt with every parry. A part of you worries about the measure of eagerness that Murakumo had built among her specific class, but … you suppose that it wouldn’t be going according to plan if she didn’t. More importantly, however, despite Murakumo’s claims of their inclinations, none of the KanMusu under her charge looked as though they were hesitant or novices in the art. Crude and direct, perhaps, but the rapid clanging of Kantai Steel against KantaI Steel and the loud cries that follow—not to mention the twirls and spins to counter counters—had you guessing that perhaps your Destroyer had been overreaching when she’d declared that none of the KanMusu possessed even the slightest bit of enthusiasm to the proposal of melee weaponry to supplement their considerable collection of armaments.

‘HYAI!’

No. Not at all.

‘Hey, you two!’ Murakumo calls out, marching right past you and right over to two KanMusu, who immediately halt their actions and pull their weapons away from one another. She grabs the faux-naginata from one of them, scowling and jabbing her finger to the tip of where the blade would otherwise be placed. ‘You don’t meet force with force! If you parry with the blade, you risk shattering it and losing your weapon. Either deflect or use the base of the pole to push your opponent back … and go with a killing strike!’

She thrusts the pole forward for emphasis, getting a pair of confused looks for her troubles.

‘Yeah, but … if they get enough lift, aren’t they just going to stab me right in the shoulder or somethin’, Murakumo?’

Murakumo smacks her forehead with the staff, scowling.

‘Why’re ya leavin’ yourself open for a shoulder strike, then, doofus?’ Murakumo chastises, huffing and taking a step back before tossing the weapon back into the hands of its wielder. ‘And it’s Murakumo-shishou! Seriously, I’m only here to teach you how to swing this baby! Not how to breathe oxygen, ya know?’

One of the girls droops her shoulders, but otherwise says nothing.

Murakumo gives her an enthusiastic pat in return.

‘Cheer up! Not all of us can be Fubuki or Yuudachi, right?’

Fubuki?

She claps her hands together, ushering her students back to their places … before turning back to you.

‘Well, well, if it ain’t the Terrorizer of Tenryuu!’

You raise an eyebrow.

>>2701094
>'Don't let Tenryuu hear you say that.' (Amused)
>'Enthusiastic class you got here.' (Observe)
>'I'd appreciate if you refer to me by rank.' (Serious)
>'I got lucky.' (Humble)
>'Just here to tell you I'm leaving early.'
>Write-In

>>2701096
>'Don't let Tenryuu hear you say that.' (Amused)

>>2701094
>'Don't let Tenryuu hear you say that.' (Amused)

>>2701096
>'Don't let Tenryuu hear you say that.' (Amused)

>>2701096
>'Don't let Tenryuu hear you say that.' (Amused)

>>2701096
>>'Don't let Tenryuu hear you say that.' (Amused)

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‘Don’t let Tenryuu hear you say that,’ you laugh, rubbing the back of your neck … and sparing the KanMusu in question a quick glance before turning back to the blue-haired one that holds your attention. ‘I don’t think that it’s something that I’ll be able to pull out of the hat again if she comes full force.’

Murakumo grins, placing her hands on her hips. ‘I gotta admit, that was pretty reckless … I only got a glance, but closing in on her like that, I … well, now that I think about it, that’s pretty much how you do things, huh?’

‘How I do things?’

‘You always make the pre-emptive move and gamble leaving yourself open,’ she states firmly, spinning the naginata in her hand. ‘I mean, it’s not good or bad, but … it’s a habit that a lot of us kind of see with you. You don’t really, uh … leave a lot of room for yourself to manoeuvre out of a step you take. Guess that Tenryuu just didn’t think that’d apply to putting yourself into that mindset.’

You actually laugh at the implications.

Considering the last two months that your KanMusu had been around you, you thought that they would’ve picked up that you had no regard to the well-being of your bones—urgh—or your internal organs when it came to your … instincts. Maybe it was just because you hadn’t really put a tier of valuation for yourself when it came to these sort of things. You doubt you ever could, really. As far as you were concerned, making it to Yokosuka was stepping out of your previous boundaries … anything else, for better or worse, was a bonus.

You’d never really lived.

Maybe that was why that kind of gamble was barely second nature to you.

‘Well, I’m fully of surprises,’ you reply, wearing a look of amusement. Murakumo rolls her eyes at the playful return, but otherwise says nothing. ‘I’m not about to put Terrorizer of Tenryuu on my resume, though, if that’s what you’re pushing for.’

She gives a toothy grin right back.

‘Come on! It’ll knock a few pegs off that brainy boffin!’

You raise an eyebrow.

‘Brainy boffin?’

Murakumo huffs, crossing her arms. ‘She’s super smart … sometimes someone needs to knock her down a peg and remind her nothing works outside of theory until you put it on the board to test out. I guess you did everyone a favour doing that, Vice-Admiral!’

You let out a wary breath. ‘Seriously, I’m not even sure I’m going to get paid for the promotion … why do you guys keep calling me that?’

It’s rather redundant as a statement … or an inquiry.

Yet …

‘Aw, come on, give us a little glow of pride to bask in, yeah?’

Another sigh escapes you.

But you don’t play it down.

>‘Your crew seems enthusiastic.’
>‘Compared to a sword, does a Naginata need more … finesse? Power?’
>‘Everything going smoothly?’
>‘Well, I’m leaving now.’
>Write-In

>>2701203
>‘Your crew seems enthusiastic.’

>>2701203
>>‘Everything going smoothly?’

>>2701203
>>‘Your crew seems enthusiastic.’

>>2701203
>‘Your crew seems enthusiastic.’

>>2701203
>‘Your crew seems enthusiastic.’

‘Your crew seems enthusiastic,’ you point out, gesturing towards the collection of gathered KanMusu. ‘Could’ve sworn that you told me that no one was interested.’

‘I didn’t say they weren’t interested.’ Murakumo counters, rolling her eyes. ‘I said that they’d be reluctant. It’s not easy for people to try something new … and for us, that goes double. Fighting’s not an art you can just shift around … but it’s easier to do when you’re not alone trying something new and uncomfortable.’

‘Easier?’

Murakumo scratches her cheek.

‘Well, it’s not easier … but you get what I mean. It’s more fun rolling in the muck when there’s someone willing to do it next to you, right?’

You shake your head, wearing a wry smile. You couldn’t argue against that.

‘So how’d you convince them to pick up the naginata?’ you inquire, gesturing towards the combative KanMusu. ‘If you asked me, I kind of expected the bunch of them to be more interested in swords.’

Murakumo places her hands on her hips, scowling. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

You raise your hands in a placating gesture. ‘I’m not trying to offend you,’ you explain yourself, briefly glancing towards the girls before turning your attentions back to Murakumo. ‘What I mean is that … isn’t the naginata a little, uh … archaic as far as weaponry goes? I’m no expert, but isn’t it something you base your attacks on rather than using it to supplement your offence? I’ve only watched documentaries and the like, but I don’t see how you can practically revolve an attack pattern around that.’

‘You’ve seen me do it often enough,’ Murakumo huffs again, ‘what makes you think that you can’t.’

You think about it for a moment.

‘Yeah,’ you concede, tilting your head. ‘You got a point there.’

‘I didn’t put this class together to teach them those techniques you see on the tube. I’m putting this together so that they actually have an option to deploy something when they run out of every conventional option. I don’t think I need to repeat to you what I said before, right, sir?’

She didn’t need to.

‘I know.’ You nod, conceding the point once more.

‘It’s nice for you to point out the obvious, though,’ Murakumo says, her amusement practically radiating from her pores. ‘What would I do without my oh so wise Vice-Admiral pointing out the lack of practical application?’

You give her a light glare.

She sticks out her tongue in response.

‘Getting a little cheeky, aren’t we?’ You raise an eyebrow, pinching her cheeks playfully. She lets out a small whine at the contact, her palms on your wrists but otherwise not bothering to pull you away.

‘Come on, sir …’

>Write-In

>>2701499
>Thank you for suggesting this event.

>>2701499
>you did good, murakumo, im proud of you
also headpats

>>2701516
Supporting

>>2701499
>>2701516
I'll support this

>>2701516
Headpats

>>2701516
>>2701522
>>2701523
>>2701530
>Why a write-in only?
Because I knew that this is the only outcome you guys would pick out.

>>2701913
What makes you so sure?

>>2701513
>>2701516
+1

>>2701924
I've been doing this for two years. "Apply headpats" doesn't need telegraphing from my players.

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The exoskeleton clicks as you raise both your hands to your mouth, gently blowing warm air into the cupped pair. A look at the pairs conducting their exercises affirms Murakumo’s statement, scrubbing away the bulk of your doubts as the loud clanging sounds of the Kantai Steel poles connecting rings in the open field. Murakumo herself turns to the spectacle of a pair of KanMusu trading swipes, blessed metal against blessed metal, neither of them letting up with each and every swing. Down by one of the other groups, you spy Shigure and Samidare, animatedly chatting with a blade-wielding Kawakaze, who makes wiggling gestures with her fingers, much to the distress of Samidare. It looked like she’d be joining Tenryuu’s group soon. Sendai’s as visible as the others, manning a set of bullseyes as the KanMusu try to—and they keyword is nothing but try—to correlate their accuracy factors with the shurikens, barely a tenth of the volleys making their marks. Even from here, you can make out the KanMusus whining about wind resistance or something of the sort as another throw is met with failure.

Turning back to Murakumo, you raise your prosthetic … and deposit your palm upon her fluffy locks of hair. She gives a slight squeak, turning to you with confused raised cheeks, to which you’re only too eager to return with a warm, proud smile.

‘Not bad at all, Murakumo.’ Your praise is as warm as you can manage … which says a lot, considering just how chilly the late afternoon had become since your arrival. ‘I’m proud of you.’

She grumbles, rubbing her nose.

Her lack of a reply is enough of a return for you, really.

‘What’s this? Cat got your tongue?’ You tease, a jingle of amusement leaving your throat. Murakumo mewls as she pushes up on your wrist, relieving her tussled locks of your digits, throwing your a half-hearted—and embarrassed—glare right after. ‘You’re turning red, you know?’

‘Keep quiet, will ya?’ Murakumo huffs again, crossing her arms. ‘What’s up with you, really? Doing this sort of thing, that sort of thing … people will think you’re some sort of candy-giving old man, you know?’

You wince.

You weren’t that old.

In fact, you doubt you qualify for old just yet.

‘I’m not giving you seasonal candy if that’s what you’re pushing for,’ you joke, cricking your neck as your eyes dance with the light glare you throw right back at her. ‘Besides, I’m not old just yet.’

Murakumo stares at you, wearing an unamused expression.

‘You talk like a parent, you know, sir? Only old people talk like parents.’

You shrug, turning back to the duelling pairs before the both of you.

‘Eh, Samidare calls me Onii-chan anyway.’

‘Huh?’

‘Nothing,’ you reply quickly.

>>2704507
>'Well, you have things under control here. I guess I'll take my leave.' (Leave)
>'You know, I'm kinda curious. If KanMusu aren't interested in weapons like swords and shurikens by default, how come you and Tenryuu are?' (Curious)
>'So what's the rundown on Naginata techniques?'
>'I see you still have spectators. You not going to get them to join in?'
>Write-In

>>2704510
>>'You know, I'm kinda curious. If KanMusu aren't interested in weapons like swords and shurikens by default, how come you and Tenryuu are?' (Curious)

>>2704510
>'So what's the rundown on Naginata techniques?'
teach me, murakumo-shishou

>>2704510
>'You know, I'm kinda curious. If KanMusu aren't interested in weapons like swords and shurikens by default, how come you and Tenryuu are?' (Curious)

[red]TEST[/red]

testin'

Posting from my desktop. My laptop is kind of updating Windows right now. As soon as it's done, we'll resume.

At the rate things are going, it'll be at least another hour, peaking into two. I could post from my desktop, but the fucked formatting will make some lines hard to read.

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‘You know,’ you start slowly, rubbing your shoulder with the exoskeleton, ‘I’m kinda … curious. If KanMusu aren’t interested in weapons like swords and shurikens by default, how come you and Tenryuu are?’

Murakumo fixes you with a flat gaze, making a muffled humming sound before replying, ‘If you’re going to generalize the collective with an assumption, I have the right to ask why you’re not as much of an ass as the rest of humanity, sir. Different people are … different, and just because we’re engineered to a similar finishing point, it doesn’t mean that we’re all the same when it comes to preference.’

You frown. That wasn’t what you had asked at all.

‘I know that you guys are different, you know,’ you answer curtly, ‘but if you guys are all taught to conform to a certain … tactic or inclination, it’s a bit of a surprise that you’d go out of the way or move against the norm to pick up a weapon on your own terms. There’s gotta be something external about that, right?’

‘Oh,’ she replies simply, placing her hands on her hips as she throws a gaze to a pair of KanMusu—one of which had been swept by a well-placed flip and trip by her sparring partner—before turning her attention back to you. ‘You’re asking me if someone … spurred my interest?’

‘Yeah,’ you return, a particularly loud curse catching your brief attention … as you see one of the KanMusu glaring at another KanMusu, raising her hand and revealing a rather deep gash. ‘Shouldn’t you be getting a medic for that or something?’

‘Eh, it’s only a scratch,’ Murakumo answers with a shrug. ‘If she’s crying from that, I’d put in a banishment slip for her myself.’

You found that too cruel to comprehend.

‘Is that really something you should be joking about?’ you question warily.

Murakumo doesn’t answer, letting out a wry chuckle, before finally continuing, ‘You asked if there was someone who got me into this whole weapons mastery dig … yes. Someone did. She didn’t, uh, push me into it, though, if that’s what you’re asking. I saw her using this’—she throws the naginata from one hand to the other for emphasis—‘and I kind of, uh … thought she looked pretty cool doing it.’

You raise an eyebrow. ‘You thought it looked … cool?’

Murakumo crosses her arms, hugging the weapon close to her chest.

‘Hey, it’s not as if it’s any different from you, sir!’ she huffs, looking rather … childish and embarrassed. ‘I mean, you wanted to become an Admiral because you thought it was cool too, right?’

You frown.

That was how you’d put it before, but now …

>‘Yeah, once upon a time.’ (Amused, melancholic)
>‘I don’t see the similarities.’ (Oppose)
>‘It was more like I … couldn’t stand laying still any longer.’ (Serious)
>Stay Silent
>Write-In

>>2712993
>>‘Yeah, once upon a time.’ (Amused, melancholic)

>>2712993
>>‘It was more like I … couldn’t stand laying still any longer.’ (Serious)

>>2712996
>>2712997
Flipping a coin. Coin flipped.

>>2712993
>‘Yeah, once upon a time.’ (Amused, melancholic)

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No, only an idiot wouldn’t be prepared to be thrown back there. You weren’t one to stick to regrets (Or rather, you believed it to be so) but … it would be stupid for you to not have those reminders lying around to tell you what you were wouldn’t be what you were u-turning back towards. Murakumo’s words don’t ring that harshly, of course. She probably didn’t have any idea just what you were before deciding to—in all subtlety and concision—get your shit together.. It amuses you, if only a little, having it inadvertently thrown back into your face like this, by Murakumo of all people, of all KanMusu. Even when she didn’t do it on purpose, she knew what to hit … and it’s enough of a reminder that you couldn’t help but chuckle at it. A little more wryly than you want it to be, but it comes all the same.

‘Yeah, once upon a time,’ you laugh, rubbing your cheek. ‘It’s hard to bring the parallels when it comes to picking a hobby against trying to make something of yourself, though.’

‘It’s about the same, no?’ Murakumo throws right back … and surprising you. ‘It’s all the same: stepping out of what you’re comfortable with, trying to make changes, trying to right that ship, doing what you never did before. You’re human, right? Well, if I wanna change it, I gotta change it all on my own, too. Just because someone showed me what I wanted to change doesn’t mean that it’ll just turn all on its own.’

It’s hard to argue there.

You think she’s missing the point a little, though.

‘Maybe,’ you concede … except not really. ‘Making a change isn’t the same as changing the course of where you’re headed. It’s a component, a compartment that makes the path, but it’s a little … off-target if you’re trying to say that taking up a weapon is the same as trying to turn yourself into something of value.’

Murakumo frowns, confused.

‘You humans are weird,’ Murakumo shoots back, although it seems more out of genuine confusion than it is an insult. ‘Change is change, turning red to blue is a change. I’m not sure if I get it myself, but maybe you’re just making something that simple too complicated for you to solve on your own. That’s confounding, even by your standards, yeah?’

‘I won’t deny that we have the propensity for it,’ you concede, this with all the honesty and amusement that you can muster, ‘but … well, I won’t agree with you that it’s as simple as you say it is.’

Murakumo groans, furrowing her brows and turning her attentions back to her students.

‘Maybe you’re just … slow?’

You trip on air at the comment.

Murakumo’s innocent shrug right after only buries the point.

Much to your chagrin.

>[Brotherly nookie]
>‘Hey, that’s insubordination.’
>Keep your silence
>‘Well, that’s that, then. I should go.’ (Leave the activities)
>‘Have fun, then.’ (Check on others)
>Write-In

>>2713080
>[Brotherly nookie]
why you rascal

>>2713080
>>[Brotherly nookie]

>>2713080
>>[Brotherly nookie]
we must be big bro

>>2713080
>>[Brotherly nookie]
CANNOT RESIST

>>2713080
>[Brotherly nookie]

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Without so much as a word, you wrap your arm around Murakumo’s throat … and grind your knuckles into her scalp. Murakumo squeaks in protest; loud enough that some of the pairs turn to give you quizzical looks … but you pay them no heed. There was a young woman that needed a bit of a reminder as to her place in her pecking order … and as the one that—at least on paper—stood at the top of it all, you find it your solemn duty to dole out the punishment that any self-respecting figure of authority would: with a righteous noogie. You’d been the recipient of one or two back in your school days (At Kasumi’s surprisingly tough hands) and the opportunity to have someone to be the receiver of one of your own wasn’t something that you were about to pass up. She makes a sound akin to strangled cat as you press down as hard as you can, chuckling in mockery as you see one kick or two go up with the cry for release.

Maybe this was what it was like to have a younger sibling to reel in now and then.

It’s a feeling you’re not entirely sure you minded.

‘Hey, what’s the big idea?’ Murakumo cries out, kicking petulantly (Not serious at all, considering she could have just burst her KanMusu abilities to lift and slam you onto the ground) as you continue your administration of her punishment: petulance had to be punished, after all; no use slacking in discipline with your reputation on the line. ‘Leggo!’

‘What’s the magic word?’ you return, a tune in tow as you bend your knees to put as much weight on her scalp as possible … and avoiding the floating horns that threatened to bump into your nose with the movement.

‘Please?’ she calls out sarcastically, the frustration in her voice apparent as she grabs your prosthetic and gives it a tug, attempting to dislodge herself from your clutches.

‘Nope!’ you rebuke, laughing loudly as you swing her left and right (Albeit with some measure of struggle: she was heavier than she looked). ‘This is what you get for calling me slow, short stuff!’

‘Samidare’s shorter than I am!’

You don’t care.

You grind your fist a little harder into her skull, garnering a few yelps and some measure of staring … and giggling. The doling of your punishment is taken with squeaks and struggles, accompanied by your prisoner’s occasional squeal of amusement as you bring her off her feet with every big motion before bending over and grappling her between your arm and your rib, using your right leg to balance the collective weight of you and your KanMusu.

That’s what does it.

‘Okay! Okay! I’m sorry! You’re not slow! You’re not slow!’

Satisfied, you release her from your hold … and are immediately greeted with an annoyed glare and a half-hearted kick to the side of your foot.

Murakumo’s students try their best to hide their amusement.

They really do.

>Write-In

>>2714588
>jokes aside, im expecting good things from this, and i know you will not disappoint and the rest of you all wont either

>>2714619
supportin

>>2714619
Supporting

>>2714619
This

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‘But jokes aside,’ you start again, taking a more serious tone, placing your hands on your hips as you fix a fond gaze upon the collection of KanMusu, ‘I really don’t see a drawback from this. As far as ideas go, this isn’t a bad call at all.’

Murakumo puffs her chest out, looking very proud. Despite being so accomplished a soldier, you can’t help but draw comparisons to her and Samidare, in that something so trivial as off-hand, casual praise would get her rustling, if only slightly. To her credit, however, she does seem a lot more controlled to Samidare (Not that it was hard) despite the noticeable bounce in the spreading of her stance. It’s just another sheet filed away. While you’d never been someone that judged too harshly or too directly, you couldn’t help but wonder how the simple day-to-day lives of humans, the interaction between you and your peers, your fellows … seemed to resonate with KanMusu so much more. It was a skewered value system, if nothing else; where merit and achievement made headlines in the world you dwelt, a pat on the back and a friendly hug meant more to the war machines under your command and connection than any tangible, quantifiable award.

Maybe one day it could stop being such a chin-scratching concept to you.

For now, you’re content nursing that slight glow of wonderment as you watch Murakumo’s lips transform into a toothy grin, as though she was a schoolgirl that had been told she’d scored full marks on a major school assignment. And as the one that had bestowed and enabled her into this state, you took full responsibility in giving it the full treatment.

Because you’d be lying to yourself if your fascination and wonder stopped there.

‘I mean it,’ you emphasize, trying to push as much sincerity into your words as possible. ‘You did good getting all this together—’

‘We did good putting all this together, sir!’

You chortle slightly, your own chest feeling that bit warmer from her insistence. That was probably only the third or fourth time in your life that someone had decided to spread and share the kudos with you. You scratch the side of your cheek, accepting it with as much as she’d received your own observations.

You think you hide it pretty well, though. Praise or no, you are still her superior … and she was more than likely already prepared to twist your arm if you so much as looked her scalp again.

‘We did,’ you concur, letting out a light-hearted hum. ‘And aren’t you glad you talked me into it?’

‘I wouldn’t say I talked you into it, Vice-Admiral,’ Murakumo replies teasingly, ‘you can’t say no to any of us, anyway.’

You feel a twitch at the top of your eyebrow as that toothy grin returns.

Murakumo doesn’t give you an opportunity to pull out a retort this time.

If nothing else, that made her a faster learner than you’d previously given her credit for.

>>2715366
>Approach Yamato's group
>Approach Tenryuu’s group
>Approach Ikazuchi/Inazuma’s group
>Approach Sendai’s group
>Leave
>Talk to another KanMusu (Specify)
>Write-In

>>2715369
>>Approach Ikazuchi/Inazuma’s group

>>2715369
>Approach Ikazuchi/Inazuma’s group

>>2715369
>Approach Ikazuchi/Inazuma’s group
Let's how that's going

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Ikazuchi and Inazuma had a group that was easily the smallest among the KanMusu assembled, with only a body or two above what Yamato headed. They did, however, have Yuubari’s surprising presence among them … and wielding an anchor-cum-hammer that was as big as her. If the sight was odd to anyone, they didn’t show it, wielding the large metal objects as you would prior to burying a nail into a wall or beam, each and every one of them raising said heavy objects high above their heads like stiff statues, none of them appearing to struggle with the sheer mass of the objects in their hands—which, compared to the uniform arrangement of the other KanMusu’s armaments, came in a variety of sizes, from those about a mere arms’ length to ones of Yuubari’s size.

What she was doing with the damned thing, you weren’t sure you were willing to ask.

The immediate answer leaned too much to the sight in the mirror. You were quite content pretending that she tolerated your existence; you didn’t need to the reality that she was practising the swing of a titanic anchor as a promised reply to a scratched RAY. That you did not.

The practice seemed simple enough. In fact, it looked more basic than—

‘Inazuma-chan, show them again!’

Ikazuchi waves to the edge of the dock, where you see her sister, wielding the anchor by the chain.

‘Okay!’

The chain extends and retracts.

Inazuma spins and twirls the hooked anchor like a mace, turning a fair radius of her surroundings into a zone which would vaporize anything that so much as stepped within her sphere of influence. The light clanging and thuds of metal and mud reach your ears, even from here … and Inazuma leaps into the air, spinning and twisting like some awkward, deadly, un-aerodynamic quail with every contortion and roll of her form. The deadly anchor cracks and strikes. It’s a tornado of screeching metal, an anchor anchored by its wielder like some sort of—no, it was a flail. Definitely. Inazuma’s small body is deceptive … and so is the length of the chain, which you’re able to notice is being pulled and extended by the KanMusu’s movements, illusion upon illusion and destructive defence built on offence. She is the eye of the steel hurricane, leaping and spinning, pulling and releasing, the side of the anchors threatening to tear anything in its way in hal—

A cement block practically explodes with a precision throw, a good third of the base punched out with a powerful throw from Inazuma … who pulls the tip of her flail—and it is a flail in all but name—before turning to—

SMACK!

A normal human would have lost their head clean off their shoulders.

Inazuma wept as the anchor made contact with her forehead, letting out a loud whine as Ikazuchi’s shoulders drooped in exasperation.

‘SERIOUSLY?’

‘NANO DESU!’

Their students clutch their ribs, howling in laughter.

>>2716133
>Go and help Inazuma
>Talk to Ikazuchi
>Talk to Yuubari
>Just watch
>Write-In

>>2716133
>>Go and help Inazuma

>>2716133
>Go and help Inazuma

>>2716136
>Go and help Inazuma

>>2716136
>Go and help Inazuma

TESTING

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You jog right over to the fallen KanMusu. Being a revenant for war—and with her abilities activated to an extent—she doesn’t seem all that damaged by the involuntary strike to her forehead. A glance back over your shoulder sees a collection of KanMusu—Ikazuchi included—wearing looks of varied construct but all of them exuding the same measure of disbelief, irritation … and amusement. You offer Inazuma your hand, which she takes … albeit with some embarrassment of her own. The chain linking her gear to her weapon tinkles with the movement, her free hand dusting off her bare knees as she tries to realign her pride and self-assurance. To you, however, it would take a lot more than just a steady spine and straight knees to get any of that back.

Screwing up in front of a live audience was something that had been bolted into your hypothalamus at this point.

‘You all right?’ you inquire, getting an instant answer in the form of a released grip and two metronomes for hands. Inazuma utters a jumble of words that are hard to string together … but despite being unable to tell a vowel from a consonant, you don’t find yourself irritated by her lack of arrangement in her mode of communication. After a blunder like that, the only thing that could top it would be an audience of a larger size.

Getting put on the spot and failing at it from a superior position? It wasn’t something you couldn’t totally not relate to. Even from here you can see Ikazuchi’s thinned lips … and as she turns to gather the attention of her students (many of which had at least a head on her) once more, the KanMusu before you rushes to—

The tug of the chain—still linked to her hooked anchor—has her falling back on her bottom. Ikazuchi turns to face her sister, wearing an expression that was either doubtful or reluctant … and letting out a loud sigh.

‘I got this, Inazuma-chan,’ Ikazuchi calls out, almost lazily, before taking out her own anchor and appearing to take the reins of her class herself. With the back of her head to you, you’re unable to discern Inazuma’s reaction … but from the sudden burst and the foot forward, you’re able to pick up some measure of insistence—

‘O-okay …’

—followed by the victory of compliance.

A solemn droop of her shoulders follows; Inazuma tugs at her anchor as she turns, finally facing you, looking more miserable than she had been in the aftermath of her foul-up. She trudges wordlessly, picking up inches and feet of chain, right as the cheers and yells of enthusiastic students comes from the disciples.

You find yourself frowning, if only slightly.

You’d fought to push Inazuma to join Ikazuchi … and now this?

>Check on Inazuma
>Talk to Ikazuchi
>Leave
>Write-In

>>2723687
>>Check on Inazuma
damn my bleeding heart

>>2723687
>Check on Inazuma

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‘Inazuma?’

‘Hm?’

The brown-haired KanMusu raises her head, rolling the links of her chain nonchalantly with both her arms. Her neutral features do little to betray her thoughts, but there is little doubt in the recesses of your mind that she felt … offended (slightly, at the very least) by her sister’s sudden exclusion from the activity. It’s a strange sight (and an unwelcome one, considering just how you had to convince a certain blue-haired Destroyer) to see Inazuma just trudging and rolling links while her sister goes about with her back to her, enthusiastically swinging and slashing her own anchor above her head with a collection of students eagerly mimicking her actions. You spare a glance at Yuubari, whose own hawk-eyed expression communicates her focus on the matter at hand, her larger-than-the-norm choice of weaponry threatening to decapitate or cave in anyone that dared to come her way.

‘Sir?’

‘Ah, uh … you need help with that?’

You gesture to the rolled links in her arms, looking eerily similar to a set of prisoner’s bindings. Inazuma energetically shakes her head, throwing a small smile of reassurance with another motion of her wrist, making another loop around her forearms. The anchor swings precariously along the tip of her thumb as she does so … and you briefly wonder if the same incident is about to occur with the tip of the KanMusu’s toes.

‘There, all done!’ Inazuma calls out cheerfully, throwing a brief glance over her shoulder to her sister … before letting out a sigh and fixing her attention back to you. ‘Thank you, sir!’

Now you can’t help but chuckle.

‘I didn’t do anything,’ you answer, throwing her a small smile.

‘Oh, that’s okay, I mean, uh … ’ she trails off, scratching the side of her cheek. ‘No one would come over to ask if I needed help in the first place, anyway! So, uh … thank you for um, offering to help!’

You cock your good eyebrow, before chuckling once more as you shake your head. It’s a wonder how they could shift between the perceptions: one minute a war machine that could demolish a city on their own attributes … and the next, a socially awkward (at least to you) young girl that looks like she belongs trying to sort her own shoe locker in school out. Inazuma’s small smile is—and there’s no two ways about it—a warm ember in the cold of the late autumn afternoon. You can’t help but feel the shivers stop at her enthusiasm.

Engineered or genuine.

She turns on her heel, walking back towards the dock.

‘Where are ya headed to?’

‘Hm? Oh, uh … I don’t, uh … I’m just going to go over there.’

She points to an empty spot in the corner of the concrete docks. You let out a frown in response.

‘Don’t you have a class to teach?’

The brown-haired girl scratches the side of her cheek again, not answering.

‘Ikazuchi-chan … I think she can handle it on her own. She’s good at these things.’

>>2723764
>'That's not what you really think, is it? Come on.' (Confront)
>'Trouble in paradise?' (Trivial)
>'Something on your mind?' (Neutral)
>'If you say so.' (Allow her to to take her leave)
>Write-In

>>2723765
>>'Something on your mind?' (Neutral)

>>2723765
>'Something on your mind?' (Neutral)
>write-in
“Why dont we take a short break.”

Walk with her abit out of earshot from the rest so we can have a private chat.

>>2723767
>>2723780
Flipping a coin. Coin flipped.

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‘Let’s go for a walk.’

‘Eh?’

‘I mean,’ you take a brief pause, scratching your chin and throwing a glance at the shouting congregation before turning back to the confused-looking KanMusu that barely measured up to your torso, ‘if you’re not going to be doing anything … I don’t mind having an ear and a mouth around, you know? Everyone’s just so busy, so if you don’t mind I’d like to, uh, borrow your company? If you’re not busy of course.’

Inazuma bites her lip, looking supremely uncertain.

No wonder you can connect with the KanMusu better than your own species. You’re birds of a feather.

You want to growl right back to that irritating voice that lived literally rent free in your head—

I am not in your head, I am in the shadow of the nexus of your spirit, mind and the connection that binds it all togeth—

Rent. Free.

‘Um, uh …’

You peer down at Inazuma’s uncertain features, suddenly feeling a pang of embarrassment smack you across your cheeks. Nee-san hadn’t been wrong addressing your lack of social graces. Not that you didn’t have any, of course, but there were times—like the present—where your words didn’t particularly communicate your intention as well as it could have. You throw up a sheepish smile that you hope didn’t look like a predator’s grin, trying your best to ease her into welcoming your company. You didn’t want to force her into the situation, but with the consideration that Ikazuchi had practically barred Inazuma so blatantly, it wasn’t something you could take standing down. At the very least, in the absence of her Commander, her Admiral … maybe you could be of use somehow.

‘You don’t have to if you don’t want to,’ you let out in a slow, patient drawl, rubbing the palm of your exoskeleton, ‘I just, uh … I thought that you could use an ear too.’

The battle cry and the deafening thud of two blunt objects clashing against one another has you steering your gaze back to the scene of the KanMusu heading her class. Ikazuchi probably hadn’t even thrown a look to either of you since Inazuma’s mishap.

‘Okay.’

The small squeak of the small girl catches your attention again … and with a slow nod and a reassuring smile, you make a gesture towards the docks. Inazuma doesn’t need telling twice, dragging her feet and striding towards the docks, with you following right up, tucking your hands underneath your armpits with the onset of the ocean bree—

Oh, that is cold.

‘You all right, sir?’

‘Me? I’m fine,’ you reassure her, feeling that uncomfortable sensation dance on the tip of your nose. It must have turned ruby red about ten seconds ago.

The both of you stop on the edge of the docks, staring at the dark horizon.

Inazuma doesn’t speak.

>>2723800
>'So, you ... talk to, uh, Hibiki lately?' (Personal, Ease)
>'Are you two, um, having a tiff?' (Personal, Direct)
>'How's the command running your schedule?' (Professional)
>'I still have your deck.' (Casual)
>Keep silent
>Write-In

>>2723802
>'I still have your deck.' (Casual)
nice and easy, we can go deeper when she warms

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‘I still have your deck.’

It seems like a casual enough start. You didn’t want to jump in with spiked soles from the get-go with a KanMusu that you had hardly a whisper on … and one that wasn’t attached to your Division, to boot. There were doubts as to your position, lingering in your throat as you wondered on possible odds on encroachment. Would you be chastised later for sticking your nose in where it didn’t belong? It wasn’t a practice that you were particularly good at deviating from, with all the evidence backing you up like a smoking gun in the palm of your sweaty hands … but at the same time, considering just how confusing the scene of Ikazuchi practically brushing of her sister like that after a bout of insistence to bring her on board was, you couldn’t help but heed the call to pry open that little bit more on the matter.

You feel slightly guilty playing double-talk. You didn’t like being manipulative … but going straight into something potentially explosive or corrosive—and considering your experience with Nagato, Nachi and the others, you doubt it was anything easily brushed off—you’d rather come off as someone with an awkward segue over someone with no bone for delicacy.

You didn’t, of course.

But no one needed to know that.

Worst kept secret in the material realm, that is.

‘Oh?’ Inazuma perks up slightly, looking up to you with her bright eyes. ‘How is it?’

You grimace. ‘I haven’t found the time to, uh … play. I know a lot of the reconstruction staff and volunteers do, though. There’s even a shop in the district that sells cards!’

‘I’ve seen it … you really haven’t picked up a game since you got it?’

‘No, no … I, uh … not at all. And it’s not like there’s anyone in the Division that plays.’

‘Houshou-san does.’

You almost trip from the shift of weight. Houshou played?

‘Houshou does?’

‘Well, I would think so,’ Inazuma answers, albeit with a measure of hesitation. ‘I mean, she, um … she and one of the former Grand Lieutenants came up with it in the first place.’

You blink. That … was new.

‘I didn’t know that,’ you chortle in amusement. Somehow it was hard for you to imagine Houshou talking about card meta-balancing with a figure that was meant to shepherd humanity’s victory … and survival. ‘The Grand Lieutenant?’

‘Well … I think Kongou-san took over not long after that,’ she reveals further, tapping her chin, ‘but from what people told me, Houshou was on board for its conception … I think. She should still play, I think.’

‘She good?’

Inazuma shrugs.

‘I don’t know,’ she admits, ‘but I think she’ll be able to give you some advice … if you’re looking to play in your free time, of course, sir.’

>>2723841
>'So Hibiki played. You don't?' (Continue casual train)
>'You know, last thing I expected is Ikazuchi sending you off.' (Jump into topic)
>'Have you heard from your sister?' (Hibiki)
>'So how do you use that thing anyway?' (Inquire about the anchor)
>'I should go.' (Leave)
>Keep silent
>Write-In

>>2723843
>'So how do you use that thing anyway?' (Inquire about the anchor)
just a bit more and we can jump into hibiki talk

>>2723843
>>'So how do you use that thing anyway?' (Inquire about the anchor)

>>2723843
>>'So how do you use that thing anyway?' (Inquire about the anchor)

>>2723843
>>'So how do you use that thing anyway?' (Inquire about the anchor)

>>2723843
>>'So how do you use that thing anyway?' (Inquire about the anchor)

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‘So how do you use that thing, anyway?’

To you, it seemed as though it borrowed the conventions of a kurasigama with more emphasis on force instead of cutting and hooking. Even with Inazuma’s … mistakes, the pattern of movement had been similar (albeit a lot more intense) to those martial arts shows you’d seen on television. Inazuma—and by extension, the majority of KanMusu—had more acrobatic prowess than the bulk of humanity, so you suspected that the techniques incorporated into the chain and anchor were a lot more … out of the norm compared to how the kurasigama was handled. Plus, considering just what was on the other side of the tracks, you couldn’t rule out a more potentially brutal move-set.

‘Oh, uh … I throw mine.’

You cock your good eyebrow once more.

‘You throw yours? And Ikazuchi?’

‘She, uh, she doesn’t throw hers that much,’ Inazuma reveals further, patting her trusty weapon, dangling on its hook by her side, chains tinkling with the sudden jut of her hips. ‘Ikazuchi-chan, um … prefers to keep hers in her hands. It’s not saying that she doesn’t throws hers at all, it’s just that, um … uh … she doesn’t really have as much, um …’

‘Throwing power?’ you offer, wearing an amused chuckle. Inazuma’s cheeks turn pink at the jibe.

‘Ikazuchi-chan uses hers as a defensive ward,’ Inazuma continues, not missing a beat. The tone of her voice implies an attempt at controlling the flow of the conversation … and a slight defensive inclination on the implied (and even if it was, the malice was unintentional) insult to her sister’s shortcomings. ‘It’s all about how you use it, really, but Ikazuchi-chan’s a master at pairing her cannon fire with her defensive movements in range. I can, um, throw mine right through the head of an I-Class Destroyer … but I don’t have Ikazuchi-chan’s, um … instinct to follow it through.’

‘I thought you put on a pretty good show,’ you encourage, nodding for emphasis, ‘until the last part, of course.’

‘Eh, well …’ Inazuma trails off, wearing a tight smile with brighter pink cheeks. ‘I wanted to show off a bit … Akatsuki-nee used to put that comparison between us a lot, I suppose. Ikazuchi-chan always fell back onto technique and I always went for the, uh … flashy. I mean, I can swing it too, you know! It’s not like it’s unapplicable!’

‘In-applicable,’ you correct her, chuckling. She puffs her cheeks in response. ‘So it’s really just two branches? Throwing and just warding off?’

‘Oh, Heavens no!’ she exclaims, surprising you. ‘You can apply offence and defence just as well with either, it’s just that Ikazuchi-chan uses hers in tandem with her armaments … and I use mine as the focal point of my engagement protocol!’

You scratch your chin.

So Inazuma was the specialist.

Then … why’d Murakumo ask for her sister?

>>2725520
>'Wait, shouldn't you be the specialist then?' (Confront)
>'So, have you heard from Hibiki?' (Hibiki)
>'Akatsuki ... she's the ...' (Akatsuki)
>'Sounds like Ikazuchi could use you by her side about now.' (Imply)
>'Well, nice chat.' (Leave)
>Write-In

>>2725527
>'So, have you heard from Hibiki?' (Hibiki)

>>2725527
>>'So, have you heard from Hibiki?' (Hibiki)

>>2725527
>'So, have you heard from Hibiki?' (Hibiki)

>>2725527
>'So, have you heard from Hibiki?' (Hibiki)

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‘So have you heard from Hibiki lately?’

‘Hibiki … chan?’

The last time you’d heard any news regarding the KanMusu was … quite some time ago. Even as a passing mention, there was something akin to a smidgen of investment in regards to Ikazuchi and Inazuma’s connection to their sister. Maybe it was a little odd as an inclination, but … considering how bleak Yokosuka had been then, even some good developments were welcome—are welcome—in this context of war. Never mind that Hibiki was hardly beholden to your command, that Ikazuchi and Inazuma were barely acquaintances and indirect subordinates.

Maybe you just wanted something good to happen for once.

‘Yeah.’ You nod, confirming the inquiry. ‘You, uh … been in contact with her? Letters? Phone call?’

‘No,’ Inazuma sighs, her mood deflating with the release, ‘but I don’t mind … I think.’

You furrow your brows. ‘You think?’

‘The Admiralty’s been answering on her behalf,’ she reveals further … and you feel the violent onset of a migraine coming along with those words. Nonetheless, she continues, although with decidedly less energy, ‘So we know that she’s … alive, and that’s good enough for me. Hibiki-chan was always been a hard worker … and if The Admiralty’s answering, that means she must be keeping busy and doing something important, right?’

You cast a wary gaze upon the smaller KanMusu, shaking your head.

But you couldn’t say anything to that.

Not when you’d done worse.

‘You know, some things are better left said than not.’

Or … could you?

‘Huh?’

‘It’s just a … well, a small note I made to myself,’ you impart, rubbing the back of your neck. Sometimes you wondered where this inclination of yours came from. ‘People … their connections aren’t like the Stream. You can’t just, well, you can’t just be okay with things being left unsaid sometimes. You gotta yell out, you gotta put it into something tangible, tell them where you stand, where you wanna be and what you are to them. It’s a little blatant, but sometimes, well, not all your feelings are going to get across through an implied understanding. I mean … you do miss her, right?’

‘EH?!’

Inazuma jumps at your statement, almost toppling from the accusative nature of the collection of words. A little brazen, very hypocritical and something a grade school child would scoff at, but …

‘I’m sure Hibiki is working hard,’ you reassure her, wearing a frown, ‘but sometimes … well, you can’t just leave things like that and be happy with it. Not trying to sound like a busy body, Inazuma, but I’d rather have the last things I say to someone I care about to be out there rather than implied. Maybe … maybe KanMusu do things a little differently, but if it were me, I’d at least get something like … “I hope you’re eating well, you idiot”, across, you know?’

Inazuma wears a nervous smile, which also seemed rather forced. To you, at least.

'I don't that's,' she replies diplomatically, taking a brief pause, 'the kind of thing we KanMusu should be so, um, brazen about, sir, respectfully. We are still, uh, fighting a war, after all.'

>'Doesn't it make it all the more important for you to get that last word in while you can?' (Reverse)
>'I suppose. Better to keep things for when the fighting's done?' (Concede)
>'If you're confident that they understand you, then don't change it. I'm just speaking as a human, after all.' (Neutral)
>Don't reply, keep silence
>Write-In

>>2725774
>>'Doesn't it make it all the more important for you to get that last word in while you can?' (Reverse)

>>2725774
>>'Doesn't it make it all the more important for you to get that last word in while you can?' (Reverse)

>>2725774

>'Doesn't it make it all the more important for you to get that last word in while you can?' (Reverse)

‘Doesn’t that make it more important to get that last word in while you can?’

Inazuma turns a solemn look to the dull horizon, biting her bottom lip.

‘Only when you’re not used to goodbyes.’

You laugh.

You’re not meant to laugh and you don’t want to. It’s rude, cruel, disrespectful … and out of place. Yet … hearing Inazuma say it like that, so plainly and matter-of-factly, it has you … amused. The voice in your head doesn’t so much as chastise you, but you can feel the resonance of her stunned state from where you stand. Even Abyssal remnants, pieces of their leftover psyche, could tell when a lack of delicacy was apparent.

Maybe that’s who you were, even after all this.

‘Sorry, it’s just funny that you’d say that,’ you finally manage, rubbing the corner of your eye as one last bark escapes you. ‘I’m definitely used to saying goodbyes, I think. They just come so hard and fast that they’ve been hard for me to keep up with myself.’

That was the truth.

That is the truth.

The Shaman had been right about what bound humanity … and what price that people unwittingly paid. Maybe it was self-serving, but considering what had happened between you and Kasumi the last few days … you would be a moron to not find every opportune moment to set your newly-acquired sense of understanding in. You were what you made one another to be, mundane or otherwise. It took you a borderline aneurysm to get that idea running … and it’d be callous to not at last get a word in on the matter.

As clumsy and ugly as the truth was, as unsightly as observations could be … they mattered.

Even yours.

‘I think that’s how a lot of us feel,’ you mutter, a sardonic chuckle escaping from your throat. ‘Not enough time to say what we want to say, what we need to say … or that we’re too scared at saying those words because it might fulfil their purpose. But when the time comes, the things that get you crying the most is inaction over saying the wrong thing. I don’t know if it’s my place to tell you that, but … if I were you, the last thing I’d want to tell Hibiki would be that wherever she went, she’d always have me.’

Corny.

Something that would have someone rolling their eyes at the mere utterance of.

So you have to credit Inazuma for not breaking down in laughter or confusion at the mere mention of the words. She raises her head to face you, a hesitant, doubtful look installed upon her features, the slight furrowing of her brows more pronounced than before.

‘But wouldn’t that be, no, sir, isn’t that … a lie?’

>‘I never thought about it before, but … no. I think in times like these, being guarded’s the last think you want.’
>‘Well, a pretty lie, I guess … but it’s all up to what you want to say in the end.’
>‘You know, I never thought that I’d say this, but … you sound a lot like Shigure.’
>Write-In

>>2725984
>>‘I never thought about it before, but … no. I think in times like these, being guarded’s the last think you want.’

>>2725984
>‘I never thought about it before, but … no. I think in times like these, being guarded’s the last think you want.’

>>2725984
>>‘I never thought about it before, but … no. I think in times like these, being guarded’s the last think you want.’

>>2725984
>>‘I never thought about it before, but … no. I think in times like these, being guarded’s the last think you want.’

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‘I never thought about it, before, but … no,’ you utter quietly, feeling a melancholic upward curve make its way onto your face, ‘the last thing you want right now, in times like these, is to leave things unsaid or implied … being guarded with how you want to say things. Maybe it’s a little naive … and for me, probably more than a little hypocritical, but, I don’t think leaving things unsaid or left open to pick up’s how I’d do things. I tried that my whole life and, well, life doesn’t fall into place if you let it go out on its own spiral. People are different and KanMusu, you, aren’t any more discernible to humans than you think you are. You put up a stronger front than most of us can, a better bridge than any of us can build, but at the same time, when it rounds back to you—and if you don’t mind me saying—you kind of self-destruct a little. It’s like you have a … propensity to stay away from any possible smidgen of happiness that you can from one another.’

‘We’re not Carriers, you know,’ Inazuma huffs, stepping right in. ‘That kind of thing … it’s a luxury.’

‘If it was then you wouldn’t have bothered to try with Hibiki at all,’ you reply, offering her a small smile. ‘The fact that you made an attempt debunks anything that, well, debunks the latter. It’s not against regulations to try and push yourself for something that isn’t just the well-being of humanity, you know.’

Inazuma bites her lip, looking down.

‘You sound like the Admiral,’ she returns, taking a brief pause, ‘the First Admiral, too.’

‘And you don’t think that about yourself?’

‘Purpose … purpose overrides need,’ Inazuma says with conviction, as though recited from right out of a manual in some corner of the universe. ‘If a KanMusu deviates, she distracts herself, doesn’t she? I … care about Hibiki, about Ikazuchi, but when does that turn into something that I …’

She trails off again.

You place a metallic on her head, prompting a squeak from the smaller girl.

‘Now, now, I thought you girls fell into compassion by default,’ you joke, kneeling slightly. ‘It’s a little unfair, don’t you think? That you got all that attention fixed on saving our sorry butts from sea-borne monsters and can’t even write up a third letter asking if your sister’s eating well.’

‘B-But we don’t need to eat!’ Inazuma protests.

‘You know, it’s not wrong to care that little bit more about something that you’re not … beholden to.’

She looks up with one open eye.

‘Personally,’ you continue in amusement, ‘I think that gives you a better grade at being human than half of us.’

You release your hand from her head … and find your torso embraced in an awkward, tight hug.

She lets go quickly, throwing an energetic nod.

‘I’ll keep trying!’

And just like that … your companion is gone.

>>2726251
It seems as though you've been here for about an hour. Continuing with this portion might eat more into your time. Stay?

2/6
>Approach Tenryuu's group
>Approach Ikazuchi/Inazuma’s group
>Approach Yamato’s group
>Approach Sendai’s group
>Approach Murakumo’s group
>Leave
>Talk to another KanMusu (Specify)
>Write-In

>>2726256
>>Approach Sendai’s group

>>2726256
>Approach Sendai’s group

>>2726256
>Approach Sendai’s group

>>2726269
>>2726270
>>2726271
You are electing to consume an action point. Confirm?

>>2726300
Confirmed

>>2726300
Confirmed

>>2726256
>>Approach Sendai’s group
is takao there though?

>>2726415
If you wanted to, you could have just specified Takao.

File: __sendai_kantai_collectio(...).jpg (89 KB, 850x746)

89 KB JPG

You shuffle your feet, glancing at the distant exit. On one hand … you could go around and do your thing, however you wished to do it. On the other, everyone you wanted to be further acquainted with (save for a few bodies) was already here. Nagato was here. So was Iowa … and even Maya was wheeling around in her chair with an excitable-looking Arashi (who was dragging one an anchor along the floor; no one seemed bothered to point it out). Clapping your hands together, you make a decision: it wasn’t as if that you had anything urgent to do … and Murakumo had pretty much encouraged you to stay for as long as you could; so why not?

Marching towards the erected bullseyes, you navigate along the red partition, no doubt having been put there to ensure no stray shuriken or kunai found themselves embedded on the round stands. A glance at the gallery is, as before, a mix of results. For beings that could calculate angles and solutions on the fly, it was weird to see them … struggle using projectiles at this range. You’d seen Nagato snipe a moving Wo-Class Aircraft Carrier with your own—her—eyes. A big round target and a shuriken and a kunai … well, you kind of expected better.

Sendai, however, positively revelled in it.

‘AND THAT’S ANOTHER BULLSEYE FOR ME!’

‘That’s twelve out of fifteen, though … and four are on the border.’

Or, by her chipper attitude, was just too damn hard to bring down from her perch.

Surrounding herself by a gaggle of a mix of unimpressed and impressed part-time students, Sendai has more in common with a jock pulling off an impressive physical feat than a patient and wise instructor. Her crossed arms and raised nose only heighten her rather … arrogant aura. Hamakaze, wielding a set of kunai in one hand and a case of what appears to be a collection of rather sharp shuriken in the other, apparently serves as her suffering temporary number two, making a face as she waits for Sendai to stop her … posing.

‘Eh, how come it’s so easy for you, Sendai-sensei?’ one of the girls whines.

‘Easy? This isn’t easy!’ Sendai exclaims. ‘It’s years and months and weeks and days and hours of practice and practice. It’s not like training your guns to aim; it ain’t anything like breathing or walking on water!’

You’re unsure if the analogy fits … but by the rumble of understanding the girls exhume, you’re able to make out that on their terms, the communication is without interruption. Or, at least, so you think.

‘Sendai,’ Hamakaze starts, throwing her an unamused look, ‘this isn’t an exhibition, you know? Can you give us some real tips?’

‘Embrace the shuriken! Be the shuriken! Love the shuriken!’

The metal star flies—

THUD!

—and hits the bullseye slightly off center.

‘YATTA!’

The girls clap.

Except for Hamakaze, of course.

>Talk to Hamakaze
>Talk to Sendai
>Leave
>Write-In

>>2726799
>Write-In
Ask if we can try.

Maybe we can get her to instruct abit better if we ask her srupid questions and other folks pick up on it.

>>2726831
why not

>>2726799
>>Talk to Sendai

File: __sendai_kantai_collectio(...).png (114 KB, 576x400)

114 KB PNG

‘Pretty good,’ you praise, clapping your hands together as you walk up to the small group. Sendai turns to you with puffed cheeks, the sparkles practically coming off her as her chest sticks out to match her engorged features; if she looked out of place as an instructor before … well, now she definitely looked like the queen bee. ‘Mind if I have a go?’

Sendai holds her wrist to her mouth, her eyes narrowing into slits as she throws her head back … and laughs. As much as you disliked condescension, seeing Sendai like this was … amusing. Her laughter is high-pitched and her contorted spine looks as though it had been moulded from string rather than bone. In her other hand and between her fingers, you see a pair of large kunai, held aloft as if in mid-motion to initiate a throw. Her amusement subsides, however, in the span of fifteen seconds … and she marches up to you with Hamakaze and her flat stare in tow, the armaments jingling in the bag, as if pleading for the day to end.

‘Now, now, now, Vice-Admiral—’

‘Why does everyone call me that?’ you question, frowning.

‘Eh? Murakumo and Takao said ‘cha made Vice-Admiral, sir … ya didn’t?’

You let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose. Maybe it should have been more of a point of pride for you, but … you didn’t expect either of them to go around whispering your achievements like mothers receiving high grades on their child’s report cards. Frankly, it was a little embarrassing to know Takao and Murakumo were out prattling like all-too-enthusiastic housewives. Not that you got irritated by it, of course, but …

It was a little unnatural smoothing oneself with the arrival of success when all you were used to up until now was the—

‘Yeah, I am,’ you sigh, letting out a sigh, ‘just … well, not in an official capacity. Or pay grade.’

You think.

You hadn’t seen so much as a cheque or receipt headed your way since you took the job.

‘Well, anyway,’ Sendai clears her throat, brandishing the kunai in her hands … before pulling out shuriken, ‘this isn’t just something that you can pick up, you know, in the right hands, they’re deadly weapons. In the wrong hands—’

She throws one of the kunai at incredible speed, then the shuriken, two hand movements, one twist, her eyes barely glancing at the board … right as they both hit just slightly off-centre with a dull, piercing sound.

‘—they’re dangerous.’

There are gasps of awe … and Hamakaze making a face and wrinkling her lips as she mimicked lip movements to accompany her annoyed glare.

Chuckling and shrugging, you pick a kunai out of her hand. Sendai snorts.

It’s heavy. Almost as heavy as a kitchen knife.

‘You sure about this, sir.’

‘Eh, what’s the worst that could happen?’

You flex your shoulder.

Too heavy.

Could you even reach the target?

>Throw (Roll a 1d6 each)

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>2726856

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>2726856

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>2726856
here goes f-rank luck

>>2726876
Noice

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>2726856

>>2726856

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>2726856
lmao been a while since I've made that mistake

File: It's called HUBRIS Sendai..jpg (107 KB, 850x1038)

107 KB JPG

‘That’s not how you hold it, Vice-Admiral!’

That’s the last thing you hear.

Everything is drowned out with the motion of your wrist. Noise—no, sound itself—dies as you take the sharp breath. The bullseye in your view narrows and widens violently, as if it was the pulse of a living, writhing creature. A heartbeat, a flame … it is no longer the dull red in the centre of a circle, no longer a mere focus. You are dead to the world. Everything is black and grey and irrelevant. The muscles in your body, once twitchy and snapping from the cold, tense and loosen by your will. Between the fingers of your metal prosthetic; everything seems to stop. The void slows down to a crawl as your lips wet and your eyes burn the mark of your target … and your second breath escapes with the first foot you put forward. There is more motion here, more strength … but not in abundance, not without necessity. The cold flows over you as you break the first millimetre, your lips warming along with that thrust of your shoulder, the joints of your fingers clenching tightly upon the kunai. It pulses … slower … slower … slower … until it just grows. Dot to marble, marble to orange … and orange to melon. Like a dart. That’s how you throw it; unconventional, unbalanced … and every practical notion known to you crying out to abide by the orthodox.

And you throw.

THUNK!

The noise comes back with sound of contact. Your eye refocuses on the kunai, on the target … where you find it hitting the heart of the bullseye, between Sendai’s shuriken and kunai, the only projectile launched that had found its mark on that mess of the board. As if shaken from the sheer force, the connecting kunai—Sendai’s—drops from its place, falling silently to the ground, the only cry of its defeat the rustling of cut grass.

It’s followed by the several other sounds of dropping objects … and you turn around to see wide-eyed, disbelieving faces, muttering to themselves. One of the braided KanMusu stares at you with pink cheeks before looking away, covering her face as she mutters something to her uncertain-looking friend. Sendai, once so arrogant, makes a sound akin to a choking beast, her fingers flexing and stretching as she winds her arms, as if trying to make sense of what had just happened.

A small smile makes its way to your features as you—unnecessarily—massage your wrist, unable to find the words to communicate your emotions. A cursory glance to the board is made … just to check that you had indeed done it.

It’s there.

Just as Hamakaze’s own triumphant grin is.

>Write-In

>>2726880
>>2726886
Sorry guys, your votes don't count since its past the deadline and I made do.

>>2726890
>Write-In
“Beginners luck i guess?”

When sendais finally asks how, Try to explain how we did it.

The focus on the target, the swinging of the hip and the strength of the wrist.

>>2726890
>Write-In
Blow on fingers and silently walk away.

>>2726924
Supporting