Seventh bell brought them both out of their reverie, pulled from the scroll by the bell. Realizing what time it was, Gregory carefully rolled the scroll even though they had to hurry. “We need to hurry.”
“I’ll head to the gate to get a rickshaw,” Yukiko said, getting to her feet and hurrying off.
Gregory slowed so he would not damage the scroll. They know, he suddenly realized. The chief archivist knows, or is guessing, and this scroll shouldn’t be given to Novices. Does it mean they are an ally, or they are setting us up? Mulling over the thought he sealed the scroll into its case and set it aside. Shaking his head, he got to his feet and headed for the door.
“Greg,” Nick called out as Gregory walked quickly down a path, “hold up a moment.”
Gregory paused, unhappy at the delay but trying to stay friendly. “I need to get going, Nick. What do you need?”
“Odd to see you without your shadow,” Nick chuckled.
Gregory’s smile faded, “Yuki went to get a rickshaw for us, we have to be somewhere soon.”
“Look, I know you like her, but you also need to consider your future. Next day off the clan is holding a party for those they want to join the clan.”
“Before the tournament?”
“It’s for those they know they want to join regardless of how they place in the tournament,” Nick grinned. “You’re invited, and you can bring Yukiko if you’d like. I’ve talked with Grandfather, and if she joins with you, we’ll be willing to let you be her handler. Something like that wouldn’t normally be allowed, but we figure you’d appreciate being the firm hand to guide her,” the last few words were dripping with innuendo.
“I’ll let you know,” Gregory said. “I have to run, if I don’t want to be late. Later.” Gregory shook off Nick’s hand and took off at a steady jog down the path. As he left, he could feel Nick’s eyes on his back the entire way.
Yukiko was waiting for him at the gate. They climbed into the rickshaw and the driver got them moving. “What delayed you?”
“Nick,” Gregory said gruffly. “Pressure is starting now. The clan is holding a party for those they want to invite on our next day off. I was invited, and told that I could bring you as well.” He paused, wondering if he should say the last bit, before he exhaled and told her. “Said that if we both join the clan, I’d be your handler for the clan.”
Yukiko stiffened next to him, “He said that?”
“Yeah.”
Yukiko fell silent for a moment, before she spoke slowly. “Did you agree?”
“To the party? I told him I’d have to see if I could make it. Frankly, that last bit pissed me off. He was all but promising you to me, as if he could. Asshole. As if your feelings aren’t even a consideration.” Gregory discovered his hands were clenched, and forced them open. “Not going to the party, though, is going to make it clear that we’re not with them. Over the last few months things have gotten colder, but they’re at least willing to pretend to be our friends.”
“Did you want to join them?” Yukiko asked. “If it wasn’t for me, would you join them?”
Gregory started to immediately reject her idea, but stopped. Instead he took a minute to seriously consider her question. “No. While they do have a lot to offer, no, I don’t think I would. All the staff in the manor are eurtik, and I think they’re slaves, not just servants. I still don’t like that divide, and they seem to love it.”
“We’ll have to find a clan to join right after the tournament,” Yukiko said. “One of the other four great clans would be best to avoid strife.”
“None of them have approached me,” Gregory said, shrugging a little. “They’ll take you though. Which is good, it’ll mean you won’t catch the shit as bad.”
“But…” Yukiko began but trailed off and shook her head. “We’ll talk about it later,” she said instead as they came to a stop before Gin’s home.
“Okay.”
Yukiko knocked on the door, to have Indara open it for them. “Close,” Indara said as the eighth bell chimed. “You had better hurry and change.”
The two of them hurried inside, changing their shoes for slippers. It did not take them long to change from clothes into gis. Stepping into the training room, they found Gin and Inda waiting for them with disappointed looks. The pair took their places before Gin, and bowed to him.
“I had thought you were serious about weapons training,” Gin said, his disappointment palpable.
“We are, Master,” Gregory said bowing low. “We were detained by a member of the Eternal Flame clan, who is trying to recruit us.”
“I see. And?”
“We were invited to a party next week.”
“Before the tournament? They only do that for those they are serious about,” Gin said with one eyebrow rising the tiniest bit. “I shall clear the—”
“There’s no need,” Yukiko interrupted him. “We won’t be attending.”
Gin’s eyebrow raised even farther, “Oh? Which clan are you thinking of joining then?”
“We haven’t decided,” Gregory admitted. “The Eternal Flame, though, isn’t suitable for either of us.”
“I know why it isn’t for Yu, but why not for you?”
“Because of how they view Yuki.”
Gin snorted and laughed, “Yes, I can see that. Very well. I will send a letter to the clan head explaining why you will be missing the party. That might buy you a little leeway, at least.”
“Thank you, sensei,” the pair said in unison.
“The weapons are ready,” Inda said.
“Good, we can start then,” Gin nodded. “Everyone has an affinity for certain weapons, based on their personality and body type. The open cases around the room have been enchanted to help you realize which will be easiest for you to learn. Open yourself to the feeling, and check each weapon. Once you have gone around the room, come back here.”
Bowing, the two novices rose to their feet and went to check the weapons. Yukiko went left and Gregory went right. He stopped before a war axe, and felt repulsed by it. Shaking his head, he continued around the room. The tetsubo was slightly more tolerable than the axe, but not by much. A little better than the last two, the tonfa and kama still did not feel right. The katana and wakizashi felt better, as if they could be used. Gregory’s steps slowed when he reached the su yari and naginata; the feeling from them was warmly welcoming, as if they were old friends waiting for him. The feeling was stronger from the naginata than the su yari. None of the other weapons felt as right to him, though the bo felt almost as good as the su yari.
Moving back to the middle of the room, Gregory knelt again, resting on his shins, as Yukiko moved to the last weapon box. She joined him a moment later, kneeling as he did.
“What weapons felt right to you, Yu?” Gin asked.
“The shuriken, tonfa, and wakizashi felt right to me. The katana was close.”
“And you, Gregory?”
“The bo and su yari felt good, but they were far overshadowed by the warmth of the naginata.”
Gin’s eyebrow went up, but he merely nodded. “I see. Inda, you’ll be taking Yukiko and teaching her the art of the blade. Have your sister drill her on the shuriken.”
“As you wish, Master,” Inda bowed to him.
“I will be teaching Gregory the way to properly wield a naginata. We will pause for midday as normal,” Gin said. “Make sure to spend the first two hours on unarmed combat.”
“Yes, Master,” Inda replied. “Yukiko, follow me.”
“Indara, return the cases to the vault,” Gin said, and the door opened to admit her.
“As you wish, Master,” Indara said, moving to close and secure the cases before she started to move them out of the room.
“Let us begin the training,” Gin said, getting to his feet.
~*~*~
When the sparring was over, Gregory was dripping sweat, but he was not exhausted like he had been months before. What surprised him more was the fact he had landed a couple of clean hits on Gin— not enough to stop the flow of combat, but still more than he would have ever managed months before.
Training with the naginata began in a similar manner that the unarmed training had; with stances. Gin drilled the five basic stances into him, nothing more than each stance and flowing from stance to stance as each was called out.
Gin watched the young man handle the practice naginata, his face carefully blank, as he kept calling out the forms. Gregory felt as if the weapon was part of him as he moved from form to form.
When Gin suddenly called out a stance he did not know, Gregory’s body moved into a form Gregory was not familiar with, but felt correct. When he finished the attack, Gregory stopped and blinked. “Huh? What happened there?”
“That should be my question,” Gin muttered. “You are moving as if you’ve held a naginata for years. I’ll see what you can do now.” Gin took another practice naginata and two helmets off the rack, then stepped onto the mat. “Debilitating strikes stop the bout,” he said, tossing a helmet to Gregory.
Gregory fumbled the helmet for a second, but caught it. “Understood.” Getting the helmet on, he took up the standard ready posture that Gin had taught him.
Gregory breathed slow and deep as he waited for Gin to start. The nerves he felt when normally sparring were missing. He felt at peace in the moment, even though he was standing across from an armsmaster.
“Fight,” Gin announced.
Gregory shot forward, the naginata lashing out. The clack of wood on wood came fast as Gregory pressed the attack and Gin defended, giving ground and circling as he went.
With the masks on, Gregory could not see Gin’s expression, so he could not see the surprise written across the old man’s face. The fact that he was pressuring the armsmaster did not register as Gregory kept the attack going, his naginata continuously in motion as the fight continued.
The seconds became minutes as the two moved back and forth across the room. Gin was finally able to press his own attack, forcing the younger man to defend. Deep laughter bubbled up from Gin as he felt a rush of exhilaration at having someone keep pace with him. Gregory laughed as well and the moment stretched out between them.
The minutes seemed to elongate as the pair flowed across the floor. Gin knew he had to end it, and with a win, or he would lose respect from Gregory. Forced to act, Gin gave up two minor hits, wincing when each connected, but that gave him the positioning to drop his weapon and grab Gregory. Before the young man could react, he found himself flying across the room. Landing with a thud, Gregory gasped as the breath was knocked from his body.
Gin was above him a handful of seconds later, his wooden blade tapping Gregory’s prone body. “Finished.”
“You… dropped… your weapon?” Gregory gasped out.
“To secure the victory, yes,” Gin said, pulling off his helmet. “If it had been more than just you, it would have been too risky to do. Since it was just us, it was worth it to win.”
“I didn’t think… to try using unarmed… as well,” Gregory admitted, trying to catch his breath.
“If you had, I might have lost,” Gin admitted. “You are a savant when it comes to the naginata. You are my equal with that weapon in hand. It is either instinctual, or perhaps you are a reincarnated soul who used one extensively in the past.”
“I haven’t felt like a reincarnated soul,” Gregory said as he sat up, finally getting his breath back. “If I was, I don’t think I’d make so many mistakes.”
Gin chuckled, “If that were true, we’d know easily who was and who wasn’t. There is nothing I can do to train you with a naginata, though we will spar at least an hour every week.”
“Thank you, Sensei. I will do my best to not disappoint you.”
“We’ll see,” Gin grunted. “Take the weapons and helmets back. Pick up a bo and come back to the mat.”
~*~*~
When they stopped for lunch, Gregory was humbled by how badly he used the bo, especially compared to the naginata. Gin had been even tougher on him. Gregory did his best to learn, aware that much the same thing should have happened with the naginata as well.
Indara served small snacks and tea in the stone garden. The two novices had learned how to eat and meditate at the same time, which let them get all their training in for the day. The down side was that neither heard the conversation held by Gin and Inda.
After the break, they all returned to the training room Gin had been using with Gregory. For the next two hours, Gregory and Yukiko sparred with each other in unarmed combat. Yukiko was impressed by how much Gregory had improved. She would have been hard pressed if she had not improved as well, but even then, their sparring was now more even than it had been in the past.
Gin and Inda commented, pointing out their errors and flaws after each round. Gregory and Yukiko took the information in, doing their best to improve during the hours they sparred. Gin made them stop and wash up before sending them back to the academy. Watching them leave, Gin looked pensive.
“Indara, bring me paper and ink. I feel the need to write a few letters.”
“As you wish, Master,” Indara said, appearing behind him.
