fandomhighdorms | By the Gun Range; Early Afternoon

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By the Gun Range; Early Afternoon

After attempting to take care of her hunger (mission status: failed), Sakurazaki notices that it's about the time to meet with Peter to check out the spot for their live steel training. It strikes her as odd that she's never really bothered to come out to this area before; while she waits, she just sort of glances around quietly, thoughtfully. And her fingers are tingling, because, in not too long, she'll be standing around here, but she'll be doing it with Yuunagi.

[[for

once_a_king, but others can stop in on the sword club ~~zomg so much more than a club!~~ plotting]]

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Peter almost skipped up to where Sakurazaki was waiting. He was trying gallantly not to grin too largely in anticipation. As he came up to her, he bowed.

"Afternoon, Sakuazaki. How do you do?"

Bowing in return, Sakurazaki grins lightly, glad to see that her excitement isn't contained only to her. "Good afternoon, Peter. I'm doing well; you?"

Her typically natural formality is a little rushed at the moment.

"Brilliant," he said. His natural formality was also definitely rushed as he looked at the door. "Shall we go in and check it out?"

"Yes; let's go," she says quickly, practically leaping excitedly for the door and holding it open for him. Natural habit, really.

Peter was taken aback for a moment then covered it well enough for most people not to notice, but those more school in manners definitely would. "No, no, after you, please."

She blinks for a moment, head tilted slightly. And then Sakurazaki winces with an immediate flush. "Right," she says, slightly flustered as she lets him take the door. "Sorry about that. It's just, I'm used to..." She just sort of trails off, biting her lip. "Right," she says again, and passes through the door, hoping she didn't just midnlessly insult him.

Noticing the flush, Peter jumped to apologize. "I'm used to it as well - especially for ladies. I didn't mean to offend you." He smiled entreatingly at Sakurazaki. "Come, let's not let our training in courtesy distract us from the more important task at hand." He gestured to the room beyond.

There was more blushing; it couldn't be helped, but, behind it, Sakurazaki grinned and steeled herself, straightening her shoulders and giving a firm nod. This was too important to get all flustered about. She moves deeper into the room, eyes starting to take things thoughtfully. Let's see...shooting alleys, equipment...There still seemed to be some room, but...

"I didn't actually expect this to be inside," she admits ruefully.

Peter grinned. "Doesn't it seem strange?" he asked. He walked over to the weapons locker, "this is where all the swords and other weapons are kept." He didn't open it though it probably was fairly obvious he wanted to.

She nods, eyeing it. This question threatens on being stupid, but if Yuunagi shows up soon, she'd need to know. "Do they actually lock it? And if so, where are the keys available, do you know?" Sakurazaki frowns slightly as she looked to the locker again. It broke her heart a little to know that her sword would have to just sit there. But she intended to visit her regularly, make sure her sheath stayed good and oiled, her red string unfrayed....

"I believe it's locked at night with the rest of the range," Peter said. "Though I suppose if you were concerned, we could find something else to place your sword in that you'd only have a key for." He sighed. "I hate to think of them in there really."

Sakurazaki gives him a small smile. "That's exactly what I was thinking, too. It's a pretty shameful place for a sword to be, but I suppose it is better than nothing..."

She moves on from the locker, feeling that the whole thing just weighs a little too heavily on her. She drifts around, checking out the space behind the alleys, and then turns her eyes back toward the space to get there, the locker area, thinking, thinking.

"I think this might work pretty well," she finally decides. "There's a lot of really good space back here for general training; plenty of room to move and swing. My main concern is that my style uses a lot of wind moves, and I'd want to execute those, but this squarish area isn't good for that. However, if we create some sort of impact barrier over here on this wall, and, since we'll be practising after the guns, I could easily use this narrow space here. We'll just have to make sure it stays clear if I'm working on those..."

She gestures and points and moves her arms a lot as she explains.

"If I'd've known this is where they were kept, I might not have brought mine," Peter agreed. "But then, I could hardly leave it at home either."

He moved out into the space, listening to Sakurazaki. "I agree, I think this should work very well. If if were even possible to get some sort of sound barrier between the range and our space, that would be optimal. Continuing gunshots could be a bit distracting. And loud." Looking around at the space, he ran a quick footwork combination across the floor. "I'm not entirely sure I'd want more than two or at the very most three people working at once, but we shouldn't have too much trouble if everyone was experienced enough to keep an eye open."

Sakurazaki eyes the shooting alleys again, nodding. "Definately a sound barrier. I imagine with a little thought and research, it shouldn't be too difficult to find a simple solution. And I agree about the numbers; if there are more people around who want to train, we could always split up the time and share the space. If anything, a lot can still be gained from watching another while waiting for a turn..."

There is a slight sigh, but she tries to make it small and unnoticable. She's got a mantra to keep in mind: better than nothing, better than nothing, better than nothing.... In reality, it wasn't bad at all, but she was used to whole mountains being reserved for sword training.

"I don't really think there are that many of us," Peter said. "Alanna practices in the gym since she carries her sword with her. Bel maybe, Pip if he uses a sword as well as hand to hand fighting, Cam said he fought with a sword something, but I don't know if he'd want to practice as much as we do. I was beginning to teach Tyler a bit, but he has a ways to go before I'd let him use a true sword for anything more than a very simple form. Do you know of anyone else?"

He caught Sakurazaki's sigh and smiled slightly in agreement. "It feels so very enclosed, doesn't it."

"No one else comes to mind," she says after a moment, with a light shake of her head. "So I guess that won't be much of a problem at all..."

"And, yes, it does." A hand drifts to her shoulder, rubs lightly at her forearm as she glances around the room again. "Not used to really training indoors, and it's not quite as spacious...or bright...as the gym."

Peter looked up at the ceiling then over at the rather dull grey walls. "Not that we couldn't fix the bright part. We could find some lights and install them to light up the room a bit. Maybe even find some wall hangings or fabric to put on the walls. That would help muffle the noises as well as brighten up the room." He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not particularly used to training indoors either, but just the idea of getting my hands on my sword again for more than just inspecting it makes me almost itch so I'll take it."

Sakurazaki seems very impressed by the suggestion. "Wall hangings are a great idea! Not only would they add something to the rather dull space, but they serve a practical purpose, too. I wonder where we could find some, or if someone could make some. I could probably write home and get a few Japanese ones. Add a little feng shui to aid our chi. Some potted plants to help the air quality in here." She grins, chuckling lightly. This was going to work amazingly after all. "Okay, maybe that's getting a little carried away..."

"I could ask my sister," Peter said thoughtfully. "She might have a few ideas. Or we might be able to find something at that shop in town." He grinned. "I don't know what either 'feng shui' or 'chi' is, but I'll take your word for it. We can see about the plants. Or perhaps the air circulation could be improved with some fans or something." Peter couldn't contain his glee anymore and did a handstand on the floor. He stood back up, slightly embarrassed. "Apologies, I just can't believe it's all going to work."

Peter's sudden release of his excitement causes Sakurazaki to laugh lightly to release her own, being suddenly reminded of it. She can't help blushing slightly herself, hiding a grin behind her hand and thinking that the handstand was pretty impressive, especially since she didn't expect it.

"I know," she gushes excitedly. "But it is going to work, and, in a few days, my sword will be here and everything and just..." She sucks in a deep, excited breath, practically glowing. "Thank you, Peter. For thinking of doing this, for asking me to help, for everything."

"You're most welcome, Sakurazaki. I couldn't help but think of you when I was considering the best possible plan of attack," Peter said with a huge smile. "Were you able to get in touch with your teachers last night? They are sending your sword immediately?"

"Please, call me Setsuna," she smiles. "We're partners in crime now. And, yes, I did get in touch with Elder Konoe last night, and he's in the process of sending Yuunagi over as swiftly as possible." There's another deep breath of excitement. "I convinced him to send her magically so she gets here sooner, but I don't think I can wait even that long."

"Setsuna then," Peter said with a smile and slight bow. "Thank you. I hope she comes on an eagle's wings. I'll wait to start working with mine until she gets here," he said firmly. "Has she always been your sword?"

Oh, boy. Now he was asking for an earful, asking a girl about her blade. Well, this girl, anyway. Sakurazaki beams, nodding slightly. "Not always; Yuunagi is a nodachi, which is a particularly long Japanese sword, so I didn't get her until I was big enough to handle her, when I was about nine, and even that was pushing it, but I had outgrown my smaller swords so quickly. They were worried that I might have been too small, but I've always been tiny and short, so they let me try the nodachi and it just worked."

Her grin widens. "She's a really beauty, Peter. I think you'll like her. But I am a little biased."

Peter listened closely, smiling as her obvious excitement and pleasure reminded him a bit of one of his sisters. "She sounds like a brilliant weapon. I'm so glad you'll be able to have her sent here. And I can't blame you for being biased. We all get that way, don't we?"

"Yeah," the quick flush of excitement and fond recollection remains placid on her pale face, settling into an expression of contentment. "How about your sword?"

"Rhindon," Peter said with something approaching reverence. "I was given him when I was twelve on the eve of the biggest battle of our world. I never expected to be a warrior - or at least not a knight, but when a legend hands you a sword, you can't not try to feel worthy of it." He smiled in memory. "I try to be worthy at least."

Smiling softly, Sakurazaki's eyes shine a bit as she hears Peter tell his own brief story. "That's definately a special sword," she muses, beaming. She's really quite thrilled; pretty amazing to finally find someone who views a blade as she does.

"I think so," Peter said. He smiled at her. "Nice to talk to someone who's as mad about swords as I am. Especially here where guns and explosions seem to be the preferred speed." He looked back around the room. "This will definitely be very good. We just need to come up with a better name than 'swords club.'"

She chuckles lightly. "Definately. 'Swords club' definately lacks the sort of slicing ressonance that I think we need..."

Having been politely quiet this whole time, Sakurazaki's stomach suddenly lets out a loud rumble. Her eyes widen and her face flushes with embarrassment as a hand flits to cover it. She's almost forgotten about that. But it keeps going. "Umm..." her eyes shift away. "Maybe we can try to think up something through the day? I think...I think I should probably go find something to eat..."

True, she'd been eating all day. But it won't stop.

Peter tactfully refrained from commenting on the stomach rumble and nodded. "That sounds like an excellent plan. I'm going to check on my sword so we'll talk later about names and what to do with the room, yes?" He grinned. "And again, this is going to be brilliant."

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By the Gun Range; Early Afternoon

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