The Gym; Saturday Evening.

[bound2blade.livejournal.com]

True, it wasn't rare to see Sakurazaki in the gym, when she wanted to work on strength rather than swordplay, or perhaps in search for a spar, or to just do her general chi centering excersizes.

However, it wasn't for any of the things the she was in the gym for tonight.

Sakurazaki had in her hands a red rubber ball, precisely the kind they had tossed at each other in Fitness the other day. She stood facing a wall, tucked the ball against her hip, and pondered a moment before stepping back.

She was throwing the ball at the wall, as hard as she could, working on getting the bounce back at her so she could repeat the process. There was a lot of throwing which lead into the ball bouncing away from her in directions unexpected, and her sprinting after it.

[[ gym's open ]]

Comments

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

John entered the gym, determined to keep busy today.

Heavy bag? His bitch. He taped up his hands and started to work.

[bound2blade.livejournal.com]

Sakurazaki had finished fetching the ball after it rolled under the bleachers and then noticed someone else had come into the gym. That someone else being John, seemingly rather heavily into work with the bag.

She looked down at the rubber ball in her hand, then back toward John. And blinked.

She shouldn't. Oh, God, she totally shouldn't.

But she had to. She threw the ball right at him.

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

John saw the weapon coming out of the corner of his eye and punched it, returning to a horse stance facing the direction of his attacker.

"Um. Setsuna?"

The ball went weeee! somewheres.

[bound2blade.livejournal.com]

Heyyy, he didn't call her McNinjaPants! Blushing a bit over her silliness, Sakurazaki gave him a toothy grin. "Hi, John. Heh, sorry about that."

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

"...the hell was that?" John dropped the ready pose. Slightly.

[bound2blade.livejournal.com]

"I'm working on my throwing," Sakurazaki explained with a nod, and a small, fleeting sneer. "We did an excersize in my fitness class with dodgeballs, and it became evident to me that it's a severe weakness in my abilities. So I came here to practise. And then I saw you and...well..." A rather bright smile appeared on her face. "Oh, come on, John, like you wouldn't have done the same thing to me if the situation were reversed."

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

"NOt today. DO I look like your practice dummy? If you want me to fling shit at you, you could ask nicely." John's voice has a bit of an edge to it.

[bound2blade.livejournal.com]

Sakurazaki's smile faded. Geez, what was his problem? "I was just playing around, John, no need to get all uppity on me." She'd never imagined she would ever feel the need to tell someone to mellow the fuck out before, but she was half tempted to say it to John at that moment.

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

"Sorry. Bad week. Feels like everyone wants to fucking kill me, or wouldn't care if I died. Fucking Vader."

He turned to McNInjaPants, his expression less intense. "Were you born into the whole were-chicken thing, or did it happen to you? The whole ninja thing, chosen or genetics?"

[bound2blade.livejournal.com]

Where the fuck did that come from? Of all the random, ridiculous....See if she ever threw at ball at him again. She crossed her arms over her chest crossly. "I've said it before and I'll say it again, John, I don't see how that's any of your business. You don't see me pushing you to tell me about whatever little secrets you might have, do you?"

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

"...I need to be stronger. I need to stop it from happening... or make it happen myself."

[bound2blade.livejournal.com]

Sakurazaki turned her head slightly as she looked at him, looking a little confused. She was getting vague flashbacks of that one night, in the first floor lobby, when he was babbling about what had happened in the cabins. "What are you talking about, John?"

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

"My future, Flight of Ninjette. I mean, everyone on this damn rock, at this school, has powers. You're a giant were-chicken, Ranma's got martial arts abilities that I've never seen, TEddy's an alien, Matilda's got telekinesis, Shorty McElric and his brother can do magic.. Hell, half the students can do magic."

"Me? I've got nuttin. Miltary training and tactics, fighting, and guns. All strategy and no power. How the hell's that gonna lead to victory? Alone?"

[kitty--fetish.livejournal.com]

Wandering often meant running into places he didn't really expect to be, or sometimes spotting people in those places; so on a Saturday evening, that's what a bored Alphonse did. He leaned against the far wall when he spotted Sakurazaki in the gym, watching her in amusement (after all, he did see what happened in class the day before), wondering if she'd spot him anytime soon as she threw the ball.

[bound2blade.livejournal.com]

Sakurazaki didn't notice him for a while, managing a relatively successful series of throws and catches for a bit, until one misaimed, particularly hard toss sent the ball flying wildly, bouncing off the wall, then sharply off the corner of a basketball board, back towards her with an incredible speed. She gave a little shriek, ducked, and the ball continued it's path to strike the bleachers, and then went sailing straight for Alphonse.

[kitty--fetish.livejournal.com]

Even if an object started flying off with incredible speed, it eventually does loose its momentum. Instead of dodging like they had done the previous day, Alphonse decided to shift himself into the path of the ball, making it easier to catch as it eventually started to fall in his direction. He caught the ball in his arms with a little 'omph!', then lifted the ball with one hand. "You might need this back," Alphonse finally said.

[bound2blade.livejournal.com]

Blushing profusely, Sakurazaki straightened, but then winced slightly. "Sorry about that, Alphonse," she said, biting her lip a little. At least she knew Alphonse wouldn't go into a weird, confusing, random rant like John had earlier. Or, at least, she really hoped he wouldn't.

[kitty--fetish.livejournal.com]

"Don't worry about it," Alphonse assured, tossing the ball back in Sakurazaki's direction. "I could've dodged it if I wanted."

[bound2blade.livejournal.com]

Sakurazaki fumbled a little with the catch, almost losing it, but she quickly brought it into her chest to make sure it didn't escape. She shifted it to rest against her hip, smiled at him. "Is that so? Sounds like a challenge to me."

[kitty--fetish.livejournal.com]

"You saw me yesterday," he pointed out with a laugh.

[bound2blade.livejournal.com]

Sakurazaki snorted a bit of a laugh, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, and you probably saw me too. My throws aren't hard to dodge at all, which is the whole reason I'm even here doing this."

[kitty--fetish.livejournal.com]

"My throws aren't anything spectacular either, my brother's just an easy target." Alphonse grinned, walking across the floor closer where Sakurazaki was at. "I'm better at hitting things with my hands and feet anyway."

[bound2blade.livejournal.com]

Sakurazaki's lip curled slightly; Edward hadn't exactly been a very easy target for her, so what exactly was being said here?

Nothing that she didn't already know, really. She couldn't throw for crap. She didn't have to throw. She could rush to you and slice off your head in three seconds flat.

"Yeah," she said, smile returning, "same here. Throwing is for cowards who can't handle getting up close and personal." And she put up her fists in a mock ready position, although she knew her fist-fighting always had been a little laughable. Compared to her sword skills, anyway.

[kitty--fetish.livejournal.com]

"Huh. You think so?" Alphonse shoved his hands in his pockets, glancing up to catch Sakurazaki's position; it was obvious it wasn't a serious one, but he couldn't help but grin further at her thoughtfully. "You know, we never have gotten the opportunity to spar for real, before..."

[bound2blade.livejournal.com]

"That's right," she said, returning his grin, "we haven't."

She bit her lip for a moment in thought, keeping her positioning, but refining it a little, making it a little less of something so loose. "What'ya think? You feeling limber, Alphonse?"