fandomhighdorms | The Salle; Late Monday Morning.

Hikaru popped his head into the Salle. He had some time to kill while Kaoru was in class that he usually spent sleeping. Today, he decided to take Setsuna up on the offer to watch her. He'd never ventured to the Salle before, so seeing a new place on campus was also a plus.

Setsuna had seen the movement of the door in the corner of her eye, but she was right in the middle of a very complicated combination, and her sword swung in a great arch at her left, then her right, again at her left before striking forward sharply with a downward swing across the chest of her invisible enemy. The series the brought her through a small flip to her side, followed by a series of smooth, even slashes. Another arc at her left, and she then "sheathed" the sword at her right hip, eyes closed at the completion of the combination, gathering a finishing breath.

It was only after all that that she cracked an eye open with an idle glance toward the door to see who was coming in to practise.

Both eyes flew open in surprise when she saw. "Oh! Hik--" She stopped herself, realizing she didn't really know if it was Hikaru or not. "Um, hey..."

True, they said they'd stop by, but she didn't expect either of them to stop in so soon.

Billy also came to the salle after breakfast. He felt he'd neglected his sword work.

"You were right on the first try." He smirked and stepped the rest of the way in through the door. "Bad time?"

Setsuna blushed and lowered her head a little. She was glad she did get it right; it would have been even more embarrassing if she hadn't. "Oh, no; your timing is fine. I could probably use a break, anyway. Unless...unless you just wanted to watch? I could keep going, too, if that...that's what you came to see." Of course he came to see your swordwork, you dolt. He could talk to you at any time. And was probably smart enough to know that he shouldn't talk to her too much when she still had a sword in her hand.

Between her forms, Setsuna gave Billy a small nod of greeting.

Billy waved back, and began his own forms. They appeared to actually combine sword work with hand to hand techniques.

He waved his hand and kept his eyes on the sword, "I think I'll play it safe today and watch after you take your break."

Setsuna smiled a bit, nodded, and moved over to the bench in front of the weapons locker to grab her towel, wiping the sweat from her brow, and then taking a quick drink from her water bottle. "Would you like to have a look at her?" Setsuna asked, grabbing Yuunagi's sheath, then taking the sword itself by the blade so that, when she offered both sheath and sword to Hikaru, the hilt was facing him to take.

A bit of excitement flashed across his face and he nodded, going over to join Setsuna on the bench. He took the hilt carefully in one hand and supported the surprisingly long sword with his other hand, sitting so he could lay it across his lap and touch the blade without worrying that it would drop or something. He felt a little silly handling it so carefully, but he'd never really held a sword before...so he was treating it like something made of glass.
"So.." He tilted the blade so that it caught the light and flashed a little. "You kill demons with this guy, right?" He couldn't help but ask that first, the sword reminded him immediatly of one of their first conversations.

Setsuna smiled, unable to help the surge of pride she felt for her baby being admired so well; she was pleased that Hikaru knew to show the blade proper respect and care, but part of her felt that she wouldn't have even offered him to have a look at her if she knew he wouldn't. "She's a girl, actually," she told him, grinning a bit. "Her name's Yuunagi. And, yes, she kills demons." A sense of graveness overtook her expression at that point. It wasn't light business, that.

"Ah, excuse me, mi'lady." He rubbed a thumb across the slick service and grinned. "Pretty name, though. How long have you handled her? Waving her around like you just did..." He trailed off, catching himself a little before he looked like he was tossing too much admiration around.

Setsuna bit her lip against a grin. She'd tossed around enough for it to have an effect with just the question itself. "I've only had Yuunagi for a few years; some of said I'm already too short for a nodachi, so they certainly weren't going to give me one before I hit my growth spurt. But I've been learning this style, the Shinmei Ryuu style, since I was just a little girl. Since I was able to pick up a sword, really..." She got an almost wistful tone in her voice, a distant sheen of memory in her eyes. She regretted giving Yuunagi to Hikaru; she wanted her back in her hands...

Hikaru nodded shortly and smiled a little; it was kinda fun learning something new about Setsuna..
"Alright." He held it firmly enough to lift a little, trying to carefully offer the sword back to her. "If you're feeling up to it, would another demonstration be alright?" He gave her a side glance.

Setsuna controled herself so she didn't take it back too quickly. "I think another demonstration could be all right," she said, brief smile on her face, taking up both sword and sheath. She gave Hikaru a nod, sheathing Yuunagi, went back over to the training area.

She took a moment to focus, collecting her breaths, her centre, her chi, focusing on forgetting that there was someone there watching and connecting to a world where it was just her and her sword. It didn't take her very long. Ritually, she held the sword out in front of her, parallel to the ground. She seperated the sheath just slightly, showing just an inch of blade, reveling in the small sound of disconnecting pieces.

Then, with a yell, she pulled the blade out, bringing back both sheath and sword, and what followed was an impressive display of arching blade, arching sheath, arching legs as she performed flips between the various spins, stabs, swipes, and circles, all fluidly performed with the occational shout.

She finished with a quick, barely noticable sheathing of Yuunagi, holding her at her hip, head down in a reflective pause.

Hikaru sat completely still through the whole display, eyes following Setsuna's every fluid action until she ended just as suddenly as she'd started. He didn't even notice that he'd temporarily stopped breathing as he watched, like he was trying to keep the silence that the whole movement had brought over him.

Setsuna held her moment of repose before allowing one eye to slide open, slide over to where Hikaru sat in hopes to guage a reaction. She wasn't sure what to make of the silence.

He caught her gaze and blinked. "Cool." Ack! What kind of an answer was that?! He tinted a little in embarassment and waved a hand at her. "I mean...that was....really,really impressive!"

Cool. Setsuna laughed a little. "Thank you," she nodded her head in a bit of a bow before regaining her grin and asking, "Believe me a little more about the threats, now?"

"Unfortunately, yes." He smirked and held a hand up. "I promise to steer clear of this place if we're ever in a disagreement." He stood and stuck both hands in his pockets, talking slow steps along the side of her training area, to scope out exactly how far she'd gone in that big sweeping move.

"You're a smart young man, Hitachiin Hikaru," Setsuna said with a grin, watching him as he moved around the salle. Her expression got thoughtful for a moment.

"You see those rocks over there in the corner?" she asked, nodding toward them.

He lifted his eyes until his gaze fell on what she was talking about. "Yea?"

Setsuna frowned at them for a moment; they were still all mostly rubble from the last time she worked on her techniques, but she still might be able to show off somehow. Hmmm....A Minor Cherry Blossom Cut to the centre would at least send them out a little....

"Okay, watch this," she made a small signal with her hand for him to back up, then returned to centring herself. Abruptly, she started again, ripping Yuunagi from her sheath and executing a smooth, sharp, chest-level swipe, calling out the attack's name in Japanese. Hikaru would have noticed a small wind picking up behind him, despite them both being indoors. As it brushed past Setsuna, now back in her repose position, ruffling ponytail and skirt, the wind seemed to take the form of lots of little, slightly shimmering cherry blossoms, gushing toward the pile of rocks. They disappeared within them and, a few seconds later, a few of them jumped up in the air a little, a few of them broke, as if a minor explosion had taken place within.

"Usually," Setsuna explained, "I work with a solid mass, so it ends up being much more impressive than just that. That's why you should drag Alphonse with you next time; he transmutes the walls for me, and then I break them down again."

He pulled his hands from his pockets and clapped; it was interesting how something as pretty as...little cherry blossoms could be so destructive. "I'll bring a helmet if he ever comes along then."

She smiled. "Probably a good idea." Setsuna then shrugged. "That's pretty much it, really. You've now officially been exposed to some of my finer talents."

He crossed his arms over his chest, "Well, I'm impressed." He smirked and lifted his chin a little. "Thanks for the show."

"Anytime, Hikaru. It was fun."

He gave her a little wave before making his way to the door. "See you in class tomorrow~" He gave her a silly grin, grabbing the door's handle and leaving in a good mood.

The Salle; Late Monday Morning.

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