fandomhighdorms | The Salle; Friday Afternoon.

Ami showed up at the Salle, having been here once before.

Setsuna had just finished smartly whacking the dummy on its head when she heard Ami came in and turned to her with a smile. //"Good afternoon, Ami-chan."//

//"Good morning."// Ami smiled, looking curiously at the dummy //"You are not as absorbed by your practice today."//

Probably because Setsuna was actually trying to refrain from thinking of the dummy as John Connor and beating the crap out of it. Because then Ami would not have a dummy to work with; it would be decimated into pieces if that were the case.

//"It's been a long week,"// Setsuna admitted with a smile. //"Between you, John, and Henry, I'm taking it easy today. Still comfortable with the idea of me just watching and critiquing?"//

//"Wow, sounds busy. And yes... Should i just do what you showed me Wednesday?"//

Setsuna nodded, repositioning the dummy a little and stepping away to give Ami room. //"Yes. If you'd like, we can take a few minutes and review the moves together, and then we'll have to turn them onto the dummy."//

//"I think i remember"// Ami tentatively poked the dummy, making sure it was fake. And then proceeded to repeat what Setsuna had shown her. She was pretty good at it, on the dummy.

It was true; Ami wasn't doing half-bad. She still seemed a little reserved, though, so Setsuna, as she watched, would quietly put in the suggestion to swing harder her, follow through more with the forearm than the wrist with that move.

Ami did as she was told, improving slightly. She did not seemed to be tranced out, nor did she seem to be hesitating the way she did when trying to attack Setsuna.

Which is precisely what had Setsuna frowning thoughtfully. It was clear that Ami certainly didn't have any physical blocks regarding attacking. She was doing extremely well. As she watched, her mind became less about finding things to critique Ami on for improvement and more about trying to figure out how to transition from an inanimate object to an actual advistary.

Ami continued going, having no problem talking with Setsuna as she proceeded. //"So... what is the prognosis, sensei?"// She asked, mostly not kidding about the use of the term.

Setsuna drew in a cautious breath before she spoke. //"I'm confused, Ami-chan..."//

//"Confused?"// Ami stopped what she was doing to turn and look at Setsuna.

//"Yes,"// Setsuna responded, nodding toward the dummy. //"You have absolutely no ihibitions with attacking the dummy. I could barely even get you to swing at me. Trying to figure out exactly what the difference is."//

Of course, she knew what the difference was...

//"Oh."// Ami thought really carefully. //"Well... I can make myself swing at you, just badly. And i don't... you know"// she waved her had in a vague not-all-there motion. //"And well... the dummy is... not a human."// She emphasized the last word slightly.

Setsuna's eyes shifted away with slight irritation at Ami's choice of words, but she knew she had no right to hold it against Ami, because Ami didn't know. Especially since Setsuna couldn't very well counter with yeah, well, neither am I...

Instead, she sighed slightly, and reached for a practise blade. //"Step back, Ami-chan. I'd like to show you something."//

//"Alright"// Ami stepped back and watched.

Setsuna twirled her blade in an arc before settling into a prepratory stanse, eyes firm on her target as she held the sword over her shoulder. Deep breath, centring her chi, and she charged forward with an small cry as she brought it sharply, firmly down on the practise dummy's arm...

...cleanly lobbing it off. It fell to the floor with a dull thunk and Setsuna drew back in a crouching stanse, blade still held up.

Ami stared at the dummy's head, and at the practice blade Setsuna used. //"Um"//

//"See that? A simple move. If you'd have done that same thing to me, I assure you, I'd probably have a nasty bruise but little else. Certainly not enough to decapitate anything. This dummy may be just wood and...um, whatever else they made it with, but it's just that. What we're made of, with the right training and strength, is so much more than that. In turn, it handle a lot more than that as well..."//

Ami blinked, trying to process the information. //"Of course the dummy is more fragile. but it is also more replaceable. A human being is irreplaceable!"//

//"But my point, Ami-chan,"// Setsuna said, trying not to get frustrated, //"is that I won't need to be replaced Not at your skill level. Not with a practise sword."//

She almost wished Ami could actually see her in a fight so she could get a good idea of exactly how much damage Setsuna could take. She briefly even considered insisted that Ami sit in on a spar with Deadpool...

//"I know"// Ami said quietly. //"But that is not the point. It isn't that i will actually do you any damage. It is not even you specifically. but if i can attack you, with a practice sword, how do i know i can stop and not attack someone less skilled, and with areal sword?"//

Setsuna stared at Ami for a moment. Then her shoulders fell. //"Maybe some of this theory stuff was a bad idea; I'm starting to feel like you've gotten way too paranoid about this whole warrior/killer divide. Ami-chan, there's a huge leap between fighting a partner in a spar and mindlessly losing control of yourself with a real sword with the intention of harming another...."//

//"I know... but i am worried anyway. And i think I always was... even before those books."// Thinking of that research reminded her of something. She went to her bag and pulled out a thick sheaf of papers. //"I found these for you."// The papers were lengthy, detailed descriptions of tactics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Blue_Girl#Injutsu_.28Ninjutsu_sexcraft.29)~~SO NSFW~~ used by the ninjas in this one place in Japan.

Setsuna head tilted as Ami extracted the reports, taking them from her. Nearly two seconds into starting to read it, her face turned beet red and she just about nearly dropped them. This was...light years away from what she had expected Ami to be handing her.

//"What the hell is this?"//

//"I told you i was going to look up if that was a valid warrior technique. And for some warriors it apparently is. This was the strangest research i have ever done."// Ami shrugged. and blushed. A lot.

Setsuna, who had started blushingly flipping through some of the material again in spite of herself (it was like a trainwreck; you hated and felt ashamed to look, but, for some reason, she just had to). Her hands went over her eyes as if that could block out all the things she'd just read.

But she was feeling grateful now that Ami's defensive tactic was limited to just kissing.

//"It is a bit... distasteful, isn't it?"// Ami said, wondering what in the world the people of that place thought of these girls who practiced such skills.

A bit?!?

And after the whole thing with John and the succubus yesterday, Setsuna felt no hesitation in being quite frank with Ami, finally dismissing the papers and handing them back to her. //"And you present this material to me as defense for your tactics earlier? You're comfortable with your tactics being associatied with this sort of thing?"// She sounded as if this lesson would be over the moment anything even resembling a 'yes' passed through Ami's lips.

//"Ew"// Ami made a face. //"This is mostly gross. But i am showing you this because i said i would research, and so i did."//

Setsuna's palm met her face. //"Well, your research is certainly thorough, I'll give you that much, Ami-chan..."//

And then she shifted slightly, trying her best not to imagine Ami actually researching things like that.

//"Information is information"// Ami shrugged. She could get so clinical about academics. //"Back to more important things..."//

//"What were we even talking about, again?"// Setsuna's voice was slightly muffled by the hand covering her face still. Because she? Could not be quite so clinical, unfortunately.

//Um... humans versus dummies?"//

//"Right,"// Setsuna nodded with a deep breath to centre herself again. //"Point I'm trying to make is that you shouldn't worry about attacking me. I know you can attack a dummy now, yes, which is good, and I hope you don't hesitate to keep working with the dummy on your own, but it won't do you any good at all if you can only attack inanimate objects."//

//"I know...I think..."// her voice trailed off for a moment as she formulated the words carefully //"I think i need to free whatever is not awake inside."//

Setsuna nodded. //"Agreed. Especially if it will help you break this notion about fighting other people unless you're in danger. Training is essential to making sure that, when that danger comes, you're prepared for it..."//

//"Yes... Setsuna-chan? How do i make my heart believe what my head knows?"// Because that was the only way Ami could think to break that particular block.

With a deep breath, Setsuna shook her head. //"I don't know, Ami-chan. I...really wish I did, but I don't. We've just got to keep trying to figure it out. Eventually, we'll find it..."//

//"I hope so... i really hope so. Otherwise..."// she let her voice trail off, not sure herself what the alternative was.

//"We will,"// Setsuna said firmly in response to the trailing, settling a firm but gentle hand on Ami's shoulder for reassurance.

Which mostly caused Ami to blush. //"Y...yes... you are right..."//

And Setsuna, firm in her sensei mode, was completely unaware of the blush as she drew her hand away and it settled agianst the hilt of the practise sword in a natural sort of positioning for her. //"So...do we want to call this good and perhaps when we meet up later at the Nest we can figure a little more out? Or would you like to practise some more on the dummy and I can critique some?"//

//"I think practice some more."// Ami said, eager to just... do something useful.

Setsuna nodded. //"Good."// She liked to hear that Ami was eager to at least keep at it a little longer. Maybe she just needed some getting used to things more, and continuing would help build that.

With a nod, Ami attacked the dummy. The headless dummy.

The Salle; Friday Afternoon.

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