บท 40: Yari Training (2)

He then pointed to a few other people - most of which being women as the problem was one caused by a lack of strength.

They were then sent to another part of the square, and told to get into partners.

"Your job as partners will be to keep watch on each other's form. If their point dips, let them know."

Jikouji explained, before leaving them to sort the pairings out amongst themselves, and returning back to the rest of the waiting villagers.

Most of the people within the group knew one another, and so they were able to quickly establish partners. Even the few men in the group did not have trouble.

Akiko, on the other hand, glanced around rapidly, trying to search for someone who would be willing to pair with her. There was an awkward smile hanging from her lips as she worried about being left till last, or without a partner at all.

Rin watched her acting like a frightened rabbit for a little while, before shaking her head, and pulling on the lady's sleeve.

"I'll go with you."

Relief passed over Akiko's face, alongside recognition as she remembered Rin's face.

"Ah, thank you Miura-kun."

She said a little breathlessly, evidently extremely pleased to have finally found a partner.

Rin did not go out of her way to make the older woman comfortable, and instead walked a distance away, setting up her stance with her wooden pole in hands.

"Ready?"

The lady adopted a more serious expression, mirroring her partner's ready position before nodding.

They both struck out at the same time, eyeing each other keenly. It was not just her form that Rin was critical of, it was everything about her.

"YAH!"

There was not a single fault in their first strike, and so they wordlessly transitioned into the second.

"YAH!"

It soon became a test of endurance, as they continued to send out strike after strike, attempting to hide their fatigue. Akiko did not know when she had begun to compete with Rin, but it certainly had not taken long for her to be influenced by the younger woman's completive air.

Under the heat of the midday sun, they were very soon glistening with sweat. But even as these salty droplets stung their eyes, they remained entirely focused, intent on not being the first to lose.

The rest of the group - who had taken several breaks already - shared glances as they stared across at the unyielding maidens who had not lowered their spear once for almost an hour.

Jikouji – who had been keeping an eye on them for a while – had a light smile on his face. He did not know quite why they had reacted to each other so strongly, but he thought that he might have some sort of inclining.

"Sorry Miura-kun, the point of your spear dipped a little too much on that last strike."

Announced Akiko, breathlessly.

"Funny… I was just about to say the same to you Niwa-kun."

The older woman's brow twitched slightly at the honorific used, but she did not wish to lower herself to such pettiness in front of the fiery little lady before her.

They leant heavily on their wooden poles, breathing wildly as they attempted to assert their claim to victory in their unofficial contest.

"Really, Niwa-kun, for the last few hundred strikes your form has been less than perfect, it was only just now that I decided to say anything, as not to hurt the lady's feelings."

"You needn't have worried. If the point of my spear was dipping at all, then it was only because I was so distracted by your inability to keep yours high."

"Huh? I did not realize the samurai were such sore losers."

"Quite the contrary, Miura-kun, for I did not lose."

"Ohh, true… you did lose quite a while ago."

"True? It seems we are in agreement then, I won, correct?"

"A pretty face, but very clogged ears it seems. Perhaps you should clean those out before we talk any further."

"How rude…"

"Shall we continue then? Since you don't want to accept that you've lost."

"Hoh, the same to you. Since you are unwilling to accept your defeat, this time we will make it all the more obvious."

They resumed their stances and went back to thrusting. Much the same pattern continued on throughout the day, with neither one of them willing to accept defeat.

And then the training practice began to draw to a close, and they all gathered to feast on the dinner that had been prepared for them beforehand.

"By my counting, I've won 5 times, and you zero."

"There are a couple of flaws in your calculations there, Miura-kun, in fact it was I who won 5 times, and you zero."

Though the practice had drawn to a close, their arguments still continued.

A group of three girls came over, calling for Rin.

"Rin, let's go get some food. What are you still standing around for?"

She promptly waved them away, still busy arguing with Akiko.

"You guys go on without me, the young lady Niwa has asked me for help in counting."

They stared at the unusual pair with curiosity, noting the aggression in Rin's voice, before shrugging and turning to leave.

"Help with counting? My counting skills are more than fine, thank you very much."

"Apparently not. You still can't see that you've lost."

"Mmmm… It's impossible to argue with you. Nor do I want to. In my eyes, I have won, that is all."

"The same goes for me then."

She sighed at that, before turning toward the food with a final parting comment.

"I'm far too hungry for this – after all, I used a good deal more energy since I was keeping my point up."

"Hoho, is that so? Is that how we will decide the winner then, whoever eats the most must have used to the most energy."

"My… It seems everyone is capable of some degree of intelligence every now and then. Very well, Miura-kun, I accept your challenge."

"I am a genius, after all. To keep things simple, we'll just eat rice balls."

"What about drinking, and soy sauce?"

"Drinking is allowed, but soy sauce isn't."

"Very well, you have yourself a contest."

Rin pushed her way through the crowd – as she had far more experience at such a thing – and secured a large plate of rice balls for themselves. There were a few complaints, but she managed to protect her prize all the way back to where Akiko stood.

"That was pretty impressive…"

The lady commented genuinely. To her, that mass of bodies was a wall, and not something that could be so easily navigated.

"I am, yes."

Rin waved away her compliments, and looked around for somewhere to sit. There were rows of benches lined up for the villagers to sit on, but she wished to steer clear of those for she had no doubt that there would be more than a few comments about the number of rice balls she had taken. There looked to be about 20 in total, and that would ordinarily be enough for at least 6 people.

"Over here."

She motioned toward a group of logs that lay outside one of the villagers' houses, lightly dusting it off before promptly sitting down.

Akiko wrinkled her nose at that action, as the log had looked to contain a good deal of mud.

"Are you not worried about getting dirty?"

"Nope. I can clean when I get home, so what's there to worry about?"

"I suppose you're right…"

She relented, lowering herself onto the log.

"Here."

She was handed her first rice ball, and a split second later Rin had already taken a bite out of hers. She cared not for lady-like mannerisms, and did not pay the grains of rice that stuck to her lips the slightest bit of attention before she moved onto the next one.

Not wanting to be left behind, Akiko quickly did the same.

After the first two bites, both were filled with confidence, feeling that there was lots of room left and that the competition would be an easy one.

But after the second rice ball, that confidence was soon replaced with unease. They watched each other closely, their eyes begging for the opposition to give in.

When she picked up the fifth rice ball, Akiko did so with an expression of the utmost disgust. The nearer it came to her lips, the less determined she was to eat it. She saw that Rin was already halfway through her fifth, and ventured a bite, holding her nose against the rice smell that her body had grown to hate.

They crawled through the fifth and sixth, nearing the seventh.

It was then that Akiko admitted defeat.

"…I can't, you win… Just let me never eat rice again."

"I win..? Thank god… I think I'm going to die."

They held their bellies, feeling a mighty sickness overwhelm them.

"This was a pretty bad idea…"

Rin admitted, thoroughly regretting the whole affair.

"Oh god… I have to ride a horse after this – I honestly think I'm going to throw up."

"You're telling me… I have to walk like this… Well, maybe walking is better than riding. I don't know, I've never ridden."

"You've never ridden..? Really?"

"No, I haven't. We can't afford a horse so… there's really no chance of that."

Akiko paused a little while in thought, still thoroughly nauseated by her sickness.

"You're staying with us in the mansion so… if you'd like, I can teach you how to ride."

Rin's eyes widened at that. The thought was clearly appealing.

"Really? Would that be okay?"

"Of course, I don't have anything else going on after all."

"Alright!"

"But maybe let's not do it tonight? I feel like if I move too much that my belly might explode."

"Yeah… let's take it easy tonight, and remember never to do this again."

"Agreed."

And so the day of training was concluded, with the majority of the villagers feeling thoroughly exhausted, and a certain two young ladies feeling a certain amount of congestion within their stomach area.

Morohira's booming laughter after he caught sight of them waddling along like old grandmas did not help, and they both shared a glance, feeling the sickening sensation rise up in their throat once more.

Akiko had chosen to walk, fearing that the motion of a moving horse was all that was needed to genuinely send her into a vomiting fit. It worked out fine however, as Rin was in very much the same position, and instead the two walked side by side, right at the back of all the villagers.

A small escort of guards surrounded them, with Morohira and Fuku tucked inside the protective circle as well.

Jikouji felt like a grandfather might when he watched the two young ladies interacting. Akiko motioned for Rin to stroke her horse that was leading by the reigns – for she was clearly eager – and the woman in question tentatively reached out, making contact with the soft fur before rapidly withdrawing her arm and looking toward Akiko with a gleeful smile.

'That young lady has been far too long without friends. It would be nice if this was the beginning of something new for her.'

He thought to himself, a gentle smile resting upon his lips.

'I'm sure it will bring ease to Nakatane, for I know how much he has always worried about her.'