Day 44: Sun Room (4th Shift)

[mizuhomaiden]

As soon as she had the chance, Sheena ninja'd herself out of the cafeteria and away from the conversation she'd been semi-forced to have. She probably could have just clammed up and told the boys to go away, but she'd kind of owed at least Endrance some kind of explanation. It wasn't everyday the embodiment of darkness pops up and delivers a

Comments

[whos_da_man]

Junpei always found it interesting that out of all of S.E.E.S., the only ones that did not have Dia spells were himself and Aigis. It made sense why Aigis didn't have it, being a robot and all. She didn't have any magic-magic either. But Junpei had fire, so he should have been able to...

Oh. Maybe it was because of the regeneration ability Chidori's life force had given him. That made sense. He wondered if it was still working in this place. Maybe. His ankle didn't bother him remotely as much as it probably should have. Huh.

Junpei set his hands against Okita's after setting his feet and pushed. A test of strength he cold do. Okita was probably pretty strong, so the teen didn't even think that he might be stronger at all. At least, not with Trismegistos practically asleep inside him. His Persona normally gave him strength no sixteen year old boy should have, but wit the wonky things this place did to their Persona, Junpei couldn't count on it.

Still, the boy had a strength that his frame did not convey. It took a moment for the teen to adjust, but he tried his best to match Okita.

[notachick]

Surprising strength he had. Okita adjusted for the heavier weight and then slowly let up, seeing how well Junpei would do. Okita was used to going up against larger people with greater strength than him, so adjusting for Junpei didn't take him too long. The boy definitely had the strength of a fighter despite his lanky frame, which went along with the fast movements he'd seen earlier. If anything, the teen needed refinement more than straight training.

Okita leaned his weight subtly to the left and waited to see how fast it would take for Junpei to adjust. "Relax your shoulders," he said suddenly in a quiet voice. It was obvious to anyone who knew him that he was concentrating, reading Junpei's movements as a teacher should, looking for weaknesses and strengths as he shifted his weight between his hands, waiting for Junpei to follow him.

[whos_da_man]

Brow furrowed in concentration, Junpei was paying possibly too much attention to the task at hand. When the pressure shifted to the side, he responded quickly, but overcompensated and rushed a little.

"Tch." He reeled himself back in and tried to realign himself. His shoulders relaxed, but only for a short while before they tensed again.

[notachick]

"I said to relax your shoulders," Okita said again, his voice turning a bit harsher than before. If he hadn't been teaching before, he was now, and he disliked it when his students didn't listen to his instructions. He would consider this Junpei's second warning - the third would come with a swift reminder of why he needed to listen.

Okita compensated for Junpei's sudden push, evening the pressure out before slowly switching the pressure to his other hand. Junpei was definitely going to need to work on refining his skills. He had to work on his control as well and his ability to match his opponent - rather ironic, considering who was teaching him. Okita was known for his lack of control when it came to war. He couldn't stop himself from engaging his partner one hundred percent, even if it was just a friendly sparring match. It was partly for that reason that he wasn't allowed to spar the new recruits anymore.

"Feel your opponent's movements," he continued, his voice softening slightly. "If you're too tense, you'll only tire yourself out and lose the advantage in battle. If you can feel how they are going to move, you'll better be able to block and counterattack."

[whos_da_man]

"Uh... sorry," Junpei replied, forcing himself to relax and stay that way. It was hard, but he'd try. He needed to remember that he didn't have the stamina of a truck anymore and that he needed to conserve what he could.

This time, when Okita shifted the pressure, Junpei was not as quick to respond. Yet, when he did, this time he didn't overcompensate. He wasn't sure which he liked better, even though he knew both were wrong.

Feel my opponent's movements...

Junpei's shoulders started to tense again, but he caught himself. With an irritated expression, he relaxed again. This whole control thing was hella-hard.

[notachick]

This time the shift was slower, but it was better controlled. Okita didn't say anything, but the fact he didn't said more than words could. Again, Okita shifted his weight back to the other hand, waiting a moment before moving it back again. A constant flux of motion was better for improving his speed and ability to read an opponent anyway. Okita kept it slow, however, not wanting to frustrate Junpei anymore than he probably already was.

He could feel the tension in the boy's shoulders, it transferred to his palms and the way he pressed against Okita. He was trying hard, however, and after a few moments, Okita hummed quietly in approval. "Can you feel the difference? When you're tense, you can't tell how much pressure I'm giving you, but when you relax..." Here, he again switched hands, putting a little more weight into his right. "You can tell, can't you? Your hand will immediately sink back if you're relaxed and you can push back with the right amount of strength to maintain the balance."

[whos_da_man]

Okita kept changing which hand he was pushing more with and, every time her did, Junpei had to tell himself to relax. He was much more used to just keeping everything coiled up for a strong attack that it was hard to keep his body relaxed. He kinf of felt like one of those weird puppets with the strings with jerky movements; sometimes the strungs just let the puppet hang there and other times, they were so taut the puppet was spazzing about the stage.

"...yeah. This is harder than I thought it'd be," Junpei replied, watching their hands as if the visual attention would help him. "I'm so not used to other people, like this. The Shadows just try to eat you when they get this close."

[notachick]

The constant movement was far more telling of Junpei's abilities and even as he struggled to keep relaxed, Okita was getting a feel for what they needed to work on. The teen's desire to use his strength was evident. He'd probably gotten by, as he said, just by powering through his enemies, striking wherever he saw them. While that might work against some of the easier monsters here, Okita had been up against far too many nurses and abominations capable of real fighting to allow his pupil to continue using that strategy.

"If you can fight a person, you can fight anything," Okita said, looking up at Junpei's eyes. He was watching their hands, using visual clues to help him. "Close your eyes." He had to learn to feel rather than see. Seeing would come second, and it would force him to really concentrate or he'd fall. Softening his touch, Okita began to press a little less against Junpei's palms. "The creatures you fight here will also try to eat you when they get this close, but you will be using your weapon as a shield. Finding the most opportune moment to dodge them means being able to feel their movements and read them accurately. If you move too early--" Okita pulled his hand away suddenly for a brief moment before putting it back up to catch Junpei before he fell. "--you will fall right into their jaws. Too late and the same thing. This exercise is meant to be difficult, but it is important you learn this."

[whos_da_man]

The teen's eyes fell closed as he listened to Okita's words. It was hard to pay attention to both that and the movements, especially when they weren't as easily detected as before. Junpei's reaction time was far less than before, his brow furrowed in concentration even though he started to feel more and more lost.

Then suddenly Okita's hands weren't there and Junpei stumbled forward, eyes flying open.

"Oh, shit!"

Thankfully, his teacher's hands were there to keep him from doing a ridiculous face plant right onto the floor. Or worse, Okita's chest. Righting himself, Junpei rubbed the back of his neck and averted his gaze from Okita, feeling embarrassed. He was right. He was going to be picking himself up off the floor a whole lot.

[notachick]

Junpei had, admittedly been doing better, getting the feel of the exercise and learning (ever so slightly) to relax. The combination of Okita's words and his softer touch, however, was apparently too much when he suddenly took them away. When Junpei pulled away, rubbing the back of his neck, Okita merely smiled at him. "You're still too tense. We'll start every session with this exercise for now. Then we'll move into accuracy and speed training."

He already had a plan formulating in his head about how to train this boy, but it was important not to frustrate him. Unlike the students at home, Junpei didn't have pain of seppuku hanging over him if he suddenly deserted. "You were improving, however. Remember that embarrassment, and remember how quickly the playing field can change." Putting his hands back up again, Okita waited for Junpei to do the same. "Try again. This time, you lead. Try to get me off guard."

[whos_da_man]

Remembering that was going to be pretty easy. Junpei might be used to looking like a fool from time to time, but that didn't mean he liked it.

"Okay," he said, rolling his shoulders to try to make the relaxing thing easier.

Hands once again against Okita's, the boy looked at them for a long moment before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. Still, for a second, he stood there making himself relax. With a few slow breaths, he exerted pressure against Okita's hands.

He moved them slowly to one side and, after a little bit back to the center. Then, after letting them stay there, he lessened the pressure before suddenly lowering his hands. Okita didn't say he had to stick with the side to side.

[notachick]

Junpei rolled his shoulders and Okita's smile brightened a little. The boy seemed ready to learn, not only from his triumphs, but from his mistakes - an excellent quality, if not a necessary one, in all students. He knew how quickly embarrassment made a lesson stick, which was partially why he used it as a learning tactic. As unfavorable as it was, the idea that one day perhaps the student could outwit the teacher was a fair motivation. A moment later, he saw Junpei's hands coming up, so Okita closed his eyes, his smile fading just slightly as he concentrated.

He felt the pressure coming in and he pushed back, keeping his touch as light as it had been before. As Junpei moved, Okita moved with him, almost at the same moment. He was relaxing better now, which was good, but Okita had a good deal of experience in reading his opponents and feeling the way someone was about to move. It was in his back, really. He could feel the slight pull of muscle before someone decided to let go, the tense that came before pushing; and eventually, Junpei would learn that, too.

Which was why, when Junpei suddenly dropped his hands, Okita went with him after naught but a split second of hesitation. There was a dip in the boy's shoulders, ever so slight that told him which way he was going - just not how far. Okita decreased the pressure in his hands slightly when Junpei lowered his, pushing back fully again only when he was certain that Junpei had stopped. Then, he smiled again and said, "Tricky, tricky. Good - it's easier when you're leading, yes?"

[whos_da_man]

Damnit. He'd thought he'd get Okita when he dropped his hands down.

"Yeah, it is." Junpei brought his hands back up and tried again. This time he started to move to one side before immediately changing the direction back the other way.

[notachick]

"Remember that. Always keep the upperhand in battle - your strength will aid you, but your speed--" Ah, tricky boy. Okita felt that moment's pause before Junpei's hands rebounded back in the other direction and followed with him, raising one eyebrow. Again, at the moment of change, Okita lightened the pressure in his hands before pressing back again. It was a split second, a neglible change in pressure, but it was there, if Junpei learned how to feel it. He was a quick learner so perhaps he would realize it in time, but he was still a little tense in the guiding shoulder and that might hinder his ability to feel everything Okita did. "--will help you overcome."

After a moment of silence, Okita asked, "Do you know what I'm doing differently, Junpei-kun?"

[whos_da_man]

Internally, Junpei grumbled when Okita followed the changes.

"No," he replied. Then he thought for a moment. "Well... it's like you're not... assuming where I'm going to be moving. I dunno if that's the right word."

[notachick]

"In a way, you are correct." Okita opened his eyes and watched Junpei for a moment before closing them again, continuing to follow his motions.

"Your eyes can deceive you. Your ears can hear things and distract you. But your body-" He pressed a little harder with his right hand against Junpei's hand and then went back to the lighter pressure as before. "--will always know the truth. Do not try to read your opponent's face or listen to their taunts, feel what they going to do - watch their body and you will always be a step ahead of them." He paused and then laughed a little. "Now. What else am I doing differently?"