[aim log][byakuya & tenten][rescheduling for fall]
Byakuya dodged in time. Just barely. Tenten had stopped pulling her blows a while back, and the resultant bruises were always a pain to deal with. Normally, he made it a point not to fight with women. This was different. The weekly sparring sessions was a welcome change from the stuffiness of the classroom and the mind-numbing line up of maths problems and complicated formulae.
It had become habit for Byakuya to abandon his schoolwork and research preparation every Wednesday afternoon to head for the dojo and fight, blade to blade with a skilled swordswoman. It was the perfect stress relief; something he had not expected to find in an out of the way dojo. If nothing else, it gave him ammunition against Rukia, who more often than not, came home with expectations of him doing things away from books and chalkboards.
She pulled back the training sword after he blocked and failed at hiding the smile. He was getting considerably better. The sessions were shifting from straight training to a more equalized sparring match. In a month or so, the playing field would be equal.
Well, assuming they could reschedule these sessions so as not to conflict with the approach of school. She’d be tight on time, but she knew that she needed this. Training children was fun but it was not at the level she needed to keep in top form.
She ducked as he swung, taking the chance the sweep upward and strike at his side. A few weeks ago it would have hit. This time, she was already thinking at least five steps ahead to compensate for the fact that he would probably block it.
That was probably the most troublesome thing about Tenten: the fact that she anticipated his movements. It forced Byakuya to think, to change tactics even as he moved in, blocking her blade and sliding it off his. The girl pushed him to perfect his swordsmanship, and he had grown in leaps and bounds.
His current level was at least a few steps higher than where he had started. Part of it was simply old habits returning to lazy muscles and fine-tuning techniques that he had once known, but another part of it was simply Tenten's better technique pushing him to fight back trying new combinations to ward her off. It really was too bad about school starting up soon. He wondered if it would be possible to reschedule their current weekly arrangement.
That moment of distraction was more than enough for Tenten to find a hole in his defense, and he cursed internally, darting to the left and just barely blocking the sword coming for him. Sweat dripped down his brow. A glance at the clock on the wall reminded him of an appointment with his advisor that he had to keep. He stepped back then, and dropped out of his fighting stance.
She fell back completely and let out a few deep breathes to bring herself back to normal. Then she bowed formally, acknowledging the end of the session before relaxing completely.
She started stripping off the equipment, reaching over for a bottle of water and tossing it to him while she got a second. She took the water down in almost one gulp. She glanced at the empty bottle and laughed. “You’re getting better, just need to work on leaving that right flank open” she noted, putting it down next to the pile of things at her side. She yanked her hair out of the ponytail and shook it out a bit, dividing it into halves and twirling it into her normal two buns.
"Somewhere to go?" she asked, having noted the glance at the clock earlier.
Byakuya nodded, the now-empty bottle dangling from his fingertips. The appointment with his advisor reminded him of something else that they needed to consider, now that summer was coming to a close. "We need to reschedule our sparring sessions. Wednesday afternoons will not work for me this upcoming semester."
He set his now-sheathed sword carefully against the wall and stripped off the hand guards he had started wearing again, now that their sparring was starting to border on the serious. He flexed his fingers a little, and then turned to face Tenten. "When would be a good time for you?"
She secured the buns as she ran her schedule through her mind. Most of her classes were night ones, that left the day to work at either the teashop or the dojo. She contemplated Friday night but it was normally something she liked to keep open in the hopes that she would actually get out.
"Saturday, late afternoon?" she asked. "Or Sunday morning. I could ask my work to shift some of my hours around but the weekends are probably best. My nights are shot, too many classes this semester," she sighed.
Given the options open to him, the answer was obvious. Saturday afternoons was prime study time, and Byakuya was loathe to give them up if there were other options open. While he had hoped for a weekday evening, he would not quarrel with a weekend compromise instead. "Sunday morning would work best. Should we start this Sunday then?"
He pulled on his shoes, doing up the laces while he waited for Tenten's reply. If he left immediately after, he would have time for a quick shower before rushing over for the meeting.
She watched him move quickly. "Sure, that’ll be fine," she nodded. "It’ll be a nice way to break up the constant flow of classes, rehydrated instant dinners and repetitive work hours," she added sincerely. She piled up her things and stretched a bit.
"You can go on ahead," she said, sparing him the wait of her locking up the dojo as it was obvious he needed to leave. "I have to wade through a few of the books today to make sure we can pay for the heat this winter anyway."
Byakuya nodded and the obvious dismissal, sword and empty water bottle collected in his hands. "See you on Sunday."
It had become habit for Byakuya to abandon his schoolwork and research preparation every Wednesday afternoon to head for the dojo and fight, blade to blade with a skilled swordswoman. It was the perfect stress relief; something he had not expected to find in an out of the way dojo. If nothing else, it gave him ammunition against Rukia, who more often than not, came home with expectations of him doing things away from books and chalkboards.
She pulled back the training sword after he blocked and failed at hiding the smile. He was getting considerably better. The sessions were shifting from straight training to a more equalized sparring match. In a month or so, the playing field would be equal.
Well, assuming they could reschedule these sessions so as not to conflict with the approach of school. She’d be tight on time, but she knew that she needed this. Training children was fun but it was not at the level she needed to keep in top form.
She ducked as he swung, taking the chance the sweep upward and strike at his side. A few weeks ago it would have hit. This time, she was already thinking at least five steps ahead to compensate for the fact that he would probably block it.
That was probably the most troublesome thing about Tenten: the fact that she anticipated his movements. It forced Byakuya to think, to change tactics even as he moved in, blocking her blade and sliding it off his. The girl pushed him to perfect his swordsmanship, and he had grown in leaps and bounds.
His current level was at least a few steps higher than where he had started. Part of it was simply old habits returning to lazy muscles and fine-tuning techniques that he had once known, but another part of it was simply Tenten's better technique pushing him to fight back trying new combinations to ward her off. It really was too bad about school starting up soon. He wondered if it would be possible to reschedule their current weekly arrangement.
That moment of distraction was more than enough for Tenten to find a hole in his defense, and he cursed internally, darting to the left and just barely blocking the sword coming for him. Sweat dripped down his brow. A glance at the clock on the wall reminded him of an appointment with his advisor that he had to keep. He stepped back then, and dropped out of his fighting stance.
She fell back completely and let out a few deep breathes to bring herself back to normal. Then she bowed formally, acknowledging the end of the session before relaxing completely.
She started stripping off the equipment, reaching over for a bottle of water and tossing it to him while she got a second. She took the water down in almost one gulp. She glanced at the empty bottle and laughed. “You’re getting better, just need to work on leaving that right flank open” she noted, putting it down next to the pile of things at her side. She yanked her hair out of the ponytail and shook it out a bit, dividing it into halves and twirling it into her normal two buns.
"Somewhere to go?" she asked, having noted the glance at the clock earlier.
Byakuya nodded, the now-empty bottle dangling from his fingertips. The appointment with his advisor reminded him of something else that they needed to consider, now that summer was coming to a close. "We need to reschedule our sparring sessions. Wednesday afternoons will not work for me this upcoming semester."
He set his now-sheathed sword carefully against the wall and stripped off the hand guards he had started wearing again, now that their sparring was starting to border on the serious. He flexed his fingers a little, and then turned to face Tenten. "When would be a good time for you?"
She secured the buns as she ran her schedule through her mind. Most of her classes were night ones, that left the day to work at either the teashop or the dojo. She contemplated Friday night but it was normally something she liked to keep open in the hopes that she would actually get out.
"Saturday, late afternoon?" she asked. "Or Sunday morning. I could ask my work to shift some of my hours around but the weekends are probably best. My nights are shot, too many classes this semester," she sighed.
Given the options open to him, the answer was obvious. Saturday afternoons was prime study time, and Byakuya was loathe to give them up if there were other options open. While he had hoped for a weekday evening, he would not quarrel with a weekend compromise instead. "Sunday morning would work best. Should we start this Sunday then?"
He pulled on his shoes, doing up the laces while he waited for Tenten's reply. If he left immediately after, he would have time for a quick shower before rushing over for the meeting.
She watched him move quickly. "Sure, that’ll be fine," she nodded. "It’ll be a nice way to break up the constant flow of classes, rehydrated instant dinners and repetitive work hours," she added sincerely. She piled up her things and stretched a bit.
"You can go on ahead," she said, sparing him the wait of her locking up the dojo as it was obvious he needed to leave. "I have to wade through a few of the books today to make sure we can pay for the heat this winter anyway."
Byakuya nodded and the obvious dismissal, sword and empty water bottle collected in his hands. "See you on Sunday."