(Untitled)

[shieldedvirtue]

Characters: Clare Edwards, OPEN
Location: Any Street, The Mall, Papercut Books, Corpse Bros. Cinema, OR The Basketball Court.
Rating: PG to be safe, amendment if it goes up for any reason.
Time: 15th of December.
Description: An ordinary day for Clare Edwards in Death City.
Note: I don't feel like spamming the comm, so feel free to pick a place to

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[shieldedvirtue]

"I'm Clare," Clare probably should have lead with that, or that she was talking to Neji. But given Hanabi's lack of alarm it was probably alright. She smiled, handing the ball over to Hanabi. Not exactly sure how this would go given the girl's size compared to the proper full sized hoop.

"The game has more rules, team sizes, timing, point scoring..." Clare paused, realizing that most of these rules would be completely unimportant in this setting. She breathed out a slow steading breath to stop from cycling into the details of the game, then went through the motions she repeated to shoot sans the ball, "But yes, for now its just that simple."

[usedforcepalm]

Hanabi observed the motions carefully and managed a relatively accurate copy of Clare's shooting stance. Mentally, she took the ball's weight into account along with their comparitive height differences. After a few seconds of trying to determine the correct amount of force to use, she shot the ball toward the hoop. It wasn't quite enough to go in, bouncing off the rim instead.

Hanabi darted forward and caught the ball before it hit the ground, handing it back to Clare.

"Can you show me again, please?"

[shieldedvirtue]

That was... exceptionally scary, but the good kind. Definitely reaffirmed Neji's story about his home and how things worked there. Clare managed to stop gawking in time for Hanabi to hand her the ball. "Right..." Clare repeated the motion, exactly as when she first succeeded at shooting under K.C.'s tutelage. The proper motion of legs for power, and hands to gently guide and aim for the destination. Her aim exceptional as at the end of the parabolic path the ball took it swished through the hoop without striking the sides or the backboard.

She smiled in satisfaction of such a superb shot. "It got easier for me when I thought about the physics of it," Clare offered, not sure given Hanabi's upbringing if that would help. She didn't really have a good comparative example using weapons on hand for this.

Which in itself was a weird thought she would never have had about basketball at home.

[usedforcepalm]

Hanabi watched Clare, unblinking so that she wouldn't miss any aspect of the motion. She finally blinked after the ball swished through the hoop, running over to catch the ball. This time she caught it on the first bounce. The legs, she thought, were where she had failed to put in the right amount of power.

"Physics? Like the motion for throwing something like a shuriken or a...ball?"

She stopped herself from saying 'kunai', replacing it with ball instead, mindful that Clare might not be comfortable with discussing projectile weapons.

Concentrating for a moment, she adjusted her stance and used her thighs and calves for extra power. This time the ball soared over the rim and hit the board behind the hoop. It circled around the rim before falling off to the side.

"Hm." It was an improvement, but not quite there yet.

[shieldedvirtue]

Clare eyed the not so childlike child a moment, "Not like a shuriken, those don't bounce." It was weird to be pointing out the ways a ball was not like a ninja star, but she might as well use what she understands, "They also are designed with different aerodynamics to them, so the physics applies in different ways." Was it weird to be talking about weapons with a girl who wasn'told enough for high school: yes. But provided Clare stayed objective she could at least not think about it.

Clare watched the ball circle and hoped it would go in... but it didn't, she went to get the ball then bounce passed it to Hanabi. Flawlessly executed if it did take a moment or two for Clare to think about where to aim for. "Close, its better to aim for the center of the backboard. You have the movements down, but not the aim. Think about the ball's arc, and the angle of deflection if it hits the board."

Clare pictured the physics on paper when she tried to put the ball into the net. She wasn't sure if Hanabi was taught such things in that way, but hopefully the terms work.

[usedforcepalm]

The Konoha Academy didn't usually deal in such complex calculations, but the theory was explained. Arc and deflection were at least familiar concepts, even if Hanabi didn't know exactly how to break down the physics calculations to do it. Her expression grew even more serious as she regarded the backboard, the hoop, and the ball. She was determined to succeed at throwing the ball through the hoop before she went on her way today. She wanted to do it at least once.

Intently focused to the point that she was nearly in a meditational trance, Hanabi tried once again. Finally, the ball bounced gently off the backboard and dropped through the hoop. It was only after it passed through that Hanabi's body language relaxed a little and she dashed forward to catch the ball.