The Red Maelstrom

[47] Black Nock

"Chin up, Kohana-san!"

Kohana wrinkled her nose and averted her gaze from Akano's inquisitive stare. Too much! "Please stop calling me Kohana-san... It's a bit weird, y'know?"

Thankfully, Akano ceased his impromptu examination of Kohana to float over to his impressive weapons rack. He took a bokuto of seemingly similar make as the one Kohana had borrowed, but as he hefted the weapon in his hands and tested it casually with expert maneuvers, Kohana wondered if her pick had been too novice. She inhaled sharply to keep her embarrassed blush at bay. "You have a nice form," he said, and though he sounded as if he was about to say something else, no further comments came after. "You picked a fairly lightweight bokuto. Why is that?"

For a moment, Kohana forgot to reply, transfixed by the way Akano moved with ease from one bokuto to another. He never struck her as the type to be adept at wielding swords; he walked around armed so... minimalist (then again, he did have seals on his very person).

"I'm still practicing my kata."

Akano's polite smile and stupid cutesy head tilt ruffled Kohana's feathers. What was it with adults looking at her that way all the time? Hold on... were they making fun of her?

"Already? It's either you didn't follow your sensei's regimen or they're quite incompetent...Ah, but I'm joking, of course! You wouldn't be so adept already at your age if you did not have a mentor who lives and breathes kenjutsu." As though he hadn't just nearly insulted Kohana's beloved mentor, he went back to testing his bokuto. If he weren't a client whom Kohana already respected, she'd have given him a piece of her mind for that. Polite speech be damned, not that she wasn't very good at that in the first place.

"You can tell?"

"Oh, yes. I prefer making weapons and collecting them, but I did spend my childhood around masters of the art." He smirked at her. "I watched the best of the best this world has to offer. Nothing special."

Something about the way he gloated reminded Kohana of Sasuke when he was in a good mood, and so his childish provocation rolled off Kohana like water off a duck's back. Although, that did not change thr fact that she was immensely jealous of Akano and his connections. Just how important was this guy?

"D'you have any pointers, Akano-san?"

It was funny how Akano pouted just the slightest bit before he collected himself.

"A very important rule is not to interfere with what a mentor is already teaching their student, so all I'll provide you with is a better bokuto. Here."

He picked a creamy, tan bokuto and tossed it at Kohana, who caught it by the flat end. It was significantly heavier than the bokuto she'd received from Osamu and the first piece she'd tested from Akano's collection. She gave it one test swing.

"It's heavier, but still pretty balanced." She held it over her head. "Amazing..."

Akano grinned toothily, his strange amber eyes shining with mirth. "Isn't it? White oak is stronger and a bit heavier. You can ask your sensei if you wish to switch to something heavier; I would recommend it if you aim to hone power and precision. Your body can take the weight, but that bokuto shouldn't require major adjustments to your form. If it did, your sensei might hunt me down."

Kohana swung again, devoting more force into each swipe of her weapon. As though possessed, she ran through all of her kata and even improvised along the way uninterrupted. She didn't even have to think about it; the weight in her hands suited her just so that her base strength worked in tandem with the tool itself.