Werewolf in Japan

Chapter 16 - Pack Necklaces

~~~ In the Dojo

When they walked into the Dojo Frankie turned to Lady Ashima and her back was to the man, "Lady Ashima will you bind my cast securely to my body? I want to ensure there isn't any reason for complaints about my having used it to cheat." The implications were the man would do anything he could to protest her winning. When he growled, she ignored him. There wasn't any sort of acknowledgement of his even being there. He might not realize it, but it was one of her ways to goad him into stupidity.

Once her arm was secure Frankie was facing Suzu's father. The Luna forced her to wear the chest piece though she'd forgone the rest of the armor. Her left arm didn't need it and it would slow down her right arm. The helmet she could deal with since it didn't restrict her or her vision. A nice aspect was it kept him from seeing her eyes change as she called her wolf most of the way forward. Before the fight she gave the stick a twirl to loosen up her wrist, "First challenge is going to be straight Kendo. If you accept the results, then it will be settled. If not the second is no holds barred fighting. Lady Ashima, if any of the school property is damaged I'll cover it out of my allowance."

Master Eiji looked at Frankie, "Keep it clean and are you ready?" At her nod he turned to Suzu's father, "Mr. Takahashi are you ready? Remember keep it clean. I'll be the judge of any and all points made. There will be no challenging my decision." He stepped back so he wasn't between them, "Begin."

This time Frankie was going for a waiting game. Last time she was going for humiliating Suzu. It had been her using everything she knew to chase him around. This time she was waiting for his father to do something. Following what her various instructors said, she kept her eyes on his chest. Some said watch the eyes, but it wasn't quite possible with the masks. Besides it was possible to lie about the next action with the eyes. It wasn't nearly as easy with the center of the body since all movement started there. When he moved she didn't even think about her reaction.

He took one of the starting positions and tried to stare her down. It was part of intimidation which he found wasn't having any effect on her. He frowned slightly since everyone played the game, but she wasn't. There wasn't any posturing, staring back, other methods. It confused him which made him rush his attack which was a bad choice on his behalf.

When she moved she hadn't even realized she had until she'd slapped his sword to the side and nailed him in the Tsuki, the neck.

"Point, Lady Francesca. Ready position." He watched both move back and he was pleased. She was taking her time and channeling everything she knew and what he'd taught her. She was completely in the Zone. Mr. Takahashi not so much. He could hear his teeth gritting when she scored the first point, "Ready, fight!"

Again, Frankie waited for his strike and much like last time she was keeping an eye on his chest. After much consideration she decided to go for the same strike. The hard part was making the Kiai. She was trained to be silent when she was fighting. Making noise was one way to attract the enemy unless it was intended. She didn't even notice when he was glaring at him. The same went for the grinding of his teeth.

He forced himself to pause and evaluate her. Her stance was proper, her strike had been proper as was the Kiai. When she'd returned the strike, it was almost faster than he'd seen before. About the only other one he'd seen who was faster was Master Eiji and he was one of the few Masters in Japan. He took on few students and those he did became some of the best in Japan. He moved with a different strategy.

Franky was waiting for him to move. When he did she was impressed. He'd pulled a feint before his strike. He'd managed to catch her off guard and to strike her Kote, wrist. She gave him a slight blow.