fandomhigh | Japanese Blades, First Period, Friday [07/20].

The Danger Shop was in its usual dojo set-up for this class. This week, Mitsutada was joined by a slightly shorter man with long brown hair, red eyes, a scarf and impressive coat.

"Welcome back," Mitsutada said, smiling at his gathered students. "I am glad to see Nikkari did not make any of you afraid to return."

The man next to Mitsutada raised an eyebrow, but then went back to buffing his red-painted fingernails.

"Today, we talk about uchigatana, the first of our full-size swords. Though I will let my guest introduce himself, though I will say that he is special in that he was the first Touken Danshi of my Citadel.."

"Thank you, Shokudaikiri," the man said. "I am Kashuu Kiyomitsu. Forged in 1684 by no smith of note, I was most famously wielded by Souji Okita of the Shinsengumi. It was at the Ikedeya Incident that my tip broke and I was considered impossible to repair, and so I was discarded. I am grateful to have been born anew and able to fight on my own, now. Though it takes a lot of effort to remain cute for our saniwa."

Mitsutada chuckled. "Kashuu is taking for granted that you know Japanese history," he added. "So if you need any of that better explained, now is the time to ask."

[ooc: OCD up and post is open!]

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Astrid Magnussen

Peridot

Like 'What's a shinsengumi' or 'what about Ikedeya' or any of the other things Kashuu assumed you all would just know.

Astrid's biggest question was whether or not they were expected to remember all of these terms and things like that, but she wasn't about to ask that question, because, no matter what the answer was, she probably wouldn't remember either way.

But for someone who looked so...intriguing, Astrid thought this week's guest's story was a little...bland, compared to the others. So she did raise her hand this week and venture a question.

"No tragic deaths or mysterious ghosts or revenge plots to go with your story?"

She even managed to not sound disappointed, too.

"There is a lot of tragedy in the story of Okita," Kashuu said, his face scrunching just slightly. "He fought as part of the Shinsengumi, a special police that protected Kyoto in the last days of the Shogunate. He did so even though he was afflicted with tuberculosis, which would take his life before he reached thirty, and shortly after the loyalist forces, including many of his friends, were killed by the imperialist rebels."

Now there was a story; Astrid liked it better because it also felt more grounded in reality than some of the others. "Most people might have just given up once they found out they were sick," she noted, though she didn't know exactly where she was going with that point. Would she had given up? Maybe. Probably. Unless she was needed. Who could even tell?

"He wasn't one to give up," Kashuu said. "He was from a poor Samurai family, one that struggled to maintain being part of the class. There really wasn't an option, to him. It wasn't as if he could be cured."

"Good way to make the most out of a bad situation," Astrid nodded, then tilted her head. "What about his family, after that?"

"His sister who cared for him in his final days would go on to live for about 40 more years," Kashuu said. "But there was not much glory in that family name in the immediate days after the return of Imperial rule."

Peridot was squinting a little bit, staring at Kiyomitsu and trying to figure out how, with a broken tip, he was capable of functioning with no visible glitches or flaws.

At least she didn't have any big, traumatizing questions to ask this week.

Kashuu stared back.

"...is that the gemstone you warned us about?" Kashuu asked Mitsutada, who nodded in response. He'd learned to send information ahead of time to his guests.

"Uchigatana were used by all manner of people," Mitsutada said. "Shorter than a tachi, they were known for being quick enough to draw and attack in one motion, so that is what we are doing today."

Dummies appeared, and this time the bokken that also appeared had sheathes and ways to attach those sheathes to the students' clothing.

"You wear an uchigatana higher than a longer sword," Kashuu said, showing wear he wore his own sword. "So that you can grab it and strike!"

He did, in one quick motion, knocking the dummy down with the force of the blow even though he wasn't that big of a person.

"Now that is the skill of Okita," Mitsutada said. "Everyone, time to give it a try!"

At least Astrid was feeling more comfortable with the idea of using swords, even fake ones, which granted her enough confidence to attempt the practice without her usual reservations. Of course, confidence didn't necessarily equate to skill, and she was fumbling a bit at the beginning. Eventually, she found a good rhythm, helped by imagining her own dramatic story to go along with it.

It involved her mother, of course, though she wasn't entirely sure if it was to avenge her or fight against her.

And if anyone wanted to share with her that she didn't need to make a little sound like that every time she tried it, she wouldn't oppose the constructive criticism.

On the contrary. Kashuu watched her form and nodded at least an appreciation of getting the basics.

"The sounds are important, don't let anyone tell you otherwise," he said.

And here Astrid actually hadn't been entirely aware that she'd been making the sounds until it was mentioned, so the red on her face wasn't just from the exertion.

"Are they?" she asked, glad she was doing it if was true and he wasn't just trying to be supported. "Why's that?"

"It means your heart is going into it," Kashuu said with a smirk. "And that can be very, very important."

"I would have thought you'd have wanted Ookurikara to come help you," Kashuu said to Mitsutada, a teasing smile on his face.

"Ah yes, I would have introduced him, he'd have stood there and proclaimed he had no intention of getting along, and then I'd have had to teach the whole class," Mitsutada replied. They both laughed.

Now was the time for one-on-one questions, if you had them!

A more structured activity! Me making Tourabu jokes just for myself!

Huzzah!

Edited 2018-07-20 15:48 (UTC)

Japanese Blades, First Period, Friday [07/20].

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