67/Hand to Heart

Hand to Heart
Date of Scene:	12 July 2023
Location:	Sports Pavilion
Synopsis:	Homura requests a private lesson in close-quarters combat.
Cast of Characters:	Homura Akemi, Kyouka Inai

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Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura had showed up on Wednesday for 'mahou fite club' and had participated, but had been easy to tell from the start she was holding her cards close to her chest. She seemed more interested in helping other's practice than training herself, and as soon as she had a chance to talk to Kyouka she politely requested a one on one training session the next day. The reasoning was simple: Homura Akemi did not want to broadcast her weaknesses to anyone. Especially not after they had been taken advantage of twice within a single week.

    Now it was Thursday at 3:30 PM. The Sports Pavilion was busier with regular students than it was yesterday, but there wouldn't be other mahou who were likely eager to get to know everyone around their fighting styles. Only those who really knew what to look for would be able to watch. Kyubey, no doubt, was somewhere, but it was nearly impossible to keep that particular set of eyes off of you if he was insistent.

    Homura arrived right on time, punctual as ever for anything scheduled, walking into the stadium wearing the schools standard gym uniform at exactly 3:30. She wasn't transformed, but that wasn't strictly necessary for what she was asking about. She looked like any other 14 year old might, but there was some buzz about her athletic abilities. Rumor had it she'd casually broken the prefecture high jump record and kept up with with the fastest sprinters and long distance runners, but had turned down all attempts to recruit her for sport clubs and used her very recent hospital stay for heart surgery as the excuse.

    No doubt she has the Veil to thank for that one.

    Not so much as bothering to look around at the others in the stadium she walks over to where the group had met the day before, whether Kyouka was waiting for her or not.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    It's not that there definitely aren't other mahou around- there are enough of them at the school that it's possible a few might wander by. But anyone who actually stopped to watch intently enough to be attempting to learn anything from it would be pretty obvious to both Kyouka and Homura. The best disguise, sometimes, is just to not stand out- and while that may be hard sometimes when you're a magical girl the likes of Homura, Kyouka-sensei is known for teaching self-defense, and there's nothing inherently strange about her offering to help a student in her spare time. Certainly not enough to warrant a second glance from random passersby.

    Kyouka is already there, in basically the same spot. One corner of the massive space has a bunch of gym pads laid out, more than enough to use as a training surface. There's some kids playing basketball at the other end of the arena, but they're distant enough that only indistinct shouts and chatter make their way down to where she's standing. She has on a pair of loose track pants, black with white stripes down the sides, and a white tanktop which exposes her arms. Said arms are, to put it mildly, fairly ripped. Maybe not to the awkwardly over-muscular standards of a bodybuilder or anything, but its clear she works out and never skips arm-day.

    "Akemi-san." She greets Homura with a slight lopsided smile and a nod of her head. "I'm glad you see enough value in my teaching to want a follow-up."

Homura Akemi has posed:
    There is a more than noticeable difference between Homura and Kyouka when it comes to the size of their arms and shoulders. The average height difference between a girl Homura's age and an adult Kyouka's age is only a centimeter or two. There's no escaping the fact that Homura is extremely fit, but she doesn't look like someone who's ever bothered with weight training. Kyouka on the other hand could likely break up fights between delinquents just by showing up in that tanktop of hers.

    "Inai-sensei," comes the quiet, polite response. "I felt I might might learn better under direct instruction." While this wasn't her primary reason for wanting one on one training, it also wasn't wrong. Kyouka she could trust not to break any bones or unintentionally dislocate joints. Stepping up onto the pads she does a few simple warm up stretches. "With my build I expect Jiu Jitsu would be the most advantageous offensive technique," she notes, casually brushing back hair that had fallen forward over her shoulder. Unsaid is that because of that she expects Kyouka to try to throw her to the ground with wrestling techniques.

    She's not the teacher here though, and it isn't offense she's expressed interest in, even if no doubt useful.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka has never felt that having magic was an excuse not to know how to fight without it. At least when your job is slaying monsters. Her physique is the natural extension of mastering her mahou weapon (a naginata, or a Japanese spear) over nearly a decade, and continuing that training even after her original powers faded. However, most of her 'training' comes from the streets, to rely on an over-used colloquialism. She makes this clear with a shrug, "That might be true. But I never claimed to have any sort of official certificates." She gives a little grin, lopsided and showing a hint of oversharp canine.

    "So, first things first... show me what you learned yesterday." There had been some degree of teaching yesterday, even if Homura had tried to make the class mostly about helping others in order to disguise her own deficiencies. So speaking, Kyouka moves- suddenly, like a snake. There's no magic in this, just uncommon agility and a lot of experience. She ducks and darts to the side, around Homura, and attempts to grab her arm to pull it back behind her in a classic submission hold.

    This was one of the things she had taught the entire class yesterday. How to escape from one of the most common ways someone might try to restrain you.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Official certificates wouldn't make much sense in their line of work either. You'd need a thousand different kinds for each kind of youma. Homura's own example of Jiu Jitsu wouldn't even work on 95 percent of what she'd encounter. The fact that Kyouka is 'trained' in the school of hard knocks is exactly what Homura is after. She doesn't know for certain that Kyouka is a retired magical girl, but she'd be willing to bet money on it.

    The best way to 'escape' any kind of hold is, of course, to never let yourself get touched in the first place. If she wanted Homura could make this a serious contest of whether or not Kyouka could even lay hands on her, but that isn't the point. She's not going to waste both their time evading. Instead she reacts to the initial grab, turning around and dipping down to keep her arm straight while trying to jerk it backwards. Successful or not she counter attacks on instinct, bringing her opposite arm up and aiming and shoving her hand up in Kyouka's face. An... odd open handed grip with her index finger extended forward and curled. A half beat pause and she closes her hand into a fist.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    The point of this exercise isn't to prove that she could beat Homura up. Kyouka is fairly certain she could (magic taken out of the equation), whether that confidence is justified or not. But that isn't what this is about- this is about practicing certain situations. So while it's possible that Kyouka could just outright overpower Homura's counter, she doesn't- she lets the other girl dip and jerk her arm free, leaning her face back just enough that the counter-strike breezes past instead of clipping her chin.

    Releasing Homura fully and moving away, Kyouka smiles. "Very good, Akemi-san. You were definitely paying attention yesterday. And that instinct to strike back is a good one. Always hit hard and fast... in my experience, the first one to land a good solid blow often wins the fight. Especially if they don't see it coming." Not very 'heroic', perhaps, but certainly pragmatic.

    "Now, Akemi-san," She says, stretching her arms up over her head, then back down again, loosening up some muscles, "I want you to try and hit me. However you like. I want to see how fast you can be." Without the use of time-stop, of course. That would make this a rather different exercise.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    This is part of why close in grappling is such a pain, and why Homura wants to learn. Kyouka could keep her in close, and with that instinctive evasion even her counter attack would prove useless. If she didn't manage to get away she'd be in serious trouble. Nevermind that a Youma might try to crush her arm rather than restrain her.

    "I can't afford to waste my time and I have no intention of wasting yours, either," Homura responds, her tone less cold than her choice of words. To the comment of getting the first hit in, her only response is, "Yes." Inside her mind is an image of yellow ribbons springing up out of nowhere, wrapping around her, and holding her fast. Again. And again. And again.

    Kyouka wants her to hit her? This is going to go poorly, but she's going to try. Homura is... not a melee attacker. She's not hopeless, but it's not something she's ever trained at. If anything she's been told 'maybe try something else' by people who've known better. She takes in a breath and lets it out, pausing and relaxing and waiting an indeterminate amount of time before springing forward. Even the slightest moment of surprise will be necessary.

    She opts to throw a punch- not the worst Kyouka had ever seen but obviously not practiced. She knows enough to plant her foot and use her body, but not how to transfer the momentum properly. It's a simple right straight, aimed directly for Kyouka's face.

    That this will get intercepted, and her fist or forearm more than likely grabbed is expected. She's not stupid enough to attack someone that much ahead of her without some subterfuge. It's not a quality feint, but she'll still try to follow it up by shifting her weight to her left leg and trying keep her momentum going to swing her right leg around to try to kick Kyouka's legs out from under her, aiming at shin height rather than knee or ankle, because this is training.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Time spent trying to better yourself is never wasted." Kyouka quips, probably the most guidance-counselory thing she'll say all day. "If you come out of this even a second faster or a breath more aware, we'll have made good use of the afternoon. After all.." She gives a wry smile, "There's always more time."

    She watches Homura come at her, grey eyes studying the approach, learning from it even though she's the one who is supposed to be teaching. She has been doing this sort of thing, fighting hand-to-hand, for a long time. She doesn't look worried. The punch thrown her way is imperfect, but a good attempt. She snaps her forearm up, but rather than grab Homura's arm, she uses her own arm to knock the punch slightly to one side, so it would miss her. "Good, but keep your wrist straight-" She starts to say, when Homura attempts to follow up with a leg sweep.

    It doesn't catch her, she nimbly steps over the kick, more a high-step than any kind of jump. But it makes her break off her words and step back a bit, letting out a breath, then laughing. "Well, you have good instincts. We just need to refine your technique a little. First piece of advice.. don't move more than you have to. The more efficient your movements, the quicker you'll be. For example-" She snaps her arm out, a sudden quick punch that purposefully misses Homura, but could have bopped her nose if it were a few inches further to the left. "Quick. With intent. Don't overthink."

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura nods to those sentiments. It wasn't quite what she meant, but she agrees wholeheartedly with what's said. More time. If Kyouka was trying to put Homura off guard that's the way to do it. She'd like to say that's true; she has 'more time' than almost anyone else around her, having the ability to retry over and over. And yet... every moment feels precious to her. Rather than let herself get lost in a reverie she refocuses herself. There is one thing she does think, though. She wishes she had started this kind of training much earlier on; it might help her more than college level physics.

    As Kyouka pushes her punch to the side and then hops the attempt at a kick, one thing is likely clear. Homura is not skilled in close quarters fighting, but she knows how to handle herself in a fight. Against an intelligent opponent she's trying to think one, two, or three steps ahead. Her form needs work, but there's no doubt that with whatever her actual skill set is she's very good at it.

    She takes a small step backwards after her attacks are avoided, flinching slightly as the jab shoots out next to her face. "I need to train my instincts," she replies to the comment about fighting with speed and intent. Economy of motion-- she should be better at that. Being able to freeze time to dodge can make one lazy, which is why she generally tries not to unless she must or wants a wide margin of error. But there's no escaping the fact that due to this when surprised she can become predictable, and weak.

    "I'm willing to do what it takes. It's clear you're telling me without telling me that there is no fast, easy solution to what I'm looking for." That's annoying, but, "I know how to apply myself when it's needed. If you're willing to teach, you'll find me an avid learner."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka nods her head. "This," She makes a fist, drawing her hand back, then punching it out again to the side, away from Homura but clearly demonstrating the technique, "Is the result of a very long time of doing it badly, then doing it better, then being the best at it. There's a reason I'm the only one left from my generation." Is it dumb luck? It might be. Kyouka likes its to think it's because she's the toughest, the most unwilling to give up. The smartest? Maybe not in some ways, but when it comes to the smarts of 'figuring out how to get out of this alive', she's a champion. Incidentally, these comments probably also confirm her status as a retired-Mahou, although given that she's fully aware Homura has magic, this is not a fact she is particularly trying to hide. "That reason is that I made it a point to never stop getting better."

    She pauses, dropping her hands to her sides. "There comes a point, when you've been doing this sort of thing long enough, where it's tempting to think that you've got it all figured out. You're on top of the game, you're the strongest and the most capable." She shakes her head, red hair swaying by her chin. "But there's always gonna be someone faster, or stronger. There's always gonna be someone who is strong in the one place you're weak. Or who just by sheer coincidence, has the one skill that's the perfect counter to yours. The key," She steps back, that lopsided smile returning, "Is to remember you can always get better. And when you do get better, then get better than that. There's no ceiling.. not for people like us."

    A quirk of both brows. "Gods exist, Akemi-san, and I'm fairly certain that all they are is people who never stopped trying to improve."

Homura Akemi has posed:
    It was probably already obvious to Kyouka, but as the punch is demonstrated again Homura notes, "I primarily fight at range. I try not to let someone as skilled as you get close enough to be a threat to me, but it's becoming increasingly evident it's a weakness I can't afford to allow to continue." She actually has rather powerful shielding powers as well, with her weapon quite literally being a shield, or buckler. The issue with relying on it is that while powerful, it's also inefficient and so only good for last resorts. The problem with this that Kyouka might not understand is that as a Puella Magi, her magic reserves don't naturally replenish, so for someone who can stop time, it's not often that using her shield is the superior option. The Counselor had already said it herself; efficiency, economy of motion. Economy of magic is the same thing, and for a Veteran Puella Magi or, heck, for any Puella Magi being efficient is of the highest long-term priority.

    At the comment of there always being someone faster or stronger, however, some of Homura's old habits kick in. Her eyes lid slightly more, and her expression becomes stonyfaced. "I'm well aware of that. There are some obstacles I seem entirely incapable of overcoming, no matter how hard I try. No matter how strong, how fast, how powerful, or how well armed I am." The change is only temporary, however, though she does indulge herself in another old habit, reaching back and flipping her hair. "Luckily I've since learned a better way; not trying to overcome it alone. Something that's impossible for me on my own becomes possible and much easier if I make allies. I can't rely on having someone nearby to help me every time someone grabs me or tries to tie me up, but hopefully I can rely on you to teach me how to extricate myself or not to get into those situations in the first place."

    There's an almost as stony faced expression on Homura's face when Kyouka pronounces the existence of gods. She doesn't know what to make of that. After all, Homura was raised Catholic.

    "We can't afford to stop improving, Inai-sensei. Some of the ones you might call 'Gods' don't have our best intentions at heart and they never rest, either. I don't think there's an 'end' to this life for me. Even if I meet my goals, there's always going to be another obstacle that crops up in my path. Your generation, my generation, or some future generation; it doesn't matter. Someone has to be ready to stop them."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka nods her head in response to Homura's comment on usually fighting at range. "Yes, I can tell." There's no judgement or malice in that statement- fighting at range is a viable way to fight. But it's obvious to Kyouka, someone who is primarily a melee combatant, when she is facing someone who is not used to close-quarters fighting. "And you should do so as much as you can. Not-" She holds up a hand to forestall any protest, "Because you're bad at close quarters. But because leveraging your strengths is just as important as knowing your weaknesses. Plus, if you only use close combat as a last resort.." She grins, "They'll be all the more surprised when you reveal you're actually not half bad at that either, thanks to my training." A bit of self-promotion, but she's not lying.

    Her mouth twists a bit at Homura's talk of some obstacles seeming insurmountable, but she smiles again when the girl talks of allies. "You see? Cooperation is just another tactic. You say these things seem insurmountable to you, but by finding allies and using their strength to compliment your own, and cover your weaknesses.." She shrugs. "That's a strength, too. You don't have to do everything alone. But just because you don't have to is no reason to not try and be capable of it anyway. Just in case."

    "Oh, I'm absolutely sure that some of these self-styled gods have intentions which are, if not evil, at least at cross-purpose to our own. Everybody has an agenda, Akemi-san, whether that's you, me, the youma down the street, or the god pulling the strings. I find the best solution is to keep training, be prepared.." A slightly wolfish grin, "And be ready to remind the next god who gets in your way that immortal doesn't mean invulnerable."