456/Knifin' Around

Knifin' Around
Date of Scene:	18 September 2023
Location:	Sports Pavilion
Synopsis:	Wako and Naru ask Kyouka for some advice about knives during self-defense class.
Cast of Characters:	Kyouka Inai, Naru Osaka, Wako Agemaki

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Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Wednesday afternoon is time for self-defense class! The first portion of the class, which is open to all students and is the 'pubic' version, focuses mostly on the sorts of things you would expect- how to break holds, how to escape bad situations, how to fight off an attacker long enough to reach help. Very useful, practical things, and good for keeping in shape, but nothing terribly extreme or dramatic.

    No, that's for the second part of the class, after the mundanes have left and the barrier has been set up, sealing the gym off from reality in order to prevent collateral damage. That said, though, not all the practice which happens during the second half of the class involves magic. Sometimes it just involves very dangerous things that the school is legally required to not allow the students to play with. For example, knives.

    Kyouka stands on the mats, as various students practice attacks and defenses in small groups around the gym. She's not in henshin at the moment, appearing in her usual workout clothes of a red tracksuit with white stripes, the jacket open to show a white t-shirt underneath. She's talking with Wako and Naru, standing near to one of the walls of the gym. "So, you wanted to know about knife-fighting?" She asks Wako. "I'm not an expert.. I was always more of a polearm gal.. but I'm sure I can show you a trick or two."

Naru Osaka has posed:
A regular attendee of the first half of the class, Naru is in her own workout gear. Which marks her as a runner, generally, with running shorts under the school gym uniform. Because one is going to look goofy enough in self defense class, adding to the goofy with uniforms is just a given.

The second half of the class, it's a mixed bag on if Naru stays for it. Today, clearly, she is here. "I'm hoping for some options when I have a half moment of sense and don't tackle people on fire."

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Despite the usual protocol for this part of the self-defense class, Wako's actually not in henshin right now, either - she'd hung back during the break to catch Kyouka, and hasn't seemed much concerned about the prospect of having to transform in front of the entire class if necessary now that the barrier is in place around the gym.

So she's just in her very normal gym clothes. She's also holding a knife, and it's not one that Kyouka provided for training purposes. It's a traditional Japanese tanto, the curved single-edged blade safely covered by an unadorned black lacquered sheath.

"Mostly," she says, "I'd like to learn to use this." She holds up the sheathed tanto in both hands. "I've been working on getting better with using my power, but I was reminded recently that I should've been learning to defend myself all this time and I didn't. So..."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka grins at Naru. "It is always wisest to avoid tackling people on fire if at all possible." She advises, in true Counselor fashion. "Shanking them is much more effective.. or throwing a knife at them from a distance is even better. That way you don't even get closed to the flames in the first place."

    She looks over as Wako holds out the tanto. She gives an appreciative whistle. "That's a nice weapon." She says, holding out a hand. "May I?" Assuming permission is granted, she takes the blade, inspects the sheathe, then pulls it halfway out to eye the blade before snapping it shut again and handing it back. "Something from your family?" She asks, quirking a brow. "Most teenagers don't have a nice blade like that just laying around."

    She shrugs her shoulders. "Either way, like I said, I'm not an expert with short blades, but I figure I can show you a thing of two.. hold on." She walks away momentarily, into one of the supply rooms, and comes back later with a case which she opens to reveal several traditional kunai, the Japanese throwing knives with a ring at the base of the handle. "Here, Naru, you play with these." She says, casually telling the girl to play with knives in class.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako duly passes her knife over to Kyouka when asked, and watches as she gives it her inspection. She herself handles it more like a valued belonging than like a weapon; as she accepts it back, she shakes her head. "It was a birthday gift from my fiance," she explains, a little too matter-of-fact. "Last year. Though I don't really know how long he had it before that."

She muses over it a bit while Kyouka is getting out the kunai for Naru to try out, still cradling the sheathed tanto in the crook of her arm.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka doesn't exactly react shocked to the word 'fiance', but she gives the girl a look which perhaps suggests 'aren't you a bit young' without actually saying it, because people from traditional families do things a little bit differently in Japan and that's just the way it is sometimes. She's not one to judge- well, out loud anyway. And she's certainly not going to bring it up during self-defense class when there's knife-fightin' to be done!

    After presenting Naru with the kunai, Kyouka picks one of them up herself. She spins it around her finger in a whirling circle, in a way which certainly doesn't look like she's 'not an expert', although admittedly knowing a few fancy tricks does not make one an expert in the practical sense. She grips it in her fist, finally, with the blade extending back from her hand, and holds it up in front of her. "So are you against actually using it, do you want a practice blade?" She asks. "If it's valuable to you, I wouldn't want you to damage it."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Wise doesn't seem to be my combat tactic." Naru comments as she accepts the knifes. Because it really is that sort of school.

Naru lets Kyouka and Wako chat as she takes a step or two away to better be able to freely move and sense how the knives feel as she moves.

"So are these better for throwing, or for stabbing or both?" Naru asks as she looks over to Kyouka and quirks her head at the blade behind her, rather than the classic stabby stabby.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako meets that understated look from Kyouka without a flicker of change to her expression. It's hard to say if she sees nothing unusual about what she just said... or she knows very well that she said something weird, to see how Inai-sensei would react. Those are two expressions that can look a lot alike.

It's when Kyouka asks her about whether or not she's worried about damaging the tanto that Wako cracks a sudden, embarrassed smile. "Well," she says, "it's for my protection, so it'd be silly not to use it when I need to. But a practice blade might be better for not accidentally cutting myself, starting out?"

A glance aside to Naru, before she adds, "I'd rather not try to throw it, though." Not that a blade like hers is made for throwing, anyhow.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka nods her head. "We probably do have practice blades about that length." She says, pointing towards the supply room she just came and went from. "Why don't you go see if you can find a couple while I give Naru a quick run-down?" Once that's accomplished, she turns back to answer Naru's question.

    "These," She says, holding out the knife she is holding, "Are kunai, and they are for throwing. You can absolutely fight with them hand-to-hand," she demonstrates, gripping the ring-adorned hilt of the kunai and slashing the air with it a few times, "But that's generally the suboptimal way to make use of them."

    She turns, and with a snap of her wrist hurls the knife towards the wall (which is covered in gym mats up to a height of about six feet). The knife strikes the mat and pierces it, quivering in the wall. "Like so."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"I mean.. I'm quickly learning that basically anything can be hand-to-hand if you're creative enough." Naru flickers a smile at Kyouka as she watches her slash at the air.

And the blade is in the mat on the wall.

"Hunh." Naru isn't one for hemming and hawing overly much, and she shifts the blade in her hand and then tries for a snap of her wrist in an attempt to mimic what Kyouka did.

Naru's knife makes it to the wall at least, but smacks into it along the flat, clattering to the floor harmlessly.

Good thing Wako wasn't in the way!

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"Sounds good!" Wako agrees with Kyouka's suggestion. She makes a detour on her way to the supply room, veering off to tuck the tanto back away into her school bag for the time being. Whether she's been carrying that thing around to classes all this time is probably best not asked.

Then she vanishes into the supply room to find the practice knives Kyouka mentioned. Safely out of range of any mis-flung kunai, at least for the next little bit.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka snorts in amusement at Naru's comment about the omnipresence of melee weapons for the creatively-minded. "That is definitely true, and that sort of thinking I have to encourage. These however are designed to be usable in a knife-fight.. but they're mostly for throwing."

    She observes Naru's attempt with a smile. "Buuut it takes some practice." She waits for the girl to retrieve the knife, walking over with her to pull her own out of the wall. The slash it leaves will vanish along with everything else, once the barrier is taken down.

    "It's all about the weight." She holds the knife in her hand, showing Naru how it's balanced against her fingers. "You don't try to make a kunai spin, the way you would a traditional knife. You throw them straight, almost like a dart. But with the whole forearm, not just the wrist." She does it again, this time taking an underarm approach, flinging her hand up to throw the kunai. It flies straight as an arrow, sticking into the wall again.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Ahhh." Naru nods in understanding, as she explains about the throwing. And the weight. She shifts how she's holding the knife in her hand as she walks back to where they are throwing from.

"A lack of spin is harder than it sounds." She considers the wall and the knife and then tries throwing it literally like a dart.

And someone does not have the arm strength, yet, to fling a moderately heavy knife from the shoulder towards the wall. The kunai clatters short of the wall. "Alright, that one doesn't work well for me. More wrist than /that/."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Well, you don't want to actually throw it like a dart," Kyouka says with a laugh, continuing to instruct Naru as she waits for Wako to return with the practice blades. "You throw a dart using just your wrist. For this you want to use the motion of your whole arm.. it's more from the elbow."

    She retrieves her knife, then comes back, making the throwing motion without actually throwing it this time. Kind of like a snap of the arm via the elbow, with only a flick of the wrist at the end. "You see? It's actually a little like throwing a baseball, except it's not round so you have to care more about the angle it leaves your grip." She throws it again for real, and again the knife thunks into the wall. All three slits from the blade piercing the mats are disturbingly near to one another, as if she were aiming for the same spot and coming very close to hitting it each time.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"Hmmm~" It's an impressed noise, a musical rising inflection. Wako's back from the supply room, skirting carefully around the area where Kyouka is demonstrating so as not to end up in the way by accident. Not that the caution seems to be that necessary. "You're really good at that. Also, I found something that should work." She holds up a practice knife roughly the same size as her tanto, waggles it a little in the air in illustration.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"I am going to assume that you are sending that praise to Inai-sensei and not me." Naru laughs warmly as she waits for Wako to get nicely away from where sharp things are getting thrown. "Cause I am terrible at this."

The next throw, Naru at least gets to fly straight. Mostly straight. Straight enough to have the tip near the mat. Which is progress!

Not enough force to stick, granted, but there's progress being made.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka turns from the wall, leaving Naru to throw the kunai a few more times, as Wako returns. "It's just something I picked up along the way." She says, with a lopsided grin and a shrug. "I wouldn't want to pit myself in a competition against someone who actually focuses on knives or kunai. But I can throw one straight, at the very least." She watches Naru's latest throw. "There you go! The form is right. Now just put more strength into it."

    She turns back to Wako, eyeing the blade and nodding her head. "Right. So, in my experience," She holds out her hand, and when Wako hands over the practice blade, she grips it by the hilt in a reverse grip, with the blade extending out from the base of her hand by her pinkie, rather than thumb-and-forefinger, "You hold these like this." She slashes with the blade a few times, the motion almost like a punch, the 'edge' of the knife facing outwards so as her arm snaps around, the invisible foe in front of her is cut. "Rather than the other way like you would a katana, or a hunting knife. I'm sure you can do it that way as well, but since its so short, that would mostly be for thrusting." Spinning the blade around, she gives a quick stab forward to show what she means.

    "Effective in a pinch, but at that point you're probably already closer than you want to be."

Wako Agemaki has posed:
As beforte, Wako hands over the weapon readily, and pays close attention to the demonstration that follows. "So," she observes, "it's almost more like you're punching than swinging the knife... isn't it? That's how it looks, anyway."

There's a little pause, then she nods slowly at something in the rest of what Kyouka has said. "I've almost had to stab somebody before, once. Fortunately, I didn't have to go through with it. If it had been a real fight, it probably wouldn't have gone so well."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Always be prepared to stab somebody," Kyouka says, as if reciting some great wisdom, "and hope you never have to go through with it. That's what I always say." Is it though? Well, knowing her, it actually might be.

    "But yes, with this sort of knife, a tanto, it's more like you're punching, but missing on purpose- because you're aiming to hit them with the knife blade rather than your fist. It's a slashing weapon, almost like a miniature sword- in fact, a lot of styles use a tanto together with a wakazashi or a longer blade in the other hand. But you can use one perfectly well on its own, too. You're lacking reach, of course... but if the other guy is close enough for you to stab anyway, then you can do some damage."

    She hands the knife back, demonstrating again how to hold it until she thinks Wako has the grip correct.

Naru Osaka has posed:
As Wako gets more personal stabbing direction, Naru returns to practicing.

And practicing.

And practicing.

Throw. Mostly do not hit, but sometimes! Retrieve.

Rinse and repeat.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako presses her lips together briefly, trying to hold back an amused look and not entirely succeeding. "Life advice from Inai-sensei. Like 'hope for the best, prepare for the worst,' but way more specifically actionable."

She takes back the practice blade, and does her best to emulate the grip that Kyouka showed her. "Like this?"

An adjustment or two secures her grip on the practice blade before she tries an experimental swing. Not full speed, not yet, just feeling out the motion.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "If you're not prepared to defend yourself, you'd.. better be prepared to lose!" Kyouka says, sounding like she's making it up on the spot, which she is. She clears her throat. "Anyway yeah, like that. It's a different sort of weight to a blade you'd hold the other way, but it's surprisingly natural once you get a feel for it. The biggest thing is adjusting for the extra length on the other side of your hand. Your instinct will be to just hit them with your hand, but you want to purposefully miss with the 'punch' to hit with the blade instead, and getting that feel for the length of the blade is vital."

    She turns back to glance at Naru. "Doing great there, Osaka-san!" She calls, grinning. "A few thousand more times and you'll be sticking it every time." She pauses then adds, "I'm not joking! But it's worth it!"

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Adrenaline and self preservation usually kicks in pretty well when you're defending yourself." Naru comments as she gets her steps in, that's for certain.

Throw.

Retrieve.

Throw.

Retrieve.

"Ten thousand hours for mastery, isn't it? Is this ten thousand throws?" Naru asks with a little bit of a laugh. "I clearly need to beef up arm day. These are already getting heavier than when we started."

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"It feels like holding it this way would make it easier to block something with it, too," Wako observes, making another swipe with the practice knife. "Though if I'm having to do that, I'm probably really in trouble."

She's laughing at herself a little as she settles into a repetition. "What's your routine for arm day, Naru-chan? I'm thinking I might need to join you for it, if this is going to be a thing."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "You're probably in trouble," Kyouka agrees, "But think of how much more trouble you'd be in if you didn't have the knife to block with. Better to know how to do it than to be in that position and not know how to do it."

    She turns to Naru and smiles, nodding her head. "It'll give you some arm muscles, that's for sure. But hey, who says a girl can't have biceps? Certainly not me. By eight thousand reps or so you'll be throwing those things as if they weigh nothing."

    She tilts her head slightly. "Well, I'm going to go see what the next group is working on. You girls keep practicing this, and I'll be back to check on you in a bit, okay?"

    So saying, she heads off to find the nearest other group of students, and advise them on whatever mayhem they are currently practicing.