club24
Everything Is Magical
- RP Date
- Late YE40
- RP Location
- Zenjinkaze Fighting School
Zenjinkaze Fighting School
0648 hours
Gunnhild loved running, the tigress enjoyed physical activity in general and it showed on her toned and athletic physique - sure it was impossible for a Neko to put on weight but she enjoyed pushing herself physically and just wanted to be the best she could due to the competetive nature of their education. Which is why Gunny was up early while everyone else spent their weekend sleeping, she loved sleep as much as everyone else but running by yourself was cathartic for the strawberry blonde student and helped her relax.
She was about done for now though, coming to a stop and leaning over to rest her hands on her knees and catch her breath as Gunny's lean body carried a light sheer of sweat that was caught by the morning rays of sunlight - broken up by the girl's blue sports bra and black shorts though she was barefoot, Gunny never wore shoes when she was running about after-all and others had more or less gotten used to the fact.
The neko was happily smiling, though the first lap had been sub-par Gunny managed to make up for it with the later laps and even set a new personal best for herself - finally standing up straight and moving to grab a nearby towel with her yellow tail, using it to wipe away her light layer of perspiration as she began strolling back towards the rooms lazily.
Keiko was awake although not yet out of bed, opting instead to prop herself up with a book. She’d heard someone leaving earlier but didn’t know who it was.
Gunny was happily singing along to the latest song stuck in her head, though the strawberry-blonde had enough wits about her to keep her voice quiet enough to hopefully not wake up any of her fellow students as she sauntered along. As she passed the tomato-hued older student's room Gunnhild couldn't help but notice a light was on, so she stuck her face up to the window curiously only to see Keiko reading like the nerd she was.
~Pssst~ came a mental message from the wannabe gunslinger as she gently tapped a finger nail against the glass pane.
Keiko froze when the mental message hit her, turning her head after a moment to look back at Gunnhild. ~Can I help you Gunnhild.~ Keiko replied putting her book down and staring at the other girl. What could she want now.
Gunny gave a warm smile as her face pressed up against the glass, her breath causing it to fog up slightly before she wiped it away and continued speaking to the Tomato. ~Just wondering why you are up... but hey can I use your shower? I don't want to wake Tenshi but seeing as you are up, can I pleeeeease?~ young Miss Grimsdottir asked, her ocean blue eyes doing that adorably irresistible look that the neko had only recently found out she could pull off.
~I uh, sure come in. I’ve just been reading.~ Keiko stammered slightly as she got out of bed to go and open the back door for her excitable friend. “You know you can just ask you don’t have to beg me. Why isn’t Tenshi up yet?” The red neko asked while standing in the doorway with one hand on her hip, green hair tangled all over her face and back.
"Thaaanks Toma," Gunny whisper-yelled, quite obviously wanting to be louder but also not wanting to have a bunch of angry martial artists after her - so instead opting to give her older friend a tight and slightly clammy hug, the yellow girl smelt of exercise yet not in a gross way nor a way that'd soil her bed-haired friend during the embrace. "She was up late last night, and it is early on a weekend - so let her sleep. Whatchu reading?" Gunnhild asked, as usual never stopping for more than a moment as she looked up at Keiko's face.
“Just a novel about a soldier who is faced with many difficult choices in the field.” Keiko replied looking down at Gunnhild with a blank expression, trying not to fall over from the sudden embrace. "Have you been out doing something? You feel a tad sweaty, and smell slightly." Keiko commented plainly as she got a soft whiff of the other girl.
"Oh just the usual stuff, running and such," Gunny chirped back as she released Keiko from the hug finally, though not before giving one final, rather fond, squeeze with her arms. "Hence the shower, heh, I'll be quick - I swear," she continued, saying nothing about the book as the yellow girl began strutting off on her athletic legs to where Keiko's bathroom was located, lightly fuzzed tail whipping around playfully as she did so.
"There should be spare towels in the cupboard inside, and there's plenty of body soap and shampoo in the shower." Keiko called after her friend while closing the door and returning to her bed with the book in hand, Usual stuff, she hadn't seen Gunnhild go out running before although then again she was often busy in her room or doing jobs for the staff on the weekends so she may have just missed seeing the blonde neko.
"Again thaaaaaaanks Toma," Gunny called out after her friend gave details about where to find stuff, the barefoot girl continued into the bathroom and mostly shut the door for privacy as she began to undress and get ready - though calling out to Keiko as she did so, because something had been nagging at the strawberry-blonde's mind ever since they were taken to the fight the other day.
"So uh, you liked the wrestling match we went to?" Gunnhild called out, now naked as she began turning on the hot water, only the hot water.
"I suppose it was interesting, I don't really follow the sport it's a little too brutish for my tastes." Keiko replied, nothing was ever simple with Gunny, even taking a shower required several levels of conversation apparently. "What about you?"
"I didn't think you'd be into that side of it, but I had fun... hm," the yellow neko mused as she stepped into the near scalding-hot shower, steam beginning to filter back into the main room as she got her lean body clean. "But I was talking about the whole Change Gijutsu part," Gunny continued, her voice mocking that of her white-clad, six-shooter-toting hero Leo White.
"I didn't know you liked that kinda stuff."
Keiko gulped, so she had noticed then. "Well, I er. I suppose I do enjoy their acts a little. Since I don't get out at all I ended up finding their show as entertainment so I guess seeing the real thing was quite in interesting chance." Keiko mused, playing down the fact that under her bed was a huge sword from a special episode of an older show, along with several outfits in her closet.
"Ah well that's cool to hear, I guess you can see why I like it?" Gunny mused as she lathered up and continued quickly cleaning the scent of the morning off of her body, she was quiet for a moment before deciding to just answer the question herself.
"The guns Toma, they're pretty cool..."
"Yes of course, I should have known" the red neko said more to herself than her friend, her voice trailing off as her attention became focused on the book once more. While she did want to make good friends she also very much enjoyed her own company with a good book.
"But yeah I thought you just read books and stuff all day, it's pretty noice to hear we have something else we both like," the bouncy Gunnhild continued to speak as the shower turned off and she considered herself clean - beginning to towel off as she still spoke.
"Any other hidden interests? are you actually secretly into something really fucked up? I won't judge... too much."
"Language Gunnhild, and no I'm not into anything like that Keiko said from the bed shaking her head at her friends vulgarity, she didn't need to know about the rest of her secret interests for now a better time would come soon. "Please make sure you're dry before leaving the bathroom, I don't want to give the cleaners any extra work trying to fix the floor." The red neko asked politely.
"Okay Mum, jeeze," Gunny shot back to answer both requests as she put a little more effort into drying off, truth be told she was going to come out of the shower a little damp up until Keiko expressed her disinterest on the matter. "So I'll take that as either a no or you're not going to tell me, is one of those right?" the strawberry-blonde type 33a asked as she opened the door a little more and tossed her towel at Keiko before moving to get back into that sporty set of clothes.
"I thought we figured out there was no way i could be your mother on the trip to the gun range?" Keiko replied, looking up in time to have the towel hit her in the face knocking her backwards and almost off the bed entirely. "Hey what was that for? And there's not really anything else to tell I don't know what you're looking for." Keiko stammered, she was definitely not an accomplished liar.
"Eh I'll respect your privacy, whatever," the tigress chimed as she finally entered the main part of Keiko's bedroom once more, Gunny had been there a few times but she swore there was always something new to look at that provided further proof her tomato-themed friend was more of a nerd than she seemed. "So what are your plans for today then? just going to sit around all day with your bed-hair and a book?" the strawberry blonde asked with a grin on her face from Keiko's reaction to the towel, she still offered the girl a hand though - even as her own messy hair sat there, suiting the yellow neko like it always did.
Keiko heard the tone of her friends voice as she gave up, such a negative reaction and she hadn't even told her anything yet, maybe it really would be for the best not to tell her or she might get angry with her. "I was planning to do a bit more reading yes, but I also have training before lunch and an extra class afterwards." She replied softly, afraid she'd upset the other girl.
"Ooooh who are you training with?" Gunnhild shot back with a hopeful look on her face and ignored the other statements, if she had cat ears then they would have been very much perked up at this moment - but seeing as the yellow girl only had humie ones then all that excitement was pushed into her fuzzed tail, which whipped around wildly as she looked on and waited for an answer.
"Well, no one. I spend time practicing basic movements and motions mostly the Awaji collection, The Forest Flowers Tale." Keiko explained, a little surprised at the reaction, Gunnhild looked a little intense for asking such a simple question, and her tail was moving at a rapid pace. "Did I say something wrong? Are you feeling well?" The red neko asked while putting the back of one hand to her friends forehead while folding the towel up with her other hand and her body.
"I'm fine yeah but uhm, since you're not training with anyone and I've got then day off then~" Gunnhild felt like she was ready to burst, her skin was rather warm of course but she had just stepped out of a scaling hot shower so that was a more reasonable assumption than thinking one of Yamatai's cats could get sick.
"Y'wanna let me tag along? I've been studying all week and it is bloody killing me, pleeeeease Toma?" Gunny practically pleaded, her blue eyes catching the artificial lighting in Keiko's room and almost seeming to glow due to it.
"Well I won't stop you, the school grounds are open to all students after all. I am glad to hear you've been studying though, that's fine work." Keiko complimented as she lay back on her bed and closed her eyes, mentally adjusting her schedule to allow extra time for any unplanned occurances she knew may happen with the other girl around.
It was mostly true, Gunny had been trying her hardest all week to knuckle down and study whenever possible but due to her nature there had been a few times the yellow girl got sidetracked before getting back into it. "Cool cool cool, this'll be fun," she spoke, half pouncing and half floating across to sit on Keiko's abdomen as the Tomato-themed neko thought.
"And yeah, I've reeeeally been trying, Toma~ but uh, whatchu upto down there?"
The red neko's eyes opened somewhat as the other girl leapt atop her. "Just adjusting my day schedule, I need to allow a little more time for my training session." She replied while mentally sending an email of sorts to her tutor informing them she'd be a little late for the class she had planned. "Do you enjoy physical training then?" The red neko queried, to her it was just part of her schedule and not exactly a leisure activity.
"Mhm, mhm," Miss Grimsdottir spoke, bouncing somewhat on Keiko's stomach with giddy excitement as she waited for her nerd friend to finish doing nerd things for a moment, eventually coming to a halt to continue speaking. "It's what I'm best at afterall, look at these bad boys," Gunnhild continued, gesturing to her taut stomach then those powerful swimmer's legs that were on display right now.
"You? I don't see you much doing outside P.E class so are you just shy or not so much into it?" Gunny asked of her friend, tail absentmindedly searching around for the one connected to Keiko's own body.
"I keep a balanced schedule of study and physical training to ensure I don't lack in either area, I must assign more time to theory studies however to keep on top of all the classes and studying my own martial art." Keiko explained.
"I also have to keep my weapons in good condition which is a duty I perform on the weekend. I suppose to properly answer you I don't consider training a leisure activity no."
"Hm, yeah you do like your swords - that's cool~" Gunny spoke as she impatiently figured Keiko had dealt with everything already, deciding to tumble backwards almost dangerously with a show of great flexibility and agility - the yellow Neko landed on the floor gracefully and was about to push herself up when the glint of something underneath Keiko's bed caught the gunslinger's eyes.
"Whassat...?" the tigress asked, pointing underneath her pal's' bed with one yellow digit
Keiko didn't pay any mind to the other girl until she heard the confusion in her voice, eyes snapping open the red neko sat up rigid in bed and stared at where Gunnhild was seeing that she'd discovered her favorite competition sword from last year. Flying forwards with impressive speed she plucked the other neko from the ground and tossed her towards the wall although with little force, she wasn't aiming to hurt her friend.
Touching down between Gunny and her bed she stared her friend in the eye. "You didn't see that." Despite her outward actions the red neko was terrified that one of her new friends would try and tease her or altogether leave her after her overreaction.
A surprised little "Oof" came from Gunnhild as she was scooped up and reallocated against Keiko's wall, a little confused by her usually too-calm friend's sudden panicked words - though being Gunny she couldn't help but wonder what it was... a particularly dirty thought was shaken away by the strawberry blonde as she went to speak. "Bloody calm your horses Toma, I didn't even see what it was..." there was a little too much mischief towards the end of that sentence as the yellow girl's fringe covered her eyes and her maw curled into an almost evil grin.
"...although~" and with that she dropped back down to the ground, almost hitting it before she pushed off and flew under Keiko's bed to investigate further, all but dissapearing into the dark space as she rummaged.
"No you can't!" Keiko nealy screamed in a shrill voice as she reached to grasp the other nekos ankle and drag her back out from under the bed, ensuring she kept a hold of her this time.
Gunny offered little resistance as she was dragged out, it soon became apparent to Keiko why - that sword she had so carefully kept hidden from others was in the strawberry blonde's hands as she beamed up with a smile, the yellow girl soon started to speak from her spot on the floor. "Hey I like guns but this is so much cooler than when I found Tenshi's ah... club..." she emphasized, continuing to offer Keiko a warm grin.
Keiko's face contorted into a panicked grimace as she snatched the sheathed weapon from the yellow neko and let go of her ankle, moving to the wall where she stood clutching it fiercely. How was she supposed to explain all this to gunny, she didn't seem upset but maybe it was a trick she was an interesting person by normal standards. With its ornate scabbard and equally as impressive engraved hilt the huge sword was equally as tall as either girl if not longer, the blade being as thick as their torso was wide.
"You shouldn't have seen this." Keiko stuttered while her eyes were wide and focused on the other girl.
To say the look on Gunny's tiger-striped face was a little surprised was an understatement, she was confused as to why Keiko was so embarrassed over something so cool and as such began slowly floating forward as the yellow Neko spoke, "Whassup? you know I like cool things so why are you hiding this?" Gunnhild asked before lowering her voice and cupping a hand over her mouth.
"...Tenshi's club was actually just a toy, if you were wondering..."
Of course she didn't understand, just like almost every other neko out there the concept of personal space and privacy was a watered down concept to her Keiko thought, "No one is meant to see this!" She replied, instictively backing further away from the yellow neko as she approached, Keiko's breathing getting faster as she considered smashing through either door to run and hide away from everyone.
"Hey, woah~" Gunnhild spoke somewhat seriously as she saw the look on Keiko's face, halting her advances and sticking her hands out to help further indicate she'd stop approaching. "Toma... dude there is nothing wrong with having a sword... hell knowing you I bet you did something fucking awesome to get it, so chill and relax m'kay?" Gunny offered as some advice, floating herself but a hair's width off the ground and slowly beginning to move forwards again inch by inch - not quite knowing what was going on but wanting Keiko to chillax.
"Don't come any closer. Please." The red neko was nearly pleading with Gunny as she slid her back down the wall and leant forwards trying to wrap herself around the weapons mid-section in a protective movement. While Keiko may not have been crying she was definitely on the verge of tears at this point.
"K~Keiko?" Gunny called out to her friend, confused but mostly concerned about what the hell was going on - was all this over the sword? that didn't make any sense to the strawberry blonde but she supposed it might be the reason just because of how protectively the tomato was hugging this hefty thing. "...girl you're scaring me a little bit, what's the matter?" the tigress tried asking, seeing if there was something she could do to help out this girl that had helped the yellow Neko out more times than Gunnhild dared to think of.
"You weren't meant to see..." Keiko almost whimpered, what was she meant to do now that gunny had seen it? Already her friend was acting differently because of it, or was it her reaction that changed her behaviour? Well it didn't matter now, she was sure to be abandonned now for being a weirdo and lying and being a terrible friend, the red neko's mind went on and on feeding her all sorts of nightmarish scenarios she didn't want to live. In responce the girl simply curled up tight around the covered weapon and shut her eyes tight.
"Why's 'at?" Gunny asked, her head cocked to the side as she inspected the sword once more - the mighty thing it was had a certain charm even the wannabe gunslinger could appreciate its design and such, fancy was fancy afterall whether it was a shooty stick or a stabby stick. "I mean I'm sorry I saw it? but it is a reeeally cool sword wowee, nothing to be ashamed of..."
"I didn't, you shouldn't have seen it yet... I don't want you to hate me for lying I'm sorry." The red neko babbled without budging from her spot, maybe she'd be able to beg for forgiveness, but she also loved the sword and didn't want anyone else messing around with it. "...I am ashamed."
"Chill your pretty little head, I'm sorry I found your sword but... it's just a sword dude - did I hate you when I found out this was your second year?" Gunnhild asked as she tried to talk her tomato friend down, putting an arm out to either side encouragingly as if to coax the other girl closer as Gunny continued speaking. "Now c'mere and give me a hug, maybe you'll believe I'm not mad then hm?"
Keiko nodded slightly and rubbed her face with one hand, of course she was overreacting again, since when had gunnhild ever gotten mad at her anyway. The neko slowly put her weapon down beside her and sat back, legs folded either side of her with a glum look and downcast expression.
"Fine, I'll come to you then, but don't look so bummed out," Gunny chirped as she strolled over and picked up Keiko's balled up form, giving her tomato-hued friend a firm hug that simply radiated affection from the yellow girl, trying to show her that a sword really didn't matter in the grand scheme of things as the tigress hummed out a happy tune.
"I'm sorry Gunnhild." Keiko said softly once more as she felt herself being embraced, this wasn't the kind of person she was aspiring to be, why was she letting herself get so upset over a sword. Well it was her most favorite possession in the whole world at the moment, anyone would be a little distressed if someone found it and wanted to play with it right?
"Dude... I'm not too serious, but right now... just believe me when I say it is hardly a major fuck up compared to what I've done," the ever resilient Gunnhild Grimsdottir chirped back softly as she continued to hold Keiko's balled up form in her arms, squeezing the tomato-hued girl for all she was worth and trying to use that final line of slight self-deprecation to ease her worries - it was true, Gunny knew she quite often fucked up in her own ways but it was also true she felt Keiko's little sword thing really was nothing to be all too concerned over.
"...also don't you worry, it'll be our little secret you have a sword under your bed - you can trust me on that too, cutie."
"So, you won't tell anyone else then?" Keiko asked quietly, a little hope having crept into her voice as she spoke. That was the best outcome for the situation, if only one person knew it would be easier to keep secret. With silent motions the red neko stood up and shook her head a little, since it seemed a resolution had been made it was time to get back on schedule, she had to go and train before her extra classes. Keiko picked up the sword and carefully moved it into her wardrobe instead, hiding it behind a large dress. Happy with her handiwork she turned back to her friend. "Were you still interested in training or do you have other matters?"
"Ahuh, to both, you should know I've always got time for you unless explicitly stated otherwise - and even then it is a 50-50 chance, it's almost like you're one of my favorite people or something," Gunnhild replied with a grin, then a slightly downtrodden look crept into her features before she forced it aside to reinforce the smile.
"Sooooooooo Toma, what'd you have planned in that awesome brain of yours?" the yellow girl queried as she silently crept forwards to boop the section of red skin between Keiko's eyebrows with one finger and the gentle whisper of the word, "Boop~"
"Well I'm going to head to practice for a bit now as I told you before." The red neko said, a strange look on her features as she was poked in the forehead. She had definitely told Gunnhild about her plans earlier, had she forgotten already? As Keiko wondered to herself she retrieved another sword, however this one was clearly a very standard looking type compared to the previous, a plain black sheath contrasted by white hilt. Its size was also lesser than the ornate weapon now in the closet although was still clearly designed as a two handed weapon.
"Oh uhhhh... right, yeah, did I ask if I could join you already?" Gunnhild asked as one hand snaked around to scratch the back of her head, an apologetic smile on the tigress' face as she queried Keiko - she'd gotten so caught up in making sure the tomato wasn't feeling guilty or ashamed or whatever those emotions were that Gunny had forgotten her own words.
"Yes you did and I said it would be ok, are you feeling well Gunnhild?" Keiko asked with something that passed for concern in her almost monotone voice, it seemed she'd more than recovered from her small breakdown before and was back to being exactly as usual. "Perhaps you should see the nurse instead of training, amnesia in our digital minds could be a warning symptom for a larger issue." The red neko said as she began moving towards the door to leave.
Gunny's shock of strawberry-blonde hair bounced as her head shook side to side dismissively, the unkempt mess of hair coming to rest once the yellow Neko stopped to speak, "Nah Toma I'm fine, I'll tell you the ins and outs of the SiZi M38 SDR's trigger mechanism if you don't think my memory is not up to scratch - my priorities are just funky as usual, that's all."
"Well that's good to hear then, but perhaps you should also leave some time to memorise your study texts and not just firearms." Keiko chided while opening the door and placing her other sword over her back. "Were you coming?" The red neko asked as she left her room, hopefully her friend would be too busy training to bother her about her secret sword later.
"Shhh I have been but I've known about guns for longer, dingus, so just lemme have this for a moment yeah?" Gunny chirped back as she too left the room but looked back towards the door to her own room for a second, ocean blue eyes narrowing slightly. "I'll just go grab my tonfas, don't really feel like bothering somebody to unlock the armoury and get me my guns this early - one moment," the yellow girl continued before she began floating off to get the blunt training weapons that were weighted just like her favourite hunks of purple metal.
"Alright, I'll see you in the hall soon." Keiko said as she continued walking toward the training hall, quickly exiting the dorm area and into the open morning air. Studying was nice and all but some fresh air was also good for the mind every so often. The red neko went over her routine for the morning, she'd start with some basic strokes and swings to warm up and then move into some basic runthroughs of her martial art.
Gunnhild showed up a few minutes later, entering the area with a tonfa in each hand and subconsciously displaying perfect trigger discipline despite them not actually being firearms in any way, shape or form - no doubt just a side effect of something she was super passionate about. Though the yellow girl stayed quiet as she walked up, deciding to let Keiko finish her current set before bothering the tomato-hued Neko.
"One flower blossoms
Dark clouds conceal the forest
Rain, torrents, too much, too soon
The flower may drown
Beauty remains still
Not all things fade with death's touch"
Keiko spoke softly and clearly, her motions flowing from one move to the next with practiced ease as she recited her favourite sedoka as the symbols for each line became visible one after the other moving along her skin as volumetric projections. The neko had let her hair down prior to starting and it was now swirling around her torso seemingly in harmony with her own movements.
After a few moments the patient waiting became impatient but Gunny was determined to stay quiet until it was over, her tail twitching from left to right in sharp movements before the wannabe gunslinger did something as an attempt to stave off the desire to blurt out how awesome Keiko looked right now - so, being the odd thing she was, Gunny dropped backwards and looked like she was going to simlply fall over onto the padded flooring before the yellow girl caught herself at the last moment and floated barely an inch off the floor, her strawberry blonde locks falling down to graze the surface.
Gunnhild adjusted her floating position until she was on her side, propping her head up on one elbow before cutting her gravitic manipulation with a soft thud - the tail still flicked about impatiently as Gunny willed herself to be quiet but so far she was staying as such.
Keiko finished her final line, sheathing her oversized katana and brushing her hair back behind her head. After a few cool down stretches she turned to face her friend who she hadn't seen arrive earlier and offered a small motion of acknowledgement. "Hello Gunnhild, I'm sorry I didn't see you get here I would have said hi earlier." The red neko said with a soft panting from exerting herself.
"Looks like Miss H is rubbing off on me a little then, heh," the younger girl spoke as she rolled onto her back and then flicked up off the ground, tucking in her lower body and then bringing her upper body forwards before rising up to a standing position with a goofy grin across her yellowed features.
"And don't worry about it, I was just letting you finish up your thing... it looked pretty cool, just thought you should know," the bubbly neko continued as she hefted the Tonfas, twirling them around each of her pointer fingers in a some what flashy fashion as Gunny kept speaking. "Sooooo I'll get warmed up quickly while you catch your breath, sound like a good plan, Toma?"
Keiko considered the proposition and nodded, she wasn't too tired yet after the slow warm up but it would give her time to try thinking up a new line or motion for her own technique. As well as perhaps assessing the ability of her friend, while Keiko had said she'd help the other girl they hadn't really gotten started on that yet on account of mismatching schedules.
"Cool, I'll be quick about it then," the yellow girl spoke back with a wide grin as she moved over to one of the lockers and opened it, quickly wrapping her fists, wrists, ankles and feet in tape - as one of the Empire's biological superweapons she had a kick-ass healing system and all that but losing skin was still unpleasant, so Gunny wanted to avoid that where she could.
As she strutted over to one of the boxing bags young Miss Grimsdottir also accessed the muscial library that she'd built up for training sessions, as was appropriate the song chosen was rather punchy - starting off with a shrill electric guitar riff punctuated by heavy drums and a bass guitar to top it all off.
She took her pose, left foot forward with both legs being shoulder-width as Gunny span her Tonfas some more - though this time she had the proper grip opposed to her flashy gunslinger's way of spinning, the purple things stopped with their longer ends running back along the underside of Gunnhild's forearm just as the music kicked in. What followed was a flurry of lightning-fast punches going high, low, mid and really anywhere else between, each strike against the synthetic leather surface sounded hard hitting - causing the bag to shift around after each strike despite being a rather heavy thing.
As she'd said prior Gunny was being quick about the warm up, fully aware of the eyes on her as she finished up with a few kicks, a side kick with the right leg transitioning into a turning kick from her left leg and then finally the yellow girl hopped off the ground to execute one flying roundhouse and then one high kick that put her leg at a ninety degree angle to the ground before the tigress finally landed in a low crouch - turning around to face Keiko with a few pants and a massive grin.
"I'm reeaaadddyyyyy," she called out, slowly rising up from the crouch and turning to fully face Keiko - Gunny never tried to hide the fact she was fast nor her insane degree of flexibility, and her legs had been sculpted the way they were for a reason.
Hell, she took pride in it - it was why she always chose shorts over pants.
Keiko nodded at the display, the other girl may not be the most motivated to study but it was clear she enjoyed this kind of practice, although some moves looked like they were slightly more flashy than needed Keiko decided she would bring it up later. "Good form Gunnhild. She called out awkwardly, she'd been told that part of making herself more approachable and likeable was giving praise when due but she hadn't the faintest idea how to go about it correctly.
"Ah cool, thanks - you weren't so bad yourself," Gunny complimented back with a hand on each hip as she strolled back over to her tomato-hued friend, her own vitals normalizing fairly quickly due to the synthetic nature of their bodies - meant she was never tired for too long. "So, all warmed up and ready when you are, Sensei Toma," the yellow girl added with a bit of cheek on those last two words, though none of it was mean spirited.
“Sensei? Im only a student as well you know.” Keiko said looking strangely at Gunny, or was this one of her jokes that Keiko never seemed to pick up on. “Now, are you absolutely sure you want this sparring match? Its still not too late to back out if you change your mind.” The red neko said quite seriously.
Gunnhild simply rolled her eyes at Keiko's first statement and tucked the Tonfas underneath one arm before retrieving a hair lackey from a pocket of her shorts, the yellow girl's hair was a bit longer than usual and she needed to get that fixed when the next opportunity presented itself but for now she tied the shock of strawberry-blonde hair back in a stubby ponytail as she spoke, "Yes I'm absolutely sure, don't worry your cute little head about it," Gunny spoke with a faint hint of sadness or regret in that last bit before forcing a smile onto her tiger-striped features.
"I was the one who wanted to do it in the first place wasn't I?... or was it you? anyway - one of us mentioned it and the other agreed so yeah, we're gonna bloody do this," she finished, retaking the blunt weapons as Gunny gave a low bow to Keiko - the light muscling of her toned and exposed midsection could be seen shifting underneath that yellowed hide she possessed as the girl moved.
“Yes, you initially requested to join me this morning.” Keiko replied, returning the bow with one of her own before moving into her ready stance, one hand on the hilt of her overly large weapon. “I won’t go too easy on you, but I’ll avoid making contact for safety.” The red neko said as several lines began shining on her skin once more.
"Ah right... now I remember but you'd best not go easy on me, if I wanted easy I would have gotten out one of the training dummies," Gunny chuckled as she took a few bouncing steps away from Keiko, maybe a good bit further than the older girl had been expecting but it was intentional as the tigress took up her own stance - spinning the Tonfas around once more only to settle them in the same position they'd been in prior.
"Just uh, don't kill me - yeah Toma? I don't want to die before my first birthday," Gunny finished with a small breath to focus her mind, ocean-blue orbs locked on Keiko's form.
“You’re safety is my primary concern.” Keiko said flatly with complete seriousness. The red neko uttered another sedoka line as she drew her large sword, her eyes squinting into a piecing gaze. Subtly shifting her weight to her back foot and prepared to fling herself into attack mode.
The yellow girl nodded with a warm grin and allowed another short moment to pass just to ensure both students were ready, Gunny put one foot back and angled her upper body forwards before breaking into a full-blown sprint towards the other girl - opting to open with a feinting step to the right before one Tonfa was flipped out to extend the reach of Gunnhild's horizontal slash in the opposite direction, the other one angled across her chest defensively, ready to try and block a counter attack as though the blunt weapon was an armoured bracer.
Keiko kept her eyes on Gunnhild as she readjusted her weight, going onto the defensive and rapidly bringing her blade to bare blocking the first strike. By now the neko had moved completely into battle mode, with a soft breath she placed a foot against Gunnhild's brace and pushed off. Rising into the air she rolled once to align herself towards the ground again, bringing the sword down with her in a devastating opening move.
With her feline ears Keiko would've heard a small murmur of excitement trail out her friend's mouth as the sparring began, they were both at this fighting school for a reason and Keiko was a second year student at that so Gunnhild didn't really expect her first strike to hit - though she was hopeful incase it did. As the Tomato-hued girl sprang off her forearm Gunny would use the basic law of equal and opposite reaction to channel that force into a backwards dash that made the large blade narrowly avoid her, though with the opponent using such a long weapon she had to keep the pressure up and try to stay in positions that would make conventional strikes awkward.
She did a full three hundred and sixty degree spin around to the left this time that brought the tigress closer as she executed a back-handed swipe with her extended Tonfa - throwing some more complexity into the move by dropping down into a crouch on one leg as the other was brought around in a low spinning heel kick, defensive arm stuck out as a counterbalance.
In recovery from her downward strike Keiko flipped the sword in her hands to angle the blade edge towards herself while lifting the handle upwards. Effectively creating a vertical block against the other girls attacks without putting her in harms way. While she hadn’t exactly reciprocated some of her friends feelings she still didn’t want to hurt her.
For possibly the first time, the red neko strained her arms and torso tensing up her muscles as Keiko began her real assault. Still using the dull edge the neko slowly stepped towards her friend while making rapid slashes from multiple angles. The poem lines shining on her skin and swirling madly.
Gunnhild managed to lift the arm she'd been using to balance herself up just in time to block the first strike, the weight behind Keiko's initial attack reverberating down the younger Neko's arm painfully but she pushed through - lifting the offence-intended Tonfa up to bat away the next strike as she noticed the sharpened edge was facing away from her, causing Gunny's expression to falter as she stepped to the side of another attack.
"Hey, wait, Tom~" the tigress tried speaking but the self-inflicted need distracted her, causing the large blade's dull side to crack against her jaw and spin the first-year student away - her back now to Keiko as the yellow girl lifted a hand up to her jaw only to see it come away stained with Hemosynthetic blood.
Keiko halted her barrage after landing the hit and took up a ready stance holding it in both hands. She hadn’t seen the blood and thought the blow had just sent the other girl flying. “You must maintain your focus on your opponent or you give yourself a disadvantage.” She lectured.
Gunny wiped the blood away on her gym shorts, which only really stained the wraps on that hand further, and slowly turned around to face Keiko with a bloody grin before spitting out a wad of red-stained saliva. "No I know, it's just..." the yellow girl paused for a second as she rubbed her jawline, it was a bloody good hit to be fair but she still had something to say about it.
"I thought you were going to use the blade? I can take it... oh and I'm fine incase you were wondering," the still-grinning tigress responded with, as resillient as ever.
"I'm pretty sure you've said something along these lines before but, I'm not going to get better by half-assing it."
Keiko visibly faltered when she saw the bloody face turn to her, expression wavering as she feared the worst but it seemed the other girl was still fine. “That is true, I only used the blunt end to avoid doing any damage... I could have beheaded you.”
"I trust you not to, m'kay?"
While the red neko was tempted to cancel the whole fight she knew that Gunny wouldn't let her stop over such a small injury. Keiko simply nodded and took up her stance again, shifting the sword once more so that the blade was facing Gunnhild. "As you wish." The neko had a bad feeling in her gut, this was feeling like that time with the gun again although at least here she was in control of her weapon and knew how it worked.
"Awesome, thanks Toma," Gunny chirped back as she took a moment to shake off that previous hit, walking a few steps back before the yellow neko decided to bounce off the springy floor a few times and then slowly get into her own stance - both Tonfas in their more defensive position.
"So that last one you did, what was that called?" Gunnhild inquired, showing some initiative about her friend's chosen fighting style for once instead of just focusing on her own moves - maybe the Tomato's nagging was getting through to the wannabe gunslinger.
"It's a sedoka known as "The Forest Flowers Tale" and is my prefered use poem, I've practiced with it the most and can chain several lines together into a faster set of swings." Keiko briefly explained, her eyes never leaving the other girl as she watched for an attack she suspected would be coming shortly, discussing like this wasn't something she expected to happen without an ulterior motive and the red neko was still in battle mode.
"Forest Flowers Tale," the younger Neko muttered back to herself as a mental note was made before her gaze rose to meet Keiko's, "cool, thanks - well onto other things." This time Gunny opened with a sprint just like last time though she had more of a defensive posture with one arm ready to defend her upper body as the other hung lower.
“Not all things fade with death's touch!” Keiko said quite prominently as she raised the sword while stepping forwards, using the final swing towards Gunnhild. The sedoka on her arms at the time glowed even brighter as the concrete shattering blow was executed, her eyes never once leaving her friend.
Once again Gunnhild made use of her sculpted physique to nimbly scurry to the side as the long blade was swung down, no spins or kicks this time as she pushed off the springy mat and rammed one fist forwards to attempt a straight-punch towards the side of Keiko's jaw - and a punch from a Neko, especially one with arms like Gunny, was no trivial matter.
Keiko's mind seemed to slow down for a moment, she knew she'd have a good chance to dodge the blow, but if she was to let her get in a hit it might help her self confidence, or the complete opposite. Suddenly the red neko didn't know how to proceed, she didn't want to go too hard on her friend as she'd already seen her put herself down a few times. But letting her land a hit might do the same thing, having to make her decision quickly Keiko raised her sword to block with the flat end of the blade, placing her off-hand against the other side to brace it for the impact.
The younger girl winced in pain as her fleshy fist impacted with the thousand-folded metal side of Keiko's oversized weapon, Gunny could feel her knuckles pop underneath the force before she managed to recoil from it. Gunnhild took a large step back to put some distance between them as her uninjured hand was put on the defence, the injured paw nursed down by her side as the yellow neko clenched to painfully pop the joints back into place with a small murmur - it stung like a bitch but she was hardly giving up.
Keiko kept a close eye on the posture and expression of Gunnhild, incase she'd offended her or not by holding back slightly, while her logic definitely showed off her social awkwardness she thought that instead of dodging, blocking may give more satisfaction. But since she didn't seem to have any complaints the red neko hefted her sword to point the blade at Gunny. "Forever is brief." Keiko spoke lowly, taking a line from the Yamakoshi Tomo sedoka while turning away form the yellow girl and assuming a mid-stance.
Chosing to ignore what had now turned into a dull throbbing pain Gunnhild dropped into a sprinter's crouch with one fist pressed to the ground, she observed her opponent's stance and nodded before rising up to charge Keiko with a low sprint - unaware of the other girl's inner turmoil of trying to balance not being too hard on Gunny vs not going too soft on her.
The yellow girl's tail stuck straight out behind like a stabilizer as she clawed forward, though this time it didn't look like she was getting ready to adjust her course, those blue eyes had been observing afterall.
'Please don't hate me.' Keiko thought to herself as she heard Gunny approaching, using her skin-vision to watch her progress, turning and dropping into a spinning crouch kick, aiming for Gunnhild's midsection to simply halt her in place.
Though she may have been expecting a sword it was still a horizontal strike so Gunnhild followed through with her original plan, lifting up those sculpted legs and tucking in as her body hit the ground, at the point her inertial capabilities kicked in fully Gunnhild was travelling a little over one hundered kilometers an hour as she stuck one leg out perfectly straight from her body - barely dodging under the other girl's kick as the volatile projectile known as Gunnhild Grimsdottir swept Keiko's legs, though it was a rather risky mavouever.
The red nekos eyes widened a little when she realised too late what the actual move was, the impact nearly shattered her ankle as all her centre of mass had been lowered by the crouch, putting extra strain on the joint as it was. With the sheer speed behind the impact Keiko's legs were flung backwards, dragging the rest of her along as the sword was left to topple over onto the floor. When she finally hit the ground again a split second later her face was the first to touch down, snapping her glasses in half and leaving them behind as the rest of her slid to a stop a few meters away.
Gunnhild impacted against one of the padded walls with a rather audible thud and quickly peeled herself away to see what had happ~
"Fuck," the yellow girl muttered as she heard something break and saw Keiko's body face down, the first thought was that the worst had happened and she'd broken her friend's neck so Gunny droped her Tonfas and let out a string of increasingly colourful curses as she ran up to the tomato-hued girl before dropping down on her knees and sliding to a halt - carefully turning Keiko over and cradling her head as Gunnhild prepared to call for medical personnel, of course she fucked it up, everything she did she managed to fuck up.
"Oh fuck oh fuck, Keiko! are you okay~?"
Having been dazed slightly by the impact the red neko was surprised when she found herself being rolled over and spoken too, listening to the tone she was able to work out that Gunny clearly believed she'd seriously injured her, in a brief moment of adrenaline fueled decision making Keiko made a small smirk before her eyes flew open and the girl quickly reversed their positions. Reaching up with her arms and legs the red neko wrapped herself around the other girl and flipped her to the floor. "Never let your guard down, assess the situation closely."
The initial thought was hope when she saw the smile, then confusion as Gunny's back was pushed into the floor - even as Keiko spoke there was still a slight daze about the yellowed girl with her glassy, ocean blue eyes. She was mad at first and tried to voice that with a weak, "Fuck you," before Gunny reached up to hug her friend tight - practically clinging to the other girl with all fours as a few silent tears of joy streamed down her tiger-striped cheeks that were now pressed into Keiko's curtain of hair.
"I thought I killed you..."
Keiko was surprised by the sudden embrace until she realised what must of gone through Gunnhild's mind. After remaining in the embrace for a moment longer she stood up and offered her hand to help up her friend who she'd had to peel off in order to stand. "I'm not sure what gave you that idea but I can assure you I'm not injured at all." She said plainly while moving her hair back behind her head and noticing her glasses were missing, her features not broken up by its presence for once.
She accepted the hand and rose up, wiping away most of the tears with the wrist of her free hand before Gunnhild offered her friend a confused look, "B...but you fell and I heard a loud snap and and and~" Then the yellow girl saw it, she saw Keiko's tomato-themed face devoid of glasses and as pretty as ever, which just made her feel downright moronic after she saw the broken glasses and made the connection - causing the younger girl to slap herself in the forehead as she sighed.
"I'm fucking dumb... sorry..."
"Yes?" Keiko mirrored questioningly, she noticed her friends gaze and understood how she made the fatal connection between the glasses and a potential injury. "It seems you simply rushed a conclusion based on little information. If you'd properly considered the sounds, vertebrae and skull breaks are a different sound to cheap plastic." She began, preparing to give Gunnhild a small lecture on the importance of combat awareness.
"I've... never heard a neck break before, Toma... plus, got these dumb ears instead of pointy or fuzzy ones that might actually help~" Gunnhild admitted with a defeated sigh as she pointed to her round, human-styled ears that adorned the yellow girl's head ~ it did get on her nerves every now and then that it seemed everyone but her had super badass hearing but that was less the reason for her current mood.
"Well what would you do if you broke my fucking neck, hm?" Gunny queried with glassy eyes, somewhat annoyed at the monologue she could feel was coming.
"Well if I was in a situation where that was a possible outcome it would probably be dor a good reason, and I suppose the first thing to do would be to visually assess the body and if need be file a damage report to have a new body created." Keiko said thoughtfully, thinking along the lines of standard procedure for fatal outcomes of tournaments for the fighting school, "You should also be able to hone your hearing somwhat even if the ears you have are not the same model as my own, a difference in sound is something you can train to hear, these ears simply give me a wider area of hearing."
Gunnhild spent a solid moment with her head buried in her hands, honestly feeling a bit like shit that her supposed friend wouldn't give a crap if she had to break her neck - the yellow girl gave a huff and brought her head back up to speak, "...good to know don't give two shits about me, Toma... whatever, I think training is over for the day," Gunny spoke as she moved to begin picking up her Tonfas.
"I was just answering the question? I do care about you Gunnhild and I would like to avoid that kind of outcome from ever happening, I just thought you were inquiring into the procedures." The red neko said back, not really sure why her friend was getting so angry over the answer, she really needed to ask someone for advice on how to read people's emotions better in times like these. "Why do you keep getting angry when I answer your questions? I don't know what I'm saying that's wrong. Keiko decided to ask directly and see what happened.
The younger girl gave another huff before turning around to face Keiko, though this time it was much more of an apologetic sound followed by a suitably apologetic smile as she walked up to hug the tomato girl - really Gunny should have known better, they both had their quirks and Keiko was so much more tolerant than herself and that wasn't right on her own part.
"I'm sorry Toma, I know you care... and I'm sorry for saying otherwise, I'm just stressed at the moment - y'know?"
Keiko was still not quite used to how much Gunnhild hugged her, but she was getting better and instead of freezing up she awkwardly patted her friend on the back. "Are you having difficulty with your studies again?" She asked as she was embraced, the red neko knew that not everyone was good at the tedious side of education but she was worried about gunny, it seemed the yellow girl spent more time with her friends and weapons than with books. As a book reader Keiko could not ignore this. "Perhaps it would be for the best to stop training if you need time on the weekend to study."
"Nah I... I'm managing~" Gunny spoke rather unconvincingly from her spot pressed against her red friend's chest before letting out yet another sigh and moving to admit the truth, looking up physically towards Keiko like she often did metaphorically. "Okay that was bullshit, I could use your help - Toma... if you're willing?"
"Of course, I told you when we first met that I was happy to help people study. Any particular subjects?"
"...How about we just go over all of them, to be safe? I've got the whole weekend afterall."
"Exactly, but its still good to balance study with physical training and exercise to maintai a healthy mind and body, I'll meet you in the spare classroom in half an hour and make sure you bring all your books." Keiko said with a smile.
"That sounds like a good plan, I'll have a quick swim then get changed into some real clothes and come find you with all my stuff," Gunnhild finished with one final, appreciative squeeze before breaking off from her embrace with the older girl - offering the tomato a few final words before making her leave.
"Thanks, Keiko... you're awesome."
"I uh, no problem." Keiko blushed slightly and fiddled with her hair. "Well then, I'll see you soon."
@SirSkully
0648 hours
Gunnhild loved running, the tigress enjoyed physical activity in general and it showed on her toned and athletic physique - sure it was impossible for a Neko to put on weight but she enjoyed pushing herself physically and just wanted to be the best she could due to the competetive nature of their education. Which is why Gunny was up early while everyone else spent their weekend sleeping, she loved sleep as much as everyone else but running by yourself was cathartic for the strawberry blonde student and helped her relax.
She was about done for now though, coming to a stop and leaning over to rest her hands on her knees and catch her breath as Gunny's lean body carried a light sheer of sweat that was caught by the morning rays of sunlight - broken up by the girl's blue sports bra and black shorts though she was barefoot, Gunny never wore shoes when she was running about after-all and others had more or less gotten used to the fact.
The neko was happily smiling, though the first lap had been sub-par Gunny managed to make up for it with the later laps and even set a new personal best for herself - finally standing up straight and moving to grab a nearby towel with her yellow tail, using it to wipe away her light layer of perspiration as she began strolling back towards the rooms lazily.
Keiko was awake although not yet out of bed, opting instead to prop herself up with a book. She’d heard someone leaving earlier but didn’t know who it was.
Gunny was happily singing along to the latest song stuck in her head, though the strawberry-blonde had enough wits about her to keep her voice quiet enough to hopefully not wake up any of her fellow students as she sauntered along. As she passed the tomato-hued older student's room Gunnhild couldn't help but notice a light was on, so she stuck her face up to the window curiously only to see Keiko reading like the nerd she was.
~Pssst~ came a mental message from the wannabe gunslinger as she gently tapped a finger nail against the glass pane.
Keiko froze when the mental message hit her, turning her head after a moment to look back at Gunnhild. ~Can I help you Gunnhild.~ Keiko replied putting her book down and staring at the other girl. What could she want now.
Gunny gave a warm smile as her face pressed up against the glass, her breath causing it to fog up slightly before she wiped it away and continued speaking to the Tomato. ~Just wondering why you are up... but hey can I use your shower? I don't want to wake Tenshi but seeing as you are up, can I pleeeeease?~ young Miss Grimsdottir asked, her ocean blue eyes doing that adorably irresistible look that the neko had only recently found out she could pull off.
~I uh, sure come in. I’ve just been reading.~ Keiko stammered slightly as she got out of bed to go and open the back door for her excitable friend. “You know you can just ask you don’t have to beg me. Why isn’t Tenshi up yet?” The red neko asked while standing in the doorway with one hand on her hip, green hair tangled all over her face and back.
"Thaaanks Toma," Gunny whisper-yelled, quite obviously wanting to be louder but also not wanting to have a bunch of angry martial artists after her - so instead opting to give her older friend a tight and slightly clammy hug, the yellow girl smelt of exercise yet not in a gross way nor a way that'd soil her bed-haired friend during the embrace. "She was up late last night, and it is early on a weekend - so let her sleep. Whatchu reading?" Gunnhild asked, as usual never stopping for more than a moment as she looked up at Keiko's face.
“Just a novel about a soldier who is faced with many difficult choices in the field.” Keiko replied looking down at Gunnhild with a blank expression, trying not to fall over from the sudden embrace. "Have you been out doing something? You feel a tad sweaty, and smell slightly." Keiko commented plainly as she got a soft whiff of the other girl.
"Oh just the usual stuff, running and such," Gunny chirped back as she released Keiko from the hug finally, though not before giving one final, rather fond, squeeze with her arms. "Hence the shower, heh, I'll be quick - I swear," she continued, saying nothing about the book as the yellow girl began strutting off on her athletic legs to where Keiko's bathroom was located, lightly fuzzed tail whipping around playfully as she did so.
"There should be spare towels in the cupboard inside, and there's plenty of body soap and shampoo in the shower." Keiko called after her friend while closing the door and returning to her bed with the book in hand, Usual stuff, she hadn't seen Gunnhild go out running before although then again she was often busy in her room or doing jobs for the staff on the weekends so she may have just missed seeing the blonde neko.
"Again thaaaaaaanks Toma," Gunny called out after her friend gave details about where to find stuff, the barefoot girl continued into the bathroom and mostly shut the door for privacy as she began to undress and get ready - though calling out to Keiko as she did so, because something had been nagging at the strawberry-blonde's mind ever since they were taken to the fight the other day.
"So uh, you liked the wrestling match we went to?" Gunnhild called out, now naked as she began turning on the hot water, only the hot water.
"I suppose it was interesting, I don't really follow the sport it's a little too brutish for my tastes." Keiko replied, nothing was ever simple with Gunny, even taking a shower required several levels of conversation apparently. "What about you?"
"I didn't think you'd be into that side of it, but I had fun... hm," the yellow neko mused as she stepped into the near scalding-hot shower, steam beginning to filter back into the main room as she got her lean body clean. "But I was talking about the whole Change Gijutsu part," Gunny continued, her voice mocking that of her white-clad, six-shooter-toting hero Leo White.
"I didn't know you liked that kinda stuff."
Keiko gulped, so she had noticed then. "Well, I er. I suppose I do enjoy their acts a little. Since I don't get out at all I ended up finding their show as entertainment so I guess seeing the real thing was quite in interesting chance." Keiko mused, playing down the fact that under her bed was a huge sword from a special episode of an older show, along with several outfits in her closet.
"Ah well that's cool to hear, I guess you can see why I like it?" Gunny mused as she lathered up and continued quickly cleaning the scent of the morning off of her body, she was quiet for a moment before deciding to just answer the question herself.
"The guns Toma, they're pretty cool..."
"Yes of course, I should have known" the red neko said more to herself than her friend, her voice trailing off as her attention became focused on the book once more. While she did want to make good friends she also very much enjoyed her own company with a good book.
"But yeah I thought you just read books and stuff all day, it's pretty noice to hear we have something else we both like," the bouncy Gunnhild continued to speak as the shower turned off and she considered herself clean - beginning to towel off as she still spoke.
"Any other hidden interests? are you actually secretly into something really fucked up? I won't judge... too much."
"Language Gunnhild, and no I'm not into anything like that Keiko said from the bed shaking her head at her friends vulgarity, she didn't need to know about the rest of her secret interests for now a better time would come soon. "Please make sure you're dry before leaving the bathroom, I don't want to give the cleaners any extra work trying to fix the floor." The red neko asked politely.
"Okay Mum, jeeze," Gunny shot back to answer both requests as she put a little more effort into drying off, truth be told she was going to come out of the shower a little damp up until Keiko expressed her disinterest on the matter. "So I'll take that as either a no or you're not going to tell me, is one of those right?" the strawberry-blonde type 33a asked as she opened the door a little more and tossed her towel at Keiko before moving to get back into that sporty set of clothes.
"I thought we figured out there was no way i could be your mother on the trip to the gun range?" Keiko replied, looking up in time to have the towel hit her in the face knocking her backwards and almost off the bed entirely. "Hey what was that for? And there's not really anything else to tell I don't know what you're looking for." Keiko stammered, she was definitely not an accomplished liar.
"Eh I'll respect your privacy, whatever," the tigress chimed as she finally entered the main part of Keiko's bedroom once more, Gunny had been there a few times but she swore there was always something new to look at that provided further proof her tomato-themed friend was more of a nerd than she seemed. "So what are your plans for today then? just going to sit around all day with your bed-hair and a book?" the strawberry blonde asked with a grin on her face from Keiko's reaction to the towel, she still offered the girl a hand though - even as her own messy hair sat there, suiting the yellow neko like it always did.
Keiko heard the tone of her friends voice as she gave up, such a negative reaction and she hadn't even told her anything yet, maybe it really would be for the best not to tell her or she might get angry with her. "I was planning to do a bit more reading yes, but I also have training before lunch and an extra class afterwards." She replied softly, afraid she'd upset the other girl.
"Ooooh who are you training with?" Gunnhild shot back with a hopeful look on her face and ignored the other statements, if she had cat ears then they would have been very much perked up at this moment - but seeing as the yellow girl only had humie ones then all that excitement was pushed into her fuzzed tail, which whipped around wildly as she looked on and waited for an answer.
"Well, no one. I spend time practicing basic movements and motions mostly the Awaji collection, The Forest Flowers Tale." Keiko explained, a little surprised at the reaction, Gunnhild looked a little intense for asking such a simple question, and her tail was moving at a rapid pace. "Did I say something wrong? Are you feeling well?" The red neko asked while putting the back of one hand to her friends forehead while folding the towel up with her other hand and her body.
"I'm fine yeah but uhm, since you're not training with anyone and I've got then day off then~" Gunnhild felt like she was ready to burst, her skin was rather warm of course but she had just stepped out of a scaling hot shower so that was a more reasonable assumption than thinking one of Yamatai's cats could get sick.
"Y'wanna let me tag along? I've been studying all week and it is bloody killing me, pleeeeease Toma?" Gunny practically pleaded, her blue eyes catching the artificial lighting in Keiko's room and almost seeming to glow due to it.
"Well I won't stop you, the school grounds are open to all students after all. I am glad to hear you've been studying though, that's fine work." Keiko complimented as she lay back on her bed and closed her eyes, mentally adjusting her schedule to allow extra time for any unplanned occurances she knew may happen with the other girl around.
It was mostly true, Gunny had been trying her hardest all week to knuckle down and study whenever possible but due to her nature there had been a few times the yellow girl got sidetracked before getting back into it. "Cool cool cool, this'll be fun," she spoke, half pouncing and half floating across to sit on Keiko's abdomen as the Tomato-themed neko thought.
"And yeah, I've reeeeally been trying, Toma~ but uh, whatchu upto down there?"
The red neko's eyes opened somewhat as the other girl leapt atop her. "Just adjusting my day schedule, I need to allow a little more time for my training session." She replied while mentally sending an email of sorts to her tutor informing them she'd be a little late for the class she had planned. "Do you enjoy physical training then?" The red neko queried, to her it was just part of her schedule and not exactly a leisure activity.
"Mhm, mhm," Miss Grimsdottir spoke, bouncing somewhat on Keiko's stomach with giddy excitement as she waited for her nerd friend to finish doing nerd things for a moment, eventually coming to a halt to continue speaking. "It's what I'm best at afterall, look at these bad boys," Gunnhild continued, gesturing to her taut stomach then those powerful swimmer's legs that were on display right now.
"You? I don't see you much doing outside P.E class so are you just shy or not so much into it?" Gunny asked of her friend, tail absentmindedly searching around for the one connected to Keiko's own body.
"I keep a balanced schedule of study and physical training to ensure I don't lack in either area, I must assign more time to theory studies however to keep on top of all the classes and studying my own martial art." Keiko explained.
"I also have to keep my weapons in good condition which is a duty I perform on the weekend. I suppose to properly answer you I don't consider training a leisure activity no."
"Hm, yeah you do like your swords - that's cool~" Gunny spoke as she impatiently figured Keiko had dealt with everything already, deciding to tumble backwards almost dangerously with a show of great flexibility and agility - the yellow Neko landed on the floor gracefully and was about to push herself up when the glint of something underneath Keiko's bed caught the gunslinger's eyes.
"Whassat...?" the tigress asked, pointing underneath her pal's' bed with one yellow digit
Keiko didn't pay any mind to the other girl until she heard the confusion in her voice, eyes snapping open the red neko sat up rigid in bed and stared at where Gunnhild was seeing that she'd discovered her favorite competition sword from last year. Flying forwards with impressive speed she plucked the other neko from the ground and tossed her towards the wall although with little force, she wasn't aiming to hurt her friend.
Touching down between Gunny and her bed she stared her friend in the eye. "You didn't see that." Despite her outward actions the red neko was terrified that one of her new friends would try and tease her or altogether leave her after her overreaction.
A surprised little "Oof" came from Gunnhild as she was scooped up and reallocated against Keiko's wall, a little confused by her usually too-calm friend's sudden panicked words - though being Gunny she couldn't help but wonder what it was... a particularly dirty thought was shaken away by the strawberry blonde as she went to speak. "Bloody calm your horses Toma, I didn't even see what it was..." there was a little too much mischief towards the end of that sentence as the yellow girl's fringe covered her eyes and her maw curled into an almost evil grin.
"...although~" and with that she dropped back down to the ground, almost hitting it before she pushed off and flew under Keiko's bed to investigate further, all but dissapearing into the dark space as she rummaged.
"No you can't!" Keiko nealy screamed in a shrill voice as she reached to grasp the other nekos ankle and drag her back out from under the bed, ensuring she kept a hold of her this time.
Gunny offered little resistance as she was dragged out, it soon became apparent to Keiko why - that sword she had so carefully kept hidden from others was in the strawberry blonde's hands as she beamed up with a smile, the yellow girl soon started to speak from her spot on the floor. "Hey I like guns but this is so much cooler than when I found Tenshi's ah... club..." she emphasized, continuing to offer Keiko a warm grin.
Keiko's face contorted into a panicked grimace as she snatched the sheathed weapon from the yellow neko and let go of her ankle, moving to the wall where she stood clutching it fiercely. How was she supposed to explain all this to gunny, she didn't seem upset but maybe it was a trick she was an interesting person by normal standards. With its ornate scabbard and equally as impressive engraved hilt the huge sword was equally as tall as either girl if not longer, the blade being as thick as their torso was wide.
"You shouldn't have seen this." Keiko stuttered while her eyes were wide and focused on the other girl.
To say the look on Gunny's tiger-striped face was a little surprised was an understatement, she was confused as to why Keiko was so embarrassed over something so cool and as such began slowly floating forward as the yellow Neko spoke, "Whassup? you know I like cool things so why are you hiding this?" Gunnhild asked before lowering her voice and cupping a hand over her mouth.
"...Tenshi's club was actually just a toy, if you were wondering..."
Of course she didn't understand, just like almost every other neko out there the concept of personal space and privacy was a watered down concept to her Keiko thought, "No one is meant to see this!" She replied, instictively backing further away from the yellow neko as she approached, Keiko's breathing getting faster as she considered smashing through either door to run and hide away from everyone.
"Hey, woah~" Gunnhild spoke somewhat seriously as she saw the look on Keiko's face, halting her advances and sticking her hands out to help further indicate she'd stop approaching. "Toma... dude there is nothing wrong with having a sword... hell knowing you I bet you did something fucking awesome to get it, so chill and relax m'kay?" Gunny offered as some advice, floating herself but a hair's width off the ground and slowly beginning to move forwards again inch by inch - not quite knowing what was going on but wanting Keiko to chillax.
"Don't come any closer. Please." The red neko was nearly pleading with Gunny as she slid her back down the wall and leant forwards trying to wrap herself around the weapons mid-section in a protective movement. While Keiko may not have been crying she was definitely on the verge of tears at this point.
"K~Keiko?" Gunny called out to her friend, confused but mostly concerned about what the hell was going on - was all this over the sword? that didn't make any sense to the strawberry blonde but she supposed it might be the reason just because of how protectively the tomato was hugging this hefty thing. "...girl you're scaring me a little bit, what's the matter?" the tigress tried asking, seeing if there was something she could do to help out this girl that had helped the yellow Neko out more times than Gunnhild dared to think of.
"You weren't meant to see..." Keiko almost whimpered, what was she meant to do now that gunny had seen it? Already her friend was acting differently because of it, or was it her reaction that changed her behaviour? Well it didn't matter now, she was sure to be abandonned now for being a weirdo and lying and being a terrible friend, the red neko's mind went on and on feeding her all sorts of nightmarish scenarios she didn't want to live. In responce the girl simply curled up tight around the covered weapon and shut her eyes tight.
"Why's 'at?" Gunny asked, her head cocked to the side as she inspected the sword once more - the mighty thing it was had a certain charm even the wannabe gunslinger could appreciate its design and such, fancy was fancy afterall whether it was a shooty stick or a stabby stick. "I mean I'm sorry I saw it? but it is a reeeally cool sword wowee, nothing to be ashamed of..."
"I didn't, you shouldn't have seen it yet... I don't want you to hate me for lying I'm sorry." The red neko babbled without budging from her spot, maybe she'd be able to beg for forgiveness, but she also loved the sword and didn't want anyone else messing around with it. "...I am ashamed."
"Chill your pretty little head, I'm sorry I found your sword but... it's just a sword dude - did I hate you when I found out this was your second year?" Gunnhild asked as she tried to talk her tomato friend down, putting an arm out to either side encouragingly as if to coax the other girl closer as Gunny continued speaking. "Now c'mere and give me a hug, maybe you'll believe I'm not mad then hm?"
Keiko nodded slightly and rubbed her face with one hand, of course she was overreacting again, since when had gunnhild ever gotten mad at her anyway. The neko slowly put her weapon down beside her and sat back, legs folded either side of her with a glum look and downcast expression.
"Fine, I'll come to you then, but don't look so bummed out," Gunny chirped as she strolled over and picked up Keiko's balled up form, giving her tomato-hued friend a firm hug that simply radiated affection from the yellow girl, trying to show her that a sword really didn't matter in the grand scheme of things as the tigress hummed out a happy tune.
"I'm sorry Gunnhild." Keiko said softly once more as she felt herself being embraced, this wasn't the kind of person she was aspiring to be, why was she letting herself get so upset over a sword. Well it was her most favorite possession in the whole world at the moment, anyone would be a little distressed if someone found it and wanted to play with it right?
"Dude... I'm not too serious, but right now... just believe me when I say it is hardly a major fuck up compared to what I've done," the ever resilient Gunnhild Grimsdottir chirped back softly as she continued to hold Keiko's balled up form in her arms, squeezing the tomato-hued girl for all she was worth and trying to use that final line of slight self-deprecation to ease her worries - it was true, Gunny knew she quite often fucked up in her own ways but it was also true she felt Keiko's little sword thing really was nothing to be all too concerned over.
"...also don't you worry, it'll be our little secret you have a sword under your bed - you can trust me on that too, cutie."
"So, you won't tell anyone else then?" Keiko asked quietly, a little hope having crept into her voice as she spoke. That was the best outcome for the situation, if only one person knew it would be easier to keep secret. With silent motions the red neko stood up and shook her head a little, since it seemed a resolution had been made it was time to get back on schedule, she had to go and train before her extra classes. Keiko picked up the sword and carefully moved it into her wardrobe instead, hiding it behind a large dress. Happy with her handiwork she turned back to her friend. "Were you still interested in training or do you have other matters?"
"Ahuh, to both, you should know I've always got time for you unless explicitly stated otherwise - and even then it is a 50-50 chance, it's almost like you're one of my favorite people or something," Gunnhild replied with a grin, then a slightly downtrodden look crept into her features before she forced it aside to reinforce the smile.
"Sooooooooo Toma, what'd you have planned in that awesome brain of yours?" the yellow girl queried as she silently crept forwards to boop the section of red skin between Keiko's eyebrows with one finger and the gentle whisper of the word, "Boop~"
"Well I'm going to head to practice for a bit now as I told you before." The red neko said, a strange look on her features as she was poked in the forehead. She had definitely told Gunnhild about her plans earlier, had she forgotten already? As Keiko wondered to herself she retrieved another sword, however this one was clearly a very standard looking type compared to the previous, a plain black sheath contrasted by white hilt. Its size was also lesser than the ornate weapon now in the closet although was still clearly designed as a two handed weapon.
"Oh uhhhh... right, yeah, did I ask if I could join you already?" Gunnhild asked as one hand snaked around to scratch the back of her head, an apologetic smile on the tigress' face as she queried Keiko - she'd gotten so caught up in making sure the tomato wasn't feeling guilty or ashamed or whatever those emotions were that Gunny had forgotten her own words.
"Yes you did and I said it would be ok, are you feeling well Gunnhild?" Keiko asked with something that passed for concern in her almost monotone voice, it seemed she'd more than recovered from her small breakdown before and was back to being exactly as usual. "Perhaps you should see the nurse instead of training, amnesia in our digital minds could be a warning symptom for a larger issue." The red neko said as she began moving towards the door to leave.
Gunny's shock of strawberry-blonde hair bounced as her head shook side to side dismissively, the unkempt mess of hair coming to rest once the yellow Neko stopped to speak, "Nah Toma I'm fine, I'll tell you the ins and outs of the SiZi M38 SDR's trigger mechanism if you don't think my memory is not up to scratch - my priorities are just funky as usual, that's all."
"Well that's good to hear then, but perhaps you should also leave some time to memorise your study texts and not just firearms." Keiko chided while opening the door and placing her other sword over her back. "Were you coming?" The red neko asked as she left her room, hopefully her friend would be too busy training to bother her about her secret sword later.
"Shhh I have been but I've known about guns for longer, dingus, so just lemme have this for a moment yeah?" Gunny chirped back as she too left the room but looked back towards the door to her own room for a second, ocean blue eyes narrowing slightly. "I'll just go grab my tonfas, don't really feel like bothering somebody to unlock the armoury and get me my guns this early - one moment," the yellow girl continued before she began floating off to get the blunt training weapons that were weighted just like her favourite hunks of purple metal.
"Alright, I'll see you in the hall soon." Keiko said as she continued walking toward the training hall, quickly exiting the dorm area and into the open morning air. Studying was nice and all but some fresh air was also good for the mind every so often. The red neko went over her routine for the morning, she'd start with some basic strokes and swings to warm up and then move into some basic runthroughs of her martial art.
Gunnhild showed up a few minutes later, entering the area with a tonfa in each hand and subconsciously displaying perfect trigger discipline despite them not actually being firearms in any way, shape or form - no doubt just a side effect of something she was super passionate about. Though the yellow girl stayed quiet as she walked up, deciding to let Keiko finish her current set before bothering the tomato-hued Neko.
"One flower blossoms
Dark clouds conceal the forest
Rain, torrents, too much, too soon
The flower may drown
Beauty remains still
Not all things fade with death's touch"
Keiko spoke softly and clearly, her motions flowing from one move to the next with practiced ease as she recited her favourite sedoka as the symbols for each line became visible one after the other moving along her skin as volumetric projections. The neko had let her hair down prior to starting and it was now swirling around her torso seemingly in harmony with her own movements.
After a few moments the patient waiting became impatient but Gunny was determined to stay quiet until it was over, her tail twitching from left to right in sharp movements before the wannabe gunslinger did something as an attempt to stave off the desire to blurt out how awesome Keiko looked right now - so, being the odd thing she was, Gunny dropped backwards and looked like she was going to simlply fall over onto the padded flooring before the yellow girl caught herself at the last moment and floated barely an inch off the floor, her strawberry blonde locks falling down to graze the surface.
Gunnhild adjusted her floating position until she was on her side, propping her head up on one elbow before cutting her gravitic manipulation with a soft thud - the tail still flicked about impatiently as Gunny willed herself to be quiet but so far she was staying as such.
Keiko finished her final line, sheathing her oversized katana and brushing her hair back behind her head. After a few cool down stretches she turned to face her friend who she hadn't seen arrive earlier and offered a small motion of acknowledgement. "Hello Gunnhild, I'm sorry I didn't see you get here I would have said hi earlier." The red neko said with a soft panting from exerting herself.
"Looks like Miss H is rubbing off on me a little then, heh," the younger girl spoke as she rolled onto her back and then flicked up off the ground, tucking in her lower body and then bringing her upper body forwards before rising up to a standing position with a goofy grin across her yellowed features.
"And don't worry about it, I was just letting you finish up your thing... it looked pretty cool, just thought you should know," the bubbly neko continued as she hefted the Tonfas, twirling them around each of her pointer fingers in a some what flashy fashion as Gunny kept speaking. "Sooooo I'll get warmed up quickly while you catch your breath, sound like a good plan, Toma?"
Keiko considered the proposition and nodded, she wasn't too tired yet after the slow warm up but it would give her time to try thinking up a new line or motion for her own technique. As well as perhaps assessing the ability of her friend, while Keiko had said she'd help the other girl they hadn't really gotten started on that yet on account of mismatching schedules.
"Cool, I'll be quick about it then," the yellow girl spoke back with a wide grin as she moved over to one of the lockers and opened it, quickly wrapping her fists, wrists, ankles and feet in tape - as one of the Empire's biological superweapons she had a kick-ass healing system and all that but losing skin was still unpleasant, so Gunny wanted to avoid that where she could.
As she strutted over to one of the boxing bags young Miss Grimsdottir also accessed the muscial library that she'd built up for training sessions, as was appropriate the song chosen was rather punchy - starting off with a shrill electric guitar riff punctuated by heavy drums and a bass guitar to top it all off.
She took her pose, left foot forward with both legs being shoulder-width as Gunny span her Tonfas some more - though this time she had the proper grip opposed to her flashy gunslinger's way of spinning, the purple things stopped with their longer ends running back along the underside of Gunnhild's forearm just as the music kicked in. What followed was a flurry of lightning-fast punches going high, low, mid and really anywhere else between, each strike against the synthetic leather surface sounded hard hitting - causing the bag to shift around after each strike despite being a rather heavy thing.
As she'd said prior Gunny was being quick about the warm up, fully aware of the eyes on her as she finished up with a few kicks, a side kick with the right leg transitioning into a turning kick from her left leg and then finally the yellow girl hopped off the ground to execute one flying roundhouse and then one high kick that put her leg at a ninety degree angle to the ground before the tigress finally landed in a low crouch - turning around to face Keiko with a few pants and a massive grin.
"I'm reeaaadddyyyyy," she called out, slowly rising up from the crouch and turning to fully face Keiko - Gunny never tried to hide the fact she was fast nor her insane degree of flexibility, and her legs had been sculpted the way they were for a reason.
Hell, she took pride in it - it was why she always chose shorts over pants.
Keiko nodded at the display, the other girl may not be the most motivated to study but it was clear she enjoyed this kind of practice, although some moves looked like they were slightly more flashy than needed Keiko decided she would bring it up later. "Good form Gunnhild. She called out awkwardly, she'd been told that part of making herself more approachable and likeable was giving praise when due but she hadn't the faintest idea how to go about it correctly.
"Ah cool, thanks - you weren't so bad yourself," Gunny complimented back with a hand on each hip as she strolled back over to her tomato-hued friend, her own vitals normalizing fairly quickly due to the synthetic nature of their bodies - meant she was never tired for too long. "So, all warmed up and ready when you are, Sensei Toma," the yellow girl added with a bit of cheek on those last two words, though none of it was mean spirited.
“Sensei? Im only a student as well you know.” Keiko said looking strangely at Gunny, or was this one of her jokes that Keiko never seemed to pick up on. “Now, are you absolutely sure you want this sparring match? Its still not too late to back out if you change your mind.” The red neko said quite seriously.
Gunnhild simply rolled her eyes at Keiko's first statement and tucked the Tonfas underneath one arm before retrieving a hair lackey from a pocket of her shorts, the yellow girl's hair was a bit longer than usual and she needed to get that fixed when the next opportunity presented itself but for now she tied the shock of strawberry-blonde hair back in a stubby ponytail as she spoke, "Yes I'm absolutely sure, don't worry your cute little head about it," Gunny spoke with a faint hint of sadness or regret in that last bit before forcing a smile onto her tiger-striped features.
"I was the one who wanted to do it in the first place wasn't I?... or was it you? anyway - one of us mentioned it and the other agreed so yeah, we're gonna bloody do this," she finished, retaking the blunt weapons as Gunny gave a low bow to Keiko - the light muscling of her toned and exposed midsection could be seen shifting underneath that yellowed hide she possessed as the girl moved.
“Yes, you initially requested to join me this morning.” Keiko replied, returning the bow with one of her own before moving into her ready stance, one hand on the hilt of her overly large weapon. “I won’t go too easy on you, but I’ll avoid making contact for safety.” The red neko said as several lines began shining on her skin once more.
"Ah right... now I remember but you'd best not go easy on me, if I wanted easy I would have gotten out one of the training dummies," Gunny chuckled as she took a few bouncing steps away from Keiko, maybe a good bit further than the older girl had been expecting but it was intentional as the tigress took up her own stance - spinning the Tonfas around once more only to settle them in the same position they'd been in prior.
"Just uh, don't kill me - yeah Toma? I don't want to die before my first birthday," Gunny finished with a small breath to focus her mind, ocean-blue orbs locked on Keiko's form.
“You’re safety is my primary concern.” Keiko said flatly with complete seriousness. The red neko uttered another sedoka line as she drew her large sword, her eyes squinting into a piecing gaze. Subtly shifting her weight to her back foot and prepared to fling herself into attack mode.
The yellow girl nodded with a warm grin and allowed another short moment to pass just to ensure both students were ready, Gunny put one foot back and angled her upper body forwards before breaking into a full-blown sprint towards the other girl - opting to open with a feinting step to the right before one Tonfa was flipped out to extend the reach of Gunnhild's horizontal slash in the opposite direction, the other one angled across her chest defensively, ready to try and block a counter attack as though the blunt weapon was an armoured bracer.
Keiko kept her eyes on Gunnhild as she readjusted her weight, going onto the defensive and rapidly bringing her blade to bare blocking the first strike. By now the neko had moved completely into battle mode, with a soft breath she placed a foot against Gunnhild's brace and pushed off. Rising into the air she rolled once to align herself towards the ground again, bringing the sword down with her in a devastating opening move.
With her feline ears Keiko would've heard a small murmur of excitement trail out her friend's mouth as the sparring began, they were both at this fighting school for a reason and Keiko was a second year student at that so Gunnhild didn't really expect her first strike to hit - though she was hopeful incase it did. As the Tomato-hued girl sprang off her forearm Gunny would use the basic law of equal and opposite reaction to channel that force into a backwards dash that made the large blade narrowly avoid her, though with the opponent using such a long weapon she had to keep the pressure up and try to stay in positions that would make conventional strikes awkward.
She did a full three hundred and sixty degree spin around to the left this time that brought the tigress closer as she executed a back-handed swipe with her extended Tonfa - throwing some more complexity into the move by dropping down into a crouch on one leg as the other was brought around in a low spinning heel kick, defensive arm stuck out as a counterbalance.
In recovery from her downward strike Keiko flipped the sword in her hands to angle the blade edge towards herself while lifting the handle upwards. Effectively creating a vertical block against the other girls attacks without putting her in harms way. While she hadn’t exactly reciprocated some of her friends feelings she still didn’t want to hurt her.
For possibly the first time, the red neko strained her arms and torso tensing up her muscles as Keiko began her real assault. Still using the dull edge the neko slowly stepped towards her friend while making rapid slashes from multiple angles. The poem lines shining on her skin and swirling madly.
Gunnhild managed to lift the arm she'd been using to balance herself up just in time to block the first strike, the weight behind Keiko's initial attack reverberating down the younger Neko's arm painfully but she pushed through - lifting the offence-intended Tonfa up to bat away the next strike as she noticed the sharpened edge was facing away from her, causing Gunny's expression to falter as she stepped to the side of another attack.
"Hey, wait, Tom~" the tigress tried speaking but the self-inflicted need distracted her, causing the large blade's dull side to crack against her jaw and spin the first-year student away - her back now to Keiko as the yellow girl lifted a hand up to her jaw only to see it come away stained with Hemosynthetic blood.
Keiko halted her barrage after landing the hit and took up a ready stance holding it in both hands. She hadn’t seen the blood and thought the blow had just sent the other girl flying. “You must maintain your focus on your opponent or you give yourself a disadvantage.” She lectured.
Gunny wiped the blood away on her gym shorts, which only really stained the wraps on that hand further, and slowly turned around to face Keiko with a bloody grin before spitting out a wad of red-stained saliva. "No I know, it's just..." the yellow girl paused for a second as she rubbed her jawline, it was a bloody good hit to be fair but she still had something to say about it.
"I thought you were going to use the blade? I can take it... oh and I'm fine incase you were wondering," the still-grinning tigress responded with, as resillient as ever.
"I'm pretty sure you've said something along these lines before but, I'm not going to get better by half-assing it."
Keiko visibly faltered when she saw the bloody face turn to her, expression wavering as she feared the worst but it seemed the other girl was still fine. “That is true, I only used the blunt end to avoid doing any damage... I could have beheaded you.”
"I trust you not to, m'kay?"
While the red neko was tempted to cancel the whole fight she knew that Gunny wouldn't let her stop over such a small injury. Keiko simply nodded and took up her stance again, shifting the sword once more so that the blade was facing Gunnhild. "As you wish." The neko had a bad feeling in her gut, this was feeling like that time with the gun again although at least here she was in control of her weapon and knew how it worked.
"Awesome, thanks Toma," Gunny chirped back as she took a moment to shake off that previous hit, walking a few steps back before the yellow neko decided to bounce off the springy floor a few times and then slowly get into her own stance - both Tonfas in their more defensive position.
"So that last one you did, what was that called?" Gunnhild inquired, showing some initiative about her friend's chosen fighting style for once instead of just focusing on her own moves - maybe the Tomato's nagging was getting through to the wannabe gunslinger.
"It's a sedoka known as "The Forest Flowers Tale" and is my prefered use poem, I've practiced with it the most and can chain several lines together into a faster set of swings." Keiko briefly explained, her eyes never leaving the other girl as she watched for an attack she suspected would be coming shortly, discussing like this wasn't something she expected to happen without an ulterior motive and the red neko was still in battle mode.
"Forest Flowers Tale," the younger Neko muttered back to herself as a mental note was made before her gaze rose to meet Keiko's, "cool, thanks - well onto other things." This time Gunny opened with a sprint just like last time though she had more of a defensive posture with one arm ready to defend her upper body as the other hung lower.
“Not all things fade with death's touch!” Keiko said quite prominently as she raised the sword while stepping forwards, using the final swing towards Gunnhild. The sedoka on her arms at the time glowed even brighter as the concrete shattering blow was executed, her eyes never once leaving her friend.
Once again Gunnhild made use of her sculpted physique to nimbly scurry to the side as the long blade was swung down, no spins or kicks this time as she pushed off the springy mat and rammed one fist forwards to attempt a straight-punch towards the side of Keiko's jaw - and a punch from a Neko, especially one with arms like Gunny, was no trivial matter.
Keiko's mind seemed to slow down for a moment, she knew she'd have a good chance to dodge the blow, but if she was to let her get in a hit it might help her self confidence, or the complete opposite. Suddenly the red neko didn't know how to proceed, she didn't want to go too hard on her friend as she'd already seen her put herself down a few times. But letting her land a hit might do the same thing, having to make her decision quickly Keiko raised her sword to block with the flat end of the blade, placing her off-hand against the other side to brace it for the impact.
The younger girl winced in pain as her fleshy fist impacted with the thousand-folded metal side of Keiko's oversized weapon, Gunny could feel her knuckles pop underneath the force before she managed to recoil from it. Gunnhild took a large step back to put some distance between them as her uninjured hand was put on the defence, the injured paw nursed down by her side as the yellow neko clenched to painfully pop the joints back into place with a small murmur - it stung like a bitch but she was hardly giving up.
Keiko kept a close eye on the posture and expression of Gunnhild, incase she'd offended her or not by holding back slightly, while her logic definitely showed off her social awkwardness she thought that instead of dodging, blocking may give more satisfaction. But since she didn't seem to have any complaints the red neko hefted her sword to point the blade at Gunny. "Forever is brief." Keiko spoke lowly, taking a line from the Yamakoshi Tomo sedoka while turning away form the yellow girl and assuming a mid-stance.
Chosing to ignore what had now turned into a dull throbbing pain Gunnhild dropped into a sprinter's crouch with one fist pressed to the ground, she observed her opponent's stance and nodded before rising up to charge Keiko with a low sprint - unaware of the other girl's inner turmoil of trying to balance not being too hard on Gunny vs not going too soft on her.
The yellow girl's tail stuck straight out behind like a stabilizer as she clawed forward, though this time it didn't look like she was getting ready to adjust her course, those blue eyes had been observing afterall.
'Please don't hate me.' Keiko thought to herself as she heard Gunny approaching, using her skin-vision to watch her progress, turning and dropping into a spinning crouch kick, aiming for Gunnhild's midsection to simply halt her in place.
Though she may have been expecting a sword it was still a horizontal strike so Gunnhild followed through with her original plan, lifting up those sculpted legs and tucking in as her body hit the ground, at the point her inertial capabilities kicked in fully Gunnhild was travelling a little over one hundered kilometers an hour as she stuck one leg out perfectly straight from her body - barely dodging under the other girl's kick as the volatile projectile known as Gunnhild Grimsdottir swept Keiko's legs, though it was a rather risky mavouever.
The red nekos eyes widened a little when she realised too late what the actual move was, the impact nearly shattered her ankle as all her centre of mass had been lowered by the crouch, putting extra strain on the joint as it was. With the sheer speed behind the impact Keiko's legs were flung backwards, dragging the rest of her along as the sword was left to topple over onto the floor. When she finally hit the ground again a split second later her face was the first to touch down, snapping her glasses in half and leaving them behind as the rest of her slid to a stop a few meters away.
Gunnhild impacted against one of the padded walls with a rather audible thud and quickly peeled herself away to see what had happ~
"Fuck," the yellow girl muttered as she heard something break and saw Keiko's body face down, the first thought was that the worst had happened and she'd broken her friend's neck so Gunny droped her Tonfas and let out a string of increasingly colourful curses as she ran up to the tomato-hued girl before dropping down on her knees and sliding to a halt - carefully turning Keiko over and cradling her head as Gunnhild prepared to call for medical personnel, of course she fucked it up, everything she did she managed to fuck up.
"Oh fuck oh fuck, Keiko! are you okay~?"
Having been dazed slightly by the impact the red neko was surprised when she found herself being rolled over and spoken too, listening to the tone she was able to work out that Gunny clearly believed she'd seriously injured her, in a brief moment of adrenaline fueled decision making Keiko made a small smirk before her eyes flew open and the girl quickly reversed their positions. Reaching up with her arms and legs the red neko wrapped herself around the other girl and flipped her to the floor. "Never let your guard down, assess the situation closely."
The initial thought was hope when she saw the smile, then confusion as Gunny's back was pushed into the floor - even as Keiko spoke there was still a slight daze about the yellowed girl with her glassy, ocean blue eyes. She was mad at first and tried to voice that with a weak, "Fuck you," before Gunny reached up to hug her friend tight - practically clinging to the other girl with all fours as a few silent tears of joy streamed down her tiger-striped cheeks that were now pressed into Keiko's curtain of hair.
"I thought I killed you..."
Keiko was surprised by the sudden embrace until she realised what must of gone through Gunnhild's mind. After remaining in the embrace for a moment longer she stood up and offered her hand to help up her friend who she'd had to peel off in order to stand. "I'm not sure what gave you that idea but I can assure you I'm not injured at all." She said plainly while moving her hair back behind her head and noticing her glasses were missing, her features not broken up by its presence for once.
She accepted the hand and rose up, wiping away most of the tears with the wrist of her free hand before Gunnhild offered her friend a confused look, "B...but you fell and I heard a loud snap and and and~" Then the yellow girl saw it, she saw Keiko's tomato-themed face devoid of glasses and as pretty as ever, which just made her feel downright moronic after she saw the broken glasses and made the connection - causing the younger girl to slap herself in the forehead as she sighed.
"I'm fucking dumb... sorry..."
"Yes?" Keiko mirrored questioningly, she noticed her friends gaze and understood how she made the fatal connection between the glasses and a potential injury. "It seems you simply rushed a conclusion based on little information. If you'd properly considered the sounds, vertebrae and skull breaks are a different sound to cheap plastic." She began, preparing to give Gunnhild a small lecture on the importance of combat awareness.
"I've... never heard a neck break before, Toma... plus, got these dumb ears instead of pointy or fuzzy ones that might actually help~" Gunnhild admitted with a defeated sigh as she pointed to her round, human-styled ears that adorned the yellow girl's head ~ it did get on her nerves every now and then that it seemed everyone but her had super badass hearing but that was less the reason for her current mood.
"Well what would you do if you broke my fucking neck, hm?" Gunny queried with glassy eyes, somewhat annoyed at the monologue she could feel was coming.
"Well if I was in a situation where that was a possible outcome it would probably be dor a good reason, and I suppose the first thing to do would be to visually assess the body and if need be file a damage report to have a new body created." Keiko said thoughtfully, thinking along the lines of standard procedure for fatal outcomes of tournaments for the fighting school, "You should also be able to hone your hearing somwhat even if the ears you have are not the same model as my own, a difference in sound is something you can train to hear, these ears simply give me a wider area of hearing."
Gunnhild spent a solid moment with her head buried in her hands, honestly feeling a bit like shit that her supposed friend wouldn't give a crap if she had to break her neck - the yellow girl gave a huff and brought her head back up to speak, "...good to know don't give two shits about me, Toma... whatever, I think training is over for the day," Gunny spoke as she moved to begin picking up her Tonfas.
"I was just answering the question? I do care about you Gunnhild and I would like to avoid that kind of outcome from ever happening, I just thought you were inquiring into the procedures." The red neko said back, not really sure why her friend was getting so angry over the answer, she really needed to ask someone for advice on how to read people's emotions better in times like these. "Why do you keep getting angry when I answer your questions? I don't know what I'm saying that's wrong. Keiko decided to ask directly and see what happened.
The younger girl gave another huff before turning around to face Keiko, though this time it was much more of an apologetic sound followed by a suitably apologetic smile as she walked up to hug the tomato girl - really Gunny should have known better, they both had their quirks and Keiko was so much more tolerant than herself and that wasn't right on her own part.
"I'm sorry Toma, I know you care... and I'm sorry for saying otherwise, I'm just stressed at the moment - y'know?"
Keiko was still not quite used to how much Gunnhild hugged her, but she was getting better and instead of freezing up she awkwardly patted her friend on the back. "Are you having difficulty with your studies again?" She asked as she was embraced, the red neko knew that not everyone was good at the tedious side of education but she was worried about gunny, it seemed the yellow girl spent more time with her friends and weapons than with books. As a book reader Keiko could not ignore this. "Perhaps it would be for the best to stop training if you need time on the weekend to study."
"Nah I... I'm managing~" Gunny spoke rather unconvincingly from her spot pressed against her red friend's chest before letting out yet another sigh and moving to admit the truth, looking up physically towards Keiko like she often did metaphorically. "Okay that was bullshit, I could use your help - Toma... if you're willing?"
"Of course, I told you when we first met that I was happy to help people study. Any particular subjects?"
"...How about we just go over all of them, to be safe? I've got the whole weekend afterall."
"Exactly, but its still good to balance study with physical training and exercise to maintai a healthy mind and body, I'll meet you in the spare classroom in half an hour and make sure you bring all your books." Keiko said with a smile.
"That sounds like a good plan, I'll have a quick swim then get changed into some real clothes and come find you with all my stuff," Gunnhild finished with one final, appreciative squeeze before breaking off from her embrace with the older girl - offering the tomato a few final words before making her leave.
"Thanks, Keiko... you're awesome."
"I uh, no problem." Keiko blushed slightly and fiddled with her hair. "Well then, I'll see you soon."
@SirSkully
