Stabby Stab Stab, Slashy Slash Slash. (open)

Yuriko stands in the middle of the Gymnasium in her gym clothes with a practice fencing sword in her left hand.



Time to practice... She readies herself in a professional stance before making lightning fast swings and lunges at thin air.

*whish whish*

Hm... this practice sword is making the air whistle...

*whish whish*

She finishes off with a rapid set of stabbing motions, leaving the tip of her sword right where the opponent's throat would be.

My tonfas seem to be getting lighter. Is it that I'm getting stronger or was it Sequence's lesson that one time? Probably a combination of the two.

As I start my walk back to my dorms I can hear a disturbance in the air from the gym. *Whistlewhistle whistle*

Walking through the door I can see that girl I met in the library yesterday. Is she fencing? Duuuuuuuude!

I've always wanted to fence but never was given the chance to pick it up so I am heavily intrigued.

"Yuri-san!"

When she turns to see me I think to myself. 'Wow, those are...pretty revealing for gym cloths."

I cough slightly and wipe away the thought.

Man, is it a good thing I don't get easily phased by that.

"Yuri-san!"

She turns rapidly to see the boy she met in the library yesterday...

"Satoshi-kun." she notices the tonfa. "I see I'm not the only one training today."

(Christopher, upon entering the gym, notices two other youths flailing around with various bladed weapons. Upon further investigation, a girl with mismatched eyes and a boy that he met the other day are visible. Christopher greets both of them in his usual deadpan voice.) Hey, guys.

Yuriko looks over at the newcomer and smiles. "Hiya!"

(Christopher is unable to resist smiling at the girl's bubbly greeting, Christopher then turns to the girl with the mismatched eyes.) I hope that you're remembering to be careful with that fencing sword, ma'am.

she giggles. "Of course, I've done this long enough to know when to stop and how to bend the sword to avoid injury to myself and my opponent. Oh, let me introduce myself. I'm Yuriko Futeki, but everyone calls me Yuri-chan."

Asterick has a towel over his shoulder, he took Satoshi's commands to skip classes for today and he just woke up, "Guess a workout wouldn't be too bad", he walks in the doors and sees everyone, "Holy shit; this place is busier than usual today", he looks around and sees Satoshi and Christopher, "Oh hey guys", he smiles and the n notices the girl, "Oh, I haven't seen you around before".

She looks at the newcomer and smiles. "Hiya! It seems like everybody has the same workout schedule today." she giggles slightly.

He chuckles, "Maybe so, I just woke up for the day so this is like my morning workout",

He forgot to introduce himself he realises, "Oh, sorry; I'm Asterick, Asterick Kitomi. Most people call me just Asterick but it's whatever floats yer' boat", he smiles and extends his right arm for a handshake.

My pointing finger keeps falling into a hook shape every time I try to speak but don't get the chance.

I take a breath before restarting.

"Yeah, I'm not professional but I like to use these a lot. My understanding of these allow me to use them better than a normal novice, though."

"Whats up guys? I didn't think this place would get so crowded so fast."

"Asterick, Meet Yuri-chan."

She takes his offer for a handshake, exercising her firm grip.

She turns back to Satoshi. "That's interesting, I've been fencing for nine years, Onee-sama said I could go professional if I wanted to."

"You looked like you could. I wish I could of gotten into fencing."

"Truly interesting..."

I grin and bring up my imaginary tally board again and add another tally low on the board.

Yuriko turns to where nobody is and slashes an X in the time it takes for one swing of the blade. "Hm... I wonder if I should train without holding back..."

"Have two helmets and a second sword?"

I've always wanted to try fencing regardless of how difficult and small the opponent is.

she nods and runs over to the wall where a large gym bag is and pulls out a second practice sword and two Fencing masks. she walks back over and hands them to Satoshi before putting her own mask on. She swings a few times to get used to the extra weight. "I'm ready when you are." she takes a professional stance with one hand behind her back.

(Christopher looks to Satoshi.) Do you think you can take Yuri-chan, Satoshi?

I put on the helmet and take the sword.

This is so light. I may not win but I think I may hold my own.

As a kid, I would fight with toy light sabers with my eldest brother all the time and often win so I'm confident that I will at least be a small challenge.

But then again, there was that one time I was confident enough to try parkour and ended up on my face twice. Asterick knows what I'm talking about.

No matter. Unlike parkour, I actually have a natural talent in weapons and also have reach advantage to my opponent.

I take a couple quick, light, practice swings and take a professional stance as well. Studying videos of fencing at least paid off in that sense.

My style of fighting with a weapon like this is my usual style. Let the opponent strike first. Read their movements and anticipate their attack. Use their own momentum against them like a pikeman. The same style as my unarmed way.

Don't get out of the way, that leaves you vulnerable. Hold your ground and watch her arm. Forget her blade.

Out of force of habit I look at Yuriko's face where her eyes would be and then remember we're wearing masks.

Deep in thought, I become different. The true me.

"Your move."

My voice sounds the same but it something seems very different from normal.

(Christopher, decidely, leans up against a nearby wall to spectate the rumoured fight between Yuri and Satoshi.) {Satoshi sure is confident for such a gaunt youth. One... I could learn a few things from such a display of courage.}

Yuriko gets into her battle state of mind, the very edges of her eyes taking on a hint of red since her eyes are hidden behind the mask. She decides to try something different, taking a very unprofessional stance, which one would take in the event of an actual fight.

This should be quite interesting...

She spins into a slash, followed up by a lightning fast stab.

{Wait, didn't I originally come into the gym to run a few laps? Hmm...} (Christopher remains locked in deep thought until he looks up to notice a modestly sized basketball hoop. He proceeds to scale his way up to the rim of the basketball hoop & starts doing pull-ups off of the basketball rim.)

In my mind the fencing sword becomes a rapier.

Taking advantage of my larger size and reach; It turns to the side, slides under my opponent's, and is pushed up right as I bring my weapon near my chest and move left.

Moving forward, I am practically upon the small girl.

If this were real war, my next attack would be very interesting...

But it isn't and my right leg is open.

She uses her smaller size and greater speed, along with her experience to strike his leg with a horizontal slash before sliding around his legs and spinning into another slash aimed for his back.

"Sh-!"

I stop myself from finishing the word as I watch her apparently very limber body works it's way around mine.

*poke*

With that my enhanced senses return to normal.

Yeesh, she's fast.

It's against the rules to turn your back to the opponent, though.

"Prison rules fencing after you win, eh?"

I'm smirking. Not angry with something like a little rule-breaking after they already won.

"Ha ha ha. Again!" My voice is back to normal.

Wait...but she spun before her first strike...

"Correction. Prison rules fencing the entire time?"-Is that Cook doing pull-ups on a basketball rim? Never mind.

She smirks. "You should've realized we weren't playing a ruled match the second I switched my stance."