Crossing Blades

[Jovian]

Kazegami Private School

The students were milling about the campus. In one section of the rather large area of land, the elementary students were all packed away in their classrooms, every one of them advanced in some way for their age group. Some of the classes were in the midst of their combat training, others were studying hard over textbooks. Connected to the school was the dormitory where the elementary students were to stay at night. There were live-in teachers that kept a close eye on all of them.

In another section of the campus was the middle school, also with the dormitories attached. These students were practicing more specialized combat skills, beginning to learn their strengths and weaknesses, and through this knowledge finding what fighting style they were better at. Here was where the mastery of a fighting style was found.

Then there was the high school. There wasn't quite as much of a scheduled combat training schedule here. Half of the day was spent on textbook learning, the rest of the day was spent at the student's leisure. It didn't take much guessing to say that they were mostly working on combat skills, but there were a few that were off doing their own thing.

On each side of the school building was a dormitory, one for the boys and one for the girls.

Between each school was an expanse of land that was full of trees. There were trails leading to each one, but no one ever ventured between the schools except when it was time for the younger students to move up to the next school. Surrounding the entire complex was a chainlink fence with barbed wire at the top, except for at the main drive. From the main drive, all you could see was an inviting but sturdy brick wall on each side of a wrought iron gate with what looked like decorative spikes at the top. The gate was rarely opened, but looked well taken care of.

Somewhere, and only the family knew where, there was a mansion that contained the Head of the Kazegami family.


Sakuramori Private School

Though similar in scholastic structure, the set up of the campus was entirely different. Rather than having each school level separate, there were two very large dorms on each side of three buildings. The buildings were parallel to each other, with the dorms perpendicular to the ends of each buildings. Each dorm was set up so that each floor was dedicated to each school, with many doors and halls and stairs leading from each side, floor, and exterior, and was rather confusing to anyone who was new to such a place. Between each school were fairly large expanses of land where students could be found hanging out or going over combat training.

Surrounding the schools on every side were large expanses of foliage. Here students could train as well without the eyes of everyone on them. There were also many trails through the woods here as well.

There wasn't a fence or wall surrounding the Sakuramori property. They had animal traps set up on the outside perimeter of the woods so that no one would make it up to the school. At the main road into the school there was also a brick wall with a wrought iron gate that rarely opened.

This main road led up around the school and right up to the Sakuramori mansion.


It was the first day of the second semester, winter was just coming to a close.

Welcome back to school.

 

[XC]

The quiet figure broke through the expanse of foliage and vegetation that surrounded the buildings, his dry-fit t-shirt entirely soaked through with sweat, and even more beads of sweat were already beginning to form on his forehead. In his right hand and leaning against his shoulder was a metal sword. It was intricate in design, instead of having a long crossguard like a traditional longsword it had a crossguard more similar to that of a gladius', yet maintaining the length and width of the blade of a longsword. Keith stopped for a moment as he wiped his forehead with the back of his other hand - He had been training in the forest.

Unlike the other students, who preferred to train with each other out in the open like this, Keith liked to train alone. Alone and somewhere no one could see him - Why? Because when it comes to the situation where he needs to fight a man for real, Keith does not want to anyone to know what he could do, else he risks being put at a disadvantage or at best, equal ground.

The cool wind made him shiver slightly as the sweat evaporated and by doing so, removed more heat from his body. Keith smiled at the sudden chill, quite glad to feel it after that long and strenuous training where he drilled himself in his strokes and styles. Currently, Keith was trying to learn how to easily shift from one style to another, something he found hard to do after he had the training of how to complete all the strokes in one style simultaneously.

His eyes scanned the grounds, searching for a nice, empty patch of grass where he could just lay down and sip some water before he had to go take a shower.

Taking only a brief minute to find it, Keith jogged over to that path of land and he just put his sword on the ground before he dropped his back onto it, placing his hands behind his back. One hand was removed from the back of his head and it rummaged through the backpack that had been dropped on the floor, taking out a bottle of mineral water which he poured into his mouth and made gargling sounds to himself as he swallowed it.

It was always these moments of childish behaviour that shone through Keith's cynical outlook, and that made him feel good.

 

[Tenchi-Roku]

Up in Japan, it was becoming morning time. But down in a dark room in America, filled with loud appalling snoring, it was still 12:37 a.m. The room was a total mess, clothes laying around, bed sheets undone, and a teenage boy, asleep shirtless and in boxers. The light of the moon glimmering through the windows revealed his natural silverish hair, sprawled all over his pillow showing a true state of sleep, a slepp almost nearly unbreakable.

After the clock stuck exactly 1:00, the alarm shout off like the sound of a tactical nuke. The teen's first reaction was falling out of the bed --face first-- with a recent grunt to follow. "Are you kiddin me?", he raises himself up and smacks his clock right on the head to shut it off. Almost in a moderate daze from the sudden wake up, he walks around the room looking for his iphone. "Where is that thing.." he mumbles, searching through his clothes, he bumps his finger against a hard object and pulls out his phone.

He slid his thumb against the screen, and found that he had three missed calls. Two were from his american friends and the other was from his mother. It had been sent over an hour ago, but he was so into his sleep he couldn't notice that it rung. He went to his past calls aand answered the messege left behind. The voice of his mother was always something to hear to him, "Hello there son, if you've recieved this messege then in the morning my Sister, Nisa will have some news for you. Sweet dreams Ishida." He turned off his phone and layed back in the bed, if the alarm rang, he wouldn't care. he pulled the sheets over his slightly muscled body and went back to sleep, under his breath he mumbled, "I hate America and it's clocks.."

 

[Chrona]

Masa let out a loud yawn from atop the roof of one of the dorms. She laid on her back, her arms tucked under her head and her right leg crossed over her left. A tall tree blocked out the sun for her, making her little spot the perfect temperature that suits her tastes; cool with a slight breeze to go through her hair. She hated the heat and the sweat that is made from being in hot places for too long.

She gazed up at the sky, watching the few clouds go by, along with some birds. To some people it would be freezing out here, especially if they had a low tolerance to the cold. A few times Masa thought she saw her breath when she breathed. There were a few patches of snow, at least up on the roof, untouched by the sun's rays. It would explain why it still felt cold out here.

Masa stretched her arms and legs out, relaxing her muscles after she was done. She just left her arms and legs spread out as she laid there, too lazy to do anything. This was her quiet place. The place she could come to get away from all the training and sometimes the lessons. The first thing that brought her up here in the first place was when she was trying to get away from the members of her fan club.

Yes. She had a fan club. Masa had no idea why she did. It was mostly made up of Freshman and Sophomores. Some Juniors started the whole thing when Masa was a Freshman like them. They chased her around last year, and she managed to get away thanks to the confusing layout of the dorms. No one ever came up here so she didn't have to worry about being disturbed.

The Sakamoto Fan Club was made up of all girls who all believed Masa was a boy. This didn't really bother her at all since her father even thought of her as a boy now after all those years of him treating her like his son. He even convinced the school to let her wear the boy's uniform.

Masa looked around for her blade after suddenly remembering that it wasn't next to her. She spotted it leaning up against the wall near the door leading up here. It was hard to get open sometimes. It even locked her up here for the duration of some of her lessons. Of course she wasn't going to jump down off the roof just to get to her lesson on time. Masa was able to keep up with everything, getting good enough grades to pass so she never really worried too much.

So she relaxed again and looked back up at the sky, watching the clouds go by slowly.

 

[Scarlette]

Ayako sighed, finding herself blessedly alone for the first time that day. Classes were over for the day, and instead of choosing to train straight away, she had chosen to make her way to the campus library, and had soon found herself surrounded by those that liked to think she was their friend. To be entirely honest, Ayako hadn't had a real friend since she was almost five, and that was over a decade ago. She repressed memories that she rather disliked thinking about, and returned to the book she was reading. It had taken her nearly two hours to shake the last of the hoity toity girls and boys from the younger classes that chose to follow her around. Luckily for her, there were very few of them that chose to venture out to the High School's library at any given time to seek out Ayako, however, there were just enough of them in her own year to be rather annoying.

It would be time for her to train in only an hour or so, and Ayako nearly decided to leave just then, however, the book she was reading on strategy and tactics had grabbed a hold of her interest.

Later... she thought, fondly patting the belt she wore around her waist, just under her top, so as to be easily accessible, where her knives lay. It wasn't as if she was unskilled in the use of other weapons, she had simply chosen to master knives, as they were easy to conceal, light and effective in nearly any battle situation, and very easy to find replacements for, or commission new ones.

It wasn't snowing at that particular moment, but the light layer of snow that covered the schoolgrounds was rather pretty this time of year, but she looked forward to the Spring. It was a time of new beginnings, and close to her birthday. Ayako would be sixteen this year, and would celebrate not only her birth, but the death of her brother, Takeshi, some twelve years ago. Even now she still mourned him, after all this time.

The girl shook the thoughts of how she lost her brother from her mind, and returned to her studies. For some reason, it was rather difficult to shake him from her thoughts these days, and she wondered at the irony of it. The harder she fought to forget, the more vivid the memories were in her mind's eye. She shifted so that her braid was no longer pressing into the middle of her back, and turned the page. She sat in the window of the library, where the sun could filter through the glass and shed light on her studies, warming her small body. She was careful to keep her feet off of the seat, so as not to soil the fabric of the cushions, but kept her legs crossed in front of her. She was in a rather secluded area, one where very few students, and even teachers, ventured often.

 

[Jovian]

Miki Nishamura was staring out the classroom window. Class didn't officially start for a couple more days, as the waited for all the students to arrive from all over the country once again. The first few days of the semester were always spent getting back into the dorms and getting accustomed to their weapon regime. If she knew better she'd be out there going through her sword exercises. But she couldn't focus on them. She had been up before dawn trying to do some fitness exercises. She couldn't count how many times she'd gotten distracted.

Unlike most students, she didn't leave the complex during the break. She stayed onsite and trained most of the break, trying to earn her standing with the Sakuramori family. She didn't want them to see her slacking since they were paying for her living expenses. The only time she got away from the school was when she would go into town to walk around.

None of the people or stores in town openly favored either school, because the town was neutral ground, but she knew that there had to be some favoritism between some of the citizens. There was also the small public school in the center of town, since there weren't any students at either private school that actually came from the town that she knew of. Since the history between the families was so well known here, it wasn't all that surprising that no one would want to put their child in the schools. In fact, she was the only person from town that she knew of that was in either school.

Sighing, she decided she couldn't stay cooped up all day and walked out of the classroom.

 

[Vixenred16]

Izumi sat up from her nap and yawned, sitting up and dangling her feet from the edge of the bed. Stretching she stood up and walked over to the window, smiling as she looked down at the scenery. She looked back at her katana, thinking for a moment before nodding to herself," I'll spend some time sharpening you then I can get some practice in." She walked away from the laughing at some unheard joke and picked up the blade, sitting back on her bed and laying it across her lap. She began the process of sharpening the blade, humming to herself all the while.

Several minutes passed before she realized he had stopped polishing the katana and had walked back over to the window, the blade stuck into the wood floor beside the bed. She frowned slightly and walked over pulling it from the floor and looking it over. She did need practice... now was a perfect time. She smiled and walked out to find a good spot to practice, without getting anyone else involved.

 

[Stacisaur]

'Solitude' was a lovely word. If one really took a moment to think about it, the spelling, the way the 's' could be swirled differently depending on the user curving out the lines, it was magical. The tone each letter gave as it slipped off the tongue, escaping with a unique voice each time, with possibly a personal meaning when taken into a certain perspective. It just might be the best word in the entire world. Or not, but, for the sake of such a long introduction, we shall pretend it is. This word would be one used by the daughter of the Sakuramori Family, if she was asked upon what she treasured highly above all else. What was precious to her, besides the typical answer being family, friends, etc. etc. mushy word inserted here. It was simple enough. The youngest Sakuramori female wanted time to herself, with peace and quiet around her. To escape the noise and bustle of hallways along the school, training rooms with groans, yells, and battle cries beyond anyones sane imagination, was what she desired most. And today, well, she was headstrong upon grasping this taste for relaxation.

Bright, coppery golden eyes shifted quickly from side to side. Searching for anyone around the area, the individual quickly darted from her spot, previously hiding behind a pillar. Limbs swiftly folded, the body tumbling across the ground out of sight, landing behind a couple of artfully sculpted bushes. Sitting up, glancing back to make sure the black drawstring bag was still wrapped along her back, Lavinia brought her attention back ahead of her. It was times like these that had her feeling like a secret agent spy. Even the well-known child of a famous bloodline could daydream a little, right? Sure, she was sixteen at the moment, but no one was too old to fantasize, and roleplay a bit. At least, Lavinia believed this to be true. And as this fact was such, this would explain why she fell onto all fours, and began to crawl along the grass slowly, like a trained government worker of only the stealthiest breed. Shoulder blades popping out with each slow movement of her arms, clearly the match of a Big Wild Cat, perhaps a mountain lion would be suitable, or a panther, her poise was still ever so graceful. Sneaking out from the training area, more towards the foliage that layed out boundaries of the grounds, the young lady stopped suddenly upon reaching a large, very old oak tree.

Head tilting back, silken strands of black fell out of her view, staring blankly to the leaves that shook in the soft wisps of wind, playing along with the air. Smiling to herself, Lavi turned around and curled up with her legs folded along each other, taking the position of a pretzel. Slipping the bag off from her arms, in one motion the opening was brought about, books lifted from the interior, and placed along her lap. Sure, this was a nice getaway, and she could still relax plenty, but schoolwork was not going to finish itself. Pushing the container to the side, a careful hand opened the cover, flipping along pages while a pencil was found balancing along a rather scarlet red bottom lip. Content, she did believe she earned this right at the moment. She had spent her entire week training for hours upon hours a day. The least she should be allowed is time to enjoy nature at its best. Closing her eyes for a moment, Lavinia took in a deep, deep breath of air. Hold it. Hold it. And exhaling, she admired the sight before her again with a blink. It was a beautiful day, too many wonders to pass by. This was just lovely. Looking back down, her eyes began to scan along the words laid out, studying in silence, in blissful solitude.​

 

[Chrona]

"I'm bored..." Masa said after a while of being up there. It was too quiet now. Nothing going on. She has been up here ever since she came back to the Sakuramori school. For once, Masa felt like getting a bit of a work out. She knew that at least one member of her fan club would see her once she left the comfort of her roof top. And once one knew where she was, soon the whole club would know and would be chasing after her.

"Well...It would be a good work out. But if they catch me, I'm done for." She joked. Masa walked over to the door leading up to the roof, picking up Black Dragon when she got there. "Here goes nothing..." She said, opening the door and walking down the stairs. She made it to first floor without anyone seeing her. "So far so good. Maybe they haven't arrived at school yet..." She thought out loud.

With a shrug, Masa walked down the hallway, carrying her katana over her shoulder, and through the door leading outside the dorms. She looked around, not really seeing anyone. "Where is everyone?" She wondered. "Usually there are a lot of peo-" Masa cut herself off when she heard the crunch of a leaf from off to the side. She quickly looked in that direction, and saw a freshman girl standing there. She wasn't sure if the girl was a fan club member or not. Masa sure hasn't seen her before, and she didn't look like the type to chase others randomly.

"So much for my running work out." Masa shrugged, popping her neck and shoulders.

 

[Jovian]

Miki walked around the courtyard, whistling a random tune and watching the other students walk around and do whatever pleased them. She rested a hand on her sword and decided to cut through the trees. Perhaps a little training would be a good idea. Strength training perhaps. If she wanted to really work out quickly she could easily go to one of the gyms on campus but it would most likely be filled with people this time of day. Though, judging by the amount of people slacking off around campus there may not be as many as she thinks.

Without even realizing it, she came across a clearing, and she blinked at the person that already occupied the area, a young man sitting with his sword drinking water. Her face went a little red, and she looked around and tried to walk by without him seeing her. She didn't want to interrupt his training.

However, she ran into a tree in the process.

"Ow!" she called out, holding her face. "Some warrior I am."