The Twin Blades

Midori was ready to be offended, but relaxed after Ichiro said it could be a handy trait, "True we don't know when to give up which can give us an edge." She gripped her shethe closer to her. It felt right in her hands.

She grinned at the thought of slicing Yuki to shreds, even if it was just pretend. She smacked his arm. "She may be a bitch, but I'm not going to kill her, I'm not completely heartless. She doesn't deserve to die."

She let him pull her, lacing her her fingers with his.
 
Ichiro smiled as she held onto his hand. It didn't take long to reach his house. It was a fairly standard mix of more modern brick, and old style architecture. A large cherry blossom stood blooming in on the pathway to the entrance. Rather than go to it, he took her round a side path into the garden. A shed-like structure had been laid out, the windows thrown wide open. Inside, an elderly but fierce looking man was practising attacking a wooden scarecrow with a blunt sword.
 
Modori had always loved Ichiro's house, it had so much character. Her own house was just a modern two story. Bland, boring.

Being led around to the back of the house, they watched as and old man was practicing swordplay on an old scarecrow. Midori girpped her friend's hand harder. She'd met Ichiro's grandfather, his Sensei, a few times and while she knew he'd never purposely attack her to hurt her, he still scared her sometimes.
 
Ichiro looked at Midori and tried giving her a reassuring look, having felt how she was now clenching his hand tighly. Not that he minded of course. The closer they were, the better.
"Sensei!" he called out, walking towards him.
"Ah Ichiro-kun, and Midori-imouto!"
He stopped dead and looked down at their blades.
"Where did you acquire such fine swords? Not at school I hope..."
 
Midori shook her head taking a deep breath so she wouldn't stutter. She couldn't help it, Sensei always made her nervous and feel like a small child speaking to adults and afraid to mess up. She supposed she should feel more at ease around him after so many years with Ichiro. She knew she could trust him, but the feeling never changed.

"No Sensei, we found them in the meadow." She decided not to tell him about the pull they'd felt. Ichiro could do that if he wanted too
 
"She speaks the truth, Sensei." Ichiro chimed in, seeing the skeptical look on his grandfather's face.
"Is that so? Well perhaps we should give them a test drive? No use letting such eloquent blades go to waste now, is there?"
He stepped to one side and tilted his head in the direction of the scarecrow.
"Perhaps one of you would like to volunteer to go first? If of course you're not to busy showing off the fact you've gotten together at long last? Your father owes me 1000 Yen."
He gestured towards their hands. Ichiro stared at him, dumbstruck by his observation and blunt words.
 
Midori blushed and quickly let go of Ichiro's hand. "We aren't together Senesi..." 'Yet' she added silently to herself. "Wait, you made a bet?! When?"

Taking a deep breath she walked up the scarecrow, unsheathed her blade and took a starting stance. "I'll go first." Without any more warnings, Midori launched herself at the Scarecrow. The blade cut through the air, but she was careful not to cut the scarecrow, she knew she could destroy it easily, but she didn't want too. The blade was absolutely perfect. It was like an extension of her arm. With all the swords she'd ever used (admittedly it was not a high number however) it had never felt like this. It was as if she knew what to do instinctively. It felt wonderful.

"Alright, Ichiro-kun," she said with a smirk after a few minutes. "Your turn."
 
Ichiro's eyes twitched a few times, making a mental note to reprimand his entire family...
He stepped forwards, his rage building a little too much. He drew his blade in a swift move, it's shining edge inches from his grandfather's face. Neither flinched even the tiniest amount. Then something odd happened. His rage seemed to flow like a river into an ocean of nothingness. Peace washed over him like he had never felt before. He sliced his blade, cutting the Scarecrow clean in half, yet nothing happened. The blade had moved, the wind had echoed the noise of the swipe around the room, and his blade had moved cleanly from one half of the scarecrow to the other. Yet there was not a single scratch on it whatsoever. He had no desire to cut the scarecrow apart, and somehow, he hadn't.
 
Midori held her sword at her side as she watched Ichiro practice with the scarecrow It had felt good to attack something, to take her anger out on something that wouldn't care, to let her rage run free, but it hadn't been enough. She'd wanted to fight something that would fight back, maybe even beg for mercy. she shook her head. The urge had lessened somewhat when she had lowered her sword, but it was still there, clawing under her skin wanting to get out.

"We need to talk to your family Ichi-kun," she muttered as he walked back to her side "They need to stop betting thing in our lives. They're almost as bad as my brother's with their teasing."
 
Ichiro lowered his sword and felt a little of his anger return, but was otherwise quite peaceful.
"Oh forget about it Mi-chan. We're pretty much a couple anyway, and it's not like I don't fancy you."
He clasped one hand over his mouth, realising what he'd said.
He turned quickly and bowed to his shocked grandfather.
"ExcusemebothIhavetogoputmynewswordaway." he gasped out and rushed out and into the house, darting into his room and closing the door as quickly as possible.
"That went well..." he sighed.
 
Midori blinked as Ichiro ran past her. Her face heated up as what he said register in her brain. 'Whaaat? Did he just say he fancied me? Breath Midori, remember to breath.' Well if today just wasn't full of surprises and odd comments from both of them. Remembering that she wasn't alone, she bowed quickly to Ichiro's grandfather. "Excuse me Sensei, I have to go talk to Ichiro." She took off running. "It was nice seeing you again!" she called as she dashed to the house.

Sliding to a stop outside his door, Midori didn't even bother to knock as she flung open the door. "Ichi-kun we seriously need to talk," she told him as she closed the door.
 
Ichiro was re-arranging bits of his room. It was a plain, deep blue wallpaper, but it was plastered with different posters and pictures. One wall was a montage of family and friends. Rather than the centrepiece being one of family, it was one of Midori and himself that had been taken a few years back. Another wall was covered in posters of famous Samurai and martial artists. On the third wall hung various swords. Two wooden practice swords, two ornamental swords, and now, taking pride of place, he was preparing a display for his brand new blade so he had a place for it when he was at home.

"Mi-chan..."
He didn't look at her.
"What I said...it was...I just..."
He was struggling to find the right words. No matter how hard, they didn't seem to want to come out. There was such a slim chance in his eyes she ever felt the same way. He cursed himself a thousand times for ever having spoken out.
 
Midori sighed when he didn't look at her. "Ichi-kun, we really need to talk," she repeated softly, going to sit on the edge of his bed. She had wanted to hug him, but if she did that one of them might start crying. It'd probably be her and then she'd never be able to speak. Intead she settled for holding her blade tightly in her hands, glancing at the pictures.

"I mean come on, my brother's have been planning our wedding since we were five, your family is taking bets on when we get together, I've liked you for years-" Her mouth snapped shut. She'd been rambling. She always rambled when nervous and now...

She groaned. "Stupid Midori, way to lose your head."
 
Ichiro stopped dead. His entire body froze as he took her words in. His mind did a double take, whilst his heart did a backflip. This moment couldn't be real. This day couldn't be truly happening, could it?
"Mido-chan...you...you like me too?"
He placed his sword down, spun on the spot so he was facing her and walked towards her. He clasped their hands together and pulled her upwards, so they were, at last, face to face, merely inches from each other. He gazed at her fondly, waiting nervously for her to respond.
 
Midori squeaked as he pulled her up, dropping her sword on the bed in surprise.

She nodded "Uh-huh. Have for a while now. Y-you couldn't tell? Yuma said it was obvious years and years ago." she said talking about her eldest brother. "Every time he comes home from university he asks if we've gotten together yet and if we've set a date and I'm rambling again. Why are you letting me ramble and make a fool of myself like this? Why aren't you shutting me up?" she asked a little desperately, "I'd like to shut up now Ichi-kun, but I can't seem too"
 
"I'm really inattentive when it comes to romance. I'v liked you for so long, but got so caught up in it, I failed to notice you liking me back. You do ramble though. But I kind of like it. You have a lovely voice. And I just replayed that in my head and realised how weird it sounds. So on top of reprimanding both my family for making bets, and your family for teasing you, I think I'll shut you up now Mi-chan, and shut myself up in the process."
He freed both hands and placed them on her cheeks. He leaned in, strangely, his confidence building, and he kissed her tenderly on the lips.
 
Midori's mind went blank when she felt his lips on hers. It took a second for her to realize what was going on and kiss him back. Pulling back, she reasted her head on his shoulder. "I guess your father does owe Sensei 1000 yen after all." she said with a smirk. "Speaking of Sensei, we left him stunned in the garden. Want to see if he's still there? Plus I want to practice with the swords a bit more."
 
Ichiro ran his fingers gently through her hair and laughed when she mentioned the bet.
"Hmmm, yeah we could go do that. I do want to try my sword out some more.
Ooooor, we can make up for all the wasted years by staying up here for a little and just making out till our lips fall off. Whichever works for you...Midori"
He said her name with a smile. After all, chan didn't feel like it covered 'girlfriend' territory, though he expected he would carry on using it out of habit
 
She liked it when he ran his fingers though her hair. She wanted him to do it more often she decided. She shivered when he said her name without the chan suffix. He never done that before. It was nice.
"Can't we do both Ichiro?" she asked with a small pout
 
He continued to stroke her hair gently. It upset him to see her pouting.
He let out a small chuckle seeing her shiver. It only made him hold her closer to him.
"Anything for you. Which would you like to do first? Go cut stuff, or lay on my bed and make out?"