Only the Strong Train Young!

[Hesh]

"Yeah yeah, almost only counts in horseshoes and fireballs."

Itsuki smiled broadly at that, lifting the man up to his feet. "That's exactly right. Grandma Ai would be happy you said that," Itsuki said, as he turned away from his training partner, pulling various equipment and tools out and setting them up. "Now, ya gotta go. It's time for a new student to come in and I don't want your ugly mug scaring her off." Smiling and waving goodbye to his training partner, Itsuki then went back to setting up the dojo. Not really a mission, but if he wanted to disprove the village's hate for his clan, he needed to know the people of the village, and therefore it was a mission from his heart. He had seen this young lady training the other day and she used a similar style to his own. After watching for a while, he approached her and invited her to learn more if she wished.

And, here they were, and here Itsuki was, setting up various devices to test her on before testing her himself. Shortly she should be arriving and Itsuki was excited. He didn't see many people use the strong fist style, and it would be refreshing to finally spar with another, no matter her skill. As he finished the set up, Itsuki heard the bell of the door and turned around, "Oh! Hello Ren! Welcome welcome. Come in and get comfortable. I just have a few final touches to do before I'm all set."

[Kabu]

"Ren, I've been thinking about it for a while but I took the liberty of enlisting you for a class at a local dojo. I didn't realize they would so readily be taking students but they seemed strangely enthusiastic about it. Now, I know that you're self taught but trust me, It'll be a wonderful experience for you, there's only so much that you can learn by yourself after all and doing some more socializing will only do you good."

Were the exact words that Ren's step mother Ayaka had spoken to her that morning over breakfast, the insistent tone and choice of words having left her with no choice but to follow along. Really she didn't have any other plans and she wasn't entirely opposed to the idea to begin with so it wasn't a terribly big deal but she had to wonder just why Ayaka had gone that far. Was she not performing up to snuff? Or was the woman simply worried about her? Her other mom hadn't had much to say much on the matter either, simply telling her that it seemed like a good idea to at least go see what they had to offer. It was all very strange and left her more than a little worried about her skill level and recent performances.

There was also the matter of the strange boy that had approached her the other day while she had been training and invited her to his place for teachings. At the time she had simply told him that she would think about it. Had Ayaka somehow known about that? The woman did seem to be strangely all knowing at times so it was certainly a possibility. Though really what were the chances of the dojos being one in the same?

Contrary to her expectations it seemed that the chances had in fact been very large as she soon arrived at her destination, blinking in surprise at the sight that awaited her. "Oh, you're that boy from the other day. What are the odds...?" she said, trailing off as she looked at her surroundings, taking note of all the instruments and such that she didn't really recognize. "Is all this really necessary? Do people in the village really need all this just for training?"