Chapter 8: So this is Kendo?

A normal class in a normal school.

Well as normal as Rosemary Academy as it could be.

But for our beloved cross-dressing Agent, it is indeed a new experience for someone like him, the feeling of trekking in a vast desert as an unknown oasis awaits him out of nowhere.

Rosemary Academy indeed lives up to its expectations as all of the instructors are true masters of their profession. The faculty is very knowledgeable in the subject matter, most of them having a master's degree in their respective fields and a significant number possessing a doctorate, symbolizing their outstanding proficiency in what they specialize in teaching.

The first few hours are indeed a delight for the Agent as the blue-haired boy-girl was rather enthusiastic in listening to the lessons being taught, his attention going to every detail, every word of what the instructors are delivering in front of the whole class.

Sure the B.S.S. has its Academic program, where they teach their young agents the curriculum required for them to expand their knowledge and at the same time, cope up with the norms and progression of society. This is also to ensure that the agents won't be ignorant especially during missions, in some cases where they have to blend in as a normal civilian with a proper educational background.

But the difference is a bit distinct.

Inducting children in the Agency is actually a common practice in the B.S.S.

After all, it is easier to train and mold them into effective agents starting from a very young age. Their recruitment is only limited to children who are orphans and beggars, the ones who don't have any family to get back with.

Of course, the Brotherhood still gave them a choice, not being nefarious like other questionable companies in the Underworld. But just as expected, most of the children did not hesitate to join the cause because, in their situation, food and bed under a roof are what's most important right now with the addition of the benefits and stable pay.

The Agency anticipated such an outcome, using gratitude and some sugar coating as a driving point for the children to... volunteer as they would like to call it.

The reality though is not exactly kind as it seems.

Only the best emerged from the harsh training that the Brotherhood has offered, with death being unavoidable in the casualties. Those who survived have become top-notch agents, proficient in every form of combat, social skills, stealth, psychology, and other useful skills in the field.

In regards to Academics, Agents younger than 12 are required to attend classes being held in their respective branches when they are off duty. Because of this, classes are irregular. Some classmates come and go as fitted in their mission schedules, and catching up with the lessons can be bothersome and hard but it is required as for one to be versatile in the aspects of intellect.

Unlike in a normal class, the atmosphere is rather stiff where learning can be quite a bore.

In here, Rin actually enjoyed the class, a refreshing change for once in the darkroom where the Brotherhood trained children to be efficient killers.

But still, he would admit-

Learning multiple ways to kill a person is even more fun than learning something that he comes to hate at this very moment...

Fucking...

Math.

With a subtle yawn, Rin scribbled some random drawings on his notes, allowing time to pass in its natural state rather than to listen why a fucking x just turned into a number.

__________________________

After class, Rin together with his new friends, Keana, Meiko, and Kana met up inside the reception hall of Butterfly Dorm.

The three girls who are being punished are now wearing the proper attire for cleaning. They change into the official red school tracksuit with a pair of issued white-red rubber shoes.

"Oh man, this sucks. Is it even legal to force child labor on us?! Cleaning the toilets inside the School building!?" Keana complained, throwing a tantrum while stomping her foot in frustration.

"On the bright side, at least it's just two floors out of the six floors of the building, with having two restrooms, one on each at the end of the hallway. So that's a total of 4 restrooms we are going to clean." Meiko said, also not liking this a bit but she knows that it is useless to complain and just have to deal with it.

Keana groaned in response while Rin smiled and turned his face to Kana, who seemed to be lost on her thoughts, showing to be brooding.

"You alright Kana?" Rin asked the brown-haired heiress.

Kana realized that the three of them turned their attention on her, their faces with the look of concern.

"Oh, I'm fine!! Just thinking about stuff, you know Erendal business and all that hehehe." Kana chuckled awkwardly.

"You seemed troubled Kana is everything alright?" Meiko asked with worry.

"Of course!!! Its fine girls." Kana smiled and looked at her wristwatch. "Look, I guess you girls should be cleaning before it's going to be really late!!"

The girls widen their eyes and indeed it is about 5:30 pm. They don't want to be spending the whole night cleaning some toilets and in Rin's case, the entire Kendo Club Dojo.

"Right, well I guess we'll see you later Kana!!" Keana waved her hands and together with Meiko hurriedly left the dorm.

Kana returned the same gesture with a smile and realized that Rin was still here.

"Aren't you going with them?" The brown-haired girl tilted her head in curiosity.

Rin sighed as he shook his head in disapproval. His face expressing a deep frown as he eyed at the girl with a sad look.

"You know if you have something to tell them, you don't have to hesitate. We are your friends after all."

The heiress' expression stiffened as she looks at Rin and forced a smile. "I don't know what you are talking about Rina. I told you, girls, I'm fine."

Rin merely looks at her for a while and then return to his happy go lucky face with a wide grin.

"Whatever you say, Kana. A word of advice though... It's better for secrets to be revealed by oneself than to be revealed by others. Hurts less that way."

With his parting words, Rin left the dorm as Kana look at his retreating form, the latter's pretty face pondering the former's words.

__________________________

'I'm such a fucking hypocrite.' Rin thought with a scowl wondering why he decided to speak up and not shut up about it.

An agent telling someone not to be secretive? The irony is very strong indeed.

After his conversation with Kana, Rin is now inside the Dojo. He told the club manager about his circumstances and the latter told him that the cleaning materials are all available inside the Dojo's storeroom.

"Late on your first day? I guess its reasonable and considering your homeroom teacher being Ms. Stone, you are indeed lucky for having this minor punishment instead of your two friends cleaning the restrooms in the school building."

The club manager then realized something "Oh right I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Piper Crane, club manager of the Kendo Club."

Piper is a beautiful 2nd-year student with short green hair. As mark by her position, she has a yellow armband with the abbreviation C.M. written on it.

Being only a manager, she was the only one wearing the school uniform while the other members, about only twenty of them, are wearing the standard Kendo gear or the 'bogu'.

A set of 'bogu' has four pieces of equipment.

The 'men', a helmet which is a combined face mask and shoulder protectors.

The 'kote', gauntlets which is a hand and forearm protector.

The 'do', a torso protector or the breastplate.

And lastly, the 'tare', the faulds or groin and leg protectors.

Rin smiled sheepishly in acknowledgment "Right. I'm Rina Mayfield and yeah lucky me for Ms. Stone to be lenient."

Piper returned the smile in a friendly manner.

"You may clean our dojo when the practice is over. In the meantime, why don't you take a look at our spars? Our Kendo club prides ourselves as one of the best as we are consistently at the top during the nationals." Piper proclaimed with enthusiasm in every word.

"Yeah, I guess I'll do that." Rin agreed and took a seat somewhere in the sidelines together with the club manager joining him.

"Kendo... I heard that it is a sword fight that originates in Japan right?" Rin added as he clarified with Piper.

"Yes, and the Kingdom of Twilight also enjoys such wondrous sport," Piper replied and she pointed her finger at the practitioners gathering in the center of the tatami.

"Before we start our club activities, we recite the purpose of practicing Kendo, the Concept of Kendo at heart as established by the All Japan Kendo Federation in 1975."

All of the practitioners took their places in the tatami and assumed seiza, the standard formal traditional way of sitting in Japan.

"The purpose of practicing Kendo is..." An attractive black-haired girl tied in a ponytail initiated the speech.

The rest followed, all reciting in a perfectly synchronized manner like it is as natural as breathing for them.

"To mold the mind and body!!!

To cultivate a vigorous spirit!!!

And through correct and rigid training!!!

To strive for improvement in the art of Kendo!!!

To hold in esteem human courtesy and honor!!!

To associate with others with sincerity!!!

And to forever pursue the cultivation of oneself!!!

This will make one be able:

To love his/her country and society!!!

To contribute to the development of culture!!!

And to promote peace and prosperity among all peoples!!!"

Rin was amazed by the harmony that the practitioners have demonstrated, showing a good sense of discipline within the ranks.

"Impressed Rina? You could join the club if you want to. We also accept beginners and are willing to train." Piper offered Rin.

"I'll think about it." Were Rin's response and the club manager simply nodded in acknowledgment.

After the reciting of the Concept, the practitioners begun their club activities, assigning pairs for their sparring practice.

True to his word, Rin spectated the spars and Piper demonstrated the rules to him.

"As you can see, Kendo makes use of the scoring system. To put it simply, an opponent may be struck in seven places: both sides and top of the helmet or the 'men', on either hand which are the gloves or 'kote' or either side of the body breastplate or the 'do'. There is also one legal thrust (Tsuki) on the throat. The "men" can only be struck from the face, not from the back. However, only one of the two hands can be struck, it depends on which kind of posture("kamae") your opponent is using. A struck to the right side of the body (one kind of "do") will often be ignored by the referee because, in the old days, a samurai will have a smaller sword in this position, which gives this position good protection. It is very important because "Tsuki" is somehow dangerous, junior practicer performs "Tsuki" is forbidden both in a match and daily training. In a match, the attacker must name the location of each strike. Often, name these locations by Japanese list before("men","kote","do","Tsuki"), but some people will name it by Korean or Chinese or other languages, or even a meaningless shout. All these kinds of shout names "Kiai". An effective attack must contain "Kiai" besides other essential factors."

As Piper finished her explanation, We find Rin shaking and clutching his head in pain with his body wobbly as he said: "English please."

Piper raised her hands apologetically and said "Sorry about that. I guess I got to work up to about it."

Rin grinned "Don't apologize. Being passionate about something that you obviously love is nothing to be sorry about."

Piper's face brightens at what Rin answered and the two continued to watch the spars.

Three Kendo bouts later and we find Rin pondering about the movements and techniques utilized by the practitioners.

'Kendo seemed to be merely only for sport and self-discipline as none of them don't even have the intent to harm, not to mention the intent to kill as opposed to my swordsmanship. Their movements seemed decent and athletic but nothing on the level that the Brotherhood has trained us.'

While Rin was lost on his thoughts, he was tugged by Piper and the 4th spar is about to commence.

"Look, Rina, it seems you'll enjoy this one very much," Piper said as she points at one particular practitioner.

It was the pretty girl who led the reciting of the Concept earlier. Her face can be described as heavenly with a tall and slim figure but is nevertheless feminine and on a league with a beautiful Japanese shrine maiden. She also displays an aura of discipline, stern in every movement as she shows assertiveness and authority in her subordinates.

"Her name is Hanabi Nakamura. She's half Japanese and the Kendo national champion of Twilight for two consecutive years thus also being the Captain of the Club." Piper introduced the practitioner whose black hair is styled in a pony-tail.

'What a babe!!' were Rin's thoughts as he eyed the girl's mature assets.

When the spar began, Rin took note of every movement that Hanabi has been displaying inside the Tatami.

'I see. She is indeed the national champion. Her execution is precise and fluid without any wasted movement. Her reflexes are top tier, perhaps on a league with some of the Agents and that is very remarkable indeed. She must have trained and cultivated such techniques from a very young age for her to be such a master in her craft. If the Brotherhood recruited her, then she will be a very valuable asset in our organization.'

The spar came to an end when Hanabi struck the 'men' or the helmet of her opponent, causing the latter to knockdown from the impact. Both practitioners bow their heads and returned to their respective posts.

"Excellent work as always girls!! You are indeed improving as the days go by and as your Captain, I'm very proud of you all!!" Hanabi spoke with integrity, each and every word inspiring the members of the Kendo Club to keep improving as depicted by the Concept.

And just like that, club activities officially ended and for Rin, its time to rid the entire Dojo of dirt.

__________________________

After Piper and the practitioners have left the building, we find Rin mopping the floors of the Dojo after being done in cleaning most of the Dojo and it is now night time, the clock shown to be at around 7:15 pm.

'Phew, let's see, windows squeaky clean, all dust removed in every surfaces and corner, walls completely wiped. The last thing is the floor and spraying the place with air freshener then back to the dorms. Damn it I should be guarding Kana right now. Given the experience yesterday, I suppose she'll be fine and will stay in the room for the time being.'

While on his thoughts, his attention caught the sight of a weapon rack filled with bamboo swords.

Rin seemed to be genuinely interested in the weapons as he set aside his mop in the corner and opted to pick one of the bamboo swords from the rack.

"I remembered one of the practitioners calling this a shinai. It seems to be lighter compared to my katana."

Looking around to see someone is present, Rin decided to take a test of this weapon.

In the tatami, Rin assumed his very own stance, his hands gripping on the grip of the shinai and his posture seemed to relax. In the blink of an eye, he dashed forth, covering a considerable distance and stabbing the shinai into thin air.

'Master taught me to emulate a battle within the mind.'

Closing his eyes, Rin performed a series of slashes, the execution of his every movement is almost perfect with little to no faults. The graceful maneuver of his swordsmanship and the sheer force of every strike is always accompanied by the strong wind.

Rin, focused at training inside his mindscape failed to notice a girl with a uniform and a shinai strap on her back entering the dojo and she was awestruck upon witnessing the boy's masterful skill of the blade as she peered from the corner.

'That girl, she's the one who accompanied Piper earlier.'

She continued to observe the boy's performance, chatting down everything inside her mind.

As she moves a bit, she accidentally stumbled the mop, unaware it was even there in the first place.

The sound of the impact immediately alerted Rin. In an instant, he stops his action and looked at the source.

And oh boy was he indeed screwed.

Both eyes lock with one another as Rin twitch his eyes and smiled awkwardly.

'Crap.' Was all that he could think of.

The girl pointed her very own shinai right at Rin.

"Fight me." Her voice was strict in every tone.

Rin could only shake his head as Hanabi Nakamura eyed him with a challenging look.