Niwa Akiko

Sighing, Gengyo put down his bow and arrow and found a rock for the lady to sit on. He cleaned it with a light amount of water before drying it with his sleeve and then with a sweep of his arm he motioned toward it.

"For the lady."

She blushed at the sudden formal way in which he addresses her, but gratefully shuffled over to the rock.

"Good?"

She nodded.

"Yes, thank you."

She was now able to comfortably watch the scene that was playing out across the water, and so Gengyo concluded his role complete, and moved back toward his position and began to practice.

Within seconds, he had regained his previous level of focus, as he drew the bow string back toward his cheek.

Remembering the previous attempts, he adjusted his aim a little over to the left, but not as much as last time. After taking a deep breath to steady his hands, he released.

THWACK.

A perfect bullseye from a range of ten metres.

It took him three attempts to find the perfect shot, despite this being his first time using a bow.

Was Gengyo satisfied? Of course not.

'Three shots is too much. The range needs increasing, and I need to be able to hit the bullseye consistently from different angles.'

He doubled the distance from the target, so that he now stood twenty paces away, and he envisioned the parabolic path in which the arrow would follow – as now gravity would start to be a factor, albeit a small one.

"You're good with the bow."

Gengyo shook his head. The girl had only seen his one good shot.

"No, that is not so. Perhaps now, I might be good at making that single shot from that distance, but that is not enough to be called good with a bow."

The girl pouted slightly at her praise being dismissed so readily. She'd begun to feel more comfortable around this man as she decided that he would not harm her.

"I am a samurai's daughter you know, usually people are happy to be praised by me."

"Is that so? Will the lady bring her household guard and arrest me for not being completely humbled by her every word?"

The girl did not expect such a harsh response, and could only respond hesitantly.

"No- uhm… The uh… Anyway! I'm not a lady. Please stop calling me that."

Gengyo prepared another shot having aimed too high on the previous one as he responded idly to the young lady.

"Oh? You're a sir then? That's a little unusual… but I suppose there are all kinds of people in this world."

The girl blushed once more after being corned as such, and fervently protested.

"No! I'm a girl – a woman!"

"Oh? Mmm that might be a lie. I thought there was something different about you… but to think you were a man. What a day, eh?"

THWACK

This arrow veered toward the left of the target, but somehow managed to stick. Gengyo tutted dissatisfied.

'It should not take another three shots. The angle is the same – well, the angle of elevation isn't, but given the distance that shouldn't matter too much.'

The girl had given him her full attention as she sought desperately for a counter argument that would prove her gender.

"But… Can't you see? I'm a woman. A man would have big hands and muscles..."

"Is that right? Then what name is this lady called by? Surely not a man's name?"

She responded quickly having been thrown a lifeline by Gengyo.

"Akiko!"

"Oh. Akiko, that's definitely a woman's name. Or maybe you've just had a lot of time to think about this? Well, it doesn't matter to me what you get up to in your spare time."

"No really, I-"

Gengyo cut her off, choosing to play with her a little more.

"Nice to meet you Akiko-chan."

Akiko blushed a most fearsome shade of red, far deeper than any of her light blushes earlier and looked as though she was about to faint. She hid her face in her hands as her heart raced.

No one had ever called her by her first name before – not outside of her family. And certainly she was rarely called Akiko-chan. Was that not how lovers would address each other?

It was too much, and she could only manage a squeak in response.

"Niwa…"

Gengyo released another arrow.

THWACK

This one hit the right hand side of the centre, but Gengyo judged it to be good enough, as he moved further toward the shore in order to change the angle but conserve the distance.

He continued to play with Akiko nonchalantly as he thought of the alternations he would have to make to his aim in order to make the target from this angle.

"Hm? What was that Akiko-chan?"

She physically recoiled upon hearing the way in which he addressed her again as she built up the resolve to refute him.

"Please… Niwa-san… not Akiko, or chan."

At this Gengyo continued to be casually merciless.

"Ah. I suppose it might be weird for a man to be addressed using a female's name. My apologies for not showing any consideration."

Annoyance over shadowed embarrassment as she allowed herself to shout in reply.

"No!! I'm not a man!"

"Ah okay. Sorry for doubting you Akiko-chan."

"NIWA-SAN!"

"Uh, my name isn't Niwa. It's Miura. Miura Tadakata. But if it's you, just call me Tadakata-chan, okay?"

Akiko grew exasperated as she took a few deep breaths to calm herself, searching for a way to get this infuriating man to address her properly.

"…Miura-kun, address me as Niwa-san."

She observed Gengyo closely as she anticipated his response.

He, in turn, released his bow string for his first attempt at this angle.

The arrow travelled all the way across the target, scratching some of the front most scraps of cloth.

'Interesting… It seems you can only get it to stick if you hit a perfect shot for this angle. When facing straight on it's a little more lenient.'

"Oh, okay. Hello Niwa-san."

His response was met with a huge sigh of relief from Akiko as she revelled in the triumph of teaching this ignorant man of how to properly address people.

THWACK

The next arrow hit the exposed tree above the target, shattering the point.

"You need to aim down a bit."

Gengyo regarded her lightly with a glance, and turned back to his task.

Nocking another arrow, he drew back, steadying his breath.

And then he released it.

THWACK

A bullseye.

'Three shots again, huh… I wonder if I go back and retry the same angles will I be able to do it in one shot?'

"See. Listen to me and you'll be an amazing archer in no time."

"Mmm, is little miss Niwa-san familiar with the bow?"

"Yes. I often watch my father's men training."

Gengyo was paying her very little attention, as he moved back to the straight shot position, preparing to test whether he'd retained his ability to strike the bullseye

"Is that so?"

"Yup. On this shot, aim higher than you think you should."

"Hmm. I'll try that next time. Let me do it my way first, if it please the little miss Niwa-san."

He released, according to the previous calculations he had made whilst in this spot.

THWACK

Bullseye.

Akiko pouted at that.

"You listened to me anyway, even if you didn't admit it."

Gengyo responded absentmindedly.

"Is that so?"

"Yup. I'm sure."

"Okay."

Akiko finally caught on that he wasn't paying her any attention – her father often did the same thing.

"Hey! I know you're not listening, Miura-kun. I'm the landowner's daughter, you know? I could make things difficult for you.

At that Gengyo finally paid her some attention. He released the tension in his bow, and turned to her with a fierce glare.

"Will you?"

"…No."

Came the meek response.

Gengyo nodded.

"Good. I will do my best not to make things difficult for you either."

Akiko cocked her head at that. How could a peasant make things difficult for her?

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you're evidently not meant to be here. I'm sure if your father found out, you'd be in a good deal of trouble."

She flinched slightly.

"I'm going to be in trouble anyway…"

"Is that so? Did you run away from a festival or something?"

Akiko chose her words carefully, as her mind raced back to the reality that she had ran away from.

"No, not a festival. Not for me."

Gengyo drew his bow, aiming for the already embedded arrow.

"A wedding then?"

THWACK

She froze, staring at him with big eyes.

"Bullseye."

"How did you kno-"

"A guess. Please tell me you didn't run away from the actual ceremony…"

She blushed.

"No… The hand maids were making me try on outfits."

"And you got tired of it, and ran away here?"

She nodded.

Gengyo sighed, placing his bow and arrows against a rock, before giving Akiko his full attention.

"Your father is probably searching for you."

"Yes..."

"He's going to be worried."

"Mhmm..."

"Shouldn't you go back, then? The longer you wait, the worse the scolding you're going to get."

She shook her head urgently.

"No, not yet. A little longer."

"Is it really that bad?"

She didn't reply.

"I can sympathise with you a little. A simple life is definitely better."

She perked up at that.

"You think so?"

"Yup."

Her enthusiasm quickly died, as she voiced her doubts.

"But you're a peasant. What would you know about the complicated?"

Gengyo smiled a sly smile, brushing the hair back from his face.

"More than you can imagine, young miss. You've never had to worry about whether there will be enough food to fill your belly. Nor have you had to work all day tilling the fields. You have lived a relaxed life. And now the time has come for you to fulfil your duty as a daughter, you run?"

"No! No… it's not like that. It's just… Anyone but him. I would rather starve for weeks than share a bed with the likes of him."

Gengyo scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"Ho, quite the disgust you feel toward him."

She nodded emphatically.

"He's the worst person in the whole worst. I'll kill myself if I have to marry him."

"Have you told your father? I doubt he'd want to see his precious daughter unhappy."

At this, she looked slightly mournful.

"It's not that simple… father doesn't want me to be married either but-"

Gengyo raised a hand, stopping her there.

"I understand. Best not tell me too much, eh? I'm just a peasant after all. You'd probably feel guilty later if you did."

Akiko blushed slightly, realizing that her tongue had run away with her, and she was about to reveal things that an outsider must not know.

"How long do you have?"

"Two weeks, maybe."

"Do you best to enjoy them."

She saw Gengyo begin to walk away, as he lifted his bow and arrows up with him.

"Wait! You're going already, Miura-kun?"

"Yup. It's getting dark, little miss. It would be unwise for me to stay out much longer. You should head back soon too."

"Oh. Do you mind if I come back here in future? It's a rather nice place to train my bow."

Akiko agreed unhesitantly, calling out to him before he disappeared into the trees.

"Okay! Will you be coming tomorrow?"

"Yes, likely around the same time. See you around Niwa-san."

And then, he disappeared into the foliage, leaving Akiko to whisper her farewells to herself.

"Goodbye, Miura-kun."