thenearshore | 013 | Down To Business

Entry tags:

013 | Down To Business

Who: Everyone!
What: Training
When: Morning June 16
Where: Bishamon's temple
Summary: Training sessions for everyone to learn more about their abilities and jobs!

Many people have been wanting to know more about their abilities and what they are required to do here in the Far Shore. So, in conjunction with Bishamonten, the Heavens have seen fit to offer an open training session for everyone to participate in. Here you will be able to learn anything and everything about what you should be able to do and what is expected of you in your new positions.

Bishamon's temple is sweeping and gorgeous, having previously been home to hundreds of shinki. She has graciously offered to hold this training session and will be available to help anyone who needs it.

Equipment

Various kinds of mannequins and dummies have been provided for practice, as well as targets that are either stationary or move, depending on your will. Punching bags, jumping blocks, and a large pool area have also been provided for your use, so that you can find a tool for pretty much anything that you might need to practice. Plenty of practice weapons of various weights, sizes, and shapes are also available upon request from any of the many white-clad shinki that are also attending today.

God Training

Bishamon herself will be the foremost source of information regarding being a god and what is expected of you. It is also encouraged that gods group up together to practice what they've learned and discuss their ideologies. Random groupings can be provided by the mods or you may come up with your own groupings together.

Shinki Training

Various shinki are available to help with shinki training, including Kazuma and all of Bishamon's shinki. Additionally, the white-clad shinki will be more than happy to train you on using the borderline and some of the basics of what is expected of a shinki. It is also encouraged that shinki group up together to practice what they've learned and discuss their ideologies. Random groupings can be provided by the mods or you may come up with your own groupings together.

Refreshments

There is a refreshments table provided. It is covered with light snacks and various kinds of hydrating drinks. There is a little sitting area set up for people to relax in after they have finished their training or if they're even just taking a quick break to cool down. The Heavens want you to stay in good condition!

In Summary:

Use the state of the art equipment
Learn about your job
Form groups to practice
Don't get dehydrated
Spectate if you want
Have fun~

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That's the most sensible way to do it. [Not that Shun takes much consideration of how sensible some things might be outside training, but he can have this one thing.

As soon as Ren expresses that sign of being in pain, Shun lets up, because pushing it further than that is likely to be more dangerous than helpful. Much as Ren, in his experience, has anywhere from a high tolerance to general enjoyment of pain, there's no point if it's not doing anything for him.]

If it hurts already, I'm not pushing it further. But if you need help getting up you can just ask.

[It's put by Shun as if it's the most obvious thing in the world, rather than an offer out of any level of him being nice about this.]

[Wow, Shun, the pain he's okay with and this pain are completely different, thank you very much.

...Okay, actually, this isn't so bad. But he is glad that Shun isn't going to push it further because then it would be. And he definitely agree that it should be accomplishing something other than just hurting him.]

I'll keep that in mind. [Of course, if Shun's willing to help him up during their lessons, it shouldn't be so surprising that he is here too.] How long do you want me to stay like this?

[At the question, Shun considers for a moment, weighing how much he thinks Ren can probably handle along with what comes out to a relatively convenient round if he takes it in repetitions.]

Try thirty seconds, then ten without using your hands to balance. That should make it easy to adapt it to however many minutes you want to work with in practice.

[Forty total is a flexible number, since three sets comes to two minutes and he can go from there if he wants.]

There's other basic things you'll want to do with it as well - reaching to your toes for the spine, holding your legs up to your back, basically normal stretches except you'll need to focus on them rather than using them as a prelude to something.

[Ren would nod if he didn't think it would make it harder to balance, so he hums a little in agreement instead. He'll probably have to write that down later...and the rest of it too, probably...]

Touching my toes isn't too bad... [He can actually do that, for one thing, if only barely.] What do you mean by holding you leg up to your back?

[Since any way he could describe that particular stretch could probably be misinterpreted quite a bit, Shun instead elects to show Ren what he means. Except it's pretty obvious that as soon as he lifts his leg back far enough that his foot is higher than his head, even if he is holding it firmly with one hand stretched back, and his back is curved with the motion almost as sharply as it had been on the beam earlier, this isn't a stretch that Ren is going to be able to do immediately either. It looks very much like a dance stretch, but it also looks very much like Shun absolutely does not give a damn as long as it works.]

Obviously it won't be this high for you from the start, but since you have to hold the leg with your hand anyway, it's not that hard to practice.

[To be honest, he probably could have figured that out on his own eventually, but if asking meant getting Shun to show off a little more, then he sure is glad he asked. It's a shame he didn't learn all this for fun; he's really quite beautiful...]

--Can you stay like that for a few more seconds?

[Suddenly struck by inspiration--and not a moment too soon because he's starting to get tired of standing like this--Ren falls backward onto his butt and quickly starts digs out his phone. Then he lies back in the grass to get the best view of Shun that he can from the ground and starts lining up the camera.]

[Watching Ren fall over in various ways isn't exactly new territory for Shun at this point, and though he gives Ren a bit of a dry look, he's perfectly capable of holding the position for whatever idea it is Ren's suddenly had.

When the phone comes out, however, Shun turns his head a little, eyes narrowed.]

What are you doing? [Again, he doesn't actually break posture, but he does look incredibly suspect now. He doesn't exactly have wide experience with people suddenly deciding to pull cameras on him, but that just means he has absolutely no inkling of why it is Ren's suddenly decided this is necessary.]

[Ren doesn't answer that right away, choosing to take the picture first and then answer, just in case telling Shun what he's doing makes him decide to move.]

Taking a picture. So I know what it's supposed to look like later.

[And maybe another one if shun doesn't decide to move first.]

[Well, at the very least, Shun had figured out that it was a picture, so the belated answer doesn't get more than a somewhat irritable sigh out of him. Still, if it's for reference, then having his head turned to the side squinting at Ren probably isn't going to add to it any, so after a moment he turns to face front again so his neck is in line with everything else.]

Take it when I'm not looking at you, then. [...Well, he is still kind of looking at Ren, but it's just out of his peripherals rather than his head turned in that direction.]

[Well, the one he took with Shun glaring at him came out fine but...

Like hell is he not going to take the opportunity to take another one if Shun is fine with that and willing to pose a little better for it. It's definitely a better picture in the end (although that's not going to stop him from keeping all of them).]

Perfect! [And with his mission completed, he tucks his phone away again, and then looks pathetically up at Shun.]

I think you'll have to help me get up.

[Shun would probably be much less willing to do a repeat performance if he knew Ren was going to keep all of them, but unfortunately not knowing any other reason somoene might take a picture of him brings him to what he considers the logical conclusion that Ren intends to delete the other one.

As Ren puts his phone away, Shun returns himself to a normal standing position, letting his leg down with a grace born of being too careful about his movements rather than any actual intent. Not a moment too soon, because as soon as he does, Ren gives him that look, and as tempting as it is to leave him to try and get himself upright for thinking Shun can be swayed by faux patheticness, Shun sighs slightly and leans down, extending a hand.]

Making that face at me is going to make me less likely to help you up.

[For a moment there, he's worried that he might have overdone it and Shun is going to fall for it too much and just leave him there--but no, he needn't have worried. Of course Shun would come through for him, even if he didn't really need it. It almost makes him want to let Shun just pull him up without trying anything as a reward. Almost.

Ren smiles and reaches up to grab his hand, letting himself get pulled up a little.]

I have to make that face or you'd suspect me.

[And then partway through that sentence, he tugs hard on Shun's arm to try to unbalance him and, with luck, pull him down and roll them over until he has Shun pinned to the ground. They are still supposed to be training, after all.]

[The timing is good, Shun gives Ren that as soon as he realises what's going on - if he'd simply been leant over, even with Ren pulling on that hand he might've been able to keep himself balanced. Leaving it until he's actually in the midst of pulling him up makes it just about impossible to do so, and though he clearly knows how to take the fall, Shun does end up losing his balance with the pull of his arm.

However, he's not going to let Ren have that easy a time of it trying to pin him, and as soon as Ren tries to roll them over, he throws his weight and strength with it in an attempt to keep them going until Ren's on the bottom again. He could probably resist the movement with enough effort, but using the momentum in his favour seems like the smarter option at this point.]

[It works well enough at first that it takes Ren by surprise--surely Shun wouldn't let himself go down that easily. So while he isn't surprised by Shun trying to fight back as soon as hit the ground, the force of it does take him off guard and Shun easily manages to roll them over again.

As soon as he feel his back hitting the ground, Ren tries to do the same thing and use their momentum to keep rolling over, but he just wasn't prepared enough to keep it going and ends up pushing uselessly against Shun for a moment before he finally lets himself get pinned down.

Well, at least it isn't Hibari this time. And he can definitely still learn something from this.]

[As soon as Ren tries to push back and fails, Shun shifts his grip and pins Ren's wrists at either side of his head to finish the move. His weight on his upper half is enough that it might even be a struggle to lift himself up enough for a headbutt or similar, and he moves his legs to push at either side of Ren's and trap them together to prevent a retaliatory kicking of any kind as well. Let it not be said that he isn't thorough about this sort of thing.

That's largely because Shun has at least one comment to make here, and he'd rather it not be interrupted by Ren deciding it's a good idea to try something else. For all Ren did manage to catch him off-guard at the start, his comment is typically detached and professional as he tends to be around these matters.]

Your timing was good, but anyone with experience will be fighting back before you can pin them fully. If they turn it into a match of strength like I did, you still don't stand a chance against that, especially if you start yourself on the bottom. Not to mention most enemies aren't going to be offering you a hand up and willingly leaving themselves vulnerable.

[It's probably good that Shun doesn't stop at pinning his wrists, because he almost certainly would have tried something before Shun had a chance to talk. Being overpowered like this and having Shun so close and looming over him...it's frustrating but thrilling, the way it is every time Shun overpowers him in some way (the way it was with Kai and Aichi) and it actually hard to breathe normally with how much he wants to try to throw Shun off and overpower him the same way but also to stay just like this...

At least with his attention fixed so firmly on Shun, he doesn't miss anything of what he's saying, and he's pretty sure he'll remember it clear as crystal later.]

...No, but they might try to tackle me to the ground, and this was a lot like that. [He's speaking from experience here, okay.] I might not have a choice but to start from the bottom.

[When they're this close, it's difficult for Shun not to notice that complete attentiveness, even the breath, and he tilts his head a bit, looking Ren up and down. It doesn't look like he hurt himself on the way down, and he'd had plenty of time to prepare for Shun landing on him...

And judging by that response, there's nothing really wrong here. So though Shun still looks a little concerned by the reaction, he lets it go to focus on the comment, because that makes it pretty clear Ren's experienced this before.]

True. You need to be more prepared next time, then. The momentum can't keep going if you hesitate or leave yourself open for even a moment.

[Despite returning to the subject at hand, Shun's still looking Ren over to make sure he didn't knock his head on the way down or anything. Pupil size is one of the first things he knows to check for, but he only really gets as far as looking over Ren's eyes before he hesitates briefly.

And then he leans in even closer, eyes narrowed slightly, like he's noticed something. Unfortunately, he's also paying enough attention to accordingly increase his weight on Ren's upper half.]

Maybe you should add randomly trying to tackling me to your lessons so I can practice.

[At this rate, they're going to have to up the number of days they meet again to fit everything in. Not that he would have a problem with that.

Aaand Shun is getting very close, there. Ren takes in a sharp breath and flexes his hands a bit as the pressure on his wrists increases, but it's still more uncomfortable than hurting for now, and no doubt Shun can feel the way his pulse just picked up more easily now. He can certainly feel it pounding in his wrists as he stares right back into Shun's eyes.

What is he looking at? And why does he need to get that close to look at it? Ren can certainly think of one reason to get that close, which...now that he's thought of it, that wouldn't be so bad. But that's definitely not what Shun is thinking about.]

...Kurosaki?

[Staring back only really adds to the length of time of Shun's little inspection, because he's paying particular attention to Ren's slitted pupils. Ignoring the fact that they're entirely useless for what he was originally intending to glean from looking at Ren's eyes, this is the first time he's really noticed the detail.

However, he wouldn't be paying as much attention if that was the only reason - rather than trying to figure anything about the eyes out, he's trying to figure out why his attention was drawn by them so easily in the first place. Facial features aren't usually something he notices any more than as a means to identify someone.

It takes him a moment to consider the point that he's leaving his attention here to think without really needing to, and without being overpowered by his usual restless urge to look around him and scope out the environment. That means, he supposes, that it's what people would call a "nice" thing to look at.

The mention of his name snaps him out of the introspective moment, though, and Shun draws back slightly, letting up the pressure a little in accordance with the motion, blinking in the direction of Ren's wrists as he belatedly notices the change in pulse speed.]

It's nothing. You're fine. [Now what was it he'd said before, and how exactly did he miss it so thoroughly?] ...If you think you need it.

[That had better be an accurate answer, because he legitimately doesn't know how he failed to register the bulk of what was said.]

I think you were the one implying I needed it.

[...Wow, had he really been that far inside his own head? He'd be concerned if it weren't just a little bit funny. Shun never lets his attention lapse like that. Whatever he'd been searching for in Ren's eyes must have been important.

Ren tilts his head to the side a little to make his amused but curious look seem just that more curious.]

Are you all right? Usually I'm the one who zones out like that.

[And there is probably a reason for that zoning out that he's going to have to reflect on later when Shun isn't still looming over him and making his pulse race, but he has his doubts as to whether that's also Shun's reason.]

[Oh right, that. At the very least, Shun considers that a victory in the sense that he wasn't completely caught out in ignorance, and with that comment he can piece together a better idea of what it is he missed. Which is exactly why he tilts his head up a bit in the manner he does when he's trying to be intimidating, as if Ren's the one who lost the conversation here and not him, because he can still try to preserve some pride out of this exchange.]

Then that just means we both think you need it, and it's at least worth adding to see if it works.

[Unfortunately, Shun has a much easier sidestep for the second question, tilting one of his hands and Ren's wrist with it.]

Shouldn't I be asking you that question, if you've worn yourself out just from that basic a move? [Definitely nailed the reason for the pulse rate rise there.]

[If anything, that posturing just makes Ren look even more amused. If Shun really thinks he can intimidate him in any way, especially now that they've known each other for a few months, then he obviously hasn't been paying attention. He's not going to fall for that transparent attempt to seem like he was paying attention the whole time either.

But Shun successfully changes the subject with that observation, because it's hilariously wrong and also something Ren doesn't exactly want to go into when he only really realized himself why it's wrong a minute ago and is still sorting that out. How is he supposed to explain that if Shun wanted to lean down and kiss him, that would fine, when Shun already has trouble accepting that someone might actually think he's attractive in some way and like spending time with him?

Still, it is hilariously wrong and he can't quite let that go.]

I'm not worn out, I'm just a little excited. You really got my adrenaline going with that move.

[Okay, so he probably should have expected that the posturing wasn't going to work on Ren at this point, but he just goes on as if they both don't know that it didn't. Accepting the other outcome would be letting Ren win, as far as he's concerned.

The change of subject helps, because it means he can just transition to that and talk about something he actually can follow reliably. It does take him a moment after Ren says that to remember the exact time his pulse rate had sped up in particular, though, and Shun lets out a slight sigh as he puts two and two together...]

Of course. I should've guessed you'd start getting excited when it started hurting more. [...and gets five rather than four.]

[Genuine surprise flickers across his face that Shun actually guessed which move in particular he really meant (although getting pinned had certainly been part of it too), and that he's...not all that far off the mark either. It's not quite right either, but he'd be lying if he said that wasn't part of it. It's certainly a fantastic excuse to cling to, anyway.]

Sorry. Usually I'm better prepared for it, but you took me by surprise. But that tells you for sure that I'm fine, right?

[Shun seems to consider that for a moment before giving a somewhat non-committal sound in answer. However, he does lean his weight off Ren finally, and after a moment, stands himself up in one fluid motion so Ren isn't pinned under him anymore. This time, he's paying extra attention in case Ren decides to pull anything else on the way up.]

You're not getting a hand up whether you're fine or not. [The remark is made in such a deadpan manner it's hard to tell if he's being serious or not.]

013 | Down To Business

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