Turning Swallow

Summary:

OR, One morning, four-year-old Sasaki Kojiro remembers a life not yet lived, and decides to do something about it. History changes. SI!Sasaki Kojiro. Expect general lightheartedness, but dark topics when the time comes.

CH. 8 START

So far, the hardest part of his new routine wasn't waking up in the morning, nor was it the physical exercise itself. The hardest part had been mustering up the will to continue to do them, in spite of his poor muscles. On the very first day after he'd gained his new memories, he'd woken up in pain, every single one of his limbs aching from the exercise he'd put them through yesterday. Though he'd woken up early, he hadn't actually been able to move until the rooster outside had begun to crow. He first forced one arm to straighten, muscle fibers groaning in protest. Once that arm was extended and able to move, he went on to the next, pushing through the pain to extend his arm. The limbs had stiffened overnight, making him feel as if his arms were made of lead rather than flesh. He got up on shaky legs and went about his morning routine, stumbling to the water bucket to wash his face and brush his teeth. With great effort, he pulled on clothes that weren't sleepwear and walked out of the house, bracing himself against the doorframe when he almost stumbled. He grabbed the uwa-obi, not bothering to even put it on, and once he stepped out into the cold air, he unsheathed his blade, placing the sash and scabbard on the ground. He raised the blade above his head, took a deep breath, before swinging it. His limbs immediately rebelled, seizing up and forcing him to drop the weapon. It bounced off the dirt a few times, eventually skidding to a halt roughly five feet away. He retrieved his sword and returned it to its home. Bladework wasn't an option today, as he'd expected. He'd been somehow hoping that some of the supernatural qualities of Seigen had rubbed off on him, but no, he was still just as human as before.

That wasn't an issue though. Instead, he would work on his flexibility today. A large part of the inspiration to do so came from his desire for the state of Embodiment, that ability to move faster than was humanly possible. Seigen was an man able to move about forty-four feet in the blink of an eye , and in spite of what his grandfather said, he was old. His body was failing him, and more often than not, when the old man wasn't fighting, he moved with his back slightly bent. If he could move like that, then when Kojiro achieved such power, how fast could he move? The closest he could get to practicing that was trying to achieve as much control over his own body as possible, hence the day of flexibility exercise. His memories had readily provided to him an abundant number of ways to shape his body into its ideal state, methods that this era didn't really have. Pushups, squats, situps, and the splits were easy ways to train specific areas of his body that needed rapid improvement, rather than the general health that the samurai training regime offered. Arms to swing faster and harder, legs and thighs to add more force to his attacks, as well as to pivot and dodge, and core strength to pull off maneuvers like all of the other Sasaki Kojiros that he'd read about. As for why he was putting himself through the pain of the splits, well, that was as simple as his desire to make himself as limber as possible to avoid muscle cramps.

Soon, a week passed and his schedule began to take shape. On the first day of his routine, he did swordwork, swinging his blade over and over. On the second day, he stretched himself and on the third day, he just ran, given that his body was too tired to do anything else. He'd tried to alternate between flexibility and swordwork, but that hadn't worked out. The good news was that his schedule made sure he didn't hurt himself trying to improve too quickly. On the forth, rather than exercise or anything else, he did his chores, replacing his water and cleaning his clothes. In the time left over, he reviewed the scroll and stretched. Then he repeated the entire thing. When he could though, he visited the bathhouses and their onsen, for the hotsprings did wonders for his soreness.

A month passed and Kojiro felt like he was in better shape than ever. In his other life, he'd never been fit, simply not unhealthy, and in this life, he'd always been a little scrawny. Not anymore. Even if there was still a layer of baby fat on his body, beneath it was the musculature of a bodybuilder. At least, that's what Kojiro hoped he would look like in the future. Now, despite there being undeniable muscle underneath his skin, he still had a case of severe babyface.

Another month passed, and though Kojiro hadn't really changed his schedule, not adding weights for fear of damaging his body, he did make sure to eat extra at meals. He was aware that the food in his era was less nutritious than the food in his other life so to compensate, he just ate more. He'd convinced Seigen to get the chef to provide eggs, chicken, and salmon, foods that gave lots of benefits for a relatively low calorie cost. They had been expensive but the old man had been indulgent, and seeing that Kojiro's physique seemed to visibly improve the more he ate, Seigen soon ordered the rest of the Dojo to be fed the same food. More than that, he'd even grown taller, only noticing the fact when he began to not need to hold his sword so high to prevent it from biting into the ground.

Half a year later, a full eight months from when he'd first awoken his new memories, at age five, he was finally deemed old enough to begin sparring with the rest of his generation. Prior, Kojiro was only able to watch the spars and make notes, given the fact that a sparring accident could really mess up his growth. Though he would have argued that five wasn't all too different from four, he enjoyed the chance to test himself against those older and more practiced. After all, the only way to improve was to constantly challenge himself. Even though he'd slowly begun to raise the difficulty of his training, he could only get so far on his own.

He arrived at the Dojo in the afternoon and was subsequently informed that he was to spar with one of his senior brothers, a man named Higuchi Shoji. Shoji looked to be about eighteen, and judging by the bulge of his arms, he trained often. He hadn't known his opponent-to-be before, given that he hadn't been old enough to be a part of the group the rest of his generation was in. He didn't mind, since they treated him well enough, even if that treatment was tinged with the tolerance that one had to have for a younger well-behaved sibling, rather than an equal.

Shoji called out in a teasing voice, saying, "Kojiro, I see Grandmaster's finally letting you spar, eh?"

Kojiro let out a chuckle, letting a wry grin slip onto his face, "Hai, senior brother. I'm glad that I can participate now. Please teach me well."

His sparring partner nodded, saying, "Don't worry kid, I won't be too rough."

The address irked him a little, but he refused to allow the memories of his other life dictate his responses. He was merely five years old, yet Seigen had put Kojiro into the same generation as those ten to fifteen years older than him. In truth, Kojiro should have been in the generation two years after theirs, but honestly, he didn't mind. He watched as the man called to Jisai, who seemed to be adjudicating the sparring, and as he walked over to retrieve a practice blade from the wall. It was the size of a standard katana at roughly three feet, but even still, it was a hand longer than his own sword. When Shoji reentered the sparring mat, Kojiro took a breath, pulling out his wooden blade. His opponent did the same, if a bit lazily, and readied himself. Jisai announced the spar, as he seemed to like to do.

"Hajime!"the man yelled, and the fight began,

The moment Jisai had announced the fight had begun, his opponent was already in his face, bringing his sword down in a downward slash. It was a sign that Kojiro's training was paying off, that he was able to sidestep the attack. He used the extra room he'd given himself to press his foot against the back of his opponent's blade, before lashing out with a strike from the left. His foe simply used his strength to pull at his blade, and with a mighty tug, Kojiro had to adjust to his foothold vanishing. Had Kojiro been the same size as Shoji, the spar would have ended right then and there, with his opponent being forced to abandon his sword.

Of course, they weren't the same size, Shoji stood twice as tall as he currently was. In a battle of strength alone, Kojiro would have stood no chance. Swordfights weren't solely matters of strength though, and as the man approached Kojiro, presumably to finish the spar, he noticed that Shoji's grip around his blade was loose. He took a risk and stepped in with a downwards slash, and when his foe made to block casually block it, Kojiro redirected the blow to lash across the back of Shoji's hand. That was the best he could do, given that he couldn't reach his opponent's chest with his attacks, nor could he try to attack the legs. Doing either would have forced him to extend his arms way too far out to be worthwhile. Any foe, given such a chance in a real duel, would just be able to cleave them off. Of course, he could have also tried to end the duel by taking a shot at Shoji's family jewels, but given that most of the Dojo, and Seigen, were watching, that seemed a poor idea. He dreaded the nicknames that could arise from such an action; the nickname 'Crotch Shot Kojiro' was the first that his head conjured up and he winced internally.

Surprisingly, the move worked and the edge of Kojiro's blade rapped across Shoji's hand with a sharp thud. The man hissed in pain, his hands flexed unconsciously, and the clatter of a blade against the floor filled the room. The room went silent and the people who were watching stared at him with wide eyes and surprised faces, as if he'd just done something outlandish. Kojiro figured half the reason was that he was supposed to lose his first fight, which was meant to either humble or impress onto him how far he still had to go. The other half was that Kojiro hadn't actually sparred or fought anyone before. Likely, it was actually only after the first spar that he'd been taught to fight properly by the rest of his generation. He didn't feel like it was actually hazing, given the fact that the trainees weren't ever cruel, simply satisfying themselves with a light hit or two.

Shoji was looking at him with confused eyes, and there was an odd emotion within his pupils, so before the man could decide if Kojiro was some sort of enemy, he bowed deep to the man, speaking loudly in as relieved a tone as he could muster, saying, "Thank you for allowing me to win, senior. I noticed that you left your grip loose around your sword on purpose to show me that any fight was winnable if I was perceptive enough. I will remember this teaching."

Had he simply walked away, the man would've been laughed at by the rest of the Dojo. Even if it would be nothing overtly ruthless, since Seigen didn't allow things like that to happen, Shoji would definitely have faced some humiliation and embarrassment. Maybe his sense of honor would have demanded him avenge himself on Kojiro. He'd spoken up after deciding to make friends rather than enemies and save his senior brother's face. It was an especially East Asian concept, the idea of face, that everything you did and everything that was done to you affected some unique honor.

The man chuckled weakly, so he spoke up again, giving the man a ready made excuse.

"Senior," Kojiro said, "I'd appreciate it if you could spar with me again, without the handicap. I wish to understand how much more I need to learn."

Shoji jumped on that lifeline, saying with an affected confidence, "I'm surprised you noticed. This time, I'll fight properly. No more free outs, alright?"

The spar was called and Jisai announced a new round.

The spar began again, in earnest. His opponent's face was now serious, and having learned his lesson, his grip around his sword's hilt was tight. Kojiro made to strike first, stepping in with a diagonal swing down to the left. With ease, his foe caught the sword with a bladelock, Shoji using his greater strength to force Kojiro back. Kojiro didn't even bother with trying to push back, since his loss was already guaranteed. He stepped back, hewing his blade harshly against his opponent's to give himself a moment of calm by pushing the sword back. He moved back again, using a downwards slash as he stepped back to make space. His opponent refused to let him be, cutting down fiercely at Kojiro's head.

With a grunt, Kojiro swung his sword up to defend himself, but his sword was batted away. The momentum forced his sword towards the ground, and Kojiro took advantage of that, stepping forward and arcing the sword upwards once more, this time from Shoji's blindspot. He'd become too focused on ending the fight quickly and had failed to notice where Kojiro's hands were, given how short Kojiro was compared to him. Had the sword hit its mark, Shoji's neck would have been nicked by the blade, which with a real sword would have been fatal. His foe simply jumped back, Kojiro's sword cutting the air where Shoji had been a moment ago.

Once more, Kojiro's height proved to be his downfall. Had he been taller, the upwards swing would have connected but as it was, the blade fell just short. He was exposed now, and before he could protect what he'd exposed to make the attack, there was a wooden blade cutting for his shoulder. Kojiro brought his own sword up just in time to save the side of his neck from a blow, before letting his blade fall from his hands and lifting them in surrender. Jisai called the match and a round of cheers and applause came from the rest of the Dojo, who'd stopped their own activities to watch Kojiro and Shoji spar.

His opponent sighed, saying, "I was hoping to get a hit on you, Kojiro. You're rather slippery."

Kojiro responded with a shrug, saying, "My thanks, senior brother. The strength behind your swings are nothing to scoff at either. Had they connected, I'd have been sent flying."

The manner in which Shoji was addressing him had changed, and he could see in the man's eyes that he was grateful to have been bailed from the previous situation. Thanking Shoji for the 'lesson' and the spar, Kojiro smiled and nodded as he stepped out of the area. He made his way to Seigen, who'd been looking at him since the spar had begun.

He sat by the man, and listened as Seigen's spoke.

The old man asked, "It's only been about eight months since you've first picked up a sword, hasn't it?"

Kojiro nodded, and Seigen hummed in response, saying, "And yet, had you been slightly taller, you would have landed the first strike on your senior of eight years without issue."

He nodded again, and the old man sighed, saying "I had intended for you to learn slowly at your own pace, but it seems that you've blown my expectations from the water yet again. I hadn't hoped for much talent with a sword when I took you in, just enough that you could be a samurai, and yet here you are, all but a prodigy in the blade. I am as proud as I am shocked."

"Thank you, grandfather," he said quietly.

Seigen looked deeply at him, staring him in the eyes, and in a grave tone declared, "In light of this, I've decided to train you personally. It would be a waste of talent to have you go along with the rest. You will be my first and only apprentice."

Kojiro started in surprise, before nodding seriously. Apprenticeship was a serious thing. Seigen was essentially offering to adopt him in samurai terms. Once he 'graduated' from apprenticeship, he'd be given a new samurai name, one that borrowed a character from Seigen's own. To his more modern sensibilities, having to change his name was strange, but Kojiro knew that the significance was real. It not only meant that all of Kojiro's actions would reflect on Seigen in the future, but also that he'd get to claim relation to the old man in the Japanese political game. That was a big deal, since Seigen was so well known.

Seigen rose from his seat, gesturing for Kojiro to follow him.

As he walked and Kojiro followed, the old man said, "Come Kojiro, tell me how you've trained. I need to know if we're going to make any progress."