An Ordinary Day in the Life of Hikaru and Nova Shidou
A NonMagic Knight Rayearth Story
By: Sheo Darren
Magic Knight Rayearth is copyrighted by CLAMP, bless their homely little hearts save for CHOBITS. The author does not claim ownership on any of the Rayearth characters and ideas.
Chapter Four: Kendo"Come on, we don't want to be late!"
"Slow down, we've got fifteen minutes before class actually starts.
Hikaru's mood brightened greatly after Monday's Social Sciences classes were over. The first reason was that she would be rid of Debonair's stomach-churning cross-examinations for another day. The second was that students only had one last subject before dismissal. The third was that kendo was the Shidou twins' favorite sport.
The sport of kendo was derived from the ancient Japanese art of sword fighting. The Japanese samurai had first set the tenets for honorable combat in their warrior code, bushido. The sword was the heart and soul of a samurai, the symbol of their power and authority. When gunpowder and rifles made swords impotent, the Japanese preserved the art by turning it into a sport.
Instead of the well-tempered blades unsurpassed by any other smithy in the world, the kendo practitioner used either a single stave called a bokken or the larger, heavier shinai. For the finely-crafted armor, the substitute was bamboo/wooden armor and face mask, heavy padded to absorb most of the impact dealt by an opponent's blows. It was a sport, a serious one in all respects, but one that its followers could enjoy greatly, which is how Hikaru and Nova found it.
Their teacher was a man whose reputation was legend among kendo practitioners throughout Japan and the world. Lafarga was a giant of a man, taller than anyone on the campus. He was powerfully built, his great strength evident from his well-honed muscles. His blonde hair was cut in a military style. Fancy gold hoops dangled from his ears. Lafarge could move very fast despite his size, and he had absolute control over every tiny muscle in his entire body. He was gruff but fair, and compared to Debonair Hikaru found his combative nature appealing. Now this was the person to teach kendo classes!
"Before we start of with our activities," Lafarga was announcing to his students, "I have some announcements to make. First off: The school had just purchased a new batch of gear –including a brand-new set of shinai and bokken– to replace those that are worn out or broken. Headmaster Clef wishes to remind us to treat our gear with utmost care. I'll leave that last up to you to deliberate over. Try to think of ways not to break the gear even when you are supposed to break them."
The entire class grinned at the pun, though Lafarga didn't follow his students' lead.
"Second, the male students are encouraged," –the instructor emphasized the word 'encouraged'– "To stay to their own change rooms. Mister Moroboshi over there has found out to his misfortune that the girls react very badly at straying into their territory."
At this, the students either broke into laughter at Moroboshi or glared at him, the former the boys' reaction while the latter was taken by the girls. The most lecherous boy in the universe –Nova invented the moniker ecchi genki expressly for him– Moroboshi was a total pervert. To him, copping a feel out of every female who passed by was a daily function in life. Even with that crazy alien girl Lum and her bunch of equally odd flunkies to manage him, Moroboshi still managed to do at least five perverted things every day.
"Sir, I lost my contact lenses," Moroboshi whined as his excuse. "Someone took them from my bag."
The students roared with laughter.
Lafarga waited for the storm to die down before continuing. "And finally, as you all know the school kendo team is looking for a new member. This coincides with our practical test today, so we've decided to fix things up a bit. Here today is none other than our very own kendo team captain, Lantis."
Lantis! Hikaru's heart stopped beating for a single second upon catching sight of him.
It was Lantis, tall, gaunt but so stunningly handsome. Dressed up in his usual all black attire, with a curious gold circlet mounted on his brow, his appearance sent all the girls present into peals of adoration, soft, suppressed sighs, and wishful fantasies.
All save one.
Beside her twin, Nova Shidou sniffed in disdain. "Wonderful," she muttered in semi-disdain, her mood totally contrasting with the dreamy one her twin sported. "Just because he appears doesn't mean every girl here has to swoon."
Hikaru elbowed her.
"It's true!" Nova growled back, and was answered by a glower before Hikaru returned her attention to Lantis' speech. Hikaru didn't catch her sister then cock her head and observe him oddly from the corner of her eyes.
The class had gone silent when Lantis began to speak. His calm, methodical voice had the female part of the audience paying rapt attention to every word he was saying.
"What you'll be having today is something like a real tournament, which will also be graded as an exam. Each of you will be given a partner chosen randomly from your classmates. The two of you will test each other's skills and let your evaluators –Sir Lafarga and myself– review your skills and grade your competency while you're at it. The rules will be of the elimination type: Winners progress up and fight other winning students, until all but one has been eliminated. The sole winner will be given a perfect grade in the exam and a slot in the school team."
"Elimination?" Nova grinned menacingly at her sister. "Well, between the two of us, we should be able to clear off the entire class now, do we?"
Hikaru grinned back. "Well, don't expect me to let you win off me, sister. I'm going to get that slot, and you better believe it." She waggled a finger at Nova, who playfully grabbed at it in retaliation.
The siblings' friendly rivalry in kendo class was something of a legend with their classmates and friends. It was well known that Hikaru and Nova were the most skilled of the local kendo enthusiasts, having trained with their father and each other for practically their whole lives. Friendly betting on which Shidou would win if set against each other were not uncommon, but only now could everyone know the final outcome.
That is, if they did meet in the end, because not all of their classmates were not mere pushovers, some being as talented as the two. Or maybe Hikaru and Nova might find themselves in the unenviable position of having to face each other of at once in the first or second rounds. It was all up to luck, Fate and the respective skills of each one that would decide the last opposing forces for this tourney.
"Well," Nova said with a flourished grin. "May the best girl win?"
Hikaru, more of a diplomatic nature than her brash sister, added, "Or guy."
"As if," was her twin's answer.
Sheo's Notes: I am so sorry for being so late in updating this! So many things to do at school! I promise to follow-up as regularly as I can –maybe monthly or bimonthly! Again: Thanks and apologies to my readers! Please review!