Chapter 4 is about two-thirds done and I've been making good progress lately. Chapter 5 will feature the showdown we've all been waiting for. But in the mean time, here's this little tidbit.
Rei was as good as her word. I had a good meal, an hour-long soak in the furo, and then she promptly beat the ever-loving crap outta me with her calisthenics regime.
You ever wonder why Japanese women are usually so skinny? Simple answer: selective breeding. Women in Japan were anything but sheltered. They were expected to be able to fight for themselves if it came down to it. Marvel at the weapon known as the naginata – a two-meter pole-arm with a wicked thirty-centimeter blade. That’s a hell of a lot of damage waiting to be dealt, there. I think I’d rather have the naginata than the katana.
And it was made explicitly for women to defend themselves. A man caught using a naginata was either completely out of options or cross-dressing.
A woman that wasn’t fit enough to wield her naginata was not considered to be worthwhile. After all, she couldn’t even protect herself. Japan was a dangerous place, what with Samurai Lords waging war on each other all the time!
Times have changed, but the genetic precedent that was set for a thousand years hasn’t. The vast majority of Japanese women are trim looking creatures of femininity and they do not have to expend much effort to maintain that fitness, as long as they don’t overeat.
Trust me, that is pretty much a given anyways. I saw how much Rei was eating and was vaguely disturbed, even after she repeatedly assured me that she would be fine with her small portion.
Usagi seems to overeat, but that isn’t true either. The fact of the matter is that she’s simply stocking up for what will probably be a colossal growth spurt. I could tell because while she’s shorter than the other girls, her shoe size is rivaled only by Makoto’s. Mamorou wouldn’t have to lean down for too much longer.
Rei, though, is evenly proportioned. She’s already grown as tall as she’s going to get, and I doubt she’s going to fill out much more than she has now. The only way that would change would be if she got pregnant.
…Do not go there. That is for much, much later.
But anyhow… I can’t argue with the results. Rei is drop-dead gorgeous. Even in a simple work-out ghi that does as much as possible to hide her physique.
Focus, Zeke, or else… Too late!
The wood of an unstrung long-bow cracked across my head.
“Baka!” snapped Rei. “Don’t look at me! Focus on what you’re doing!”
“Hai, sempai!” I grunted out and corrected my stance. Calisthenics was not the only thing on the regimen, it had turned out.
Rei studied Aikido.
Very fitting of Shinto – it was all about harmony. A harmony achieved with your opponent that you are in control of. It was a concept that I was very familiar with.
Rei may have been able to outmaneuver me the day I used a nikiyou hold against her. She meant every word when she said that if she ever got out of that hold that she’d make me suffer. I simply got the drop on her there. And now, here, under her Grandfather’s watchful eyes, she would mold me into a proper grappler.
It was really no coincidence that I had started to learn Aikido myself. My Grandpa Bear was a close friend of Rei’s Grandfather, and together the two had studied Aikido. When my Grandpa returned to America, he brought what he had learned with him and eventually passed it on to his daughter, who got my Father hooked on it, who in turn insisted that I learn some of the basics.
At least I had a foundation to build off of. I just needed some polish before Rei would really start teaching me other things.
Grandfather chuckled. “You see, Rei-chan? A man really will go to any length to please his woman. You’ve hooked a good one.”
“Grandfather!” cried out Rei, scandalized and turning an attractive shade of pink. “Not right now!” The old coot just cackled.
Mental Note: Ask Raven if the old man’s got some sort of affiliation. Though I sensed I already knew the answer.
Troublesome. I got a closet-follower of Raven for a future-Grandfather.
“Sugoi!” came a voice I knew. Imouto-chan was here, and she brought the entire troop.
“I think that will be enough for today, Zee-kun,” said Grandfather.
Rei was as good as her word. I had a good meal, an hour-long soak in the furo, and then she promptly beat the ever-loving crap outta me with her calisthenics regime.
You ever wonder why Japanese women are usually so skinny? Simple answer: selective breeding. Women in Japan were anything but sheltered. They were expected to be able to fight for themselves if it came down to it. Marvel at the weapon known as the naginata – a two-meter pole-arm with a wicked thirty-centimeter blade. That’s a hell of a lot of damage waiting to be dealt, there. I think I’d rather have the naginata than the katana.
And it was made explicitly for women to defend themselves. A man caught using a naginata was either completely out of options or cross-dressing.
A woman that wasn’t fit enough to wield her naginata was not considered to be worthwhile. After all, she couldn’t even protect herself. Japan was a dangerous place, what with Samurai Lords waging war on each other all the time!
Times have changed, but the genetic precedent that was set for a thousand years hasn’t. The vast majority of Japanese women are trim looking creatures of femininity and they do not have to expend much effort to maintain that fitness, as long as they don’t overeat.
Trust me, that is pretty much a given anyways. I saw how much Rei was eating and was vaguely disturbed, even after she repeatedly assured me that she would be fine with her small portion.
Usagi seems to overeat, but that isn’t true either. The fact of the matter is that she’s simply stocking up for what will probably be a colossal growth spurt. I could tell because while she’s shorter than the other girls, her shoe size is rivaled only by Makoto’s. Mamorou wouldn’t have to lean down for too much longer.
Rei, though, is evenly proportioned. She’s already grown as tall as she’s going to get, and I doubt she’s going to fill out much more than she has now. The only way that would change would be if she got pregnant.
…Do not go there. That is for much, much later.
But anyhow… I can’t argue with the results. Rei is drop-dead gorgeous. Even in a simple work-out ghi that does as much as possible to hide her physique.
Focus, Zeke, or else… Too late!
The wood of an unstrung long-bow cracked across my head.
“Baka!” snapped Rei. “Don’t look at me! Focus on what you’re doing!”
“Hai, sempai!” I grunted out and corrected my stance. Calisthenics was not the only thing on the regimen, it had turned out.
Rei studied Aikido.
Very fitting of Shinto – it was all about harmony. A harmony achieved with your opponent that you are in control of. It was a concept that I was very familiar with.
Rei may have been able to outmaneuver me the day I used a nikiyou hold against her. She meant every word when she said that if she ever got out of that hold that she’d make me suffer. I simply got the drop on her there. And now, here, under her Grandfather’s watchful eyes, she would mold me into a proper grappler.
It was really no coincidence that I had started to learn Aikido myself. My Grandpa Bear was a close friend of Rei’s Grandfather, and together the two had studied Aikido. When my Grandpa returned to America, he brought what he had learned with him and eventually passed it on to his daughter, who got my Father hooked on it, who in turn insisted that I learn some of the basics.
At least I had a foundation to build off of. I just needed some polish before Rei would really start teaching me other things.
Grandfather chuckled. “You see, Rei-chan? A man really will go to any length to please his woman. You’ve hooked a good one.”
“Grandfather!” cried out Rei, scandalized and turning an attractive shade of pink. “Not right now!” The old coot just cackled.
Mental Note: Ask Raven if the old man’s got some sort of affiliation. Though I sensed I already knew the answer.
Troublesome. I got a closet-follower of Raven for a future-Grandfather.
“Sugoi!” came a voice I knew. Imouto-chan was here, and she brought the entire troop.
“I think that will be enough for today, Zee-kun,” said Grandfather.
