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 Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 4:42 pm
Akihiko Sanada
Rookie Detective and Japanese Boxing Featherweight Ranker  "No problem," the boxer nodded, moving behind Ren as she continued stretching to give her assistance with the one she was working on. It was a simple stretch, but the need for a second person wasn't optional. Unless you wanted a half-hearted stretch, which only increased the likelihood of injury. Akihiko waited in position until she extended her arms out behind her for him to take, and once there, he gently set his hands under her wrists and pressed the arms upwards in a gradual, but firm motion. At the top of the short incline he felt the tension in her limbs increase, and once there, he kept a steady pressure applied so that it didn't go beyond the dangerous point but instead, provided a safe and effective stretch. "You know though," he interjected as he began the stretch with her, "the protein shakes here are actually pretty good. You should try one when you're finished today." Thankfully, he hadn't noticed at all how smooth her skin was or how his suspicions about how firm she seemed beneath the softer-looking surface she had were confirmed to be the truth. When it came to training, the boxer was a professional...having spent so much of his life dedicated to becoming stronger that it was practically mechanical to him. Back when he had lived at the dorm, his friends had often joked that he actually liked to fight the shadows, simply because it was better training than he could get in the boxing club. Which was actually pretty true...though he couldn't practice just boxing when he was in Tartarus...as his opponents didn't exactly always have dukes to put up, or a face/body to hit.
After a few moments he began to ease the pressure on her arms, bringing them back down to the normal position and letting her go. He offered a simple smile in response once he was finished, before taking a step back and leaning against the side of the ring while she kept at her routine warm-up. He enjoyed watching people, especially when they were training, and he was quickly becoming aware of the fact that he liked watching Ren in particular. She was fluid and precise with what she did, and there was a confidence about her that a lot of people didn't have. He suspected that it came from her days of kendo, but he couldn't be sure. Wherever it came from, it made her...unique, compared to most of the girls that he had ever come across. Rabid fangirls and floozies in the crowds at his fights were all relatively faceless to him, as much as he appreciated their support and did for those who followed him. A real woman like Ren, though, who had spirit and determination...yeah, you could say that he liked that in a girl. The spirit and determination in Mitsuru had been what initially drew him to her, after all...knockout looks not withstanding. 'What the Hell am I doing, comparing Ren to Mitsuru?' he thought suddenly, feeling his smirk dip a bit at that. Yeah, his rejection from Mitsuru [or rather, the fact that they never really clicked on any level other than comrades and close, close friends] still bothered him. But only slightly. What was more interesting was that Ren and Mitsuru had entered the same thought process together like that.
For now, though, he wouldn't think about that. If he could manage it, anyway. Instead, he resolved to just help her out as she warmed up and started her regimen at the gym. He probably wouldn't be able to see her nearly enough to have any sort of a close relationship, friendship or otherwise anyway, right? No point thinking too much...
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 5:05 pm
Ren waited for Akihiko to press her arms upwards and she relaxed as she felt him starting too. She felt the tension in her limbs and she closed her eyes. Ren opened them though to hear Akihiko speak and she just smiled a little. "I guess I would just have to try one then." Ren started to feel the pressure of her arms beginning to be relieved. She smiled as Ren took a step back and she continued to do her stretches. Before doing floor stretches, Ren did 20 jumping jacks. Ren then sat down on the floor and spread her legs into a V shape. She then stretched over to her left leg and grabbed her toes. Ren was surprised that she was still this flexible and she moved on to the other leg. She then did 10 push ups and she stood up from the floor. "Okay then. I'm all warmed up now," she said as she smiled a little.
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 5:18 pm
Akihiko Sanada
Rookie Detective and Japanese Boxing Featherweight Ranker Akihiko watched with casual interest as Ren continued her warm-up, stretching and demonstrating her flexibility as she bent from one leg to the other on the ground, getting good and loose for the workout to come. He noticed that she hadn't neglected her calisthenics either, going through a few jumping jacks and push-ups as well to start a slow burn in her muscles and her blood that would carry her through the workout. Without telling her, she seemed to be getting right back 'onto the bike', so to speak...as if she had never stopped training at all. And obviously, that was a good thing...not just for her, but for him as well. The less that he had to tell her and show her what to do, the more she would be able to handle her own workout when he wasn't around in the gym. Given circumstances, that could either be a lot or a little, and he really never knew when his job was going to pull him away from his passion in the gym. For now, though, he just watched without thinking too much about anything as she finished her warm-ups at last and stood, looking spirited and ready to get to work. Taking a few moments to think to himself as she smiled [and a second or two to appreciate said smile], he decided that cardio would indeed be the best place to start. The running portion of the Academy's physical exam was a real killer, after all.
"Good, now you have your choice of which you want to do," he lead into the next section of their workout casually, pushing off the ring without uncrossing his arms from his chest and looking over towards the section of the gym with treadmills and stationary bikes. Personally, he preferred to take a run outside the gym and get his roadwork in before he came in to practice, but given that she had come into the gym first and was working with him to set up the workout schedule, he figured outside roadwork could wait until next time, when she was deciding just how she wanted to go about the schedule he laid out, herself. "Roadwork is important to your cardio, especially for the running portion of the Academy's physical exam. So every day after warming up, you should put in about twenty-to-thirty minutes and 1-3 miles," he explained calmly, his confidence growing as necessary to make sure that she knew that he knew what he was talking about as a trainer, "today I want you to use the treadmill, but after today, it's up to you how you want to do this part of your workout, and the stretching. You can do it before you come in, or you can do it in the gym...depending on how you like it. And, if you get bored one day, you can get pretty much the same workout...just with some different leg muscles...by doing a good round on the stationary bike or the Incline. All right?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 5:34 pm
Ren took noticed how Akihiko was watching her. It made her a little nervous though, but she soon got over it. She listened carefully to what Akihiko was saying and she took mental notes on what would possibly be her schedule for when she came into the gym. She had followed him over to the treadmills and stationary bikes. Ren nodded her head a little to show that she understood what Akihiko was saying. "Okay then. Let's get started then." Ren showed some entusiasium as she smiled a little.
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 6:03 pm
Akihiko Sanada
Rookie Detective and Japanese Boxing Featherweight Ranker "All right," the silver-haired boxer smiled, returning her enthusiasm before picking out the smoothest treadmill he could find [and if you didn't think that some were better than others, you obviously hadn't been on many] and punching in a few settings to the control panel. "It will start at a fast walk and increase speed slowly. At about 45 seconds you should be at a casual jog, which is all you need to do for today. You could do a faster run, but that has a different purpose than a jog. Anaerobic exercise we can talk about later." Working with Ren was a bit different for Akihiko than working with a lot of the first and second-timers who had only recently come into the gym and received his guidance in their training. A lot of the time they needed extended instructions...or they were simply fishing for it so that they could hang out with him more. Which he was willing to indulge them to a degree, though it wasn't terribly comfortable or pleasant for him. And he was much more mechanical in the way that he dispensed advice to those who he knew were only joining because it was his gym or to be around him. If someone wasn't serious about training, it was all he could do to keep from being annoyed with them. Ren, however, was none of those things...she was enthusiastic and had an end to meet that would drive her to work harder. With that, it was like he could feed off of her energy a little...and even though he was tired from his spar with Vorg, he was able to keep going a bit longer to get her going in her routine. And he definitely wasn't forcing it when he showed her around and talked to her. This, for Akihiko, was a very welcome intrusion into his otherwise busy day.
"Remember, about 20-30 minutes, or 1-3 miles on this thing...you can read the time and distance on the front to see how long you've gone," he motioned towards the digital numbers on the front with his calloused finger, before moving it to another button near the a meter which measured the speed at which a person was moving, "and if you get near the end and you don't think you can keep the pace, use this button to turn it down a few clicks. It's your first day back, so I don't expect you to finish the pace I set...though eventually, I want you to be able to do that." Having finished demonstrating how this particular treadmill worked and telling her what he wanted her to do for now, he stepped back away and waited for her to start her workout. The chill in the room reminded him again that he was cooling down after a workout, and that he needed to get some clothes on before the gym helped him into catching a cold. Fortunately, the extended time on the jog would give him the opportunity to do just, and a little extra to plan her next stage of training. Maybe some light weights? Or skills? He could almost see Ren with a set of boxing gloves, her hair caught up in a ponytail to keep it out of her eyes, pounding away at the heavy bag for all she was worth. And the way she hit in his mind, he really pitied the heavy bag... "You can go ahead and start whenever you're ready, and I'll be back in a few minutes. I need to wipe down and change," Akihiko told her with a small smile, before nodding and heading off into the locker room to do just that. Ren would have a few minutes to herself and her workout, giving her the perfect opportunity to get into the routine and see how she liked it without Akihiko there to [unintentionally] pressure her.
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 6:31 pm
Ren watched as Akihiko pushed the buttons on the machine and she listened to his instructions. "You don't think I can keep up with the pace you set me," she said as she smirked a little. Ren didn't really think that she could anyways, but she was determined to push herself to do so. She smiled a little as Akihiko said that he was going to wipe down and change. When he left she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath before getting on to the treadmill. She was walking a fast pace and then she felt the treadmill speeding up a little which caused her to started joking. Ren was focused and then she started to think about Yuuki. She wondered if she was making through the day okay. What Ren wanted to know is why would Shikari go off like that? It doesn't make her dislike him any less though, but she was a little mad. Ren hated to see her cousin hurt like she was.
As Ren went back to concentrating and keeping her pace, she looked down to see that six minutes had already gone by. She just sighed a little as she didn't know that thinking so much can pass the time quickly. Ren continued jogging and she started to think about passing the Academy. It's what she really wanted to do and she thought that this gym would help her. She wondered if she would be a famous detective. Someone to look up to like how she looked up to Detective Dojima. Ren looked down to the time again and saw that she only had five minutes left. She started to grow a little out of breath, but she continued to push herself. Ren didn't want to slow down the pace and that's what made her train so hard on herself. If a goal was set, then she wanted to achieve it without taking any shortcuts out.
Two minutes left and she found herself having a little trouble keeping up. She was determined to finish this all the way through. Unfortunately in the last minute, she had lost her breathe for a second and she jumped off of the treadmill. Ren walked back over to it and turned it off. She then just leaned on it, so she could catch her breath. Ren was so close to finishing it that she was a little embarrassed that she didn't. She thought that she was going to and she really wanted to.
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 6:48 pm
Akihiko Sanada
Rookie Detective and Japanese Boxing Featherweight Ranker "That was pretty impressive," the silver-haired boxer's voice came from nearby, breaking the silence and announcing that he had made it back from the locker room. His boots and trunks had been exchanged for his work clothes, the black suit and red tie that he was used to wearing on the job with Detective Dojima. It would have been nicer if he could have changed into something more casual, but he had a shift tonight at the station that he didn't expect he would be going back to the Dormitory Complex prior to. Dojima-san really was a slave driver...but then, that's one of the reasons that Akihiko respected him as much as he did. When he was on the case, the case was solved...that's just how it was. Putting that aside, however, he did still have plenty of time to spend with Ren right now, and so he had come back to show her around the gym a bit more to prepare her routine...and just in time to watch her try and finish the pace that he had set for her on the treadmill. The smirk on his lips was blatant...as if he knew something that she didn't. "There are pros in this gym who can't finish that course," Akihiko admitted slyly, revealing that he had given her a routine that very obviously was intended to be out of her reach, "I always set the speed a little faster the first time, so the course is a lot more challenging. Anybody who doesn't walk out of the gym afterward, we figure is serious enough to stick around. And anybody who can get past 15 minutes, Coach Kamogawa will allow to train seriously towards becoming pro."
Of course, he knew that Ren wasn't going to train to become a pro boxer or anything like that, but that she had made it to the 19th minute demonstrated just how in-shape she was in her out-of-season form...which was pretty impressive, to say the least. "You'll forgive me for that, won't you?" he asked playfully after a moment, stepping over to her side by the treadmill and offering her a bottle of water, which he figured she would need throughout the course of the workout. When she was finished or if she refused, he'd take it back and hold onto it for now, while guiding her over towards the weights and small mats section. There, she would be able to train pliometrics, strength, and tone...depending on what she wanted her focus to be. If it was strength, then the weights were definitely going to be necessary, but if she was looking for more explosion and dexterity...strength in joints, explosiveness, and practical strength and control in flexibility...there were drills and exercises that were good for that there, too.
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 7:08 pm
Ren heard something breaking the silence that was in the gym. She turned to look that it was Akihiko returning from the locker room. Ren just sighed a little as her breathing was slowly going back to normal. She just raised an eyebrow to the smirk that was on his lips. What exactly was he thinking? "Well, Akihiko, I was all serious from the start," she said as she smirked a little. Ren was completely serious about any type of training. It was what she had done throughout high school. She mostly spent all her days in the school's kendo practice area, training herself to become the best. Sometimes she would spend the night at the school because she would have lost tracked at time. Hearing him ask for forgiveness in a playful kind of tone she just laughed a little. "I don't know. It might just take a little more than that," she said in the same playful manner that he had shown. Ren nodded as Akihiko offered her the water bottle and took a sip from it just enough so that her breathing was normal again. She then followed Akihiko as he guided her over towards the weights and small mats. "You are different than most people, you know?" she said out loud, without even thinking. Ren didn't even realized that she even said it.
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 7:40 pm
Akihiko Sanada
Rookie Detective and Japanese Boxing Featherweight Ranker Listening to the way that Ren responded to him, Akihiko thought that it was probably a good thing that she was getting competitive about completing her workout routine seriously, in spite of the lofty goals that he set for her [and more importantly, the ones that she set for herself]. He would have been disappointed if she had been anything less than serious, after all, but the fact that she was already performing at such a high level [higher than some men in the gym who had been aiming to be top-level athletes for months, even years now] was more than he had hoped for. Hell, it was probably more than she could have hoped for. If she could run that long, the Academy's physical exams were probably already within reach. But...well, it wouldn't hurt if he didn't tell her that just yet. She did want to get into better shape, after all, and it was nice having her around the gym. And he didn't want to risk her getting into any lesser shape and potentially failing what should have been an academic test for her, right? Of course not! "Well then, tell me what it will take," he countered when she stiffed him on the forgiveness, their playful banter becoming even more enjoyable for him, "it won't be good for either of us if you're mad at your trainer, right?"
Doing his best not to look anything less than the picture of serious, there was a pleasant smirk on his lips that he just couldn't erase. It was slightly competitive, but also, it was just evident that he was enjoying himself. Spending time with someone with whom he could talk like a person...not like a teammate, a mentor, or some idealistic person from someone's idol-worshiping perspective...it was just something that didn't happen to him very often. And it beat the Hell out of pouring through paperwork and doing roadwork at 5 or 6 AM every morning. Without a doubt. Thinking of this, he was a little surprised when she mentioned that he was different from most people. In fact, it froze him for a second when he was trying to decide which of the two...the dumbbells or the plio-bands and drills...would be better for her training. 'Different' was a word that had been used to describe him before. And though nobody meant it in a bad way, using it to talk about how skilled or how popular he was because of his boxing...it always seemed to end up putting him on some pedestal above the person. And in a way, it detached them...which was something that he really [to a very surprising degree, in fact] did not want to happen between he and Ren. He knew that she wasn't like those types of people who only cared about him because of his fame...right? They hadn't known each other very long, but he had to admit that he seemed to like Ren a great deal. She was like him, in a lot of ways...and if it were him saying something like that, then it probably would have meant something. Something worth listening to.
"Yeah," he recovered after a moment and smiled, wanting to read more into what she really meant as opposed to what his mind might have jumped to, "maybe...but I don't really think I'm that different...well, not that different."
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 7:58 pm
Ren smiled a little as Akihiko asked what would it take for him. She just shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I will come up with something though," she said as she smiled a little more. Noticing Akihiko froze for a second, she really didn't know why, but once he started talking again she knew that she had probably said something wrong. "What I mean by different is when I was in high school I just get hello's a lot and everything. With you, I can hold a conversation with you and you conversate back the same way. It's a good difference that just makes me happy that I met someone like you." Ren was happy that she could be with a person like this. Laughing. Smiling. Holding a conversation. That's why he was different from people that she had met. Ren then rubbed the back of her head. "I'm sorry if I offended you or anything."
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 8:13 pm
Akihiko Sanada
Rookie Detective and Japanese Boxing Featherweight Ranker "It's not offensive at all," he smiled a little after listening to her explain why it was that she thought he was different from other people. Of course, It helped erase any sudden doubts that might have arisen that she pretty much said exactly how he felt about having met and being able to continue to meet with her, too, without his having to say anything about it. And obviously, with that being the case, he knew how she felt. How many people did you ever meet in life that you could have such a relaxed and comfortable conversation with? And how many were your age [and the opposite sex]? In his life, Akihiko could count them on his fingers. And Ren had already found her way onto his hand, so to speak. It went a great distance with him that she could have such a positive impact on him, and certainly, if she felt that she had made a mistake he wanted to erase that thought as quickly as possible. It was him who had messed up, having such a stupid thought just because of that word. This was the trouble of being famous. "Honestly, I'm the same...about you, I mean," he confessed with a smile, feeling slightly self-conscious. Any random passerby that heard him say that might have got the wrong idea, after all.
"Sorry, I got a little weird for a second there," he laughed, his spirits returning almost as quickly as they had diminished, and to prove that he wasn't hiding anything from her, he decided to let her know why he had gone ice cold there for a second, "I've just never had anyone say that I was different, and it actually meant something good, before. Usually it's just the usual fan stuff...or media...and it doesn't do wonders for my social life, you know?" He lifted a few of the pliometric bands and gave the ends a tug, deciding that those were what he was going to work with her on today, instead of the weights. Explosiveness was more important in kendo than brute force, after all, and if that was the style that she knew, he would encourage her by using a teaching method that made it more complete. Holding out the band to her, he decided to finish this line of conversation before getting on to the explanation of how to use the bands. "I'm glad you said that, though," he added, wanting her to know that she was different from the people he described, "coming from you, Ren, I'll take it as a real compliment."
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 8:29 pm
Ren sighed in relief that Akihiko said that it was not offensive. She had actually believed that she had done something wrong and wouldn't be able to patch things up. It would have probably been weird if Akihiko still helped her with her training. When he said that he was the same, she just smiled a little. Ren rubbed the back of her head a little. "I didn't think you were acting weird until you said something," she said as she then laughed with him. Ren felt that the air was now thinned out again and she could be more excited than before. She listend to when Akihiko was explaining why he turned cold for a second. "It must be hard for you," she said as she knew how he felt. It really wasn't easy when someone told you that you were different especially if your own parent told you that. Her father always said to her that she was different from everybody else and her mother had told her why. She had become a tomboy and it changed her into the person that she is now. Ren had to admit that she was trying to find her true self and she felt like she could be real with Akihiko. The next thing that came from Akihiko, just made her cheeks turn into a light tint of pink which would not be noticable if you weren't paying close attention. "Thanks, Akihiko," she said to Akihiko with a smile. This smile was different though. It was much softer and it looked like it really came from her heart.
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 8:49 pm
Akihiko Sanada
Rookie Detective and Japanese Boxing Featherweight Ranker The conversation had begun to flow again, and just having it like that again brought a small smile to the boxer's face. There would always be issues when you met someone that, the first time you brushed across them, would be a little sore for you to discuss with them. When you felt comfortable enough with a person to recover from that initial trouble, though, and were able to continue the conversation...only with a new level of closeness...that was an important and promising step. And if being able to do so were a test, then the two of them had just passed with flying colors. In fact, listening to her muse on the difficulty of his fame, he was able to actually elaborate a bit on it instead of backing away or becoming uncomfortable, which showed that he really was able to connect with her on a personal level...and not the superficial level that most people were only interested in reaching with him. After all, everybody wanted to [and probably could] know and/or know of Akihiko Sanada...but very few people knew Akihiko Sanada...and the latter was now a very real possibility for Ren. "It's not easy," he chuckled as he handed over the bands, deciding to keep working out as they continued their conversation, "but don't get me wrong...I wouldn't trade places with anyone. There are a lot of things that I can do because of where I am. Helping people, having the money and the fame to make a difference when I see something wrong going on...those are things I couldn't do if I hadn't become so well-known." He smiled honestly, some of the brighter contents of his heart peeking through for her to see. If there was one thing that Akihiko had always been known for, it was his will to fight for the weak...to be strong and protect those who were helpless. And his fame allowed him to do that in a way that he never could before. "Besides, if I wasn't famous, I wouldn't have been able to open this gym. And then, I wouldn't have met you...so, I'm thankful for it...warts and all, you know?"
Feeling that he had said more than his fill after admitting that, he decided that now would be as good a time as any to show her how to use the plio-bands. And so taking one of his own from the rack, he stepped over to one of the mats on the floor and motioned for her to join him, sitting down on the mat with one end of the 3-foot rubber band around wrapped around his upper arm and the other hanging down in front of him. "For this exercise, we're going to work your knees and ankles and train burst movement and dexterity," he explained, pulling the loose end of the band out and hooking it over his toe, right at the balls of his feet, "the idea is to stretch the band by raising and lowering your foot, maintaining the stability of the upper end with your arms. What it will do is increase the strength of your ankle joint in particular, but also your knee joint as well. This will provide a stronger base for when you take off, change directions, or shift stances...and give you a little extra boost of strength and speed when you make sudden movements. It's something that the Gekkoukan High Kendo Teams have used for a couple years, since Miyamoto picked it up while coming back from his knee injury and training for the Nationals 2 years back. And having practiced kendo yourself, I think you'll understand what I mean when I say that a little burst can make a lot of difference..."Ren's Social Links: Strength Arcana Akihiko has become much closer with Ren through conversation and is beginning to open up to her! The Strength S. Link has now reached [Level 3] for Ren!
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Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 12:08 pm
Ren listend to Akihiko as he talked about he wouldn't trade places with anyone. It must be nice helping other people. People would follow him because he was famous and he wouldn't follow a famous person? She the pink tint on her cheeks had came back to what he said next. It was the same thing that she had said to him yesterday at Aiya's. Ren smiled a little as she sat down on the mat and did the same thing as Akihiko with the plio-band. She listened to his instructions and she nodded a little. "Miyamoto? His name sounds familiar." Ren thought that she had heard of Miyamoto before when she was in high school. Was she ever matched against him? Ren didn't really remember if she was or not.
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Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 12:25 pm
Akihiko Sanada
Rookie Detective and Japanese Boxing Featherweight Ranker Once Ren seemed to get the hang of the bands, Akihiko did a couple easy rounds with his as he sat beside her...more just so that he wouldn't have sit there doing nothing while she did her workout than his needing to do it for himself. He usually did pliometrics on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and weight training on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so that different muscles could be worked out while the others were recovering from the previous day. Just a little wouldn't really hurt him, though, and so he sat with a small smile and provided Ren company as she worked her ankles and knees with the thick rubber. At her faint recognition of the name Miyamoto, he smirked...seemed that his kouhai wasn't quite as famous as he was yet. "It should...he finished third in the National Amateur Kendo Championships last year, and his only loss was to the Champion, Mamoru Hayase," he explained casually, having watched the actual championships on television last year and been quite surprised by the improvements that both Kazushi and Mamoru had made since he last heard from them in their High School days. He remembered having heard from others how Minato used to beat Kazushi on a daily basis, and then eventually, how the Kendo Captain had been forced to withdraw from competitions and practice for a year in order to rehab his knee. To have come this far since then was a real testament to his will to win; though he still wasn't quite on a level to beat down Hayase yet, apparently.
"Kazushi was actually an underclassman at Gekkoukan High when I was still in school," he added as a bit of an afterthought, not wanting to sound weird for talking about the kendo star in such a familiar manner, "he and one of my best friends back then were in the same club together, so we have a little history." With that said, the silver-haired boxer finished up his rounds on the bands and stood, shaking his leg just a little to loosen it back up. His legs always felt cramped and then suddenly noodle-like after he did a good round on the bands...but later, when it mattered, he always felt the difference that they made. And that was what was important. Having that extra burst to perform when he really needed in a fight. A gift that he hoped to pass on to Ren now, for whatever she might need it for in the future.
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