2025-10-23: Allez!
- Log: Allez!
- Cast: Tamaki Uchida, Remi Ryuuja
- Where: Local Fencing Club, Aoba Ward, Sumaru
- OOC Date: October 23, 2025
- IC Date: Monday, July 30, 2012 (Midday)
- Summary: At a local fencing club, Tamaki greets and spars with a newly-joining Remi. They realize they've spotted each other at the Cardboard Dragon and chat back and forth about fencing and other topics.
GAME: Tamaki Uchida sets her fencing practice desc!
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
A local gymnasium in Aoba Ward hosts regular fencing practice. Tamaki attends semi-regularly, since she's enjoyed the sport since she was in her high schools' clubs for it, though she remains at a hobbyist level in terms of skill. No Olympics for her ...
The convention here is that the coach teaching classes has the novice attendees practice their form and perform drills, while on the opposite side of the room, the more advanced attendees partner up and hold sparring practice with each other.
Being the odd one out without a partner yet, Tamaki's serving as a referee for another pair. She watches their bouts while keeping her mask held at her side.
It's good to see things from a ref's point of view and lets you know the rules better ... but it's a bit ho-hum.
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Remi has enjoyed fencing herself since quite an early age... she's won a few tournaments, but she was never going to to the Olympics, either, whether she wanted to or not. She hasn't fenced for sport in quite a few years, though...
... mysteriously, all of her recent practice has been in... rather more applied uses.
But a Persona fight is quite different from fencing for sport, and if she's being honest with herself... she kind of misses it. She just hopes she can keep her new temper under control long enough.
But she is here, taking in the room as she steps in from changing into her fencing suit, which was a very fast affair to avoid as much of the shivering that comes with shedding layers as possible. (Her suit is white, not the black of Tsurgui's suit.) She spots Tamaki and approaches, holing a fencing saber and a mask in hand. She has long honey blonde hair that she's braided to get it in her mask easier. "Excuse me," she says, pleasantly. "If you are not busy, perhaps I could trouble you for a match? Though I'm afraid I may be rather rusty..."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
In Tamaki's case, she's quite rusty when it comes to such "applied uses" elsewhere. It's been almost five years since That Particular Incident, and she hasn't had need to use her Persona for combat purposes since then other than cleaning up the occasional minor Demon or Shadow here or there.
All of her bonds from that time were broken, and she's been reticent to form new ones. She's certainly waned in that regard.
In short, Tamaki's had her head more in the mundane than the supernatural for quite a while now. She likes fencing for its own sake, she enjoys the sport! But she can't ignore the things happening around her even today.
Tamaki turns to Remi and beams! "That's no trouble in the slightest! One of our usual attendees is out today, so this evens up the numbers again." She waves to the pair who she was refereeing for. "I'm going to practice with someone who just showed up, alright? Byeee!"
She gestures to an empty space for the two of them and walks over to a makeshift strip marked by tape on the ground. As she adjusts her glove to fit more tightly, she says, "It's a pleasure to meet you; my name is Tamaki Uchida. How rusty are we talking?"
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Remi smiles as Tamaki says the numbers even out now. "Quelle chance! What luck, then, that I should choose this day to attend. I have wanted to for a while, but..." She sighs. "It is difficult to find the time, non?"
She follows Tamaki to the empty space. "It is a plesure to meet you as wekk, Uchida-san. Remi Ryuuja."
If one is knowledgeable about French corporations or Japanese corporate lawyers, that name might be familiar. (She also used to place in tournaments, and she used to act in Seven Sisters' drama club, as well.)
She chuckles softly. "Mmm... I used to fence for sport rather regularly in high school, but that was some years ago... I have rather missed it, however." She's busy checking the fit of her gear, and getting her mask on. "Do go slow, if you would, and I shall endeavor to keep up."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki laughs. "Tell me about it. Work keeps me on my toes, that's for sure. I'm usually running around the city all day ..."
"Oh, that Ryuuja!" Tamaki makes a scared face in faux horror. "You can't be all that rusty, then, you did well back in the day in tournaments where I just drowned in pools, ahahaha!"
Any connection to the company which Remi's parents work for is lost on her at the moment, but given her sweet tooth and familiarity with some French shops on Kagurazaka, mention of the company's name would spark some recognition.
Tamaki snickers again, returning to a more genuine amicable expression. "But hey, heyyy, practice is all about going at your own pace, right? Save going hard for actual competition."
She wanders over to one side of the strip and stands up straight with her legs perfectly together and places her mask on. "Ready?" It's only on Remi's mark that she'll salute her opponent, then drop into proper stance.
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Remi laughs softly. "Oh, nonsense. Those days are far behind me, I'm afraid. Besides, I'm not the one who was Olympic material," she says with a small chuckle. She's referencing Miho Ijuuin, who is currently competing in the Olympics for Japan at this very moment. (Well, the games are happening, at least, she might not literally be fencing right now.)
"Say, I feel as if I have seen you somewhere before..." Remi considers it for a moment. "... Perhaps at the Cardboard Dragon...?"
She leaves Tamaki to answer that question as she steps to her own mark, and raises her saber in salute. "Well then... let us see how I do."
Salutes given, she slides into a stance, rapier forward in her right arm at the ready.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki laughs. "Still better than I had fared, haha! I hope you're enjoying Ijuuin-san's bouts as much as I have been."
She holds a hand over where her mouth would be beneath the mask, then points excitedly at Remi! "Oh! That I have, it's nice to put a name to a face! I get wrapped up in reading there ... or speaking with Merry about some matters."
Salutes are given by both fencers' right arms. "En garde! Prêtes? Allez!"
Tamaki starts off slow, as requested, keeping her own distance and only making probatory, noncommittal strikes to test how Remi reacts. Some light warm-up, nothing too difficult.
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
"You're too kind, dear, but like I said, that was years ago." She chuckles. "Quite thoroughly. Though I was never able to beat Miho back then, either."
"Of course, we just must not have spoken much before, that's why I didn't recognize you right away. Well, it is lovely to make your introduction, dear. I must onfess, I do rather like the books we stock." As opposed to the card games.
Remi starts off slow, deflecting the exploratory blows and making a few of her own. Her reflexes still seem decent, if nothing else.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
She practiced against Miho?! The news of this sends a shiver up Tamaki's spine. She may not say anything
Before they started in earnest, Tamaki responded, "I like the books, too! I might give the cards a try someday, myself ... I've got a collection of my own, but I haven't played those games."
But back to the present moment. Tamaki parries Remi's own initial strikes in turn, then she begins to vary her own positioning and timing.
It's a competent effort, but Tamaki isn't too careful about her advances now; a seasoned opponent might recognize an opportunity to strike when she's extended herself too far.
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
They were both in Fencing Club together at Sevens, you see. But Tamaki doesn't ask so Remi doesn't explain.
"I find the card games interesting but I don't know that I could learn to play them. They seem dreadfully complex. But I do enjoy the art, and I find the worlds they have built quite imaginative," she says of the cards. "But books were ever one of my passions. I got into fencing because of them."
Remi is watching Tamaki carefully, and she sees that opening... but she isn't exploiting it. She seems to be playing it very safe, in fact. Why, if one were of a keen enough eye, you might even accuse her of holding back a bit.
... but it's probably just that she's being conservative, fter so long. (Which is true--she doesn't fence for sport much these days, so she's trying not to activate the wrong muscle memory.)
REmi takes a few guarded strikes of her own, though, but doesn't try to be too aggressive.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
She'll likely ask about how she had the opportunity to spar with Miho later. The thought is on her mind.
"Oh? Which ones? I started because I heard foil fencing was like chess, myself, though I soon grew a fondness for sabre instead." A fondness cultivated by some particularly extenuating circumstances, at the time.
Remi's basic defenses are adequate. So far, so good, she thinks.
Tamaki thinks she's just making a small escalation, gradually turning up the heat to find where the rust is most heavily affecting Remi.
Perhaps to (unwisely?) draw out whatever Remi's holding back, she starts to more often aggressively go for blade beats as an attempt to break Remi's point-in-line, disrupt her blade's angle to discourage lunging for a point, and retain scoring priority herself.
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
"Ahhh, there were a great many, but closest to my heart shall always be Les Trois Mousquetaires--though you might recognize it as 'Thre Three Musketeers.'" Remi lets out a sigh. "All of those tales of adventure sparked my imagination, I suppose."
There is a bit of sadness tinged to her voice.
"The comparison to chess is apt. You must be able to read and anticipate your opponent, to think several moves ahead... though it demands more in the way of reflexes, non?"
She has yet to take very many attacks, thought, seemingly staying on the defensive. When Tamaki goes for the blade beat she matches it but then awkwardly withdraws insteade of trying to reposition for an attack or to build up momentum.
At least her footwork doesn't seem to be too faulty.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
"Ahaha, I know enough French to recognize it as either title. I'm not fluent in it, but I know some phrases here or there."
Tamaki matches the sadness with her own voice. Remi's seemingly struck a chord. "... actual adventure's not all it's cracked up to be, is it, though?" Tamaki knows this all too well.
"Foil demands more in the way of reflexes than chess, certainly. And sabre requires more in the way of foil."
And certain life-or-death situations require more than sabre fencing for sport. At least Tamaki's had five whole years to let her own reflexes settle back down from 'fighting a six-armed sword-wielding goddess to the death' to more ... socially acceptable levels.
Sensing some timidness, Tamaki figures that perhaps Remi could use a bit more verbal encouragement. "Good, good, you're keeping up so far. Are you feeling like you're getting back in the rhythm of things?"
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
"Ahh, tres bien!" REmi says to Tamaki recognizing the title. "I fell in love with it in the original French, of course." Is she French, or at least Part-French? That might explain the blonde hair and her features.
REmi pauses for a moment as she considers a few very real... 'adventures' that have impacted her life. "Mmm. Yes, well. I do suppose stories tend to add a certain amount of... glamour to the proceedings, n'est-ce pas?"
Five years... is an amount of downtime Remi has not had the chance to enjoy. But of course, she can't express that, can she?
Remi takes a deep breath as TAmaki poses that question. "Mm.. perhaps I am. Though I will admit... this weapon feels unfamiliar in my hand, still." She takes a step back and does a couple of practice strikes at the air. "... perhaps I should be drilling the basics, instead," she muses.
Her reflexes aren't beginner level, that's for sure. And there's nothing too terribly wrong with the couple of practice strikes she makes, either. They might be a bit stiff and unpracticed, but the idea and the intent is there.
Maki Sonomura has arrived from Red Light District - Main.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
"Bien sûr. When I was a first-year, my high school was one street over from Kagurazaka. I can't say I've read the original French version, myself, but I was exposed to the language."
Tamaki's tone is flat as soda that's been opened for a week. "Glamour. Yeah. Stories do that."
The sparring comes to a pause, and Tamaki considers this. "Makes sense! Drills it is. We can take turns, alternating between lunging and parry-riposte."
Tamaki removes her helmet and puts a hand on her chin in thought. "I've had something similar happen to me before, a while ago. Tell me, in the interim period, have you fought in ... other styles?"
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
"Over in Tokyo, non? In the Shinjuku ward? It is a nice area, maybe I should take a trip..." She shrugs a little. "As you may have been able to tell, I am half-French. I used to take many trips to France, so that is where I first found those books."
"... If you do not mind, then yes, that may prove helpful. I would be a poor fencer if I were too timid to make an attack, yes?"
Oh, so she's noticed the problem, too.
"Oh, not really, no. Though... I did used to study HEMA. And I had a love of stage combat, when I was in the Drama Club." She makes sure she's clear and does a move with a flourish--albiet one that would not be legal to use in an actual match. "Perhaps... that is the difficulty. It has been so long, I have conflafted them all in my mind."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
"That's the place! Lots of good restaurants there. Sometimes the sweets shops had this one brand I really liked, Délices ... M-something. It's been a few years." Tamaki beams. "Though I just visited there with a friend."
So they begin alternating: One lunges, then the other ripostes, then lunges, then the other ripostes, then lunges. Just to get back in the habit of things.
Tamaki clears her throat. "There was a period where I had a similar problem. It came from a period where I needed to be as ... pragmatic as possible. My own particular bad habit was corps-a-corps." That's DEFINITELY not legal. She sighs at her past self. "I'm sure I was a nightmare for my sparring partners at the time."
"What style did you practice in HEMA? I haven't had much opportunity to try that, myself. Wasn't really a school club thing."
Tamaki considers the flourish. "And yeah, that certainly looks good on-stage, but refs are going to nail you for breaking point-in-line that way. Here, you want to make sure your intent of attack is actually clear, like so --"
And so she continues to give Remi a refresher on some of the more obscure sabre fencing rules and provide pointers on what to practice on next. Some have even changed in the last few years!
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Now it is Remi's turn for her voice to go a little flat. "Délices Montagnards," she says, as if by reflex. "I see." But she does not comment on it further.
Remi seems to do better while doing a controlled practice, at least. With the expectation to only parry and riposte, she seems to commit to the attack more readily.
"Mmm... I see." There is a quiet chuckle. "That is certainly discouraged in a tournament setting, yes. I suppose..." she considers for a moment. "... it was easier, to keep them all distinct, when I practiced them so often."
When Tamaki asks about HEMA, Remi smiles, wistfully. "My dear... need you ask? I studied a great many things, but my greatest love was the rapier and main gauche."
"Oh yes, I know. To perform it legally it would be--" Remi demonstrates a much more straightforward version of the move. "Something like this, yes?" It's a quick and precise strike--exactly the kind of thing she hasn't been using against Tamaki. Curious.
But she will listen with interest to the pointers, whether or not she needs them... but the rule changes do seem to take her by surprise, and she shows the most interest in those.
By the time they finish, she seems to have gotten into the flow of things a bit better.