"Straighten your back, relax your muscles." Reta instructed him, pacing around her two students.
Felix groaned and leaned his body back, rolling his arms and flexing his shoulder muscles. Reta leaned in and guided his arms for him, tapping his ankles so that he would spread his legs wider. She then turned her attention the Nekomata to his left, who was doing her best to imitate the poses he was doing.
"I don't think this is working." KuliKuli whined, pressing her paws together and lifting them over her head. "You said this stuff helps us relax? I feel like they're just stretches."
"They are stretches." Janette confirmed for them. "These remind me of my morning routine before I open shop."
Reta rolled her eyes and walked around to face the couple. "Have you been practicing since yesterday, like I said?"
"Uh huh!" KuliKuli nodded, shaking her paws and tails with enthusiasm. "Can we punch the trees now?"
Reta stepped aside, presenting the tree behind her. "If you feel so inclined, please do."
"Yes!" She jumped up and skipped right past her, with Reta smiling behind her. Felix noticed this and raised his eyebrow, all while KuliKuli closed her eyes and began to breathe in. She followed the same pattern of movements that Reta taught them, spreading her legs apart and standing up straight with her paws pressed together and her arms moving up and down in a soft, calming motion. With each breath, she would move her arms up and hold them there, moving them back down in sync when she would breathe out.
Felix frowned and gave Reta a look, who in turn pressed a finger to her lips. She gave him a look as if to tell him to trust her. Against his instinct, he crossed his arms and stayed back.
When KuliKuli felt ready, she pulled her arm back until her wrist touched her ribs. She exhaled one last time, flexing her paw as she prepared to strike. Janette held her breathe too, unable to look away. Felix hung his head, unable to see what would happen as he braced himself for the worst. Reta kept her hands behind her, patient and lying in wait for the inevitable.
"I don't think I'm ready." KuliKuli admitted, breaking the tension in the air much to her partner's relief. She turned to Reta with a saddened look. "Every time I try this, I feel the tingles go away. How do I keep that feeling? I had it the first time, but now it won't stay."
The four were outside sharing another morning in the front yard, spending a new day with a new lesson. Janette decided to accompany them a second time as a surprise visit, partly due to her curiosity about today's new lesson.
Janette smiled and closed her book, stuffing it back into her carriage. "Maybe because today was nothing but stretches. I don't see how this stuff is meant to help, the first lesson was more impressive, it held more of a show than this."
"There is more to Genki than just a light show. If you are merely here to serve criticism, then your presence is not wanted." Reta stated, making a shooing motion with her hand.
Janette scoffed and climbed up her carriage, carrying out a small package. "I came to drop some goodies. I'll be on my way soon."
"Aw, can't you stay? It's more fun when we are all here!" KuliKuli asked, pleading with puppy eyes.
She giggled and set the box next to their front door. "I can stay for a little longer, but I can't be opening my shop late today. There's a new rush of incoming travelers that were spotted in a village not too far from the Den. I don't want to miss out on new customers!"
"Always just thinking about work work work." KuliKuli teased, swaying her hips to add emphasis to her statement. "Why don't you think about fun stuff instead? Maybe try doing this Genki stuff with us?"
"Eh, could be fun I suppose." Felix added with a shrug, "Maybe this could be a new thing for all of us? Maybe we can all start shooting fire from our hands for practice."
"OOOO!" KuliKuli giggled with glee.
"No!" Reta snapped, "This isn't for fun, it's for defense. Genki isn't for display or entertainment, it's a way of life."
"Yea yea, you've said that numerous times by now." Janette muttered, walking back to her carriage. "It's giving me a headache. The little light show was neat to watch, but you really need to do more than punch a tree. Where's the fireworks, the flaming hands and the spell casting? Oh that's right, that's magic and this is Genki."
She sat up on the front seat, crossing her leg. Reta snarled back, turning to look at Felix and KuliKuli.
"Do you two feel the same way?" She asked, placing her hands on her waist.
Felix quickly shook his head no, but KuliKuli hummed to herself in contemplation.
"Welllllll, I like it! But, I can't really use it too well."
"That is because you are thinking too hard." Reta explained, pressing her hand against the Nekomata's chest. "You can feel your Genki and that is great, but you can't focus on where you want to guide it."
"Well, I feel it everywhere! That's too much for me to concentrate, and it makes me feel like, I don't know." She stepped back, rubbing her arm nervously. "I want to be able to do this, but what if what Jay said was true and I can't use any magic?"
Reta gave Janette an angry look. "Pay no mind to her words, they only wound you if you believe them. We can stop here for today, tomorrow we will continue."
KuliKuli nodded and turned around when Reta reached for her arm. "I would like a moment with you in private, if you could?"
"Me?" KuliKuli looked to Felix with large eyes, as if asking him for permission.
"Of course, go for it. You don't need to ask." He said, walking to meet with Janette.
Reta and KuliKuli stepped inside their cabin, choosing to sit at the dining table to face each other. The Nekomata's eyes danced around from one angle to the next, her tails rubbing against each other while she tapped her paws on the table. Reta gently placed her hand over them to stop them.
"Are we here to make breakfast?" She asked, her smile disappearing when her friend gave her a serious look.
"What is in your mind?"
"My mind?"
"Yes." Reta nodded, looking into her friend's eyes. "You've been troubled for some time now. Yesterday when we held hands during my lesson with Genki, I could sense all the conflict inside you. Both of you have been troubled for some time, I suspect this has been since the night at the city. Am I correct?"
KuliKuli sighed, her actions and spirit deflating all at once. "Maybe."
"You can tell me in secret if you prefer."
"It's... a lot of things. But I think the biggest thing is that..." She sighed, turning her head away. "I don't want to talk about it, because if I talk about it then I have to think about it. If I think about it then, then I'll feel sad again."
Reta scooted her chair back and calmly left the room. KuliKuli watched her leave with wide eyes, shocked that she would dismiss her so casually. Her ears dropped and she hung her head, but the sound of those footsteps were accompanied with a cabinet being opened, and soon those steps were coming back. She looked up when Reta placed an odd object on the dining table, it looked like a hollow leather brace with a shiny silver plate on the outside.
"Wha-?" She followed the object as Reta picked it up and ran her fingers across the silver plating.
"This... this is the gift Umeko left me. I threw it away in a moment of anger, but Felix retrieved it when I was unaware, the baka. But, he returned it to me before we went to bed. He said I could throw it away if I would like, and that he would leave the matter alone." She turned the brace around and slipped her hand in with ease. It fit her perfectly, she placed her arm on the table for KuliKuli to see what it really was. This was a bracer, a type of armor that covers the wrist and forearm. The silver plating on the exterior showed a few dents on the surface, like puncture wounds that failed to penetrate the metal.
"It was a part of the armor I wore in my time as a warrior. I had a headband that carried my family symbol as well, but that was taken away. Umeko managed to keep this, possibly to remember me, I cannot say. At that time, I was angry with her. Yet I keep this with me still, because it remains a part of me."
Reta slipped the bracer off and held it out for KuliKuli to grab, rolling it in her paws and admiring the shiny plating. She held it in an angle where she could see a cat woman staring back at her from the metal.
"I told you about my past not because I wanted to share, but because I wanted to move forward. This curse of mine is a reminder of that night, it is one I plan to confront in time. It is either that or succumb to the Wolf." She noticed KuliKuli looking into her reflection. "What do you see?"
"Someone who doesn't know who she is."
"That may be true, I suspect your hidden past plays a part in this as well. You and Felix, what happened?"
KuliKuli placed the bracer away and hung her head down. "It was stupid, really. We've been shaky since that night, I don't even remember why we fought anymore. We're just... scared I guess."
Reta nodded and leaned back in her chair. "Lucky for you two to have me here. I can ask why he is scared, but what about you? What has you so addled?"
"I know he loves me and wants to protect me from trouble, I'm just nervous that I am the trouble. I want to get out again and not just be in here, but... I'm not so sure now."
"You can't just live your life in fear. Take it from a werewolf like me, living like that is no way to survive. Learning about Genki won't solve your problems either, it won't make you any stronger."
"But-" KuliKuli raised her head. "If Genki won't help, what will?"
Reta sighed. "Genki is only as strong as its user. It was never the answer to make you strong, that answer lies within yourself."
KuliKuli stayed quiet, looking at her paws and at the bracer.
"Remember what I told you, stop thinking about the past. Tomorrow's fate is forever a mystery, but today is the time when you live. This is the gift of making history and changing your future."
"A gift? Is that why they call it a present?" KuliKuli joked, a small smile forming on her face.
Reta smiled back and nodded. "Perhaps. We have a lot to work through, but we are here now. Don't think about the fights you had yesterday or the day before. I want you to practice right."
"Here, now?" She asked.
"No, not now. We're in the kitchen after all." Reta scoffed, bumping her friend in the head playfully. She opened the front door and whistled, only for Felix to whistle back. KuliKuli's ears shot up, watching as Reta gestured for her to come along.
When she stepped outside, she was met with a surprise. A small blanket was spread out under the tree, with a basket holding a green bottle inside. Food was neatly organized around the basket, including a loaf of bread, grapes, and some sliced cheese. Felix sat there waiting for them, along with Janette bringing what looked like a plate of meat from the package she delivered to them.
KuliKuli gasped as Felix waved at her and smiled. "I-I don't really know how to do this surprise thing so... surprise. Do you like it?"
"A picnic! Ooooo like a human date! I love it!" She pounced onto him, burying her face into his chest, laughing crazily as tears flowed down her face.
The next hour was spent with the four of them enjoying their picnic breakfast together, with Janette being the first to excuse herself.
"Sorry everyone, someone needs to open up the shop." She explained, climbing up her carriage and waving goodbye.
"Work work work!" KuliKuli teased back before stuffing her face with a mouthful of bread, humming peacefully while on her partner's lap.
Janette sighed happily and set off down the dirt road, unware that a pair of eyes was watching before it set out to follow her.
"Straighten your back, relax your muscles." Reta instructed him, pacing around her two students.
Felix groaned and leaned his body back, rolling his arms and flexing his shoulder muscles. Reta leaned in and guided his arms for him, tapping his ankles so that he would spread his legs wider. She then turned her attention the Nekomata to his left, who was doing her best to imitate the poses he was doing.
"I don't think this is working." KuliKuli whined, pressing her paws together and lifting them over her head. "You said this stuff helps us relax? I feel like they're just stretches."
"They are stretches." Janette confirmed for them. "These remind me of my morning routine before I open shop."
Reta rolled her eyes and walked around to face the couple. "Have you been practicing since yesterday, like I said?"
"Uh huh!" KuliKuli nodded, shaking her paws and tails with enthusiasm. "Can we punch the trees now?"
Reta stepped aside, presenting the tree behind her. "If you feel so inclined, please do."
"Yes!" She jumped up and skipped right past her, with Reta smiling behind her. Felix noticed this and raised his eyebrow, all while KuliKuli closed her eyes and began to breathe in. She followed the same pattern of movements that Reta taught them, spreading her legs apart and standing up straight with her paws pressed together and her arms moving up and down in a soft, calming motion. With each breath, she would move her arms up and hold them there, moving them back down in sync when she would breathe out.
Felix frowned and gave Reta a look, who in turn pressed a finger to her lips. She gave him a look as if to tell him to trust her. Against his instinct, he crossed his arms and stayed back.
When KuliKuli felt ready, she pulled her arm back until her wrist touched her ribs. She exhaled one last time, flexing her paw as she prepared to strike. Janette held her breathe too, unable to look away. Felix hung his head, unable to see what would happen as he braced himself for the worst. Reta kept her hands behind her, patient and lying in wait for the inevitable.
"I don't think I'm ready." KuliKuli admitted, breaking the tension in the air much to her partner's relief. She turned to Reta with a saddened look. "Every time I try this, I feel the tingles go away. How do I keep that feeling? I had it the first time, but now it won't stay."
The four were outside sharing another morning in the front yard, spending a new day with a new lesson. Janette decided to accompany them a second time as a surprise visit, partly due to her curiosity about today's new lesson.
Janette smiled and closed her book, stuffing it back into her carriage. "Maybe because today was nothing but stretches. I don't see how this stuff is meant to help, the first lesson was more impressive, it held more of a show than this."
"There is more to Genki than just a light show. If you are merely here to serve criticism, then your presence is not wanted." Reta stated, making a shooing motion with her hand.
Janette scoffed and climbed up her carriage, carrying out a small package. "I came to drop some goodies. I'll be on my way soon."
"Aw, can't you stay? It's more fun when we are all here!" KuliKuli asked, pleading with puppy eyes.
She giggled and set the box next to their front door. "I can stay for a little longer, but I can't be opening my shop late today. There's a new rush of incoming travelers that were spotted in a village not too far from the Den. I don't want to miss out on new customers!"
"Always just thinking about work work work." KuliKuli teased, swaying her hips to add emphasis to her statement. "Why don't you think about fun stuff instead? Maybe try doing this Genki stuff with us?"
"Eh, could be fun I suppose." Felix added with a shrug, "Maybe this could be a new thing for all of us? Maybe we can all start shooting fire from our hands for practice."
"OOOO!" KuliKuli giggled with glee.
"No!" Reta snapped, "This isn't for fun, it's for defense. Genki isn't for display or entertainment, it's a way of life."
"Yea yea, you've said that numerous times by now." Janette muttered, walking back to her carriage. "It's giving me a headache. The little light show was neat to watch, but you really need to do more than punch a tree. Where's the fireworks, the flaming hands and the spell casting? Oh that's right, that's magic and this is Genki."
She sat up on the front seat, crossing her leg. Reta snarled back, turning to look at Felix and KuliKuli.
"Do you two feel the same way?" She asked, placing her hands on her waist.
Felix quickly shook his head no, but KuliKuli hummed to herself in contemplation.
"Welllllll, I like it! But, I can't really use it too well."
"That is because you are thinking too hard." Reta explained, pressing her hand against the Nekomata's chest. "You can feel your Genki and that is great, but you can't focus on where you want to guide it."
"Well, I feel it everywhere! That's too much for me to concentrate, and it makes me feel like, I don't know." She stepped back, rubbing her arm nervously. "I want to be able to do this, but what if what Jay said was true and I can't use any magic?"
Reta gave Janette an angry look. "Pay no mind to her words, they only wound you if you believe them. We can stop here for today, tomorrow we will continue."
KuliKuli nodded and turned around when Reta reached for her arm. "I would like a moment with you in private, if you could?"
"Me?" KuliKuli looked to Felix with large eyes, as if asking him for permission.
"Of course, go for it. You don't need to ask." He said, walking to meet with Janette.
Reta and KuliKuli stepped inside their cabin, choosing to sit at the dining table to face each other. The Nekomata's eyes danced around from one angle to the next, her tails rubbing against each other while she tapped her paws on the table. Reta gently placed her hand over them to stop them.
"Are we here to make breakfast?" She asked, her smile disappearing when her friend gave her a serious look.
"What is in your mind?"
"My mind?"
"Yes." Reta nodded, looking into her friend's eyes. "You've been troubled for some time now. Yesterday when we held hands during my lesson with Genki, I could sense all the conflict inside you. Both of you have been troubled for some time, I suspect this has been since the night at the city. Am I correct?"
KuliKuli sighed, her actions and spirit deflating all at once. "Maybe."
"You can tell me in secret if you prefer."
"It's... a lot of things. But I think the biggest thing is that..." She sighed, turning her head away. "I don't want to talk about it, because if I talk about it then I have to think about it. If I think about it then, then I'll feel sad again."
Reta scooted her chair back and calmly left the room. KuliKuli watched her leave with wide eyes, shocked that she would dismiss her so casually. Her ears dropped and she hung her head, but the sound of those footsteps were accompanied with a cabinet being opened, and soon those steps were coming back. She looked up when Reta placed an odd object on the dining table, it looked like a hollow leather brace with a shiny silver plate on the outside.
"Wha-?" She followed the object as Reta picked it up and ran her fingers across the silver plating.
"This... this is the gift Umeko left me. I threw it away in a moment of anger, but Felix retrieved it when I was unaware, the baka. But, he returned it to me before we went to bed. He said I could throw it away if I would like, and that he would leave the matter alone." She turned the brace around and slipped her hand in with ease. It fit her perfectly, she placed her arm on the table for KuliKuli to see what it really was. This was a bracer, a type of armor that covers the wrist and forearm. The silver plating on the exterior showed a few dents on the surface, like puncture wounds that failed to penetrate the metal.
"It was a part of the armor I wore in my time as a warrior. I had a headband that carried my family symbol as well, but that was taken away. Umeko managed to keep this, possibly to remember me, I cannot say. At that time, I was angry with her. Yet I keep this with me still, because it remains a part of me."
Reta slipped the bracer off and held it out for KuliKuli to grab, rolling it in her paws and admiring the shiny plating. She held it in an angle where she could see a cat woman staring back at her from the metal.
"I told you about my past not because I wanted to share, but because I wanted to move forward. This curse of mine is a reminder of that night, it is one I plan to confront in time. It is either that or succumb to the Wolf." She noticed KuliKuli looking into her reflection. "What do you see?"
"Someone who doesn't know who she is."
"That may be true, I suspect your hidden past plays a part in this as well. You and Felix, what happened?"
KuliKuli placed the bracer away and hung her head down. "It was stupid, really. We've been shaky since that night, I don't even remember why we fought anymore. We're just... scared I guess."
Reta nodded and leaned back in her chair. "Lucky for you two to have me here. I can ask why he is scared, but what about you? What has you so addled?"
"I know he loves me and wants to protect me from trouble, I'm just nervous that I am the trouble. I want to get out again and not just be in here, but... I'm not so sure now."
"You can't just live your life in fear. Take it from a werewolf like me, living like that is no way to survive. Learning about Genki won't solve your problems either, it won't make you any stronger."
"But-" KuliKuli raised her head. "If Genki won't help, what will?"
Reta sighed. "Genki is only as strong as its user. It was never the answer to make you strong, that answer lies within yourself."
KuliKuli stayed quiet, looking at her paws and at the bracer.
"Remember what I told you, stop thinking about the past. Tomorrow's fate is forever a mystery, but today is the time when you live. This is the gift of making history and changing your future."
"A gift? Is that why they call it a present?" KuliKuli joked, a small smile forming on her face.
Reta smiled back and nodded. "Perhaps. We have a lot to work through, but we are here now. Don't think about the fights you had yesterday or the day before. I want you to practice right."
"Here, now?" She asked.
"No, not now. We're in the kitchen after all." Reta scoffed, bumping her friend in the head playfully. She opened the front door and whistled, only for Felix to whistle back. KuliKuli's ears shot up, watching as Reta gestured for her to come along.
When she stepped outside, she was met with a surprise. A small blanket was spread out under the tree, with a basket holding a green bottle inside. Food was neatly organized around the basket, including a loaf of bread, grapes, and some sliced cheese. Felix sat there waiting for them, along with Janette bringing what looked like a plate of meat from the package she delivered to them.
KuliKuli gasped as Felix waved at her and smiled. "I-I don't really know how to do this surprise thing so... surprise. Do you like it?"
"A picnic! Ooooo like a human date! I love it!" She pounced onto him, burying her face into his chest, laughing crazily as tears flowed down her face.
The next hour was spent with the four of them enjoying their picnic breakfast together, with Janette being the first to excuse herself.
"Sorry everyone, someone needs to open up the shop." She explained, climbing up her carriage and waving goodbye.
"Work work work!" KuliKuli teased back before stuffing her face with a mouthful of bread, humming peacefully while on her partner's lap.
Janette sighed happily and set off down the dirt road, unware that a pair of eyes was watching before it set out to follow her.
