~*~*~*~
After twenty minutes, the weapons division finally ended and kata was ready to begin. The final standings on the scoreboard still has the Kitsune Clan in third place. I was overwhelmed every time I looked at the blackboard; it shows that we have a chance for first if we can get ahead with kata and sparring.
“Wouldn't it be incredible if we won, Tabby-Chan?” I asked. Tabby was still sat down by my side. However, I wasn't looking at her, I was still entranced with the blackboard.
I thought about how the Kitsune Clan got to be third place. We had two competitors compete in weapons, while some of the other clans only had one student to compete. Our overall scores were high once they were added up. Hanran's high score helped get us ahead and my average score helped keep us ahead.
A satisfied smile was on my face. “I mean, we're a sector composed of five fresh meats and one senior. Plus we're one person short. We shouldn't be in third place right now, you know? But we are in third place and it's incredibly overwhelming to think we could win. We have a shot, Tabby-Chan, a real shot for first.”
No reply.
“Tabby-Chan?” I asked, turning to look at her. She was asleep, her head leaned back against the black marbled wall and her mouth ajar. “How long have you been asleep?” I questioned. This time I didn't expect her to answer me.
I woke her up and she thanked me. “That tea isn't doing me any good,” she muttered.
“Come on, let's go make sure Cassie-Chan and Luna are warming up,” I told her.
The two of us left the bench and we found Cassie in the very corner of the room. She looked like a wreck. Her arms were curled against her chest and fingers entwined together. “Yeah, I still feel bad about that one,” Tabby whispered to me, although I had no idea what she was referring to.
We approached Cassie cautiously, like one would approach a wild animal carefully so it didn't run off. It was odd to think of my teammate as a wild animal in this example, but that's exactly what it reminded me of. Cassie was not “cool” at the moment. She was shaking as bad as I had been when I did my weapons.
“Hey there,” Tabby greeted.
The older girl snapped her head towards us, her movements very sporadic. “Oh, hello,” Cassie greeted back. Maybe she's the one who needs decaf tea.
“Um, hey,” I said.
“Hey,” she said back.
There was an uncomfortable lapse of silence. The three of us just stood there.
“Okay, bye,” Tabby then waved. She left. Just like that, she was out of there.
Now it was just me and Cassie. “Don't be nervous!” I abruptly blurted out.
Cassie bit her bottom lip and shook her head. “I'm sorry. I'm just a little wound up right now. I really don't like performing in front of crowds because— wait, is that Luna waiting to get in the ring?” As soon as Cassie said that, all bets were off. I sprinted towards the rings, with Cassie right on my heels. “There's nothing to worry about, right? Luna knows what to do?”
I shook my head. “I can't believe she's up so soon! I never talked to her about her game plan, I don't even know what kata she'll do. Heck, I didn't even ask!”
I'm such a bad older brother. This whole time I knew Luna would do kata and it never occurred to me that I should watch her practice, order her to warm up, let alone tell her what to do. Bad Yami, bad Yami!
Both Cassie and I skidded to a stop. Luna standing next to her assigned ring. She appeared to be fine. I started to step over to her, but Cassie put a hand on my shoulder to stop me. “I don't think you can approach the ring,” she whispered to me.
It's too close to the time for Luna to begin. Not only that, I realized with utter horror that Luna was assigned to a ring Akira was judging in. Oh spirits, Luna will have to perform in front of our own clan's second-in-command.
“I have no idea what she'll do out there,” I whispered.
At least this was a distraction for Cassie and she didn't have to worry about herself. She put her other hand on my shoulder and held me in place. “Just relax. I mean, Luna knows what kata is. Right?”
I didn't answer her question.
“Right?” Cassie repeated, “Luna knows what kata is?”
My head shook left and right with absolute horror. “I have no idea,” I croaked. We've only been here a month and not every student learns the same thing.
The student that was ahead of Luna got his scores and bowed out of the ring. Now Luna was going to be announced. I looked at the judges she had lined up. There was Akira on an end, then four men following suit. The man on the opposite end looked like an elderly, same as our own Master Kitsune, except unlike our grandmaster this man seemed very vicious.
A judge began to speak, “Luna of the Kit—”
“Present!” Luna squeaked, raising her hand.
The judge gave her a menacing look. “Luna of the Kitsune Clan, enter the ring,” he growled.
“Yes sir!” Luna replied. She stood up and went into the ring, a bounce in her step. The mean judge looked like he was about to yell at her.
“If Luna doesn't take this seriously that dummy won't score high,” Kuroi growled. He and Tabby joined our group. I was so focused on my sister that I didn't realize that Cassie left my side. Oh well, I have Kuroi and Tabby now. The three of us watched Luna with anxiety.
She stood in the middle of the ring, looking at each judge, even Akira. “Judges,” Luna then stated, her voice very solemn and deep.
Oh, she's finally taking this seriously, I thought happily.
“Are y'all ready to get down?!” she then asked. My sister shot one arm high above her head and pointed her other hand to the right. “Hit it!” she exclaimed.
I followed the direction she was pointing in. There was a guy sitting on the sidelines with a single drum between his legs. He started to play the drum in a high-beat tempo.
Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum!
The little girl grinned, “Heian-Luna-Style!”
…
…
…
She started dancing. Luna started dancing. She... started... dancing. In the ring. In front of all the judges. Dancing.
“Goodbye chance at first place,” I said mournfully.
Luna danced according to the beat of the drum (where did that guy come from, anyway?) and she moved around the ring while keeping her rhythm. Don't get me wrong, her dancing was pretty good. Except this wasn't a dancing competition, it was an open hand kata one. Shinobi warriors aren't supposed to dance.
“I'm gonna kill her!” Kuroi hissed. He was just as horrified as I was, except his first instinct was to become angry about it.
Luna cartwheeled to the side and landed in a kiba-dachi stance, which was surprisingly deep. She wiggled her arms about but kept her stance. Then she back-kicked and flipped into a front stance, still moving to the beat.
“It's like she's timing her kata to the drum beat,” Tabby awed.
“She's dancing, yeah, but she's also throwing technique that you would use in a kata,” I whispered.
“Still gonna kill her,” Kuroi snarled. He was beyond upset, naturally.
Luna continued around the ring with kicks, blocks, punches, and more flips. She didn't exactly have a 'mean' look on her face; to her, this was all fun and games. The moves she was throwing was technically sound from what I could see, it's just that she was dancing with them. Finally, Luna finished her kata-dance with a hook kick that slid into a split.
“BOOM!” Luna grinned.
…
…
…
There was nothing but silence and menacing stares, especially from that one judge. Akira didn't look happy herself, in fact, she looked like that she would hit Luna upside the head. With a heavy sigh, Akira announced, “Judging scores.”
5.0, 0.4, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.2 were the scores. Akira was the only one who gave Luna a full point. The mean judge on the opposite end was the one who gave Luna the lowest score. “Ah come
on, you know you wanna bust a move yourself,” Luna said to him.
The judge's frowned increased. He took down his score sheet, crossed it out with a black pen, and held it back up.
0.1 was the new score.
“I'll kill you, Luna!” Kuroi raged once again.
Just when all hope was lost, Akira stood up from her spot on the tatami mat. “If I may,” she said, “While this was an unconventional display of Ninjutsu, the competitor still adhered to the rules we asked to be followed. There was unnecessary elements, such as the music and bad dancing, but this competitor still performed technique that would be used in a kata. Furthermore, she used moves that are meant for self-defense, which is what kata is. I ask that we consider these points before giving our final score.”
I held onto Tabby's wrist, I was so nervous.
The second judge after Akira made an unsure face. “I guess you're right, Miyamoto-Chan,” he then said. “There were moves that we've seen from other katas in that weird little number.” He crossed off his score from a 0.4 to a 3.0. The third judge amended his 0.3 to a 4.0, the fourth a 0.4 to a 4.0, and as for the final judge... he kept his score of 0.1 the same.
“Now get out,” the judge on the end growled.
Luna jumped up and out of her split, bowing to the five judges. “Okay, bye,” she smiled. She backed out of the ring.
Finally, that nightmare was over.
Kuroi got to Luna before I had the chance to. He picked her up by the boot and held her upside down. “What in spirit's name were you thinking?” he demanded.
“What did I do?” my sister asked.
Tabby shuffled our small group into the sidelines, that way we wouldn't interrupt anyone. “What did you do?” Tabby repeated, “Luna, you went out there and danced! You were supposed to do kata!”
Luna looked at us from her spot upside down. “I dunno what kata is,” she then said.
Kuroi swung her back and forth. “How could you not know what kata is, you big dummy?” he demanded.
“Really!” Luna insisted. “No one told me what kata was, and then when I watched others go in the ring, it looked like they were dancing. Except their dancing was all slow and lame, and they didn't even have a beat to shake it to. So, I gave that drummer guy some money and he played music for me while I went in there to show them my moves. My dancing was awesome, don't even lie!”
Now Kuroi chose to glare holes into me. “You didn't bother to tell Luna what kata was?” he snarled.
I made a face. “I know, I'm sorry.”
“Wait, look at the blackboard,” Tabby suddenly said. “There was only one Tiger Rage Clan member who competed in open hand kata. The clan's final score is 153.9 and the clan who was in second place hasn't scored high so far.”
I jumped up and down in excitement. “Our final score after weapons was 93.2, now after Luna's performance we're up to 105.3. We're still third!”
Which meant that we still have a chance.
“If Cassie-Chan can get high scores, she'll rocket us to second place,” Tabby pointed out. She didn't sound as positive as before, “but spirits, Cassie-Chan will really have to score high...”
Kuroi scoffed, “I don't see Cassie-Chan anywhere. No chance of that. She's too scared of her own shadow.”
Unfortunately, my team leader was correct. Our only hope was nowhere to be found!
Cassie's POV:
~It's all about perspective, how will you handle the nerves?~
~Will you let pressure crush you?~
~Or will you push against the pressure to break free?~