A comforting failure (Open, Grounds)

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

He's never been very good at taking advice. Even from the people he'd grown close to, even from Kusuriyuri, he's just never been able to take someone else giving him pointers, no matter how necessary, on how he might make his life a little bit easier.

But he recognized the necessity, and decided to supplement good advice with doing something he sucked at even more.



There were still targets set up near the lake from the last time Yukimura had arranged an informal archery butt, and Kurama was there now, with knives, shuriken, two different kinds of bow, and what would have been too many arrows for some people, but he knew his weaknesses well enough to know half of them would get broken or lost, and the other half he'd set on fire or throw into the lake when he was done.

He chose projectiles for two reasons. First, and more important, because his aim was 100% accurate with anything that wasn't a bow and he needed the assurance that he at least could brag (internally) about something. Second, he needed to recalibrate his vision to make up for the lack of his right eye. He could feel it growing back slowly, an aching itch in the socket he longed to scratch at, which annoyed him even more that he couldn't.

The knives and shuriken sailed far off target for the first few tries, but after a little while the closest target was almost black with them. Satisfied, he set them aside for now. Working on a target only 50 yards away was, to say the least, rather humiliating, but he supposed part of this exercise was to learn actual humility and not the mock-humble face he put on when he was really just sublimely pissed off.

I'm two thousand plus another half Gods damned years old, he thought furiously, the arrow he'd loosed falling pitifully to his feet less than a yard away. He grabbed another, which sailed wide over the target. The third he had to dodge at the last second before it went right through the top of his head.

It was going to be a long day.


_{((OOC: Hecklers and cheerleaders would be most welcome.))}

Comments

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"It's scary," he admitted, a wry smile on his face. "Giving that much of yourself to one person. I think I'd go crazy without him, even though there's still so much that rebels against sticking with one person. Being self-destructive is just a way to balance the fear." He took up the bow again, sighted carefully, and loosed the arrow. Not dead in the black, but at least it hit the target with a satisfying thunk.

[elegantsamurai.livejournal.com]

"I didn't say it would be easy," Yukimura laughed, "just that it was worth the effort." He brought Tengoku to bear and sighted and loosed an arrow that split Kurama's. "At least your mind seems calmer for now."

He slung Tengoku back over his shoulder. "My advise, for all you won't listen," he said wryly, "is to talk with your peddler, completely. Show him the depths of your heart and go from there."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

Kurama glared at the target a second, then looked back along the grounds to the greenhouses, and beyond that the school. "Thinking now would be the best time, wouldn't it," he murmured.

[elegantsamurai.livejournal.com]

"That is entirely up to you, isn't it?" Yukimura laughed before fading back into the forest. He had his own practice to accomplish and daylight was fading and Kuronue had issues with him practicing much after dark, even if he could defend himself.