[EE10] - Iaijutsu Final Observation - Aya v. Rin -

[Shiba Jiro]

"They both have." She leans in as the pair square off, her blue eyes finding a spot between and losing focus to watch them both.

He does not interrupt Natsuko's observation. He does catch himself trying to turn to look at Kasumi, but he tightens his eyes closed and takes a deep breath.

Damn you, Jiro. Stop, he chides himself.

Then he shakes his head slightly. Why?

You damn well know why. He argues with his own mind... and he did, even if he didn't want to recognize it.

He may be driving himself a bit crazy.

[Kuni Mitsuko]

Mitsuko watches the drama of the duel unfold with anxious intensity.

In the moment when it happens, her heart and breath stop briefly.

And she has to dig her nails into her palms and bite her lip almost hard enough to draw blood when she sees the bokken slash into Rin's arm just ahead of the Sparrow's own blow. There's a stifled growl-whimper as she tries to calm herself, her head shaking side to side but no words escaping that might be impolite.

There's another quiet growl from the skinny Crab girl as she leans against the rail at the front of the viewing area, but she stays there as long as she can bear.

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[Happy to chat if you're intrigued enough to approach the grumpy Kuni. Please PM or quote]

[Isawa Natsuko]

The pair move at so nearly the same time that it isn't until Rin drops and then stirs to congratulate Aya that Natsuko can tell who struck first. As the murmur of reaction moves through the crowd, she starts to reach for her satchel, then stills her hands, certain that the Crane would have healers on hand.

"She did really well. But maybe eating that lucky seed _was not_ the proper course."

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

Hirame shrugged. "Bottle of your best versus a bottle of my best that Rin-san wins."

"Your call, Hirame-san."

She watched the Sparrow's defeat impassively.

"No hurry."

[Shiba Jiro]

The pair move at so nearly the same time that it isn't until Rin drops and then stirs to congratulate Aya that Natsuko can tell who struck first. As the murmur of reaction moves through the crowd, she starts to reach for her satchel, then stills her hands, certain that the Crane would have healers on hand.

"She did really well. But maybe eating that lucky seed _was not_ the proper course."

"There could only ever be one," he says with a nod. "But she proved that she would be as worthy as any here to be that one. Fate simply selected another, just as worthy."

He smiled at the outcome, a bit saddened that his Sparrow friend was not the winner, but happy for her accomplishments.

[Kakita Ahiru]

Keeping her fan up, Ahiru was almost holding her breath as she watched the tense duel. And as Aya struck Rin in the nick of time, she gasped behind her fan in surprise.

It was such a skilled and masterful strike. Truly, Ikoma Aya was one very talented samurai of great skill.

[Akodo Michi]

The Akodo viewed the duel with less interest than she imagined she would have. This was just another stop to her, after she would go home. Aya winning felt proper, she was clearly the better duelist or the two.

She felt pity for them both, however. This moment would soon be over, and this meeting of so many would pass into history like thousands of other moments, ultimately amounting to nothing.

Though that pity wasn't a bad thing, simply because she could see what she saw did not mean that the moment wasn't beautiful for them. They were obviously friends by how they acted.

She smiled slightly, but let it go. Kagehisa's life after Topaz had always been more important than this moment for Michi.