Golden Leaf-Edge [Shaoling, Yuujin]

The sun had yet to rise, but it would be soon. And for Shaoling, that meant it was already later than she would typically be waking her student for their morning training. A sharp knock on his door with two knuckles, and she crossed her arms, waiting expectantly for an answer.

"Yuujin."

Shaoling may have given her student one day off, but that didn't mean she had any intention of going easy on him the next day. There was a part of her that, if anything, felt she ought to make up for that day of relaxation by working him twice as hard. But, no. That would have just been counterproductive, and beyond that, it would have been needlessly cruel. Would she have felt bad about that?

Maybe the faintest touch. If only because it had no particular benefit.

When was the last time he was allowed a moment of respite? Outside of working and training, Yuujin had long since become foriegn to the idea of resting. With a day granted to him, his body had grown slothful as if it was meant to barely move. Maybe it was the extent of his regime that left him but a slug, a mass of human incapable of functioning. That is why he showed no sign of coming to answer his door as two quick knocks vibrated through his room. He would be punished for it, obviously, but could one blame a young man for finding solace in a bit of extra rest?

It doesn’t help that his dreams are that of adventure and conquest, his mind taken by the sweet epics he had read in the past. He’s a demigod saving damsels and bathing in the blood of his enemies. He’s a superhero saving the day once again. He’s a wrestler winning the championship. With drool rolling down his cheek, nothing as measly as a knock’s going to stir him.

Were it not for the fact that they were both guests in this place, Shaoling certainly would have simply kicked down the door and called that the end of it. She was, however, perfectly adept at simply getting through a lock, and so whether or not he'd chosen to lock that door, she stepped into Yuujin's room with a disapproving glare already in her eyes.

She could have simply kicked him out of the room, perhaps tossed him out the window and let him work things out from there. However, despite all her outward appearances, even she was not quite so cruel toward her student. Instead, she simply pulled the blanket away from him, crouching down to give him a stern flick on the forehead. It wasn't crushingly hard, but it was certainly enough to knock anyone out of a reverie.

"Yuujin."

If she had to say it a third time, well, she wouldn't continue being quite so nice.

He’s up and away, saving some damsel yet again because he’s super cool and awesome. In this world, he’s the strongest and fastest. None can keep up with his martial prowess, not even The Evil Wasp Empress. In fact, now’s the time for him to finally defeat her and put an end to her evil reign. It was a long and hard battle, but in the end, he had won. Now, he stood over her body, giving a celebratory speech of course. Though, he wasn’t prepared for when she had popped back up and delivered quite the horrendous flick to his forehead. He shouldn’t have left himself open like that, but that flick was too strong. It’s like he was hit from another dimension or something, and, just like that, he’s up, eyes open and all as his head bloomed with sharp pain.

“Ah! What the-”

Immediately, he rolled, moving to grab at his wounded skull. Though, that just resulted in him rolling off his bed and onto the floor of his room. With a groan, he could only get onto his back and sit up, his honeyed gaze focusing up on the woman that had so ruefully shaken him from his nice dream.

“...Hi, Teacher.”

Shaoling's cold, plain stare bored into Yuujin as he rolled onto the floor, though if nothing else, it wasn't quite as hostile as it might have been once upon a time. People said that she'd mellowed out over the years, but she tended to discipline anyone who said that in her presence. Whether it was true or not, she chose not to acknowledge.

"You have five minutes to be ready. I'll be outside."

Frankly, she was being generous. Maybe just a holdover from having given him the day off yesterday. After all, would she have ever expected this sort of generosity when she was in training? Hardly. But, then again, the purpose of training a disciple was to pass on everything you knew. And she knew rather well that her own training had amounted to precious little in the end, certainly when compared to everything afterward. Turning to leave the room, she called back over her shoulder as she left, her eyes only briefly moving to her student once again.

"Ten laps if you're late."

Wha- Man. Can he go back to sleep? The dream world was better than this. Though, he’s used to this. It’s his fault for not setting his alarm clock. There was just something about having the day off that made him turn every notification off. And, to be honest, he probably shouldn’t have spent all night reading books. Ugh. Only five minutes? Great.

He waited for her to leave before grumbling to himself about everything as he started to get ready. The threat of having to run laps had him out in four minutes, a yawn escaping from his mouth as he made it to their usual training spot. He wonders what’s on the agenda today.

Naturally, Shaoling had already begun her stretching for the morning, though she had admittedly taken a touch longer than she normally might have to see if Yuujin would actually make it on time. Ah, and look at that, he had. Well, that wouldn't merit any further punitive action.

"I hope you rested well. You've been making sufficient progress that we'll be stepping things up a bit. Get your stretching in, and then we'll get to running."

It was about as much praise as one could realistically expect from a woman like her, but it was praise nonetheless. He was, admittedly, a very good student. She may have taken him in as a matter of pride, but his presence had proven rather good for her own progress, as well. She suspected she would have stagnated if left alone.

Oh great. They’re stepping things up a notch. That’s exactly what he wanted to hear after a day of relaxation. He’d rather busy himself reading and sleeping than have to deal with his teacher’s moods. However, he’s excited to know what she means by stepping things up. Despite his open protests at times, Yuujin never gives his training disrespect. When he has to do something, he does it, even if he feels like groaning a bit during it. Besides, he groaned and moaned when he had to train himself and get his ass kicked constantly. Yet, he kept going back for more. He might as well get to stretching though. If he lags too hard, she'll kick his ass, but after a few seconds of warming up his body, he felt a sudden desire for some small talk. Something popped up into his head randomly.

“You know, Shaoling Sensei, do you enjoy yourself?”

Now, that was a vague question, and Yuujin should probably be careful about wording it that way, but he wanted to see if she’d get a little crossed with him. To be honest, he’s never really asked her about things like hobbies and such. It’s always been business between the two: push ups, running laps, carry this or that, whatever else he needs to accomplish. Then, his mistakes were always met with punishments. Eventually, he would wonder if his teacher just enjoyed pushing him all the time. That can’t be the case, right? She did give him a day off and all. The letter was neat too. It was the first time she ever spoke of their arrangement. He’d like to hear her be more vocal about it, but, also, he’s curious about how she feels about a lot of things. Studious as always, huh?

Now that was quite a question, wasn't it? It seemed as though he wanted to make small talk, fill their typical training session with something more than the effort itself and the silence she usually maintained. Shaoling wasn't initially sure how she should even answer the question, however, and not because of any lack of certainty about the answer.

She certainly did enjoy herself, at least in some faint capacity. She missed her duties, and she felt as though she'd been slighted beyond measure, but it didn't change that Shaoling found this daily routine at least somewhat rewarding. If she didn't, she would simply go and do something else. Answering him was something of a conundrum, however, if only because she wasn't the sort to be quite so open about herself.

"I do, yes. Do you?"

It was a simple answer to the question, and one which avoided getting into her own personal matters. That was good, considering she didn't much care to get into those. If he pressed the issue, maybe she would speak a bit more, and in a way she half expected him to. If nothing else, he was tenacious.

“That answer sucks, honestly, Teacher.”

He was so taken back by her answer, he found himself pausing in all actions. Yuujin, surprised to even receive one, would have liked something with a bit more girth. After so long, he feels he barely knows the woman who’s training him. The sheer fact he’s here made no sense, honestly. At a surface level, Shaoling came off as simply unapproachable without a good reason, and Yuujin found it hard to believe that wanting to be trained was a good reason. He has no qualifications in all honesty. All he has is his mouth which got him here and continues to get him into nothing but trouble with the woman. Ah! He did just talk back to her, huh? Finding himself internally cringing, he went back to stretching, hoping she’d just like that slip up slide.

“I’m enjoying myself though. More than I did when I was back home, at least. I’m surrounded by adults who aren’t that different, but there’s a freedom about this that I can’t quite describe.”

And he says this while also being pushed to his limits everyday, forced to be tired and worn, but he’s here because he wants to be here. That’s what matters in the end. He wonders if she’s here because she truly wants to be here, but he’ll let her fill in the gaps of this conversation if she wants. He’ll only push his luck so far.