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[After all was said and done, after the magic was gone and the base had been landed and they were back within its walls, Kokichi spent a day or two in his room thinking. He thought about a lot of things, tested out his skills to see what he could still do, re-thought and re-worked his plans for what to do with his second path.

But what he thought about most was his friends, and what they would all do now. And the thing that stuck out to him the most was the fact that without magic...there would likely be no more resurrections. No trips to a cleric to be healed, no severe injuries able to be cured without worries, no nothing. They were back to relying on staying alive in the first place. And what worried him the most about that was Shuichi.

Before he was content to let Maki and Kaede help him. Obviously the assassin would train him and Kaede would protect him as needed until he could fight on his own. And if something happened, he'd be healed or brought back and could learn from it, no big deal. But it was a very big deal now and the assassin was reassigned elsewhere apparently. He didn't know how often she'd be able to see him, if at all anymore, nor how free Kaede would be to train Shuichi herself. But he, Kokichi, was made of free time. He did everything on his own and had no obligations to anyone.

So he decided he'd stop sitting on his hands and would step in himself. Because the last thing he wanted was for Shuichi to die. Which brought him to his door, actually knocking on it today before he lets himself in.]

Hey Saihara-chan, you here?

[If not he can just wait for him to get back easily enough.]

[Nope! Shuichi is most definitely not here. There's no answer to his knock, and Kokichi opens the door to a completely empty living room. If he goes into the shared bedroom, he'll find that just as devoid of life. (Unless you count Yacchi, who lays on Shuichi's bed by his pillow) Predictably, Shuichi's Bag of Holding is gone, presumably with the detective himself. It may not work at full capacity anymore, but it DOES at least work as a messenger bag should.]

[His lab stands forlorn on the desk, some of the beakers cracked or broken due to their expulsion from the bag when the Weave was destroyed. All the books and notebooks are closed. Several bottles of potions lay scattered across the desk as well, their multi-colored contents somehow dimmer and duller than previously. The various belts full of bottles and vials and tubes usually worn about Shuichi's person are slung over the back of the chair, the potions here just as depressing as those on the desk. Colorful liquids and salves that no longer serve any purpose.]

[The only hint to the detective's current location is the fact that his crossbow and its quiver of bolts are nowhere to be seen. He usually carries both in his bag of holding, but the bow is too long to fit in there now that it's lost its magical properties. If it's not here, Shuichi must be somewhere where he'd need it: the dojo or the simulator.]

[It's the dojo. He's in the dojo.]

[The sight of his potions so dull and useless now is a little heart-wrenching. Simply because he knows it's surely discouraging for the detective. That's the entire purpose of his class...but, for now, he has to abandon them. He can't make use of any of them, most likely...

Despite Shuichi not being here, the crossbow and quiver missing is a good enough of a hint as to where he needs to go. And it's also a good sign, since training is exactly what he had in mind today. So he hits up the simulation first, then heads to the dojo when he's not there, peering in to see if he can catch a glimpse of the other boy.

What are you up to Shuichi? For once he doesn't want to just pop in and surprise you, considering that you could be shooting that crossbow of yours.]

[Good choice, Kokichi. Because Shuichi is, indeed, shooting that crossbow of his. He has target practice mode turned on, clearly on the easiest level since the targets aren't shooting back at him and most of them are pretty close.]

[As for the detective himself...he doesn't particularly seem to be enjoying this training session. His expression is as dull as his potions and he seems oddly listless and unfocused as he shoots at the various targets. Though he does manage to hit all of said targets, all of his shots fall on the outermost rings. In all likelihood, he forced himself here just to be doing something.]

[Because Kokichi was correct about more than just what would be going on inside the dojo. He was also right about just how discouraging the destruction of the Weave was for Shuichi. Making potions is all he can really do, and he was actually starting to get pretty good at it! But now...now his potions are useless. And on top of that, Maki has been reassigned and won't be around to help him train anymore...]

Edited 2019-12-20 21:23 (UTC)

[He waits until Shuichi's shot a bolt before addressing him, so that he won't have one loaded just yet. Just...just to be careful.]

Heyyy Saihara-chan! I see you're doing some practicing!

[Kokichi saunters into the dojo, hands in his pockets as he looks over the targets and files away the fact that this is on easy.]

Mind if I join in?

[The detective jumps a little, accidentally squeezing the trigger on his crossbow as he does so. So...good thing Kokichi waited, otherwise Shuichi would have just shot himself in the foot. But luckily, the bow wasn't loaded.]

O-oh...Oma-kun. [He forces a smile as he realizes who the owner of the voice is, then shakes his head.] No, I don't mind.

Whoops, sorry! I wasn't trying to surprise you this time, I swear.

[But there's just no good way to get someone's attention when they don't know you're there yet. Making his way over to him, he looks the detective over for a moment, then the targets.]

It's good to see you out practicing, you know? Though I bet you could tackle a medium level. Or maybe even something more challenging than that! Hey, do you know about leading your target yet?

Ah...

[Shuichi seems to wilt a little at the mention of a medium level. As though Kokichi was admonishing him rather than just stating a fact. Or perhaps as though he himself knows that he should be putting in more effort. Either way, the feeling disappointment is suddenly strong in the air.]

N-No, I don't think I can handle the difficulties beyond medium...but Harukawa-san did teach me about leading my target...

Whoa, why the long face? [He tilts his head curiously.] It was just a suggestion, Saihara-chan. If you don't think you're ready, no big deal! Everyone learns at their own pace.

[He wasn't admonishing you at all, Shuichi, promise. But he hums and nods too, walking to stand in front of one of the targets to examine it some.]

Did Harukawa-chan only have you practice with these things?

Edited 2019-12-20 22:01 (UTC)

M-mm...just with the targets. They move a little bit on medium difficulty, though.

[Ah, so he has actually progressed beyond easy. Or, at least, Maki had him practice on medium difficulty. Probably whether he was ready to or not, knowing her.]

Oh...and we did do the Initiation retest together last month.

[That counts as practice, right? And the targets were definitely not bullseyes in the test. Definitely monsters.]

[That absolutely counts, and once again he hums and nods. And then he heads over to stand by Shuichi, tilting his head.]

Soooo...I'm no Harukawa-chan, but I wanna help! Plus, I think I've improved all I can on my own, y'know? Now I'm just doing the same thing over and over, which isn't helping much. So how about we work together?

Uhm...okay. But...don't you use daggers? I'm...not sure how I can help you improve with those...

[It's easier, he thinks, to train with at least one other person. Easier to stay motivated and keep trying. So it's a good idea, and he's actually kind of grateful that Kokichi suggested it. However...it kind of sounds like he doesn't have things like push ups or running laps in mind. Shuichi isn't sure that Kokichi would really benefit at all by training with him...]

What I fight with doesn't matter that much in the long run. Because if I only trained with people who fought with daggers, I'd never know what to do when I came up against swordsmen or rangers, y'know? And besides, fighting isn't the only kind of training we could do!

[He grins, hands on his hips.]

The way I see it, there are three areas we could tackle. You still need to work on basic training, right? Push ups and laps and all that? Well I do those too, so we could just start doing them together. But the other two both involve sparring.

[Pulling out his daggers, he tosses one in the air idly, catching it before tossing it again as he explains.]

Have you done any hand to hand or short range combat training? Or have you just been learning your crossbow?

[He nods to answer Kokichi's question about basic training. Yup. He...he definitely still needs to do that. And likely will for quite some time. Possibly forever.]

Ah...just the crossbow.

[Since...you know. IDEALLY he shouldn't ever have to be in a close-range combat situation. He's a chemist. He shouldn't really be fighting at all, if it can be helped...]

I want to train you in that then. A crossbow won't be able to help you much if the mob manages to reach you, y'know? Sure you can smack it with it but I think knowing how to fight up close would be beneficial too. At least knowing enough to be able to get 'em to back off and give you distance again.

[If a big monster came in close and got one good swipe at Shuichi, that could be it for him if he isn't prepared to defend and fight back...]

Annnnd I want to spar with your crossbow too! That'd give you a moving target that's a little more real to life than these dummies here, and it'll give me practice against long ranged enemies.

[He wants to get into a full range of training for them, it seems. No messing around here.]

I can still shoot it if it's close to me, you know... [That's an option!!! It's not like crossbows can ONLY be used if you're a certain distance away, you should know that better than anyone, Kokichi.] Though I won't say no if you want to teach me something close range.

But, um...if you want to spar with my crossbow, we'll have to see if we can find...some kind of practice bolts for it. [Like...nerf darts or something.] I don't want to actually shoot you with live bolts...

What if you get disarmed?

[There! Even though you agreed, there's another reason to justify it.]

But you wouldn't shoot me, don't worry! The bulk of my Rogue skills still work, so I have evasion, and that lets me dodge one attack flawlessly. We'll go until I have to use it, even if it's the second or third bolt, and then stop for the day! Eventually I'll get better at dodging, and then you'll catch up and get better with your bow. We'll improve together.

[Shuichi still looks hesitant. Apparently the fact that evasion still works isn't as reassuring as Kokichi was hoping. He just...really does not want to accidentally shoot the other boy. But, in the end...]

O-okay. If you're sure...

[Beta nature strikes again!]

I'm positive!

[He grins, then cocks his head curiously.]

We can start with something else though. I won't thrust you into that when you're so nervous.

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Action; after returning to the moon base after Thay

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