where the winds blow strong {wind breaker}

arnis ~ nirei

I got an interesting request recently, asking the reader to be from the Philippines. And as a Filipina myself, I say yes naman oh! Kaya ko yan hahaha (sorry i'm late tho, i had school shit)

****

It was yet another day. Sakura, Nirei, and Suo had finished their portion of patrol around town. The three made their way to their official hangout; Pothos Cafe. It wasn't unusual for Kotoha to have other customers but this one seemed to be a foreigner. The boys noticed her sitting at the front counter bar, chatting with Kotoha, who then turned to the boys who came in.

"The usual for you guys?" Kotoha smiles. The boys nod and take their seats in a booth.

Along the way, Nirei's eyes meet the girl's. There was something about her, and he couldn't quite put his finger on it. It's not that she's a new face in town like Sakura but he doesn't remember seeing her around the area – and Nirei should know (or at the very least, recognize) a lot of people in their town.

"Do you guys recognize that girl there?" Nirei says in a hushed tone.

"Beats me." Sakura wouldn't really care, he's not one to judge by looks (even though the girl looks quite exotic and most definitely not from around the area).

Suo chimes, "She looks like a foreigner."

"That's what I was thinking," Nirei nods.

"Why don't you go talk to her?" Kotoha appears with food for the three.

"K-Kotoha-san?"

"She's right, you know." Suo gives a nod of encouragement, nudging Sakura to do the same.

With supportive smiles, Nirei gathers enough courage to make his way over to the girl. In any case, it doesn't make him quite as nervous as when he and his friends face tough opponents, but he's still shaky nonetheless. What if he makes her uncomfortable? He doesn't think so. It's just an ordinary stranger who is sitting at the cafe. If anything, Nirei deemed her as interesting as his friends. A few seconds pass before she notices him standing beside her. When she does, she smiles.

"Why, hello there."

Before Nirei could speak, he notices an object by her feet; a long, vertical black polyester bag that had what seems to be thick wooden sticks peeking out of the top. Nirei whips out his notebook at lightning speed and with twinkling eyes, he asks about the item. This takes her by surprise but she reverts back to a normal state.

"They're my Arnis sticks," she grins.

They all fell quiet. It was a new word to them, foreign as much as the girl is. Everyone, save for Kotoha who had once been told about the sticks, waited for the girl to continue. But instead of explaining to the awaiting Nirei, she stands up, leaves her payment on the table and grabs the polyester sling bag. She looks at Nirei and gestures to the door.

"I'll show you how they work. Follow me."

Outside, Nirei trails behind the mysterious girl, her arnis bag slung around her torso so she could easily reach back and grab them. As they walk down the street, Nirei asks her questions; about her age, height, favourite food, all of which he jots down on his notebook in a giddy craze. He learns that she hails from a foreign country in the Southeast Asias where her Arnis sticks are practiced as a martial art. And just as she was running of ideas of where and how to demonstrate her weapon, a ruckus sounds off from one of the nearby alleys. The two rush to the scene, the girl swiftly taking out her sticks and getting into a stance. The three troublemakers notice her and Nirei, and they started to laugh to themselves. The person who almost got robbed immediately got up to flee the scene.

"What're ya gonna do with two sticks, little girl?" The thug taunted. "Gonna hit me with it?"

"Yes, that's precisely what I plan to do." She says coolly. "Unfortunately, you underestimate how hard I plan to hit."

Still, they snicker and doubt her. The girl retains her posture, but looks back at a terrified Nirei with a smile. "Luckily, you get to see me demonstrate on a real person."

One guy charges at the girl, but she gracefully steps aside and trips him with one of her sticks. She lands a hard strike with the other stick, making the guy tumble over and groan in pain. As this was happening, a second guy tried to come up from behind her to attack. And just as Nirei was about to warn her, a very familiar flying kick came to the rescue.

"You think we're gonna let you have the fun?" Sakura smirks as he lands.

Suo appears on the girl's other side, ready to join the fray, "Besides, we're also curious about how you use those."

In that moment, Nirei doubted himself. He felt weak. Knowing he couldn't fight like Sakura or Suo. But when the girl looks back at him, all his worries seemed to wash away. Her eyes were sparkling, as if saying, "Don't worry, we got you." If anything, she would've even looked like she fit in with Furin. In that moment, Nirei really admired this girl. Almost the same way he admired Sakura – except this force to be reckoned with is less of a hothead. And so, the scuffle began. Nirei could only keep his eyes on the girl.

The way she began hitting the delinquent with grace and incredible speed and strength. She lands hits on his torso, legs, arms, and even his head. Constantly bobbing and weaving while landing a tornado of attacks, constantly twirling her sticks and hitting the guy everywhere she can. She gave him no chance to retaliate. He tried catching the sticks, even blocking at some point, but the girl always pulled her stick back and continued hitting. It got to the point that Sakura and Suo already wiped the floor with the other two gangsters and watched how the girl continued her assault on the man who was on the verge of collapsing. Each hit seemed to get harder and harder, and even though it was almost scary, and yet Nirei was still in awe. Suo steps forward and catches a stick before it swung. The girl stops. The beat up man finally collapses. His face didn't show much bruises but there were guaranteed to be many more on his body instead.

"Oh, sorry! I almost got carried away." She chuckled and put away the Arnis sticks. "My family doesn't usually condone the use of violence. Unless it's for self-defense. Or using a slipper."

Sakura and Suo remained quiet, unsure of what to say. Then again, how could they comment on the nearly violent display of strength and skill? She could have easily beat that man to the point of a coma. Nirei was amazed. He nearly burst into joy, going up to her and complimenting her techniques and how good she was with handling herself. Nirei's best friends can tell that there was something about her. It's possible that Nirei doesn't see her potential to be incredibly dangerous because he came to admire her way of fighting. Admittedly, it's unique and they've never seen anything like it.

"I've deduced that it's a martial art that she's learned with those sticks." Suo says to Sakura.

"She could beat someone half to death if she wanted to."

"But she probably won't."

"How come?"

"Nirei."

End.

****

End notes:
HI HAHAHA SORRY THIS WAS BAD??
Idk where I went with the story, it just turned out this way and I decided to leave it as is. I hope it doesn't suck as much as I think it does
Also, the last time i held arnis sticks was 6th grade which was YEARS ago i'm deadass in my 2nd year of college
And I'm not entirely sure you can actually beat up someone really bad with Arnis but knowing Nightwing/Dick Grayson's use of escrima sticks, it's definitely possible to use it to fight