Marionette

Skies, Chapter Thirteen - Yūgure [夕暮れ]

The crashing of feet against tatami-floors echoed loudly through Shigures temporary abode, a deafening contrast to the gentle silence that was the outside gardens, despite the premises being in the city.

For what felt like the hundredth time, Shigure kicked Amayas feet out from under her, and a split second later he'd used the momentum of her fall to flip her into a Judo throw and send her tumbling to the tatami flooring without injury.

Unlike her first day of training, Amaya constantly threw herself to her feet without sparing a seconds pause, already making a move to avoid Shigures next move, whether by parry, dodge or a block.

She'd progressed in leaps and bounds, her endurance far superior to before, as was her balance and strength in her arms, despite still not having succeeded in landing a single hit on the peculiar man.

She'd managed to graze him once, however.

Frustration was whirling around inside of her, a sticky sludge to the oceans she was so used to.

Sticky, gunky, forever clogging up the sparse freedom inside of her.

It made the lone little island her emotional state balanced precariously upon slippery like mud.

She was tired of being inferior, of being unable to sift through her own thoughts without being bombarded with uncomfortable, miserable feelings.

She was tired of constantly making mistake after mistake.

She was just tired.

Amaya threw herself into a quick step forward, attempting to catch the snowy-haired man off guard with an uppercut with her right fist.

Only, he seemed to read her intentions before she'd even moved - He caught her wrist, pulling her forward into another of his many judo-throws and send her tumbling to the floor with ease.

Unlike all the other throws, this one was far stronger, and she landed on her back with a hard enough crash to wind her.

A pained gasp escaped Amaya as she lay there in a bit of a daze, struggling to catch her breath after what felt like days of non-stop attempts at landing a hit on Shigure.

All her energy and concentration left her in an instance, and she found she couldn't just rebound back onto her feet like she had been all morning.

'That was well done.' Shigure informed her, his sharp gaze upon Amayas crumpled form on the floor. 'But that will do for today - Any more, and you may very well collapse on your way home.'

Amaya managed to nod her head slightly in response as her arms and legs began to ache.

Shigures dispersing footsteps met her ringing ears, and then there was silence.

The world around her spun dizzily, swirling around like she'd been spun around in a clothes dryer.

It matched the unwavering chaos that continued to try and envelop her inner world.

The birds in the towering bamboo thicket in the back gardens chirped enthusiastically, and yet, it was quieter than she felt it should be.

It felt like everything was off, and she hated it.

'Amaya.' Shigures voice shot through the quiet all of a sudden, startling the girl out of her wits - Her eyes snapped open to find that he was standing over her, a bottle of water held out to her.

She blinked momentarily, managing to lift an arm to grab the offered water before she managed to pull herself into an upright position on the floor.