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Who: Jon Talbain and his Martial Arts students
What: Martial Arts class! Which has been happening weekly I promise.
Where: The Stadium.
When: Monday afternoon.
Warnings: Errybody was Kung Fu fighting.

Jon had everyone meet at the stadium and do all their standard drills. Five minutes silent meditation to contemplate life, the universe and Kung Fu. Stretches to get everyone limber. Then running, to get the heart rate up. Push ups, to invigorate the arms. Standing kicks to invigorate the legs.

Then came the fun part.

"Alright, class. I've a choice of two assignments for you today. You're to pick the one that corresponds best to your level of achievement. Keeping in mind that I've a fairly accurate idea of what each of you can do, so, picking your assignment is a test of character. Character is important in the martial arts."

Meaning: Pick the easier option just to slack off and he'd know about it.

"Option number one is simple. Pair up with an individual you think sits around your ability level and spar. No facial contact and no kicks below the belt. Body blows only and be advised that I will be watching you like a hawk. I want to see form, technique, adaptation and consideration of your opponent's skills. We are here to learn, not to injure one another. I will be providing pointers as we go. If you cannot find a partner, I will assign you a partner. If someone still has no partner, your partner will be Me."

So. Find a partner quickly.

"Our second option... is not for the faint of heart or those lacking in skill."

He pushed a few buttons and the stadium changed.

"This is something special. A cursed training ground."

He leapt to the nearest bamboo pole and stood there on one foot, arms crossed.

"Some of you are amazingly agile and I feel as though I've not tested you to the best of my capabilities. This training ground requires skill, yes, but most of all it requires balance. To spar here is to dance with the very real possibility that you may be cursed by the waters below, should you fall. Each pool has water I've imported from... elsewhere and is cursed. Land in a pool and you will transform into something else. What? I can't say. You've been warned. If you chose to spar up here, you can do so with a partner or against me. Your choice. Be also warned that I will not tolerate attacks against the poles themselves - try to knock anyone down by attacking the poles and you will be... disciplined."

He waited to be asked any questions before calling "Begin!"

[[OOC: So, yes, I did blantantly steal this idea from Ranma 1/2 but don't judge me. I'll fight you. Anyway, to add a little Smash Academy flare to it, I've changed the curses you can contract to something a little more Video Gamey.

Springs include but are not necessarily limited to: Spring of drowned Girl (Nyannīchuan), Spring of drowned Man (Nannīchuan), Spring of drowned Piglet (Tepignīchuan), Spring of drowned Cat (Bubsynīchuan), Spring of drowned Duck ( Pinnīchuan), Spring of drowned Panda (Pandarennīchuan), Spring of drowned Sasquatch riding buffamoo holding swanna and tynamo (OhgodwhattheheckevenisthatIdunnonichuan)

But you can take some liberties with your character's cursed appearance, of course! And if there's a spring you would rather use, this list is by no means exhaustive. Just try to keep with the theme and go nuts!

As per the standard for Smash Academy curses, they should wear off in about seven days. If you want it to last for less time or for longer, I'll leave that up to your discretion!]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

....his 'no wrong answer' assurances might have been premature.

"I see. That does explain why you signed up, I suppose. But that doesn't tell me your motivation, nor does it tell me what you hope to accomplish here. I was looking for something a little... deeper."

"That's pretty much why I'm taking this class, dude," explained Hagakure. "I wanted to take the classes I was going to take. So I took them."

You should not look for deeper meanings in the shallow end of the pool, Jon.

"....ah."

That was annoying.

"Did you happen to see so far as to be able to tell your grade?"

"That takes the fun out of life, dude," said Hagakure. "Sometimes it's important to leave a little mystery."

Oh heavens to betsy.

"Hagakure, I am happy to help you improve. I wish to work with you. Truly. However, there will be graded assessments that require that you spar. There will be graded exhibitions that just require you to show form as well. There's even an essay required to pass the class. It's part of the final. Even if you completely ace the latter two, you will only barely scrape by with a passing grade should you perform poorly in your sparring assessment."

This actually seemed sort of an odd conversation to have at a school which was very clearly a fighting school.

"Why is it that you don't wish to engage in combat?"

"Hahahaha," said Hagakure nervously. He wasn't laughing. He was actually saying the words "hahahaha."

"I don't know, dude, I mean, you know, reasons." Terrible, awful, wake-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night PTSD nightmares. Man, Hagakure typically looks a little shifty but at the moment he's looking super shifty. "Life. Life lessons. Stuff."

"Life, life lessons, and stuff."

These were not entirely adequate reasons on their own. Jon was willing to bet there was something behind them. (Such as 'they' were.)

"Hagakure, if you're afraid of getting hurt, I can assign you a novice partner. Someone who's as... ah. Who's as green as you are. That's not a problem. We've a few newer students who I'm sure would be happy to engage in a very gentle spar with you. And if not, I can fight with you myself. I'll be careful with you."

He's doing his best to sound entirely reasonable and like he's not at all frustrated. He's doing a fairly good job.

"Look at you, dude," said Hagakure. "Your neck muscles are like... I mean..." he gestured as to the shape that Jon's traps made. "How are you supposed to go easy on me? You're all built like that. How do I know this isn't a trap?"

It was probably a trap. Was there a way out? Was he going to die because a werewolf punched him? It would be just like something Monokuma would cook up -- done in by a cryptid.

"I'm going to go easy on you because I'm your teacher. Not your enemy." Jon replied carefully. "Because I have no interest in hurting you and every interest in teaching you to excel in my subject."

He was used to people mistrusting him being that he was a werewolf and all. It sort of came with the territory. He could work with this.

"Hit me. Not in the face and not below the belt."

Hagakure wears a pained expression on his face. A very pained, uncomfortable expression.

"I'm, uh, not going to hurt my calligraphy hand on your abs, am I, dude?" he asked, as a way to avoid having to throw a punch for as many seconds as he could muster.

Jon looked at what little he could see of Hagakure's musculature for a moment.

"No. I shouldn't think so."

"O-okay, I guess I'm going to... throw a punch now..." he said, looking around to see if there was some possible way he could manage to not have to directly confront someone in aggressive combat.

He threw his punch. It went 'pap.'

Well. It was less a punch and more a strongly worded letter from something that resembled a fist.

"Alright. How did that feel?" Jon enquired. "Think you can give me another one? With your other hand. And harder, this time."

"I think I uh, might be a pacifist, dude, I, uh, don't... know that I'm meant for this," said Hagakure as he looked at his hand. "I'm a pretty devout Shintoist, it's probably against something."

It's not. In Japan, it's Buddhists who take vows of nonviolence, Hagakure. Not Shintoists. And you know that.

"It isn't."

Jon was not, by any means, an expert on Japan or its religions. He did know, though, that there was nothing preventing a devout shintoist from becoming a martial artist and in fact the religion had historical ties to a few disciplines.

"And if you're a pacifist then you are the perfect person to learn what I have to teach." Jon said, eyeing Hagakure's face carefully. "Because you won't use what I teach to hurt others or cause fear. The Martial Arts are a way to know yourself better, to learn focus and discipline to be used in every day life and there's an added bonus of being able to protect yourself - or others who need protection - should you find yourself in danger."

"So, like, would it help me if somebody attacked me from behind and tried to stuff me inside of a giant robot suit and then shove me into a locker? This is what you're saying?"

"....that's a strangely specific question." Jon replied, his gaze becoming shrewd. What the hell had happened to this lad? "But yes. I've plenty of techniques for getting the better of someone who's attempting to grab you from behind. I can show you any number of ways to escape someone's grasp, or even turn their own force against them, incorporating it into your own attack."

"Life is full of strange peculiarities," replied Hagakure, a man for whom life held a plethora of peculiar moments.

"What about, uh, escaping... places... with locked doors and steel plates over the windows? Is that part of the martial arts training? Wouldn't I have to be bigger and stronger than Og... you to do that?"

Real smooth, Hagakure. Nobody could ever figure out your past from the sly way you casually allude to it.

"Well, I can probably escape a place like that. In my wolf form, at any rate."

He was much more durable as a wolf, plus, he could shoot fiery wolves and make his body explode with ki energy. It would probably depend on how thick the steel was.

"But the Martial Arts can teach you to be a master of your environment, scanning your surroundings immediately for advantages and spotting pitfalls with ease, allowing you to avoid them. They can teach you to find escape routes you may not have noticed before. Obviously, those are fairly advanced techniques and they take some time to learn and a lot of discipline to master. But if you are willing to work, I am more than willing to teach you."

"I'm not asking if you could escape that place. I'm asking if I could escape that place. This is an important question."

A very important question.

He... he just explained that, Hagakure. Just listen, please.

Just listen.

"If you're asking me if I can train you to punch through steel plate, the answer is most likely No." he replied. "However, it's entirely possible that with some training in stealth and observation, you could find a way out you may not have noticed before. Martial arts isn't simply about brawn, Hagakure. Nor is it about causing pain. It's about mastering the Self. Finding awareness. Being able to think on your feet and know your strengths, your weaknesses, and spotting the same in not only your opponents, but the battlefield as well."

How much of this was sinking in, he had no clue.

Listen, Jon, the clear and obvious solution to everyone's problems is just to bite Hagakure to make him into Weregakure; this would be the far easier solution than trying to teach him to master the Self, I can assure you.

"But there isn't another way out, dude. It's go through the steel plates or stay inside forever!" Unless you get your memories back and Monokuma turns out to be crazy-old Junko, the woman that would one day turn into Grandma Death from Donnie Darko, given enough time and hairspray and incontinence.

"Unless you can... well. Whatever."

"Finish your thought." Jon encouraged.

"Figure out the bear's the sixteenth classmate and get her crazy enough that she agrees to let you out if you can figure out what happened two years ago."

Well that's not in any way cryptic.

"...that's."

Well.

"I have no idea what I'm even supposed to suggest in regards to that."