Miroku's Apartment

[miroku]

Even Stance
Rank: "E"
Skill: TaiJutsu/Supplementary
Effect: Natural Position, easy to reproduce.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: One of the four stances a user may learn as they are able to learn just one if they wish. Small base of support in the front-back plane. Body isn't sturdy, so it can move if in high winds. Lowers area for string clearance, especially for large chested shooters. Many Marksman prefer the even stance. In this stance, the Marksman’s body weight is evenly distributed among both feet, and the heels and toes are aligned. The middle of the instep of the foot is aligned with the center of the target.
Limit: Must be a Marksman.

0/5

He had a bow, now he needed to learn how to shoot it. Unfortunately he couldn’t just start out by shooting, first he had to learn how to stand properly. He went to the little back yard area of his apartment building and began practicing how to stand with his bow. According to the book he had to stand with his feet about shoulder width apart. Okay that seemed easy enough. He drew the bow up in his arms and held it, feeling a bit silly as he checked back with what the book said he should be doing. There were still some adjustments to make it seemed.

His weight needed to be distributed evenly between his feet. Carefully he shifted his weight from side to side until he found some sort of balance in the middle. His heels and toes were supposed to be aligned too. He glanced down and realized he was sliding his front foot forwards out of force of habit. It felt more balanced to him that way but he had to go with what the technique said. He shifted the foot back until the heels and toes were perfectly aligned with each other, feeling more awkward than ever. He knew there were other stances he could learn but he couldn’t very well find out which one he liked best without trying.

The middle of his instep was supposed to be aligned with the target. He adjusted himself so he was facing the tree he had been practicing destroying. He made sure the tree trunk was aligned with the middle of his instep before drawing the bowstring back and practicing sighting. His fingers slipped and the string snapped, striking against his arm on the way down. “Shit!” He exclaimed as he dropped the bow and pulled back his sleeve, a large welt rising on the skin. It looked like he wasn’t done with training just yet.

[Corvus]

+5

[miroku]

Open Stance
Rank: "E"
Skill: TaiJutsu/Supplementary
Effect: Gives stable support base, reduces tendency to lean back from the target.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: One of the four stances a user may learn as they are able to learn just one if they wish. Tends to make upper body twist towards target. Tends to use arm muscles more than back muscles to draw. Open stance is recommended for the beginning Marksman during their initial learning period. In this stance, the feet should be shoulder-width apart. It is recommended that the Marksman should distribute his/her body weight evenly on both feet.
Limit: Must be a Marksman.

0/5

Next he had the open stance to try. He was fairly certain it couldn’t suck nearly as much as the last one he tried. According to his book this was more suited for a beginner which he obviously was. Flipping to the page with the diagram and description he took up his bow and began. His feet were supposed to be shoulder width apart which was easy enough. His body weight was supposed to be distributed evenly once more, that too was easy enough for him to do. Already he was liking this stance far better than the previous one.

He twisted his upper body to face towards the tree. The bow was just off to his side, hopefully keeping the string far enough away that it wouldn’t savage his arm anymore than it already had. He drew the bow string once more to test the feeling of it. Now he saw the downfall for this. It relied on his arm muscles way more than it did his back. Still he was able to draw the string back to his ear. It felt a little worrisome having the string so close to his face. Keeping a firm hold on the string he slowly released it back to the original position.

He dropped the stance and stepped into it once more, twisting his body and drawing the bow string in one smooth fluid motion. This felt much easier than the previous stance. There were still two more stances he could train but he could always go back to those later too and train actual shooting for now!

[j]

+Stance.

[miroku]

Exit

[Makito]

For far too long Makito had lived with his parents, he felt. Finally he was moving out to his own place, next door to a certain old friend of his… Well, ‘friend’ would probably be pushing it, but regardless he was entirely unaware that his newly rented apartment was right next door to none other than Miroku Hokkaido. He hadn’t seen the redhead since his academy days, so that guy was one of the last things on his mind at the moment as he unpacked.

The door to his new place was left wide open as he hauled boxes up the stairs and set them inside, not having too much of an issue thanks to the strength he had built up. Sure half of his training had been dedicated to healing so far, but he certainly hadn’t ignored keeping his body in shape. At the moment he wore a pale blue slightly tight-fitting T-shirt, along with a pair of gray sweat pants. A light sheen of sweat covered his body as well, and he was panting lightly as he took up the seventh and final box.

“Shit- Hey, can you open up my door for me? The key’s in my right pocket,” Makito requested, not really wanting to put this box down since it was rather big and heavy and he simply didn’t want go through the trouble of picking it up again. The cardboard was tall enough to obscure his vision of the one he was asking mostly; he could hardly catch a glimpse of red hair.

[miroku]

Miroku was just on his way back to his apartment. He barely paid attention to the signs of someone moving in. It wasn't until he reached his floor that he saw a guy holding boxes. The guy must've noticed he was there too because he requested a favor. Miroku's brows rose and he leaned back against the wall, arms folded over his chest as his glasses slid down to the tip of his nose. "Why would I do that?" He drawled as the stranger asked him for a favor. "It's kind of amusing watching you struggle..."

A quick glance at the door told him whoever this was, was his new neighbor. He didn't personally care really. Neighbors were just more people to ignore but this one was pretty bold, asking a total stranger to do something for him. "Well. I guess I could do this." He stepped forward and let his hand slide into the pocket of the boy, extracting the key before stepping back and leaning against the wall again. He twirled the key ring lazily around his finger, making no motion to go open the door.

[Makito]

Perhaps Makito was a bit spoiled from all the time he spent at church, so used to people helping each other out. When he heard that snide question he growled lowly in annoyance, his hands clenching slightly around the box when the guy went on to claim this was amusing to watch. “Oh don’t be such an ass, I’m not asking for much,” he huffed in annoyance, his hair trigger temper already being pulled. He knew that it wasn’t exactly right for him to lash out so much, but he couldn’t help how easily this guy was getting on his nerves.

For a moment he paused when he felt his key being grabbed, thinking that perhaps the other was actually going to open the door for him. But he was quickly proven wrong, and with a frustrated huff he sat the box down gently so he could actually use his arms. “Listen here you… Miroku?” Makito stopped dead in his tracks for a moment, his eyes a little wide in recognition. He hadn’t really seen the other since the academy days, but he sure as hell didn’t forget the guy he had been crushing on for a couple years or so.

“Tch, just give me my key,” he huffed, quickly reaching out to try grabbing it away from the redhead. Mentally he was far more distraught than he was acting, as he had thought that he was done with the other.

[miroku]

"Yeah that's my name." He said, staring blankly for a moment. He was rather surprised this guy knew his name. "Who're you little one?" He asked, his cocky smile appearing back on his face. As he kid reached for the key he held it up above his head. Being taller than the stranger meant the keys would be out of his reach. "Now now, you asked me to take them, didn't you? Told me to reach in your pocket and everything. I'm just doing what you wanted." He teased.

[Makito]

Ah, of course Miroku didn’t remember him. It sort of hurt really, but at the same time he was a bit relieved since he figured it’d be easier for him to hide his attraction this way. “Makito,” he gave out his name with a huff, half hoping that the other would remember and half hoping not. His shirt rode up to reveal the well-toned muscles beneath when he tried to reach for the keys, unintentionally standing particularly close to the man as well. “I asked you to unlock the fucking door, not steal my damn keys,” the dark haired one hissed angrily, his eyes narrowed into a nasty glare. Even when they were kids he had a nasty temper, he hadn’t really changed a whole lot in that regard.

Quickly and without much thought he moved to step up onto the wall next to them, simply standing perpendicular with his feet attached to the wall so he could easily reach high enough for the keys. “Give ‘em to me, now,” Makito demanded, trying to snag them back again as his hand lashed out towards the others.

[miroku]

"Ah ah ah. You still haven't told me why you know my name." Miroku taunted. As he made to walk up the wall to grab the keys Miroku would simply step away from the wall and lower them, making them unreachable once more. "God you're really not polite are you?" He asked with a small chuckle. He took the opportunity to take the keys and drop them down the collar of his shirt. They would catch at his pants since his shirt was tucked in.

"You've got a temper too. Rude and hot headed. Interesting combination for my new neighbor." Something in his voice was just grating. Perhaps it was the fact that he seemed to enjoy taunting the man. He seemed to like getting a rise out of him and showed no sign of stopping anytime soon.

[Makito]

“Don’t worry about it,” Makito snapped as he dropped back onto the ground, his blue eyes holding a piercing glare at the moment. “I’m plenty polite to those who deserve it,” he huffed, only seeming to grow angrier when the key dropped down the other’s shirt. For a moment he hesitated, not sure if he should go that far or not. But with how the guy kept on taunting him, he really couldn’t keep his hands to himself.

“You leave me the hell alone, got it?” Quickest he had moved yet, he rushed forward and grabbed at the collar of the other’s shirt and slammed the redhead’s back against the wall. If successful he would raise up the shirt by the collar he was holding as well, and it was sort of on purpose when he pressed his balled up fist into the other’s throat.

[miroku]

"H-hey now!" Miroku said as suddenly his back was slammed to the wall. Makito was strong but he had size on his side. He grabbed his wrists and spun him around, pinning him back to the wall. He leaned in so his chest was pinning Makito's, his face mere inches away. "Now is that any way to treat someone?" He asked, his breath hot against the others face. Suddenly his eyes narrowed. "Hey. You look kind of familiar... spend a lot of time at the bath house?" He asked with raised brows.

[Makito]

The dark haired one gasped in surprise when they suddenly spun around and he felt his own back pressed against the wall. Immediately he started to struggle to pull his wrists free, pausing when he realized just how close the other was thanks to the hot breath. “I don’t wanna hear it, you fuckin’ started it,” Makito huffed, finding it difficult to resist the urge to headbutt the other at the moment. He couldn’t deny how attractive the other was at the moment either, innately liking being rough like this. “Let me go- and I don’t spend time at any damn bathhouse,” he snapped, putting some effort into yanking his arms away from the other.

[miroku]

"Too bad." He said, releasing the others hands and stepping away. He reached down his shirt front and produced the keys, tossing them into the air, gently enough that Makito could catch them easily. He grasped the handle to his own apartment and opened it. "You'd look cute in a towel." And with that parting shot he'd step inside and yank the door shut behind him, quietly chuckling to himself over the encounter. That would give him something to think about for awhile.

[Makito]

Makito growled lowly in annoyance, but soon stopped as his eyes widened in surprise when he was suddenly give some space. He fumbled when he tried to catch the keys and nearly dropped them, as he hadn’t quite been expecting it. Honestly he didn’t even know what to say, not having expected this. Then that comment only made it worse, a light blush on his cheeks when it suddenly clicked. “God damn it,” he sighed in frustration as he ran a hand down his face, pulling himself together.

After a few seconds he snapped out of it and unlocked his door so he could get the last box or two inside. Accidentally he left it unlocked, far too distracted. He hoped the other wouldn’t remember him, and he mentally cursed himself because he was pretty damn sure that he still felt the same attraction for the other… If anything, it was stronger now since he had hit adolescence. To keep himself distracted, he busied himself with unpacking his things.

[miroku]

[Two Days Later]

He approached the door to the building, jostling the bags that held his groceries. He hadn't been shopping in weeks so now he had loads of bags to contend with. Finally he managed to grab his key and stick it in the lock. He entered the building and locked the door behind him. Now he was on the first floor of the complex. As he made for the stairs he head a noise and turned to see carrots lying on the floor. "Aw really?" He moaned before turning to pick them up. He managed to stick them in a bag and heard another thump as a bag of celery fell. "Ugh there must be a hole." He muttered.

[Makito]

Makito had just been leaving the building when he spotted a rather amusing sight at the bottom of the stairway, which he simply watched for a few seconds with a smirk. “Y’know, I might offer to help if you weren’t such a dick the other day,” he all but snickered, remaining where he was leant against the railing. It was tempting to try playing keep-away with that bag of celery that had fallen, but he felt as if it would be more fun to watch the redhead try to pick up another item.

[miroku]

Wordlessly he set down his bags and rearranged the produce, putting it into unbroken bags. "See if I make you dinner then neighbor." He drawled. It took a moment to finish the rearranging everything. Once done he would begin to load up his bags once more. "You know you really shouldn't hold grudges, they'll give you wrinkles." He bunched up his face for a moment, sticking out his tongue as he gave an illusion of what said wrinkles would look like. With that he continued loading his bags upon his arms. He must've had at least twenty of them.

[Makito]

“Right, like you would have,” Makito huffed, rolling his eyes as well- clearly not believing it. Still he just watched as the other reorganized the bags, his eyes narrowing slightly into a glare when he was warned about grudges giving wrinkles. “Tch, whatever,” he muttered, shifting his weight slightly. For just a few more lingering seconds he observed before he cracked, his urge to help near overwhelming. “The hell did you get so much for, anyway?” As he asked this he walked the rest of the way downstairs and picked up some of the bags as well, as much as he could comfortably hold without thinking he might drop something.