[training center]

[renjiabarai]

Training with Sullivan isn't as bad as Renji had expected. Sullivan shows up sober enough to give worthwhile instruction. It's not entirely useless, either, though they quickly figure out one-on-one (one on two?) instructions aren't really entirely necessary. Renji and Issui already know how to fight. THere's other things they need to work on.

Every morning, they go over what they need to with Sullivan. Survival tips. Strategy. Then it's off to deal with training downstairs for the rest of the day. Some the stuff they linger on is for show while they check out the other Tributes, but some is genuinely useful. They spend most of one afternoon at the snare making station. Issui does alright. Renji, on the other hand... actually gets his hand stuck in one of his own snares. It takes a little bit to untangle him from it and he doubts that went unnoticed. He's sure Rukia's back home either laughing or having a fit or both, and probably knows why.

It's a couple days before Renji starts to get a better picture of their competitors. The other Tributes still seem to be paying attention to 12's duo, the Careers especially. There's a couple of the Careers that don't look particularly special. Then there's the other half of the Career team, who seem big and well-trained enough to even give Renji pause. And one of them seems to be watching Renji and Issui in a very pointed way he can't quite put his finger on.

He doesn't like it.

It doesn't help that they end up at the climbing station. It's not their best showing, even after the incident with Renji and the snare. There's only so much flailing and falling off either of them can do before they have to move on. Renji's getting bruised and sore from landing on his ass constantly. And besides, they can't do any talking while climbing.

The thrown weapons station looks potentially more promising, so Renji insists on that next. Not that it's met with much disagreement. He sidles up to the weapons display and spends a few seconds eyeing the assorted sharp and pointy things.

"Wonder how many people have actually gotten hurt during training," He thinks aloud. Can't be that many, and not recently. He can't remember ever seeing any Tributes replaced, at least.

Comments

[issuiyanagi]

Issui's glad they're done with the climbing station. She was tired of getting tangled in the nets and honestly a little concerned she'd seriously hurt herself that way. She'd like to get to the Arena in one piece, thanks. And well... it's embarrassing. She's not exactly a climbing master, but she didn't expect to do quite so badly. The rope nets are very different than trees or the fence back home. Oh well. At least she didn't actually hurt herself when she got her leg caught and fell.

So she has absolutely no problem with doing thrown weapons next. Issui reaches out and pokes at one of the throwing knives. It's certainly interesting looking. "I guess that depends on how badly you mean," she says after a moment. "Some of these stations are kind of a hazard." It's hard not to rub at her leg. But she can see one of the Careers still looking over at them, so it'll have to wait. Hopefully she can do something about it later.

[renjiabarai]

Renji isn't really sure where to start at this one. There's lots of knives and axes, sure, but there's some stranger stuff he's never really even seen in person before. He could try them, and probably fail spectacularly. Eventually, he settles on one of the knives. "Yeah, you're right," He fidgets with the knife, trying to figure out how its weight balances out. "I guess I mostly mean, they wouldn't let us cripple ourselves, you think?"

Certainly not. He considers the knife for a moment before giving it a good throw at one of the target dummies. It ends up embedded its.... upper arm. Great. He hears a short bit of laughter from the direction of the Careers. It's enough to make Renji pause and glance over at them. Yeah, real funny. After a moment, though, they all manage to get otherwise occupied. Even that one Career has to pay attention to what he's doing for a bit.

Renji turns his attention back to Issui in time to catch a glimpse of her wincing faintly. He hesitates before picking up the next knife, trying to make sure the Careers or whoever else is not watching still. It's clear, he thinks. Okay. He keeps his voice carefully quiet regardless. "Hey, you alright?"

[issuiyanagi]

Issui's very sure it doesn't matter at all if you get maimed in training, unless perhaps someone important was already betting on you. The Capitol sends in crippled kids pretty regularly after all. It's not going to matter to them when it happened, or if you were born with it. So she snorts quietly. "Yeah, I don't think they'd... be particularly thrilled." You might even get no dessert or something.

She watches Renji throw a knife. That's not exactly fatal, but it wasn't bad. Hard to use a weapon with a knife sticking out of your arm. Hmm. Should she try a knife too, or something else? As she leans to look at the weighted ropes, Issui jars her leg and winces. Okay, maybe she hurt it a little more than she'd thought.

...She also wasn't as subtle about that wince as she'd thought, apparently. "Yeah, I think so," she replies, just as quiet. "I caught my leg one of the times I fell." Issui hadn't thought she'd injured it much, but it's hurting more than it was even a few minutes ago. Then again, that might be the adrenaline wearing off. Hard to tell without taking a look at it, and she's not going to do that down here.

Issui picks up one of the knives finally and tests it. This isn't something she's familiar with, exactly, but she can throw other things okay. Hmm. She lines up a shot at one of the other dummies and throws. The knife lands in a thigh. Well. That's crippling too, and fatal depending on just where. Not this throw, probably, but a couple inches over? Femoral artery. She looks back to Renji and grins a little. "Hey, we're not too bad at this, huh?" It's especially nice after that rope net fiasco.

[renjiabarai]

Renji tries to keep his expression limited to mild concern, tops. And aimed mostly at the dummies across from them. Can't trust that no one would notice and all. "Maybe we'll call it a day early today," He thinks aloud. "Head back up and deal with Sullivan instead." There's no telling if Sullivan or Trinket could do anything at all for a training injury. Letting Issui get a little extra time off her feet might help, at least. Worth a shot either way.

Renji eyes Issui's shot with her knife. Thigh, not far from an artery. He gives an approving sort of frown and nods, "Not bad at all. A little practice and we'll have this down."

That would have been beautifully punctuated by the next knife he throws, except it hits hilt first and clatters to the ground loudly. "Aw, you gotta be kidding me," He groans. How the hell did he even do that? He can practically hear Rukia laughing at him for fucking that up. And in front of all the other Tributes, too.

[issuiyanagi]

"I..." She'd like to say that's not necessary, especially since they just found something to work on down here. But... better safe than sorry. Issui sighs. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. If you don't mind." Which is a little odd to say, since Renji's the one who brought it up and all, but. Well.

Then again, it's not like he's the one who's hurt. He could stay down here and practice some more. "Or really, I'm the only one who'd need to g--" she trails off abruptly as Renji throws again. Whoops. That wasn't just a miss, it was a loud one.

Issui reaches out and pats him on the shoulder. He's... very warm. "I did kind of jinx us, didn't I?" That's exactly the sort of thing she might do. Probably will do on her next throw now.

[renjiabarai]

"Might as well go with you." It's not like he likes it down here. Besides, they're a united front to the other Tributes and Game makers, aren't they? Or something like that. It doesn't hurt that he doesn't really want to deal with the other Tributes while alone anyway.

"Nah, I do this," Renji sighs very quietly at the pat on his shoulder. He doesn't even feel particularly humiliated. He's just... always him. Issui's hand lingers there on his shoulder, and it's a bit of a struggle to not think about that much. "I fell down a hill the morning of the Reaping. I still had leaves in my hair when the styling dealt with me."

He snatches up another knife from the display and handles it a moment. Better balanced than the last one. At least, he thinks so. Throwing anything is tricky given Issui's hand still there. He lines up his next attempt and throws despite it, though. It sinks satisfyingly into the left side of the dummies's chest. That's better.

[issuiyanagi]

It shouldn't matter, but Issui's glad Renji's going to go with her. Whatever, Yanagi. It's not like she'd want to be down here by herself either.

She snorts quietly. This sounds familiar. "I bet you've never dropped a fish on your head, though." Issui glances over at him and smiles ruefully. "Right on my face, actually. I think Shinobu's still laughing about it."

Then he throws again. Yes. That's much better. Issui grins and squeezes his shoulder. Wait. Her hand is still on his shoulder. Uh. Well. She drops her hand and glances down at the knives, hoping she isn't turning too red. "Um, sorry," she mumbles.

She might as well throw again. Better than standing around being super awkward, that's for sure. She picks up another knife and fusses with it briefly. She lines it up and throws. Well. She hit it right in the groin. Issui can't help snickering a little bit. That's certainly effective.

[renjiabarai]

"How'd you even manage that?" Renji can't help but laugh a little. Poor Issui. Shinobu will probably never let her live that down. He'd ask her to not tell Shinobu about his trip down the hill, but... Rukia probably will.

And then it hits him that either way probably won't matter. He swallows that sobering thought back down immediately. He's got plenty of time for it later. It's not the Games yet. Now, though, Issui's squeezing his shoulder and grinning at him. He glances back to his last shot briefly, not really entirely able to suppress a smile. But when he looks to Issui again, she's looking away and turning red. Well. "Uh... It's alright," He manages, after a beat.

Issui takes another go at the knives. Renji lets out a low wistle, wincing a little theatrically. "That's debilitating, maybe fatal, and humiliating. Beautiful."

He really, truly hopes that the Careers saw that.

[issuiyanagi]

Issui laughs with him. She'd say it's been long enough to be funny, but it was pretty funny at the time honestly. Once she finished climbing. "I dropped it uh, on my way home," she replies, voice especially quiet. It's not like she can be punished for it now, but she's not the only one who goes over the fence.

She doesn't quite do a double take at Renji's reaction, but it's close. She's sure she looks surprised, at least. After a moment, though, she grins widely at him. "Thanks." She's probably blushing again. Issui doesn't care.

"When should we leave, do you think?" Issui asks, still smiling. She wouldn't mind practicing some more, but... her leg hurts. And she's tired of being watched.

[renjiabarai]

Renji nods once in understanding. They've both got people the Capitol could take things out on. He gets it. Discretion. "I can, um," He starts. "I can see how that could happen." It's not like falling off the fence is all that difficult to do.

"Um, well..." Renji scratches the back of his neck a little awkwardly. He should be more serious, probably. But them smiling stupidly could go over a couple ways with the others, most of them useful. So he doesn't try and dampen his face down too much. "Now, maybe? Since we got in a couple good shots. Before I fuck up my next shot so bad it boomerangs back at me or something, y'know."

And maybe they can see if her leg's okay or not.

[issuiyanagi]

"Now's fine with me," Issui says, shuffling back slightly from the throwing knives. "I was due to drop a knife on my foot or something anyway." And she's already hurt a leg once today.

As they both turn to head for the elevator, she sees one of the Careers eyeing them again. Well. Better not limp then, huh. Walking like her leg doesn't hurt is tricky, but Issui thinks she doesn't do too badly at it. Especially considering her leg hurts worse after standing around throwing knives for a bit. Sitting down will be nice.

Once the doors close, she sighs in relief and leans against the wall. "Yeah, now was um, definitely the right time," Issui says as she rubs at her leg. It doesn't help much.

[renjiabarai]

Renji catches a glimpse of the Career watching them. It's not that one from before this time. This one's not hard to read at all - Renji knows that look well enough. He's sizing them up, like prey. Renji feels his stomach drop once Issui starts moving. There's a limp to her stride that she's trying very hard to hide. Any help from Renji would just draw attention to it, so all he can do is bite his tongue and head to the elevator, too.

He doesn't relax until the elevator doors shut and they're on their way up. He shakes his head a tiny bit, mostly too himself. "Yeah," He says with a frown. "Probably should have left sooner."

Can't be helped now.

It doesn't take long for their elevator to reach their floor at least. Renji crosses the elevator while the doors slide open. There's still eyes watching them, he's sure, but they're away from the Tributes now. So he reaches around Issui and slides a supportive arm around her back. "C'mon, let's go see if Trinket or Sullivan can do anything to help."

[issuiyanagi]

Issui shrugs. "It didn't seem this bad at first." And besides, she's glad they had a chance to find something they're actually good at before leaving for the day. Leaving right after falling on their asses a bunch would have left a bad taste in her mouth. Probably Renji's as well. No, they would have hung around long enough to check out another station anyway. It's fine.

She startles when he slides an arm around her. She must not have covered her limping as much as she thought. "Thanks."

With his help it's easier to limp across to the door, and then it's not much farther to one of the ridiculous couches. Issui wobbles a bit as she untangles herself from Renji so she can sit. She'll just uh, not think about Renji's arm having been around her just now. Ahem. "I'm surprised we're not being swarmed already," is what she ends up saying after a long moment.

[renjiabarai]

"Welcome," Is about all Renji manages once his brain catches up to what he's doing. Yeah, he's... got an arm around her. Okay.

They make their way into the apartment easy enough. Her limp is actually headed towards kind of alarming, though. "Yeah, I expected Sullivan or Trinket to be hre," Renji says once she's settled. "Sullivan, at least. Getting in some drinking before we get back or something."

But the apartment seems entirely empty. No Trinket, no style, no... anyone. Renji guesses he shouldn't have expected them to be sitting on their hands up here and waiting for them, but still. He hadn't expected to not find anyone. And he doesn't really know how to contact any of them, so... He settles for bustling about until he can find some ice anyway. He eventually manages to get some and wrap it in a towel. He doesn't really care if Trinket has a problem with it.

He feels a little silly wandering back to Issui with a very fancy towel stuffed with ice, but he does it all the same. "Here," He starts, offering her the bundle. "I thought it might help a bit."

[issuiyanagi]

Issui settles in to try and ease the pain in her leg while Renji bustles off to... she's not sure. Look for Sullivan probably. She turns and props her leg up along the length of the couch. Just sitting down feels better, honestly. But she's pretty sure this needs some amount of seeing to.

Homesickness hits her like a physical blow. She's been trying not to think about it much, or about how all this ends in the very very near future, but damn it she wants to be home. Nana would know what to do about this stupid leg injury. Shinobu probably would too. Issui's never been as good at patching people up. She looks down at her hands and scowls as her eyes start to burn. Come on Yanagi. Don't do this.

She jumps a little when Renji speaks. She hadn't heard him come back. Shit. Issui looks up to see him holding out a towel full of... ice. She smiles weakly and takes it. "Thank you," she says quietly. She gingerly presses it to the worst of the pain and hisses. At least she probably won't start crying now.

[renjiabarai]

Renji's a little taken aback by how upset Issui looks - not that she doesn't have many, many good reasons to be. He tries not to awkwardly shuffle about. "Uh, welcome," Is about the best he can do.

After what feels like a stupidly long moment, he finally moves to settle onto the couch, too. He feels a little like he's intruded onto something. They both have long lists of why they should be messes, but they've both held themselves together alright. At least, where the other could see. And he wants to ask. He doubts he can help any, but... "You okay?"

[issuiyanagi]

Issui keeps her head down for a moment while she fusses with the makeshift ice pack and tries to pull herself together. So she's a little startled again when Renji sits down next to her. She doesn't think she jumps, but who knows at this point. She apparently can't cover up a limp today, so she probably couldn't cover this either. Come on Yanagi.

She looks over at Renji, hopefully a little less teary looking now. Wait. Issui shifts a little on the couch, so she's not half facing away anymore. There. "I-- I'm fine. It's dumb." She leans back into the couch and sighs. "It's just... Nana would know what to do about this, no problem." She waves vaguely at her leg.

Oh boy, what a fine thing to talk to Renji about. Yes, let's talk about all those people we probably won't see again. How nice. She really needed the reminder of just how little time like this they have left. Knock it off, Yanagi. You can be sad later.

"I guess it's a good thing we're going to be working on throwing things, huh?" You don't need two working legs or even one for that, so far as she can tell. Not that her leg is that bad, but you know. It's something to keep in mind.

[renjiabarai]

Renji shifts a little in his seat. "Yeah," He says with a frown, and laughs a little sadly at the throwing things comment. He wishes he knew what to say to that, really. He's not terribly good at comforting, mostly just blustering through or yelling at people. He can't exactly assure her she'll see Nana again, really... He doesn't know what to do.

So instead he leans forward and hugs Issui. That's what normal people do, right?

It's not long after that he hears the apartment door open, and Sullivan's voice from near the entryway. "Well, far be it from me to interrupt this touching moment but why the hell aren't you two training still?"

[issuiyanagi]

Issui thinks she might appreciate that quiet 'yeah' more than anything more "properly comforting" Renji could have said. He doesn't need to say it. They're in the same boat here. He knows, she knows. It's fucking awful. But what can you do about it except try to win, and try to make the Capitol pay for it? She sighs again, but it's less miserable.

She definitely didn't expect a hug. Even as she startles a little (nice one, Yanagi), she reaches up to hug him back. Given the likelihood of ever getting to do this again being slim to none, Issui... might end up hugging Renji a little more tightly than intended.

And there's the door. Of course. She's already loosening her grip on Renji when Sullivan pipes up. Yeah yeah. Issui untangles herself and settles back on the couch. "Hurt my leg," she says, gesturing to it. "By the time we left I could barely walk." A half shrug. "Didn't think I could get much done like that."

[renjiabarai]

Renji doesn't get a whole lot of time in that hug before Sullivan wanders in, and Issui pulls away. He's left awkwardly scratching at the back of his neck for a moment, patiently waiting while Sullivan squints at the both of them. He can't actually read their mentor's face beyond that. Concern? Suspicion? If Sullivan tries to claim she's faking the injury so help him.

After a moment, though, Sullivan frowns and sighs. "Alright, let me take a look at it," he grumbles before wandering over to poke and prod at Issui's leg. Renji's... not sure how much this guy even knows about this sort of thing, but he's pretty sure blurting that out won't do them any good.

"So did either of you manage to do anything useful today, besides get injured and cuddle up here?" Sullivan asks.

Renji feels heat in his face, suddenly. He can't snap at their mentor, not when Sullivan's mostly cooperated, though. So he bites back the anger for the moment. He'll deal with it later. But it's hard to keep it out of his voice. "We found out we're both pretty good at throwing knives."

Sullivan cocks his head to the side to give Renji an inquisitive look. "Oh, did you?"

Renji's not really sure if he can deal with Sullivan being so... Sullivan right now.

[issuiyanagi]

Issui should have probably expected Sullivan to come poke at her leg, but she didn't. At least not quite this suddenly. Oh well. She leans back out of his way a bit as he prods at her leg. She hisses in spite of herself when he finds the worst of it.

"Well, I fell off the nets pretty well," she says flatly, eyes wide. Maybe she shouldn't have said that. Oh well. At least Renji gives a straight answer, even if Sullivan sounds very... Sullivan about it.

Speaking of Renji... she glances over. He looks mad. Issui reaches out to rest a hand on his shoulder again. Sullivan's annoying as usual, but there's not much point getting worked up about it right now. She turns back to their mentor. "Yes. We did."

[renjiabarai]

Renji's attention snaps to Issui when he feels her hand settle on his shoulder. Alright, fine. It's not like he can do anything about his anger. And anyway, all it would probably do is fuel Sullivan more. He does everything he can to not huff or slump his shoulders much.

Sullivan pauses in his prodding to give them a slightly more serious looking over. "Just how good, exactly?"

"Issui got the dummy in the dick," Renji offers, maybe a little too enthusiastically. Sullivan stares blankly at him for a couple seconds before breaking out in a very loud guffaw.

[issuiyanagi]

Issui's pleasantly surprised to see Renji relax a little. She isn't sure why that worked as well as it did, but she's glad. It's... Yanagi please.

She grins at Renji's answer and Sullivan's response. She would have expected men to be flinchy about this sort of thing, but not these two. Probably not her Stylist, either. Issui maybe should have known better. She gives a little half shrug.

"Renji hit it in the heart," she says after a moment. She gives his shoulder a squeeze. "We got a couple of good disabling hits in, too." No need to mention the other throw.

[renjiabarai]

Renji does that thing where he scratches at the back of his neck, again. He's not really much of a modest guy, but still... "Yeah, uh. Yeah, we did," He manages after a second.

Sullivan's still laughing. This time it lacks a bit of his usual mocking sharpness, at least, so it doesn't raise Renji's hackles any. "Very good, kids," Sullivan says, clapping once and rubbing his hands together. "Now, if you go back to that station? Try not to do too good. Warm up with it at the end of the day. I'll give you some lessons where your competitors won't see."

Renji blinks a few times, furrowing his brows together. "Will they let you? I mean... It's weapons."

Sullivan catches sight of Renji's dubious expression and dismisses it with a wave. "I'll figure something out, even if it's just throwing the good silverware." After a beat, their mentor hefts himself back up off the sofa and heads for the door. "Now, I gotta go see if I can find anything for her leg. Maybe attempt to stay out of trouble until I get back."