Archery and the Senior (4K5)

"I want to train you a little differently from the way kyudo is usually taught,"

Qiao Heng said. "If you're interested, you can make up for it at the club later. Some of the other seniors can teach you.

But over the next month, I want you to focus on the 'technique,' not the 'ceremony.'"

"Archery?"

You En had some thoughts, but he didn't intend to say them aloud.

Qiao Heng glanced at him. "If you have something to say, just say it. After all, you've already been completely honest with me, your senior. There's no need to be shy or hold back."

You En spoke his mind.

"Do you mean that for the next month, I only need to work on the technical aspects of archery and don't have to worry about all those complicated formalities?

Sorry, what I said might have sounded a little rude."

"It's not wrong to think that way. It's just a different perspective,"

Qiao Heng said. "Kyudo is about cultivating proper conduct and bringing your mind into a state of balance and calm. The formalities that seem complicated to others have meaning, too.

It's simply that the person watching the arrow and the person holding the bow see things differently."

You En nodded. "I understand. If you're willing to teach me, senpai, I'd be happy to learn."

But if he did, it wouldn't be because he was interested in kyudo. It would be because he liked her.

Qiao Heng smiled in reply. "If you want to learn, I'd be happy to teach you. It's just... I'm not allowed to."

As she said it, her mood dipped for an instant, then returned to its usual spirited, composed state.

You En was puzzled. "You're not allowed? Why not?"

"I can't tell you that,"

Senior Qiao Heng said with an apologetic smile, explaining with a hint of regret:

"If this were a peaceful, stable time, I'd probably start with the most basic formalities and teach you little by little. We'd spend about two years at that stage.

Only in your final year would I let you take part in some competitions. I wouldn't expect you to place. I'd only want you to keep a calm mind."

Her tone held both concern and helplessness.

As You En looked at her, he felt that she was both very far away and very close. He remembered the slogan he'd seen earlier at the Space Club.

Perhaps senpai was someone who searched inward. If so, she must have been like the stars and the sea.

What he felt from her was only a small part of who she was, yet that part was already warm and powerful enough.

"Thank you, senpai."

Qiao Heng shook her head. "I was just talking to myself."

She cleared her throat. "All right, let's begin the formal lesson. First, you have to get to know the bow.

I had you shoot earlier so I could get to know you. But now you're the one who'll be using this bow, so you need to get to know it."

"Get to know it?"

You En looked at the Heart Bamboo bow resting across his knees and ventured, "You mean its structure?"

"You've already gotten to know it,"

Qiao Heng said.

"Knowing something begins with the impression it makes. From the very first glance, we start forming an understanding of the bow, and the bow, in turn, affects our consciousness. This is happening and changing all the time.

As for its structure... it looks somewhat like other bows, but this one is different. You need to experience it for yourself."

"That's your first lesson. When you come back next month, you have to tell me what you felt from your bow."

After assigning Qiao Heng's weekly exercise, she began the formal lesson.

First came the "Eight Stages of Archery." Though the focus was supposed to be on technique, the introduction was still based on kyudo.

Modern kyudo placed great importance on form, but it wasn't just form for form's sake. Many things that seemed ritualized or formal had practical value.

After briefly explaining and demonstrating, Qiao Heng encouraged You En to give it a try.

You En stepped forward and faced the target from the shooting position. He set his feet apart, completing the first stage, "Foot Stance." After stabilizing his footing, he steadied his upper body, set the arrow to the bowstring, raised the bow above his head, and used one hand to draw the bow and the other to pull the string. Slowly, he brought the bow and arrow level with his line of sight.

"Not bad."

Qiao Heng could see a few flaws, but she didn't mind.

"Keep going."

You En started aiming at the target, but he felt as though Heart Bamboo were resisting him. No matter how long he took to aim, he couldn't find the right feeling.

A voice, clear as a bell, asked, "What is it you want?"

He answered, "I don't need the result. I need the process of shooting the arrow. Only the process is alive. The beginning and the end are just dead things."

After he said this, the resistance from the Heart Bamboo bow seemed to disappear.

You En aimed at the target, tightened his left hand, right hand, both shoulders, and chest, then gathered his strength in his feet, waist, and abdomen. He opened his chest and released the arrow at the moment that felt best.

He held his posture, feeling his body, then slowly brought both hands back to his waist as he watched the arrow's path.

--It struck the bullseye dead center.

"A straight shot hits the mark. For a beginner, proper posture is important. Starting with the right process and reaching the right result—that was excellent."

Qiao Heng clapped softly for him.

You En looked at the bow in his hands, then at senpai. "I got lucky."

He wasn't confident he could hit the bullseye again.

"That was only the beginning. Of course I'll praise you for doing well. Or were you hoping for some kind of tangible reward?"

Qiao Heng smiled. Though her appearance gave off a rather aloof impression, at least when it came to You En, she taught him with as much care and gentleness as she could.

You En wasn't a saint, and he did have a crush on Senior Qiao Heng, along with a few little thoughts of his own. But he meant what he said:

"Having you teach me personally is already the best reward."

"Then let's keep going."

When people were happy, they felt that every moment was perfect, so they immersed themselves in it completely. But the more they did, the faster time seemed to pass.

In the blink of an eye, the morning lesson was over. Time had passed both quickly and slowly; to You En, it felt as if a whole week had gone by.

During the lunch break, senpai told him she'd made him a bento and went to get it, asking him to wait a moment.

While she was gone,

You En took out his Student Terminal and checked.

"Archery (lv0, Beginner)"

They'd covered a lot that morning. Most of it had been about shooting, but senpai had also taught him a great deal of theory. What's more, You En could clearly tell that every lesson and explanation had been designed specifically for him.

No wonder she'd only started teaching him today. She'd probably spent all this time preparing a learning plan just for him.

"You reached beginner level?"

Senior Qiao Heng came over holding a bento box.

"Yeah."

You En nodded. This was his personal status panel, so it seemed it wasn't something new to this year's students. Senpai probably had one, too.

She handed him the bento box. "I made you sushi this morning. I don't know if you like it, so tell me if there's anything you don't like. I'll leave it out next time."

"I'm not picky."

You En really wasn't. "I've mostly been eating the school's free food these past few days."

"Then you've had a rough time,"

senpai said regretfully, resting her chin in her hands. "It's a pity I can't lend you any points."

"It's not rough at all. What's there to complain about when lunch is free?"

You En opened the bento box. It had a wide variety of food, and plenty of it. Most importantly, he could tell it had been made with care.

He took a bite, and his eyes lit up. It wasn't as though he'd never had sushi before. He'd eaten plenty of delicious food back in the outside world, where he'd lived comfortably, but this taste stirred a long-forgotten sense of nostalgia.

"But even free food varies in quality. I'd eat one of your bentos even if I had to spend every last point I owned."

What was this taste?

Qiao Heng smiled, a hint of happiness on her face. "I'm glad you like it."

"Aren't you going to eat, senpai?"

"Just watching you eat is enough."

Qiao Heng seemed about to come up with an excuse, but she gave up. She didn't want to lie to You En, not even with a harmless little lie.

They didn't speak again. One ate quietly while the other watched in silence.

"I'm full. Thanks for the meal."

"You're welcome. I'm happy."

Qiao Heng took the bento box, apparently to wash it. Then, as if she'd remembered something, she turned back and tossed him a set of keys.

"Go farther inside. The third door is my room. You can go rest there. Use my bed, it's fine."

You En caught the keys. They had no extra trinkets on them, just three identical keys.

"Okay."

By now, he had a fairly good idea of what his senior was like, so he didn't refuse. They still had training in the afternoon, and even if he felt fine, he could use a little time to relax.

Besides, he was a little curious about her room. Boys, men—or people in general—all felt the same way. It was normal to be interested in the opposite sex, especially someone you liked.

When he reached senpai's room, You En looked at the nameplate on the door.

"Qiao Heng Meizhui."

This had to be the right room. He took out the key and unlocked the door.

Soft light spilled through the crack. Once the door was fully open, sunlight filtered through the white lace curtains and fell across the beige tatami, casting the dappled shadow of a cherry tree.

The room contained only a bed with pale blue sheets, a tea table, and some old-fashioned tea implements.

A few photographs hung on the wall. In them, senpai's smile was still youthful and unguarded. Judging by the season, they were probably from her first year. Each semester, there were fewer people standing beside her.

After that, she hadn't kept any more photos.

You En went out onto the balcony. The little potted plants there had long since withered, as though nobody had tended to them in a long time.

He felt as if he'd walked into an old, yellowed photograph. Apart from the fresh, plain bedsheets, everything in the room belonged to the past.

You En went to the bed and carefully hung his bow on the wall. He took off his jacket and lay down, intending to rest for a little while, not to fall asleep.

But with his head on senpai's pillow, his eyelids suddenly grew heavy. He felt tired and drifted into a deep sleep.

In his dream, someone seemed to gently stroke his forehead, sensing the unease in his heart and softly comforting him.

"It's all right. I'll stay with you. As for 'time,' I'll give you some. There's no need to rush. Take your time and sleep."

It felt as though he'd slept for a long time. When he woke,

You En saw senpai sitting beside him, leaning over to meet his eyes, one hand playing with his hair.

The girl didn't seem embarrassed when she saw him wake. She only looked a little delighted.

"You're awake?"

"I slept really well. Um... sorry. Did I take your bed?"

You En said. "I kept you from resting during your lunch break."

"It's fine. I haven't used this room or this bed in a long time."

Deep in her eyes was a trace of fatigue that wouldn't go away.

"But you're the first person to enter my room. Doesn't that make you happy?"

You En answered instinctively, "Of course. I'll probably wake up smiling from my dreams tonight."

Senpai let out an "Oh." "Oh? Then are you staying here tonight?"

You En shook his head. He wanted to stay, but he couldn't. If he got used to it, he might never be able to leave.

"No."

Senior Qiao Heng's expression remained unchanged.

"Okay, then let's head back to class."

After the afternoon lesson ended,

You En changed out of his kyudo uniform, put on his school uniform, and went to say goodbye to senpai.

"Is there something you want to say to me?"

Qiao Heng looked at him expectantly.

You En thought for a moment, then said helplessly:

"Senpai, could you please not peek while I'm changing?"

Senior Qiao Heng looked a little surprised.

"How did you know I was watching you?"

You En thought she was being ridiculous.

"You were practically right in my face. How could I not know?"

But her behavior at the time had really been strange. It was probably as if she thought he couldn't see her, so she'd let herself get carried away in the changing room. You En hadn't stopped her, just played along.

Senpai looked embarrassed for an instant, but soon put one hand on her hip, not feeling guilty in the slightest. "Then... next time I'll watch you openly!"

That was what You En feared most.

There was no beating someone with no shame. All he could do was surrender and run back to his dorm.

After he left,

Yui from the Kendo Club appeared, wearing a purple kendo uniform with a katana at her waist.

Yui asked, "You sure have money to burn. How much 'time' did you give him today?"

Qiao Heng watched You En's retreating back until he had disappeared completely, then came back to herself and answered:

"Ten days. That's the limit he can handle right now."

"If it were just regular lessons, that'd be one thing. But giving away time? You really must have money to spare. Don't you have anything else to spend your points on?"

Yui thought her friend was being unbelievably extravagant. The school strongly discouraged interference between year groups, and the restrictions on helping students in other years were considerable. The personal points required increased exponentially.

"You think that much of him. Are you planning to bet everything on him?"

Suddenly, Yui seemed to realize something. She looked at Qiao Heng with a grave expression.

"You're running out of time?"

"Soon, but that's not the main reason."

There was no fear on Qiao Heng's face. She didn't look like someone who'd just heard of her own death. Instead, a trace of happiness showed in her expression as her long eyelashes trembled gently.

"When I'm with him, I feel happy."

Yui couldn't understand. She'd spent an astronomical number of points and paid an enormous price, even giving away a bow that countless people would trade almost anything for, all because she'd "felt happy"?

She tilted her head and asked, "That's it?"

Qiao Heng nodded. "That's it."

Yui was somewhat skeptical. She might not be as strong as Qiao Heng, who stood before her, but she was still capable of graduating on her own. At the very least, she could easily take on twenty of those teachers who barely scraped through.

She honestly couldn't see what made You En worthy of being held in such high regard by Qiao Heng.

Even with his unusual Second Self, even with talent that was pretty good among this class of students, it still wasn't nearly enough. He couldn't even measure up to her, so how could he compare with Qiao Heng? The gap between them couldn't be summed up as the difference between heaven and earth.

Yui felt she ought to talk some sense into her.

If she had to guess, Qiao Heng had probably gone so long without dating that she'd finally found a man who seemed reasonably appealing and fallen for him.

Fine, so she liked him. She could date him, spend some time together, and see if he was fun to be around. But there was no need to give up so much.

Of course, she didn't say any of this out loud. Instead, she said:

"I think you need to be rational. We're not in a good position, and we only have one chance. We need to find someone who can genuinely solve our problems."

Qiao Heng didn't answer. She only looked up at the sun, which was gradually sinking beyond the horizon. Perhaps it would never rise again, but that was all right.

"I choose to believe in him. I don't care what happens to me in the end. Even if I can only accompany him on this part of the journey, that's all right."

Like You En, what mattered to her was the journey, not the outcome.

Yui shook her head inwardly. There was no point trying to persuade her any further this month.

She'd wait until the assessment started at the end of the month. Once she saw how You En performed, she'd be able to use more practical arguments to talk some sense into her kind-hearted senior.