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[ Not a perfect solution, but since they had a language barrier to begin with, it looked like Max was going to need the device regardless of how he chose to communicate.

He handed the weapon over, placing it in her hand as he'd demonstrated before and showing her how to curl her fingers over the handle. It looked like a pretty decent fit, all things considered. He gave her a thumbs up. When he finally spoke, his voice sounded a bit hoarse at first, probably from disuse -- but that cleared relatively quickly. ]

Punching with the short end's basically like throwing a normal punch. The big difference is that the head of a tonfa's harder than your knuckles. Just watch for now, alright?

[ He retrieved a second, similar weapon for himself, and demonstrated delivering a direct blow in front of him. ]

The range using it this way's not much different from using your fists, either. But when ya use it like this, it makes it easier to use for defense.

[ Majima held up his arm in front of him in a guard stance to demonstrate. The long end of the tonfa basically acted as a guard, running along the length of his forearm; it was relatively easy to see how the movement could parry an incoming strike. ]

Since it moves right alongside your arm, it's natural to block by just puttin' up your guard. That make sense?

[She takes the baton from him, letting him position her hand around it. Momentarily she thinks about that nail bat of Steve's back home and she wonders if he misses it. It suited him. She wonders about other people's weapons of choice. Wonders what Majima's is, what Frank's is.

Max almost starts when he actually speaks and for some reason hearing his voice makes her relax a bit, loosen up.]

Okay.

[She watches the demonstration with interest, quickly recognizing the obvious of advantages of using a weapon rather than her fists.]

Yeah. So I can use it as self-defense but also as offense. Cool.

[ Even in low tones, there was something melodic to Majima's dialect -- drawls and changes in pitch that might explain why the devices translated his speech the way it did. ]

Right, and like ya said, it's basically a side arm baton, like police use.

In traditional martial arts, you use two at once, but my style's more like how the cops do it. Using only one leaves your other hand free. I'm bettin' that comes in handy if you end up somewhere sticky.

This time around, I'll show ya a basic strike or two. It's pretty simple, so you can practice even on yer own. Then we'll practice blockin' so you can figure out how to shake off a hit. Sound good?

[It's so rare to hear someone else actually talk around this place that even though she can't understand it without the device's translations, it's comforting. Who knew that was a thing?]

Plus it's probably harder to do with both hands unless you're ambidextrous, isn't it?

[She quickly nods her agreement with the plan he's laid out.]

How much does it hurt to get hit with one of these?

If ya do it right? Hurts like hell.

[ No sense sugarcoating things, and it was the point, after all. ]

But beginners pull their punches a lot, and ya still gotta build up your control. Best way to make sure you hit only exactly as hard as ya want is to practice.

[ He demonstrated a punch with both his right and off arm, then looked at her, curious to see what she'd learned already. ]

[Right. That was the point. To protect and defend. That's why she's doing this.

Max is generally the kind of person who pulls no punches when it comes to giving someone an opinion, or telling someone off. She can lash out with the best of them. But she also knows he's right. Pulling no punches with someone isn't the same thing when it comes to actually punching people. It's kind of ironic, really.

She watches him closely, shifting her position a little so she's in the stance Frank has been teaching her, and then does her best to copy Majima's movements with the weapon.]

How was that?

[ Majima smiled. ]

Pretty good. Ya got your feet planted good and solid.

[ He guided her right arm forward with one hand, producing a blow in slow motion. ]

When you're practicing on your own, make sure you keep your punch straight, and use your hips to put power into it. That's gonna be even more important later.

How'd ya get into those fights, anyhow?

[Max smiles back, pleased with the compliment. She nods as she listens to him, knowing that all comes with practice, and she'll have to keep at it to really get good at it.

She practices the move again and again even as he asks about the fights she's gotten into before.]

A jerk in my class was bothering me so I punched him in the nose.

[He'd snapped her bra strap and hadn't heeded the warning when she told him to knock it off. The second time, he'd ended up in the nurse's office with a bloodied nose and she'd been suspended for two days and grounded for a month. She still doesn't regret it, really.

The other...]

And then once with my step-brother. [The one and only time she'd ever fought back. The fact that she mentions the latter at all signals that she's hyper-focused on practicing.]

Good call. Sometimes you just gotta lay down the law.

[ It was questionable if it was responsible to be saying this to Max; Majima should probably have come back with something about how she shouldn't lower herself to the other kid's level or be responsible or whatever but

sometimes the fastest way to solve a problem was with your fists.

Majima demonstrated an upper block with his right arm, raising his forearm in front of his face as if to parry an incoming blow. ]

Didn't know you got a step-brother. Older or younger?

Edited Date: 2018-03-04 12:29 am (UTC)

Yeah. It worked.

[The kid had never touched her again. For that matter, none of the other bullies back in California had. Except the ones she lives with.]

Unfortunately. [There's no emotion in her voice and she watches his blocking move and copies it.] He's older. 17.

[ Max was a fast learner, and she actually listened -- two things that worked in her favor. ]

Just like that. You can also use this as a blow by striking as you're bringin' your arm up.

[ lower block this time, similar to the same motions in karate, if Max ever ended up picking that up. ]

Seventeen's way too old to be gettin' into fights with your little sister. He needs to get his shit together.

[It helps that she's invested in what she's learning. Back home it's not always so easy.]

Oh.

[That's a cool move that she wouldn't have considered, but this time when she tries to duplicate it, she's a little more distracted, not quite as clean on the copying.]

It was a couple years ago.

[Does that make it better or worse? Who knows.]

I know stepsiblings ain't always have the easiest time gettin' along, but that still don't sound like a great excuse.

[ He demonstrated again, more slowly this time and making sure to hit his mark cleanly. ]

What's his name?

[That is an understatement when it comes to her relationship with Billy. She watches Majima again, forcing herself to slow her own movements in order to replicate what he's doing.]

Billy. He's not here.

[She hopes he never shows up here, but people from Hawkins keep turning up.]

Do you have siblings?

[ Something complex flickered across Majima's face briefly, though he should have expected the question -- fondness, regret. ]

Yeah. I got a brother. He's one year older than me.

[ He flicked the tonfa in his hand in an idle movement, spinning the weapon around its handle in a full circle before it swung easily back to its original position. A small hint of its more advanced capabilities. ]

Alright, wanna try some blocks? I'll start off slow, but if you're interested I can put some more power into it after a little while. So you'll know what it feels like when someone's bein' more serious.

[She sees it, the conflicted emotion that appears but then vanishes quickly and she guesses it's a sore subject for him, too.

Odd as it might be, she's less nervous about the self defense part of this than she had been the offense part.]

Yeah, let's do this.

[She shifts back into her stance again, shoulders a bit more relaxed than they had been before.]

[ Majima did as promised, slowing down his strikes to give Max enough time to meet his blows -- basic strikes first, though he added in a flourish here and there, flicking his weapon around every now and then to deliver attacks with either end.

It had the effect of shortening and extending his reach at times -- being able to quickly judge distance and her own range was going to come in extremely handy if Max fought for real.

Family, it seemed, was simply a complicated topic. ]

[Family was most definitely a complicated topic.

Much more complicated than doing her best to defend herself against the practice blows. The little flourishes that Majima adds are interesting, adds flair to what had seemed like a mostly simple weapon. Then again, looks are usually deceiving.

She keeps her eyes on him, doing her best to anticipate where he'll try and strike next.]

[ She had focus, too -- good. With a quick hand signal to indicate he was going to strike harder this time, he struck an overarm blow. It was aimed for a chin-level spot, where there was no ambiguity for a novice as to how to block.

If she missed, he'd simply stop before he made contact. Otherwise, the hit would be strong enough to send a minor shock through the weapon, making her fingers tingle.

It was a marked difference from any of his earlier attacks in both speed and power. ]

[She flinches instinctively at the strike even as she blocks it, and she curses herself underneath her breath for her reaction.

She feels the reverberation as expected, her fingers tingling and she exhales slowly, nodding, readjusting her hold on the weapon and signaling him to come at her again.]

[ Though Max might not be happy with her reaction, Majima saw nothing odd in it. It had been a long time since he'd been a novice fighter, but even he remembered how startling it had been at first to feel a real hit.

It wasn't so much physical strength as habits and mental fortitude that needed to be built up -- the ability to accept that taking hits was not something to fear or avoid, but a matter of course in a fight. The important thing was learning to keep going, avoid dwelling on mistakes in situations where thinking or doubting too much could slow you down.

His next move was a whiplike strike from the side, of about the same power. ]

[Seeing that Majima said nothing nor really reacted to her reaction, she relaxes a bit once more, refocusing on what they're doing.

She sees the move coming and does her best to block it, gritting her teeth together.]

[ A few more exchanged blows, and Majima figured that was enough to chew on for now. He gave Max a thumbs up as they wrapped up the session. ]

Nice job. Don't feel bad if ya flinch at first, either -- means ya got a healthy set of survival instincts.

Half of learning to fight's gettin' used to people taking a swing at ya. I've gotten hit plenty of times.

[She tucked some hair behind her ear, considering that. She's not really used to people throwing a punch at her or trying to hit her with a weapon of some kind.]

Yeah. I'll get over it. [The jumpiness, she meant.] How long have you been doing this?

Fighting? Couldn't really tell ya, only I've been at it since I was a kid. Kamurocho's a pretty rough neighborhood.

[ He started moving one of the dummies back -- best to leave things as they found it, so they wouldn't get complaints. ]

If you mean gettin' serious with weapons, though, that was more recent. Met a guy who's real into the subject.