Post by Irina Davayte on Oct 28, 2016 23:56:03 GMT -5
Training for CTP
Irina stared at the Departures list flashing in front of her. KZN to DME: Departure 7:55pm, arrival 9:30pm. It was such a short time, but when she arrived in Moscow for her connecting flight, Irina would be the farthest she had ever been from home: 602 kilometers, to be exact (she had checked). It wasn’t that she was any sort of hermit; she simply had never had a reason to get too far away from home. Her family had vacationed in the mountains when she was a child, but that was just a couple hours’ drive away. When they dropped her brother off at college, his school was about the same distance. Everything she had ever needed was simply in a relatively small radius. She took a deep breath and tugged her backpack a little bit tighter on her back in sort of a self-hug. Her flight was announced, and her heart fluttered with excitement as she lined up with the other travelers, trying to look as calm and casual as possible.
She happily settled into her window set, eyes glued to the scene outside before the flight even took off. She tried to memorize every bit of what she saw: the terminal where her father, mother, and brothers had dropped her off, and once the flight took off, the birds-eye view of her home town of Cheboksary. An ache settled in her chest as she imagined her best friend Altan at home. What was he doing? Playing a video game? Packing up for his own move to school? Thinking of her? She tried to push the thoughts from her mind, but couldn’t shake them off. She kept replaying their last conversation in her mind.
Early that morning, Irina and Altan were walking together through their neighborhood, just like they had 1,000 times before, just to have one last talk in person before they piled into her family’s mini-van to take her to the airport. Although they still spent some time together, Irina couldn’t help but think that Altan had been distant and even angry since she turned down his proposal. They hadn’t discussed the conversation since it happened, and Irina hoped to keep it that way. Irina missed being able to tell Altan precisely whatever was on her mind, but she was completely opposed to the idea of getting married, so much that she didn’t even want to discuss it. How could Altan think it was a good idea? Why was their friendship not enough for him?
Altan interrupted her thoughts by requesting one last fencing match, as he pulled both of their sabers out of his backpack. Irina grinned and took hers from his hand. They backed up, and carefully raised their right arms. He waited to force her to make the first move, knowing that she preferred to let her opponent do so. “You know,” she said as she slashed her sabre to his right side, making sure to not leave her body open to counterattack, “When I beat you, I will have improved my record against you for this summer to 17 wins to your 15.” He blocked her, and sharply slashed downwards. “I don’t know about that,” he said as she casually deflected his blade to the side. “How about we make this one count for two matches, so I have a chance to win overall?”
They exchanged a few blows. “If you say so,” she agreed, “but I still think I’m better.” “If you follow my advice,” he teased. “I’ve always appreciated your advice,” Irina said sincerely. She patiently blocked his blows for a few minutes, trying to tire him out. Altan, knowing Irina quite well, wanted to try to get a point as quickly as possible. So he went hard on the offensive, trying his best to catch her off guard with a well-timed feint or a riposte of her block to get inside her guard. She remained patient and focused, not allowing him to take advantage of his strikes.
Although they were just playing, Altan knew that this match was particularly important to Irina, whose confidence was shaken by her impending move, and leaving behind everyone she loved. So, when she attacked from the left with a twist that she had carefully practiced for weeks, even though he had finally gotten pretty good at deflecting it, he let her score a point on him, being sure to make it look accidental. It was the first time he had ever let her win, but he smiled internally as he saw Irina light up with pride and joy. “I told you I would get you,” she said spiritedly.
“You’ll have to come home soon,” Altan responded, “So I can have a rematch.” Irina stopped walking and looked him coldly in the eye. “I told you, I’m going. And I’m staying until I finish my degree.” “I didn’t mean that,” Altan faltered, not understanding how he got backed into this corner. “I meant, when you come home for Christmas. Or the summer.” “I might not come home,” she countered, although she fully intended to come home to see her family at the times he mentioned. “I’ll be busy. I have a job.” He sighed. “Come on, Irina. We have to go meet up with your family to get to the airport.”
“I’m sorry,” she softened, seeing that he was hurt. “I’m really going to miss you, Altan.” “Me too,” he said, opening his arms as a request for an embrace. Not a hugger, Irina hesitated, but let herself be folded into his arms, which were slightly sweaty from the fencing. He drew back, studying her, and decided to try to kiss her. “What are you doing?!” Irina demanded, roughly pushing him away with both hands. He had no answer. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but you need to leave me alone right now,” she barked.
Irina winced as she recalled the pain in her best friend’s eyes. She couldn’t believe she had left things that way with the person she was closest to in the world. But it was partly his Altan’s fault , she thought with a twinge of guilt for blaming him. He knew how she felt about him, and he knew how she felt about marriage. Yet he still asked the question that he knew he would not like the answer to. Not wanting to analyze the issue any further, she turned her thoughts to her new job.
Really, she didn’t know what the job would be at all. She had, of course, heard of Uzaki Enterprises, but she still had no idea why it seemed that she was the only one able to see the strange writing on the flyer for a classical music concert that she had found. She even showed it to her brother to ensure that she was the only one seeing the writing. Sure enough, Demyan had not seen the writing at all. When she showed him the flyer and asked what he though, he looked at her somewhat sideways and said that the music sounded like something she would enjoy, but he wondered why they were advertising the concert so far away from where it was held. If she had told Altan about accepting a job that she heard about by such suspicious means, he would have tried to stop her and keep her safe. But she was on her own now, and the prospect of being able to take on whatever adventure she pleased thrilled her.
Soon when it was time to change flights in the Moscow airport, Irina saw children wearing Mickey Mouse ears with their parents, headed for Disney Land in Tokyo with their parents. Her excitement rivaled even theirs. She barely slept at all on the overnight flight. Although she lived outside of the city at home, she was no stranger to public transportation; it was the most efficient way to get around her home city of Cheboksary. So when she arrived in Tokyo in the evening, she confidently navigated the large airport, boarded the train, and walked to her new apartment.
Irina was relieved to find that her place, which was part of housing for interns with Uzaki Enterprises, was in a safe-seeming part of town. She met with the landlord to get her key, unpacked the few belongings she had packed (her other things were being shipped, since it was cheaper than flying with them), and slept soundly until her alarm went off at precisely 6:00 am. She preferred to make her breakfast herself, but since she had not yet gotten a chance to get real groceries, she took a bottle of water with her out the door, and stopped at a café to get something to eat.
She had been instructed to be at work at 8:00, so she arrived outside at 7:45. She then waited patiently in the lobby for her new boss, who was to meet her there.
Irina stared at the Departures list flashing in front of her. KZN to DME: Departure 7:55pm, arrival 9:30pm. It was such a short time, but when she arrived in Moscow for her connecting flight, Irina would be the farthest she had ever been from home: 602 kilometers, to be exact (she had checked). It wasn’t that she was any sort of hermit; she simply had never had a reason to get too far away from home. Her family had vacationed in the mountains when she was a child, but that was just a couple hours’ drive away. When they dropped her brother off at college, his school was about the same distance. Everything she had ever needed was simply in a relatively small radius. She took a deep breath and tugged her backpack a little bit tighter on her back in sort of a self-hug. Her flight was announced, and her heart fluttered with excitement as she lined up with the other travelers, trying to look as calm and casual as possible.
She happily settled into her window set, eyes glued to the scene outside before the flight even took off. She tried to memorize every bit of what she saw: the terminal where her father, mother, and brothers had dropped her off, and once the flight took off, the birds-eye view of her home town of Cheboksary. An ache settled in her chest as she imagined her best friend Altan at home. What was he doing? Playing a video game? Packing up for his own move to school? Thinking of her? She tried to push the thoughts from her mind, but couldn’t shake them off. She kept replaying their last conversation in her mind.
Early that morning, Irina and Altan were walking together through their neighborhood, just like they had 1,000 times before, just to have one last talk in person before they piled into her family’s mini-van to take her to the airport. Although they still spent some time together, Irina couldn’t help but think that Altan had been distant and even angry since she turned down his proposal. They hadn’t discussed the conversation since it happened, and Irina hoped to keep it that way. Irina missed being able to tell Altan precisely whatever was on her mind, but she was completely opposed to the idea of getting married, so much that she didn’t even want to discuss it. How could Altan think it was a good idea? Why was their friendship not enough for him?
Altan interrupted her thoughts by requesting one last fencing match, as he pulled both of their sabers out of his backpack. Irina grinned and took hers from his hand. They backed up, and carefully raised their right arms. He waited to force her to make the first move, knowing that she preferred to let her opponent do so. “You know,” she said as she slashed her sabre to his right side, making sure to not leave her body open to counterattack, “When I beat you, I will have improved my record against you for this summer to 17 wins to your 15.” He blocked her, and sharply slashed downwards. “I don’t know about that,” he said as she casually deflected his blade to the side. “How about we make this one count for two matches, so I have a chance to win overall?”
They exchanged a few blows. “If you say so,” she agreed, “but I still think I’m better.” “If you follow my advice,” he teased. “I’ve always appreciated your advice,” Irina said sincerely. She patiently blocked his blows for a few minutes, trying to tire him out. Altan, knowing Irina quite well, wanted to try to get a point as quickly as possible. So he went hard on the offensive, trying his best to catch her off guard with a well-timed feint or a riposte of her block to get inside her guard. She remained patient and focused, not allowing him to take advantage of his strikes.
Although they were just playing, Altan knew that this match was particularly important to Irina, whose confidence was shaken by her impending move, and leaving behind everyone she loved. So, when she attacked from the left with a twist that she had carefully practiced for weeks, even though he had finally gotten pretty good at deflecting it, he let her score a point on him, being sure to make it look accidental. It was the first time he had ever let her win, but he smiled internally as he saw Irina light up with pride and joy. “I told you I would get you,” she said spiritedly.
“You’ll have to come home soon,” Altan responded, “So I can have a rematch.” Irina stopped walking and looked him coldly in the eye. “I told you, I’m going. And I’m staying until I finish my degree.” “I didn’t mean that,” Altan faltered, not understanding how he got backed into this corner. “I meant, when you come home for Christmas. Or the summer.” “I might not come home,” she countered, although she fully intended to come home to see her family at the times he mentioned. “I’ll be busy. I have a job.” He sighed. “Come on, Irina. We have to go meet up with your family to get to the airport.”
“I’m sorry,” she softened, seeing that he was hurt. “I’m really going to miss you, Altan.” “Me too,” he said, opening his arms as a request for an embrace. Not a hugger, Irina hesitated, but let herself be folded into his arms, which were slightly sweaty from the fencing. He drew back, studying her, and decided to try to kiss her. “What are you doing?!” Irina demanded, roughly pushing him away with both hands. He had no answer. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but you need to leave me alone right now,” she barked.
Irina winced as she recalled the pain in her best friend’s eyes. She couldn’t believe she had left things that way with the person she was closest to in the world. But it was partly his Altan’s fault , she thought with a twinge of guilt for blaming him. He knew how she felt about him, and he knew how she felt about marriage. Yet he still asked the question that he knew he would not like the answer to. Not wanting to analyze the issue any further, she turned her thoughts to her new job.
Really, she didn’t know what the job would be at all. She had, of course, heard of Uzaki Enterprises, but she still had no idea why it seemed that she was the only one able to see the strange writing on the flyer for a classical music concert that she had found. She even showed it to her brother to ensure that she was the only one seeing the writing. Sure enough, Demyan had not seen the writing at all. When she showed him the flyer and asked what he though, he looked at her somewhat sideways and said that the music sounded like something she would enjoy, but he wondered why they were advertising the concert so far away from where it was held. If she had told Altan about accepting a job that she heard about by such suspicious means, he would have tried to stop her and keep her safe. But she was on her own now, and the prospect of being able to take on whatever adventure she pleased thrilled her.
Soon when it was time to change flights in the Moscow airport, Irina saw children wearing Mickey Mouse ears with their parents, headed for Disney Land in Tokyo with their parents. Her excitement rivaled even theirs. She barely slept at all on the overnight flight. Although she lived outside of the city at home, she was no stranger to public transportation; it was the most efficient way to get around her home city of Cheboksary. So when she arrived in Tokyo in the evening, she confidently navigated the large airport, boarded the train, and walked to her new apartment.
Irina was relieved to find that her place, which was part of housing for interns with Uzaki Enterprises, was in a safe-seeming part of town. She met with the landlord to get her key, unpacked the few belongings she had packed (her other things were being shipped, since it was cheaper than flying with them), and slept soundly until her alarm went off at precisely 6:00 am. She preferred to make her breakfast herself, but since she had not yet gotten a chance to get real groceries, she took a bottle of water with her out the door, and stopped at a café to get something to eat.
She had been instructed to be at work at 8:00, so she arrived outside at 7:45. She then waited patiently in the lobby for her new boss, who was to meet her there.