Target Shooting [Lukas]

[finisque]

It was the weekend.

Finally, there were no lessons. Moreover, no annoying students crowding the gym. Most of them were still sleeping or lazing in their beds. It was the morning of a weekend, after all, and most students just wanted to rest after a tiring week packed with lessons.

Vash, however, found himself one of the few people who bothered waking up early on the weekend to go to the gym. While the week had been tiring, he'd made sure to get enough sleep before, so he was able to be alert while he practiced. The gym was nearly empty, though, and hardly anyone was training.

Not that he was complaining; not at all. He enjoyed the quietness of the gym. He was able to finally concentrate fully on his shooting, without any hindrances.

He moved towards the target shooting area, feeling contented. He hadn't been able to practice for the past few days--he'd been too busy with schoolwork and other things to do so. Seeing the target shooting area was, in a sense, like a relief to him. Shooting was something that calmed him. The familiar feel of his gun, the aiming at the target, and the pulling of the trigger.

However, when Vash reached, he realised he wasn't the only one there--unusual, seeing that not many people frequented the target shooting area. The person was a blond haired boy, who was standing in front of one of the targets. He wasn't carrying a gun, though, which struck Vash as odd. He situated himself next to the blond, though, and didn't comment on it. It was none of his business what the other did.

[jumpupanddream]

The gymnasium was not an area of the school that Lukas visited very often. It seemed that whenever he went there, he would get somehow roped into playing in a team game of some kind with his classmates, and that never really turned out well because Lukas didn’t do team games.

So, the obvious question was, what was he doing there in the early hours of Saturday morning?

To be honest, Lukas wasn’t entirely sure either. He had just left the dorm room that morning and went wherever his feet took him. On warm days like today, he usually went and sat in the bleachers on the training field to watch the sun come up, but the bleachers were closed for cleaning today and he didn’t much feel like sitting on the ground, so he had just walked past them. He had considered, for a while, going to the cafeteria and having breakfast early, but the cafeteria probably wasn’t open yet, so he couldn’t do that either.

Instead, he had ended up here. The gymnasium was quiet, empty and, more importantly, unlocked, and Lukas found that he quite liked it like this, completely devoid of life, instead of when it was bustling with people and balls of all shapes and sizes flying everywhere. He settled himself by the shooting area, seated against the wall, and just sat there, quietly and enjoying the peace and quiet.

As the morning went on, people began to trickle into the gym, presumably with the intent of training and being loud. His peacetime shattered, Lukas got up, but found himself unwilling to leave the gym and re-enter the hassle of school. The gym had a nice atmosphere right now, and if he went back into the main school building, he would have to re-enter the crowds, and that would just put him in a bad mood.

Well, it wouldn’t do him any harm to train for a while himself, would it?

He decided to stay where he was, in the target practice area. Lukas wasn’t fond of physical activity, but he could at least try to improve his aim. Maybe that way he wouldn’t miss when he had to throw things at people.

There was a container of dodge-balls in the main gym area, and Lukas thought that they would make good enough ammunition for now. He could get something heavier if need be. That in mind, he started to throw.

The art of attempting to hit a moving target was not something Lukas could say he had much experience in, and, as such, his first attempts at hitting the targets were complete failures. It frustrated him so much, that once, he threw nearly 5 balls at one target, in the vain hope that at least one would hit it. (None of them did, which is when he realised he needed to rethink his strategy.)

He was getting into the swing of things when a blonde boy entered the training area. He seemed to be a bit shocked to see Lukas, but he didn’t say anything or oppose his being there, so Lukas didn’t really have a problem with him being there either.

Except, wait. Did he have a gun?

Lukas could see this going very, very badly.

[finisque]

The blond boy was throwing the dodge-balls from a container at the moving targets. Without his hands. Vash assumed that that was his power--to possibly control objects with his mind.

It was an interesting ability, to say the least. Not to mention, it actually was quite useful--for general use, as well as when fighting one's enemies. But it was probably a hard ability to control if one's aim was bad.

Vash scrutinized the blond boy. He thought he looked familiar--while he had never had any lessons with the other, he'd probably bumped into the other or had seen the other in hallways and such.

Vash didn't remember people well though. It wasn't that he couldn't--not at all--but he simply didn't bother. Most students were not worth the effort and time that he'd need to waste remembering their names or where they'd come from. A reason why he hardly knew anyone from his own classes.

Not that being a loner was a bad thing. Not at all. In any case, at least he didn't have to bother putting up with other people who just never learnt when to keep their mouths shut.

He shook himself out of his own thoughts--he was getting himself distracted, and that wouldn't do. He hadn't even fired his first shot of the day. He manipulated more energy and made it into the shape of a bunch of bullets, loading his gun with them.

He turned towards the moving targets and breathed in deeply. He felt himself calm, and when he opened his eyes again, he found he could focus better. He concentrated and took aim at a target, waiting for the right time--when the moving target crossed him again--and shot his first "bullet" of the day.

He glanced contentedly at the target board. Bullseye, as he had expected. He was not being arrogant about his victory--it was merely that he a lot of confidence in his own skill, that he would not accept any less than perfection.

Vash took aim again, and shot. This process repeated numerous times, and all the times he had gotten the same result--bullseye. He still hadn't found a need to change targets--there was only a small hole in the centre of the entire target, while usually, the target would be littered with holes by then.

He was broken out of his state of concentration when something hit his foot lightly. He glanced at the object; it was a dodge-ball, likely to be one of those that the blond student was using at the moment.

Vash picked the ball up and moved towards the other. The blond was, luckily, still at his target area. "Excuse me, does this belong to you?" Vash asked, holding the ball out towards the other student. Although he was renown for having a short-temper, he was actually a polite person. Most of the time.