“Now, I don't expect you to pick the entire form up in a week, but here are the basics of Lepus Justu," Jessica was trying to teach Sebun her Golden Hare style. Again. He didn't pick it up the first time she tried, back on Earth, while he was Ren Sendo and she was Lisbeth O'Hara. That didn't end well, but as Jessica put it on his 'first' day, “We change when we enter this world." Ren, astronaut had become Sebun Atenin, Nihon human, and reworked English into the common tongue that all were expected to speak in, somehow learning to dye and pattern fur along the way. Lisbeth, shy and akward astronaut who had trouble with microwave ovens but knew some self defense techniques, became Jessica Steele, master fencer, martial artist, and (less wondrously for this world) an anthropomorphic hare. “Soon, you will be going into Unchainable's territory. His gang, the Pack, is a ruthless killing machine. You may be ambushed without a sword. I know you took kendo as a kid, but these aren't Japanese swords, either. 

“Lepus Jutsu is all about being fast and outlasting your opponent. If you can do that, no matter how strong they are, you can rain blows wherever you want," Jessica said, her gold eyes glittering. She asked him to draw his sword, and drew her own. She fenced, while he tried using kendo. Eventually, she disarmed him, and he noticed that he was exhausted. She knocked him onto his back and whipped her sword point above his neck. “And… You're dead." They took a break for about an hour, and tried again. They practiced all day, until his seventh defeat. She always knocked him down, every time. Every time was “Your dead." Sebun got angrier and angrier with each loss, until he tried attacking her blindly, forgetting that these swords weren't blunted. Jessica easily side stepped, locking her blade under his and twisting. That sent Sebun's sword clanging on the cobbles to his  left. Jessica shoved him with her left hand, and he fell. She performed the “killing" ritual, and held out a hand to pull him up. He ignored it, getting up and brushing himself off. He retrieved the longsword, which he renamed Kage no Sureiya, the Slayer of Shadows. “That's enough for today. Let's try without swords next time, please? I thought this was training for swordless ambushes," Sebun said, weary. Jessica sheathed the rented rapier and grinned. “We could always do kicks…" Jessica had kicked Sebun before, back on earth. It was not fun. Not. Fun. Sebun shuddered while she unsheathed and inspected her blade. “Huh. Would you look at that. Not a scratch! We will have to fix that, won't be, Sebun Eight Nine?" It was true: the rented rapier wasn't as scratched up as his own blade. And hers was older. Ren decided to forget kendo. This wasn't bamboo. it was a Grashian longsword. Use it like one, he chided himself. He looked the sword over for the first time in detail. It had a few buttons on the hilt that he had noticed before but never really thought about. He pushed one, and the blade elongated. That might be useful. Another one shortened it again, allowing him to adjust the size in combat. The third did… “Woah," Sebun said. The blade lit up, encasing itself in purple energy. It was either magic or plasma, depending on where in the city he was. Advanced technology didn't work very well in the Fantasy hemisphere, and vice versa for magic. The city strafed that line, so devices, magical or electronic, were notoriously wonky. He could see that the four grooves that ran down each flat of the blade were a slightly more purple color than the rest of the blade. That must be where the light originated from. He pushed the button again, and the purple light disappeared. A fourth button did nothing, but Sebun was sure it was the other hemisphere's equivalent of what he had just done. Sebun looked out of the window of the fighting dojo. It was dark, and he pointed that out to Jessica. They, having walked for pleasure but knowing the city at night, asked for a room. Of course, it being a dojo and not a hotel, ended up sleeping on the floor with rolled up mats for pillows. 

The morning was rough. Both Jessica and Sebun woke stiff and sore.  The morning staff unlocked the door to find them already inside and almost called the police until the owner explained what had happened. After that, the day went well enough. The pair left the dojo to hunt down some breakfast, and sparred a little along the way. As it turned out, the purple glow had no effect on swords, to the point where it passed right through. Sebun noted that. After breakfast, they returned home. Sebun had his last customer before they left, and he took care of it. They were careful not to be out after dark, and the day ended relatively normally. 

The next day, Sebun tried to explain to Jessica that he wanted to make a new style of swordsmanship, based on sudden changes in the sword. That went horribly. He ended up having to prove himself with the blade, so they sparred again. They started with crossed blades, each sure of their outcome. Sebun elongated the Slayer of Shadows, swiping up and using the momentum to flip out of reach. He was ready when Jessica came in for a light charge, and he activated the third button. Only it didn't work. It was supposed to activate, pass through the other sword, and deactivate, leaving Jessica without balance so he could knock her down and go in for the kill. Instead, the two swords meet, sending sparks out. She twirled and tried slashing from behind, but Sebun was ready. He ducked under the blade and slid into the hare's legs. That finally knocked her down, but Sebun had dropped his sword when he tackled Jessica. She hadn't, though. As he recoiled to make a run for his sword, she thrusted the blunted tip of her rapier into his chest. “Dead," the hare said triumphantly. 

“You're a prick sometimes," Sebun started, attempting to rise. “you know that?" 

***