The flowers are a metaphor for something

Saitou Yuzuru

Yuzuru relaxed by an almost unnoticeable amount. "My grandmother taught me many things," he told her. "The bow was only one skill among them. I am not as skilled as she was, however. I imagine it would take another decade or so for that. She had some talent with the naginata but I never had to opportunity to properly learn how to wield any sort of polearm."

If she were there, then surely everything would have been all right. He missed the security that her presence gave, the way that people would immediately stop all talk of magic and other nonsensical topics whenever she was in the room.

"It is a perfectly proper weapon if you would like to learn it," he said after a thought, referring to the bou. "It is a bit different because of the range but can be just as good."

Saitou Yuzuru

"Yes, I do believe that we are in agreement about that." It was so rare to find somebody with a similar interest that Yuzuru could not help but feel lulled by the sense of familiarity. It helped that this other student seemed quite reasonable, besides the fact that her beliefs were complete nonsense. He had some issues wrapping his head around it but he thought that maybe it was simply a case of being around an odd crowd. It might have been upbringing, too, but Yuzuru felt that weaponry was a very practical and anchored field. If she had learned from her father, then it should not have been from him. If it had come from her mother, then it should have very well been purged early on.

In a way, he felt quite sorry for her. Everything seemed to be perfectly fine minus the one obvious point.

"It is a bit strange to me that we did not meet in the marksmanship class," Yuzuru said. What he meant was that he was surprised she had not taken that class as well and wanted to know why.

Saitou Yuzuru

"Well, I suppose that seems reasonable enough," Yuzuru said, trying to be diplomatic but mainly sounding a bit doubtful of his own words. He did realize it, however, choosing to carry on with, "Personally, I would feel a bit crippled that way but that may simply be a point of clashing cultures." Archery was a common enough sport in Japan, even among the younger generation. He would not say that it was everywhere and people were liable to trip over the tradition but it was certainly well established.

"Going to school is a bit of an experience for me," he told her. "For the most part, my grandmother taught my lessons, and then one of my aunts after her. I am still uncertain how I really feel about it. There are many people here."

Saitou Yuzuru

"It is fine," he said, finding that he really did not care whether or not the idea of homeschooling was surprising to her. It was simply so mild in comparison to everything else the island had exposed to him that it was excusable. "I am fifteen years-old and a first year in the high school."

"I suppose that I learned the same as you would have at a normal school," Yuzuru said, though his mind skipped between a variety of contradicting descriptions. Practical, he thought, in relation to mathematics and the hard sciences. Wasteful, he labelled things such as astrology. So went his mind.

"I do not think that there should have been very many differences, although perhaps the pace is different between countries. The classes should be about the same, however." He listed off, "Math, science, history, classical literature, English language, archery, ikebana, ethics, calligraphy, religion, economics, politics." He had, in essence, studied a bit of everything that his grandmother had thought he should learn and Yuzuru himself had quite agreed with her thinking.

Saitou Yuzuru

"Well, I have had to cut back on a few classes unfortunately," Yuzuru said. "At the moment, I am enrolled in marksmanship, math, English, history, biology," the last word was stressed in a way which made it clear that something very odd was happening in that class. For one, the teacher believed that dragons existed. For another, he was perfectly willing to dig up and mutilate some animal's carcass in order to prove his nonexistent point.

"I am also in politics and economics as well as one other class that seems to be rather- it seems that most students are required to take it, however, that one at the end of the day." For all high school students, the last class of the day was a non-mandatory powers class. It was something of a nuisance. "It is a little strange to have so little on my schedule." Homework was nothing especially difficult either. The amount of free time he had was a bit stunning.