Part 1

Shopping Mall

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Akito

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And, there...
That's basically how you get it into the biggest cup.

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Toya

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I see.
Kendama is about using your knees to cushion the ball's fall.

Toya

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Which is interesting, since those two things seemingly have nothing to do with one another. I doubt I would've ever arrived at this technique if you hadn't shown me.

Akito

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Anyway, this is it as far as useful tricks go.

Toya

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Okay.
I'll try again using what you just showed me.

Toya

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Fling the ball straight into the air...
And use your knees to cushion it as it falls into the cup...

Toya

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...

Akito

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Aren't you gonna do it?

Toya

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First, I need to visualize.

Toya

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I won't succeed unless I can picture the flow of events for myself.

Akito

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Yeah, I don't think you need to go that far.

Akito

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But it is like you to do this...

Toya

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Okay, I have a clear picture.
Here it goes.

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Toya

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Hm...?!

Akito

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Oh, you were slightly off the cup.

Toya

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Again...!

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Toya

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No...!

Akito

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Hey, you were pretty close just now.

Toya

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Unfortunately, the image I formed in my head wasn't complete.

Toya

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I need to keep in mind what you told me to do and...!

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Toya

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I did it...

Akito

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Nice. You got it into the biggest cup.

Toya

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I didn't think it would take me so few tries.
This is incredible...

Akito

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Think you've got the hang of it?

Toya

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I believe so.
I'll try catching it in the two smaller cups next.

Toya

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So, here goes nothing.

A few minutes later

Toya

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Hup...!

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Toya

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Yes...!

Akito

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Whoa.
You can already get it into the smallest cup.

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Toya

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I'm just as surprised as you are. I've never been very good at ball sports. I wasn't expecting to improve this quickly...

Akito

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I'm not sure this counts as a ball sport.

Toya

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I wouldn't have been able to do this without you, Akito. So, thank you.

Akito

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All I did was give you some advice.
You were the one who actually made it happen.

Toya

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But your advice was incredibly helpful.

Toya

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All that remains is to land it on the prong, and then I'll be done. Would you mind showing me how to do that?

Akito

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To be honest, I'm not very good at that.
It usually takes me like ten tries to succeed.

Toya

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I see. It must be very difficult if it gives even you that much trouble...

Akito

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You're supposed to use the same technique, more or less.

Akito

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But you need to fling the ball as straight into the air as you can in order to keep the hole steady. Once it's in the air, you move the prong underneath it.

Toya

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In other words, you have to move the whole object underneath this tiny hole...

Toya

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That sounds difficult.
It's going to require quite a bit of hand-eye coordination...

Akito

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I mean, the ones who know what to do make it look easy, but it's not like it's totally impossible.

Toya

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Right. I'll just have to believe in myself here.