Transference

Tue Jul 26, 2016 10:02 pm

Artist: Mogeko Castle - Song: MaouDamashii Town 10 - Word Count:

For the most part, his antics on the moon had gone unnoticed. Well, unnoticed probably was not the best word for it. What he had done had been very much so noticed, he had just managed to remain pretty separate from any blame being thrown around in regard to the Moon's fate. There were reports that it was Azure and the Vanguard that triggered it, some reports that Shadowfall had succeeded and were complicit in the destruction, and some that simply putting so many hyper powered people on the same small orbiting piece of rock was a recipe for disaster no matter how you tried to rationalize it. There were so many more plausible reasons before "The Red Headed Prince is Kind of a Jackass" that Kamui was not receiving a whole lot of scrutiny for his actions. However, the events on the moon did send the rest of the world in to a sort of frenzy. If that could happen to the Vanguard, one of the largest bastions of goody two shoes protagonism left in this world, what was going to happen to them? It scared a lot of the similarly minded organizations to band together and that meant sharing knowledge...and Kamui did so love to travel.

This journey led him to Soul Society. It was not the first time he had been there. The Sugiurans and the Shinigami were not as close as say...the Iramasha and the Shinigami, mostly because the Sugiurans had their own pets in the Guardian Beasts and didn't really need to boss around the little soul reapers for validation, but there was still a strong bond remaining between the two from the early days of their existence in this multi-verse. The friendship had waned slightly in recent years, but the recent scare on the moon rather quickly shifted that dynamic. Now they needed each other for protection, and dimensional politics were nothing if reactionary. Kamui was here on one of those reactionary provisions as a temporary instructor, a sort of guest speaker to share battle strategies and the like. When he did arrive though, he found that they had a more...particular task in mind for him. Everyone had been invited to listen to him speak...the 11th division was required to listen.

Thus the story is brought to the present day, the diminutive red-tressed prince standing before a group of people notorious for utilizing far more brawn than brain. These weren't typically Kamui's crowd, he was a very cerebral and structured fighter and when confronted with a problem, he will poke in many different places until the problem gives way. Instead, he was faced with a group of people who would much rather keep bashing their face off the problem until it yielded. They were different, he had already accepted that fact, but it was also not his first time teaching a soldier and it was not the first time he taught one whose main descriptor was "bull headed." He might as well get the words out of the way while they were still paying enough attention to listen.

"Since we're all here, we'll get the pleasantries out of the way. I am aware that the hollow kill count for the Eleventh Division far exceeds that of the other twelve divisions. Please take a few moments to pat yourself on the back for your accomplishment. I would say you could pat each others backs, but the Eleventh Division also has the highest mortality rate out of every division, so for now we'll just count ourselves lucky that your arms are still attached."

Kamui let the umbrella that was resting on his shoulder fall to his side before jabbing it in to the ground as he casually, whistling, walked around in a small circle, dragging his umbrella through the dirt and drawing a wide circle around himself. When he had finished, Kamui had effectively drawn a three meter radius circle around himself before turning back to the crowd, tossing the weapon off to the side and outside of the circle. It wasn't necessarily intentional, but Kamui was well aware that the look on his face was bound to annoy some of them with the strange combination of carefree condescension that only his face seemed to truly be capable of. As he spoke, his words seemed to carry the same tone as his voice. They were soft, assured, and somehow still condescending as all hell.

"So that is our objective for this little gathering. We're going to focus on developing intuition. As a demonstrative exercise, we're going to play a little game. I am going to stay in this little circle you see here. If you manage to knock me out of this circle, you'll win and you'll be allowed to go home and listen to me speak no further so long as you live. Do we have any volunteers?"

Kamui knew he was never really going to fully impart his mindset on to these people, but being one dimensional had its risks. If you were only capable of one thought pattern, you were going to come up against a trial you could not handle simply through your inability to adapt. He was never going to turn them in to the cold, calculating, honestly rather sociopathic individual that he was, but even if they unwillingly were forced to adapt some of these lessons, it might inadvertently save them down the line...that and he would have fulfilled the stupid assignment the crown gave him and be back to doing literally anything else. Shinigami were so boring.

Tue Jul 26, 2016 11:53 pm

[PLAY POSTING MUSIC]

ENTER THE DEPTHS

Artist: Pendulum - Song: Crush - Word Count: 1,167

This is quite the change. We’re actually all here. Or, well, most of us I guess. Okay, at least some of us are. I wouldn’t be here either if I’d been on patrol, but perhaps that is a good thing.

Her day had started as one of those rare days of rest back within Soul Society. This time she was taking a break following her participation within the great tournament for Greece. It was well deserved and actually a relief for once, considering days of relaxation were the worst for her. On those days she had nothing to look forward to besides thinking, and this generally ended up with her reliving painful memories. Fighting or even just quiet patrols were all that she needed to keep her focus on something else. It was perhaps her primary reasoning for never taking vacation days, but today? Today she deserved it. Today she wanted it. Today there would be no thoughts about the past. Of that she was confident. No, today there would be only rest and quiet relaxation.

She would get up from bed, and the first thing she’d do today would be to take a bath. A nice, warm, hour long bath, longer if possible but no less than that! She would dress in her silken kimono. She would visit her little strawberry garden, paying special attention and care to each and every plant that she owned. She would venture to the shopping districts to purchase something for dinner, maybe even snack on some strawberries there if a vendor was found selling the delicious morsels. She would purchase a basket and some fruits, venture into the Rukongai and deliver the food to anyone she took notice of needing it. Then she would return home, eat dinner, take another bath, and then finally drift off to sleep. No reliving of horrible memories, no fighting, no getting dirty, not any single thing to cause her stress. Today she would truly be at peace. At least, that is how it was supposed to go.

Instead she was rather rudely woken up by knocking outside of her small home. A newer Shinigami, acting as a messenger, was greeted by an annoyed Yuki, wrapped up in sheets and nothing else. She, along with any other member of the combat division that could be reached, was being ordered to attend some meeting held by some person for some reason she did not pay any attention to. Despite her growing frustration she remained completely composed, at least outwardly. The messenger was thanked, she closed the door, and then she ventured off to get changed.

And that was that! She got changed, she hurried off to the meeting place, she was late, and now she stood at the back row behind many larger Shinigami, most built as bulky tanks, covered from head to toe in muscles and scars and whatever else seemed appropriately intimidating. It was almost comical really. Those in the front would not see her. In fact, she couldn’t even see the person who would be speaking to them!

Of course this would happen on the one day that I actually set aside, purposefully, for relaxation. Well, whatever. It is fine. My day is not ruined yet! Once this is finished I can return home. If I skip the first bath then I can still make it to the market early enough for some of the good stuff. Maybe. If I do that then I’ll just have to take an even longer bath later to make up for it!

As the man in front started to speak Yuki quieted her thoughts, listening intently despite her growing annoyance and impatience. It wasn’t as if she disliked the person, or the lesson itself. Only a fool would be averse to learning something new, especially when it was related to fighting, and especially still when that person was in the combat unit. Plus it’d been simply rude if she’d ignored his words. After all he was spending his day here just as much as they were, and he was spending it teaching something new to those with less experience. It was quite honorable.

The sarcastic praise sent towards her division was not welcomed, nor was his jab towards the casualties they suffered, but it was by all means the truth. Their division was filled with burly macho men intent upon seeking glory through death. Not that Yuki was completely different from any of them, but in many ways she was. Regardless, there was a brief silence as the speaker did something out of her range of view, and then a challenge was declared. It would be up to someone to knock him out of some circle that he made. More than that however was the prize: those who managed it could leave and go home!

Don’t you worry my lovely little strawberry plants. Mother Wolf is coming home soon.

All of them knew that the man was strong, Yuki included. After all he’d been asked to speak to the combat division, arguably one of the strongest within the Gotei. There was a brief moment of hesitation amongst the ranks, and the young Shinigami used this as her chance to push her way past the many larger warriors, finally stumbling out into the front of the crowd. A second was taken to compose herself and to fix any piece of her uniform which might have been shifted in one strange way or another before she continued forward, stopping just outside the circle that Kamui had created. The tiny four and a half foot tall girl was unusual due to her wolf-like features and only the least bit intimidating due to the eyepatch which covered her left eye. But she was also unwaveringly neutral; a calm almost bored expression plastered firmly upon her face. With respect she lowered the upper half of her body, bowing towards the man while she spoke in a voice that was equally calmed and equally neutral.

“I am Yuki Kameko.”

With that out of the way she straightened her posture, proceeding forth into the circle. Her right hand withdrew her Zanpakutō from its sheathe, a simple elegant motion which placed the tip pointed off towards her right and near the ground. Her singular crimson gaze stared into the instructor’s, unflinching and unblinking while she waited for the go ahead to start, and once it did finally come she wasted no time. Energy was unleashed into her legs. In the blink of an eye she was gone. However while some might expect her to appear behind, or above, or from one side, Yuki chose instead to appear right in front of the man, although crouched a bit lower in order to use her smaller height to her advantage. Already her blade was swung in an outwards arch, curved upwards diagonally in an attempt to send his movement backwards.

Don’t need to hit him. Just force him back. Let us see how powerful he really is!

Wed Jul 27, 2016 12:46 am

Artist: Mogeko Castle - Song: MaouDamashii Town 10 - Word Count:

Well, now this was interesting. He was expecting some hesitation from most of them, but the one who finally stepped forward he expected to be a little more of the "musclehead" variety. He was not expecting the tiny, diminutive girl before him. That did not however mean that he was going to approach the lesson any differently. Kamui's stoic face curled slightly in to a grin as the girl, who would soon address herself as Yuki Kameko. Now she WAS interesting. It was fitting that the lesson that he wished to impart today, or as it was more honest to refer to it as the lesson he was told to impart, was about learning to adequately study your opposition before rushing in to combat. Before him was a very interesting case to study. There were a few obvious things that stood out. The first, was obviously the eye patch, that tended to draw attention and as trained as Kamui's mind was, attention tended to follow the path of least resistance and in this case, that path was the patched eye. The next was that the girl was tiny, almost childishly so. She reminded him a bit of a more stoic Blank...a thought process for another time. He even took note of the animalistic, wolfish traits the girl maintained. Of course, all of that was secondary to Kamui, second in that the thing he was most amused by was her facial expression. It looked deliberate. Kamui was not sure if she was attempting to mirror him in some form of mockery for his harsh words or if she wore that harshly stoic and unobtrusive face for a reason. The possible reasons for which were potentially pretty numerous. Victims of abuse learn rather quickly that emotion was a weakness that could be exploited and offering nothing gave your opponent nothing to use. She could also be trying to repress something, to push something down. She was in the Eleventh Division, anger perhaps? It was a shame Kamui didn't have more time to pry it out of her. When she finished closing the distance and gave a curt bow of respect, Kamui spoke once more.

"There was a human general, long before the world we know today, who prescribed to his people words that will forever be pertinent. If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles."

After those words left his lips, Kamui nodded at the girl and without so much as a pause, she struck. It was honestly pretty adorable. Kamui slowed himself down, at full speed he doubted anyone who was watching would actually be able to follow him, instead limiting himself to just enough speed to be able to pull off the maneuver. It was most likely surprising to her then, that as she closed the distance, she would find her opponent at the same altitude as herself. Kamui had dropped down as well, not allowed little Yuki to actually gain the advantage that she so commonly maintained. Well, at least the parts of her that she could see. Kamui employed one of the techniques passed down in his family, a very simple stepping technique stemming from the ancient Baguazhang. Stepping inward at the low altitude, Kamui circled in perfect harmony with the incoming sword attack, closing the distance between the two of them in the process. Now parallel to the incoming sword and perpendicular to Yuki, Kamui's left hand snapped forward, striking at the incoming wrist grasping the hilt of her weapon, directly knocking the incoming sword attack off angle from inside its effective range as his right hand would move to press gently against the woman's stomach, a soft word escaping his lips.

"Ichisotenshu."

From such a light touch would erupt a surprising amount of force as Kamui's chi coursed through his body and would attempt to angrily shove the young woman away from him. Kamui placed enough force in to the blow to knock her back and in to the crowd of her fellow squadmates, well and out of the circle he had created for himself. However, Kamui made very sure that the movement was a shove and not a strike, the movement was dispersed across her trajectory, making it far less of a blunt impact and more of a throw, leaving her with only a bruise as a result should the strike land though, with Kamui's speed he was relatively sure he would succeed, being overpowered had its perks. After the aftermath of the exchange, Kamui erected himself back up to full height and turned his attention back to the crowd that he assumed Yuki would now be among.

"There are three participants in any battle. Yourself, your opponent, and your environment. If you want persisting success, you will need to understand these elements. You are all very aware of at least one of the three. You are a proud division of combatants, you are all aware of what you are capable of, but because of that you disregard the other two participants. For instance, the radius of this circle is three meters, that was the combat zone that was established. Brandishing a large weapon like a Zanpakutō in this situation is detrimental, ESPECIALLY when attempted to use in a wide arc. You are trained in Hakuda for situations like this one."

Kamui knelt down as he spoke, rolling back on to the balls of his feet as he lectured. He had no idea if any of this was getting through to them. The first lesson wasn't too too difficult, use the appropriate weapon for the situation was a pretty basic lesson that required not much more than experience and a functioning brain. The next lesson was the one that required thought, one that was going to be difficult for them. He didn't expect them to understand it like he did, but hopefully they picked up on the subtext ever so slightly.

"The third participant is your opponent. Being able to study and understand your opponent is paramount. For example, Yuki is a small fighter for the Eleventh Division carrying an eye patch. From this shallow observation alone we can glean three things. The reputation of the Eleventh Division is that you're straight forward, no nonsense, direct fighters. There was little chance that Yuki was every going to do anything than run right at me simply because anything else was too much wasted time for a linear problem. The next is that she carries an eye patch. Again, she's in the eleventh division, the likelihood of an eye patch being a feint is not high, which means it is covering up a wound. Reduced visibility means she will have her capacity to handle attacks coming from the left diminished. The next fact is that she is rather small. When you are smaller than everyone else, the last thing you are expecting is someone to attack you at eye level. Place these together and you come out to an effective tactic for diffusing the enemy. I do not expect you to be able to break it down like I just did, but it needs to be a consistent thought going through your mind. What am I capable of, what are they capable of, and how can my environment help and hurt me. Knowing what your opponent wants to do is the best way to punish them for doing it. Break off in to pairs, attempt to knock each other out of the circles and focus on reading and understanding your opponent and your surroundings. We have an odd number of you that showed up today so Yuki you're stuck with me."

Kamui rolled back up to his feet, letting loose a soft sigh and gently dusting off the front of his suit as he walked back toward the end of his circle. As he spoke, twelve more circles began to form throughout the clearing, as if by magic(because it was magic) and Kamui motioned to the group to break off in to the different circles while patiently waiting for Yuki. When she was ready, Kamui's voice was soft, yet somehow a little less condescending and a little more intrigued, like he was patiently waiting for the next chapter to unfold. Perhaps she'd be the first interesting Shinigami he'd meet.

"What should you do first now, Yuki?"

Wed Jul 27, 2016 2:47 am

[PLAY POSTING MUSIC]

ENTER THE DEPTHS

Artist: Pendulum - Song: Crush - Word Count: 1,263

For a brief moment before her attack Yuki was able to look upon her opponent, to study his form. He was taller than she was, but then so were most people. His hair was tied up in the back into a ponytail. He also wore an outfit which resembled one she’d seen before, one which was Human and designed for combat. Or, rather, she thought it was designed for combat. It certainly seemed that way, what with its mixture of loose comfort and slim design. He also wielded an umbrella in one hand, which was certainly not typical for any Shinigami she knew.

Obviously he is a Human. I suppose his spiritual energy could have told me that. Same with his scent. But why does he carry an umbrella? Is that his weapon? Weird. But I’d best not underestimate it.

The man spoke, right before she’d struck. It was an old Human saying, but she understood the meaning very well. She was not foreign to the idea, and in fact she tried her best to adhere to something akin to it whenever she did manage to get herself into a fight, but then she wasn’t perfect either. Many times she was able to pick out a specific strategy for her opponent, to strike directly at their weak points, and this often won her the day. This was not one of those times.

Yuki had expected the man to make any number of moves. If he had moved backwards then she would have partly completed her goal, shifting him towards the edge, and some space would have opened between them which she might have been able to exploit. At the very least she would have kept him on the defensive as the extra reach of her blade gave her that advantage. Had the Human leaped up into the air then he would have been vulnerable to yet another strike. If he’d utilized his umbrella then she also had a counter for that too. But none of that happened.

Instead the man had lowered himself; to her level in fact, which both surprised her and threw off the power of her swing just a tiny bit as she attempted to think up some new strategy on the fly. He was much, much faster than she was, outpacing her attack with relative ease. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as he disappeared from view, using her eyepatch against her. But that is what her tail was for, and it was being swung as her body twisted around, aiming to slam into her instructor’s body. It would never reach him, of course. Not only had he outrun her attack but he would also counter her before her secondary plan could even swing fully into action.

One hand lashed out, striking against her right wrist with enough force and precision to easily send the weapon flying from her weakened grip, especially given the momentum she’d placed into her attack. The other hand dipped below her outstretched right arm, pressing against her stomach with a gentle touch despite their situation. In that single moment it became completely clear that he was holding back by a lot.

I underestimated him.

A single word was spoken. Suddenly energy erupted upwards, overpowering every inch of her body, although none of it was entirely focused in one single place. Instead it felt as though a wall had latched to the front of her body, pushing against every point of her petite figure at one time. The only focus placed within the strike was the hand which pushed against her stomach, initiating what came next.

She was lifted right off her feet and into the air, cast back over the dirt floor of their meeting area with great speed. Her body, quite light due to its stature, was perhaps sent a bit faster than might have been intended, although not by much as she slammed into the front row of the gathered crowd. Powerful muscles cushioned her impact as she slammed into a few of the Shinigami who were gathered, causing two of them to fall right back into the rest of their peers. For a few moments she was dizzy, stomach in pain and head pounding with the sudden halting of her body, but all of that was cast aside. She was incredibly tough, probably more than most if not all of the other Shinigami gathered at this location currently, and so she was very quick to get back up to her feet.

Well then. Huh. This is getting interesting.

Turning Yuki reached over to help up one of the men before she again faced her instruct, hands brushing off the dirt that had accumulated upon her uniform. One of the less experienced Shinigami hustled over to hand her the weapon that had been discarded, prompting her to lower her head in thanks to him before he ran off to return to the gathered group. Now she was eager to hear what the man had to say, paying full attention to his words.

Every observation made was correct. In such close quarters she could have reigned supreme if it were not for the Zanpakutō she wielded. She should have struck with her hands; however she’d been too insecure and too heavily focused upon forcing the man away from herself. Her family’s style of Hakuda might have given her the element of surprise, and that might have been enough for victory. His observation concerning her eye patch was spot on. It cut out a portion of her vision on the left side of her body. He also had a point concerning their division: they often went straight into whatever challenge presented itself in front of them, although Yuki’s plan in this particular case was to use that for an element of surprise. And finally, she’d not expected him at all to lower himself to her level. All in all it was a very valuable lesson, and he’d only needed a single move to demonstrate it.

This man is a genius. I am sorry strawberries. You will need to wait a little longer. But at least I am excited now!

A gentle movement stirred within her tail, jolting it from one side to the next in anticipation for more lessons. Better still, they had an uneven amount of people, and she’d been chosen to practice with the master! Was it even possible for her to be any happier right now? Yes, yes it was, but this was still very nice even in comparison.

As she reached her instructor Yuki came to a stop, her staring eye locking upon his gaze while she quietly listened to his next words. It was very clear that this man was not only taking it easy, but that he was also being incredibly patient with them. A remark was made towards her and in response the young wolf quickly shifted her blade around, sheathing it seamlessly at her left hip. He was right of course. Hakuda would be best here.

Both hands were lifted in front of her body, palms out and fingers curled ever so slightly. She had tiny claws but they were also very easy to miss, which might have been an advantage against a less observant opponent. Even so, she had to use whatever means possible if she had any hopes of actually sending this man out from within the circle he’d created.

Alright. Be smart about this.

For the moment her eye darted from one point to another while she carefully plotted her next move.

Wed Jul 27, 2016 4:17 am

Artist: Mogeko Castle - Song: MaouDamashii Town 10 - Word Count:

Kamui's head tilted curiously to the side as she stepped right on up to his little circle. That was good, he was unsure how she would take being unceremoniously tossed across the grounds. Arrogance was typical from what he understood of the Eleventh Division and wounded pride was a very real risk he ran in these sorts of drills. Thankfully, he had gotten lucky that his volunteer was anything but and the thought did manage to bring a little smile to his face. Kamui waited very patiently as she closed the distance and settled in to their circle. It was on the walk though that Kamui's plans were steadily changing. He had noticed the animalistic traits before...it was pretty hard to miss that tail, but having the time to really take them in without needing to focus on the others. This would prove to be a very interesting experiment. Kamui's grin widened further as she crossed in to that circle and began flexing the claws on her hands, something that Kamui did not happen to miss. Unlike before however, Kamui's words were not rife with condescension, they weren't mocking her. Those were motivational tools, used to push people with intimidation. She did not need motivation and as such, derision was not necessary. The words were instead soft, more pondering than questioning.

"Do you think you understand me enough to force me from the circle, Yuki?"

It was a simple, yet incredibly complicated question. It did have an easy answer though, she did not. She knew he was intelligent, she knew he was crafty, but did she understand the way he moved? Did she understand the way his muscles coiled, the way they sprung through the air? They were questions that were not easy to answer without experience. Yuki had confidence, almost belligerently so, it was the kind of confidence you developed when you were forced to, the kind of confidence that was a shield. She had experience fighting talentless thugs, she had experience fighting meager hollows, she had experience fighting the random array of monster that plagued their world. She did not have the experience against a true master, a real warrior, and whether she knew it or not, it showed. Everyone was young once however...and Yuki had potential, she had the spine to get up and walk back in to the fire with no questions asked. She could have absolutely zero talent and that'd be enough to become a competent warrior.

"Are you familiar with Wing Chun? It's a human martial art, somewhat like Shinigami Hakuda. We're going to perform this drill, don't worry about the circle for now...and don't try to claw me, it won't end well for either of us. Hold this position."

Kamui reached forward and gently took the girl's hand in his, softly grazing his finger tips across her palm before pulling her arm forward and up, bending her arm at the elbow across her body and straight across her chest with a couple inches separation. He had found, especially with women, that the small touches and caresses served multiple purposes. In some women, they'd make them uncomfortable and occasionally angry, that made them more focused and determined, anger was a very powerful motivator. In others, they'd take the pleasant touches for what they should be, relaxing, and relaxation was important for learning this technique. Either way, his objective would be accomplished. Kamui then, for a moment, placed his wrist against hers and pushed lightly, making sure she had a strong form and letting her feel the pressure against her body. He then took hold of her other hand, brought it up in front of her body before gently wrapping his fingers around hers and balling them in to a fist. Then once her fists were set, he placed his wrist against her balled hand's wrist, pressing gently before returning his other hand to her extended arm, this time mirror her balled fist with his own.

"This is called Sui Lam, or Sticky Hands in English. It is a drill in Wing Chun for learning the basic movements of the style, but it has a far, far deeper meaning and use."

Kamui slowly walked her through the motions of the style, teaching her to roll his fist along her arm and letting her feel her own fist roll off his own block. They would go through those motions for a few minutes, steadily picking up speed as they would roll off each other's strikes and blocks as he made sure she felt every motion. Once she got comfortable with the motion, Kamui began speaking, softly speaking the lesson to her with an uncanny ability to seemingly block out everything else that was going on around them.

"Your biggest weakness is always going to be that you have half the vision of everyone else. But it can also be a strength. Basic reaction time based upon optical information is zero point five seconds slower than information processed by tactile information. Your eyes are not always honest and they're slow. You do not always need to use them."

Kamui shifted her arms once more this time locking their wrists together in the traditional Chi Sao position or the "neutral" stance. He slowly walked her through the rotation and focused on feeling the motions of their arms as they occasionally broke the from the neutral, sliding in to the punches and parries before coming back to the neutral. Like the punching drill they progressively sped up, never losing contact with each other. He had no idea if it was sinking in, or if she was just getting frustrated with the repetition, but Kamui had no qualms with what came next. He sure did enjoy demonstrations and this was still a highly amusing experiment to him. If he was right about her, and very rarely was he wrong, she would be able to take this technique to heights far beyond what Kamui was capable of without using Magic and that, in and of itself, was a pretty terrifying prospect. He so did enjoy terrifying.

"Please, try to hit me."

Kamui kept his arms pressed against hers as his eyes slowly fluttered closed and stayed, rather completely closed. The young man still had the stupidly confident smile apparently welded on as he waited, patiently for Yuki to make a move. He was kind of hoping she would use the different techniques they had been going over, but he was ready in the event she, for some reason, felt like she needed to prove herself. He was so, so looking forward to this.

Wed Jul 27, 2016 5:47 am

[PLAY POSTING MUSIC]

ENTER THE DEPTHS

Artist: Pendulum - Song: Crush - Word Count: 974

Do I understand him?

Noticing that they were not yet going to fight, Yuki lowered her hands, relaxing her fingers while her gaze was turned towards the dirt floor. It was a simple question in most circumstances, but not so much in this case. Here it tied into the definition he used earlier. Did she understand her opponent? Somewhat. She understood that he was much stronger, especially in terms of speed. But that was too broad. Why was he faster? Why was he better? Was it experience? Possibly. Training? Most certainly. But even these answers were too broad. All they told her was that she could not win. What they neglected to mention was how she could win.

“Partially. I understand that you are stronger. It could be attributed to experience or training. Your speed is especially worrisome. But I do not understand enough about you to win. I do not understand the fine details. I cannot force you from the circle. I understand that, but even that does not mean that I actually understand you enough” she stated calmly, finally returning her gaze to meet his when she’d finished explaining herself.

I really hope that that was not confusing. Maybe I should work on this whole ‘being social’ thing.

The petite warrior’s head shook from side to side. She had not heard of this ‘Wing Chun’ before, although she suspected that he might be a master of that particular martial art, given that he was both a fighting genius and currently about to explain what it was to her. After all, why would one try to explain or train another person in something that they themselves did not know? It just didn’t seem like it would work out in the slightest.

With a gentle grip her hands were taken, fingertips tickling along the soft flesh of her palms which sent a slight shiver down her spine. If it was a romantic gesture then it had simply flown right over her head, for such things was not something she was used to or knowledgeable about. She wasn’t uncomfortable and she certainly wasn’t angry, but she wasn’t really relaxed by the simple touch either. All in all she was quite neutral, perhaps again because she simply was unaccustomed to social cues and situations.

Hands gripped upon her arms, shifting them around without any effort on her part. Initially she was very confused. What would this even do for her? Was he trying to loosen her muscles or something? She tried her best to relax, figuring that her thought was perhaps the correct answer, at least initially. Then a wrist was set against her wrist, exerting pressure. Her first thought was to resist it as she figured it was a test of her strength, but he stopped after a few brief moments, focusing now on sliding his hand against the back of one of her hands, balling it into a fist. Again their wrists were set together, her eyes tracking the various movements. She was very confused until the man started to speak to her.

Sticky hands? What an unusual name. His hands don’t feel very sticky. Regardless, it is a drill. This will help me to learn, so I’d better pay more attention.

They continued to shift their limbs around, rolling arms and wrists and fists against each other repeatedly. She did not try to speed up, not until she was comfortable, as she wished to first master the proper form. Speed would come later. And, indeed, it would come, as her movements gradually started to improve, both in form and grace, which allowed her to work on gradually speeding up the process! All of her focus was poured into the lesson as she blocked out everyone training around them. Most were probably busy wrestling, or clashing swords, or that sort of thing. Her training would appear to them to be the weakest, but in actuality it was far from so.

Her gaze very briefly darted up towards her trainer’s face when he spoke again, although it soon returned down to the movement of their hands and arms as she wished not to mess up too badly. He was certainly correct: as long as she wore her eyepatch her vision would be her greatest sensory weakness. His words were quite enlightening as well, and she quickly caught up to his plans.

Fighting blind. It makes sense. Reacting based purely on feeling. Instincts. I would be quicker.

Slowly she was walked through the next set of training motions, although they seemed easier thanks to the warming up drills that he had been teaching her. Basic punches and parries were being taught, almost as if her entire style of Hakuda was being reset. Of course she made absolutely certain not to cut him with her claws, which did take a little bit of her focus away. But now, as she grew more focused, her eyes remained glued upon their matched limbs, watching carefully for any mistakes that she needed to fix.

Eventually the man declared that he wanted her to try to hit him. Thankfully she knew not to do anything other than what they had been practicing. Initially her punches were slow and somewhat withdrawn, not out of fear or embarrassment but instead out of practice. Again, she wanted to get the form down as perfectly as possible. That would be more important than hitting the man. But she still did try regardless. Each strike and parry was expertly countered, and so she started to pick up the speed, however even this was no match for the master of Wing Chun.

I can’t rely on my sight.

After quite a few attempts Yuki closed her eye, now intending upon practicing without vision with the hopes that she would learn more by focusing on her other senses!

Wed Jul 27, 2016 6:24 am

Imakuran wrote:

Artist: Mogeko Castle - Song: MaouDamashii Town 10 - Word Count:

Curious. It wasn't especially of any great import, but Kamui was very much a child in some ways, one of which involved poking and prodding people and situations and waiting to see what result popped right on out. In this case, the caress did in fact trigger a reaction, Kamui felt her whole body quake ever so slightly at the sensation, but there was no real reaction after that, no real response that let him know that she ever recognized what had happened. Well, he supposed that made sense for the eleventh division, they were all going to be sexually repressed or the absolute opposite, but Kamui's devious little mind was most definitely not going to stop himself from continuing to look for the buttons to push. For now however, Yuki was enjoying a brief moment of severity and concentration from Kamui. He wanted, and almost needed, her to learn this quickly for her to be able to make any genuine progress in the field. Wing Chun had its uses today, but relying on being in physical contact with an opponent, especially the opponents they routinely would have to deal with, was nothing short of a death sentence. If Yuki was going to gain anything practical in their short time together.

She grasped the movements easy enough, but Kamui's concern was not with her learning the movements themselves, they were ultimately irrelevant and not something he really expected her to take with her. The lessons wouldn't be useless, but he could tell just from how she carried herself that she was not necessarily suited to Wing Chun as a whole. She definitely however was suited this technique. As they shifted between the different exercises of sticky hands, Kamui kept a close eye on how much attention she was paying to the feeling of the movement, how it felt against her, how she felt against it...and he wasn't that confident. The quickest way to learn that however, was to truly have the other senses taken away from you. He propped open his eye just long enough to see Yuki close hers and a small smile crept back on to his face. His first movement was slow, he lightly pushed off of her right wrist and curled inward, before slipping his right hand away from hers and throwing a small palm thrust up toward her jaw, making sure she had ample time to react whether she felt him or not.

"Focus on the feel of your skin against mine, feel the muscles rippling underneath. Everything is a pattern, every movement has a purpose, a script. Learn to read that script, learn to feel it, and you won't need your eyes."

Kamui upped the pace slightly, bringing his hand back and curling it back beneath hers as they reset before Kamui's hand snuck on the outside, moving to throw a punch to the right side of her face, not hard enough to hurt her but definitely enough to hurt if she wasn't reading his movements properly with her hands. He didn't stop there though, shifting along her arm Kamui threw a mirrored punch to her left side, aiming for another small strike on the jaw, before resetting back to neutral once more. He would continue this with her for another fifteen minutes, progressively moving faster and faster until she could keep up with each new step as he continued to push her, occasionally giving her room to counter attack and quickly rapping her on the jaw if and when her form faltered or she did not fully read the motions of his limbs.

After that fifteen minutes, Kamui pushed off their connection, fully pulling away from her for the first time in what was now quite a while, Kamui's eyes slowly opening in to a grin. Regardless of his interest in the girl, he was sent here to do a job whether he actually wanted to or not. The young man gave small nod, the same reassuring and calm tone that reared its head earlier showing through once more.

"Unfortunately, I believe there's a stipulation in my contract about playing favorites. Either continue practicing the movements and what you remember about the feel of the other person against you or meditate on the nature of tactile information input. I need to go investigate the rest of your Squad."

Kamui let the practice sink in for a bit with Yuki. It was important to give her time on her own to process the information and besides, he did technically have a job to do. The rest of the circles were relatively uneventful as no other Shinigami really seemed interested in partaking in their joint little exercise, which worked out all the same to Kamui. Perhaps a cease and desist letter for these cultural trips?

After fixing the footwork of three other squad members, the sword grip of two others, the reminder to not use swords for those same two, and literally throwing one of the squadmates out of the area, Kamui made his way back to the girl, eager to see what she had managed to perfect in that fifteen minutes of reflection. Of course that was probably a good cut off date, part of him believed that leading her long for twenty minutes would cause a stir crazy frenzy of frustration and in adequacy. It would certainly be interesting what could come of this.

"Thoughts?"

Wed Jul 27, 2016 12:26 pm

[PLAY POSTING MUSIC]

ENTER THE DEPTHS

Artist: Pendulum - Song: Crush - Word Count: 1,381

If he is teaching me Wing Chun then why must my eyes remain closed? You’d think I would want to see the movements as well. I get that fighting based on instincts is part of the lesson here, or at least I think that is something he is trying to teach, but that does not seem entirely correct either. Am I missing something?

Despite her slight lack in confidence at her own movements Yuki continued to partake of the lesson, focusing her mind upon feeling out the mock attacks and parries and blocks. She would get better. It was only a matter of time. And that was indeed the case here: she did get better, although it was slow progress considering her lack of experience with blind fighting. Thankfully her body was more used to it than she anticipated. She always fought with only half of her vision, and so she obviously needed to make up for it in other ways. Her sense of smell and hearing were both more important, both slightly improved by it, both contributed to her success, but without her having realized it she’d also picked up a slightly improved tactile sense.

Maybe this is not entirely about repetitive movements, or even Wing Chun. This might be about my senses. My sense of touch. Training my sense of touch. I’d never even thought about that before, but it could be very useful. Alright then, focus harder. What about that sense am I trying to train? What am I trying to read here?

Over and over again her arms moved, only now they slowed down once more. The movements themselves were becoming ingrained within her mind, but now that was not so important to the young Shinigami. She was, in effect, redoing the training, focusing instead upon the feelings she experienced between the shared contact of their limbs. This was why he’d closed his eyes. It was not easy, but it was much easier than if she’d had her eye open, as too much focus and information would have been derailed towards that sense.

Pressure. That seems like part of what he is trying to teach. I feel pressure and I react to that. But then I am only reacting after the force of an attack is placed upon my body. I don’t think that is exactly what he is trying to get through here. I really hope that I am doing this right.

Improvement for her now took longer as she allowed the feelings to creep into her memories. It would be a more arduous journey, but now she felt that it would be worth it in the end, and she hoped that it would be worth it for her teacher to spend a little longer training her in this way. Still, she was not the one controlling this exercise. Kamui’s movements started to gradually pick up in pace, which forced her to do the same. If she wanted this to be a successful training process then she’d need to quickly learn whatever it was that she was missing.

A palm made its way past her guard as she’d only realized too late that an attack was coming, his skin impacting with her jaw. It was not especially powerful but it would certainly hurt any normal person. Pain was not much of an issue for her; however she allowed some of it to seep into her mind. It would help her to learn, force her to focus harder upon their lesson. Thankfully Kamui verbally confirmed that she was, in fact, heading in the right direction.

Muscles. This makes sense. This is why our limbs remain together. This is the piece I was missing.

Like flipping a switch Yuki’s mind focused almost entirely upon the feeling within not just her arms but also within Kamui’s. Now confident in what she was trying to learn the young pup’s movements gradually picked up the pace. Her instructor’s left hand gracefully shifted around her guard, and again she was impacted in the face. She’d been too slow, or rather she hadn’t entirely picked up on how his muscles were reacting. But as he proceeded to do the same with his other hand Yuki managed to detect the similar changes, shifting her arm outwards in an attempt at deflecting the strike! Mostly she was successful; however she’d still not caught on to the movement fast enough, and his fist ended up grazing across the side of her head.

Focus.

As they continued Yuki started to gradually pick up on the patterns. She was hit many times still, but she was also starting to deflect more strikes, reading the tiny shifts in Kamui’s muscles, reacting as quickly as she could. But she incorporated ideas of what she’d thought the training was from beforehand. Instead of focusing on repetition with her arms and hands she now focused upon repetition within not just Kamui’s muscles but her own, attempting to react on instinct according to what she felt from his various movements.

Eventually Kamui distanced himself, which prompted Yuki to open her crimson gaze to him. While her facial expression remained the same it was clear that she was getting excited as her tail now wagged softly from one side to the other, eager to continue this new method of training. Sadly he needed to be elsewhere, to check on the other members of the division, but she did understand. Her arms returned to her sides and the top half of her body lowered itself forward, respectfully bowing towards her instructor.

“Yes sir.”

Thankfully Yuki did have an idea as to how she might continue her training. While Kamui inspected his other students Yuki again closed her eye, blocking out all other senses to the best of her ability. Her sleeves were rolled up, secured near her shoulders. One arm was focused outwards while the other did the same, only it was crossed over the first. Slowly she went through movements, not just strikes but any movement that she could do with both arms remaining together. Her intention now was to simply study how the muscles felt, how they worked within her body. Not only did she focus on feeling them out with her other arm but she also focused on how the muscles in her moving arm felt. By putting the two together she hoped to come to a more enlightened understanding as to how everything worked. On occasion she switched arms as well, but for the next fifteen minutes this was all she practiced on. There were those within her division, who took notice, and she could tell they would be amused by the strange training she was partaking of, but then that also meant that they simply did not get what he was trying to teach.

That is a shame. Imagine if all of us used this information. How much more powerful would we become? It is such a simple change but it also feels revolutionary in a way. Plus I could practice this naked at home! I don’t have to just use my arms. I even have another limb! And it isn’t as though this can only be used on muscles. I bet I could apply this to weapons too, given enough time.

By the time Kamui had returned Yuki’s movements against her own limbs were somewhat quickened, moving in an almost graceful sort of dance, although one which had her glued in one place. When she heard his voice she stopped her movements, opening her eye to the world again while she turned to face him, and once more her upper body was lowered out of respect.

“I think I understand. We are sensing muscle movements and learning to react based off that, instinctually if at all possible. Instead of learning how to block we are supposed to be learning how to read our opponents, and to better understand how our own bodies work. In that way we learn to know not just our opponents but ourselves as well. It is brilliant. I would never have thought of that. I believe given enough time and effort, these same lessons could be applied to weapon combat as well, although that would be a long ways off from where I am currently.”

Wed Jul 27, 2016 2:48 pm

Artist: Mogeko Castle - Song: MaouDamashii Town 10 - Word Count:

Kamui was, by nature, the kind of person who noticed the little details. So the complete and utter tonal shift of her body language had not gone even remotely unnoticed. Before she was cocky, arrogant, and wanted nothing to do with this session whatsoever. She listened because she had to, but that was the extent of her tolerance for this whole thing. Now, even if she tried very hard to maintain the very same facial expression she had so stubbornly held earlier, she was hanging on his every word and not only putting dedication in to the lesson, but genuine interest as well. It was always a point of intrigue to Kamui just how much of an impact something so little as wanted to do something affected performance. Kamui had no doubt, whatsoever, that Yuki was going to get this because she seemed entirely dedicated and almost...hungry to learn. That kind of hunger, that desire, the innate need to grow was far and away her most valuable and impressive talent. It was one of the few things Kamui did find to be fascinating about life. Kamui had focused on the others as he did his walk through, especially when he needed to physically throw one of the rowdier idiots out of the compound, but his thoughts were still mostly on little Yuki. She was really the only one who had shown up thus far that he deemed worth his time.

After he posed his question, Kamui sat down in the circle he had left her in, gesturing toward the spot on the ground in in front of her, inviting her to do the same. It was admirable that she had kept practicing even while he worked with the others in the squad, but it was important to take a break as well. It was not a lesson he was necessarily going to directly teach, but practice needed to be intermittent, that was simply how the brain worked. Too much repetition led to pointless motions, to your brain just going through the flow without actually committing the proper motions to useful memory. Her brain needed a moment to slow down and digest what she had been working on thus far and Kamui for one was going to relish the opportunity to sit down. As she finished, a small smile crept on to Kamui's face. She was learning, slowly but surely, however she did not fully appreciate just all the she could be capable of. It was precious, in a way.

"Everyone is different, Yuki. For example, for me, these things are not at all instinctual. When you throw a fist at me, my brain genuinely breaks down the calculations I am feeling against my skin. In your punches, there was a range of force between twenty psi, or pounds per second, to one hundred psi. I then calculated the necessary force needed to deflect it and mapped out the trajectory I wanted it to go using a combination of the velocity, gravitational pull of soul society, and the angle of your attack and determined exactly the best application of force to send it harmlessly off to the side. Not everyone can perform that calculation in under a second because no everyone can see the world like I do. You also do not need to. You are as different from me as you are from everyone else in this compound. Do you know why we're doing this training and the other ten groups here are not?"

Kamui knelt down and extended a solitary finger in to the dirt between them and began slowly sketching a small figure in the dirt, humanoid in shape and just tiny enough to adequately represent the girl in front of him. Kamui picked his eyes up to look at Yuki, a ponderous look on his face before he once more turned back down to his figure on the ground, this time adding a long, flowing tail coming out of the backside and drawing two little cups on the girl's chest before leaning back and admiring his absolute work of stick figure art. Turning his eyes back up to the girl, Kamui spoke with that familiar confident softness as his finger returned to the figure, sketching a soft outline around the edges of the figure.

"Everyone else here, if I taught them how to do this, would exclusively be able to feel and react to things within this area. While certainly useful, there are severe limits to this. For starters, not everyone will be fighting you in hand to hand combat. Touching a weapon or waiting for a weapon to react to something is incredibly dangerous. That's even assuming that your opponent is fighting at close range, which will often not be the case. If I wanted to, I could turn our overly aggressive bald friend ten meters to our seven o'clock's rib cage inside out without even leaving my seat and that range of ability is hardly unique to me. So while useful to them, its merit is particularly diminished in the world we now live in."

Then, for the first time, or so it would seem, Kamui flashed Yuki a genuine smile. Kamui's finger rose from the dirt and then positioned itself a few inches away from the figure before it began rotating, drawing a large circle around stick figure Yuki slowly to emphasize the point. Kamui withdrew his finger completely this time, letting it rest on his lap as he turned his attention back to Yuki's face, the grin still omnipresent.

"Your other senses are enhanced, even further beyond what I'm capable of. You react far more to sounds, to smells, to tastes than you do to simply using your eyes. You heard my voice clearer than you saw my lips move and I'm sure I smell absolutely delicious. If you put your mind to it, you could probably even taste the small chemical discharges that my body makes when it moves if you put your mind to it. You have the capacity to extend this field, this bubble, to allow you to feel an opponent react and move before they actually do. You are an aggressive warrior, I have no desire to take that away from you, but being able to protect yourself and find openings on the offensive are just as important as the strength of your attack. If you are able to feel how your opponent will react, how they'll dodge, how they'll counter attack even that split second faster, it will make all the difference in the world. Close your eyes and actually look at the world around you. Feel baldy's steps, smell angry's anger, taste overeager's frustration...know what they want to do and how their body wants to do it...then punish them for it."

Wed Jul 27, 2016 3:28 pm

[PLAY POSTING MUSIC]

ENTER THE DEPTHS

Artist: Pendulum - Song: Crush - Word Count: 860

Kamui took a seat within the center of their little training circle, and so too did Yuki when she was invited to do so. As was typical for her the wolf sat upon her knees, folding them neatly beneath her body not only to act as a cushion but also so that her tail was elevated off the ground, allowing it to freely and comfortably rest behind her. Of course she was out in the open where people were moving and training, and so to negate the possibility that someone might step upon her extra-long appendage Yuki drew it inwards, curling the furry item around her body, until it rested comfortably with her lap. Fingers idly drifted over the length, picking out debris and dusting off any dirt, however her attention was completely focused upon the man sitting before her.

Wow. A lot goes through his mind. Just as I said before: this man is a genius. I mean, I can sort of do all that too, but it just happens. I go with my gut and my senses. I suppose in that way I am different. That technical stuff is complete nonsense to me, but I can at least do something similar, even if it is also completely inferior.

Her head shook very slightly when she was asked why only they were doing this specific training. Of course she did have one guess. The others simply would not accept it, could not handle it, were too impatient or stubborn to accept this as a viable method of combat, for it worked so aggressively against the style they generally used. But she suspected that this answer was not the correct one, or at least not the one he was looking for.

Yuki’s crimson orb followed the man’s finger as it drew a figure within the dirt. When a tail was drawn she instantly knew who it was, although the inclusion of breasts caused a faint look of disappointment to obscure her expression. It took everything in her being to not reach out and correct the fatal mistake that he’d made.

I almost wish mine were that big. But then it would be difficult to fight with those, wouldn’t it?

Thoughts vacated her mind as Kamui started to speak again, drawing her attention once more towards his face. He of course made some very compelling points. Reacting was not safe in battle, but then her body and her Zanpakutō allowed her to fight that way. Still, it would be nice to learn other ways; especially with the methods she was being taught now, as it would not only allow her to conserve her energy but also to strike faster than her opponents! The limited range was also a big issue for her. She didn’t really have any methods of attacking at any distance beyond her sword’s reach. Kido was too complicated for her and all of her attacks and techniques and powers were limited to whatever she could physically strike against. As he stated, those above her rank often had at least one or two ways with which to attack those beyond their range, and if she couldn’t deal with that then she could never truly hope to claim victory against such people.

A second line was drawn within the dirt, this time much larger than the first. Again her gaze drifted between it and Kamui, resting upon his eyes once more. In a way he was telling her what she already knew. Her senses allowed her a much greater map of the battlefield and an ability to detect attacks that weren’t even within her range of vision. But Kamui explained how she could do better still. How she could taste the various chemicals released by a person’s body. How she could smell the various scents of a person, to decipher their mood without even hearing their voice or seeing their face. How she could feel the faintest movements within the air or the slight tremors within the ground as a person moved. She’d never really taken any of that into consideration before. Her eye, for the moment, closed so that she could pick up on such things.

Is that what anger smells like? It smells sweaty, musky, powerful even. I can’t really taste the other guy’s frustration, nor can I feel their steps, but perhaps I simply need to learn to use my senses a little better. Could I really do all of that if I trained myself? Detect the chemicals within a person’s body to predict their movements? If I could react before their body even had the chance then it would increase my speed dramatically. I might even be able to move faster than him. Also he is totally right. He does smell quite nice. Maybe even delicious, but that would require a taste, and it might be rude if I were to start licking him. I’m not an animal.

The petite Shinigami’s eye opened once more and the faintest smile appeared across her lips. “I think I understand. I am far from any of that, but you are right. I could do better. I will do better.”

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