Hakuda | Taijutsu [Taichou/Mirja][Open]

She eyed the strange looking dummy, outstretching her hand to poke at this mysterious thing in front of her. Nodding to both herself, and her master, she straightened her hands, beginning to chop at the arms of the dummy. She was stunned as they began to move with each strike. Regaining her wits about her, she began to weave, duck, and dodge against the dummy's now moving arms; being struck in the side of the head and neck several times.

Shaking it off, Taichou then began to focus her energy on one arm at a time, instead of multiple, as she thought that trying to take on all of the arms at once was a fool's game, and it would end badly for her. Especially due to the fact that her attention span was usually sporadic when it came to things other than her beloved kidou.

Mirja barely surprised a giggle as Taichou chopped one of the arms and it swung round to smack her in the face. Maybe she should have explained how it worked more before dropping it on her? But that was all by-the-by now, she learned fast or got smacked, kind of like fighting in general, really. And learn she kind of did. It wasn't amazing, but she was doing pretty good at it considering she had no idea what she was doing a minute ago.
"You are doing good, Taichou. Keep it up, a few weeks of this and you'll be pretty good at defending yourself"

Taichou's speed with each blow began to quicken. The burning amber hue of her irises then turned silver, and as she gazed at the arms that were coming at her, she began to predict where they were to move to, timing herself accordingly.

Her newly acquired eye color enabled her to see the molecules of kinetic energy that surrounded the arms as they moved with each of her strikes; a smile rose upon her face. And as quickly as the girl had started, she stilled the arms with one single gesture. Swiveling her head upon her neck, she focused her gaze towards her master; a toothy grin formulating upon her face, exposing her pearly white teeth. The young Ryakketsu's gaze was a questioning one, for it was almost as if she was asking her master without vocally stating it, "What now?"

Mirja watched, and was interested as the girl seemed to have some build up of speed and precision out of nowhere. Mirja wasn't exactly sure why, but it was certainly interesting to watch. After watching for a small while, Taichou turned around with a look as if she had finished the whole thing and there was nothing left to learn, ever. It was then that Mirja noticed her eyes. It took a while, but she suddenly saw the silver irises and jumped up from her seat, walking over to take Taichou is a strong grip and stare into them.

"Your eyes....what's up with your eyes?" Mirja muttered, gazing into them with her own silver-hued orbs, burning a deepm intent hole, metaphorically.

"My eyes? What do you mean, maestro-sama?" The girl stammered, questioning her master as she felt the woman clasp onto her face with her hands. She searched her maestro's face for some sort of answer, worried now, as if something was wrong with her face. She blinked, several times, trying to figure out if there was something indeed wrong with them.

"Is it better now?" Taichou continued to blink as she noticed her master had now began to stare into her eyes. The silver hues, unbeknownst to Taichou, seemed to spark, the silver hue now glowing white-hot, before they returned to her natural burning amber. The face of the young Ryakketsu began to redden under her master's scrutiny.

Mirja watched, hearing Taichou's panicked words and realizing this was no conscious change. The eyes remained, even when Taichou blinked, until a bit of sparking put them out and returned them to her natural colour. It was certainly a strange thing to see, Mirja had never witnessed eye colour changes like that. And so she knew it was something that the smart people would have to deal with. Having no other idea of what was going on, or anything like that, she let go of Taichou's head.
"Strange. I think we best leave off Hakuda practice until you pass your Academy exams and we know the full extent of your spiritual self. It could be something that is latant"

Taichou nodded towards her master, before she began to rest her head against her master's shoulder; suddenly feeling a bit zapped from her efforts. She closed her eyes, and spoke, "I'm nervous about the exam... I don't know why, but when I think about it.. It makes my stomach hurt.." Taichou's already soft voice despite its rough dialect began to falter, catching in her throat; it almost sounded like the young girl were to start crying, but she was still too bashful to announce that out-rightly to her beloved maestro, the woman who took her in, gave her a home, and takes care of her more than anyone had before; the woman whom Taichou looked up to with every fiber in her being.

Mirja was lost in the pondering. Her eyes had gone silver all of a sudden, and her skill increased incredibly. But it didn't seem something she was aware of, so maybe it was a sort of limited possession? She had heard of Hollows doing that, making Vizards. It could be something like that. Or it could be something entirely, completely different. She'd have to leave that to the eggheads. Then, Taichou announced she was worried about the entrance exam.
"Ahh, don't worry. Everyone os scared of it because they don't want to fail but I am sure you will do it easily. Just believe in yourself, and you will wow them all"

Taichou inhaled sharply, taking in the scent of her maestro; it reassured her, and comforted her. Exhaling with a relaxed sigh, the girl spoke again, "When are they holding the next exams?" She raised her left hand to tap at her chin with her slender tattooed fingers, in pondering.

Misty-eyed, the raven-haired girl began to make a purr-like sound within her throat, indicating vocally that the girl was content with her current position, her head leaned against the crook of her master's shoulder, and the side of her soft-fleshed neck. It made Taichou wonder, though, if her affection for her master was intrusive, or over-bearing sometimes. The woman only took Taichou in a week ago. Seven days. And in those seven days, the girl's bond to her 'maestro-sama,' has grown exponentially.

Taichou became lost in thought.. Her mind automatically showing her a short snippet of a couple months prior to last week. Taichou had been healing another girl, who looked to be around her common age, who had been beat up by others like Taichou herself had been, over food. In the midst of restoring the foreign girl's lacerations, with her back turned, Taichou didn't realize that she had left her back out in the open; and the father of the girl she had been healing began to beat Taichou with a heavy piece of log-like timber, though it was much more slender than an actual log.

The girl didn't even tell her father to stop beating the young Ryakketsu; the one who helped her, the one who tried to show her a sign of solidarity in their slums. This wounded Taichou deeply. Emerging from her thoughts, Taichou knew that deep-down inside, she was worried that Mirja, and others like the woman, would get tired of her. And this troubled the tattooed girl immensely.

Mirja took Taichou's head into her embrace and stroked it tenderly. She was going to reply, but then the girl started purring softly and Mirja noticed she wasn't really here. So with a soothing hum, she stroked Taichou's hair, incredibly enjoying the subtle sensation of closeness she got with Taichou. Eventually, Mirja heard that the girl was returning to the present, with the change in her breathing patterns and such.
"Well, there are no set dates. You just go there and apply, and then they slot you in, just like that. Don't be afraid, darling. You'll do fine"