A Day at the Dojo [Carter/Hana]

Tap – Tap – Tap – Tap – Tap

The rope created a repetetive, fast rythm while her bare feet made almost no sound at all.

Tap – Tap – Tap – Tap – Tap

Hanako concentrated on that sound, the rythm, to zone out from the rest oft he dojo, until her heart almost followed the same rythm. But in the end it was just the ticking of a clock, scraping away the moments until she had to come back to reality again. She liked these simple exercises. Rope skipping, running, swimming, muscle training. You could loose yourself in the repetitions and the steady pattern of breath. It numbed the mind and brought along a peace and serenity not even sleep was able to bring. Still, even then Hanako knew that the others gave her space. Like on the academy she had become known as the solitary ice queen in the Gotei as well. She wasn’t looking for companionship herself and the others weren’t offering. It was polite, like always with fellow shinigami’s, but also like always Hanako was training alone. It didn’t really bother her, or more realistically: she stopped thinking about it. Not that she knew how to approach someone anyway.

This time, however, things seemed tob e different. Even Hanako felt the spiritual pressure before he entered the dojo. When the actual person followed his spiritual pressure she was only mildly surprised to see a teenager walk in. Hana may have been lacking experience -as was to be expected for a freshly graduated shinigami- but she knew from direct encounters, that souls in general and shinigami especial came in all shapes and sizes. The outward appearance said nothing about what lay beneath.
The boy looked around for a moment and came straight for her. Hana stopped her exercise and just stood there, looking at the grey haired, golden eyed shinigami. It must have been quite a strange sight. There was Hanako, tall and muscular for a woman, in her tight crop-top and pants she wore for her training. Sweat was forming glittering drops on her skin, but her breath was calm and regular. And there was the unknown man, a teenager from looks, almost half a meter shorter than her and visibly lighter.

When he spoke his voice sounded friendly and sincere. He was asking her to be his sparring partner, to practice his ‚crane style‘. It surprised her and it showed on her face.

„I don’t know if I can be of much help. Even with my limited senses I can tell that you are far stronger than I am.“ She said and there was maybe a bit of suspicion in her voice. It wouldn’t be the first time for her to stumble into something far above her paygrade. She got through each time, until today, although the humiliation was often hard to bear.

„But I actually could use some sparring and I’m just through with my warmup.“

And there was it again. Her determination to prove herself, to not back down and not be afraid. Deep inside herself she didn’t feel so shure of herself. Deep inside herself she just wanted to decline and be left alone. Where there was no hurt and no humiliation. But she couldn’t do that, she had to attack in some way. And so she accepted the offer of the young man, although it was well inside the realm of possibility, that it would get her into trouble and earn her some more bruises. On the other hand, she could see no ill will in the face oft he other. Not that she was infallible at detecting something like that, but this one seemed tob e honest.

„My name is Yamada. Hanako Yamada. First Division, Realm Enforcement.“ She introduced herself and bowed politely.


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