Broken Fists, Staunch Defense (Elyss/Hanako)

“Thank you.” Hanako responded and didn’t know what else to say. It was nice hearing those words from Elyss. A little unexpected, though. It was hard to figure out Elyss. She was a great fighter, that was pretty hard to miss. If Hanako hadn’t relied so heavily on techniques from her Aikido, she would have collected a good load of hits. Also, she was still convinced that Elyss had executed that one punch slow on purpose and made it easy to evade. Adding to that Elyss’ obviously superior strength, Hanako would have had to throw the towel sooner or later in their sparring. If not for the arm. It wasn’t really fair, she thought.

At that moment, while she waited for Elyss’ answer on what they’d do, Hanako was fully prepared to call it a day. Even if the readhead claimed that her arm would be alright again shortly, it was quite obvious that it was wishful thinking at best. It was a pity, because Hanako had enjoyed the training by and large, although she once again had been reminded of her shortcomings. Elyss was a fair fighter who wasted no time with senseless boasting, at least as far as Hanako had seen her fight. Two qualities Hanako appreciated deeply.

Nevertheless, for the moment Elyss was in no shape to continue the fight and she seemed not to be the most sociable one, the last being a trait that Hanako shared, despite all her efforts to change. On this account she was all the more surprised, when Elyss suggested the two of them should visit a bathhouse. Hanako couldn’t help but blush for a brief moment. She felt it as if her skin was ablaze and she hoped that it had passed before Elyss returned her attention to Hanako. She didn’t look away, still not able to figure out the other woman. But when Elyss stood up and headed for the exit, Hana hurried to stand up herself, grab her sword, and follow.

“That’s a lovely idea.” she said as she caught up to Elyss.
“Been a while.” she added, murmuring.

That was not entirely true, in more than one way. Hanako went to bathhouses quite regularly. The facilities in the barracks where she lived were small and cramped, so she enjoyed the space a bathhouse offered. However, Hanako had always chosen to go after a late shift and picked a bathhouse that was on the edges of the Seireitei, so that she’d be the only one there. Otherwise she would always wash in the barracks, where she’d have less space, but a lot more privacy. So, as Hanako walked next to Elyss, she had been to bathhouses often and recently, but never with someone else.

When they finally arrived at the bathhouse, Hanako realised that she felt really shy about this. Even if she had had some short but intense sexual experience, it was way different to exposing oneself in a public bath. This unconscious reaction was caused by the fact that Hana was, at least according to her experiences, more or less an eight year old in a fully grown body. Even with everything one needs to survive, like walk, eat and talk, which had remained, and all the training at the academy, which she had acquired since the memory loss, there was still so much in life that she was once again unprepared for.

They had already entered the sento and were now in the dressing room. It was too late to chicken out and Hanako didn’t plan to.

She hesitated only a moment before she undressed, stuffed her clothes into a locker and grabbed her towel and soap to head to the faucets. And surely Elyss wouldn’t have noticed that Hanako was slightly nervous, would she?