Turn back the pendulum: I know what you did last week [Tento / Hana]

The Big Woman

Hanako Yamada

Hanako froze in the middle of her motion. Her head snapped around when she heard the clap and the voice and for a moment she was positively confused. She had been so involved in their sparring and their last attacks, counter-attacks and counter-counter-attacks that she had indeed managed to block out everything else. After the reality began to seep back into her consciousness, she almost cursed out loud, something highly inappropriate in front of a sensei and also for a lady (or so she’d been told).

She finally gave up her stance, turned towards the sensei and bowed. Too bad. She could have gone on for quite a while, it was really challenging and interesting. She probably should have been thankful that they had that room to themselves for as long as they did, which was some luxury, if one looked at it honestly. Still, it annoyed her that they’d been interrupted in the middle of it.

Since there was nothing they could do about it, they had to vacate the dojo. Hanako quickly went to the edge of the mat, grabbed a random towel from the locker and began to wipe her bokken clean. She’d left some moist stains on the wood from her sweaty hands. It probably wouldn’t do anything to the wood, since it was well oiled, but she wouldn’t want to grab a training weapon and feel the sticky sweat of someone else on her hands, so she assumed anyone else felt the same. When she was finished she gave the towel to Tento, so he could do the same, and hurried to put the bokken back into it’s bag and get her shoes on.

A few minutes later, when they were both standing back outside, Hanako looked to where the sun had been. To her it was as if mere minutes had passed, but there was only a reddish and quickly fading sky, and no sign or the sun itself anymore, so it had to have been considerably more time. Time really does fly when one’s having fun.

“Hm, really too bad. I would have continued if it had been up to me.” she said and pulled her eyes away from the last glimmer of natural light and towards Tento.
All around them lanterns had been lighted and the Seireitei began glowing in artificial light. Many of the lanterns were still candles, or at least made to give the impression, and the light they gave off was pleasant. It reminded Hanako that it was already evening and that she hadn’t eaten anything since lunch.

“You mentioned dinner.” she said. “Although…we were interrupted, so it’s one each.”

She shrugged as if to say it didn’t matter. Tento could misunderstand it in the way that Hanako didn’t care who won or lost, when indeed she didn’t really care who had to pay for dinner.

“You know that food in the dining hall is free for students, right?”

While she said that she absentmindedly ran a hand over her flat belly, feeling the sweat dry. She still felt fine, but it would probably be very uncomfortable once all of it had dried. She preferred to be clean if it could be helped.

“Guess we should clean up first.”

A bath would have been nice, but at this time any baths would be crowded and she didn’t really feel like throwing herself into that. For one, there was this thing about taking off the last bits of clothing that somehow rubbed wrong with Hanako, and two, all the girls in there would be chatting endlessly and the thought of that rubbed even worse. So, the showers in the dorm would have to suffice.

It seemed that their training section would have to wait after all. An instructor had showed up, and it had seemed that the room was needed for a class that would be under way in not much time. Tento's own moves froze in motion at the start of the clapping. His head turned to see who it was. A dejected saddened sigh left Tento's body. This little fun with Hanako would have to be stopped.... for now. Maybe they could pick it up again tomorrow? Even if it was a different challenge the workout would still be fun and productive most likely.

He dropped out of his stance and turned completely to the sensei now. Not saying a word and only giving them a respectful bow. There was not much Tento had to say in the moment. He was sad about not being able to keep going, he was up for more. But the class was reserved by staff and he could not keep up a class of people. It was nice to have the room and privacy with Hanako for as long as he did have it though.

With nothing more to do Tento got ready to leave and clean up. Following in quick step with Hanako who had the same idea, Tento too went to the edge of the mat. Taking the towel that Hananko had when she handed it to him, he swiped his bokken nice and clean, taking the sweat off of the wood before placing it back into the bag that it had come from. He then turned and went back to the one of the entrances of the dojo, sliding his feet back into his shoes. Before closing the door once Hanako was outside with him.

At first they just simply stood, there, Tento for one wanted to enjoy the cool breeze from the wind and temperature before getting a move on. And to see the sunset. He had no idea so much time had passed but the sight was nice. It was funny, a sun and sky existing in the after life. He never thought that if this was all real...that weather would be a thing in it.

Then Hanako began to speak. "Ah yea. It got to the point that I can't stand not getting an end to it to be honest. I had fun though...did you?", he asked titling his head a little. A combination of effort to change his eyes position against the light's shine a little. If he was going to look at Hanako while talking to her it was best to not have a glare at her from the light of the sun and lanterns. He took a few steps walking down the steps of the dojo's entrance, "Oh dinner? What about it?', he was curious at to what she was going at. She only stopped at the record being one and one, meaning that no one won and no one lost. Thus no meal had to be bought and by extra default time together. Then she spoke about how the food in the dining hall was free for students. A fact that made Tento let out a short soft laugh. "Well yea but I wasn't talking about eating there Hanako. I found a place that's a little bit off from the school ground. Great food with protein, fat, and nutrients in their dishes that is great for an after workout meal. I'll show it to you some other time though since we didn't get to finish the bet.".

Dripping with sweat now and with a growling stomach. Tento was ready to end the day on the physical side of it. "So Han-". Tento began to say something to Hanako before stopping when Hanako ran a hand over her flat stomach. He looked a little but quickly went back to the sentence he started. "Ugh yea we should. I think we got in a good workout today. Um...if you don't mind. How about we meet up at the dinning hall and have dinner together? I'm going to be lonely and by myself otherwise...so".

The Big Woman

Hanako Yamada

Hanako nodded at Tento’s mentioning of his displeasure at leaving their sparring unfinished. She could easily understand his feelings in this manner. It just wasn’t right to simply break it up, but the moment was gone now and both of them began to cool down.

“Mhm…I would have preferred to finish it, too.” She shrugged and turned her hands outwards in a ‘not much we can do’ gesture.
“Next time.” she added

The description of the place Tento had found, sparked her interest. It sounded like a place that was catered especially to athletes. Why wouldn’t he want to go there tonight? Yeah, maybe there had been a wager between the two, but what was a childish game like that, compared to the intake of proper nutrients after a workout. Muscles didn’t just grow out of thin air. Or spiritual pressure, for that matter. Well, the dining hall would do. Until now it had always provided what Hanako’s body needed. It could be better, she thought some times, but it could also be a lot worse. As far as she knew most inhabitants of Rukongai didn’t eat at all, at least not for sustenance, which sounded kind of unpleasant. But then again, most of them didn’t have any spiritual pressure and didn’t get hungry.

Yet again Hanako did not realise that Tento’s suggestion of an off-campus food place probably had more meaning to it than just excellent nutrients. Maybe something in the direction of ‘being alone with Hanako’. Like many times before her life experiences, or better: lack thereof, caused her to take Tento’s words at face value, that he just wanted to go for a good meal and had no other, hidden motives. Of course, even if she’d picked up on it, she wouldn’t have been sure, but being the person she was, she was completely oblivious to whatever there might or might not have been written between the lines.

“Okay, then. See you at the dining hall.”

Without anything further she turned and headed towards the dormitories. Now that the air began to cool and the breeze caressed her skin, she felt the sweat finally dry completely all over her. It felt itchy and she didn’t like it and even though she wore so little she couldn’t wait to get out of her clothes and under some water.

A short while later she was headed for the dining hall. She was wearing her student’s uniform, simply because she didn’t own much else than the clothes issued by the academy and her sportswear. Her hair was still a bit wet, but once again tied into a braid.
The shower had been wonderful. It was quite late, so she had been alone. She enjoyed the peace and quiet, with the rushing water the only sound in the room. Strangely, the warm water always reminded her of rustling leaves and she didn’t know why. It should have reminded her of rain, but she was glad that it didn’t. Hana disliked rain with a passion, but couldn’t tell why either. She tried not to think about it, but the warm water on her bare skin, the rushing sound and the warm air…it felt like a pleasant childhood memory that just kept coming back. Only it couldn’t be. Hanako had no childhood she could recall.

Hanako rounded the corner towards the dining hall and began looking for Tento. They would probably have their free choice of places to seat, since the usual dinner time was already over.

Tento nodded before waving at Hanako as she turned away. "Alright see ya later". With that being that, Tento went on his own way to the male part of the dormitories. The decent amount of sweat that he had built up as his and Hanako's sparring had entered their final stages were on him. The lasting parts getting out as his body cooled down and shifted into its natural resting conditions. His breathing becoming calmer, less compact, and softer. In turn his body's temperature decreased and his sweat coating his chestnut brown skin. He felt nice, well, beside the cold chill that was blowing on his open arms. With no sleeves on the top he was wearing with no jacket or hoodie, the air was blowing its full coldness on him. A warm shower with some fresh clothes would change all that though.

In some time Tento was out of his room and close to the dining hall for his dinner. Although with his lack of having a lunch it would be much more than that. A lunch and dinner size meal. He was a green hoodie, with a simple white undershirt that was somewhat visible under top of where the hood connected. The bottom half of his body were casual, comfy grey and black sweat pants that had a red zig zag pattern down the sides. The shower was refreshing and more importantly cleaned his body. Removing the common after workout smell he was use to, a little deodorant would keep him fresh after as well with a little pleasant smell as well.

Tento had just entered the hall, his hood still on due to the cold of the weather. He removed it as he entered and saw Hanako standing there. Looking around. Ah she must have just gotten here too. He walked up from behind and spoke as he let his hood down. "Hey there, did make you wait too long did I?".

The Big Woman

Hanako Yamada

Depending on how close Tento was standing he would be able to smell that there was no artificial scent about Hanako, only a faint odour of soap and cleanliness. All she ever used was maybe a deodorant without any perfume in it, but never anything else. Like most things that weren’t the most basic necessities of life she viewed it as an indulgence and mostly didn’t care about it. However she noticed that Tento did indeed have a fragrance on him and it wasn’t really unpleasant.

“No, just arrived.”

Hanako turned around. It didn’t surprise her to see Tento in his own clothes. Most students had some private stuff they chose to wear in their off-hours. Hanako didn’t really care about it either way, she was fine with the uniforms.

The dining hall was indeed almost empty, as they found out when they entered. As usual, Hanako didn’t bother to study the menu too closely. She chose something with a good portion of meat and vegetables and some rice to fill the corners. As a drink she chose only water.

“You were proficient in martial arts before you joined the academy.” she said after they sat down. It wasn’t really a question, it was more of a matter-of-fact observation.

Indeed it was more, although Hanako had managed to keep it out of her voice this time. She always felt jealous of students that came to the academy and didn’t have to start from the ground up like she had. And being jealous was the most frustrating feeling. But she couldn’t deny that hanako had to work harder than many others to get where she was. She had to start from nothing, literally. When she came into shin’o, she had a name that wasn’t hers, given to her by the nurses of the hospital she woke up in. She knew how to breathe, how to eat, how to speak, how to walk. Everything she needed to function as a living being. Nothing more. She had been a blank page and ultimately everything she had done since then was to build a strong facade so nobody would be able to tell.

Tento had walked up to Hanako. He would not say that he was all up on her but he close enough to the point that he was able to tell if she was wearing anything smell wise. He was somewhat close, not in her personal space but enough to be in reach if she needed him to be for some reason and easily talk to. She may not have had any perfume on but Hanako did perfect cleaning up. She was fresh and clean and smelt that way. Her hair was wet but for some reason Tento enjoyed the look a little bit. She hd gotten back into her own school clothes. A fact that saddened Tento a little bit. Hanako probably wanted to be comfy and not bother with putting her casual clothes on, but at the same time, he was looking forward to see Hanako in her casual clothes.

It was nice to know that he had not kept Hanako waiting. He disliked not being punctual with things and even more so when there were people waiting on him. Friends or not but it was even more so the case that Tento was friendly towards. "Ah good".

Hanako had turned to Tento now, maybe it was just him but there was a slight blush to her cheeks? If so it must have been for the heat or steam from the water when she got clean. It was an interesting and enjoyable sight. She looked nice, even in the normal Shino student uniform.

Tento and Hanako scanned the dining hall. It seemed that they were a bit late, the room was mostly empty, it looked even more empty than it did when Tento entered. Hanako moved as if she already knew what she wanted but Tento stood back for a moment. He looked at the menu to see what was available. With a nod he saw some good options and looking further lucky enough it seemed that even though they were very late, there were plenty of food options to pick from. He chose a large portion of meat as usual for protein, adding some greens and fruits as well. Debating about what to have for a side took awhile but eventually he decide on some white rice. He grabbed a couple drinks, one jasmine tea and two glasses of cold water.

They sat down with nothing said and when they got comfortable Tento heard Hanako speak. "Hm?...ah I guess I am a little bit. Granted I don't think standards of the living world matches much here", he picked up a piece of meat, "you, for example. I don't believe you told me anything about studying martial arts but you have fantastic foot work and a solid core. Best I can remember ever seeing...and I've gone up against some insane people in tournaments".

Tento looked down for a moment. "But lets not talk about when we were out there. We are here now and that's where our lives are hmm? Whatever we had before doesn't matter, more so what we have and create now", he said this with a little bit sadness in his voice, the usual pep in his voice weaker on this topic.

The Big Woman

Hanako Yamada

When Tento commented about the standards of the Soul Society and the world of the living not being matchable Hanako just shrugged. It looked as if she wanted to say ‘don’t worry about it’. In truth, the gesture said ‘I wouldn’t know anything about it’. Maybe it was a bad idea talking about it…

“I…had no experience prior to enrolling.” Hanako said, maybe a bit evasive. At least it was the truth, as far as she knew.

“I just worked very hard.”

It was that constant thorn in her side, the constant reminder that she lacked something everyone else had. And even if someone else was missing their entire past and personality, at least they were better at hiding it. Hana always felt fake, felt like an impostor, a puppet pretending to be a real person. But to achieve her goal, she would have to continue to do so. However, hearing someone like Tento, who was proficient enough in his first year hold his own against her, compliment her felt nice. It was as if he could understand what it was like, what it meant…
Well, at least he was not trying to pull any pranks.

Hanako wolfed down her meal without paying much attention to it. It wasn’t as if she had bad manners, quite the opposite. But the food seemed to be of no more concern to her than the air she was breathing. It sustained her, but it gave no pleasure or displeasure. It simply was. A textured paste of yeast would have been as fine with her, as long as it had everything in it she needed.

“Do you have any plans?” Hanako asked then.

Tento had steered the topic away from the past, which was perfectly fine with her, and to the present and future. She was interested to know what motivations had brought someone like him here. He obviously had some spiritual energy and the necessary potential, but not everyone who had also chose to join Shin’o academy.

“When I graduate I will apply for the Combat Division of the Gotei. I hear the strongest of all Soul Society are in this Division. I want to become stronger than all of them combined.”

Her voice was firm and it was clear that she meant every single syllable of what she just had said. When she was the strongest, no one would ever be able to break her shell and see what was underneath it. No one would be able to beat her and she could leave her imprint on the world. She had forgotten all about it, but she would make the world never forget her.

Tento took Hanako's shrug as a simple thing. A sign to not worry about such things. After all, like he said there was the living world and the after life. From What Hanako's words, Tento could only assume that she had no experience in combat or warrior training. It made her current skill and power even more impressive and worthy of respect! There were aptitude there he was sure, she had spiritual power, but she had to go from the ground up. Like Tento having a small stick frame as a kid, training it to grow bigger, faster, stronger, and learning the techniques when he was alive. It was hard gritty work and determination. He smiled at this, he and Hanako had something in common her, and maybe that was an easy reason of why she seemed so jaded and cold to the others? She had something to prove and worked extremely hard.

"Ah....I think I understand you a lot more Hanako. You are the hard worker. The one that went from the ground up to where you are now. No connection to ease your foot into the door, no knowledge to help at your first steps or an advantage on the path. Just your mind, your will, your hard work, and any tutors that may have helped along the way, if any. You are....something else Hanako. Different from the others here. You've worked extremely hard in the years here and you deserve some respect". He rested a hand on the table before lifting up his cup to take a sip of his jasmine tea, "maybe that different level of needing to work harder it what made some of the others distant with you?".

He took a bite of his food, enjoying the taste a little before eating more. "I on the other hand, love being around hard workers. With all I have now and my similar background of having nothing going in. Most of what I am today has been due to hard work and competing against or alongside people ready to be in the gym".

He ate some more, some silence being hanged in the air as Hanako and Tento took part of their late meal. Maybe it did not tasty amazng, but it was good enough and more importantly gave them the nutrition and vitamins they needed. Granted, Tento had in mind of another place that gave even more nutrients and vitamins, but that was for another day when it was not so late.

Tento cocked his head to the side and stopped eating. "Hmmm? Plans?". He was not sure what she meant at first. After eating? "Ohhhh" Tento let out a learning noise. "I...don't have any plans to be honest...". He placed his food and items down, before starring at the table. "I worked so hard to get out of the situation I was in. I made friends, I met bad people. I cried, I learned. And just....when I find some happiness in the real world I die. It still hard to believe or come to terms with if I am honest. I haven't been in this world for more than several months I think... I just, ended here because I had enough spiritual energy to cause hunger and the Shinigami that brought me here recommended me attempting this". He shrugged, "I always liked helping people and growing when I was alive. But, with nothing now I...I have nothing or know what to do. So for now, I guess I'm just trying to be a Shinigami to due to some good and out of insticts".

He sighed. "Sounds probably dumb from your perceptive. I don't really have a reason to be here and eventually put my life on the line. I don't know where I am going to apply". Hanako had ambitions from the sound of it. She knew the division in the Gotei she was going for and why, she wanted to get stronger. The exact reason unknown by Tento but he had a guess. But at least she had something.

The Big Woman

Hanako Yamada

At first, Hanako felt almost…flattered when Tento praised her hard work. Or maybe not hers specifically, but hard work in general. It was all the same: he understood what it meant to her. There were some that were born with a talent, a natural gift. To them, some things were virtually effortless. Kido, Zanjutsu…every once in a while there was someone who came to the academy and outperformed everyone in a certain field. There were even some that outperformed their peers in all fields. Some were good enough that they were drafted into the Gotei even before they graduated, although there was a rumour that many of those benefitted from some ties to noble families. Hanako had only a vague idea what it was with these noble families, but she guessed having friends or family in high places was something you could count towards natural gifts.
There were also some, who already turned their Asauchi into real Zanpakutos, learned their names and achieved the ability to unseal them, while still in the academy. This was something no one could achieve with outside help, or so Hanako thought. No powerful friends could facilitate that. Thinking about her own sword, a plain and undecorated katana, Hana wondered if she’d ever be able to learn her weapon’s name. Certainly not before graduating, so much was sure…
That Tento wasn’t one of these gifted wunderkinders, but instead a hard worker like her, made him instantly more likeable to her. Even enough so that it made no big difference that he had taken this knowledge with him from the world of the living to Soul Society while Hanako didn’t even know if she had been a mortal once, or if she was born as a soul.

The only thing that soured it was when he asked why most of the other students were so distant with her. She looked down at the table and tried to fight back her frustration and self pity. The question had to come sooner or later.

“I’m…just not really good…with others.” she said quietly.

There followed a silence that was becoming more and more unpleasant, the longer it lasted. Hana was glad when Tento finally spoke again.

“I can understand…the difficulty with coming to terms with everything, I mean.” she said, looking up again.
“And no, it certainly is not dumb. Many here don’t know what they want to do after graduating. They just…hope something presents itself. Me…I just want to grow stronger.”

All this talk about personal matters…it made Hanako quite uncomfortable. She was certain that sooner or later it would come to a point where Tento would expect her to share some things she didn’t want to share…or couldn’t share because they weren’t there. She couldn’t allow that.

“It’s late. Maybe…maybe we should go to bed…and…”

For a moment she hesitated, fighting herself if she should say it.

“And figure out when we can…continue with our training. I would like to do that. There’s also…there’s still the matter of who won our sparring today. At least one round to go…right?”

The conversation between Hanako and Tento were still going, but definitely more to a... heavy tone. It seemed him it all started as he question of Hanako's distance with most of the other students at their training school.

Hanako said that she was not good with others. And that....was true from Tento's experience so far with her. She was not a...welcoming person. That could make it hard for the students to interact with her. Wait....why had he not given up on her? At this point they had been interacting with each other with some time now, Tento could remember the emotions to his actions but not the reasoning necessarily.

"I see...well. How about we work on making you 'stronger' when it comes to interacting with people?? We are training together after all. Lets just make that another challenge to work on?", Tento said softly. Pushing it out as a decision completely up to Hanako.

Silence followed, a thing at times that seemed a common bond in their talks. However that was a little bit distasteful. The silence at times could cause a steadily increasing sense of unpleasantry. It was a bitter thing after feeling such a positive day. It was...nice that Hanako understood how he felt though. Coming to terms were things was a hard thing, a mental knife that felt it was stabbing into his chest to his heart. It was like a numbness. A numbness that softened ever so slightly when Hanako looked up once again and allowed Tento to look into her clear light blue eyes.

The affirmation that what he was doing, his lack of motives, were not a dumb thing after all. It seemed the habits of life were the same here as in the living world. He remembered a distant number of people, when they were so young, not knowing what to do. Having a desire and motivation but an unclear path. "Yea...getting stronger is good.It's needed. But i don't know. I'm hopping...to get something more. Whatever that is, I don't know".

It seemed that Hanako was going into her shell again. Her shyness cute...made Tento want to take a bite. But. He pushed her enough socializing today and training. Talking about their lives or past was hard for both of them, but it seemed it was even more so for her. And she was probably at her limit today. Alright then. Finishing the last bit of his jasmine tea, Tento nodded. "Yea it is late. We need to get to bed so we're not tired tomorrow". He stood up, hoping that his soft smile would soften her stiffness that he was feeling. "We can talk about continuing our training the next time we see each other. Since we share a class I doubt it will be long. I hope so at least. I enjoy your company". He paused and walked away, "yea...there is still at least one round to go. I'm looking forward to going to that place I hinted about whether I have to pay or not".