Brilliant Displays Aimed Towards Better Days(Rio/Nanashi)

To be certain, it had only now dawned on the Shihoin defender that this was not exactly an ideal thing to be shared between students, yet she didn't pay any particular heed to it. Truth be told, she couldn't give her any grade boost because she didn't even know if she shared the same classes, to say nothing of whether they had even crossed paths or not. Still, was it Rio would take a moment to ponder that question.

Was teaching fun? It had been a short time since she'd been here but the Shihoin felt that teaching others and passing off skills and strategies was a remarkable experience. They were the typical class-clowns and all manners of archetypes attributed to the classroom but in essence, most of them approached their studies with a vibrant passion. Rio would take a small portion of her food into her mouth as she nodded her head, having thought properly on her answer.

"I suppose you could say that. Most of the students are generally nice and respectful and I've always welcomed the thought of passing on my skills and knowledge from past battles or exploits. I would've entertained the thought of a full-time role but there are other things I enjoy doing in my everyday life as well, or at least intend to."

"Outside of classes, I've enjoyed spending my time time embarking on travels in the Living Realm. Anything from sating my curiosity about a continent I've never explored before to something as trivial as relaxing and enjoying weather in other places. That said, I'm only in the beginning stages of those travels right now." Rio would flash a playful smile as she set her food down to take a sip of her beverage before she listened to Nanashi speaking. Rio welcomed that confidence.

She was not the type of teacher to tell her students to temper their expectations or be realistic about their dreams. If Nanashii wished to be a teacher after she retired from future captaincy, then who was she to tell her that she could not? If she wanted to go beyond captain commander, even better! Rio would likely be somewhere cheering her on from the sidelines. Tempering one's expectations was the commonplace train of thought most students operated around, but Rio could tell Nanashi's mind seemed to reside in it's own realm.

"Oh? What type of class would you teach, then? I'm quite curious about that, future Captain Commander Nanashi."

Rio formed a warm smile at Nanashi's next curiosity. She expected that she wouldn't have any recollection and the Shihoin woman held no qualms with providing the best explanation she could offer. She would take another sip from her cup before speaking again.

"That is an interesting question. I'm not sure that I can give you my best answer on that one since I'm still exploring that question on my own but from first impressions, I'd say there are more differences than similarities. If you want the short answer, I've found my time on earth to be quite the adventure so far. You can meet so many otherworldly individuals, yet also cross paths with ordinary men and women. Most of them are always warm and receptive. Or at least... the ones I've met. Hopefully you could go there one day. I wonder if they'd let the students take a field trip, perhaps."

Rio couldn't quite give the woman a full picture with her explanations. After all, Rio was only beginning to dip her toes into exploring the living realm and understanding how those inhabitants worked in their realm versus the one she was born in. Unless you were aiming to commit crimes or act out of line, the Seireitei felt like a relatively peaceful place. Still, it didn't offer or at least modernized itself to seem to offer similar things on earth. Places to party. Festivals. Concerts. If one compared the two, the Seireitei might seem boring by comparison.

The next question she asked made Rio reminiscence on her old days in the Academy and her short-lived tenure in the Gotei. Many of her old peers and teachers had oft-repeated the notion that she had been destined for great things, if she never retired... some claimed she would've easily and still did suffice as a captain. Rio paid no particular mind to it. She didn't regret her decision at that time. She had a family to look over and protect. She wondered, though. A sort of playful curiosity danced in her mind. What if?

"My students ask me that a lot. Let's see... before I retired and stepped down, I think I got as far as a... 3rd seat? A lot of my old peers tell me with the trajectory I was on and my work ethic that I could've easily ended been a captain. A lot of them tend to make jests about it whenever we meet up to talk about old times."

Rio wondered if Nanashi would listen to her if she went into detail about why she stepped down. There were so many factors at play in the past. It was intimate information, to be certain. If Nanashi didn't change the subject as quickly as she did, Rio would've found a way to do so herself. She was fond of the young woman an her vigorous spirit but knew that she had to maintain some form of professionality, keep certain pieces of knowledge to herself. It was complicated.

That would've been her answer. Well, it wouldn't need to be answered as Nanashi rose up resoundingly fast as if her body hadn't just been through a rigorous spar. She was full of a lot of energy. Part of RIo playfully envied that and wondered how she could borrow some of it. There was no pause button on her.

Rio would pack the rest of her meal and finish the beverage before stretching her arms. She supposed it was time to tell her what she did good. Start with positives? But then, maybe she'd only listen to the positives... hm, how to go about this.

"Somehow, I got the feeling you were going to ask that. Well, do you wish to continue our spar or let me tell you how you did? I don't have to be anywhere at the immediate hour, so do feel free to make use of my instruction as you will. "

"Good. Well, then. Let's start with the positives. I must say the energy and vigor you approach things with is something I'm not even capable of on my best days. Your confidence is not easily broken and when countered, you don't allow things to fester in your mind for too long. Perhaps some would disagree but that sort of "forget what happened before" attitude is a welcomed trait in my eyes. "

Perhaps others would've looked at Rio and made a counter argument. Anyone could have a confident attitude and still get thrown on their ass. What made Nanashi so different? Well, Rio would tell them that the type of energy output this woman had was the type that could with the right training and discipline, wear out even the most herculean-minded men and women. She would take a deep breath as she thought of what to point out next.

"The next positive would be your unpredictable attack patterns. Even for an experienced fighter such as myself, any time I thought you were going to settle into one attack, you feinted in and struck with another. Keeping your enemy on the defensive while leaving them unaware as to what your next move may be is an essential skill for a warrior. Maintaining a focus on that, since it consists of a good portion of your fighting style, is something I would advise you to continue."

Ruminating on other thoughts, Rio would think of the other things she desired to address---Namely, the kinks. The things she could work on and temper without removing it entirely. For some reason, Rio felt if she made the young woman too self-conscious she'd get in her head. She had to speak in a way that made sense to Nanashi without making her go off of her own script.

"Now, for the kinks. The unpredictability is welcomed but try to make sure you focus in on the moments where you can make the best use of it. Most of the time you were doing right to soar in and go out and strike from various angles but that last move was a little risky. A body tackle isn't a bad strategy, especially if there aren't any tools at your disposal but if you whiff on it or it falls short of it's intended effect, an opponent in battle might trap you as I did and squeeze the life out of you... or execute some other technique to leave you incapacitated. A word of advice is to look for the proper openings and get a feel for your opponent's body. Like, whose body is more akin to a glass canon and whose body feels like it's more durable. I've trained my body to take a lot of damage so don't look a me and think you did wrong. Simply analyze and then execute. "

Rio would smile as she crossed her arms and gazed at Nanashi, hoping this vibrant woman got the overall gist of her exposition.

"Did you follow all of that? I can repeat myself if you wish."