Ants & Dragons[Cala, Kenichi]

Returning from Hueco Mundo to somewhere somewhat familiar in the Mortal World Cala found themselves deposited outside of Tokyo of all places. All but on the opposite side of the world from where they had been not all that long ago with Saiko and Aina which was.... more than a little disorienting to get used to if they were honest. All told however Cala had gone into the city and purchased a large bento box of food when they felt a spike of energy from nearby. One potent enough to make them nearly leap out of their skin! A brilliant flare of crimson energy pulsing out from beyond the nearby trees! Wait no... just targets the size of trees.... falling trees!

Cala was a bit awed by the display, even if they COULD do something similar, as it seemed to be done rather rapidly by whoever, or whatever, was doing it but... from what their Pesquisa told them the energy was not from a Hollow.... maybe? Whatever it was it was either a very odd Hollow or HEAVILY entangled with Hollows in ways that made Cala think maybe they should turn around and leave......

Glancing back behind them briefly Cala decided that given the nature of the energy they could feel maybe this person was training? They did seem to calm down to a very relaxed state, as if taking a break, and Cala glanced down at the bento box happily. Maybe they could make a new friend? Thankfully they had already adopted the energy of a spiritually endowed human before going into Tokyo instead of wandering around openly as an Arrancar so that was sure to help!

Walking forward with a bit more pep in their step Cala seated themselves on a nearby bench, seeing one Kenichi Murata take a drink from his water bottle as the last tree-sized enemy fell and Cala, picking a dumpling from the bento box and placing it in their lips, munched softly on the food before clapping a polite applause for the warrior before them! Biting off the end of the dumpling Cala would smile and extend the bento box in their grip Kenichi's way.

"Would you like some? Training is hard work after all....."

Cala smiled kindly at this Kenichi individual as he approached and took up a seat beside the undercover Arrancar. Cala would nod, causing the dumpling in their lips to flop up and down in mutual agreement before Cala blushed and, steadying the dumpling, took another bite from it before ducking their head and agreeing.

"Ah....yes....."

Cala would then look over the felled trees and hum softly, idly taking a smaller bite off the dumpling, before nodding their head.

"You're very strong Kenichi and um.... I'm Cala, it's nice to meet you."

Naturally Cala would turn their head to face Kenichi once again as they introduced themselves, bowing their head respectfully to their newfound acquaintance, before they smiled gently and asked.

"If you don't mind me asking Kenichi.... what brought you out here to train?"

It wasn't until asking this that Cala noticed they felt strangely.... calm? Mellow? Their speech wasn't stuttering like it usually did, very little in fact, and they tilted their head curiously at this fact. Was it because they felt safe around Kenichi? No.... from what they could feel Kenichi was significantly stronger than them. Enough so that any training or altercation between them would be all but doomed to be short-lived in Kenichi's favor and of little use to the martial artist. Cala truly could not discern a reason behind their calm demeanor for the moment. Was it their internal agreement with their other half to begin training themselves, even when they were in control? Maybe but.... that did not feel right either....

Outside Cala's own mind their head was still tilted, their gaze rather unfocused, as they obviously had something weighing on their mind.

Cala found themselves smiling softly as Kenichi returned their kindness and Cala's head tilted curiously in the other direction as Kenichi seemed to transmute bits of the table they currently sat at into chopsticks. That was something Cala noted as very cool, and definitely not something they could do, but as for what Kenichi said afterwards well.... if Cala had once said Solomon sounded like a superhero due to action Kenichi sounded like a superhero due to aspiration. The small Arrancar simply found themselves staring up at him with big, lavender eyes that were almost lost in his VERY flamboyant reasoning for pushing himself to train.

It would not be inaccurate to say that, in that moment, Cala looked at Kenichi like a child would look at someone dressed up as Superman. Caught up in Kenichi's sincerity and drive for improvement they did not even seem to mind his rather showy motions and continued eating. In point of fact Cala all but forgot about the food as Kenichi went on to describe their desire to protect those close to them. Cala would find themselves nodding along absentmindedly, not really thinking about the motion until Kenichi turned to them and asked them.... something.

Cala would blink, rapidly, and blush a little as they barely heard the question to begin with. Now racking their brain as they turned their attention down to stir at the rice in their box that had formed the bed for the dumplings to lay on. Their voice was small, distant and somewhat..... wistful as they spoke. At the very least most certainly distracted.

"Ehhh.... ummm...."

Cala would cut themselves off by picking up some clumped rice, soaked with teriyaki flavor from some chicken also in the box and would munch it briefly before look at the tree-sized dummies Kenichi felled before sighing gently after swallowing. It was in that moment that they realized exactly why they felt... off. Their other self was... completely silent in their mind. They had not even noticed they hadn't referred to themselves as 'we' before! Indeed even when probing their thoughts they could barely sense their other self as they were.... busy. With what they did not seem keen to share yet so Cala simply fidgeted in place and nodded.

"I think to train too. Umm.... we've had to fight a lot growing up... err... we a-as in... me and... someone close to me."

Cala almost stumbled over explaining away their other self before continuing. Their expression sobering and even being pulled downward by a small frown.

"We umm... sometimes had to do things we weren't proud of to make it... a-and now someone we care about depends on us for protection.... and someone else I promised to learn how to protect for.... I was just never the fighter.... a-and.... I dunno if I would say I am brave."

Cala would sheepishly try and smile, thought it did not reach their eyes, as they looked up at Kenichi and gave a soft exhale of a near-laugh, nodding their head.

"It definitely doesn't sound as.... f-flamboyant or immutable as your own reasons, ya know?"

Cala blinked in moderate confusion as Kenichi's hand approached them, their head tilting back a little as their wide eyes simply watched his hand as it came down atop their head. Cala blinked, briefly, only to blush as Kenichi ruffled their hair. Being touched was something Cala was definitely getting more used to and Kenichi's words definitely buoyed Cala's spirits. Bravery was something they were still coming to grips with, at least even the concept of it, but more and more people seemed to insist that being scared also meant they were brave? Cala still didn't quite believe it, not truly, but they were now more willing to try than they would have been even some months previous.

As Kenichi offered to help Cala train Cala would smile softly, bowing their head to Kenichi and offering him the rest of the Bento box. Primarily teriyaki rice, a couple dumplings and a single sushi roll buried at the bottom of the rice, soaked with flavor because of it.

"Thank you Kenichi that is very kind. I don't fight with m-my hands... uhh... a-at least if I can help it but some Hollows do use their claws and fists so it might be a good idea to learn how to fight against attacks like that?"

Cala, this Cala anyways, did not have the personal experience with combat to really confidently make such a statement but it made sense to them. While, certainly, most Hollow's swipes and battering attacks wouldn't be as precise or skilled as Kenichi's that would probably only help Cala more since if they could at least somewhat compete with Kenichi then a less skilled Hollow would be a cake walk by comparison.

Cala nodded along with Kenichi's words, their eyes wide, and their head.... not exactly empty but certainly devoid of helpful thoughts to add to the situation. After all a true, skilled martial artist advising someone with no skill in the subject was about as close to a one-sided conversation as someone could feasibly get outside of sentencing and Cala hummed quietly in consideration at what was said. It made Cala think. They had, in this form, never really fought before so they really did not have any framework for what they would be good or bad at yet, and the least they could be to Kenichi was honest.

"I umm... w-well honestly I don't know. I've never really been in a real fight like this..... s-so I dunno what I am actually good at when it comes to fighting specifically. I guess I am creative and I am good at noticing things. Just ahh.... in general?"

Cala fidgeted from foot to foot as they stood, glancing down at Ceniza on their hip briefly, before pursing their lips and wincing.

"A-And what little I do know doesn't involve using my hands....."

Cala would look at their admittedly small, slender hands. Soft, pale and more like those meant for piano playing than punching Cala could only grimace at the idea of them trying to hit anything. They definitely weren't built for it, at the very least.