Sparring Over Sake [Yuuto/Mirai]

There was a suspicious, and impressively stuffed, bag sitting near the front door… and a Mirai sitting in the middle of one of the many training rooms for her Division with her eyes closed, legs crossed, and back straight. She had only finished setting up the plethora of target dummies for her knife throwing about five minutes ago, so stretching was a must before moving into any of her real workouts. Taking a deep breath, she moved positions to extend each leg outward into a split. She stretched by leaning back and then forward for ten seconds each. Her stretching continued for a couple of minutes, and then she hopped to her feet and began a mild warm up. She performed a couple of fundamental moves to get her muscles loose, but anyone taking a stronger look could tell... she was deep in thought.

'I can't remember... Are we going to my place tonight, or his? Ah, why don't I write these things down... I remembered the change of clothes, deodorant, a brush, water, a couple of snacks for just in case... Of course, the sake... Thank you, Shuten, again... What else... What else... I am forgetting something important, I know it..."

Meeting up for training and relaxation had become something of a tradition between the two of them, among other things, but, the second part was what Yuuto was more concerned about at the moment. As he finalized the last bits of paperwork he had for the day, the Captain made sure that everything was in order. Paperwork filed, desk dusted, office cleaned, everything was done. So, as he took a deep breath, Yuuto opened the door, and his body flickered, vanishing long before the door had closed again upon his departure.

It took him seconds to fly across the barracks of the Stealth Force and reach the training rooms. A quick, brief peek inside showed Mirai sitting in a meditative position, before she started to stretch and warm up. Usually, this was where he'd move in and make a playful tap, a little fun game between them to test their reflexes and speed, as well as keep the other on edge. Though it was more for her than it was for him, he didn't mind partaking.

This time, however, he wanted to have a bit of fun with it. So, a flash of azure blue emitted from his hand as he disappeared, racing around the training room and shutting all the windows and doors, closing off most of the natural light, and in an instant, any electrical light in the room was cut as well -- albeit temporarily.

With Mirai left basically entirely in the dark, he slipped in, his form fading into the shadows. Blinking around the room, he sought to test her awareness, speed, and reflexes, and the first part in doing so was done through an erratic barrage of wooden kunai and throwing stars, each carefully made to not risk any real damage. With each flurry, he'd instantly reposition himself to a new place in the room, all the while giving her ample time to react and respond.

However, eventually, he'd suddenly appear behind her, gently tapping her shoulder. At that moment, another flicker of azure flashed across his other hand, and the lights suddenly turned back on, the gentle smile of the Captain appearing mere moments after.

Right as she began the basic warm up, there was a shift in the air. Mirai tensed as the room suddenly went dark, loud thuds of windows and doors closing as all the lights shut off around her. The room was pitch black. A smile stretched across her face as she reached with her reikaku and attempted to follow his flow of energy around the room. The man was always so fast, and Mirai’s ability to keep up was… well, not there yet. She also understood that she relied way too much on sight most of the time, so not having that element proved… difficult.

It was the whirling sound of wooden kunai through the air that caught her attention. She turned and blocked the first, second, third, and dodged the fourth. He was fast, but he wasn’t using his full speed here. She couldn’t dodge anything if he was. He moved again and that whirling sound started once more. As she was thinking of a strategy to utilize what she knew of his speed and energy patterns, a tap came to her shoulder. A regular ol’… tap. Mirai jumped, shivering as she was given the goosebumps at his touch. And as the lights turned back on, she jumped again!

'This is ridiculous!' “Don’t you… You sneaky shady… shadow… With your talent for jump scares, you should apply to be a Halloween decoration!!!” Mirai put her hand over her heart after her weird barrage of dumb, yet very 'Mirai' type insults.

Yuuto covered his mouth, laughing at Mirai's reaction to the tap and return of the lights. He had been expecting a few things from this little game, but, such peculiar insults were certainly not one of them. Nevertheless, they were cute insults, though. While he hadn't intended on scaring her, the results did make it a bit worth it.

"Well now, that wouldn't do. I'd lose my job the moment October was over, after all. But, if it meant I'd get more reactions like that from you, perhaps it wouldn't be all that bad."

Yuuto gave a sly smile, chuckling lightly, before taking a breath and composing himself, that warm, gentle, loving smile that all who came across him saw returning as he patted her shoulder.

"You're getting better, though. Your instincts carry you well, though you still need to lessen your reliance on sight. Sound, Reikaku, all the little things are just as important as your eyes when it comes to discerning a situation, both in general combat and in our other lines of work."

Mirai was able to calm herself down after a nice deep breath. The blush quickly returned when he referred to her reactions, and she went to speak, but nothing came out. In fact, she just stuttered until she turned her back to him and crossed her arms. ‘I swear, he does this on purpose… This is what they mean by being picked on, right?’ she thought to herself, remembering different manga stories.

Mirai glanced to his hand and then turned back to face him as her shoulder was touched. “I know, I know…” she sighed and went to pick up a couple wooden throwing knives.. “I’m trying, but it is difficult to ignore the sense you’re used to using… I mean, unless we start blindfolding me on a daily basis, I don’t think it is going to be that easy to get to used to using hearing… I heard them this time though." Mirai smirked and twirled a star on her finger before smirking at him.

“Ready?” Mirai said and then immediately threw the star at Yuuto at full force. They were here to train, and they could talk while fighting. Multi-tasking was a skill she needed to develop anyways! Mirai charged him, jumping into a quick spin and powerfully swinging her leg around toward his head. This was often her opener, but it was on purpose. It was easy to dodge, and her way of saying “Let’s go.” The moment she landed, she shifted to an elegant turn to face Yuuto again and initiated multiple chest-aimed jabs toward Yuuto, pushing herself to be faster.

Blindfolding her? Well, that would be a good way to force her not to rely on her sight. There were methods he could still employ that would enact a similar effect, but, he was at least glad that she had been focused enough to hear the kunai and throwing stars coming her way. As Mirai wasted no time in resuming their practice, Yuuto lifted one hand to catch the star, lifting the other to block the incoming kick.

As she went to the ground, Yuuto seemed to float backwards as he narrowly avoided each of her jabs aimed at the chest. Even as he dodged, the Captain's eyes carefully scanned her form and technique.

"Excellent technique, but targeting just one area will eventually become predictable. Aim for anything that will give you an advantage. The eyes, throat, pressure points, anything that might give you a better chance at taking down a target."

As she went for another jab, he quickly seized her by the wrist, pulling her close for only the briefest of moments, before suddenly lashing out with an open palm strike to her stomach, releasing her wrist at the same time in order to push her backward.

"Exploit any weakness you can, then, end them with one attack. But, even still, be prepared to utilize backups. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst."

Despite Mirai likely having heard these words dozens of times over, he said them with care and love, wanting to be sure that she not only perform at her best, as she always did, but that she always could come back safely.

‘Okay,’ Mirai thought and then went in for that final jab, but Yuuto caught her wrist and sent an open palm strike to her stomach. She was pushed back a few feet, sliding on the arena floor to a stop. Mirai rushed forward as fast as her legs could take her. She ways always levels upon levels behind what Yuuto could do, but she never stopped trying to force herself to be faster, stronger, more agile.

As she reached his range, she swung her fist toward his ribs, continuing the twist that her punch gave her into a low kick, in an attempt to trip him. She did not have the strength to really hurt him, even if she did hit, so she had a theory that something that got him off balance was the smarter way of handling Yuuto.

Yuuto waited patiently for her to close the distance and respond. He gave a light nod as she surged forward, noting her immediate burst of speed. Good, but she needed to keep refining that, adapt herself to the situation and what might be faster in a given scenario. As she went to swing for his ribs, Yuuto went to block her fist with an open palm, only for her to suddenly go for a low kick.

Instinctively, he went to move his leg to stabilize his footwork and block, but, she slipped by it, knocking the other leg off-balance and causing him to stumble lightly and reach to the ground with a hand to right himself. However, rather than immediately get himself upright again, Yuuto instead twisted his body, spinning around with his wrist and aiming a kick at her shoulder.

Mirai was briefly surprised by the fact that she actually made contact and got him off balance, but she didn’t let that surprise last. She took every spar as seriously was she would a combat, even if that meant harming the other person, even him. Since Yuuto also was skilled at holding his natural speed back more to her level, or right above it, she at least had a chance of reacting. In this case, she saw it coming.

Mirai rapidly lifted her arm as his kick came in, bracing herself as he hit, but then quickly locking her arm down around his leg. Her body was dragged with the rest of his kick. Since he'd be on his side, one leg up, she decided to fake a punch toward his groin, aiming to put fear in the man she was fighting. Of course, she intentionally stopped short, smirked, and then laughed. "You should see your face!"

Yuuto hadn't been expecting her to trap his leg with her arm, but, just as he was about to try and utilize it against her by bringing his other leg down, he saw what she was going for. There was not a lot that could make Yuuto panic, but, even if faked, a punch below the belt was certainly one of them. Instinctively, Yuuto's free arm went for his sword, the weapon only making it halfway from the sheath before Mirai stopped.

It seemed like it was her turn to poke some fun at him. He couldn't exactly see the face he apparently was making. But, whatever it was quickly got overtaken by his face lighting up, his free hand lifted from his sword to cover his reddening face, trying very hard to hide whatever expression he was making.

"Oh, shush, you!"

In that moment, he was quick to bring his other leg down. Figuring she'd try to trap both of his legs, he planned to use that against her, intending on bringing his other hand to the floor to stabilize himself as he adjusted his weight so that he could lift her off the ground and slam her behind him.