Shino Academy Training Hall [Private]

It was much earlier in the morning than she is used to getting some physical training in. A little after eleven o'clock and she was already out in the training hall waiting for Akihiko to arrive. She wore the regular female uniform for Shino Academy, although now that she was here, she thought that it might have been a good idea to make a change. Too bad. It was too late now. She didn't want to leave and have him show up and her not be here. That would just be rude.

Her hair was tied up in a bun, the ends sticking up over her head, so no one really knew the actual length of her hair. Her eyes were a deep violet color with a metallic hint to them. Her Zanpakutō had a black sheath and a pink hilt. It was strapped to her back, sticking up over her right shoulder for an easy grab if needed.

"I wonder when he'll get here..." She thought to herself. One thing that most people notice about her, besides her eyes, was the fact that she rarely spoke. Few even knew that she had the ability to and a lot of people thought that she was a mute. This of course was untrue. Only a couple of people understood what was going on with her, and that was because they witnessed it's effect.

She sat down on the ground, uncaring whether she was to get dirty or not, and waited for him to arrive. She didn't know why, but for some reason she was on alert. She had her guard up one hundred percent. It was probably what those people from class had said about the members of Squad Eleven. Apparently they loved to fight, it was their way of life. She was the opposite of this. She didn't want to have to fight all the time, but she knew that to get stronger, she must have someone with a nice ability to teach her. And she was hoping that he would be it.

Suddenly, there was the sound of paper and wood scraping against each other as the large, rice-paper door of the training hall was slid open with a large amount of force. For a dainty kid, Akihiko sure put a lot of weight into his movements. Perhaps it was because of his thin frame. He needed to show others that he was small, not weak. Keeping third seat of squad eleven was actually pretty impressive for someone of his stature, especially if they were an active fighter and not the captain's pink-headed pet. "Hey! Sorry I'm so late. See, I was walking on the path to life, when I came across a fork in the road. One way led to "Happiness", and the other to "Success". I'm sure you can see the dilemma I was faced with." Chuckling breezily as he approached the sitting girl, Akihiko placed his hands on his hips..

"What are you doing down there? Get up here so we can get this started." Taking a step backwards, Akihiko shrugged off his black jacket-like overwear of his standard shinigami. Beneath it, the white undercoat that most shinigami wore kept its place over his bare chest. Similar in appearance to a dress shirt in our world, it was made of a slightly thicker material, yet still comfortable enough to wear casually and retain full movement in combat. Throwing it to the left, it struck the wall and sagged toward the ground. There was a hard, whacking sound, however, and if his student were to look carefully, she'd notice his Zanpakutō was missing with his back. He must have rolled it up and threw it along with his clothing. "I think we should start off with some hand to hand, and roll into weaponry later. Does that sound good to you?" Flexing his fingers, the third seat smiled calmly at the girl, the angle of his lips becoming higher and higher with every "pop" that came from his joints.

Kaminari had become rather relaxed and fortunately was not startled by his sudden appearance. She was sitting with her back to him, so when he entered, she turned her body to look at him, mostly her head. When hearing what he said, she could not help but smile, wanting to laugh but held it back. She watched him as he approached her and bent her head back to look straight up to him, her eyes blinking a few times. She nodded to him and stood up, facing him completely and watching as he removed the jacket. Her attention shifted from him to where the whack sounds had come from and then a look of confusion came on her face. That changed when she returned her attention to him and saw that his Zanpakutō was gone.

"I agree..." Kaminari said in a softly, almost sounding like a whisper. Her calm state allowed her to speak and control the vocal ability that she possessed. She did know that she would more than likely become stressed and would no longer be able to focus on staying calm once they began. Once this did happen, her ability to speak for the moment would be gone, and training would be her only goal. She reached up and right under the guard of her Zanpakutō, she undid a button that allowed the strap that was holding it onto her back to release. She reached back and caught it, hurrying over to where he had dropped his stuff and set it down. She was about to go back over when she looked at his things.

"Oh... Here..." she said in the same tone. A soft smile worked it's way onto her face and she picked up his jacket. Quickly she folded it and set it down, placing his Zanpakutō on top. "That's better..." She said and stood up, walking back over to him. "Hand to hand... Sounds good. How do you wish to begin?" Her voice was the complete opposite of her personality. People who knew her were easily able to tell this. She always talked softly and in whispers, as if she was scared to speak.

He watched her with a slight amusement in his eye. She scurried like a rabbit, making sure everything was in perfect order before returning to him. He didn't know why she didn't just throw it as well, but thinking about that question a little bit provided him with the answer. While his Zanpakutō was wrapped neatly in something made of fabric, hers wouldn't have been. A bare strike against some hard wood? Always offensive. After she had resumed her position in front of him, Akihiko lowered his hands. "Well, I want to get to know you a little better. So first things first. Throw me. Just come over here, grapple me, toss me, do whatever you'd like. Just make sure I go down hard." Stamping the hardwood floor with his left foot, he sandel clacked against the laminated wood hard.

And the funny thing was Akihiko meant it. He wasn't going to defend himself. This wasn't a trick. He literally wanted her to throw him. This would serve various functions. How she went at it would be a starting point. It would tell him what kind of person she was. Direct and concrete, or misleading and fluid? Would she actually put some force behind it, or would she try to drop him slowly, so he didn't hurt himself? All would be factors in Akihiko's current analysis of the young girl he was training. He felt that he would need to have a well-founded understanding of how her mind worked if he was going to get anywhere. He'd have to conform his teaching style to fit the mold her mind prepared itself if he wanted this go smoothly.

His words were all she needed. She was a small girl. Standing at only five foot three, with a petite figure, she didn't have very much strength. She knew from the beginning that speed would more than likely be her weapon, so to throw him was going to be something new. She stared at him with a worried look in her eyes and then glanced down to the palms of her hands. How would she do it?

"Throw him..." she thought to herself. She closed her eyes for only a moment and then opened them, her gaze shifting up to his form. She had a differently look in her eyes now. It was one of a determination and fighting spirit. She no longer would seem like that sweet little girl that was first addressed when he entered the training hall.

She stepped over to him and with all of her strength, though it wasn't too much, she reached out with her left hand and grabbed his right wrist. Her right hand went out and grabbed the upper part of his right arm for balance. Taking a step forward, slightly passed him, she gripped tightly and pulled him off of his feet. Tightening her jaw to some how ease the pressure off of her body, she threw him away from her and towards the side wall of the training hall. It was only a small ten feet away, so he wouldn't be going far, if he even made it away from her. She knew one thing though, she wasn't going to be able to keep on her own feet. Once she let go of him, she lost her footing and fell onto her stomach. Immediately her head popped up to see if he was okay, blinking with wide eyes.

His smile didn't flicker once. Using a simple breakfall, Akihiko redistributed most of the impact from his fall by smacking the ground with a flat palm. Returning to his feet rather swiftly, he congratulated her. "That actually wasn't too bad. Don't worry, we'll come back to it. You need to touch up your footwork and I'd like to help you with your grip and execution a little bit, but from what I can see, you have talent. Alright, now I want you to hit me. I need to gauge your physical strength to see what I should teach you, be it a more direct fighting method involving assault, or an indirect style, like Judo, which relies on using your opponent's weight against them. Considering you're female, my instinct tells me to go with the second approach."

To many, this would seem like a sexist remark. For Akihiko, though, he was simply being honest. The male form was made for high-action assault, whereas the female body was more suited to indirect combat. It's just how it was. Bracing himself by spreading his feet along the wooden floor, he relaxed all of his muscles with an exhale. "Whenever you're ready, take your best shot." Still smiling, his white teeth flashed from the lighting that came from overhead, a simple light fixture placed every eight feet or so to illuminate the dojo. "And don't worry about hurting me. I've been through a lot worse." A wink.

Kaminari was slightly surprised that he told her she had done well. She truly expected to be told to do it again and to do it better. She pushed herself to her feet and watched as he stood back up and complimented her. She dusted herself off and an innocent look moved onto her face and she moved her arms behind her back, holding her hands together. She smiled shyly at him and then looked away, listening to him as he told her to strike him. She raised an eyebrow and looked to him, her focus now on how she was going to strike him. She glanced him up and down and stepped closer to him.

"I wonder..." she thought to herself as she glanced towards his mid-section. She blinked a couple times in curiosity and looked up to him. "Don't worry about hurting him, huh? I wonder if he's insane..." She decided to test it and smiled sweetly. Without any warning at all, she swung her leg straight upwards and in between his legs. Since he decided to spread his feet, it sort of gave her easy access to that certain area of the body. She had never done something like this before, but had always been interested in how a guy would react if she had done so. After the kick, she placed her foot back down to the floor and tilted her head to the side, keeping a close eye on his reactions.