The Dragon meets Rainbows (JT/Closed/Hotaru and Kenji)

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

OOC: Training for CTP

IC:
Hotaru had received a letter from a fellow captain today, asking for a training session. Why would another captain ask her to help train? From the captains that she's met, they all seemed extremely capable fighters, so this was an odd request. But, she was not one to turn down someone who was asking for her help. So, she told the runner to stay, grabbing her own pen and paper and writing a quick response back to the Captain. What is said, was that she was slightly surprised that she was getting this request but that she would happily help him. She signed it, sealed it and gave it to the runner.

She had written on there to meet her in her barracks training ground tomorrow at 3 pm. Not wanting this to interrupt their squad duties, she figured that the time was late enough that most of his work would be done by then so he would have the free time to meet up with her. Once she sent the message, she would double down on her work. She herself would need to get through most of her work before the assigned time as well. But, she had little doubt that she wouldn't be ready by the appropriate time.

The next day, she finished all the work that was urgently needed before she decided to stop for the day to prepare for their training. She tidied up her work station, locked her important documents away and picked Rivu~aiasan up off of his holder. Grabbing her blade, she looked at it reverently, feeling his warmth and listening to the snippet of words that he was trying to tell her. It seemed that he had some tips for her to give to this captain that wanted to be trained by her.

Grabbing her Haori, she made sure she was presentable before leaving her office and locking the door. She left a note, saying that she would be training with another captain in the training field and to speak to Arantima if anyone had any issues. Once that was done, she walked leisurely to the training field, waving at her division while she went. Some did stop her to ask a question, which she quickly answered, but most just waved hello and kept walking. Once she made it to the field, everyone's eyes were on her.

Walking to the center of the field, she cleared her throat and spoke loud enough so everyone could hear her. "TENTH DIVISION! YOU ALL MAKE ME PROUD TO BE YOUR CAPTAIN, WITH THE HARD WORK YOU HAVE PUT IN HERE. I MUST TELL YOU NOW THAT ANOTHER CAPTAIN HAS REQUESTED THAT I HELP TRAIN HIM SO I WILL BE NEEDING THIS FIELD. I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS ACTUALLY GOING TO HAPPEN OR WHAT WE'RE GOING TO BE TRAINING, BUT I HIGHLY SUGGEST THAT EVERYONE LEAVE, JUST SO WE BOTH HAVE PIECE OF MIND IN CASE WE CAUSE SOME COLLATERAL DAMAGE. I THINK YOU ALL KNOW HOW CRAZY I CAN GET!"

They all chuckled at that, having seen some of her power firsthand when she trained Arantima out here. Her power was destructive and nothing to be trifled with. She would feel horrible if she inadvertently harmed one of her members while training this captain. "THEREFORE! I NEED YOU ALL TO CLEAR OUT IMMEDIATELY SO THAT I CAN PREPARE FOR THE CAPTAIN THAT IS VISITING! AND IF YOU HAPPEN TO SEE THE CAPTAIN COMING, PLEASE DIRECT HIM HERE! HIS NAME IS KENJI, IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY." They all bowed towards her and immediately dispersed.

She smiled towards them. Her squad was made up of good people. Arantima made it clear when they got in a new batch of recruits that he wouldn't tolerate anything but the best, which put her mind at ease. She wanted the best of the best here, because to defend their home, nothing else would do. She unsheathed Rivu~aiasan and held his scabbard in the other hand. Then, she silently released Shikai. She figured that practicing in Shikai would be helpful to keep on her toes with another Captain. So, when Kenji would find her, she would be practicing sword strikes in her Shikai, with no free flowing liquid at this time. They were, after all, just practicing.

[Masaaki Kenji]

It wasn't very often that Kenji really got to interact with members of other squads, especially at a captain level! It just seemed like most captains had now heard of Kenji. However, Kenji was lucky enough to have his captain manage to organise a training session with one of the most combat orientated captains in all of the Soul Society! She was someone that Kenji had previously met before, however he was sure that the captain would want to ignore their first encounter, especially due to the fact that she was wearing the most horrible looking clown costume that Kenji had bought for her due to her hatred of the dress he had originally bought.

However, Kenji was sure that he needed to impress the captain, and he had to make sure that he at least looked presentable and cute at the same time. So he settled on the idea that he was going to wear his traditional shinigami robes but he decided on putting in a couple of his hairpins as well as some big glasses. Therefore he looked smart and adorable! That would be perfect for him and hopefully Hotaru Kuchiki would agree, after all, it would look bad on his squad and his captain if Hotaru was not impressed. After all, she was a Kuchiki which were one of the most influential noble families in the Soul Society. Her impression had a significant impact on his future.

Kenji made sure that he brought his zanpakutou to his first training session with Hotaru and he made sure that he was prepared. He then quickly headed over to the squad 10 barracks for his training session. However, he wasn’t too sure if Hotaru even remembered him after their drunken experiences however, he was sure that he wasn’t a captain. It seemed like a small miscommunication was made on their parts however, Kenji was not deterred so he continued onwards before finally reaching the training room. He soon saw the captain and he smiled before bowing at her as it was only formality. "Kenji Masaaki, Squad 3, 4th Seat! It is a pleasure to train with you Captain.” Kenji smiled and he was enthusiastic as he couldn’t wait for this training session.

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru was slowly going through her samurai training while waiting for Kenji. It was something that she had always done, since she was alive and had anything that resembled a sword. Even in death, she kept up with it, since it was ingrained in her heavily when she was younger and carried it into her adulthood, eventually to her now shinigami life. The movements keep her centered in the here and now, even though they're from her life. When she finished, she took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she did so and heard footsteps coming towards her.

Her eyes didn't open until Kenji finished what he was saying. She looked down at him and smiled. She then noticed the hair pins in his hair and his glasses. To her, the glasses seemed a little too big for him, but the hair pins, she had to admit, were rather cute. Looking over him, she tried to feel how strong he was with her energy sensory. She immediately noticed that he seemed to be strong spiritually, like she was, but was he like her? Could he use Kido or was he like her, without the ability to use it?

"Hello, Kenji-san. You can call me Hotaru-taichou, Hotaru-sama or Captain Kuchiki-Masurao, just as future reference. So, Fourth Seat, your Captain wanted you to come to me to help you train from my understanding. I do have to warn you, however, that I can't use Kido so I can't really help you with that. The only kind of thing that I can do that is something like Kido is what I can do when I'm released, like I am now. Watch!" She moves both arms forward, showing him her Shikai state of a huge scimitar in her right hand and the cannon on her left arm.

She stepped to the side, to make sure that Kenji wouldn't accidentally get hit and shot out some of her purple liquid towards a tree. She controlled it so it looked like straight line out from her arm, where it hit harmlessly against the tree. With her sword, however, she willed the liquid to start oozing from the mouth, going down her blade. She had the liquid slowly start to swirl around the blade lazily, making the blade look like it was surrounded by three liquid circles.

Soon, she dropped that as well and the liquid fell harmlessly to the ground. "So I can really only do things like that. Also, I would suggest that you stay away from stepping in the puddle. If you do, I can guarantee you that you'll have a bad time. Now, if your Captain wanted me to teach you swordsmanship, I think I can help with that. So, what kind of training did you have in mind for today?" She would stand there, waiting patiently for Kenji to tell her what he had in mind for the training, since the Captain didn't give her any details about it.

[Masaaki Kenji]

All Kenji could think of when he first saw Hotaru was how beautiful her Shikai looked and how impressive and seamless it looked. It wasn't very often that Kenji wished he was able to achieve a shikai but looking at Hotaru's, it really did make him wish he could have such a beautiful zanpakutou. However, it just seemed like it wasn't in the cards for Kenji, which was a bit of a worry since most of the shinigami could use shikai and only Kenji couldn't even muster that. Oh god, that just made Kenji worry even more! What would the captain think if he couldn't even muster a shikai! He just had to play it cool!

The captain radiated natural beauty however Kenji needed to focus on the training session first, even if he was genuinely terrified of embarrassing his squad and his captain with this training session. This was something that would hopefully boost his own skills and the squad's in general, so there was a pressure for Kenji to impress and learn a lot from this powerful captain! After all, she was renowned for her swordsmanship, which was an area that Kenji lacked... severely. However, Kenji watched her in anticipation as he saw her use her shikai to make the liquid smash into the tree and ooze out.

After hearing Hotaru's warning about not being able to teach Kenji kido, all Kenji could do was crack a smile. "I'm well versed in Kido however that is not why my captain referred me to you! I'm afraid my swordsmanship is lacking, and as you are one of most proficient swordwoman in the entire Soul Society! That’s why my captain thought you would be the best to teach me!” Kenji stated enthusiastically and he gave a big grin in the process! After all, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity!

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru glanced back towards Kenji as he talked to her about he didn't need Kido training, which she internally breathed a sight of relief for, but wanted to train in swordsmanship. Her right eyebrow arched as he talked about how skilled she was. She knew she was good, but calling her one of the more proficient swordswoman in Soul Society... She never thought of herself as that, but she knew she was rather skilled. Was he trying to butter her up with that compliment or did he actually mean what he was saying? She didn't know, but she would lean more towards the former.

She wanted to see what kind of weapon he had and she was surprised that he didn't have any. She glanced at his hip and saw no Zanpaktou there. What?! What shinigami didn't have their Zanpaktou with them at all times?! But, he did say that he was well versed in Kido so maybe he was like Kyomei and used Kido for fighting. It would make sense since he didn't have a weapon on him and complained about his bad swordsmanship. She then started to glance around the grounds, looking for the training weapons. She would find them, look towards Kenji and then use her head to point over in the direction of the racks.

Walking over there, she looked over the array of weapons that were in the rack and stepped to the side to let Kenji look them over. "Well Kenji-san, since I don't see an actual weapon on your person, which I have to say is one of the oddest things I've seen, you can choose one of these weapons here. Pick which weapon you would like to get some training with and then meet me over by the training dummies." She would then leave him to take as long as he needed to pick out a weapon out of the racks. She would wait by the training dummies, curious to see what weapon he would choose to train with. Would it be a normal katana or one of the more exotic weapons?

By the time he reached her, her sword would be sealed, tied safely and securely to her belt. She would look at the weapon and smile, looking at him then at the training dummies behind her. "Alright, so before we start this training, I want to see how your swing is like. Use the weapon to slash at the dummy and then we can proceed." Watching his form and stance, she would take some mental notes on what needed to be fixed before he actually swung. She would try to focus completely on the swing when he took it, trying to figure out what he actually needed to improve. Hopefully, he wasn't completely a lost cause.

[Masaaki Kenji]

Kenji smiled as Hotaru thought that Kenji was unprepared for sword combat, meanwhile Kenji more just didn't enjoy carrying a sword around with him everywhere. Most would just call him lazy however Kenji preferred the term practical. That was the best part of his technique, it was the fact he could store his weapon on a simple tattoo was what made it practical for him. Afterall, who needed extra baggage? So when Hotaru asked him to look and see what weapon that he fancied and told him that it was stupid to not bring a weapon to a swordsmanship lesson, Kenji loved the fact that he would get to show off. He had been preparing for this moment.

"Who said I didn't have a weapon on me?" Kenji smiled before touching the small of back on a recently added rose tattoo on the small of his back which Kenji soon opened up, slowly summoning his rapier which Kenji soon pulled out before showing it to Hotaru which he hoped showed the amazing and intricate design of his zanpakutou. "This is the only form of zanpakutou that I have as I cannot achieve a Shikai or Bankai." Kenji explained to Hotaru so that she understood what kind of predicament he was in.

Kenji followed Hotaru's instructions and quickly made his way over to the practice dummy, taking a swipe at it diagonally from the right shoulder to the left leg before taking a stab at the chest of the dummy violently before turning back to Hotaru. "Was that okay Captain?" Kenji asked respectfully, hoping that she would think that his swing was alright and not grade him too harshly.

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru looked at him while he met her over at the training weapons. She was rather curious as to what kind of blade that he would chose. She assumed that he would pick a smaller weapon that she thought would fit his build better, something like a wakizashi or a short sword. When he told her that he wasn't weaponless, he touched his back and a sword seemed to materialize out of nowhere. She raised her eyebrow at that move. It was obviously some kind of Kido technique that he had learned, but it was a very exceptional skill to have. She was now curious as to how much stuff he could hide wherever that sword came out from... tons of equipment and tools or just one item at a time?

He showed her his sword and she had never seen a sword like that. Without knowing it, she started to talk out loud about it. "Never have I seen a sword like this... it reminds me more of a dagger than an actual sword. Where did this sword come from?" Most zanpaktou were katana, which she had worked with before while she was alive in Japan. Once she realized that, she assumed that all the weapon forms that zanpaktou took had to be at least somewhat based on a weapon in the Human World. The form that her own zanpaktou took in Shikai she hadn't really seen before, but she assumed that he took that shape to make something of a dragon's tooth.

So, this sword was used in a place she had never been to before, which is why she had never seen it. She looked it over carefully before she dragged her eyes away from the sword. Though, he would never know the other forms that his zanpaktou, his soul, would take because it was locked in this form. If she remembered correctly, Kyomei was the same way. His reiatsu strength was extremely powerful and from what she had learned, he too used Kido mostly. Maybe they perfected Kido in a way that their soul is more connected to the Kido then their zanpaktou. But, she didn't worry about it too much. Thinking in this way would give her a headache that she didn't need today.

Walking behind him towards the practice dummy, she was curious how his swordsmanship would be when he didn't use the sword that often. She watched him do the slash clumsily, without thinking of his footwork or stance. She made mental notes on how the stance should be. Then, she watched the slash from his weird sword. The sword didn't hit like what she was used to, a katana strike. Watching the blade move across the dummy, the slash did hit its mark, but not as deeply as she thought it would. After it slid along the training dummy, she watched him stab the dummy center of mass. The stabbing motion, she saw, worked much better than the slash did.

She nodded at the stab while he turned to talk to her. He asked if it was okay and she had to think over what she just saw from him. His technique definitely needed work, but he wasn't as bad as she originally thought he would be. Holding up a hand to signal him to wait a moment, she got closer to the dummy to see the actual damage. It was as she originally thought. The slash across the chest, from shoulder to hip, was more like a shallow cut, but the stab however. The stab was fairly deadly. She looked into the dummy and saw how deep the sword had actually gotten into the dummy, slightly impressed.

"I do have to say that the sword was not what I was expecting. But, I could tell a lot from what happened. Your stance needs work, as well as grip on the sword itself. But! The slash wasn't that bad. But, due to the way your sword is shaped, I don't think slashing with it would work too well. The slash it made in the dummy was slightly shallow. Maybe it could get deeper with more training. The stab you did at the end, however, was done well. It seems that a blade like that was made more for stabbing than slashing. Just out of curiosity, have you ever thought about dual welding weapons? Like having two whatever your sword is called to stab at your enemy? It would be good to distract an enemy with two weapons while you stab them when they least expect it."

[Masaaki Kenji]

Kenji smiled when Hotaru exclaimed that she hadn't seen a weapon like that before. Kenji couldn't help but smile when he thought that one of the captains thought that his blade was unique as well as impressing the captain that had such a beautiful and unique looking blade! That was one of the first ever compliments that he had ever received for something that wasn't Kido, afterall, it was very rare that he ever used his sword. The majority of his damage came from just using only his kido spells due to his proficiency with them. Regardless, it was comforting to Kenji that the captain liked his blade.

However, when the captain started to make her critiques, that was when Kenji really started to listen. After all, her critique would be important to his development as a Shinigami as well as learning the various techniques of swordplay and fighting. After all, they were useful especially when coming into contact with an enemy that could make their way up close and personal. After all, he was sure that he would encounter such a dangerous enemy and it was important that he was able to make sure that he was able to defend himself. Afterall, it wouldn't help if Kenji was given.

However, what he was more drawn to was the fact that the captain had drawn attention to the lack of anything else in his other hand and she had suggested that he maybe use another weapon along with his rapier. "So you are suggesting having another blade? Would a kunai work in the left hand then?" Kenji asked curiously, wondering if that was what the captain was suggesting"

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru was still considering what he could use in his other hand. She had fought in a lot of battles, but most of the weapons she had seen were katanas and similar styled two handed swords. She had seen the bladed pole arms and a wide variety of bows. But, a weapon that looked like that was extremely rare to her. It was then that he had asked her what would be a good second weapon to wield in his free arm. He mentioned kunai and she racked her brain to try to figure out what he was talking about. It took her a minute to think back on her life and then it clicked into place for her. She had heard of this weapon around ninjas, which she had never happened upon one.

If her memory served her correctly, a kunai was like a small dagger that was used like a thrown weapon. It would be deadly, for sure, but there had to be other weapons that would be able to work as well. She went over towards the weapons rack, to try to find a specific weapon. Once she found it, she grabbed it rather quickly and walked back over to Kenji. Once she took over the division, she had made sure that weapons that she was familiar with were added to rack, to see if anyone else might like the weapons as well. The samurai weapons were rather odd to the division at first, but after a bit, they got adventurous and tried them out. She was happy to see that some rather enjoyed them.

Holding out her hand, she showed him a weapon she was thinking of. "Well Kenji-san, a kunai is a good idea. If I'm remembering correctly, it's a small dagger that can be thrown. It is an option, but I was thinking more along these lines. This is a wakizashi, a traditional samurai weapon. In my time, we would carry one of these and a normal katana, using this smaller blade as a back up. Say that someone got too close to use the katana. You can draw out this blade to stab them up close and personal. Now, you can't throw one of these, but it's of a nice size to use in close combat. I myself really need to get myself one of these.

"Another idea, depending on how you plan to fight, could be the use of a smaller shield. I believe they're called bucklers? You could stab with your sword, while holding up the shield to protect your open side. I believe it is done like this. The wakizashi will be the shield in this case." She draws her katana, trying to hold it in a good one handed grip, while she uses the small sword held near the right fist. Then, when she thrusted forward, she moved the shield with it, protecting her thrusting hand from a strike to that hand. She also mimed slashing at enemies while keeping the shield moving around, protecting some of her open areas.

After that, she would sheathe her blade and hold up one finger, telling him to wait a minute, as she goes back to the racks. She had no idea if there was even a shield over here, since most of the shinigami she knew and had seen didn't use shields in combat. But, since she was in the defense division, there 'might' be something over there. She chuckled as she found what she was looking for, found something like a kunai and made her way back towards Kenji. She then presents him with a small shield and dagger. "So, those are three new options to try with your weapon. I've laid them out here so you can pick and practice. It also might feel too weird and you just don't want to wield another weapon. Go crazy and I'll watch to see how you do."

[Deleted]

39 Paragraphs means 195 TP