Zanjutsu Lessons (Group.R./Closed: Akimoto, Hikari)

Akimoto had a hard time forcing himself out of bed this morning. Today was his first day in his least anticipated class. Zanjutsu. He hated swordplay more than anything. While it was beautiful to watch, and involved a lot of skill and dexterity, it just wasn't him. He wanted nothing more than to go to his Kidō class every day. There was nothing more enjoyable than firing Kidō. Except women. Akimoto loved everything about women.

Putting on his blue and white academy uniform, the golden-haired student sauntered his way to building where his first ever Zanjutsu class would be taking place. His Zanpakutō, Masshirona Seishin, was slung low on his hip. He liked the feeling of where it lay against him, and it made her easier to draw out into play. As he walked he greeted the kitsune-zan, wishing her a good morning. No response from her. As always. She tended to not say much to him normally, choosing the most random moments to initiate conversation. The other day she decided that her opinion of the clouds in the sky was far more important than him deciding what he wanted for lunch. She was a tad strange sometimes.

Opening the door to his classroom, Aki looked around to get his bearings. There were all sorts of groups of students clustered here or there. Some were leaning against walls, while others were sitting on the floor. Everyone seemed to already belong to a group of some form or another, which made Aki a little sad. He would have to work hard to try and fit in. Trying to push one's way into an already established group was always difficult, and he hated to try and force his friendship onto people. Continuing his survey, his eyes were drawn to a gorgeous young girl sitting by herself.

Her pale skin and frail-looking body were almost doll-like in appearance. The long golden locks of hair almost seemed to glisten, even though they were inside. Akimoto looked her up and down, and decided that he was going to sit by her. As he walked over to his fellow student, he inquired, “Excuse me M'lady, but by chance may I take a seat next to you? My name is Nakamura Akimoto, and today is my first day as a student here.” As he stopped, awaiting her response, he looked into her green eyes and smiled his traditional warm smile, once he was sure that she was looking at him, he gave her a quick wink as well.

Today was going to be a good day.


Word Count: 430
GP: 8 (Remainder of 30 words)
Total: 8

Everywhere she looked, there were groups. Groups that didn't include her. Kumiko looked down again, swallowing the lump in her throat. She was beginning to regret turning down all those invitations to parties she got at the beginning of the year - now everyone had friends, and nobody really made an effort to talk with her anymore. She was...lonely. Back at Rukongai it wasn't so bad, because her caretaker had forced her to talk to a bunch of people that turned out to be alright. But here, with nobody to initiate friendship Kumiko was alone again. It's better this way, I'll be able to focus on my studies more, she told herself.

“Excuse me M'lady, but by chance may I take a seat next to you? My name is Nakamura Akimoto, and today is my first day as a student here.”

A handsome young man was smiling warmly at her, his bright blue eyes friendly. Kumiko looked up at him and blinked. He couldn't mean her, could he? Cautiously, she gave a quick glance around. There was nobody near her. Slowly, she nodded. "Okay," her voice was soft and she patted the spot next to her, an open invitation for him to sit down. A new student, huh? They didn't get that often - normally nobody was allowed to enter in the middle of the term, and they had to wait until next year. This boy must either be either someone from the Royal Family who pulled some strings to get in, or just remarkably skilled. Kumiko decided that it must be the latter - students from the royal family tended to act rather arrogant and usually walked around confidently, doing whatever they liked. This boy didn't act like that.

After a brief moment of silence Kumiko shifted and extended her right hand for a handshake. She figured that since he was so friendly, she should at least introduce herself. She used the same greeting she’s said to nearly everyone she’s met so far. "I'm Kumiko Kirkland, it's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance,” it was polite, formal, and straight to the point. Kumiko felt almost as if she was reciting her greeting as she offered Akimoto a small smile for purely politeness’ sake. Then she felt silent again, intending on ignoring the young man next to her until the teacher came.

At least, that would’ve been her plan if Tsuta Tsuru didn’t choose that moment to interrupt. The zanpakutou spirit gave a loud greeting that echoed uncomfortably in her head. Then she began to scold her shinigami-in-training for being 'antisocial', insisting that this was going to end badly. “If the boy next to you remained silent just like you’re doing right now – after all, why would someone want to talk to you if you insist on ignoring them? – and then never talked to you again after this class then it’ll be a repeat of what everyone’s been doing to you this year.” Tsuta Tsuru explained.

Kumiko’s fingers twitched. Shut up, she mentally told her partner, and for once Tsuta Tsuru listened. Her mind fell into blissful silence again, but her zanpakutou spirit’s words kept echoing in her head. As much as she hated to admit it, the little spirit was right. She should say something if she ever wanted to have some sort of human interaction in this Academy…and having an acquaintance might be useful. Hesitantly, she turned to face Akimoto and took a deep breath. “The Captain of the Fifth Division is going to be our teacher for this zanjutsu lesson,” she told him softly. “It’s not confirmed, but everyone seems to think so.”

___________________
Word Count: 606
GP Earned: 12
Total GP: 21

The young lady graciously allowed him to take a seat next to her, after glancing about to be sure that she was the one he was talking to. As he sat down, she offered her hand to him while saying, "I'm Kumiko Kirkland, it's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance.” Settling himself in, he didn't notice the hand at first, but when she said something about about the Fifth Division Captain teaching today's class, he looked and saw the offering. Taking her hand in his, and keeping eye contact, he slowly brought the hand up to his lips. Kissing it gently he replied, “Oh no, M'lady...The pleasure is all mine. I care not who teaches us today, I am just happy to be in a class with a girl as beautiful as you.”

Releasing her hand, he began to wonder. What would happen if he had to fight against her? He couldn't try to harm anything that precious intentionally. Also, what if he ended up having to go against the Captain? That would be scary, especially since he was awful at Zanjutsu. He really was in for it today. Snapping back to reality, he realized he was still looking deeply into the girl's eyes. Hah! He really just lost himself in her eyes, classic! He probably shouldn't mention that to her though, he was unsure as to whether or not that kiss on the back of the hand was accepted with good will or not. He hoped so, because she could probably kick his ass if she wanted too.

Looking back towards the rest of the room he fumbled for something to say. Of course, Masshirona decided now would be the perfect time to poke fun at him. “Aki-chan has a crush on her, huh?” She said in her child-like voice, “Hope she likes you back Oniisan, otherwise you are in for it. She looks tough.” Sending a mental 'shut it' to Masshirona, Akimoto tried to keep his composure. It was a tad more difficult than normal, considering he had a voice in his head that considered itself his little sister. She even talked like a little sister would, all childish and what not. She was right though, if Kumiko didn't like his advances, he was probably in for a world of hurt.

He looked back at the young girl, trying to gauge her reaction. Hopefully he would be able to spot if trouble was headed his way or not. Hopefully not.


Word Count: 415
GP: 8 (Remainder 45)
Total: 16

It took a few moments for the young man to notice that she had her hand extended, but Kumiko did not mind. Instead she waited patiently for him to respond, but when he finally noticed and took her hand in his warning bells went off in her hand. The eye contact didn’t allow Kumiko to look down and confirm her suspicions, but this sure didn’t feel like a normal handshake. Akimoto lowered his head and Kumiko followed the movement, just in time to see him kiss her hand. This was accompanied by an extremely cheesy, but undeniably flattering compliment.

For a moment Kumiko just stared at Akimoto, her mouth open slightly in shock. Then she turned bright red and gasped, quickly withdrawing her hand. There was a huge squeal of “Cuteeeee!” from Tsuta Tsuru, but Kumiko ignored it. “Y-you, I-I…um,” She attempted to speak, but all that came out was flustered stutters that didn’t make the slightest bit of sense. If possible, she turned even redder and looked away, hoping that her long bangs would hide her face from view.

“So are you going to kick him, or flee from this room?” Tsuta Tsuru commented casually.

Kumiko closed her eyes and counted to three. Kicking was something she did more out of impulse, and since it was hard to kick someone sitting down anyways Akimoto was at least safe any acts of impulsive violence. And she could hardly leave the classroom – Kumiko still had a zanjutsu class to attend – so that left her with one more option: try to remain calm and accept the compliment. It occurred to her that snatching her hand away was probably a rude gesture, but at this point she couldn’t really do anything about it.

Kumiko's cheeks were still red as she turned back towards Akimoto. What he did wasn't really anything over the top - in fact many girls would probably swoon over such an action - so she did her best not to say anything rude. "Sorry," she mumbled, refering to how she snatched her hand back earlier, "I...you surprised me, that's all," she said in a vain attempt to keep what's left of her composure. After a brief moment's hesitation she added,"...Thank you."

______________
Word Count: 372
GP Earned: 7
Total GP: 28

For reasons unknown to Hika she was “ordered” to come teach a Zanjutsu class to some of the first years. Her being a master of the art definitely helped her knowledge, but her style of fighting wasn’t one used for teaching. Her swordsmanship was used for killing, and to produce a lower enough of a skill to teach them would leave her being a horrible teacher. She did as she was asked though, and justified this as a way to sneak a peek at her new members or potentially new members for her squad. So far this year’s “first year” class had shown some pretty amazing talent, and Hikari did want to scout people out before anyone else had.

The walk to the Spiritual Arts Class was a bother, it was on the other side of the Seireitei from where her squad was. Because of this she was unintentionally late for her first class. She had about twenty five students to teach the art of Zanjutsu, or the art of fighting with a sword. Hoping that they wouldn’t be a bunch of push over’s she proceeded to the class. Curious to hear how disciplined her class was, she cracked the door and listened. The biggest subject being talked about was her, they speculated what type of Shinigami she was, or if she was even a she. All though this type of talk didn’t matter to her, the fact that they kept on making her sound like some war crazed maniac was a little disturbing. Hikari wondered if that is how she had been acting without even knowing it. Not wanting to listen to any more of this she slammed the door open and walked straight through the classroom to its head.

The large Haori waved in her momentum and sent swishes of air past the students she passed, walked over, stared at until they moved. The oddest thing out of this picture, other than the gaping mouths when they looked at her, was the clothing she was wearing. She had a wonderfully green colored Kimono on, and the light yellow ubi that accented it made her look like a little doll with a sword. Not to mention her Zanpakutou that was also much different than everyone else’s in the class. Sasanoha was a plain piece of wood which had been carved to look like a piece of bamboo. The other thing odd about it was the fact that it didn’t have the normal guard on it.

Soon after she had gotten up to the stand, a man stood up, while looking at his friends that ushered him up. “Un Taicho? Where is the Fifth Division Captain?” The man smirked thinking he was smart, but he was actually being quite stupid at the moment. ”Recruit, what is your name?” Hikari demanded in a finality and power that made this Recruit coil back a bit. Though the smile on her face never faded, her eyes screamed at the man in disgust about the question. The man answered his name, and it was Torai Itsuzumei. She would remember this.

”All though your question held hints of jest and lack of respect, I will not punish you directly, but make an example of you. Stand up Torai-kun, pull out your sword and cut me, if you can.” The cold tone of her voice ordered the man to do as she willed. Nervously he pulled out his Zanpakutou and charged at Hikari. His stance was loose, his grip was clumsy, and his charge held no power behind it. Hikari didn’t even budge when the sword came crashing down on her. Her clothing wasn’t even cut, or blemished.

Slowly, Hikari reached up and grabbed the man that was a full two feet taller than him, by the inline of his uniform and tossed him aside. It looked as if she put absolutely no effort into the throw, yet he crashed into the wall unconscious. She quickly scanned the class to see most of them were no longer smiling, but were showing a great amount of fear. They were afraid of this 5’3” girl who was the strongest female Shinigami in the Seireitei. ”Now listen up worms. I will not tolerate any more disrespect of any type towards a Captain or myself.” Hikari waited for them to respond, which they did in unison, then continued. ”I am Hikari Miyazaki, Captain of the Fifth Division of the Court Guard. I will be your instructor for a bit. I will try not to kill any of you while training you how to use those metal sticks in your hand. I will teach you to wield them and use them effectively, then you will be able to call them Zanpakutou.” Hikari summoned a hell butterfly and requested a 3rd division member to come and revive her example.

_____________
Words: 807
GP: 16
Total GP: 16

Akimoto was completely unaware of the reaction of the cute girl next to him, as in a flurry, the door was blown open. A small figure stormed across the classroom, her haori, much to large for her, billowing out behind her. She was dressed very differently from the other captains he had seen, her kimono was green in color, and stuck out like a sore thumb. Akimoto thought he might have recognized the young girl, but dismissed the idea as outright silliness. There was no way it could be the same person. Was there?

A young man stood up near the front of the class, making some stupid remark about how the figure at the head of the class wasn't the captain they had been anticipating. He was quickly made into an example. Upon direct orders, the man struck the girl and, upon doing no damage to her whatsoever, was promptly thrown through a wall. The girl then spoke up, announcing herself to the class. ”I am Hikari Miyazaki, Captain of the Fifth Division of the Court Guard. I will be your instructor for a bit. I will try not to kill any of you while training you how to use those metal sticks in your hand. I will teach you to wield them and use them effectively, then you will be able to call them Zanpakutou.”

Akimoto's jaw hit the floor. His suspicions were confirmed. The young girl at the head of the class was Hikari. The same girl he had raman with in the Fifteenth Rukongai District, the same girl he had been flirting with a mere couple of days ago, the same girl he had kissed in the main office of the Spiritual Arts Academy. She was the CAPTIAN OF THE FIFTH DIVISION?!

Immediately, Aki stood up. He bowed curtly, and upon rising, said aloud, “My name is Nakamura Akimoto, and it will be a pleasure to learn under you Taichou.” With that he looked her dead in the eyes and gave her a warm smile and a wink. Sitting back down, he waited for the fireworks to ignite at the head of the class.


Word Count: 360
GP: 8 (Remainder 5)
Total: 24

Suddenly, the door flew open and in strolled a young girl in a captain's haori. Like the rest of the class, Kumiko's attention immediately directed itself at the newcomer. This was obviously the captain they've been waiting for, but it definitely wasn't what Kumiko had been expecting. The girl was wearing a captain's haori, yes, but she was also wearing a pretty green kimono that looked terribly out of place, and upon closer inspection Kumiko noticed that the woman was not much taller than her. Overall...Kumiko had to say that the woman looked nothing like what she expected from the Captain of the Combat Squad.

She watched as a man at the front of the room make a rude remark, and all her doubts flew out of the window as he was easily thrown into a wall by the captain that introduced herself as Hikari Miyazaki. By now most of the class was on its feet, trying to make themselves to look good in front of the captain. Eyes widening in astonishment, Kumiko scrambled to her feet as well. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Akimoto give a formal bow, and she hastened to follow his example. For a moment there was a dead silence in the classroom, then-

“My name is Nakamura Akimoto, and it will be a pleasure to learn under you Taichou.”

Kumiko blinked, then slowly tilted her head to the side just enough to see Akimoto out of the corner of her eye. He...did he just wink at Miyazaki-taichou? Does he know her personally? Maybe I was wrong about the noble thing - but no, his last name... Now thoroughly confused, Kumiko straightened from her bow and looked around, unsure if she should remain standing, or just sit down like Akimoto. Finally she settled on standing as she waited for further instructions.

_____________
Word Count: 312
GP Earned: 6
Total GP: 34

“My name is Nakamura Akimoto, and it will be a pleasure to learn under you Taichou.”

Not many could claim the ability to silence this Captain with so few words, but Akimoto had just done that. Hikari heard his voice, and with the bow he proclaimed the pleasure of learning from her. The kiss, out of all memories that could have popped up about their short time together, the kiss had to be the one that surfaced. This captain tried in vain to hold back the blush, but found this feat too hard to overcome. She would have flash stepped out of the room, but then the whole class would definitely loose respect for her after an episode like that, and she couldn’t run from the problem either.

Turning around, more to hide her red face than beginning a lesson, she walked up to the whiteboard and grabbing a marker she wrote. On one side she had written Recruit name, and on the other side Zanpakutou name. Hikari had composed herself a bit more and was now able to talk again. ”Aki-chan, even though we are friends, and share somewhat of an interesting past, I would have you refrain from addressing me so informally. You will address me like the rest of the group will, and that is Miyazaki Taicho. Do you understand?” Her voice was sweet and cute, but held the same finality and strength that she had when throwing the rude recruit to the side of the room. “Your punishment is going to be death if you make me blush again.” Hikari whispered under her breath, of course she didn’t mean it in the least, but she didn’t want to be derailed by one of her recruits again.

”Now you may or may not know this, but every single one of your Zanpakutou have their own name. This sword is a part of your soul, and in turn your soul has gained, for the lack of a better description, another conscious. You are able to hear your Zanpakutou’s voice in your head at times, and with a bit of practice and patience you will eventually learn its name. Now form a line, and write your name and your Zanpakutou’s name up on the board. I will need this so I can personalize our training.” Her orders were given, and the line formed quickly.

Walking over to where Aki-chan stood, she stopped and spoke to him in a low tone. ”The event that happened upon me bringing you here is not to become a subject of topic. If you talk about this at all, I swear I will never forgive you. And god bless Tim, and hope he understands that I had to kill yet another friend.” Hikari’s tone wasn’t mad, angry or threatening, but one of a plea. She didn’t want to be subjected to that embarrassment any more than what she had to all ready. Still not able to look at Aki-chan she noticed another girl who seemed to be listening in on the conversation. Hikari was sure that her words were cryptic enough to where only Aki-chan and she would understand, so she thought nothing about it.

Smiling at the new recruit she walked past her. Hikari noted that she looked cute, nice and would probably end up being a grand friend if she talked with her a bit more. Her nervousness would prove to be useful in starting a relationship.

______________
Words: 575
GP: 11
Total GP: 27

”Aki-chan, even though we are friends, and share somewhat of an interesting past, I would have you refrain from addressing me so informally. You will address me like the rest of the group will, and that is Miyazaki Taicho. Do you understand?” Quickly and respectfully, the young man responded, “Yes Miyazaki Taicho.”

He laughed quietly to himself as Hikari wrote on the board and continued with the lesson. Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad class after all. As the captain wrote, she spoke up, for all the class to hear, ”Now you may or may not know this, but every single one of your Zanpakutou have their own name. This sword is a part of your soul, and in turn your soul has gained, for the lack of a better description, another conscious. You are able to hear your Zanpakutou’s voice in your head at times, and with a bit of practice and patience you will eventually learn its name. Now form a line, and write your name and your Zanpakutou’s name up on the board. I will need this so I can personalize our training.”

Akimoto looked in confusion at the board. Not everyone knew the name of their Zanpakutō? That was news to him. He knew Masshirona by name long before Miyazaki Taicho ever found him. His Zanpakutō spirit was like a little sister to him, guiding him along like a true sibling would: leading him down false paths to force him to not rely on her.

As the golden-haired student began to walk up to the board, Hikari stopped him. ”The event that happened upon me bringing you here is not to become a subject of topic. If you talk about this at all, I swear I will never forgive you. And god bless Tim, and hope he understands that I had to kill yet another friend,” she said, her voice pleading with him. Nodding quickly, Aki inquired in almost a whisper, just loud enough that Hikari would be the only one to hear, “Would this 'event' be the raman, or the kiss?”

Walking past her to the board, Akimoto wrote 'Masshirona Seishin' on the board next to his own name, then returned to his seat next to the girl from earlier. Noting that everyone was sitting after writing, or not writing, the name of their Zanpakutō on the board, Aki also sat. As he waited patiently for the rest of the class to finish, he looked around the room, taking in his surroundings. While he did, a familiar voice piped up, “You had better tone it down Oniisan, or you might just get killed.” “As if, little one. Miyazaki Taicho would never do that. I hope...” Aki looked up at the captain briefly. He wondered if she actually would kill him. She probably would. She was supposed to be the 'demon captain' after all.


Word Count: 486
GP: 9 (Remainder 41)
Total: 33

Well, the exchange between Miyazaki-taichou and Akimoto-san was certainly interesting, Kumiko decided. It was clear that the two were close and shared some sort of history together, though how Akimoto came to knew a taichou was beyond her. With a start Kumiko noticed that Hikari was giving her a small smile, and she quickly smiled back. Despite of the rumours it seemed as if the captain of the fifth wasn't as scary as everyone else made her out to be.

”Now you may or may not know this, but every single one of your Zanpakutou have their own name. This sword is a part of your soul, and in turn your soul has gained, for the lack of a better description, another conscious. You are able to hear your Zanpakutou’s voice in your head at times, and with a bit of practice and patience you will eventually learn its name. Now form a line, and write your name and your Zanpakutou’s name up on the board. I will need this so I can personalize our training.” It wasn't really new information to Kumiko. The shinigami that had guilded her here, Sinclair-san, had told her a few tidbits of information regarding zanpakutous and Tsuta Tsuru herself had been all too eager to explain anyways.

What surprised her was the most of the class sat down with glum expressions without even making their way to the board. Out of the twenty-five students, less than ten people were shuffling towards the board and scribbling down names - surprisingly, Akimoto was one of them. She followed him towards the board, but he was stopped by the captain along the way. Kumiko tried to listen as she walked by, but only managed to hear a few murmurs. No clear words. Oh well, it wasn't as if she expected to hear anything anyways.

Soon the words 'Tsuta Tsuru' was on the board beside her name, both written in clear, neat handwriting. Once again she passed Akimoto on her way back to her seat, and Kumiko watched as he 'Masshirona Seishin' on the board. She quickly turned away once he was done though, so hopefully he wouldn't notice her staring. He just turns up in the middle of the term, already knowing his zanpakutou's name...I wonder if he knows shikai, too? Kumiko wondered. They took a seat next to each other again, both waiting for further instructions.

_______________
Word Count: 401
GP Earned: 8
Total GP: 42

From the looks in the class’s eyes she could tell that some of them were surprised at this revelation, and almost all of the ones who didn’t put their name and their Zanpakutou’s name up on the board, had a look in their eyes of, “That makes sense now!” The memories of her academy days came back to her, and how she remembered hearing Sasanoha’s name for the first time. She had quite a bit of work ahead of her for this class, but she was starting to get into the groove of this whole teaching business.

”Okay guys, some of you will have to work to get your Zanpakutou to tell you it’s name, but when you are ready you will be able to hear it. Now for the reason I did this. First off you need to know that just because you have a Zanpakutou, this doesn’t mean all of you are on the same level. Those who know the name of their sword have an advantage in strength. Through your trust, and spiritual bonding your Zanpakutou has become stronger than those of you who don’t know yours name.” Hikari scanned the class and started to make mental notes on who to pair up. In an act of petty revenge, Hikari decided to pair Aki-chan up with the quiet shy girl. She was a really cute girl, and she felt a little guilty for making her suffer through his antics, but Hikari was pretty sure that he would act proper, and if he didn’t she would make this class a living hell for him.

”Okay now I am going to assign you guys, who know your Zanpakutou’s name, to group up with another person that also knows their Zanpakutou’s name..” She ended the last of her pairings, only leaving Aki-chan and the cute shy girl. ”Last of all Miss Kumiko and Mr. Akimoto you will pair. The rest of you who don’t know your Zanpakutou’s name pair up, the odd one out will pair up with me. I will be going over simple grip techniques, and basic training modules you will have to do in order to keep up your strength and stamina. Now let’s start.” She of course ended up with the man that had mocked her earlier, though she didn’t mind this.

She went over how to properly hold a Zanpakutou, and the stances that one would use in order to maximize the strength in their swing. Then she showed them the chopping motion that they would need to practice daily in order to build up the muscles needed to continually be able to fight with a sword, but for some reason Hikari couldn’t keep her eyes away from the Kumiko/Aki-chan pairing, and felt a bit of agitation when he saw him smiling at her.


_____________
Words: 469
GP: 9
Total GP: 36

”Okay now I am going to assign you guys, who know your Zanpakutou’s name, to group up with another person that also knows their Zanpakutou’s name..” Hikari stated as she began pairing them up one by one. Aki looked at Kumiko. He really hoped they would be paired together. Not that he wanted to spar against her or anything, but he just wanted to spend more time with the girl. She was very cute, and he really wanted to get to know her. ”Last of all Miss Kumiko and Mr. Akimoto you will pair.” The golden-haired young man made a mental fist pump. This was going to be an awesome class.

As the people separated into their pairs, Akimoto offered to Kumiko, “Hey, lets go over there, there's more free space.” Without waiting for a response, he casually walked over to the area he had indicated. Following Miyazaki Taicho's instructions, he practiced his sword swings. The stances, the movements, everything Hikari was talking about somewhat passed by him. He caught enough to keep along without attracting too much attention, but his mind was elsewhere. He smiled warmly at Kumiko, her long, flowing hair framing her beautiful face. There was nothing he could do about it. She was simply too much for him. He felt his attraction towards her growing rapidly. This would either end very well, or very badly. He wasn't sure which.

Catching Kumiko's eye in between swings, he asked her a simple question that could possibly be redirected in an perverted connotation. Giving her a wink, he said, “Wouldn't it be nice if we could so this without all these people around? They just keep staring...” As soon as the words left his lips, he knew something bad was going to happen. The sentence just sounded so bad, even though he did not mean it as such. She would probably take it the wrong way, and if she did, pain was probably in his near future. Pretending as though he didn't know that there was any sort of perversion in his sentence, he continued to swing away, just as Miyazaki Taicho was directing. Hopefully she wouldn't freak out at him...


Word Count: 366
GP: 8 (R=7)
Total: 41

”Okay now I am going to assign you guys, who know your Zanpakutou’s name, to group up with another person that also knows their Zanpakutou’s name.” Kumiko tensed at this, hoping that she'll somehow end up as the odd one out. She could count on one hand the people in this room that she could name 'acquaintances' and the rest - ugh, they would probably moan and groan about how they got her as a partner instead of their friend so-and-so. The list went on and on, then finally... ”-Last of all Miss Kumiko and Mr. Akimoto you will pair.”

...Well, maybe this wouldn't be too bad actually. Akimoto seemed like fairly pleasant company. He's a little too...open, too cheerful, but nothing over the top. Kumiko turned around to see her new partner's reaction at the pairing. He looked fairly pleased as he got up and walked over to a corner, saying something about more free space. He didn't wait for her reply, but Kumiko didn't really mind as she placidly trailed after him. Following Miyazaki-taichou's example she drew her zanpakutou and carefully went through the swings and stances - it wasn't anything too different from what they were taught before, and she didn't have any troubles. Her partner seemed a little distracted, though.

“Wouldn't it be nice if we could do this without all these people around? They just keep staring...”

Kumiko got through one more swing before the words sank in, and her face promptly turned red from embarrassment and shock at the comment. Her arm jerked and the next swing sent the tip of her sword into the wall, leaving a nicely sized gash. "Oh no-!" a few minor curses escaped from her lips as she looked around to see if anyone - most importantly Miyazaki-taichou - had seen anything, but it was difficult to catch sight of the petit taichou among the crowds of students. Turning back to Akimoto, she noticed that he had kept swinging as if he didn't know what he was saying.

...That was a possibility, but it was unlikely. So far Akimoto had shown himself to be somewhat of a...charmer - 'womanizer' might be a little over the top - and probably knew what he was saying. So why did he keep swinging like nothing happened? Kumiko decided to give him the benefit of doubt - if wasn't as if she could go and kick him with Miyazaki-taichou here in the room after all. The slash on the wall might or might not get her into trouble, but kicking someone the taichou already know so well definitely will.

Her face was still red as she turned her head the side, away from her partner. To ignore or not ignore? Ignoring him was probably all she could manage right now, but she'd do that after she gave a reply. As for the reply itself, she'd simply pretend that she didn't catch the meaning either (however, this would end in failure since she had stayed silent for at least one minute before replying, and the blush would render her already-poor acting skills useless anyways). "...There's no reason for them to stare, we're all doing the same exercise. And please don't say anything about the wall, Akimoto-san. It was an accident," she muttered under her breath, her movements still a little jerky.

_____________________
Word Count: 557
GP Earned: 11
Total GP: 53

Because of the frustration of Aki-chan, and how he made her felt, Hikari couldn’t stop watching those two doing their exercises. Fortunately she was still level headed, and kept on helping all of the students, every once in a while looking over to Aki-chan and Kumiko-chan. The frustration of her smile meeting his making her even more agitated bit, by bit, Hikari could hardly stand Aki-chan. How could he so freely flirt with her, and ki…. No that was just an accident, but he still wanted to kiss her on the cheek. The one on the lip… Hikari stopped thinking about it, but here Aki-chan was, flirting with another girl. Hikari would make it a point to punish him for this; class was not a place for flippant behavior. Little did Hikari know, or realize, that this anger inside of her was jealousy.

The moment of divine retribution came. Kumiko, in her nervous embarrassment over something that was said, had slashed the wall. Their lack of focus was probably Aki-chan’s entire fault, but the girl who was playing the shy vulnerable card was pissing her off as well. Akimoto, Kumiko, stand straight.” Hikari bellowed out in a command of absolute authority. Walking to the slash on the wall, Hikari inspected the slash. It was shallow, it was uneven, and there seemed to be absolutely no power behind it. ”Akimoto, class is a time for study and learning, not a time to flirt with girls. Do you understand me?” There was a little more jealous anger in the tone of her voice, than just a teacher ordering her subordinate around, but Hikari really didn’t know otherwise.

Shooting her next glance at Kumiko, she glared into her eyes. “Nope, we can’t be friends.” She decided in her head. The thought of this wrenched in her head, she had no idea why she thought that. In fact she was the type of girl that Hikari always loved to befriend, most of the time they were the most lovable people around. Either way she needed to be told off as well, maybe just because she pissed her off flirting back. ”Kumiko, all though the dumb man beside you is grabbing at your attention, we are practicing, and we need to be sure to put our all into our swing.” Hikari’s voice wasn’t as rude as it had been towards Aki-chan, but it was venom was of a different type. Hikari wanted to make this girl feel bad for allowing Aki-chan to flirt with her, and listen. Walking up to the slash again Hikari ran her finger along the cut area. ”At all times you should be at your best, if this had been an enemy you would have cut just about nothing. Letting your feelings distract you from this exercise has resulted in your sword swing to come out half assed. If you wish to pass this class you will need to brush aside everyone’s influences on you. KK?” Hikari ended it in a warm smile. She knew that this was probably good enough of an embarrassment that she wouldn’t get distracted by Aki-chan anymore, or hopefully.

______________
Words: 523
GP: 10
Total GP: 46

Kumiko obviously took the statement the wrong way. Her faced filled red, she took a swing a bit too seriously and hit the wall. The gash left in it wasn't too deep, but it was going to stick out for a while. Quickly Aki backpedaled mentally. He needed to talk his way out of this one before he got slapped. Luckily the girl kept swinging away, acting like she didn't catch the hidden meaning. Whatever, she was blushing and slicing up walls. There was no way she couldn't have. "...There's no reason for them to stare, we're all doing the same exercise. And please don't say anything about the wall, Akimoto-san. It was an accident," she said. In full sincerity, Akimoto translated his last statement, “I..I just meant that you were doing so well in my opinion...everyone was watching you like you were an excellent example or something...”

That was when Miyazaki-Taicho decided to pop in. As she hollered at them, Aki tensed up. This was going to end up as paybacks for all the blushing he made her ho through, he just knew it. Hikari arrived at their location and promptly began to scold, ”Akimoto, class is a time for study and learning, not a time to flirt with girls. Do you understand me?” Aki smiled widely at her and, slightly bowing, replied, “Yes Miyazaki-Taicho, it won't happen again.” His smile kept up its from as the captain turned her back to talk to Kumiko. As Hikari talked to the young girl, the golden-haired man looked at the two of them, seemingly sizing them up. He would have to pick one of them, he couldn't continue flirting with both...or maybe he could. If one of them actually liked him, they would get jealous and pick him first. That was a lazy attitude to take...but a fun one to watch until he picked which girl to focus his attention on.

Then as Hikari turned back around, Aki saw the grin she had on her face. She enjoyed that way too much. Sure, she was labeled as the 'demon captain', but that was a sadistic grin. There was something up the sleeve of Miazaki-Taicho's kimono sleeve, Aki knew it. What was it though? He hadn't seen this type of smile in a long time, and knew not how to act to counter it. The smile hadn't been there before, when she spoke to him, it appeared during her talk with Kumiko. Aki had a theory, and to prove or disprove it, he was going to lay it on thick for Kumiko. The young man put on his most impressive smile as the captain walked away, and prepared himself to charm his fellow student.


Word Count: 455
GP: 9 (R=12)
Total: 50

“Akimoto, Kumiko, stand up straight!"

Kumiko's entire posture stiffened and within half a second she was standing at attention, nervously looking at Miyazaki-taichou's face for indications as to why they were in trouble. The Captain was inspecting the cut on the wall as she scolded Akimoto at first, but Kumiko knew she was next. However, she was more or less expecting Miyazaki-taichou to be angry at her for slashing the wall in the first place, not scold that her strike wasn't strong enough.

Many of their classmates' attention was now focused on the taichou scolding the pair. Now thoroughly flustered, Kumiko shot them a murderous glare as discreetly as possible, silently screaming at them to stop staring. A few flinched at the glare from her fiery green eyes before looking away. Satisfied, she redirected her attention back to the captain. "Yes Miyazaki-taichou," she replied evenly, and as Hikari turned away she did too, re-directing her attention back at the zanjutsu exercise.

Kumiko wordlessly began to swing her sword again, this time much more viciously. She moved through the stances, mentally memorizing each one a little relucently. While she wasn't by any means hopeless at it zanjutsu definitely wasn't her cup of tea. She much prefered kido. Or those foot-work exercises that the instructors promised would lead to an interesting-sounding technique called shunpo. To top it off Tsuta Tsuru was still laughing at how she got into trouble less than twenty minutes after class started. 'It's Akimoto-san's fault. I blame him, so stop laughing at me Tsuta Tsuru. I really can't see how we'll ever bond,' She thought sourly.

"Meanie, you suck." Tsuta Tsuru huffed before falling silent again. Kumiko frowned, wondering if everyone had such difficulty getting along with their zanpakutou. Aren't zan-spirits suppose to be part of their soul? If so, does that mean she's just like Tsuta Tsuru deep inside? 'Thank god Tsuta Tsuru's ways aren't the dominant part of my personality then,' she scoffed inwardly. Turning her head Kumiko stole a glance at her partner. Akimoto was smiling widely, and she had to admit that it was pretty impossible feel upset at him when he was smiling at that. Nevertheless, she had a better grip on her emotions this time and quickly turned away. Still swinging and seemingly not paying much attention to him, she said calmly, "You should pratice too, Akimoto-san. We don't want Miyazaki-taichou to scold us again."

________________
Word Count: 403
GP Earned: 8
Total GP: 61

The embarrassment card had played its course very well. Kumiko was now focusing on her swings a lot better. Hikari mentally patted her back for achieving such a result. She had taught both of them some valuable lessons in this exercise as well as got them separated. The extra attention to that group made Hikari notice something. The other members of the class were staring at Aki-chan quite… Well they looked like they wanted to kick his ass because he was sparring with the cutest girl in the class and the loli-Captain had also shown extra interest in him. This would be easy to remedy and she would do it now.

”Tando Fujimori and Taizo Wakayama! This is a class not some joke. Swing your sticks correctly and quit trying to enact some scene from a movie!” Hikari’s voice was firm and strong; the two of them straightened up, apologized and went back to a serious practice. After she was done with those two she walked through the pairs and critiqued them and helped them get a little better at this beginner sword exercise. All the while she shot glances over at the Aki-chan/Kumiko-chan pair. Yeah she had messed up on that one. Next time Hikari would definitely pair him with the guy with the mow hawk. He was at least taking this class seriously and in fact when she talked to him briefly he confessed that he wished nothing more than to join her division. Flattering as it may have been Hikari didn’t blush from that remark.

The stupid grin on the face of Aki-chan frustrated her and he kept on looking at Kumiko. She didn’t really know why she was feeling like this and she definitely didn’t dislike Kumiko. It had to have been all Aki-chan’s fault. It was those damn winks that he always did after he said something to her or “that” girl. Soon Hikari just sighed and let the feelings go for right now. Kumiko wasn’t at fault here and she truly wanted to be her friend. An idea occurred to her.

”Kumiko! I want you to trade places with my sparring partner.” Hikari waited for Kumiko to approach and would make it clear why she wanted her up once she got in front of her.

”Sorry for snapping at you back there Kumiko-chan. I hope Aki-chan hasn’t made you feel uncomfortable.” Hikari put her hand on Kumiko’s shoulder as she approached and talked softly to her, so that no one could hear. Hikari gave Kumiko a warm smile and a pat on the back, all the while telling herself that it wasn’t her fault for Aki-chan’s behavior and Hikari just wanted to make a new friend.

_____________
Words: 452
GP: 9
Total GP: 55

Kumiko went back to practicing her stances almost immediately. She had wonderful form compared to Aki, and each swing flaunted her body in different ways. The young man noticed that his partner wasn't showing any signs of anger anymore. There wasn't even a hint of it in her voice when she said, "You should pratice too, Akimoto-san. We don't want Miyazaki-taichou to scold us again."

“Yes, I suppose you are right, Kumi-chan. You have beautiful form by the way, and not just for your Zanjutsu." Before any sort of retaliation could be made, Hikari decided that enough was enough and told Kumiko to trade partners with her. As Aki's partner left, he gave her a wink and said, “Bye, M'lady. I hope to see you soon...” He couldn't help himself but to stare at her as she walked away. She was too damn gorgeous not to. Then Aki realized something. The Taicho had just replaced Kumiko with herpartner. Experiment complete. Hikari did not want Kumiko and himself to be together. And not because they weren't doing well, either. There were quite a few groups that were actually goofing off, and they had not been separated yet.

Before Kumiko could make it to her new partner, Miyazaki-Taicho sent the boy she had been working with to Aki. The captain and Kumi had a brief verbal exchange, and then the student began practicing with her. Akimoto smiled even wider (if that was even possible) as the captain's old partner proceed in his direction. As he arrived he said, “My most sincere apologies, I simply complimented on her form and she took it the wrong way. I am glad that I have someone of your...ability...to train with. Maybe I will be able to learn faster.”

Without waiting for a response, Aki simply continued his practice, trying as hard as he could to nail the stances down and swinging with as much power as he could. He wanted to work through the exercise as well as he could, just to see if he could attract Miyazaki-Taicho's attention away from the young girl. He liked the thought that the small captain might be attracted to him, but at the same time, that might cause problems, especially if he ended up choosing Kumiko. Oh well, he thought to himself, whatever happens, happens.

Word Count: 389
GP: 8 (R=1)
Total: 58