Benefits of Education [Kiyotsumi/J.]

It was after hours at Shin'ō Academy and most had gone home. There were a few students wandering the hallways, and some teachers still in classrooms, cleaning up or dealing with assessments. The only reason J. Saionji came here was to reacquaint himself with the grounds. Some recent thoughts brought him to thinking an educational position at the Academy may benefit his reputation. What is more respectable than a shinigami who takes the time to train future generations?

After checking out the classroom layouts, and their familiar setups, he made his way out of the main buildings to where students trained their combat skills. He wandered around, taking note of certain power levels, hard workers, and even a few slackers. Nothing truly stood out to him until he found himself stopping to watch a young woman struggling with a sword in her hands. He did not hide, but he did watch her silently, debating whether to speak up or not... After her third failure...

"You're timid. Do you not like holding a weapon?" J. asked.

It felt heavy in her hands like it was trying to fight against her touch. This accursed weapon that she had been gifted was so damn impractical. Then there was the matter of form and posture too. How neatly all the other students fell into place and left her out like a stick in the mud. No. She wouldn't be the outlier. She wouldn't fail.

Kiyotsumi's thoughts were much darker than her appearance suggested as the dainty girl struggled to even manage a short string of swings with her sword before losing her balance or tumbling one way or another. She was not one to often put in the time for extra practice, but she wanted to be good enough that her classmates wouldn't laugh at her at least. That hadn't felt like too much to ask until she was out here alone, struggling. Resetting her stance, she tried again to recall what the instructor had said earlier.

Step. Stance. Strike. Turn. Correct. Step. Stance. Strike.

The plan was there in her head, though it certainly did not seem that way as she flailed and stumbled around until, finally, someone called out to her. She froze in place like an ice sculpture for a few long seconds, then turned her head to look at her observer and offer a sheepish smile. Whoever this stranger was, he certainly had an aura of competence about him that gave her a little more chills.

"Haha... No... I just don't think this weapon likes being held by me."

During her momentary freezing, J walked closer, stopping about ten feet away. The woman was tiny, looking as delicate as a glass flower with that bright colored hair of hers. The weapon looked a little odd in her hands. She didn't seem like the warrior type, at least by appearance. However, her softened speech felt more like a confirmation that she may have been too fragile to be a shinigami, but maybe that was her point. J had his observations, but had seen many women with her stature prove powerful. She would need to stop shifting blame from herself though.

"There is no sense in lying about your weakness if your goal is to change it," J said and glanced to her asauchi for a moment before returning his gaze to her. "What is your goal for this training session? Technique? Strength? Confidence?"

Her deception was quite easily dismantled, for it was quite a baseless one at that, but the instinctive choice to blurt out a lie was somewhat telling. But was she really at fault for what came tumbling out of her mouth when a handsome stranger came stumbling directly into her life? No, that was hardly something that she would let slip so casually.

"All three. Though I suppose I should start with the first. Even the basic techniques are surprisingly difficult."

She turned so that he could study her profile, if his eyes were so interested then she might as well display herself, and returned to her starting stance. The positioning of her feet was hardly ideal, a little too flat with legs just too far apart, and her body was also awkwardly hunched over as if she was trying to duck under another threat. Hardly a master at her craft, but not entirely hopeless - that might be a fair assessment.

"You are not dressed as a student nor a teacher, so how should I address you, Mister?"

J studied this woman's profile, taking note of a few issues. He made a couple assumptions: her footwork was likely an overcorrection from repeatedly failing to stay on her feet, and her hunched posture probably stemmed from a lack of confidence causing her to become almost too defensive. No matter the reasons these issues appeared, he had a few thoughts on helping her correct them, if she wanted that. Her question brought his gaze back up from her stance.

"I am J. Saionji, head of the Saionji Family," he said, doing a quick head-bow as a sign of respect. "I am referred to as Lord Saionji... May I?" J held out a hand, gesturing toward her stance. "I could assist, but only if you're comfortable." He was interested in helping, but he'd likely have to make physical contact with her to do so. Adjusting her stance wouldn't be easy if he was just trying to direct her.

Jay Saionji was not a name that Kiyotsumi had heard before, though that was hardly a fault against him because she could barely name any noble houses outside of the great ones. Still, she had not heard any rumours about him from the other girls in her class. That solidified her belief that he wasn't an official teacher, but that also made him even more interesting. And he was a Lord, hmm? It seemed fair to assume that they were usually quite experienced in Shinigami affairs.

"A pleasure to meet you, Lord Saionji. If... If you think that you can help then I would be most grateful."

Kiyotsumi took a brief pause in her posturing to offer him another smile and nod of her own in response to his apparent high status. Her face had flushed with colour at the rest of his offer, pink staining the porcelain skin of her cheeks and refusing to depart quite so easily, and yet she invited him to help all the same. Turning again, she returned to her neutral stance and waited to see how he would guide her. She waited until he approached, or at least until he had been drawn in a little closer, to offer up a proper response. Though perhaps it was the nerves that prevented her from looking him in the eyes as she did, for it seemed that she grew quieter with every sentence.

"M-My name is Kiyotsumi." Another pause, though just before he might respond she let slip a little more. "Or just Sumi, if you would prefer."

"Her face is turning red, J thought as he watched Kiyotsumi. This is why he always asked permission to do anything around the opposite sex. Women were supremely confusing. He really needed to ask his sister why this happened. J noticed that she got quieter the more she spoke too, but anything he thought would help felt like a worse idea than merely ignoring it. The ignoring had worked for him so far. He has not made one of these women cry since he implemented ignoring.

"Kiyotsumi," J said, now standing next to her. He placed one hand in the middle of her upper back and the other on her shoulder. Keeping the hand on her back still, he applied some pressure to her shoulder, guiding her to pull her shoulders back. In doing this, she would realize her back was straightened, and she almost stood a few inches taller. "Posture is important," J said as he corrected her. "Imagine yourself standing taller than your opponent. You can't do that by slouching."

That correction would make Kiyotsumi feet taller, but her poor foot placement would feel more unbalanced. He kept a firm hand on her shoulder so she wouldn't fall. "Now, bring your feet in to just match your shoulder width," J said, using his own foot to tap at the outer sides of hers. Once she corrected the error enough to be balanced, he let her go and stepped back, unsheathing his blade. "When using a sword, your stance must compliment you." he explained taking her old stance.

"Your petite physique is appropriate for agile techniques and quick footwork," J explained, "If your feet are too far apart, you'll be slower and off balance, so you'll fall more often. Mirror me." He was testing her balance. J faced Kiyotsuimi and began stepping to the left, the right, backwards, and forwards. He sometimes double stepped in one direction, turned to facing another direction, or quick stepped in two different directions. It depended on how well she did previous steps.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as Jay repeated her name back to her, though the feeling of him wrapping around her from behind certainly did more to stiffen her already tense body. Kiyotsumi complied with his suggestions though, letting his hands guide her as she shifted and adjusted into a much straighter position than she was used to. The idea of towering over an opponent did draw the quietest of laughs from her lips, as there were not many that she could make such a claim when fighting against. He was right that she felt a little flimsy now, that wide stance with her feet being her apparent undoing as he encouraged her to tighten her spacing and a little confidence finally returned.

"I feel taller and stronger, but why do I want to make myself a bigger target?"

It did seem like an unappealing prospect to the young student. She always wanted to keep a low profile, in life and at the academy, so painting a bigger picture of herself in a fight did not exactly feel natural. But Jay did seem like a professional though, perhaps he had the insight that Sumi lacked right now. At least she was good with her feet, though, and that was where he wanted to continue this process.

"It is hardly like I could outreach an opponent, even when I puff my chest out."

A little bit of volume had returned to her now, not that she was one to shout and such, but that initial flustering that he had given her was beginning to wear off.

Falling into step with J, Kiyotsumi did certainly show off an impressive level of dexterity in copying his movements. Her sword still made her a little slower than she might have liked but keeping up with those individual steps was well within her capabilities. Not that she got it right every time, especially when he threw in a double step, but it was a far cry from the clueless girl of moments before already.

Interesting. Was that what she thought she was doing? Making herself smaller to not get hit as easily? He didn't entirely understand that line of thinking. It was a strategy. J would never call it a good one, but it was a strategy. He took a moment to think on her question before they would get into the mirror training.

"Yes, you are correct. A smaller target is harder to hit," J said with a curt nod. "However, a predator still knows it is easier to attack a pup than a wolf, so what do you think a weak stance portrays to the one you're fighting?"

J's comment was meant to be more about skill and experience, and how a warrior would come off to an opponent if they looked small and fragile. Even the smallest warriors could express a ferocity akin to a lioness if they showed confidence in themselves. So, he hoped his wolf comment would help her answer the question.

Kiyotsumi's next comment revealed more about her thought process. At least, that's what J deduced from it. She was so worried about being hit that she focused on being out of range in some way, whether that be in making herself smaller or dodging. He said nothing in reply to it, yet. Instead, he watched her footwork as she mirrored him. She was quick on her feet, good. Her petite physique would do well with a speed-based fighting style. She kept up with him well too, even better.

"Good job," J said as he stopped moving. He put his sword down and held onto his sheath. "Do you know what type of fighting style you want to focus on?"

And if the predator sees you as nothing more than a pup then they will let their guard down and you can stick them real good.

Sumi remembered what she had been taught by her fellow urchins in those back alleys. Though it was hardly a formal education like what Jay was giving her, and it was hard to kick out those bad habits. That was not how the noble Shinigami fought, with such upstanding honour and pedigree, and she would have to learn to fight like that too. So she did what she could to put those errant thoughts out of her mind because she wanted to be better than them.

"So I should look strong even when I am not? That's not too hard!"

There was definitely an unhealthy amount of youthful naivety in her tone as she made that remark. It really didn't seem too hard to do right now, in a safe training area tucked away in the cushy heights of the Seireitei. Whether she would say the same when facing down a giant monster had not yet crossed her mind.

She continued to keep up as the movement exercise resumed, bouncing from one foot to another until it was finally growing easier to predict what direction Jay was going to move in before he had entirely revealed it. At least at this speed, if she could keep up with him then maybe he would be impressed. Her effort was rewarded with praise, and she accepted his positive reinforcement with a nod before releasing a sigh after all that exertion.

"Um. The one that kills my enemies."

It took her a second to realise exactly what she had said. It had kinda just slipped out when she got caught up in the heat of the moment, but maybe Jay would think that it was just earnestness. Surely there was no malice behind those words, right?