Training Days [Mizu, Hana]

"Hadō #1: Shō - Apply Cold!" From the outstretched finger of Morikawa Mizu, a sudden burst of pressure fired at and consequently struck a nearby training dummy. When the spell, which had drawn both curious and confused looks from other Eighth Division members, struck the dummy, a thin layer of ice spread across its surface and froze it in place.

The number of Shinigami in Soul Society who couldn't cast Shō could probably be counted on one hand, but only Mizu could alter it the way she just had. The golden eyed blond had spent a lot of time creating Genso Kakusan, a Kidō-altering spell, and was proud of the way she'd managed to use it so far. Yet for someone like her, workhorse always searching for ways to improve, pride was fleeting. Indeed, her sights were already set on further improving upon not only that spell, but every bit of Shinigami magic at her disposal. And, she thought, what better way to do so than spending time training surrounded by friends and coworkers?

Hana Aoyama was wandering around a new section of the Seireitei. While she had been in the Eighth Division area before, she had not journeyed into their training area. It was on Kyo's suggestion that she came here today. According to that larger than life man, this was the place to find kind Shinigami who she could become friends with. She found her way into an area with a few Eighth Division members, all watching one young woman in awe. The blonde hair stood out among mostly black, and the odd addition to a simple spell quickly caught Hana's attention.

"What is she doing?" Hana thought.

As the spell struck the target dummy, Hana's eyes widened in complete shock. It was covered in a layer of ice? She had not realized something like that was even possible. She jogged up to Mizu and introduced herself with a polite bow.

"Hello. My name is Hana Aoyama," she said with a genuine smile. "If I may say, that was very impressive. I've never seen a kido cast like that before."

Though hardly the most skilled practitioner in Soul Society, or the Gotei for that matter, Mizu was still thrilled with how far she had come. Her entire life she had to put her all into succeeding despite her limitations, and in her mind the last few months were an entire lifetime of effort finally bearing fruit. Genso Kakusan was just one example of how her hard work and effort were paying off.

The rest of her Division had gotten used to Mizu's experimentations as they were hardly a secret, though they would still be surprised by spells they thought they knew having strange effects. As they had seen her unique Kidō before, they didn't typically bother approaching her about it; hence why she was surprised when this silver-haired woman she didn't recognize from the Eight greeted her. Her golden eyes quickly surmised she was of another division.

"Oh, nice to meet you Aoyama-san! I am Morikawa Mizu, 4th Seated Officer of the Eighth. Though, I guess you probably already know that last part!" Mizu rubbed the back of her blond head awkwardly before continuing "Thank you for the compliment. It's one of my own design, Genso Kakusan. It allows me to apply additional effects to other spells! If you don't mind, what brings you to the Eight?"

Hana wasn't sure what type of greeting she was going to get having interrupted this woman's training, but she was pleasantly surprised by the kindness she was shown. That only allowed Hana to smile even wider and feel more relaxed here.

"Oh, I'm in the Seventh Division, and um... I'm unseated. I'm not that strong or experienced." Hana stopped, her cheeks a bit read from embarrassment. "And, well, Kyo Sawachika said there were a lot of friendly people in the Eighth, so I came here to make some friends." Hana hid her face behind her hands, feeling the blush of her cheeks worsen. "That sounds so embarrassing. I feel pathetic..."

"Please, ignore that! It's silly..." Hana brought out some enthusiasm and forced her embarrassment down. "That was a modification of Hadō number one, right? You were able to fuse your kido with ice? How did you accomplish such a feat? Something like that must have taken endless hours of training."

Mizu's golden orbs widened in concern as Hana reddened and explained her situation. She was glad Kyo was doing an excellent job as a representative of the Eight Division, but her thoughts were focused on reassuring the woman he had directed to the squad. "I am glad you came, Aoyama-san! I love meeting people in other Divisions, including the Seventh. Vice Captain Koizumi-sama and Lerna-san are both wonderful people. There is nothing embarrassing about branching out!"

Before speaking again Mizu gently placed her hand on Hana's upper arm in a friendly manner, hoping she could raise the woman's spirits "We're all just doing our best, Aoyama-san. So long as we do, there is no reason to worry. It wasn't too long ago I was unseated either, but I kept on the path I wanted for myself and now I can proudly say I'm a Fourth Seat in an amazing Division with wonderful squadmates."

In recognition of Hana's inquiry about her spell, Mizu turned and faced the training dummy and prepared to show her another. "Hadō #1: Shō - Apply Heat!" Like before, a minor concussive blast shot from her outstretched fingers, except this time when it struck the frozen-over dummy, the ice suddenly melted and evaporated into a cloud of steam. "Genso Kakusan is a unique spell that allows me to change or apply new traits to any other spell. You're right that it took a lot of practice Aoyama-san, especially because I've never been particularly great at anything! But, with a lot of studying, time, and effort, I managed to create it. You say you're inexperienced, so if I may impart one bit of wisdom: In battle, versatility is key! That is why I made Genso Kakusan, so I can be better prepared for the varied threats out there. You can definitely get there too if you stay focused and confident, Aoyama-san! And sorry for talking your ear off!" It was Mizu's turn to flush red out of embarrassment.

Mizu's encouragement brought a bright smile to Hana's face. She felt welcome in this Division. It wasn't like she didn't feel welcome in her own, but old stories about the Gotei Thirteen and the separation of Division had her thinking a lot of old loyalty and competition mindsets may still be going around. She had been lucky meeting the people she had, and Mizu's kind greeting was proof of that.

Hana's eyes widened when the next spell Mizu cast was a heat based one. The ice melted to the point of evaporation and steam was coming off the target. Hana's jaw actually dropped. She never heard of anything like this. "So, the Eighth is not only filled with kind people, but utter geniuses," Hana said before Mizu spoke up again.

"Oh, don't apologize at all," Hana said, giggling a bit. She looked at both of her own hands for a few moments, wondering if she could ever use Mizu's spell. "I'm surprised you'd say you weren't good at anything," Hana said with an excited smile. "That isn't just good, that is pure brilliance. You alter spells for the sake of versatility? Be proud of that. It's amazing! I, on the other hand, am struggling to keep power in my kido. My Byakurai's either fizzle out or fall to the ground like an arrow losing its momentum...Do... Do you think you could help me? That may be rude, and I apologize, but I admit I am stuck. I have been stuck for a while now."

At being called a genius Mizu almost-comically recoiled and blushed profusely, as if Hana had said something horribly salacious. Throughout her entire life, no matter where she was or what she was doing, nobody had ever referred to her as a genius without an amount of sarcasm dripping from the word. Even with every seemingly every minute of every day dedicated to training and learning, she had barely graduated from the Shin'o Academy in the standard six years. Then as a member of the Gotei, she was never anything special compared to her peers; she merely did more paperwork and put forth more effort. In her eyes she wasn't even close to a genius, just someone doing her best to keep up with everyone.

Mizu quickly sought to downplay her spell, not wanting Hana to get the wrong idea about her or her abilities, and desperately did so as she waved both hands in front of her like she was surrendering "O-oh, no, Aoyama-san, it's nothing! Really! My abilities pale in comparison to so many great Shinigami! I'm just doing my best to work hard and be successful on missions, t-that's all!' Hana's description of her struggles with basic spells reminded her of herself, and so Mizu quickly jumped at the opportunity to help her "But I am more than glad to help, if I can! Would you mind demonstrating what you mean on this training dummy?"

Hana kept up her smile, but she had to admit she felt bad that Mizu didn't get how great she was. To be able to alter spells that had been established for over a century with different elements was definitely a feat to be praised and celebrated. Mizu's reaction told Hana to hold back a bit, at least for now. They had just met, so maybe if they became good friends, they could visit the brilliance of it again later on in life. Until then, Hana relented and chose to be happy with any help Mizu was willing to give. She gave a nod to Mizu's request and turned to the dummy.

"Thank you," Hana smiled, "I really am grateful. Also, a quick reminder that I really am bad at this, so please, don't laugh... at least not too hard."

Hana took a deep breath and aimed her index and middle finger at the target. She used to try it with one figure, but wondered if that was her problem, so she had recently changed. "Hadō number four, Byakurai," Hana called out, though with little confidence. As her energy came together to form the kido, it was unstable and weak, as if there wasn't enough being pushed into it. A slow beam of lightning-looking energy shot toward the target. It appeared as Byakurai should, but the weak energy caused it to fizzle out before hitting the target. Hana dropped her arms back to her side, and sighed before puffing up her cheeks in a childish pout.

"I have no idea how I passed the Academy," Hana said, shaking her head in shame.

Mizu nodded her head Hana thanked her. Considering how far behind everyone else she'd been for practically her entire life, to be able to offer any amount of assistance for another Shinigami was both a great honor and highly gratifying for her. Of course she didn't even consider the possibility of laughing at or mocking this woman just because she's not as good as she'd like to be, and the deadly-serious look on the diminutive blond's face showed this. Mizu was as focused as she could be on analyzing Hana's form and energy output as she cast her spell.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Aoyama-san! Besides the fact I'm positive you have many great attributes that make you a worthy Shinigami, confidence is really important when using Kidō. If you think you can't swing a sword, you won't be able to swing a sword; the same applies to Demon Arts!" Mizu took a moment to consider her next words before continuing on "What helps me is to consider Kidō as like a symbiotic living force. If you're meek, it will be meek. If you're confident, it will be confident! You have to focus on your energy, focus that energy into the spell, and know exactly how you want to use that spell."

To emphasize her point Mizu turned to another training dummy and extended a finger in its direction "Hadō #4: Byakurai!" Her golden gaze and casting arm never wavered as an azure bolt of energy fired from her fingertip which pierced the dummy's midsection as though it weren't there. "Stay focused, and follow through. Now! Try again, Aoyama-san!"

Mizu was on the mark. Hana had little-to-no confidence in her kido, and because of that never put enough oomph into her spells. She always seemed to hold back, like she wasn't sure the right amount of seasoning to put in a recipe and didn't want to overdo it. Too much salt could ruin a whole meal! So, she was overly cautious.

"Confidence..." Hana muttered, looking at her hand. She wasn't sure how to come away from being meek. Looking up from her hand, she watched Mizu perform Byakurai flawlessly. Seeing Mizu succeed brought a smile to her face. And then something Mizu said caused Hana to tilt her head, curious about the intention.

Focus... on what?

With Mizu's encouragement, Hana stepped in front of the target. She began running through things to focus on: the spell, the target, her energy? She had done all of that and what Mizu said she was lacking was confidence, not technique. With that in mind, Hana went through a few of her memories to find a time she felt confident, but found none. The closest was when she was with Hiroe and Cala, but was that really confidence in those memories? Oh well, it was what she had.

Taking a deep breath, Hana pointed at the target. "Hadō number four, Byakurai!" This time, Hana's energy was more stable, but didn't go anywhere. At the moment of firing, Hana hesitated and didn't let the energy loose. Any determination she had in that moment was blocked by doubt and fear of failure. The energy she held backfired and shot back through her hand. While not too damaging, her skin was a little burnt. Hana hissed in pain and waved her hand, hopping from the shock.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow..." Hana said. "That hurt... Ow... What do you focus on? I tried focusing on a day I was happy because focusing on the spell never worked..."