Less than a rookie (open)

The air was still today; it only emphasised the heat though. Kaiyo walked, barefoot along the grass, her eyes flickering left to right as she watched the various pairs around her sparring. The girl winced for each combatant, every strike that pounded deeply against bare flesh; it was quite difficult for the girl to watch. Still, one week into her Academy life and she felt just as lost as the day she woke up in Soul Society. Kaiyo knew most people in her class, but more as friendly acquaintances. Her tanned skin bathed in the sun as she moved, wearing no more than a t-shirt and shorts. Not exactly regulation uniform but in such weather nobody exactly minded. The girl's athletic figure made her look more combat ready than she actually was. In fact it was only by chance that she'd ended up even remotely near the sparring grounds.

About a week ago, Kaiyo had seen a poster calling for Rookie's who wanted extra combat experience to head to the sparring grounds today...Out on a walk, the girl had probably just remembered the poster and decided to go have a look. She didn't even have her sword with her. No, that blade she was still convinced was not her own. It just seemed wrong, that her Zanpakuto could look so dark and evil; so cold...The blade itself seemed more callous and vicious than she could surely ever be. She shuddered at the thought.

Drawing her attention back to the vast grounds around her, she couldn't quite make out if anyone was even around to teach the rookies. It just seemed like a lot of different partners fighting. Kaiyo didn't even feel like she was at rookie level yet though. So far she'd been able to avoid any real combat, her speed alone meant that for the class times, she could just avoid the strikes without having to really fight back. She knew already though, that plan wouldn't last for too long.

"Well I guess I'm here", Hayate muttered to himself. He was looking around the grounds in anticipation. "So, what do I do now?", he thought as he lay below a tree. He silently watched, and waited, for something to happen. He had been waiting for this day, after all, he was an utter rookie, no, worse. He just joined the Academy two days earlier, obviously he didn't expect to be thrown in battle against super-powerful hollows.

The day was awfully hot, and finding that cool spot under a tree, his eyes started becoming drowsy. "Oh, well. Might as well get some shut-eye" he thought as his eyes started closing and as he fell into sleep.

Tariasha walked among the sparring grounds, he remembered his days at the Shinigami academy, it hurt. He had only recently graduated from it into squad 5 and was already enroled into helping with the sparring of the new rookies. His eyes scanned the area for anyone who was being picked, thsi was his first memories of the training grounds. Tariasha's eyes closed on a young girl, who seemed to be wandering around the grounds watching people fight, was she even in the academy? She wasn't wearing her Gi if she was. Looking further at her he saw that she was not keen on fighting, and seemed a little lost on why people would do this, and even more on where to begin. His eyes switched to another target, a boy laying against a tree sleeping. Tariasha had his route planned he would grab the boy and move him over to spar with the girl, with his supervision over the spar nothing could go wrong.

As he walked he grabbed the boy by the shoulder. 'Get up, lets go and find you a partner' the boy still in his sleepy daze was being dragged by Tariasha, who headed over to the girl (who was admittedly good looking).

'Hey you alright? your looking a bit lost, so i have brought you over a partner.' he ran over to pick up a couple of wooden swords and handed them over to the boy and girl. 'Here you may need these'

"Wait what? Who are you?" Hayate muttered in a half asleep state, as his eyes opened he noticed the other person's black robes. He immediately knew he was a shinigami. "Uhh, you are a shinigami right? Why are you here? Wooden Swords? I need to fight her?" He picked up the sword and started examining it.

Kaiyo whipped around with a frantic look, oblvious to the two men who had seemingly appeared from nowhere behind her. She smiled weakly, 'A...A partner?' she repeated. Uncertain by what the shinigami really meant by such a statement. Or rather, why he assumed she would want a partner to fight with. Rather taken a-back by the entire situation, Kaiyo smiled weakly at the fellow student. He himself at least seemed more like he could fight. This worried her greatly.

Her mouth felt dry, it was the worry and no doubt the heat didn't help. Dropping her jaw just slightly a-jar to mention that she wasn't in need of a fight, not now or for the forseeable future. The girl's blue eyes dropped to the wooden sword handed to her. Her stomach did a backflip. Already a mild shake had made its way into her hands, she tensed the muscles along her arm to hide it. The sword was heavier than she expected, as the blade tip dropped down into the soft grass, just missing her bare toes. 'Erm...I'm not sure, i'm, ready, for a fight right now' she smiled weakly at the nameless shinigami, not trying to appear rude.

Tariasha was surprised that she did not want to spar with the young man, was it that she didn't want to be hit, or didn't want to be hitting another person?; no that couldn't be it otherwise she wouldn't be at the training grounds. Not ready for a fight? he chuckled, maybe he should show her a thing or two to boost her confidence. Do you mind me showing you a few techniques that I was taught in my academy days? whether she answered yes didn't matter; the young man was itching for a go at sparring, whether it was the girl or anyone else. Remember, in training there is nothing to be afraid of, except a few bruises; and in time, there will be no bruises, as your opponent will not be able to touch you as your skill improves

Tariasha picked up wooden sword and took his stance opposite the man, his hands were loose around the sword, but tight enough so that he would not lose his grip, his feet were shoulder width apart and were tensed ready for any quick movements. He wouldn't go all out, as it was obviously a new student, and what impression would that be to leave him, or even the impression of himself on both the boy and the girl. He knew that waiting on the young man to make his move would mean he would be on the defence, and hopefully show the young woman that defending yourself is no hard work, those who do it wrong are hit, they are normally the ones who don't know how to do it.

Hayate didn't quite comprehend the situation. He looked towards the shinigami dressed in black (like all others in the Gotei 13). "I have to fight you then? But I don't even know how to swing a sword..I mean I just joined two days ago" He picked up the wooden sword. He couldn't understand exactly why, but he felt a rush of excitement as he gripped the sword handle. It seemed like he wanted to fight.

He gripped it tightly and improved his stance. "I guess I'll start then." He drew his sword behind, and went running towards the shinigami. "Here I come!"

'Here I come!' Tariasha had expected him to come flying towards, him, but not this fast, he dodged the boy casually tripping him over, chcukling to himself; it was just what he did when he first joined the academy, he was young and naiive back then, and had grown a whole lot stronger and quicker since then. So..... sorry i dont believe i have your names, kind of hard to talk to someone without there names' he smiled politely. 'Ill go first, my name is Tariasha Getsu, i am unseated in squad 5, but that is changing very soon, he lookede- to the boy on the floor and to the girl who was watching, hoping that they would reply to him.

'Ill go first, my name is Tariasha Getsu, i am unseated in squad 5, but that is changing very soon' Hayate regained his composure as he stood up. He used his hands to remove the dirt. "I'm Hayate Inoguchi, erm...Shinigami in training." He took his sword again bracing for the next attack. "You can't dodge every time can you? I'm bound to hit you soon enough." He went to attack. He seemingly went for the the body but at the last moment changed to an attack to the knees, hoping it would hit him.

Tariasha let the kid go for his knee, but at the last moment he lifted his leg, the knee was a crucial spot and letting the boy hit it was not a good idea at all. He didn't wince when the blow hit his leg, as this might send the wrong idea to the young woman next to him. Instead he dropped his wooden sword and clapped, Well done, nice switch to the knee but wa to obvious try reversing the attack next time so that you go for the other leg' The kid had talent and it was obvious, he said to the girl 'If you don't fancy fighting then come over to the dummies and try a bit on them, im sure they wont mind', he turned to the kid and said to him 'When you get out of the Academy, come and join squad 5, I like you', he then walked towards the dummies, there was not much ltime left in the day; he knew he had to get her to do something.

He wasn't satisfied with that much training. He wanted to become stronger, no matter what. He died protecting a person, so he felt he was destined to become someone who protects people. Plus, he wants to make Santa-sama proud. He saw the shinigami guiding the girl to the dummies. "That's it then? Then I guess I'll head towards the dummies too". He quickly caught up to them. He was fast, he always has been. He knew there were only a few people who could keep up with him. But he was not fully happy, he thought speed is for cowards who escape. He wanted strength and lots of it, but sadly he was not lucky enough to get what he wanted.

A wave of panic flushed over the girl, her face burning bright red in worry. She's been fine just wincing- watching, the two men spar, she didn't feel any desire to try attacking something herself. Still, the chain of command tugged at the back of her mind and she obediently nodded. Stepping towards the dummies, fighting her own body to even move towards them.

Kaiyo could feel her muscles tense up as she stood square on at the training dummy. Whipping her head to the side, her large eyes screamed for help from the squad 5 man. 'Erm, I think i'm not really a head on kind of fighter' she mumbled. Kaiyo could run away like nobody's business, but she wasn't comfortable fighting and it showed. More and more she'd been doubting her decision to join the Soul Reaper Academy...She doubted this man could change her mind. The heat of the day felt all that more extreme under the pressure of her task, and the practice sword she'd been given seemed so solid on the ground she doubted she could move it if she tried; her resolve just wasn't there.

'Erm, I think i'm not really a head on kind of fighter' Tariasha looked towards the girl and smiled. 'Don't worry if you can't fight head on....' Tariasha stepped close towards the girl, he waqsn't sure if talking about this in a public place was allowed, but he stepped close so that only she could hear what he was about to say. 'Squad 2' Them two words could be dangerous, he knew that as the Stealth Force they could be hearing him right now, but he couldn't let the girl stand there and watch everyone else practice, and not do anything herself; there would be no chance for achievement in that.

'What I mean is, if you don't want to fight, there is always that opportunity, its a long an hard road to which many have quit out on; however, I think that if you try hard enough you may enter into the Stealth force' He looked at the girl, she seemed tired and not bothered with the training, and he knew that nothing he could say would make her go back to practicing today; he looked up towards the sun, its bright rays casting a spell of heat over the training grounds. 'I think I may go and grab something to eat sometime soon, maybe something cold, would you two like to join me?' His question was now not just aimed at the girl but also at the young boy, who seemed to be happily swinging away and damaging the training dummy.