Trainin with Aoi!

"When it comes to vaulting over things while running and such I'm not really that good, kinda clumsy at it to be honest. Though I guess that's just something I'll need to improve on later, especially if I really need to get away from something." He said, his final words more to himself than Aoi as he entered the clearing soon after she'd taken off the first layer of her uniform.

Well, he wasn't turning away from her stripping this time. That was good? Though she missed the blushes... Aoi put her folded up uniform under a tree and moved in front of Rin, before starting to circle him while hming and looking at his body. Reaching his front again, she felt up his arms and then ran a hand down his chest.

"Not much muscle tone... but you don't need that to be good at dodging, what you need are reflexes. Honed reflexes. Once you get those down you can start to attack back. Now, I'll show you what I mean. Use your whip and try to hit me. Don't worry, the worst that will happen is I get hit and be fine."

Aoi jumped back about two feet and moved into a stance with her legs spread slightly, one behind the other and her upper body bent slightly forward.

He wasn't expecting the inspection Aoi was doing on it, even if it was just to see his muscle tone, so he was a little red in the face once her hand went down his chest. "Ah, y-yeah right." He wasn't sure about trying to hit her, but he knew without a doubt she was stronger, and likely wouldn't be hurt like she said...still...

With a breath after she'd backed away, Rin repeated his movements from the first time he'd revealed his abilities to Aoi, ripping his scarf from himself as it glimmered and changed it's form but instead of simply cracking it into the air as he'd done before, he'd aimed it at Aoi as she'd instructed, out of instinct going for a head-shot from the beginning.

As Rin summoned forth his power, Aoi was also trying to memorize his spiritual energy so she could make sure she could pinpoint him. His whip aimed straight for her head, a good sign to Aoi showing he was at least practiced in getting rid of hollows, and she followed it with her eyes until at the last second she dropped down to avoid the attack. Before his whip had even stopped its passage, she pushed off the ground and came right up to Rin, her hand wrapped gently around his neck. Unless he was paying attention, she probably moved at a blurring pace. "You are open after you attack. Any thinking hollow would be able to get you then, even other fullbringers or Quincies. Not all of the spiritually aware are kind or approachable."

Aoi's normally cheerful face and voice had gone... almost razor sharp. Her bright blue eyes were darker than usual and she had a bit of a smirk gracing her lips. She still hadn't let go of his neck and was right up against him. "So what do you think you should do once you attack? Should you stay in one place?"

At her sudden appearance in front of him he was almost taken aback, he'd expected her to be fast but that fast? Now wasn't the time to get flustered at her closeness as hard as that was but Rin's mind was on her question, her hand was around his neck, and he needed to think quick.

If he were to move in the middle of the attack, his blow wouldn't make contact or it had the possibility of changing direction...he was only used to making head shots on the beast-like hollows and being done with it but...there was still one thing but that wasn't anything he could do now...not when she was this close.

'Nng...' He couldn't move fast like her, as far as he knew he didn't possess any other abilities than his weapon...

"Riiiin~ You are thinking too slow. I even gave you the answer too, hmph." This slightly different Aoi still pouted, but it was more angry than before. She jumped back from the human, ending up in a tree as she looked down. "You get out of the way. You keep moving even while attacking, standing in one place is tantamount to dying."

"Attack me again, this time use any means necessary. I'll slow myself down so you have a chance to dodge, but if you don't even try..." Her smile was one of a mischievousness, playful and more than a bit of danger.

Aoi was...a lot different when she was serious, in a sense, it was intimidating, but he had to keep going. He couldn't make it seem like he was a complete failure...

Instead of staying in one spot, Rin moved, running off to the side before striking again, bringing his arm down with his strike hard, seemingly aiming for another head shot, but at the last moment moving his arm to direct the whip's blow to the side of her knee.

As his attack came in, Aoi watched the trajectory of the whip and flipped herself to her hands to avoid it. However this was a bad move, as it sliced open her arm slightly through the suit. She pushed off of her arms, smiling widely as she landed on her feet, a bit of blood falling to the ground.

The shinigami then came after the moving Rin, moving her arm rather slowly as she reached for his head. He could potentially push it away with his arm or dodge it... Maybe?

Rin hadn't failed to notice the blood, which automatically worried him, Aoi didn't seem bothered by it though and continued for him. As quickly as he could, he moved back, bringing his whip up to her outstretched arm, but instead of attempting a hit, he maneuvered the length of the whip to attempt to coil around her arm, to contain her, if successful, he meant to pull back, dragging her towards him in the process.

Aoi's outstretched arm was the hurt one, so while she was proud of Rin for dodging (and honestly letting her guard down way too much) she ended up caught by his play. She was severely underestimating him to her disadvantage, and Aoi let out a small gasp of pain as the whip wrapped around her arm. It yanked her towards Rin, so she let herself be, wondering what he would do next. This could help her stop underestimating him if she knew how he fought... It would also help hew know what to do.

He winced to himself when he heard the gasp, and honestly he felt horrible for what he'd done, even if she'd told him to attack. He still hadn't wanted to actually hurt her. Once she was close enough, his free hand went to grip the shoulder of her uninjured arm. They were close, and under normal circumstances this proximity would embarrass him but he felt too bad to feel embarrassed at the time being.

"This would be the time where'd I'd hit you or dodge and let you slam face first into a building or something...sorry, but even if we're just training I can't bring myself to do that against you. Your arm isn't hurting too bad now is it?" His mouth was near her ear, and he was speaking quietly, his voice filled with a mixture of concern and regret. "I'm too soft, I know."

Her wicked grin came to an end as she was pulled against Rin, letting out a startled squeak. The whip unwound from her arm as he spoke, but she had expected another attack to follow so now she was bright red. It was possible he felt the heat from her face as he leaned down and whispered in her ear.

Oh so that's how it would work. Aoi had never seen a whip user in action before, so honestly all she could have helped with is dodging. Which wouldn't do him much good if he couldn't attack at the same time. But this...this was interesting. So he could do it, just wasn't as practiced and also didn't want to hurt her more.

Even this protracted thought process wasn't enough to make her stop thinking about him holding her, instead of her holding him. "I-I'm perfectly fine Rin Rin, I just wasn't expecting it and its my own fault. I've had much worse injuries."

She slipped the not bleeding arm around his body, leaning against Rin and sighing, trying to get her arm away from his clothes so they wouldn't bleed on them. "You aren't too soft, I'm sorry for doing this to you without warning... I wanted to see how you would react and attack first hand, and I underestimated you a bit."

He let out a sigh of relief, "I'm glad you're not hurt too badly, though I still feel bad." He had drawn blood after all...

"I've practiced before, on my own but mostly just with the trees. Had we gone further into the forest you'd probably start seeing some of the damaged ones. I guess my biggest handicap is only being able to move at a human's pace...then again, I guess that can't be helped." He said with a small shrug.

Only when her arm went around him and more of her weight settled on him did he remember how close he'd actually pulled her, which he felt his face heat up for in reaction. "S-sorry, again...If you want...ah..um..I could make it up to you somehow." He remembered noticing her box of sweets she'd gotten was empty, perhaps he could get her more of those, she'd liked them a lot from what he remembered.

"Its just a scratch, really its fine. It should heal up in no time." Aoi rolled her eyes at his worry and bad feelings, burying her face in his chest. With the shade from the trees, she couldn't tell if his shirt had blood on it or not... Maybe if she... kept this position she could smell any...

When she heard him speak, Aoi listened thoughtfully for a second before replying, her voice muffed from her position. "I can look it up when I get back. There are some fast moving techniques that each of the races seem to know... Maybe fullbringers have one?"

"No...sorries..." Aoi went red as he asked if she wanted something to make up for it. It was different from yesterday, where she had been a bit more in self denial about things. She still was but.. it was harder to fight those voices in her head that made sure she paid attention to things when he was so close she could almost smell his body wash. "Erm...You could...kiss me..."

Those last words were very muffled and quiet and she meeped a bit after she spoke them. Aoi was surprised at herself and kept her face where it was. She didn't want him to have heard it or see her now.

Quote :

"I can look it up when I get back. There are some fast moving techniques that each of the races seem to know... Maybe fullbringers have one?"

"There are?" Rin was slightly surprised by this news, such a technique could come in handy for him, it'd definitely help him improve. "If there is one for fulllbringers then that'd be great."

After that, he noticed her become a bit more...shy, in response to his last question. Why though? He noticed her begin to speak again, and lowered his head slightly in attempt to hear her. Her voice was extremely quiet, and it'd taken a few moments for him to make out what she'd said.

At her request, he felt his face turn even redder, she wanted...she wanted a...Rin swallowed a nervous breath, "I...Is...that...what you really want?"

"I can show you the shinigami one in a bit... But I might have to find another one like you, to see what they know." Aoi couldn't focus too much on that thought, because she honestly wasn't sure how she'd find out... Maybe she could try to teach him how to shunpo? And hope it worked the same for humans...

"...No... Don't kiss me. Please don't." Aoi realized what she was asking of Rin, her face almost ready to explode. How could she ask someone like him to do that to her? She could to him but... that was almost too much. "I...don't... want to make... you feel obligated... I'm being selfish... I'm sorry."

"It...I-i-i's not that...ahh..hem..." He diverted his eyes, even though she wasn't looking at him he still felt the need to look somewhere else. "I..it's not that I..I'd be ma...making myself...Ehh...If..If you really don't...don't want me to though I won't."

He was almost in disbelief this conversation was even happening, yesterday he'd probably be rendered speechless by it but somehow he was able to bring himself to talk now.

"!!!" Aoi made a squeaking sound as she listened to Rin, her other arm going around him in her inability to pay too much attention to it. It was probably sealed up by now, no longer bleeding... She kept her face down still, knowing that she couldn't look him in his pretty eyes and say it.

"If...its n-not making... y-you..." She could do it. She could say it. She could ask! "P-please, Rin?"

All she could get out was a whisper and she gulped at the end of it. Why couldn't she get a hollow alert or something right now, to stop her mad brain from thinking this was a good idea.

He noticed her grip on him tighten, had she been this nervous yesterday? Perhaps when she'd cocooned herself in the blanket? He'd been able to help her recover from that quickly though with a book. That wasn't the case here though.

Taking a breath to calm himself, Rin moved his hand to gently place it on her cheek and bring her head up. He could see how red in the face she was now, but he supposed he didn't look any better. Without letting the silence last too long he moved in, placing his lips softly against her's while applying slight pressure before holding the kiss.

After a moment, which seemed more like hours to Rin, he pulled back, opening his eyes which immediately diverted from Aoi's as nervousness took the reigns again. "H-...How...How was...that?"

Rin was utterly cute. It was all Aoi could think of as he lifted her head up, she was barely able to help. She felt like she would blister his hand from the heat irradiating from her face, and then as his lips touched hers she wondered whose face was more red... Aoi could almost feel the heat from his face next to hers and then she stopped thinking for a few precious moments.

It was very nice. Very very nice... Rin pulled away and Aoi almost whispered no, more but caught herself in time to make it just a quick intake of breath followed by a small sigh. She opened her blue eyes to look up at him, smiling a bit worriedly. "Thank you. You didn't have to... if... it was not...I know you are honorable..."

"It's...It's fine, really." Rin replied, trying to reassure her even with his nervous tone.

That'd been the first time he'd ever been the one to...initiate a kiss, so he'd only had the knowledge of the things he'd written and the kisses Aoi had given him yesterday to go by, so he'd been a bit...worried it'd end horribly but...she seemed content with it...

"...Mer." Aoi pursed her lips and let go of Rin, to place both her hands on his cheeks and turn his head so he was looking at her squarely. She looked a bit sad, all the mischievous or blushing gone now from her eyes and face. "Listen Rin. You should never kiss me again unless you want to. I won't make you do that and use your honor like that again. I'm really sorry... And I can go if you want me to."

"H..Huh?" Rin blinked once, twice...She looked...sad? She was apologizing again, though, he couldn't exactly say anything about that, he'd been apologizing a lot lately as well it seemed. So he couldn't be one to judge. "Y...You don't need to..to go." He said, wishing he could look away again because he felt more embarrassment creeping up within him, "a...and it wasn't like...I...I didn't like it or anything."

Aoi let go of Rin's cheeks, looking at him curiously. He... was avoiding answering anything about what he wanted. He was kind of ambiguous on that topic, saying you don't need to go, and it wasn't like I didn't like it... was he... In his own weird way saying that... he liked it too? Or wanted to?

Let it never be said Aoi wasn't...somewhat observant. However she didn't want to assume, so she took a step back and turned around so her back was facing him. "You are very kind and sweet. You should tell me outright what you want and feel you know, I am pretty dense, Rin. I don't want to take advantage of that kindness."

"E...Eh, I..." Rin let out a breath, it wasn't easy for him to just outright say things, especially when it related to his feelings. Just getting out that previous statement was hard in it's own right. "You're not taking advantage." He said, his voice more straight and calm on that statement, as it was much easier for him to say. "As for...saying...outright...I...I...liked it..." Like many times before his final words were quieter, them having been more of a challenge to get out.