Saint Joseph School

It was like art. Body moving in perfect time, flowing this way, moving that way, Eyes locked in on a striking point, the world around her targets hushed to a low din in the roar and frenzy of combat.

Reimi lived for it almost, there was a certain adrenaline rush to letting Hachiko take over, the screaming battle fury in her head as the two of them flowed as one being, parrying a switchblade and smashing home a slicing attack upon a thug as he tried to pull a gun.

Surveying the scene in the alleyway around her, Reimi grinned as she slapped zig zappers onto the muggers and walked the purse over to the woman who it belonged to. "Here ya go miss. Uh..sorry about the scare"

"Sloppy."

Reimi blinked, that was a new one. usually people either just meekly thanked her or ran away from the scary pale girl "Er..what?"

"Your form. Oh sure, you're got something of a talent for movement, and the other you inside your head seems reasonably competent..but you're nowhere near in sync enough with her . Your body doesn't have the training to keep up with her. Your guard is full of holes, you let your hot headedness think for you rather than using it as a weapon, and you have no formal training in swordsmanship."

Reimi frowned..having her skill commented on wasnt exactly what she would call a pleasant feeling, even if some bit of her head knew all of it was true. Even so, she wasnt about to take it lying down "say's the lady who got her purse snatched"

The old woman giggled a bit and grinned "Well, yes. Most older people are smart enough to realize humans arent very resistant to guns. This isnt like the tv shows where martial arts makes you able to dodge a .45, dear."

"Granted..but uh..whats your point here?" Reimi frowned, tapping her foot impatiently

"My point is, I'm offering to train you." The old lady produced an address on a slip of paper, handing it to Reimi. "Show up or not, its your decision."

Reimi blinked, watching the old woman walk away.

Parry. Thrust. Swing. THUD.

"Ow!" Reimi growled, holding her head as the wooden sword came down hard on her head from the old lady "The heck!"

The old woman sighed, shaking her head "Yet again, too many openings in your defense. You're letting bloodlust overtake your senses and its costing you"

"Well, sorry! You think this stuff is easy?" Reimi frowned, looking more frustrated than anything.

"No, I don't. And thats why you have to try harder. You won't do any good for the world if you end up against a superior opponent and get crushed." The old woman sighed, shaking her head at her new charge.

Reimi sighed again "S..sorry. I know yer just tryin to help me out.."

The woman smirked, nodding "See? Now you're getting it. Slowly anyhow. Control your fighting impulses and seek compromise before violence. Now, come at me again"

The woman dropped back into a defensive stance as reimi readied herself and charged in, swinging with all her might upon a perceived weakness, only for the woman to shift her position unexpectidly and parry before pulling a dagger out from her sleeve and pointing it at a now trapped reimi's neck.

"Oh..and lesson two? Never show the opponent all your aces" The woman grinned.

"'...r...right"

Reimi sat down on the edge of a skyscraper, watching the bustle of the city below while mentally reviewing her week. She still wasnt completely sure just how she ended up being trained by some old lady who seemed to know way too much about her powers for it to just be coincidence, but at the same time, she admitted she was nowhere near prepared enough to fight the really big stuff solo as she was.

"Aw man.." She sighed, manifesting Hachiko and eying the spirit sword that was an integral part of herself, waving it in the air quietly "Who'd've thunk there'd be so much to this whole superhero thing?"

Reimi's mind continued to wander, thinking about the party on prom night, and blushing a fierce red at what little she could remember she had done in that drunken haze, before thoughts of who else had attended brought her back to frowning just a little.

She stood, taking a few practice swings and running through a basic kata her trainer had taught her for refocusing her thoughts..but no matter which way she went her mind continued wandering, so she simply decided to let it.

"Well..I suppose its okay..I mean..It was a party..not like anybody acted like they hated me neither.." Reimi frowned, scratching her head and sighing again "I'm sure the rumor mill's gonna have a field day though with it.."

Reimi glanced down at her watch as it beeped, shrugging and remanifesting her ectoplasmic form to fly back to class.

The Old woman hated to admit it, but the girl had potential. Her movements were crude, she let her anger control her far too often, and just today she had came in on the warpath talking something about a prank on her dorm. But then again, that sort of drive could take the girl far if she would simply focus.

Of course, that didnt exactly mean it was going to happen anytime soon.

All she could do was chuckle a little as Reimi managed to take the brunt of her stress out on a training dummy

"When you're quite done, we can start today's training"

Reimi looked up, blinking a bit and grinning sheepishly "Uh..right. Sorry. Got a bit..Uh..overzealous. I think."

"Indeed. Anyhow, today we're simply going to discuss things. How have you been doing? Any strange dreams?"

"Uh.. a few maybe?"

"Such as?"

"Well..Uh..sometimes I like..see this forest..and bandits..and then i think theres a big fight or somethin. other times I'm just running and like panicking"

"Hm..Indeed."

Reimi raised a brow "that bad?"

She shook her head "it's nothing, you're free for the day."

Reimi shrugged, grabbing her bag and heading out the door. The old woman sighed and glanced at a book sitting on her desk momentarily, before frowning and going to shut the warehouse lights off