Planning and Deciding -Open if anyone-

[Mihoko]

Mihoko smiled big when he pat her on the head. She stuck out her tongue at him playfully. Hiraku was a good man, but that nightmare seemed so real to her. It didn't matter anymore. She was awake now and he wasn't gone. He took a peek at her neck and told her that there was a bruise there. Hiraku simply told her that her body was just reacting to the dream. The redhead nodded slowly, running her fingers across her neck lightly.

"Oh, I get it. It's kind of like those rare cases when women have hysterical pregnancies. At least in my case, my body was tricked into thinking that it got a love bite. Well, if it was just that, I need not worry. Thank you, Hiraku."

Mihoko noticed that he kept looking out of the window occasionally. She wasn't sure why he did it, but she wasn't going to question him. He told her that his neighbors would be dealt with if they complained about the noise. The demon rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. He laughed and this caused her ears to twitch slightly. She watched as he walked across the room to retrieve his gun. The girl yawned and started rubbing her eyes once more. She was getting tired.

"Oh, ha, ha. I won't do anything funny. I'll wear pants, I'll wear pants...." Mihoko said sarcastically folding her arms and gazing out the window. There wasn't much going on outside. The traffic lights changed colors periodically even though there were no cars in sight. She didn't spot any women on the corners, trying to pick up customers. If there were no people out, it must have been way passed midnight. She turned her attention back toward Hiraku, but he wasn't in the room anymore. She climbed out of bed and put her pants back on, taking off the suspenders. She grabbed the blanket and scooped up Emily in her arms, rushing for his bedroom.

"Okay, okay. I'm here now. I have pants on so you don't have to worry or feel embarrassed. I even brought the blanket like I said I wou---" Mihoko was pretty clumsy at times. She had accidentally stepped on the blanket because it was dragging on the floor. She slipped and fell forward. Since the blanket was in the way, her face did not come into contact with the floor. She looked up at him and grinned widely, laughing. She got to her feet and picked up Emily and the blanket. The child sat the doll at the end of the bed and climbed in, curling up with the cover that she brought with her. She wiggled toward the end of the bed as well and rested her head on the pillow.

"Told you I would sleep at the other end of the bed. Aren't you going to go back to sleep as well? I bet you're scared that I'll kick and punch you in my sleep. I don't think I've ever done that before. Zeke would know, I guess. We used to live in a three room apartment back in Fortuna,"

She got comfortable and closed her eyes. Mihoko thought back when everything in her eyes seemed okay in the world. She had both of her loving parents and an older sibling that she looked up to. "My papa decorated my room to my liking, but I never slept in that room, not once. I always sneaked into Zeke's room when our parents had gone to bed and I'd slip into bed with him."

She giggled to herself as she dwelt on the memory. Those were truly wonderful times and before Shinji even came into the picture. She opened her eyes to look at Hiraku. She brushed a few strands of hair out of her face and rolled over. She laid on her back and stared up at the ceiling. There was still so much that she didn't know about Hiraku. She wanted to know about his past, but she wasn't sure that he felt comfortable enough to tell her anything.

"I'll stop forcing myself to stay awake and sleep now..." She chuckled and rolled over for the final time. She was laying on her side, facing away from him. She blinked several times before letting her eyes close slowly. Mihoko yawned for the final time before falling asleep. Emily waddled toward the girl and sat down, resting her back up against her.

[Hiraku Takashi]

Hiraku whirled around as he heard a 'thud' not to far from him. Mihoko had tripped over what could of only been the blanket. He laughed shaking his head, “Your a little klutzy aren't you.” He said watching her get up seeing she was okay. He pulled the blinds on his window; yes he was being a little paranoid but it paid to have that in his line of work.

When Mihoko was a comfortable position in bed Hiraku began to walk over to the light switch. Emily even hopped up there; they did everything together it seemed. He was about to flip off the light when Mihoko began explaining her living situation back when she was home. He held is position his finger resting on top of the switch. He hoped that her brother was okay; so she could have more of a family than he did.

He looked over to see that she had finally closed her eyes and slipped into slumber. He clicked the light off, and walked over to the bed propped the pillow to where it was standing up with the head board. Hiraku then slipped of his shirt, and laid down he was sitting up on the head board using the pillow to make slightly more comfortable. He laid down on top of it looking over at her to make sure she was sleeping fine and then closed his eyes fading off in a light sleep.

Six hours went by and Hiraku woke up, and streched his arms out and yawned looking over to see Mihoko still snoozing. He figured it was time to get himself ready for training; he went into his kitchen and started preparing coffee. No it's not healthy but he wasn't exactly human and didn't need to worry about it. When it was done he pour himself and cup and put some sugar in it. He sipped it welcoming the soothing smell and the warm feel to his throat.

He walked back into his room and tapped the bed with his foot “Miho...its time to get up little one” he said rubbing some sleep out of his eye and sipping the coffee again.

[Mihoko]

Mihoko felt the bed move slightly and then heard Hiraku's voice. Her ears twitched when he said 'little one'. She was laying on her side, her back facing him. Her eyes were still closed, but she was awake. She was smiling big because of what he said. Emily took notice and smiled herself. The cat girl's tail flared up with excitement underneath the blanket. She rubbed her eyes and opened them, rolling over to face him. She greeted him with a wave and sat up.

"Good morning. May I eat something and brush my teeth before we start? I'm kind of hungry. Oh, and I know that I shouldn't eat anything too heavy. I thought toast with strawberry jelly would be okay. Do you have strawberry jelly, Hiraku? I don't like grape."

She rubbed all of the sleep from her eyes and fluffed her hair with her fingers. Instead of just sitting there in bed, she figured that she should get her shoes on. Mihoko didn't want to keep him waiting. She got out of bed and went into the living room. She grabbed her shoes and headed for the window, looking down below. There was a lot of activity going on that morning. Floods of people were scrambling around trying to dodge traffic as they crossed the busy streets. She had no clue what day it was, but figured that it was a week day since people were rushing around.

"Huh, people must be going to work, I guess. They're all running around like a chicken with its head chopped off. I hope they're careful." She stretched and put her shoes on quickly. She was getting ready to walk back into the guest room to retrieve her messenger bag, but she stopped when she noticed her shoelaces. The dark skinned girl already tripped the night before. Hiraku called her a klutz, but it was true. Mihoko got on one knee and tied her shoe, double tying it. She did the same for the other one. She stood up and hummed as she went into the guest room and remembered that she didn't need her bag.

"Oh, right. I'm so forgetful. Today's training doesn't involve weapons. I guess I can brush my teeth some other time. I just really want to start training. Forget the toast with jelly. I have a cereal bar in my bag." She scouted through the yellow bag and found a granola bar. She took it out of its wrapper and took a big bite. She chewed happily and reentered Hiraku's bedroom. She shoved the rest of the granola bar in her mouth and gave him a thumbs up. She was ready to go outside. Mihoko finished eating and bounced in place. She wasn't going to take Emily along. She was afraid that she would interfere.

"Are you ready? Come on, Hiraku! Come on, come on, come on."

[Hiraku Takashi]

Hiraku was about to say she could raid the fridge but she went into the living room and Hiraku sipped his coffee. “Normal people like their scheduled lives, I like to think it keeps them sane.” He said laughing thinking if anyone had to live the type of lives they had to live they might lose. He walked over to the door way of his room as Mihoko was tying her shoes. He could tell she really wanted to start, he looked outside the window he knew it would be a nice day to start. He began thinking of how they should begin.

He then watched as she tripped over thoughts revising everything she wanted to do very quickly. He laughed and polished off his coffee. After she came in and gave him the thumbs up he went into kitchen and put his cup back in the sink. He looked in the fridge and grabbed a bagel, and took a bite out of it. He walked over to the couch and grabbed his sword, he unlocked his door and said “Alright let's go outside and start”. He walked down the stairs and out the back door where there was a nice open area. It was big enough to have a small park swings and a jungle gym with extra grass area with a bench. “This should be good.” He finished off his bagel and walked to the bench and laid down his sword. He took off his jacket just having his shirt, he walked to the grass and said “Okay, I just need to see, get in your stance you would fight in.” He said crossing his arms.

[Mihoko]

She followed him out the door and down the stairs. He led her out of the building where there was a big opened space. Mihoko was very impressed by the location. This was plenty of room for them. She grinned and ran in the middle of the lot. She had to hold back her urge to run around. She needed to save her energy for training. She watched as Hiraku laid his sword down and asked to see her stance.

"Uh, my stance? Well, if you say so." She spread her legs apart and raised her fists. Her stance wasn't very bad, but it wasn't very good, either. Her legs were too far apart and her fists needed to be raised a little higher. She wondered what was going through his mind at that moment. He could have been picking out weak spots that were the most vulnerable. Mihoko was pretty decent at dodging and hoped that he would like to see that as well. She remained in her stance so he could analyze it. She needed to stay focused, but her mind was slipping elsewhere.

Please, please, please don't let this training session get too physical. Even if it does, I'll do everything in my power to dodge him. My plan is to avoid him as much as possible. I just hope he doesn't catch on. If he does, he might try even harder to find an opening...

[Hiraku Takashi]

He looked at her stance; he uncrossed his arms, got into his stance, his legs where staggered his knee bent a little. He hands raised one mid way to his chest and the other extended across from his neck. He looked at her “Okay first thing is something basic fighting stance there is more advanced positions but basics are good for any situation I have found” he explained holding his position. “I am going to show you whats wrong with your position.” He walked over to her and touched her knee “Bend it a bit but keep it a little tense” he stood up again and touched her her fists “get them in same position mine were in or other wise people can do this” he barely pushed her hands to where they touched her chest. “You also want to make sure you can keep your upper body guarded with your hands.” he explained

He didn't want to get to rough yet, he wanted to make sure she got the basics, even then it would be bad he would work at half speed. “Next we are going to work on points you should strike” He tapped her head “Here is not the best unless you know you know you can knock them out in one strike.” He tapped her abdomen “this is one of the best places here is where the solar plexus lies. If you can hit them there unless they have a ridiculous amount of muscle their breathe will be knocked out of their lungs.” he snapped his fingers “On that note remember breathing is everything in a fight.”

He stopped a minute so she could process and repeat what he had said to make sure it stuck.

[Mihoko]

"Wow, I'd feel sorry for anyone who got punched in the abdomen. That's some painful stuff right there." Mihoko said, fixing her stance. She bent her knees like he demonstrated and positioned her arms properly. She grew curious and started punching at the air. She was probably getting ahead of herself, but she just wanted to know what it felt like to punch now that she was in the correct stance. She smiled at him and stopped punching. She put her hands on her hips and wondered what was next. Was there a code that everyone followed during battle? There had to be some kind of rule that people didn't break.

"Hey, Hiraku. I have a question. Is there a code when it comes to fighting? There has to be rules, like, you aren't allowed to kick someone in the forbidden zone and stuff like that. I could be wrong, but I always thought that." She went back to practicing her stance. She was determined to make it flawless. The girl bent her knees and spread her legs apart, but not too far like last time. She raised her fists and looked down. She was making sure she was doing everything right. Mihoko was a stickler for perfecting things. She was a quick learner, but she wanted to perfect the stance before she moved on to something different. Her goal was to ultimately make Hiraku proud of her.

"We won't get to the more advanced stuff until a little later, right? I don't want to move too quickly. I want to memorize everything that you teach me today. It won't be very rewarding for either of us if it doesn't stick, you know."

[Hiraku Takashi]

“Yeah its not the greatest feeling every” Hiraku said he watched her carefully as she repositioned her fighting stance. She then started throwing punches after she had the stance, he had to say he was impressed with the strikes. They were quick, if she could keep her body moving that quick she could become a threat to someone very quickly. He stepped back and decided she knew the basics of striking already and was going to get into blocking. She was a very impressive learning, she kept surprising Hiraku with everything little thing she did.

“Code?” he said laughing “When fighting for your life? Not really. There is certain things you do treat with code...but when your fighting for your life there is no code but to survive. That is my belief.” He explained he watched her practice her stance he smiled “Hey remember don't put to much thought into this. It will become reaction eventually. In my experience a lot of fighting comes down to reactions.” he said “I do like the gusto you are showing” He positioned himself in his own stance it was relaxed, his left shoulder facing her his hands raised. “This is also some good advice, keep your shoulder to your opponent, it makes it harder to get in deadly strikes. Got it?”

“No not until later, when it comes to put some of this into practice I might show you some advance stuff, but we won't try it until you get the basics down.” he said as tightened his stance a bit. “Everything will take practice, not just memorization” he said “But you will get there, remember we have all day today.” he waved his hand “Now. Come at me, lets see some strikes.” he said motioning her with her with this hand. This was to show blocking and see if they needed to spend times on strikes, he didn't think they would need to but he would see shortly. “Come, when ever you are ready” he said calmly

[Mihoko]

Mihoko frowned. She was disappointed that there were no rules when it came to fighting. It didn't matter, really. The men who attacked her the night before weren't obeying any rules. It was most likely that Shinji wouldn't follow any code, either. Rules were meant to be broken anyway. She couldn't wait to test out the skills she learned from training. She wasn't going to deliberately stir up trouble just so she could fight, though.

"Huh, my shoulder should face my opponent. Like this? Am I doing it right?" She turned her body slightly so her shoulder was facing him. She raised her brow and nodded her head a bit. She wanted him to critique her stance. She raised her hands and smiled with confidence. The cat girl was so glad that she left Emily in the apartment. The doll probably would have nagged Hiraku about every little thing. Mihoko was determined to make Hiraku proud. He was an excellent teacher and she wanted him to know that through her training.

"You...you want me to start throwing punches at you? What if I hit you by accident!? I wouldn't forgive myself if I did that to you, ya know." He was an experienced fighter so there was a possibility that the girl wouldn't hit him. She wasn't going to start striking out of the blue. She wanted to give him a warning first. There was no such thing as a person giving their opponent a heads up before battle, but there was no harm in doing it now since it was only practice. She bit her lower lip and smirked, clenching her fists gently. She signaled to him with a quick wink and came at him. Her punches were swift and smooth. Mihoko was mostly focusing on the abdomen and the face. She remembered to take breathes since Hiraku told her that breathing was everything during a fight.

[Hiraku Takashi]

He watched her to get into position, her shoulder facing him. She put her hands up and was smiling, Hiraku smiled back at her. She was picking up everything with very little guidance. He was defiantly impressed, it also intrigued him to see how she would take to actual fighting. He loosened his stance a little he didn't want to go to hard on her when she was striking at him, he also didn't want to hurt her. “That's good your stance is very good” he said smiling at her.

“Yes swing at me, I am not fragile I will be okay” He laughed “Your not going to hurt me I promise”. He watched her body and her eyes very closely, even if she wanted to try she wasn't going to catch him off guard. She winked at him and lunged at him, her strikes were quick, and aimed for the two areas he had pointed out to her. Good; at least she was listening he thought grinning. He was blocking each strike as it came, dodging a few of them. They were quick but a little sloppy she seemed to keep herself open and not keeping a sturdy defense.

When one punch came he ducked under it and came up in a blind spot in her defense bringing up his palm, granted he was moving at less than half his speed, he tapped with the bottom of his hand her chest. He smiled “That was very good; for what I was having you do that was very good. Not to mention your breathing was perfect!” He said patting her head as he backed up so he wasn't in her face anymore. “Now that has been done, lets talk about defense. The main thing I do when doing defense is always keeping a eye on the opponent. Watch their body movements then do what needs to be done...With standard punches and kicks is easy block with your forearm. Just make sure to put some distance between the block and your body when your going for your block.” He explained doing the motions with his arms similar on how he was blocking her strikes. “When your ready we are going to try it...Don't worry I am not going to go full speed or strength but it's going to be similar to how a normal human would move. Just so you can get the feel for it.” he got in his stance “Let me know when your ready.” He didn't want to jump and startle her, this was training. Later in the training when she was ready to spar he would do that but not now when she was trying to learn.

[Mihoko]

She wasn't surprised that he so easily blocked her attacks. She actually found it quite amazing. She thought that he was very cool. She hoped to be able to fight like him some day. Mihoko never wanted to get in an actual fight with him, though. She didn't feel worthy of doing so. She had so much respect for a man that she met twenty four hours ago. His training wasn't going to be in vain.

You're super amazing. I'm going to make you really proud! All of this hard work will definitely pay off. I'm going to prove to you that you're not wasting your time, Hiraku. She noticed that he ducked and she didn't know what to do. She gasped and braced herself, not knowing how hard he'd hit her. He tapped her chest with the bottom of his palm and she let out a surprised whimper. He praised her for her effort and patted her head. Mihoko blushed and her ears drooped. She was a little embarrassed. A small smile spread across her face. She wanted to praise him, too.

"I'm only doing so well because I have such a great teacher...," She was still too embarrassed to look up at him. She smiled warmly and then bit her lower lip. He brought up defense and her ears shot up. She wasn't good at blocking, but she was pretty decent at dodging. She knew to keep her eye on her opponent and watch their body movements already. She listened to his instructions carefully and watched his motions. What would he do if she didn't follow his instructions? She wasn't going to tell him that her blocking was weak because she was ashamed. She wasn't sure how he'd scold her for not listening, but she was going to find out.

"O-okay, I'm ready." There was a bit of hesitance in her voice. Mihoko got in her stance, her heart racing. She remembered to breathe slowly. She was nervous and she felt a tight knot in her stomach.

[Hiraku Takashi]

Hiraku noticed her ears had drooped and she blushed. He smiled at the comment she offered “Well thank you “ he said smiling he was glad he was able to teach her effectively he just hoped she didn't have to use this knowledge to often. A life like this is not worth living, he should know, that is the type of life he lived. Being a sword-for-hire was not something you told someone you did just meeting them. He did cause it was one of the very few things he was good at. The money wasn't bad, granted if the jobs where steady, he did side jobs but they didn't bring in much income.

He looked up to hear her say “O-okay, I'm ready.” she was hesitating he could hear it in her response. Was she worried he was going to hurt her? Hiraku didn't know but he wasn't going to worry about that, he had faith in his skills to not go overboard. He readied himself by getting in a stance, his hair fell in his face covering his eyes. If you could see through his hair you could see his stare was calculated and cold. Hiraku couldn't help but be this way when in any sort of fighting situation. Once this exercise was over the look would be as warm as it was a few minutes ago.

Hiraku then sprung into action with no warning, he closed the distance between him Mihoko within a second. He then swung a left hook at her, he was holding back most of his strength and speed. He didn't want to run the chance of her not being fully prepared or not experienced enough and get seriously hurt.

[Mihoko]

He got in position and his hair covered his eyes. This frightened Mihoko for some reason, but she tried her best not to quiver. Her heart pounded rapidly. She knew that she was getting anxious. When was Hiraku going to make his move? He wasn't moving and her mind started wandering. She was going to have to learn that there wasn't such a thing as trigger warnings in combat She blinked and clenched her fists. Without warning, he sprung forward, closing the gap between them.

W-why didn't he warn me? He's too close, he's too close! She had to remain calm and avoid having a panic attack. He took a swing at her and instead of blocking, she dodged him, but only barely. Her dodge wasn't elegant or smooth, but unorganized and clumsy. Mihoko tripped over her foot while avoiding his punch and fell to her knees. She quickly got up and jumped out of the way, distancing herself from him. The redhead was still on her knees, breathing heavily. She was so distracted by her fear that her dodge was horrible. The eerie silence was what got her worked up right before he made his move.

This is lame. I'm letting him down. I'm letting him down because of my stupid fear! Mihoko lowered her head and let her forehead rest against the grass. She was frustrated with herself. How was she going to let him train her if she still had issues that she ignored? She bit her lower lip in anger, accidentally causing it to bleed. She punched the ground with her fist and said nothing. What was she going to tell him? She was going to have to get over her odd post traumatic stress disorder soon. Her breathing finally stabilized and she closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry. You told me to do something and I ended up doing the exact opposite," Mihoko was speaking softly, but it was loud enough that he could hear her. She needed to remember that the person she was dealing with was not Shinji. She was too ashamed to even raise her head. She refused to look at him.

[Hiraku Takashi]

He watched as he strike went unanswered and she ducked under the attack and jumped away from him. Hiraku held position for a minute to make sure she herself didn't want to continue. It was a bold move, granted her told her to block his strike but she dodged it instead. But she didn't strike back, took advantage of the fact she took him by surprise. She doesn't have the same battle techniques as you do...moron he thought yelling at himself. He corrected posture and turned to face her.

He saw her face on the ground, while she slammed her fist against it. He could hear the dirt move as her first collided. She wasn't saying anything, Is she frustrated because she dodged instead of blocked my strike? Or is there something else going on? he thought stroking his chin. He crouched down waiting for her to speak a few awkward silent moments went by before she finally spoke. He was take aback; she was apologizing for what she had done. He shook his head stood up and began walking towards her.

“Granted you didn't do what I wanted you to do, you still was able to move quick enough to get out of the way of my attack, trip and still get away from me before I could react.” he said crouching in front of her and placing his hand on her shoulder. “It's just something we have to work on. Simple as that.” he said “Now...let's get out of the dirt. Time to stand.” He said moving his hand off of her, he stood up and looked at her “Don't let one thing get you down. You will get this. I promise” he said smiling “We are here to learn. To learn we have to make mistakes...Right?” he asked.

Hiraku remembered when he had trouble with something when Hiko was training him. He was just as frustrated as she was. But Hiraku still couldn't shake the feeling that something else was bugging her, he decided to leave it alone...If she wanted to talk about it she would. Hiraku wasn't going to pry it out of her. “Now we will try again when you are ready, Miho” he said smiling offering his hand out to help her stand.

[Mihoko]

Her ears twitched periodically as she heard his foot steps. She was so damaged, broken. She was breathing heavily again. She hugged herself and waited for him to scold her. Instead of getting yelled at for not following instructions, Hiraku praised her for being able to move away from his attack, even if she did trip. Mihoko didn't understand why he was being so gentle. She felt him put his hand on her shoulder and encouraged her to keep trying. The cat girl obeyed and raised her head to look at him.

Miho....? He called me Miho. Has he called me that before? Gee, I don't even remember. My mind is so discombobulated right now that my memory is shot. Stop it, Hiraku. You're confusing me. I'm not used to this much kindness, he held out his hand to her. Without hesitation, she reached out and grabbed his hand. She held it firmly in hers and stood up. The girl released his hand and rubbed her forehead. It was wet from the grass. She licked her bottom lip to remove the blood and nodded. People do learn from their mistakes and it was normal to make them, but not to her. She was taught something completely different.

"....Please....please give me more time to get used to this. It's still weird to me. You're different and your kindness...well, it confuses me. You encourage me instead of disciplining me. You even acknowledge how I avoided your attack. I was told to never make mistakes."

Making mistakes was unavoidable. It was a part of life. Everyone makes mistakes and no one is perfect. She took in a deep breath and then exhaled. It was time for her to continue. There was nothing for her to worry about. She didn't have to think about being punished if she messed up. Hiraku wouldn't discourage her.

"I'm ready to try again, okay?" Mihoko wanted to keep at it, but everyone had their limits. She was the type of person who kept practicing until they got it right. At least she had a hefty amount of determination. The redhead didn't know what time it was or how long they had been outside, but she didn't want to stop.