A spark of iron, and something else

He didn't come here much. The indoor training facility seemed so... sanitized for his liking. But he couldn't help but come here for the regulated training facilities. It was held in excellent condition, and the temperature was always just right for a less rigorous training session. He was told to come here by a rather stubborn individual. Zansu was a different breed of person. She was a woman who held just enough steel in her chest that it was respectable for this red-haired devil. He enjoyed her company far more than most on a normal day, but when she would dress for combat, he would become the most entranced about her.

Within the confines of this well-equipped facility, beneath the harsh glow of fluorescent lights, Akira immersed himself in a rigorous discipline of combat. The room was filled with an array of training equipment, but his focus was linear: his massive sword at the heart of his martial prowess. This behemoth of steel required a blend of brute strength and delicate skill to wield well, and he tried desperately to balance the two.

His long red hair was neatly pulled back into a bun secured with his cherished piece of sword handle, and his attire was simple yet meticulously chosen for functionality and presentability. His fitted button-up shirt with sleeves rolled up, revealing the defined musculature of his arms, and fitted pants that would stretch just enough to give him a full range of motion but not be so tight to make him look small.

The walls' mirrors reflected Akira's every move, allowing him to critique and perfect each strike and stance. The air was charged with the intensity of his focus, his emerald green eyes fixed on the very motion of his body to the last detail.  With every slash and thrust of his colossal sword, Akira does not simply attack in the air, but he tests his limits with the ability to wield such a sword with precision and accuracy, which he feels is far more critical than pure brute strength. He would, of course, reference what he had seen from his Kage. He knew that he was a master of his craft, and there was nothing short of perfect when seeing him train.

His training regimen was usually a solitary affair, something he would do alone, as working with others could lead to bad habits. However, he had decided that today, he would open up the chance to spar or train with someone he held in high regard. He wanted to see what Zansu could do in battle, but he wouldn't let her be the first one to the training session; he had to show off at least a little for her when she got here.

As his session progressed, his movements became a blur, a symphony of power and grace that echoed throughout the facility. The pain and strain of wielding such a formidable weapon are evident in the sheen of the sweat on his skin, his advertisement that he is working as hard as possible to reach his desired perfection. But for Akira, this pain is a crucible, transforming endurance into ecstasy. Short of that, pain.

In this sanctuary of steel and sweat, Akira is more than a mere warrior; instead, he is an artist, wielding his blade with the same precision a painter may wield their brush—accuracy and determination to gain his prized result.

WC: 571

Today was a special day for Zansu, as she planned something she wanted to do for a long time. As she recently became a ninja of the hidden cloud village, she soon heard the rumor of a tall and muscular red haired man, a familliar description for the white haired orphanned woman. After a few weekds of investigating to see if the rumors were true, Zansu finally discovered the truth: the man was her childhood and teenage years closest friend, Akira, the red haired apolon and cold blooded psycho who she grew up with. He was too, part of the village now, and trained under the clouds to aspire to be as strong as Ichigo himself, their beloved Raikage, respected to the maximum by the muscular woman as well as the red haired man, if the rumors were true. 

In this day, they had set up a meeting for the first time in years at the Noboru Kaito Academy of Martial Arts, a place dedicated to the relentless training of their capacities. She was laways on the active side of life, training, brawling and doing missions, but this time it was mixing work with fun. As she entered the place, she could see the walls covered with mirrors reflecting the people training, and the tile flooring cracked in spots to remind people of the dedication and strength that was used in such a place. The room looked like the mix of a gymnasium and a containment chamber, medical almost in its appearance. Zansu of course was always dressed with her usual attire, forever representing her savage and combative nature. With her skin full of scars adorning her muscular yet feminine and curvy shape, and her white spiky hair, she wore her loose coat over a single arm, letting the other sleeve hang in her back. As a bra she wore a bandage tank top, covering her chest, and keeping it tight and decent, even if showing her true curves. She wore a tight and slim fitted pair of shorts, high waisted to hold her, and made of flexible fabric to allow every movement to happen, as well as a pair of sandals and leg covering sleeves. What stood out the most was her musculature though. When young she was always strong, but this was beyond anything Akira would remember.

As she entered the place and looked over the large room to find him, she saw a tall and muscular man, sweaty and dresed both to train and to impress, swinging a large iron sword the size of a door with finesse and devotion, dancing with it in a deadly and painfull way. Zansu immediately smiled as she recognized the man she knew before, even if he grew to become way more handsome than he already was. As she approached slowly, Zansu smiled with all of her shark like jagged teeths, eager for him to see her. She would also adopt a flirty pose and demeanor, as he and her used to act more than in a friendly manner before, and Zansu always had an interest in taking part of the pleasure of life.

''Well if it isnt fucking Akira! Missed me big boy?'' said Zansu, extending her arms to greet him and waiting for him to turn toward her. As soon as he would do that, Zansu would lunge at him, and if she would make contact and be strong enough, would use her strength to grab Akira by the neck in a domminating way, and slam him in the next wall, getting her face close to his and pressing hard to keep him against the wall.

''I sure as hell missed you! ahahahAHAHAHAH!'' Said loudly the white haired lady, wrestling him and using her strong musculature. She was stoked, hyped and excited to see him. It was a long time ago that they last saw one another, and their last time together was... crazy to say the least. They were always fighting in a playfull maner, both reveling in pain and intensity, and would often break a lot of things when doing so. Zansu was a hardcase to say the least, but Akira was one as well, on par with the savagery and intensity of the white haired woman, albeit more tempered in his personna than hers.

His training couldn't be interrupted easily, but he did take note of the footsteps coming closer to his position, "Those footsteps..." He noted that they seemed familiar, but by the time he made this realization, he could hear a woman's voice bellow through the training facility. He would turn and immediately be grabbed by an old friend. "Zansu!" Her advance would be stopped by his superior strength, he would turn her around, wrap his arm around her waist, and interlock his left hand's fingers with her right hand. He would pin her to the wall. His shirt, soaked with sweat, would press hard against her body, and his face would be no more than an inch away from hers.

He would have her up off of her feet, and poised against the wall. It was as if something that switched on in his mind when he saw her. The memories of their late night adventures, their rather extra cirricular activites flowed through his mind. His eyes would be cold, calculating, but alluring as he would breathe hard against her exposed skin. His mind would wander once more, racing thoughts rush through him, but then he brings himself back to reality.

He would lean closer to her face, and he would kiss her slowly just below the jawline into the soft parts of her neck. Then he would pull away and look at her in her wild and aggressive eyes. "Well if it isn't my beautiful, and yet so small, spitfire. My dear you have certainly grown into your own, I am barely able to contain my own," He would lean into her ear and whisper, "excitement." He would pull away, biting at her ear as he did so. He would set her down, clothes on and all before he would catch his breath for a moment. "My goodness, darling. It is a pleasure to see you. Forgive me for the theatrics, not entirely certain what came over me when I saw you. You look absolutely lovely, stunning even." He would lean against the wall, still looking down into her eyes, awaiting a response.

WC: 377

As usual, Asuka would rise before the sun, and begin her daily preparations. Thankfully this morning she wasn’t needed at her parent's cafe, so she wouldn’t need to worry about heading out of her home too early. Akira had informed her previously that he was going to be spending some time at the training grounds and would invite her to join him if she felt inclined. Though she wasn’t ready to begin training with him, she decided to stop in and check up on him. She knew he often wouldn’t eat properly, so she decided to make him a hearty breakfast to fuel his training.

She would pack a few of his favorite pastries away in the sample basket she used before when delivering food to him, along with a container of his favorite drink. After dressing herself in a rather ornate-looking, white, and brown kimono that stopped just above her ankles, Asuka would slip on a simple pair of matching brown flats and then head out from her home. As she walked the streets, she couldn’t keep her mind off of Akira. While working previously she had seen the marks left on his body from years of training, and whatever else he was doing to cause such permanent scarring on his body. She had thought of questioning him prior but never felt like it was the right time, however maybe today she’d bring it up as she watched him train.

For now, though she needed to find him, and quickly found herself outside of the training facility. The building was rather large, so she was unsure of where to start. Thinking this would be a good use of her dojutsu, she activated her byakugan and attempted to scan through the walls hoping to see him waiting for her. She was quickly able to locate his position, but to her surprise she found that Zansu was there as well. Zansu must have arrived just before her as they seemingly greeted each other. However, in a blink of an eye, the situation seemed to escalate rather quickly.

Her heart would break a bit as she watched their exchange, she knew the two of them had been close but apparently closer than she had originally thought. She had heard some rumors about them during their time at the orphanage but simply thought they were just rumors. However, she was seemingly wrong. Unsure of how to continue Asuka would stand and watch them as tears welled up slightly in her eyes. She didn’t understand why she was so upset by their exchange, Akira wasn’t hers after all and could do as he wished. Though a part of her wished this was some dumb dream, and that she’d awaken at any moment.

As Akira placed Zansu back on the ground, Asuka released the byakugan and wiped the tears from her eyes. Regardless of what she just witnessed, she was excited to see her dear sister Zansu so she decided it’d be best to swallow her emotions and continue on as normal. After taking a few calming breaths, Asuka would enter the facility with a smile on her face. She’d see the two of them now conversing, Akira was leaning on the wall beside Zansu while he gazed into her eyes.

Asuka would make her presence known by speaking up in a sweet inviting tone, saying ”Akira! You didn’t tell me my dear sister would be joining us, I would have packed an extra breakfast for her as well if I had known.
She would turn her attention towards Zansu, she looked a bit different than when she had previously seen her. Asuka had always looked up to her, she found her stubbornness and loyalty admirable and understood why Akira seemingly was smitten with her. When they were in the orphanage together, she knew she could rely on Zansu to help her with anything. Though she may complain or be unhappy with whatever request Asuka presented to her, Zansu was always there to lend her a helping hand.

She would stop roughly a meter away from them and give Zansu a bow and a loving smile. She wanted to rush in and give her a welcoming hug, though she was unsure if Zansu would appreciate the affection since they hadn’t seen each other for quite some time. Comparatively, Zansu had significantly surpassed Asuka with her training, though Asuka believed she would be able to at least keep up with her friend.

She would speak up once again after bowing, speaking in her normal happy demeanor ”I do hope that you’ve been taking care of yourself, you know I worry so much for the both of you. I heard you’ve been doing work for the village, how’s that been treating you? Please you must tell me all about it!”

While she spoke her complete attention would be on Zansu, not addressing Akira in the slightest. She actively had to stop herself from looking at him in hopes that she’d be able to maintain her happy disposition.

WC:854

AP Used:
- 5 AP Byakugan
Remaining AP: 245

As she tried to sweep Akira off his feets, she realized just how strong he became, as when they were younger she was always the little brat who could beat him, who was the stronger physically of the trio, even if the red haired man wasnt far either. It seems he both grew in size upwards in tallness and also muscularly, becoming a beast of a man. As her momentum drived her toward the wall, Akira picked her up and reversed her move, slaming her into the wall, suprised and expressive by saying her name out loud. With both smiling, and seemingly taking the moment to remember and reminisce the good old times together, their eyes locked as the tall muscular man pressed his sweaty and bulging body against hers, the contact of his warm skin touchy her textured scarred skin too, making her flustered as he grabbed her with his strong grip by the wrists against the wall. 

As he would lean toward her to kiss her deeply into her neck, her weak spot and he was well aware of it, Zansu smiled and bit her lips in anticipation and enjoyment. 

''Oh ohhh... You motherfucker you remember how to handle me huh? I remember too.'' Said Zansu with a smile in her voice, as she pulled his head away by yanking as strong as she could on his head by his long locks of red hair. As he moved his head by understanding the signal and the pain tied to it, Akira would say how much he missed his 'spitfire' a name she hated but still that made her smile for good time sake. She indeed grew a lot and went a lot more muscular than before, and grew taller too, as he indeed noted. As he mentionned being excited to meet her back again after so long, the white haired woman only shook her head in agreement, before he would put her down and excuse himself for his lack of emotionnal control, expressing how happy and eager he was to meet her again. 

As soon as he would drop her down, Zansu would listen to him saying how she looked lovely, and would keep her smile, but roll her eyes as she wasnt one for traditionnal flatery and romanticism. As he ended his burst of compliments, Zansu looked at his mouth while biting her lips, and said the following.

'' Its good to see ya again too, but I like you better with that mouth shut!'' would say the white haired savage girl before kissing him passionnately for a few seconds before pulling away slapping him not too hard in a playfull maner in the face right afterwards, doing a wink too to show her more playfull side. 

''So, wanna train? Im ready to go at it with ya, and dont go soft on me big boy!'' would add the Hatake-descent woman, removing her large kimono coat and throwing it on the side, leaving her only dressed in what seemed to be a perfect outfit for training made of the basics of Bandages and such, while clapping her own arms to activate her msucles, basking into the pain and intensity of the training to come. As Akira answered and reacted to Zansu pumping herself for a hard taijutsu training, A sweet voice followed by footsteps entered the training ground where both were. 

The voice was familiar, calling to akira and saying sister. Immediately, Zansu turned around to see none other than her adoptive sister that she grew with along Akira, Asuka hyuuga, the sweetest pie ever she knew. Her eyes were puffy tho, as if she had cried recently, which made Zansu raise an eyebrow in questionning. 

''Eh dont worry for food for me, they say hunger is the best spice right? hehe! Its good to see ya Asuka, its been a long time.'' Said Zansu, eager to see her sister grown up and to catch up. She seemd a bit unconfortable, so Zansu didnt press further, knowing her to be delicate. As she asked if she was doing a few missions and jobs for the village, Zansu chuckled a bit, thinking of her last acomplished mission day that she did alone.

''Eh! The usual, I jumped off from a cliff into a onsen and scared people off.... Oh and I broke some legs too.'' Said an amused Zansu, eager to see the answer to this of both the other present. It was good to regroup like that and if Asuka would ease up Zansu would try and slip a hug toward her too, or a small bump with her fist on the shoulder as a gesture of appreciation and that she missed her.

Zansu would yank on his hair, causing him to reel back slightly, but he would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the pain. He would set her down and after complimenting his little spitfire, she would grab him by the face and forcefully kiss him, to which he would happily reciprocate. She pulled her face away and slapped him, somewhat gently. Akira's body would feel a rush of adrenaline, something that Zansu was good for. His eyes would grow hungry, and he would begin to smell the scent radiating off of Zansu's body.

She asked if he wanted to train with her, something he was more reluctant to do now that he was more intersted in other means of excercise, but he shrugged and was just about to speak in response before he was interrupted by a sweet sound ringing through the air. It was his darling little lamb Asuka. His eyes would suddenly shift from hungry to excited in moments. "Oh darling you came! I am so happy to see you here at the training grounds, little lamb." He would open his arms to give her a hug, but she would promptly ignore him and walk by to address Zansu directly. He was confused for a moment, but then he shrugged it off.

Asuka would ask Zansu about her missions and the work that she has been doing for the missions, but Akira wouldn't hear any of that. He would begin staring directly at Asuka's lips as they moved. He would look for a moment, then for a few more moments, then he realized that he had been staring and shifted his gaze from her lips to the rest of her body. He unwrapped her with his mind, thinking of every inch of her that he had never seen. When Zansu would respond to her, his mind would snap back to reality and he would try to maintain concentration on the conversation at hand.

He noticed that she was not just not looking at him, but avoiding the act of doing so. He wasn't sure just what was going on, she seemed so happy with him the day before. What was it that caused her to feel this way? Had he done something wrong? He went back in his mind to think of something that he had done to upset her, but he couldn't think of anything. He would continue to listen to the conversation, but the thought nagged at his brain. He would speak up after Zansu responded.

"Asuka, darling. I'm so thankful that you decided to join us. Are you looking for a training partner today?" He would ask with excitement dripping off of his lips as he did so.

WC: 455
TWC: 1403

She would listen happily as Zansu responded, telling her about her most recent activities. Her sister sounded like she was having a rather good time as of late, she also seemingly had been training more and more. Asuka however couldn’t quite understand  After clapping a bit she would speak up once more.

”Oh that sounds so exciting Zansu, you must come by my home when you’re free some time and keep me updated. I’d love to host you some night, and I’m sure Akira wouldn’t mind joining us.”

Asuka noticed Zansu going in for a hug and she happily accepted it, though she was prepared for her to throw her across the room at any moment. She’d squeeze her sister tightly, enveloping her in a long overdue embrace. Asuka genuinely wished to see her more but knew that her Village business preoccupied most of her time.

After breaking the embrace she’d look over to Akira now with a more neutral expression and respond by saying ”I won’t be able to do any training today, I, unfortunately, came rather ill-prepared. Though recently, I’ve been thinking and I’d like to challenge you to a spar. I think it’d be good practice for me. Though I would offer the same to you Zansu, I think you wouldn’t see me as too much of a challenge.”

Though she didn’t believe she could take Akira on in a fight, she wanted to test herself. She knew he had been training rigorously for the past few years while Asuka had been honing her skills in baking, so she was at a bit of a disadvantage from that alone. Also considering she’s not the most graceful shinobi she was sure he’d win. Regardless she wanted a chance to prove that she was more than just a chef, and was somewhat able to take care of herself. Though she didn’t know much about the clan she hailed from, she knew that they were known for their talents with taijutsu so she hoped to be able to tap into that more. She also found herself being drawn to the healing arts, but that wouldn’t help her in a simple spar against Akira.

She’d listen to his response but would quickly snap her fingers and condemn herself as she remembered that she offered to assist at the hospital. Now a bit frantic, Asuka quickly spoke ”I completely forgot I agreed to pick up some jobs at the hospital today. Here, you both can just take this, please enjoy, and I’m not taking no for an answer. Zansu it was lovely to see you my dear, again stop by my home anytime.”

She’d place the basket on the floor at her feet, and would quickly move to embrace Zansu once again if she allowed. As they released each other, Asuka gave her a small kiss on the cheek and smiled sweetly at her. Turning her attention now to Akira, she gave him a quick wave before speaking once more.

”As always it was great to see you too, please let me know when you’d like to get together to spar. You know I’ll always make time for you.”

Without saying much more or physically interacting with Akira she’d make her way out of the training grounds and began heading to the hospital. As she made her way to her destination she couldn’t help but remain a bit upset about what had just happened. She hated giving him a bit of the cold shoulder, though she was unsure of how she felt about him right now. These thoughts would envelop her mind, causing her to be rather distracted throughout the rest of her day as she moved from job to job.

(EXIT)

WC:631
Total WC:1485

Reserving WC claims