>>5265707You place both hands behind your head, grinning at him. “Alright then, sure. I’ll take the bait. But on one condition.”
“Ya think ya can negotiate with a Captain, huh?” He asks, his grin somehow growing wider. “Alright then, let’s hear it. Whaddaya want?”
“There’s this girl. Nohara Tsukuya. She’s… well, my girlfriend, I guess. I’d need you to take her, too.”
“Why?” He asks, looking at you with a calculating gaze.
“Because I’m pretty sure she’s in love with me, and she’s definitely grown dependent on my support. Her confidence isn’t great at the best of times, and I think leaving her alone in the Academy won’t end well. Besides, I… I mean, I want her around too.”
“She’s dependent on you after a week? How’d you manage that?” Hirako asks, eyes wide and eyebrow raised.
“Honestly, don’t know myself. She explained it to me once, it’s a quirk of her clan’s, but… That’s besides the point.” You say, looking at him.
He scratches his head, looking at once both irritated and contemplative. “She worth my time?”
You shrug. “She hasn’t imprinted yet, but I think that’s due to the lack of confidence I mentioned. I don’t know about most of the Zankensoki, but her hakuda skills outstrip mine completely, to the point I’m not even close to a match.”
“Right…” He mutters, before turning and walking away. “Well, you’d better run on back before your girlfriend wonders where you’ve gone.”
“What’s your decision?” You ask as he goes, but he doesn’t answer, simply heading to his barracks. Given no other option, you change back into your Academy uniform, gather the shihakusho, and disappear in a shunpo.
The next morning, you train in…
>Zanjutsu (general training)>Zanjutsu (shikai)>Zanjutsu (specific technique)>Kido (learn a new spell)>Hakuda (general training)>Hakuda (specific technique)>Hoho (general training)>Hoho (specific technique)>Raising a physical attribute (which?) 