A Routine Training Session (Dual Training = Cleo & Hiro)

His dreams were generally plagued by nightmares, more specifically nightmares about how he had failed to protect his family from being killed, but this time his dreams were filled with a certain someone. If he said that he didn’t have a crush on this girl would be a lie, after all, she reminded him that not everyone in Pandora were sick bastards and that there were actually people in this land that shared the same ideals he held. They even shared the same origin, well besides the fact that she was technically a slave, but they both were alone in this world with no one to call their own so it could work out between them? Right? Hopefully but if not at least he could take comfort in knowing that there was someone in Pandora that was like him. “Karliah-chan…” He muttered in his sleep as he unknowingly pulled her closer to his chest and wrapped his arm around her.

She hadn't signed up for this when she wanted to poke him but she couldn't squirm away because her muscles were torn to shreds and the mystical palm technique couldn't heal internal injuries. So she would be pulled closer, it was painful for the above reason but she didn't protest much he was warm she didn't realize how warm humans were it was fascinating to her. Flesh that is, technically they were meat bags by the strictest definition of the term yet they were filled with other things all interconnected to make them function and powered by electrical impulses and chakra just like she was. Zireh were much more simple at least Cypher were, it was one of her insecurities even if say, she had a crush, hypothetically how would it work were humans and zireh even compatible? She had heard of Yoroi sure but Cypher while she had the parts she didn't have the correct plumbing, and still she didn't know if he'd even be attracted to someone like her. It didn't help that her own self worth was low, she was after all an Alchemist and while she was proud of her history her family history if she thought about the future assuming they got together and had a child wouldn't her child also be born...an alchemist?

[color:8658=cc99ff]"He has the backing of the Bloody Ruler though, they couldn't touch a child with such connections right? Wait Cleo slow down what are you thinking about. Just because he said your name in his sleep doesn't mean anything right? But he gave you a gift, a weapon to protect yourself with he must of thought about it it shows he cares. Ugh you really need to kick the habit of referring to yourself in the third person your not 7 anymore. Cleo thought to herself before opening her eyes having shut them on reflex when she heard his voice out of panic. She would pause startled at their close proximity to one another, while noting that his sleeping face was cute, though in a sad way right now because he seemed to be having nightmares. She'd come to a decision without realizing it and gently press herself against him humming a lullaby she knew, the only one she remembered from before her parents were executed. It had helped her get to sleep when she had nightmares, so maybe it would work for him?

With his body satisfied with the amount of rest it had received, Hiro had finally woken up. It wasn’t like him to be out for so long but due to the extreme stress he had placed his under the past couple days he wasn’t too surprised that he had practically slept the day away. If Xan had known that he had wasted almost half the day sleeping and not practicing his sword techniques, he’d be in serious trouble, then again he had a quick training session with Karliah so his day wasn’t a complete bust. Speaking of which, where was she? If he had remembered correctly, she had passed out due to the recoil pain she received from her gates so he had taken her to his place so that she could rest, so that meant she should be in the room with him, right? The sound of humming had caught his attention and the moment his onyx hues shifted in the direction of the humming, that sounded cute by the way, his heart would skip a beat. Why were they so close to together? Well that was easily explainable since the bed was so small, but still this was a bit too much for his young heart to take, that and he was getting a tad bit excited feeling her breath on his bare chest. What made matters worse was that it was quite obvious that he was the one that was clinging to her since his arm was still below her waist, god this was embarrassing. Unsure of what to do Hiro would slowly sit up off the bed shifting his body so that he could face her, the problem was that in his attempt to do so his trailing hand would somehow end up touching her chest. “I didn’t mean that! I’m sorry!” He shouted before backing way at Vacuum release speeds, which would in turn cause him to fall off the bed and hit his head on the nightstand.

Cleo would notice when he woke up, she was pretty perceptive and could tell when his breathing changed she was training to be a medic so certain cues were more visible to her than others. Still she kept humming it wasn't like she could really do much about this situation her body was still messed up even though the pain had diminished and she didn't not not like the situation she was put in. When he got up and his hand touched her chest she would let out a small sound but to her dismay and close her eyes in embarrassment though opening them when she heard him bang against something. "A-are you okay? D-don't worry about it, y-you were groggy I'm not mad! Cleo protested so he wouldn't think she was one of those girls who got irrationally angry at being groped accidentally. If he had did it on purpose though well, she couldn't do anything right now but when she could move again she would sever the offending appendages tendons and reconnect them in such a way that it'll look healthy to another medic but won't be able to grope anything ever again.

"Um.. I'd heal your head but I can't really move right now. I think we should go to a medic, but I'm really hungry too. So I think if I just ate something I'll be okay eventually." she would explain her lack of reaction completely glossing over the fact that yes, she was groped and might have made a sound or not. It wasn't important what was important was that she couldn't move, not physically in the sense that the pain was too much but physically in the sense that her muscles weren't working right and she wasn't conditioned enough to not shred up her body when she used the gate of pain for even a short period of time. It was a testament to how much she trusted him that she told him that she wasn't in any condition to move, especially since a normal girl would be wary of getting groped again. Now if her trust was misplaced then she would be in a pretty dangerous situation at the moment but Hiro was a good guy probably the only genuinely good person besides herself in Pandora that she knew so she wasn't worried.

“I-I’m fine…” Hiro said timidly while rubbing the back of his head. The pain he was feeling right now was nothing compared to the sheer force of the embarrassment that he was feeling. She must think I’m sort of pervert, he thought to himself as struggled to get to his feet and even though she said she wasn’t mad that it happened he couldn’t help but feel a bit dirty. “I’m sorry about that… Really…” He apologized once more hoping that she would see that he was in fact, sincere the last thing he needed was for her to hate him or think that he was some sort of scumbag looking to take advantage of her. Unable to look her in the eye or even at her, his eyes would wander around the room as she explained her current condition to him. “Well if it’s food that you want I have enough here to feed an entire order! I’ll go prepare some for you, be right back!” He declared before literally running out of the room.

Away from the source of his embarrassment, Hiro would let out a sigh of relief as he made his way to the kitchen. With Mary out doing trying to tame animals, it was up to him to make Karliah some food and though he was more than capable of cooking a meal he would’ve liked for Karliah to experience the greatness which was Mary’s cooking. “Let’s see… I wonder what she would like…” He mumbled as he looked through the refrigerator. As he stated before there was a ton of food in his house at the moment due to him giving command of the kitchen to Mary but majority of said food would need preparing. “Hmm, I guess that'll work.” His eyes would lay on a lunch box that was in the corner of the refrigerator and after reviewing its contents he would take it up to Karliah.

“Hey, umm I hope you like salted salmon, cherry tomatoes with potato salad and rice cake. Will be able to feed yourself or do I have to feed you….” He said still unable to look her in the eye.

She would sigh when he left, it allowed her to think about things, the holding wasn't unpleasant she liked it and she wasn't upset that he touched her chest she was just about to touch his abbs before he woke up. Just the thought of it did make her blush but she would calm her emotions as she heard him come back having been lost in her day-dreaming and lost track of time. I've never had that before and anything is better than the gruel they feed back at my clan. Oh did I tell you, my mentor found a place for me to stay it's in the HUIT Order barracks. Hands on medical training he said, I just hope I don't mess up. she ramble a bit before noticing that he wasn't looking at her face causing her to stop and frown wondering what was wrong. She then realized that he probably was still embarrassed about the whole cuddling and groping situation so she would try to reassure him the best she could. "H-hey Hiro... about earlier, i-if it's you I don't mind if you t-touch. she would immediately look down at the bed having said what was on her mind damning the consequences but if he reacted badly she would immediately continue with a way to make it sound more friend like. "Because I know it was an accident and you really didn't mean it because your my friend right?" If he didn't react badly to her subtle confession then she would just trail off and wait for him to feed her.

Hiro had felt relief after hearing her words. It was true that they were friends, in fact, she was probably his only friend in the entire Pandora Empire, and losing her was something he hadn’t plan on doing anytime soon that was of course she didn’t plan on ditching him. “You’re right we are friends, and I’d never do anything to harm you, erm outside of spars that is. Anyways time to eat.” He said with a smile before sitting next to her on the bed. Picking up the small piece of salmon with the chopsticks he would dip it in the sauce that he had brought along with it and brought the food to her mouth, and when she opened up he would drop it inside. From what he was told, salted salmon was quite nutritious so it should help her heal quickly that was of course if food was the only thing she needed to recover. “I guess we’ll be seeing a lot of each other then, I recently bought a house and I’ll be moving to Order grounds though I was told that I’d have to find some means of getting there since it’s underwater.” Again whoever thought of putting the HUIT Order underwater must’ve been drunk, then again who was he to complain?

Cleo would happily eat the salmon, one of the best things about leaving the housing of her clan was all the new tastes she got to experience, having never eaten salmon before she was thankful her body was in such a condition otherwise she wouldn't be able to hide her enthusiasm so well. She would widen her eyes when he mentioned that they'd potentially be seeing a lot of each other, which would only make her wonder if Telarossa had known of their relationship and was encouraging it. "That's wonderful, we can hang out all the time then, I mean..if you wanted to that is. Really underwater that sucks, well maybe you can see if their is a boat or something that can take you there? Or maybe you can envelop yourself is a shell or armor of lightning or something and just hold your breath for a long time until you reach it? Cleo was just spouting suggestions but she had heard of Lightning Release Armor, she sort of had a thing for Lightning. "I'm glad that I met you, Hiro. I don't think I've said that before but really" she said moving a bit now that her body was more nourished she could afford to move around without aggravating her aching muscles too much.

It was wonderful indeed, Hiro thought as he continued to feed Karliah bits of salmon and cherry tomatoes taking care not to stuff her mouth with too much food so that she does choke on the food. “Having you around would be great since I wouldn’t be familiar with the surroundings or the people within the order, maybe we’ll have more moments like these, minus the pain and the groping of course.., hehe” Hiro said hoping it wasn’t too early to joke about what had happened earlier. He was a bit tempted to say that she could move in with him at his place but he decided not to since he didn’t want to come off as creepy, maybe he’ll ask her eventually. “Well I guess I’d have to ask Xan on how I’ll be able to go there, either that or develop some sort of technique like you said, either way it’s a pain in the ass.” Hiro complained, but considering he spent over 10,000 xel on a house that was underwater he would need to get there to see it.

"Yep but I think the pain and the groping are fair trade offs, I'm getting stronger through training and your embarrassed face is cute." Cleo said with a snicker, before covering her mouth surprised that she was relaxed enough to tease him. Something from earlier would cause her to pause seeing as he had asked her something before she passed out and she had no idea what it was. "Before I passed out you asked me something? Was it to teach you my Dissection Blade? I could if you want but, you'd need some skill in medical ninjutsu if you wanted to learn it so I don't know if I'd be able to teach you?" she said not wanting to reveal that it was her signature fighting style, she had created it to give her an edge against others and also to create more ways to use the technique both in surgery and in combat. She figured if she was going to belong to Pandora she didn't need to sacrifice her skill in healing people, she just needed to learn how to use it to kill people as well. Which was pretty sad now that she thought about it but life was sad, especially in Pandora.

Hiro would continue to feed Cleo what was left inside the lunch box, rice cakes and potato salad, stopping when she wished to speak or swallow the food that he had already fed her. Hiro was glad that she was enjoying the food and silently wondered what kind of food she was used to eating back on her clan grounds. Well since they’ll be within the same order grounds, he’ll ensure that she’ll be treated to all kinds of new food, if he can afford it of course. “Well I hope you have photographic memory since you won’t be seeing it again any time soon!” He declared before lightly poking her face with chopsticks he held. He had so wanted to tell her that her everyday face was beautiful, but he didn’t have the courage to say something like that and not die of embarrassment. “Oh? Well I’ve never had any interests in medical stuff so I’ll pass, it is a cool technique though.” It would be impossible for her to learn anything ninjutsu related since he had no chakra and the thought of learning the technique’s basic mechanics and then apply it to his senjutsu was a bit of a headache.

Most of the feeling was returning to her body so she would adjust her position on his bed so she could sit up properly though she would pout when he said that she wouldn't be seeing it again. "We'll see about that. You really think so? I created it you know, because Alchemy is really complex and well my clan doesn't teach us anything about it, they want to keep us Alchemist's weak. Because we've revolted before and ever since then they've been wary of it happening again the knowledge isn't there it's mainly passed on between us on the down low but the really common ones aren't what I'm going for so Dissection Blade was so that I could protect myself until I figure out how how to preform Alchemy." Cleo said with a faint flush, courtesy of chakra once again flowing into her cheeks, she still hadn't made much head way in the actual use of alchemy. But she was learning how to read the archaic symbols comprising her transmutation circles and how to adjust and alter them to suit her purposes better so hopefully she would make a breakthrough at some point in time soon.

"Ah..I don't have a curfew anymore but I do think I need to get back, even though I sort of don't want to because I really hanging out with you."

Training Topic:

It was interesting to find out the true reason why she was treated with such disregard by her clan, though what was the purpose of belonging to such a clan if you considered less than human, or in her case Zireh. Just the thought of the treating their own clansmen, so which were probably their own flesh and blood made him clench his fist in anger, but what could he even do about something that was etched in the history of their clan? Furthermore this wasn’t an issue of his as he was a Denkou, an outcast one at that so it was best he let this one go after all she wasn’t subjected to any ill treatment anymore. “If you’re able to create such a neat technique on your own, I’m pretty sure that you can figure out that Alchemy thing.” He had no idea what alchemy was but he was pretty sure that she’ll catch the hang of it sooner rather than later. “You’re right, it is getting pretty late, but once we move to the HUIT base we’ll be able to spend as much time together without worry of curfews or people looking for us. Maybe even have slumber parties?” He said with a smirk before taking her by the hand, helping her out of the bed. Once she was up he would take the cleaver chain and handed it to over to her. “I’ll walk with you half way.”

Trained:

"Your right, I'll figure it out in no time and then you'll be amazed by it, I'm really looking forward to showing you Alchemy it's...wonderful. Nothing else like it really, it's just so upsetting that my clan is so secretive otherwise it would be more well known. Cleo said with a bittersweet smile, glad that he at least believed in her ability succeed and resolved to work harder so that said belief wasn't misplaced. "S-Slumber Parties huh? A private one with just us two or do you have other friends I don't know about?" she said playing along with his game and taking his hand shakily standing up but after a couple of steps she would get her bearing yet made no attempt to let go of his hand. Let him think that she needed help to get home whereas she could happily sneak a hand hold with him hopefully none the wiser. Still when he gave her Cleaver-chan she would take it and affix the weapon to her back using chakra, though she did still fully intend on customizing it to suit her style at least once he informed the blacksmith he knew of her intentions.

“Who knows, maybe once you’ve ascended through ranks and become a God, you’ll be able to allow Alchemy to be practiced by your people.” He didn’t know if that would even be possible but he knew that they would have to acknowledge her if she did hold such a status and that could be a gateway for her to free her people and end the enslavement of the Alchemists. “I don’t have much friends besides you, Mary and Kagura and I highly doubt Kagura would want to join any party at all given how much of a stiff she is and Mary is a bit too old for slumber parties so it would just be us! Unless you aren’t comfortable with that idea.” He said with a smile before gently squeezing her small soft hands as he lead her out of the house and towards the village.

"You really think I can do it? I didn't think I ever told you that, but yes that is what I'm hoping to do. Just get strong enough to have enough clout to change my clan for the better, at the very least have them stop treating us Alchemists like their slaves" Cleo said her voice raising slightly as she was very invested into accomplishing her goal, but she would realize that she didn't have to defend her dream when she was with him and would blush before becoming quiet once more. "Sorry it's just...I feel so strongly about it. Hiro you have no idea how much I hate them for everything that they do to my people and have done to me it's just not fair and I want no, I need to get strong enough so that I can force them to change no matter the cost." she would stare into his eyes while her own flashed with steely resolve as she was dead set on making her dream possible.

She would smile though thinking about his last comment before she went on a rant about her clan's situation and would nod in agreement. "I would very much like that" she said after a while of them walking just in case he thought she forgot about what he said. "But you know, if you are going to try and grope me again you should at least take me out on a date first." she would look away unable to meet his eye as she had felt a bit more confident and had blurted out that comment out of reflex. She wasn't really teasing, but if he reacted badly or rejected her she would play it off like she was and it wasn't like she would start to cry. She physically couldn't cry, which was another thing she was grateful for being a Cypher about because crying especially in front of a handler was showing them weakness. She couldn't afford to be weak in front of them not to that level, submissive yes but weak never, she wasn't weaker than them she just didn't have the opportunities and training that they did to make them strong.

Hiro knew all too well what it felt like to have undying hatred towards a specific group of people, his namely were the Shogunate Mishura that had murdered his parents and Hakagakure Shinobi that had failed to protect himself and his brother. But his hatred had evolved from wanting to hunt down the people responsible for his nightmares into wanting to create peace so that no one would ever travel down the same path that he had during his short life, sure he was rather lucky that someone had taken an interest in him and decided to train him but not everyone would be as lucky as he was, which is why as silly as it sounded he wanted to create peace in this world. How would he go about this? He had no idea. Was Pandora the best place to help him achieve this goal? It most definitely wasn’t, but it would he had to start somewhere now didn’t he? Stopping in his tracks Hiro would release his grip on her hand and would instead lock his pinky finger with hers before raising their arms in the air. “Then let’s make a promise right here, right now.” He said with a serious look on his face. “Let’s promise to be each other’s strength in times when we feel like we can’t go on, let’s promise to never let go of our ideals no matter what trials we face, let’s promise to protect each other, let’s promise to be each other’s dream catcher, and let’s promise to become Gods!” Hopefully, she didn’t find that corny but that was the best he could come up with but regardless he hoped that she had understood his feelings, they shared similar goals so why not try to accomplish them together?

After his little speech, he would release the pinky lock and would hold her hand once more as they continued to make their way to her clan grounds. He was glad to hear that she wouldn’t be uncomfortable with having a slumber party with him, well it would be more like chilling with each other since they were too old for slumber parties, and after hearing her declaration he would smile. “A date does sound cool, probably somewhere outside of the village so it’ll be special and something we’ll remember forever.” He said out loud as he tried thinking of a place where they could have such an experience.

"Yep, we won't rest until we accomplish our dreams!" Cleo would chime in at the end fully accepting the declaration even though it was a bit silly but it made her happy. Really happy that Hiro understood where she was coming from and not only supported her dreams but offered to be her strength if she needed it, she would repay him for all that he did for her by being his as well even though she felt that it still wasn't enough. Mhm, I think I'll be able to get to Bronze Knight soon so I'll be allowed to leave, maybe then? she said while spotting something glinting in the distance, since she was at the part of town where she was comfortable going home she would move to hug Hiro while taking a step back with a bright smile. "I can make the rest of the way on my own. Thanks for...everything today can't wait for our date, oh and the next training!" Cleo said before dashing off revealing that she had been good enough to get home by herself but just wanted the company. When she cut past an alley she would pick up what she had seen from the floor and check to see what it was only to notice that there were two other things she could pick up. Not one to not scavenge when she could she would pick them up as well as they could be useful to her.

Training Topic:

For the Mod Approving this training session:

A smile would appear on his lips as he watched her run off into the distance. It had been awhile since he had seen her so he glad that they were able to spend some time together that and he also got to do some training so it was like killing two birds with one stone. “I guess I’ll go finish that nap.” Hiro said after he was unable to see Karliah in the distance anymore. Turning on his heels he would make his way back home for a well-deserved nap.

Exit

Trained:

Approved