Training with a Stoat (Dual Training thread)

Rikuta was pretty exhausted after all this, having spent what felt like an hour of working out and training already, he would give Mika one last nod as he tried to rest in between her explanations. "O-oh okay, I'll t-try my best..." He'd say in a breathless tone before walking up near the line where the targets were placed. It was about 8 meters away, give or take, a fair distance but normal for throwing weapons. Taking up a few of them he had never really thrown kunai or shuriken before, they were typically things he was never allowed to touch due to his overprotective parents, hell even a butter knife might have been dangerous in their opinion.

But now that he was alone, or more so under the teachings of his friend, he'd do a few practice gestures, trying to see if Mika could help him with an angle or how he should throw things. That is till finally, he'd toss the first shuriken or two, "Euh!" He'd say as the shuriken spun and flopped on the ground only about 4 meters away from him. It looked like a whimpy little toss but he wouldn't get discouraged and so he'd begin throwing more, the stoat was determined to at least hit the targets set up for him. However fatigue was heavy, and the more he kept it up the weaker he seemed to get till he tried a bit harder on the last set after maybe a dozen or so minutes passed.

This time he'd clip the edge of the target with a Kunai, almost leading to him jumping for joy, but instead of showing a bunch of energy, he would just give a little "Y-yay!" Then flop on the floor.

Note:

Mika helped him get a good position for throwing, and she showed him how by taking a few herself and throwing them at the targets, she didn't have any techniques to use them but she was capable with them, though she had to hold back or she would likely send the weapons THROUGH the target and she didn't wanna do that, Rikuta needed them after all. She then left him to take his shots and when he threw the first one Mika had to hold back her giggles, she wouldn't have laughed at his throw normally, but it was the silly sound he made when he threw it added to the way it just plunked down to the ground like that, that made it so funny, but she didn't wanna hurt his feelings.

"D...don't worry you....you totally got this" she cheered to stop herself from giggling, she had to be supportive, and sure enough after some time he started to do much better, though it was clear he was also getting a lot more tired, until finally he at least clipped the target and he let out his little cheer and flopped to the ground. Mika giggled a little and walked over, sitting down and picking him up a bit and resting his head on her lap as she started ot take the weights off him.

"That was good work, now you can take a rest and relax a bit, then once you feel rested enough we can do the whole dodging and defense training and target practice again without the weights, but not till you are rested properly.. so take a nap if you need to, or read the notebooks on Chakra, but no more practicing, you need to relax and not wear yourself out to much okay?" she said as she let both antenna gently poke his nose as she put this weights off to the side.

Laying on the ground the boy would only take a moment to turn his head once Mika came over, helping him sit up for a moment and helping to take off the weights as he couldn't move right now. Appreciating the help, he was about to thank her, up until she placed his head on her lap, causing him to fluster and for his tail to thump along the ground. They had done much more personal stuff than this but it felt a bit more deliberate now as his face looked flustered but he tried to just show how appreciative he was of his friend's help.

"Thanks Mika, for the help I mean.."

He'd speak in a soft tone, still a little breathless, but he was happy that she was here for him. Nodding to her mention of not trying to overdo it he knew hurting himself wouldn't be good for his well-being, so as she poked his nose with her antenna he just wiggled his nose and scrunched his face to the assault. Though eventually, she'd feel him start to slowly drift off to sleep. Giving a low modest purring noise as he laid there, seemingly snuggling a bit into her warmth, he looked very peaceful.

Mika smiled down at him as when he started to get all flustered she giggled a bit more, his tail thumping gave him away though and she sat there letting her antenna rest against his nose "Well get some rest for a bit, then we do it all again okay? and no need to thank me, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't help at all?" she said as she sat with him, watching him get flustered and shy, but it was still quite clear that he was tired and needed to rest a bit. So she sat with him humming gently as she took out the brush she had brought with her, and as Rikuta started to drift off to sleep she started to gently brush his fur, it was something she was used to, and it gave her something to do while her friend rested.

The purring sound made her smile and she thought back to the first time she heard it as a kid, she was so scared of things, and shy, and then she met a magic talking plushy, and she felt safe around them, and when there was a storm he would shelter her in his warm fluffy fur and that purring sound would lull her to sleep even with the storm going on, a gentle smile grew on her face as she remembered that, how did it go from her clinging to what she thought was a magic plushy to her teasing him and him being all shy around her? She honestly didn't know, but she was glad he was here if possible maybe they could be in the same team? she didn't want anything to happen to him after all.. but if that didn't happen the best she could do was make sure he was trained and caught up to everyone at least.

note:

Rikuta would be asleep for some time, not as long as maybe his typical nap time but he'd soundlessly sleep on Mika's lap for about 30 to 40 minutes before he'd begin to stir in his sleep. Every time her little antenna would come close and bap at his face he'd try to nibble on them, never enough to be painful but just reacting to something in his face a bit. Nuzzling her a bit, or at least against her leg he'd eventually start to wake up now, seeing that he was still in the training field and laying on Mika.

"Mika?" He questioned with a tone that seemed a little perplexed.

"Oh right, we were training, weren't we?"

Seemed the sleep was a bit potent, and soon he raised his head up and sat upon his side, looking to Mika with a less pink face now but rubbing his eyes a bit, "I didn't mean to pass out like that."

Mika sat there with Rikuta putting the brush away after she finished brushing his fur and she just smiled, he was clearly far more worn out then he probably thought, but that was a given considering he hadn't really done work like this before, and she kind of did throw him in the deep end with the weights, but she made sure that the training wasn't to harsh while he was wearing them to compensate, he needed to get stronger after all and this was a quick way to get results, she would just have to remember that he was a bakers son, so not really as active as she had been growing up helping with the Courier work when she could.

She giggled quietly a few times when he did manage to catch her antenna making her wriggle them, free of the sleeping stoat, that cute purring sound he made almost enough to lull her to sleep, but she stayed awake, after all she had training to do, and so while he slept she meditated a bit letting her mind wander, letting her guard down on her senses to let the information flood in so she could get used to the stimulus, and then she heard a mumbling and felt Rikuta stirring after some time.

Looking down she seem him blinking his eyes as he woke up and she smiled "Well good morning sleepy head" she said with a giggle as she poked his nose with her antenna once again, and as he seemed to become more aware of where they were and what they were doing she giggled and helped him sit up.

"Oh don't worry about it, you were tired and your not used to this yet, my first days training I got back to my dorm and slept the night away no problem" she said with a smile as she avoided the topic of the Gates once more, he could learn that after a bit, she needed him more focused on training then worrying about her after all "Now then we just have to run the Gauntlet again without the weights and we should be done for you for the day" she said with a smile "Then you can spend the rest of the time studying the notes on chakra and training that since you seem to be able to use it, I have to focus on more Kata and my combat styles since that's all I have really" she said as she got to her feet.

"Ready to finish the physical training?" she asked offering him a hand up.

"Aww, we have to do it all again?.." He'd pout a bit, not wishing to torment himself further, but she was right, he had to keep doing this to probably improve and get better. For now though he would reach his paw up as she helped him to his feet, stopping his minor complaining and giving a soft nod, "Okay, we can keep going, thank you for helping me by the way, this is painful but getting it done is probably best for me." Smiling some the stoat would try to stretch a bit before they would begin again, of course, it would probably take another hour or two, but he knew he could give it a shot and the nap helped somewhat.

One hour later...

Rikuta was done with the last event on the training list that Mika had given him, however, he was face-planted in the dirt practically unmoving beside his chest slowly rising to show he was at least breathing. It looked as if all that hard work really destroyed him, but luckily it would get less painful over time once he realized what he should better focus his attention on or what skills he wanted to improve on. Either way with the second half done he would just lay there for now, unmoving and giving a light groan if anyone touched or talked to him as a response.

When Rikuta pouted she poked his nose with her antenna "Yes you have to do it again, physical training is very important, all that fancy ninja magic stuff isn't gonna help if you can't dodge a simple punch to the nose" she said with a giggle as she then helped him up, and she smiled up at him at his thanks "you're welcome Marshmallow, and yes it will pay off in the long run, this is how I trained when I got here, though I am toning it down for you since your new to all this" she said with a smile as she lead him to the gauntlet again.

Time passed as she got to see more sticks get stuck in his tail and several other funny sights....

As Rikuta lay face down on the ground Mika was plucking the sticks out of his tail and fur that had gotten stuck in their from the gauntlet, and smoothing over his fur a bit, a smile on her face showing that she was trying to not burst out laughing at how silly he looked all messy furred with sticks poking out of his tangled fur in odd places, "Congratulations you survived the gauntlet Rikuta and the extra throwing and additional exercises... only thing left is for you to have a breather before doing your chakra stuff" she said as she plucked out the last stick and gently rolled him onto his back "and don't lay face down in the dirt, dust is bad to inhale" she said as she gently booped his nose with a playful giggle as she laid over top of him smiling down at him.

She was so used to being around him from when they were kids that she didn't even give it a second thought how it might look if someone seen them from a distance as she poked his nose with her antenna and giggled a bit "I have to do some Kata but if you want my help with anything....well I can't use Chakra so I can't really help there... but I do have the note book here for you to look through" she said as she gently laid the book on his tummy before she got up off him and walked over to gauntlet and started to take it all down before starting to work on some kata and striking at a practice dummy, one that looked oddly much more up armored then the normal ones she had shown him in the supply room before.

notes:

Being rolled over he would cough, exhaling a bunch of dust as she indicated that breathing dirt was bad, though his face was a mix of 'I know that' and 'why me', as he seemed unable to move on his own. At least that's the vibe he gave. When she booped his nose some he'd wiggle it and try to pull away, pouting some as he began to slowly get up finally, understanding that he needed to be stronger but not 'enjoying' the amount of work it took to be that way. That was till she laid over him and made him stay down, she was light of course, but he had no will to move right now as she stayed there, looking at her and adding, "Can I have some tea now?" She did ask him if he needed something, though he would slightly realize the position was a bit different now given he was a bit older than a little tyke, making his cheeks fluster some. But she got off him soon after.

Seeing the notebook he would take it and read it while on the ground still, not moving again as he had no wish to leave the very comfortable and luxurious sensation of hard stones and dirt. Only reached the first page of notes before giving a sigh and forcing himself to his feet, feeling lighter, but still, overly exhausted as he looked over to see Mika fighting the dummy. With jelly legs he would walk over, asking, "Do you know why you can't use chakra?" He asked in a questioning tone, not sure as to why she couldn't but he would watch her train nonetheless.

Mika continued to go through strikes, slowly speeding up getting into more complex chains of strikes as she did so, focusing on the dummy as she started to batter it knocking it around as she moved from strike to strike, her movements were somewhat fluid though she was working on making them more so, less wasted movement meant more effective fighting, though she was also aware that varying things up could make her strikes harder to predict, it was a strange thing to have to balance on, but at the moment she focused on the Goken style as she moved and circled the dummy she was striking.

Then she heard the Question about her Chakra and she moved so she could look at Rikuta as she continued to hammer the dummy "I don't really know... I can't seem to mold it, so I can't really make use of it in any meaningful way other then utilizing the Life Chakra my tribe can use, I am sure you can use a type that is normal for your tribe as well, but I think you have an advantage since you can learn to mold it into other things.. i am stuck with just fighting hand to hand really and using the Beast arts my Parents told me about, but I can still make do, I have been told I seem to be a very strange bundle of energy though so maybe it all balances out" she giggled as she started to refocus on the Dummy starting to knock it around even more now as she uppercut it into the air and chased after it "As for Tea we can have some after I am done this Kata and you study a bit on the Chakra" she called down as they did have some tea from the cafeteria in the thermos she had gotten.

Hearing her out and seeing her spar the dummy he would nod, though he felt worried and a little sad she couldn't use chakra effectively, it would limit her a lot for sure, she seemed way stronger than himself, and probably do plenty more as she was right now. Hell, he was sure she could probably punt him across the field even if she was smaller than him by nearly half, but that was just because she was training so hard. Probably every day compared to him maybe running around doing deliveries for people in town, that was barely considered training when you have a bike to use. But once she finished her explanation he would chime in, adding.

"Maybe one day you could learn to use it? It can't be impossible right? Or maybe you can fuse it in some sorda awesome way." He'd say to give her some silver lining, but he then would complement, "Though your really strong Mika, I'm sure if you could sue chakra too you'd probably be able to throw boulders and chuck cows over the moon haha." He laughed, but would keep her company as she praticed, "Okie dokie, I'll just watch you and read your notes if thats okay, I...don't wana get punshed. My body is soft, and squishy."

As she continued to beat on the dummy she moved through the air with it, her strikes hammering into it and forcing it to move about in the air, which she closely followed thanks to her wings, letting them both stay aloft, her by flying, the weighted and armored dummy by the force of her strikes, though as she landed a hammer blow knocking the Dummy into the ground she landed as Rikuta started to speak once more on her Chakra use or lack there of "I don't think that will be possible other then my natural ability to utilize Life Chakra, but one can hope" she said with a large smile on her face, leave it to the Stoat to always look for a silver lining, it was one of the reasons he was always fun to be around.

On hearing him mentioning her throwing boulders she blushed a bit not mentioning she could likely toss a boulder by now, though she was sure others in the academy could out preform her with chakra, but that wasn't the reason, the reason was she didn't wanna make him think she was any different then the little moth he always knew... and she didn't wanna scare him with what she was capable of ether. But the Image of chucking a cow at the moon got her giggling and forgetting her worry as she considered practicing her Burst knuckle style... but immediately decided against it knowing full well he would probably panic on seeing her at the center of an explosion, she knew she would panic if she saw the same happen to Rikuta... but she would have to show him eventually.

"That is true you are a very soft and well toasted Marshmallow, but hopefully with some training we can make you a tough fuzzball" she said with a giggle as she leaved over and poked her nose in between Kata's she was doing and giggling "And go ahead and read the notes I tried to make them as detailed as I could but I am not an instructor, so likely any questions about that could be gained from talking to one later".

Note:

"It may be a while before that happens haha!" Though he would be happy to try and work towards it, he felt that he would need to focus a lot more before he could even attempt to be tough and or strong. Of course maybe not like Mika was, but that was a given since she was so well-versed already, so for the time being he would spend his time listening to her instructions and no sooner sitting nearby and reading her notes on chakra and what can be used with it. He hadn't gone to any classes yet, so her notes helped but wouldn't really give him many foundations besides just the basics of it and what it can be used to do.

Case in point: Hand seals. He had no idea what they were, but he knew and or saw a few people do them before they did some amazing feat of supernatural prowess. Luckily it was displayed in a few notes she did make and would attempt to practice them, doing it one at a time and taking well over a minute to perform a dozen or so of them. He was very slow at it, but again, he was just learning and would do his best to try and focus on this aspect since Mika recommended it to him. All the while occasionally getting distracted by whatever his moth friend was doing currently. "So um Mika, what are the classes and other students like? Are they all humans? Do they learn the same things here?" He asked inquisitively.

Mika continued to smack around the training dummy picking up her pace and there was more and more damage building on the dummy by this point as she chased the Dummy around slamming it against a tree and sending it into the air which she chased and continued the beat down before using one of her pair of arms to spin Silk from her mouth as she chased the Dummy before suddenly slipping around it and tying the webbing to it and spinning rapidly before slamming the dummy into the ground with a heavy impact before landing on it feet first and then kicking it back into the air and continuing to hammer it befor finally stopping as she realized she basically beat the armor off it "Awww... not again... I'll have to get a new one..." she said looking at it.

Looking over TO Rikuta as he talked to her about the classes and everything Mika stopped to think about it walking over and taking a seat near her fuzzy friend "Hmm.. I have seen people giving me odd looks cause I think I am one of the few Faunus in the academy... well you make another now, I have been in the general classes, but I think they planned a few specialist classes like one for Beast arts and Taijutsu and all the other things, but I can't use any of those other stuff like Genjutsu or Ninjutsu so I was advised not to take the advanced classes since I can't utilize them. the other students.... are a mixed bag.. I have seen some mean ones, and some okay ones, I knew a few of them too Like Maxi and Kanta.. they are nice people" she said thinking about everything.

"I think you will get along well here, I know how hard working you can be once you stop being lazy" she giggled as she gently poked her nose with her antenna. "Buuut... yeah most are Human from what I have seen"

notes:

Rikuta would sit by and read in on the book for learning chakra and their natures, learning aspects that he never really used or looked into as he had no wish or need for them some eyars ago. Now he was finding it all interesting, though it came with limitations and other rules that had to be followed, that being certain people had specific chakra natures, and that hand seals were needed to better channel and control it. Though with some acceptions to certain skills and abilities, overall he would mildly keep flipping through pages of Mika's handwriting while she practiced her combative fighting style on the dummy, eventually leaving it without armor.

Once she began to answer his question however he nodded, adding, "Ah, so they're not all bad, just different then?" He asked, not that he was worried about it, but he was still getting used to being around normal people, or humans in this regard. He knew they all related to clans, and those had special features between them, but they all had skin and top hair, with no real major differences. "Okay, that's not so bad if they're nice then, uh did you want some help getting some armor for the dummy again?" He'd request, offering his assistance as he realized how damaged it was, Mika was powerful, and probably could suplex him into the dirt with minimal effort, but maybe one day he could actually help her out somehow.

"Yeah they are just different, I don't think being so physically close like hugging and stuff is normal around here unlike the place where our families lived close, so I don't think you can go around just hugging everyone... but that doesn't mean you can't come and hug and snuggle with me whenever you want! You know I don't mind at all" she said with a bright smile as she sat with him "Thought... maybe not now.. I am all sweaty" she said giggling as she looked at the dummy "Getting more armor for it will have to wait till I can talk to a teacher about it, since we can't leave the academy grounds till we graduate... I can just beat on some stones or something till then or just go easy on it" she said thinking about that "I mean I could also just try to see if Silk will pad it enough...." she looked at the Dummy once more as that Idea rattled about her head.

Turning back to Rikuta she smiled "What about you Mister Plushy? are my notes helpful? maybe you wanna try some of the simple Jutsu they taught us that I wrote stuff down for in the book? I mean not much I can do to help there other then watch at the moment.. though I could get some tea ready at least" she said with a giggle as she sat there with him, as she started to consider ranged training soon, or maybe train with the lower gates since they didn't cause any outward signs of their activation so Rikuta wouldn't notice them being used, and she was getting rather used to the pain of opening the lower gates after all so she could hide it as well.

note:

Hearing her explain a bit more he'd grow a lot less anxious about meeting the other students, only having seen a few in passing and never knowing or bothering them. He knew ahead of time that they wouldn't like physical contact, unlike his family or Mika where that was a formal greeting, he could easily reframe from doing that though. "Yeah why not use your silk to help you make it tougher, it should help you practice on both ways." He'd advise after she came up with the idea. Though when the topic went to himself he would scratch his head, the book was nice and all and showed some rather simple ways to utilize chakra but he was nervous to try a few since she put in bold letters that over doing it could lead to pain and even death.

"Uh, I don't really know what to try first, I guess doing some basics should work after all that other training you did with me." So first up on the list was basic manipulation, which would just involve him trying to channel chakra and use it, which of course would be in limited form so he took a pebble and would concentrate on it in his paws. Trying to use chakra to help split it rather than brute force, which was his main goal but he'd try to focus on it to better understand what he could do.

Mika smiled a bit and nodded "that's a good Idea.. I will have to prepare some first though... so I can at least make you some tea while I am at it... did you want sugar in the tea? or honey?" she said with a smile as she started to spin silk out of her mouth spooling it around two of her arms, while the other two arms started to take the Thermos out with the cups and taking out the small packets of Sugar and honey as well, she didn't think to get cream since she normally never got that when she asked for tea from the cafeteria maybe she would have to remember to ask about it if Rikuta wanted some for his tea if they were gonna train together more. The thought of that made her smile gently as she continued to spool out the Silk from her mouth, it would take a fair bit to make padding for the Dummy but at least she could make some, maybe this would be easier? she could even incorporate some wood and stone into it to make it tougher and she wouldn't have to keep waiting for new dummies when she broke the armor... and it would likely be less of a headache for the academy staff too.

For the time being she sat with him and watched him do his training, her own was somewhat at a stand still till she was done the silk anyway, and she was giving her body a moment to relax so she wasn't burning herself out, last thing she needed was to make Rikuta worry, and besides it felt nice to have a training partner after so long though she was sure he was exaggerating how strong she seemed, after all the other students here again came from clans so they likely had much more advanced training then she ever would have. Though to his question about where to Begin she pointed to a tab in her note book that had "low ranked Jutsu" written on it "They gave a very basic explanation of some lower ranked Jutsu in the beginners class... for anything more specialized I think they might have scrolls in the library or you can talk to an instructor" she said sounding a little strange as she was still spinning the Silk as she talked.

notes:

"That makes sense." He could tell the lower-ranked Jutsu were pretty standard, nothing fantastic, and mostly just simple skills that ninja should know, or at least those who could do them. Mika's notes on it were pretty keen and actually well-detailed in some respects, but he could tell her interest in jutsu was a bit lower just due to how she phrased certain parts while he focused n the pebble. "Guess I could go to the library later and read some books on certain stuff, I wouldn't know where to start, but it would be fun to see what's there at least." He wasn't one for reading, but he would do it if it perked his interest, same for most things as he could be called very lazy.

Getting up though, he would keep reading the notes on basic skills while trying to focus, pacing back and forth while channeling his chakra till eventually, he felt the pebble break, making dust as he was surprised it was able to happen. now that he had a method of at least channeling his chakra, namely into his palms, he would probably have to better execute it with hand signs, but that would be for when he had something in mind and would probably need a teacher to really get a feel for it. So instead he'd focus a bit more on general skills, like moving silently and practicing a few hand signs. Something he could do at the same time since it was all a matter of using his feet and his hands for one or the other, all the while making small talk still.

"I like sugar with my tea, oh! I should get you some more honey buns later too." He knew she liked them, and his family would always send him out with one or two, so he felt he should at least offer if she was also offering tea.

Mika smiled as she watched him work, he was a tiny bit lazy but that's more because she knew he liked being cozy, but she also knew he was a hard worker when he was interested, at least that's what he was like before her family moved away, so as she spun more silk she watched him get up and practice more, her other set of arms preparing the tea pouring some of the still somewhat hot tea into the cups as she added sugar to his cup and a bit of honey to her own "I could come with you then, just cause I can't use it doesn't mean I should ignore it... watching you learn it might help my understanding of it at least" she commented as she stirred the tea to make sure the honey and sugar in the cups mixed well. This felt rather nice... Training with someone else, no.. specifically just spending time with Rikuta again. and she smiled as she looked up at him as she continued to spin her silk.

By this point Rikuta was trying to be stealthy and was moving his hands around into those handsigns she had written about and seen the other students and teachers use, something she recalled was used to help focus Chakra, and in some cases could help you figure out what element they may be about to use, but she wasn't sure if that was accurate or not, but at least now she could watch Rikuta and see if it was as he trained.

She continued to make more silk and let him work on his things as she started to gently hum to herself this all felt... just right.. but maybe because being around Rikuta felt like being back home, a safe and secure place, and all it took was Rikuta being around, though when she thought about it the roles were kind of reversed now unlike in the days when they were staying at that home for classes and basically daycare where she would snuggle what she thought was a magical living plushy because she was a little scared of talking to the other kids there. The memory itself making Mika blush a bit from embarrassment but it was still a fun memory especially when she remembered how much he protested at being called 'Mister Plushy' or 'Mister Squishy' during that time.

"Mister Squishy your tea is ready" she called over to him with a playful giggle and a smirk on her lips, though she was also blushing a little now as it felt a little embarrassing to call him that again but her want to tease him a bit all the time was still there and she giggled a bit as she called him that all the while she finished up spinning her silk and took a sip of her own tea.

notes:

Step after step Rikuta would make along the grass, reading somewhat out loud but mostly to himself as he looked at the notes she made on this and some hand signs. "Ninja must be silent and deadly, keeping n trace of their location and even being able to surprise their enemies- hiya!" The 'hiya' was added in for dramatic flare as he made a random punch. But he'd keep reading some more as he made his way along the open grass, taking careful steps, and trying not to make certain sounds while doing this. "You must control your breathing, lower your heart rate, and take a modest pace as you learn to be as silent as the wind, wooo-cha!" He'd do another silly kung-fu pose as he wasn't doing well with the whole 'being silent' thing but his steps were noticeably a lot more muffled. Eventually, he'd do the breathing techniques listed and start to become a bit quieter as he walked. But Mika would pull him out of his brief overview of notes as he smiled and watched her stir tea.

Seeing his friend again made him feel warm and happy, she was always so energetic and sweet to him, and even though his mom sorta forced him to try and make friends when he was younger, he was happy to be Mika's friend. Especially given how much he cared about her well-being, she was almost like a sister to him, and the two were siblings just from different parents and homes. Though, seeing her doing this kinda reminded him of his mother, someone nice, sweet, and like a wife. Though the thought of a wife at his age just made his freckled cheeks go red as he couldn't think about that now, he had to focus on other things, though it was at this time she called him that old nickname and he'd fluster a bit as he pouted, "I'm not that squishy!"

Walking over and sitting down he would reach for a cup and taste it, smiling somewhat as he added, "It's really good, thanks Mika." he'd say with a sincere tone, watching her do her silk thing, not really minding it since she's done this around him multiple times, but he'd point out, "Did you learn how to do that from your mom?" He asked, pointing to her arms as they weaved and helped spin the silk.

Hearing Rikuta make those silly sounds had Mika trying to not laugh he was giving it a good try but it was clear he was a bit worked up on being silly, or maybe it was cause he was feeling more energetic after he recovered from the gauntlet? Ether way it was silly but she did start giggling at his reaction to being called that old nickname stifling her giggled with a hand as she looked at the pout on his face, he always had the silliest facial expressions when she teased him. As he came over to join her she made sure to keep the Silk neat so she could apply it to the dummy once they were done having a nice sit, and she took a sip of her tea "Well I remember you like sweets almost as much as me so adding enough sugar was easy enough, but I am glad I didn't over do it, I will have to thank the Cafeteria staff for stocking tea though it's really good" she said with a smile as she looked over to Rikuta.

"Oh this? Yeah she keeps it neat like this... my Dad tends to just do it haphazardly as long as it gets the job done, Mom is a blt neater with her use of it, so I picked up the habit from her, though I think her silk is stronger then mine" she said as her little moth tail wriggled, and she thought about maybe making Rikuta a welcome gift like a scarf or something with her silk... then again a scarf made of silk wouldn't be that useful... maybe a shirt? or a vest? if she weaved it tight enough and thick enough she could make it rather tough so it would last a long time and be a little protective maybe? OH what about a headband to put the plate on once they graduate? Well that would have to be a graduation gift... so a welcome gift... what would he like?

She sat there thinking a bit as she sipped her tea looking over at Rikuta like she was studying him, well she kind of was as she was trying to figure out what would be a good gift... eventually she tilted her head to the side as her antenna wriggled about "what kind of clothing would you say you could use a bit more of?" she outright asked.

notes:

"I'll have to go there and get some more when I'm feeling thirsty." He'd complement the staff indirectly for being good at what they do, of course, he always enjoyed tea, no matter the brand or who made it, so long as it was normal or the stuff shipped from over sea's he was happy. On the indication of her family and namely her mom's silk he only met her mom a few times, she was nice to him, same for her dad, really they reminded him of his own parents to a degree, just flipped in personality. His mom was a bit more utilitarian, mostly caring about results and making sure things were done properly, while his father was more lx, less high-strung, and would just help out where he could while having some clumsy tendencies, which he probably inherited.

When she gave her random question he would perk up and put his cup down as he thought about it for a bit. "Um well...I don't have any cold weather clothes, aside from that I don't wear a lot besides my shirt and my pants. I have extra of course, but why do you ask?" He said though he could guess maybe she wanted to make something for him? After all, they were talking about silk only a minute or two ago.

Mika sat there thinking of what to make him as he answered her question, though his reply about the tea had her brain also working on a way to tease him now, he really was a defenseless little Fuzzball when it came to teasing, the issue was the only thing she could think to say made her blush a bit and only cause she heard her father say that to her mother and her mother started sputtering and blushing after he said it, so she was sure it would work on Rikuta but it sounded so weird... but.. he was asking for it now and a slow smile started to creep onto her face as she looked at Rikuta her large red eyes blinking a bit as she scooted a bit closer and took a sip of her tea to get a bit of courage to say this again cause she thought it sounded a bit embarrassing but also cause she wasn't to entirely sure what it meant.

"I mean if your feeling thirsty you can always come see me"" she said to him her cheeks starting to turn a bit red as she let her antenna gently brush against his nose, just like she seen her father do to her mother, though she still didn't know what it meant really, but she wondered if Rikuta would react like her mother had when her Father did this to her, though Mika was also finding it hard to not burst out into giggles at how silly the line sounded her wings twitching a bit as she sat there looking right at Rikuta before finally she cracked and started to giggle having to put the tea down in fear of spilling it as she giggled more and more though her face was also somewhat red due to how embarrassing saying that had been, but she just needed to tease him a little.

notes:

Enjoying his tea with his friend, he'd relaxed somewhat, wondering if she would answer his question, but instead, she seemed to move closer, which he had no problem with. However, when she made that statement, he'd blink a few times, not understanding it, till it clicked a bit as he knew only a bit, and it sounded teasing in a way. "I um...a..uh...w-w.." He began to babble, flustering brightly and his face heating up over his freckled cheeks. He couldn't respond back to her and her little boops on his nose made it wiggle frantically, he was lost for words and didn't rightly have a comeback for something too heavy-hitting. Nonetheless, as he tried to mentally recover from that statement he would drink the rest of his tea in one big gulp h would soon add, "I um..t-thick w..we should go back to t-training now.." He'd try to laugh it off, but it was hard not to focus on what she mentioned.