Training with a Stoat (Dual Training thread)

Mika had woken up and gone for a jog early morning like normal, and after a few Laps around the Academy it was time for breakfast. so she headed back to the dorms to take a quick shower. Her normal schedule had her leaving the shower, going for a meal, then back to training, but as she was about to head out the door of the dorm building after washing up she stopped and remembered Rikuta was at the Academy now, and that he would need training too, and he did say training together would be good... That and she had lent him her notebooks on Chakra and stuff so he would need to return those. So with a smile she headed back up the stairs to the floor he was on and walked over to his door.

"Come on you silly Fluff wake up" she said through the door as she knocked on it to wake him, unsure if he locked it or not, but assuming he did due to how nervous he was the day before, especially after they had woken up from the impromptu nap where they had fallen asleep hugging each other, oh the blush on his face when they woke up was adorable, she had to wonder if he knew sometimes his nose wriggled when he was embarrassed?

Regardless she would knock again, she was gonna make sure he got some training in, though she was sure he wouldn't be able to do her training simply because her training had caused her to open the gates by accident and if he did that he would realize that she had done the same and she just KNEW he would be scared and worried for her, so best to not let him know about that... for now anyway..

Rikuta was still asleep, not because he was lazy or anything but because he wasn't used to waking up at this time to do anything, even his parents didn't wake him up till maybe a few hours later after the shop was open and they had the first batch of goods baking in the oven. Though hearing the knock he'd pull off the blankets and look around, oh right the academy, nearly forgot. Shaking his head he would walk to the door and open it, looking down at little Mika as he looked puffy and more so just tired, his eyes barely open as he added, "Morning, is it time to do things already?..."

He didn't seem interested in waking up like this, but he did say they could train together, and with how energetic she was he didn't know if this was the right call or not. Either way, he seemed to be more or less tired after yesterday, even after his little nap with her, pouting a tad as he didn't like mornings.

She giggled as she seen the very fluffy stoat open the door and she gently poked his nose with her antenna "that's right Straberry choco nose, it's time to wake up, breakfast is gonna be served soon, and it's another free study day so it's the perfect time to be training, I already have been up for about two hours now though.. Got to start early if we wanna catch up after all" she said as she took a brush out of her pocket and started to brush down his overly floofy fur "Have to make you look less floofy though... Well I mean I don't mind but I doubt you wanna go around campus looking like a puffball"r she giggled, she was used to doing this, again as kids when she thought he was something like a living plushy she had groomed and brushed him all the time after naps as he tended to get really fluffy after them, usually from rolling around in his sleep, add a blanket and extra fluffy Stoat was the result.

Taking some time to make his fur nice and neat she put the brush away and poked his nose "Now go change into some clothing and we can go have breakfast and we can start the training after you eat and wake up a bit" she said with a giggle as she waited for him to change.

"Murph.." He'd respond to being brushed, and having his nose booped by her little antenna. He didn't want to do stuff today, but she was right in a few days, he should focus on getting stuff done and also training while he could, especially before he'd begin doing some classes, this way he wouldn't come in as a complete amateur. "Well..okay, I need to take a shower though." He'd point out, eyes still seemingly closed as he didn't enjoy the lights blinding him and whatnot, but he'd allow her to come inside since he didn't want her waiting in the hall.

If she waited inside she'd see he'd bring his clothes into the bathroom rather than a change in the main room, not used to doing that anyways since it felt odd to walk around in a towel. After about 5 minutes he'd come out in his normal outfit, nothing too fancy, and mostly for working out, though he'd yawn still. "Okay, I think I"m ready, what do I need to take with me?" The stoat requested.

She giggled at the silly sound he made and then she walked into his room and seeing how he had left the bed messy she made up the bed and waited for him, she didn't bother snooping around, after all she had already been in here and Rikuta had arrived just yesterday so she had basically seen everything he had with him, so there was really no reason to do so.

It took some time for him to finish washing and changing and she waited patiently, there really wasn't to much of a rush, training when you were still super tired was not a good Idea after all so letting him wake up and eat was the best Idea, though he mentioned what he should take with him "Well if you wanna train throwing your ranged weapons then bring them, we can set up targets and stuff after we eat, since the equipment room is open for people to take stuff out of... Oh and bring your weapon to if you wanna train with that. umm... other then that when we go to get our food at the Cafeteria ask the ladies there to Make you a lunch to take with us so we can eat while training" she said with a smile as she hopped up and waited for him to grab his things before leading him off to the Cafeteria.

Note:

Rikuta nodded, understanding the plan for the day as Mika detailed their options and whatnot. Walking over to his closet he'd grab the little pouch for throwing weapons, and add whatever else would help him to learn things, namely, he picked up an empty notebook. Just for taking notes if Mika had any ideas on what he probably didn't know about just yet. "Okay I think I'm ready, we can pick up our food and head off to the training grounds right after." With all that in mind he would allow Mika to lead the way, even though he knew where the cafeteria was, the boy would lock his door behind himself before making his way downstairs.

"Was there something you planned on training, Mika?" Scratching one of his ears he did wonder if he could help her with something, but if not then he knew to at least ask and think of maybe a few ways to help her out.

Note:

Mika smiled "Well I mean after we eat breakfast then we can grab the lunch they make for us and head out for training" she said poking his nose with an antenna as she grabbed the notebook she had leant him last night that had all the Chakra notes in it for him to read, no point leaving it behind after all. and after he locked the door she lead him to the Cafeteria.

As they walked he asked her what she was planning on training "Oh just generally body workouts, and maybe train a few techniques..." she trailed off wondering if he would notice if she opened the first two gates, but they gave no outward signs of them being used so yeah she could train them "Yeah a few techniques I learned, that's about it really.. maybe do some Kata for my Strong Fist style that I learned, have to keep up on the training after all" she said as she got to the cafeteria

Once in the Cafeteria she lined up for breakfast, getting a  bowl of cereal, some toast, a glass of orange juice and an apple for breakfast and she looked to the lady behind the table "Oh I am gonna be out training most of the day again, so while I am eating could you please prepare a packed lunch for me? oh and for my friend Rikuta here too he's gonna be joining me" she said with a smile.

The lady smiled and looked at them "Oh of course dear, I'll make a lunch for both of you... is there anything you want special in there Rikuta? Oh and don't worry Mika I'll add in the usually little treat for you" she would ask him as Mika smiled "Thank you" and then she looked to Rikuta "I'll go get us a table" she said before flying off into the cafeteria to nap a table for them.

Note:

With some ideas in mind he understood a bit as to what she had in mind to train for herself, for him he had a list of things based on the notebook she had given him. It was all basic things, but mostly things that were doable and not extremely hard to manage.  Walking with his friend down to the cafeteria he would look over the number of things available to eat, he never really had big meals before, but he wanted to take advantage of as many options as possible.

"Oh hello, ma'am!" He'd say nicely, trying to be polite as he thought about what he wanted for lunch as his breakfast was already set up. Having grabbed some french toast, some eggs, and a little bit of honey to the side as the last thing was sausages. "Um, I'd like some sliced ham please, and uh I think I'd also like some potato skins with bacon." It was some of his favorite food, especially for a snack, easy to make, and simple too. Looking to Mika as she would go to to find a table he'd nod, "Okay, be there in a bit."

Note:

The Cafeteria worker smiled and nodded "Okay, and it's nice to see the young girl found someone to train with, I was getting worried, she's been doing nothing but training all the time it seemed, maybe you can have her have more fun or something? I know this place is to teach you young ones to be Ninja, but still, so take good care of her okay?" she said as she gave him his food "Come back after your meal to pick up your lunches" she said with a smile.

Mika meanwhile had found a table and sat down and started to eat her cereal as it was the thing that was gonna take the longest, the rest she could carry with her if needed, at the same time she was putting a Training Plan together, Rikuta would need to train his Strength, and his Defense, and reaction time. so they could do simpler versions of what she did, OH the things she did starting out would be perfect! She smiled as she remembered that everything should be in the Equipment room for them, and she had all the Silk they would need to set other things up, she would also have to get her Weights and some for him to help his training, but not as much as she would normally wear now. As she ate her Cereal and waited for Rikuta to get to the table she continued to put the training plan together to get him up to standard

Note:

Hearing the woman detail about how Mika usually didn't train much with others and probably needed someone to help her out he'd give a nod back, "Okay, and no worries I"ll do my best to keep her comnpany. Thank you ma'am!" He'd appreciate the staff working to help them all out, and would keep it in mind to pick up his lunch once he was done eating. Though he would wonder why Mika hadn't done much with other students? Was it all about keeping things secretive, or just that she wanted to improve on her own without aid? Overall, it was kinda odd but he wouldn't question it much and would simply walk over to where Mika had picked for them to sit down and would join her.

"The lunch lady said that things would be done once we were finished and to pick it up afterward. Uh, something on your mind, Mika?" Rikuta could tell she was a bit focused in her mind for a moment, just from the stare she had before he sat down, himself, on the other hand, the boy was just happy to have nice food and so would munch away on the things he got. Getting a cup of water to wash it all down with as well.

Note:

Mika looked up as Rikuta joined her, well actually she looked up after he asked her if something was on her mind and she looked at him a moment... then poked his nose with her Antenna "Just wondering what to get from the Equipment room for training is all, and what training I can help you with once we start training, I have a few things in mind, but as for Training how to Use Chakra I only have the notebooks I have, I took detailed Notes though because I wanted to understand how it worked so I could see if I could do something about someone getting ready to use it" she said simply as she sat there eating.

After a bit of eating with him she finished her Cereal she started on her toast "so after this we can go grab the stuff we need, thankfully their are carts to to make it easier, I normally don't use those, but I figure you would wanna get to training rather then just running back and forth to get everything we would need for training, since we will need a bit more then I would usually use when I am training alone" she said simply as she as she finished off her toast.

It would take a bit to finish their meal but after they were done Mika would get up "Okay to the equipment room.... Oh wait grab our lunches first" she said as she flew over to the Counter and the lady there already had their lunches set to the side, in nice carry bags "Thank you... Rikuta here" she said as she took the meals and gave Rikuta's to him, the label on it having his name "The bags reusable so we should bring it back after we are done training for the day" she said as she headed out for the Equipment room.

On getting to the room she started to load up the large and deep pushcart with all the things they would need "Grab targets training dummies, a couple of weights for yourself to wear once we get there, and some trainign Kunai and Shuriken, Oh and some chalk I need to put on my weights" she said to her friend as she went to the weights are and started to strap on three to four weights on each arm and leg, three weight belts, and a large vest and loading weights into every pocket as well as a set of weighted gear pouches that attached to the vest to add more weight.

Note:

"I skimmed through it yesterday, seems a bit complicated but not enough to be super bad, also you have very nice handwriting. Much better than me having to write stuff sideways to make it readable." He laughed with a smile on his face, but he did understand a bit of what Mika's notebook had in it, it just revolved around channeling, natures, and understanding that portions of the body held some form of power in them that could be pushed and expanded on. The stoat just didn't know if he'd be any effective at it, but that was a problem for later, for now, he'd just keep eating and talking when he wasn't stuffing his gullet.

"Uh okay sure, I'll help move all the stuff into the field and whatnot."

Being done right around when she was finished he'd take his tray and slot it with the rest of them, going back to grab his lunch for the day with a pleasant thank you to the woman and then heading off to the supply room to get the training dummy's and targets. It was a handful full and he'd of course use the wheelbarrow to cart them out of the room after stacking it with a few things that Mika asked for.

"Rodger."

He'd respond before moving outside and to the location Mika mentioned prior. Set up was quick, not really much of a hassle, if anything it only took around 10 minutes or so before the area looked primed and ready for training. But before he'd jump right in he'd look to Mika, "Okay, guess it's time to practice now, but did you need help with anything?" He was probably going to start on reading MIka's notes, but wanted to help out as much as possible.

Note:

Spoiler:

Mika smiled as she looked over the set up, she would need to make some silk first to set up some of the other things... like the weighted boulder... and the Training Shuriken Launchers to practice dodging Oh she would need to make a simple weighted pendulum to let Rikuta train his toughness to letting it hit him and learning to roll and brace for the impacts like she had done when she started out, oh maybe start with sticks instead of Blunted Shuriken and Kunai for him like she did for herself? Oh and finally the training dummy, he would need some training for hand to hand fighting as well.

"Well I need to make some silk to finish setting up, so for now I don't really need anymore help, we can just sit for a bit while you read the notes and I make the silk I need to set up everything else for both of us, though you would be more training with lighter things... OH right and we have some weights for you to wear when you start training physical things so don't put them on yet" she said with a smile as she took a seat near him and started to weave some silk slowly spooling it out of her mouth

Understanding, Rikuta would plop his butt down on a nearby log to sit down and begin reading into what the notebook had fully this time, he didn't know if Mika wanted the notebook back but he would make his own little underlines and edits into it when he could. The first portion of the book he read was about ninjutsu and the applications of the art in the form of chakra and the like. The basics of it just detailed that chakra was a part of every living thing and could be used to empower any number of things, even other people if done correctly or if following a certain method in the form of techniques.

This was slightly confusing, after all, he didn't know any techniques, but it went into detail about those as well. He learned that hand seals were one way of establishing techniques, each seal corresponded to a certain amount of chakra, or just focused on certain aspects of molding the chakra into things. These things could be anything, and so he would try his best to memorize them and so would begin doing basic hand seals, not channeling chakra but he wanted to understand what he needed to do in terms of learning ninjutsu.

After progressing and somewhat getting the hang of the hand seals, he'd then start to do as the book instructed and learn how to channel chakra into his actions, which was a tad hard at first but the instructions told him to use a leaf to try and cause some effects on them. Similar to how someone finds out their chakra affinity, and so he'd grab a couple and hold it between his hands while doing his hand seals pratice.

Note:

Spoiler:

Mika smiled as she weaved her silk and watched Rikuta training using the notes she made on Chakra and how it was used, and while it wasn't a great substitute for a teacher it seemed he was trying his best, maybe she should get an instructor here? Ether way she would continue to spool out more Thread from her mouth, she would need more then usual after all since she needed to set things up for Rikuta as well as herself, Thankfully the boulders she used where still here, undamaged since she only used them for training her defenses, and learning how to take a hit. As she spooled out more Silk she thought to herself on other ways to help her friend train, other then sparring or weight training while doing other things and really the only thing she could think of was getting an Instructors help in teaching Rikuta about Chakra, though he would get that anyway through classes.

Ether way she was happy to help him with the Physical and part of the Chakra training, personally she always thought with things like this it was best to try yourself to learn the ropes, but she wasn't sure if Rikuta was a book learner or more a learn by doing kind like she was? Though she figured that would be answered soon enough as they went through with this training. As time passed she would break the web into different large spools and then start to weave some for use with the boulders, they needed to be strong after all to hold that extra weight, she was so used to this that she was doing so with all four hands even as she watched Rikuta doing his Chakra training. He was not even using a leaf for something.

With the weaving done she got up and started to set everything up, the sticks and blunts Kunai and Shuriken for dodge training, making sure the blunted tools didn't fly towards where she was setting things up for Rikuta, then she set up the weighted swing for him then moved to the side and set up her boulders and weighted them with the weights she had on to give them extra striking force. With that done she set up the training dummies a bit farther off, and then some targets for Rikuta to practice his throwing, as well as a few for herself. After the set up was done she smiled and looked it over with a nod, it was all properly set and ready to be used, all that was needed was to wait for Rikuta to be done studying and then he had to put his weights on.

So with that she walked over to him and peaked at what he was doing from over his shoulder her antenna drooping down over his head as she waited and just watched what it was he was doing for now not wanting to disturb him.

Note:

Rikuta was still working on looking at the basics and how chakra networks worked, it seemed like it was invisible, not a fully visible thing unless concentrated or using special techniques and eyes. Making it harder to actually manifest, but can be utilized for things if trained enough, which for now he would constantly try to use the chakra he had and channel it into maybe manipulating the leaf in his hand. Which after some time he’d see that his chakra did in-fact cause some minor damage to the lead, causing it to shrivel up a bit which was interesting.

But it was instructed that this was a way to know about your chakra affinity, and from the looks of it it could be lighting for him, something he knew about prior due to it being documented in his family. Namely a little Faunus note off to the side that Mika provided, very handy. Once he felt like he had gotten done with a chapter, or at least enough of the notes that detailed this, he would no sooner place it down and grab the weights since Mika seemed to be spying on him to get prepared.

The weights themselves were heavy, but he could lift them, clearly not as big as Mika’s but she could tell he was a tad more sluggish as he walked over. “These are super heavy...eh, so uh what are we doing now?” He asked next.

Note:

Spoiler:

Continuing to watch him study and mess with the leaf for a little longer Mika smiled when he ended up getting up, though she had seen the leaf crinkle without him doing anything, so it was likely he just used Chakra to do it, that was interesting so the notes she took did help a bit, that was good to know. She would smile as Rikuta got up and got the weights on and then he waddled his was over to her, she giggled as he did so as it was obvious that he wasn't used to wearing weights, nor moving with them, but it was the best way she could think of to help him get stronger faster.

"Okay we will start with basic strength exercises, ten squats, jogging around the area here for stamina, just five laps to get used to the weights, ten push ups, and finally ten pull ups, that should give you an Idea how to move with all the extra weight, and then we can start going through the course I set up how's that sound? she explained the Idea of the quick set, more to see how well he was off after just that small amount and it was a good pacing she thought, "Then we do it all again without the weights and see if you feel up to keep going, if you don't then you can take a rest while I do a few extra runs for myself, then we can do target practice, I like to do some activity first before target practice so I know how I will throw when tired, then I switch things up so I can train throwing when rested the next time that way I get a good feel of my abilities when tired and when fresh and everything in between" she said with a bright smile

"I should be able to do all that, though I don't know if I can with these on..." Flapping his arms like a bird to indicate he wasn't super comfortable with the weights, he would at least try his best after being given the things he needed to do. So first thing was the squats, which were simple and weren't too hard since it was only ten of them. Leading to a light burn in his thighs, but going into the run he kinda did a slow jog, leading up to a small slumping zombie walk by the end of it. It wasn't like he was unfit but he was clearly not used to anything related to extra weight.

"Mikaaaaaaa, this succccccks."

The boy whined, complaining but he'd keep up the tempo and go straight into push-ups, easier than running, but everything was starting to burn now. SO when it came to the pull up's he'd do a couple then hang there, before finally getting up one last time and wrapping his legs around the bar clinging like a cat as he asked, "Mika, help, I can't get down, I don't wana fall." Clearly, they were not used to anything, but it was pretty entertaining.

Note:

Spoiler:

Mika kept up with the things she asked Rikuta was doing, with extra weights on her even, and as she joined him she was slowly increasing the amount she was doing to encourage him and to get some warm up for herself as well, But as they finished the laps, Mika herself having done twice the amount of laps in less time then it took Rikuta to his, she looked over at the Zombie walking Stoat and giggled as he made his little protest, "You can do it Rikuta, and of course it's gonna suck in the beginning, this is your first time doing it, you will get used to it soon enough, and when you do we can increase the amount of exercises and laps before increasing the weights, it's all working towards making you stronger then the fluff ball you came here as" she giggled.

Then they were doing the Push up and moved to the pull ups, that was when she heard a tired plea for help from her friend and she looked over and seen him clinging to the branch and she couldn't help but giggle a bit he looked adorable curled up clinging to the branch like that "You look like a toasted Marshmallow stuck on a stick" she teased giggling more before flying up to him and gently plucking him off the branch, even with her own added weights and the ones he was wearing along with his larger frame she seemed to have no problem as she landed them on the ground and she sat down with him and poked his nose with her Antenna.

"Take a rest for now...but just enough to get some energy back, we still need to go through the training course I set up for dodging and defense training" she said as she sat with him with a smile on her face, it really felt a lot different to train with others "Your doing good though, when I started I couldn't even do half of that you did......well for a bit anyway... this training is sure to lead to results though" she said as she made sure the training wasn't enough to actually accidently force him to open the first gate, something she wanted to avoid if at all possible considering how dangerous they were, and if he did that... he might figure out that she likely did the same with the training and then he would start to worry and she didn't want that to happen.

Note:

Being plucked off the tree he would flop on the ground, tongue sticking out with a little "Bleagh.." Sound effect as he laid there for a bit, looking up at Mika as she seemed to tease him, pouting a bit. Though he'd take her advice to heart, understanding that this was just the beginning and that he would need to start slow and build his way up to it, didn't help that he was lazy though, but he was happy to try. Once he had managed to regain some energy he'd pull his body up off the ground, trying to stretch his limbs as he was a tad sore but drank some water.

"Thanks, Mika, hopefully, I'm not slowing you down or anything, but I"ll keep working on it still." Getting up he'd begin to repeat what he did, this time at a smaller pace, and smaller set too. He haded physical activities and liked sleeping, so this all sucked, but he'd get over it as he'd begin to do squats again, then a small jog, getting only one lap around. A couple push up's, and finally, he'd try one pull-up and flop on the floor, panting and groaning as he needed some more time to recover. But luckily he had at least done enough in the span of 20 minutes or so that he was happy with some minor results. Knowing now that he had to try that much harder for the future.

"Alright...I- I think I need to relax some more...ah..." He said, whining a bit but he'd get over it eventually, given time.

Note:

Spoiler:

the sound was silly when he laid down, but she was used to him making odd silly sounds, though she let her antenna poke his nose now and again just to tease him, finally when he got a drink and got back up she smiled at him "No your not slowing me down, and I know you will you may be a lazy marshmallow but I know you try your best when you put your mind to it" she giggled as she gently poked his nose with a finger this time. She then joined him to do it all again, once again her doing twice what he was doing with three times the weight on her, but that was to be expected considering she was training for longer then him.

Eventually he had laid down again and she walked over to him and stood over the Stoat looking at him "don't worry take some time to relax, I am gonna run my version of the dodging and defense exercise okay? you watch what I do, I set yours up similar to mind but I used less dangerous or heavy things since your just starting out, just watch what I do, and remember you will have to do this with the weights on okay?" she said before poking his nose "Boop" then she giggled and headed over to the little training gauntlet and got ready to go.

Mika took out a Kunai and then as she kicked off the ground to go she threw it at one of the webbing lines and cut it, then the sound almost like steal cables whipping around sounded as Kunai and Shuriken where launched at her from the trees using her own silk, they were launched at different times and angles the webbing she used was looped and angled in different ways to achieve this affect, and she weaved through them not letting them touch her body, Mika had set up her Dodge training using blunted throwing weapons just in case, but Rikuta's would be using rounded off and blunted sticks so he wouldn't be hurt by them if he messed up.

After the assault of Throwing weapons ended Mika was standing near one of the boulders, another kunai shooting out and cutting the webbing holding the Boulder back and sending it at Mika, she rather then dodge this time though planted her feet and braced herself for the hit and let it strike her, she didn't even slide back as it did so and she pushed it away only for the second boulder to come swinging down at her and she did the same to it, the boulders on Webbing acting like pendulums when she pushed them back they would come back to strike her and each time she braced and let them hit her until they eventually ran out of momentum. then she walked back over to Rikuta.

"don't worry your stuff won't be that difficult, just some blunted sticks to dodge, and the pendulums I set up for you are just some weights on webbing meant to strike you so you can get tougher, they won't to much damage if they hit you but you will have to brace for them" she said with a smile as she seemed perfectly fine after doing her run.

Note:

Rikuta's nose scrunched up at the poke, but he'd recover from this assault soon enough as he wiggled it a bit to get the sensation to pass before sitting up as she explained what they were going to be doing next. It seemed like they were about to begin an obstacle course, or something similar to it, but it looked incredibly dangerous which made him flinch and call out, "Watch out Mika!" His own instincts to make sure his friend was safe kicked in every so often when he saw a blade nearly fly towards her but hit nothing but a nearby bush.

It was uncomfortable, but he'd have to trust she knew what she was doing and that they could at least work together if time allowed such things. On the next part a boulder or two were about to squish the little moth, making him panic again, but instead of seeing her all smooshed she braced and pushed them away, showing off just how much stronger she was than him again as he was pretty impressed by this. Making him smile a bit that she had gained so much power in such a short about of time, already blazing past him in terms of skills and just strength overall.

Coming back to him he nodded, not expecting to have to do all that but luckily detailing that he had something much simpler to do so he'd give a reassuring gesture. "Alright gotcha, I"ll try my best to work on it." He knew this was all for reflexes and also endurance, ensuring he could take and dodge things better than he could normally. So in standing up he'd make his way towards the course, or at least the modified one that Mika had made for him. Starting but moving forwards, strings would clip and soon he'd be assaulted with sticks, causing him to try and evade a few dozen aimed at his body or near him. He'd do well with only a few poking him in the tail or things that he didn't notice but eventually, he'd make his way out of the storm of twigs and move forward...

Note:

Spoiler:

Mika had heard him calling out to be careful, but she had focused when she was going through the course, she knew it was going to happen, after all growing up she clung to him like he was some big protective plushy, but it was cause he was always around that she grew more confident and was so outgoing now cause he encouraged her, granted at the time she thought he was a magic talking plushy... The memory of it made her blush a bit in embarrassment at her younger self, but it had helped her in the end, and now here she was helping him to get stronger and tougher, she smiled as she watched him get ready to do the course, and she gave him a thumbs up as he said he would give it his best try.

Then she watched as he set off she threw the Kunai to set off the webbing to launch the blunted sticks at him, and she had to stifle a giggle at the somewhat panicked looking dodging she seem him do, and a few getting caught in his tail fur or poking him from an unexpected angle, but he seemed to be doing okay, next though was the weights on Silk lines, and as she watched she called out "Remember don't dodge these... brace yourself and plant your feet firmly, you want them to hit you and then you push them away, then get ready for the next! You can do it!" she called out as she the the Kunai to set off the pendulums since his course had been sticks and she didn't wanna chance putting even a blunted Kunai or Shuriken in the course when she wasn't sure how tough he was at the moment.

Then she watched the first of the weights come at her fuzzy friend and she stood there watching to see how he would do with this portion, the few sticks that hit him meant he was at least a bit good at reaction time already even with weights on, but she knew he would likely be tired after all this.. though that was kinda the point since after this he would have accuracy training while tired, but for now she observed.

Note:

"Okay, gotcha!" Rikuta would have been the one to evade something meant to try and push back against or tank in this case, but he was still a tad nervous about how big they could be or how much weight he could handle. But from the looks of it, they weren't anything to worry about. It was the weights from the supply closet, after all, nothing like boulders, of which Mika was probably well versed in dealing with occasionally. So as he moved out of the way of a number of projectiles thrown his way he'd start to position his feet squarely, holding his paws out in preparation for the weights to swing down.

Once he saw them come down he would try to brace his body once they made contact and aim to push them away a bit, struggling at first since the momentum was new to him, and so was all this training but after a few seconds, he'd toss them back. Watching them swing towards him again and repeating the process. It was difficult due to the weights he had on currently, but not impossible and so the boy would seemingly do rather well in shoving them to the side and repeating this for a bit, taking the hit but blocking it so it wasn't just his body getting hammered. After a bit of this, he would no sooner step out of the way and groan as everything was a bit sorer now, but he knew he'd have to go through all this again later, once he had some water and understood his possible mistakes, which he would look to Mika to provide.

Note:

Mika watched as Rikuta did his best to stand his ground though it was obvious he was quite tired, though that was usually the best time to try to do the defense training, and he was doing quite well but she could tell he wouldn't be able to continue to go on at this rate, especially since she was making sure not to push him to hard, she didn't want him to stumble on the gates like she did, she didn't want him to make the connection that the training would have done the same to her. "That's right you got it!" she encouraged him halfway through his training with the weights, and she could see him slowly getting more and more tired, but she was going to have to push him a little to do the target practice while tired.

Then he looked back at her and she smiled "That was good you're almost done, we just have to go through the target practice.. just three targets, but do it while tired, then I will tell you what you need to improve on while you rest" she said as she got up and pointed to the targets set up "just those first three. this is so you know how it feels to throw when tired, it might happen in the field so then you can compensate at the time, then once you do that we can take a short rest and you can take the weights off, then we do it all again"[/color] she said with a bright smile.