Life on Shokushu had become rather hum-drum with a lot of students. Creatures who sought human flesh seemed to be attacking less and more targeted victims were perhaps receiving a much needed break. Aside from the still persistent threat of being attacked, college dwelling basically consisted of the simple classes, homework, and tests. With a few activities on the side, Shokushu seemed relatively normal or as normal as it could possibly be given its environment. But because the creatures were not exactly on the prowl as often did not mean there were typical events taking place with the students. But it was just simple business of school life… at least simple for a few learners

Business was in the eye of the beholder. Sometimes it was plain dreary while others enjoy the excitement of making way with deals. Taisie held the latter more to her agreement with Vera. In exchange for learning projectile magicks, the kunoichi agreed to teach the Head Girl defensive and offensive moves for protection, for stress relief and perhaps a bit of a confidence boost in physical abilities.

It had started simple with defense and using counters with defensive postures. But as weeks went by and weeks turned into months, Vera had recently ascended to becoming a sparring partner. It was inevitable for her to gain some reflexes like Taisie’s. And since Taisie was learning on her own greater strengthen herself, Vera still had more to learn in the end. The kunoichi was actually delighted inside to have someone she could play fight with. It was a crucial part of her own training she was lacking so having Vera be able to defend herself without much worry would greatly help her as well.

It was about time for Vera to arrive to the gym in the early morning of Wednesday as always. Taisie always managed to get there before her and stretch and work out as she arrived. She was certainly a morning person.

Talking with Vera was still casual even after months. Taisie had opened a bit up of her feelings, but as far as her interests and goals in life or even her family background, she had yet to speak much of them. Still stolid to the very last, but she seemed either oblivious of her lack of open conversation or simply refused to partake much. She had learned a few things of Vera such as her interests which made teaching her a bit easier to understand how she learned.

Performing a back flip onto a map with a few following back-handsprings woke the woman up after twisting her body around. This morning just seemed to be typical for practice. But perhaps she could push the training up a little to fully prepare Vera for a spar.

Vera would arrive soon after the woman. At this point, it came as no surprise to see the kunoichi already in the gym doing flips and other acrobatic techniques. Waking up this early was not an issue for the Head Girl. She tended to be up early and staying up late to perform her duties as well as attend her classes. But unlike those matters, this particular meeting was somewhat enjoyable or at least enjoyable once the exercises did not leave her entire body aching.

The magic teaching had not progressed much since it began. Vera was learning just as much as Taisie was and the Head Girl did not really have many offensive spells that involved throwing a projectile. But casting spells that had a longer range than the hand could reach was something she could do easily enough. With the kunoichi's magic nearly revolving around the woman's martial arts, it was difficult to break old habits and let the body and mind know that the mana beyond the body could be manipulated if done correctly.

The Head Girl's long silver hair was tied back so it would not be in the way during their exercises and spars. She had to admit, the exercise felt good once the body got into the routine. The silver haired woman was already rather flexible and had a decent amount of stamina due to being a servant of a Headmaster. The rest of the technique and power had to be taught by her partner though. Gradually muscle memory caught up with the lessons and she was learning more advanced techniques from the other woman.

Their conversations were simple and mostly focused on the tasks at hand. But things had finally grew relaxed enough for them to call each other by first name if they wish. Vera did not pry about the woman's past. Most of that information was on file anyway. But anythign the woman had to say, she would listen to patiently.

"Good morning, Taisie," she called out to the woman doing her warm up, "I hope I am not too late."

A relaxed state of mind was new for both Taisie and Vera to each other. Years of solitude dulled the athletic woman’s sense of socializing, making her a difficult soul to converse through with basic small talk a challenge. Etiquette was strong in her family’s teachings, but without the necessary means of using them they often created very awkward silences between her and another person. Perhaps subtle teachings by the Head Girl were slowly getting through to the kunoichi.

Taisie’s own attire consisted of a newer gym outfit that was finally delivered. At the very least it did not make her breasts stick out so unsightly (At least in her own opinion) but it still hugged her curves without overly constricting her. Her shorts were undeniably still a bit short her slender legs, but instead of complaining, she accepted the inches not given. This did, however, allow quite a bit more of her smooth but muscular legs to be out; viewable thighs did not reveal too much of her, but it could make eyes wander. Her hair was tied back with a white ribbon that had blue shading on the outer layers. And with thin black gloves protecting her hands from being rubbed raw on the mats with her hourly practices in the gym, Taisie seemed comfortable in her element.

Her hair flips back as she finishes hand-spring, allowing the woman bow her head respectfully to the Head Girl and a brief smile to follow suit. “Punctuality seems to be second-nature for us both. I do not recall you ever being late, but always a little ahead of time,” she replies, once more giving Vera her colorful sycophancy she seems to have plenty arsenal of, “And besides, even if you were late, what would you expect me to do in response? It’s not as if you have to worry of punishment.” The tease was subtle but well understood as her humor was always lightly playful. It was another quirk Vera could like. Vera and Taisie’s sexual interactions had not exactly stopped since they began either. Actually, it almost seems to be like an entirely added-on exercise with how they ‘worked out’ together.

“If you’re ready, you can begin stretching out before we begin. My bag is over on the bench with two bottles of cold water when we’re done,” Taisie stated, beginning her own stretches again to make sure her body was loose and ready for the morning’s events.

“I trust your job as Head Girl is still going along without much stress, Vera-sama? You seem slightly tense.” Her concern was sincere. After all, sparring with a tightened body was dangerous. A torn muscle or sprained joint wasn’t exactly a very pleasant experience to endure.

She smiled softly to the woman's comments. "You know that a Head Girl is not immune to the rules. If I were to be late, I expect to be punished just the same," the Head Girl replied with a small tease of her own. Taisie may not be experienced with dealing with others but that was what made the conversations so pleasant. They said what needed to be said and little else. The two could enjoy each other's company without saying a word.

Vera was dressed in the standard school gym outfit. For the sake of stretching and exercise, she would remove her sash and set it with her bag before she begins. Meeting early ensured they would have the gym to themselves and to limit the amount of politics they could be pulled into should a student decide to gossip too much. The Head Girl did not care what others may think of who she spends her free time with. But, she did not want the secluded Taisie to be bothered by such troublesome things. Besides, privacy was always nice. Vera never felt worried or threatened by the other woman. Taisie has always been professional till the end, even if that end may be in the bedroom.

The kunoichi mentioned her stress, showing faint concern for the Head Girl's well being. Well being on this island can make anyone tense. "It goes just like any other job," she replied softly as she leaned over to grab her toes, "Another student is trying to rise up and has provided me with alot of data to punish a number a large number of students. It will make my job easier but for now, there is much to do." Her new Prefect, Anna, has put her to work. But despite the sudden surge of data and information, Vera was still able to keep up with her other duties and meetings.

Once she was done stretching her entire body, Vera rose to her feet. "Will be going straight to sparring this morning or did you have something else in mind?" she asked.

“True that performing below standards of your ranking is looked down upon. But like any place, even a school; I’m not entirely sure the school would appreciate a student correcting a Head Girl,” she replied with a small smirk. It was pretty much like a cop going over the speed limit. Sure he’s breaking the law, but will he get stopped by another police officer much less a simple citizen. True was the same with businesses in some ways as well.

The mention of a new Prefect sparked some interest. Coiling through her memory, she recalls what a Prefect is and nods in agreement to Vera’s comment of much work. It seemed so with how rankings were and perhaps what trouble Vera was going through training her newest partisan. The Head Girl already knew if she had troubles that could be done by a simple student like herself, Taisie was willing to assist in any way possible. At the very least she was slowly learning the bonds of friendship and what favors they did for one another without expecting something in return. It was new to the kunoichi of not receiving something back for something she did, but she had to admit it felt nice just doing a favor, especially to what little collection of friends she possessed.

But the Head Girl and student relationship ended the moment Vera stepped into the gym. Constantly speaking over business was not only a nuisance, but a tad stressful on the body to always talk about work. Though it bothered Taisie little to talk of business because she was actually majoring in business management, continuously dialoging about business would possibly make her sick of it if she tried. Her training and studying of magic and ninjutsu allowed her to replenish her mind. But of course some things she did by herself. She was merely teaching Vera of ninjutsu, not how to follow the code as she was doing. That was one of many reasons she kept to herself.

“I say the sooner the better. The best way to relive tension is to release it.”

Of course Vera was still learning the basics of combat, she could hold her own while the kunoichi kept to the Head girl’s Pace.

“Did you have something else you may be interested in learning this morning that pertains to ninjutsu?” This was after all on Vera’s terms since she was the one learning the most.

"I only know what you have told me about ninjutsu," she replied, "So there is no point in me trying to fumble about for something to learn. If there is something important I should know, I am sure you will teach me." With that, there was little else to say and it was about time that got started. Taking a slow deep breath, Vera casually shifted into a fighting stance that Taisie taught her. It was unfortunate that her sparring partner knew everything and more of what she knew about fighting but that never stopped them from having their fun.

"I trust that you are ready now?" she asked, not wishing to just rush in for some sort of cheap shot. Once Taisie took her stance and gave the ok, the sparring match would officially start. There would be no audience or referee and technically there were no rules. But, they both knew they had to becareful else they could be arriving to class with bruises. Not something you would want to explain to the teacher or other students.

With the match under way, Vera knew Taisie would patiently wait for the student to attack the teacher in this case. She pushed off her legs to quickly close the distance between the two of them, lashing out a jab towards the other woman's face. The attack would just be used to block her partner's vision as she pulled back the strike quickly to send forth a strong straight punch directly towards Taisie's midsection.

“I’m not teaching you things you will not use in martial arts because that is what you and I agreed on. If you’re interested further in the subject I will be happy to explain more later.”

Taisie wondered if Vera was interested in purely the lifestyle ninjutsu pertains to after they practice in the gym, but if she asked for more information, Taisie would be happy to explain what she herself abides by.

Seeing that Vera was anxious to start, Taisie bows respectfully to her opponent and slides a foot behind her to ready her stance. Her right arm lifts before her, cropping into a gripping position while the other arm does the same though it was pulled closer to her body. Her left hand forms a jabbing manner and she nods her readiness to Vera’s question. Of course Taisie was patiently awaiting Vera to attack first for a short element of surprise to give her the advantage. Even though she taught practically everything Vera would throw at her, she would never under-estimate the Head Girl. Doing so would surely make her a poor teacher if Vera ever surprised her.

Her stance told her much of the info and what the Head Girl may try before she even kicks off to close the distance between them. She was reading the woman’s feet and arm positions to attempt to predict what form of action she may take. Years of reading body language did wonders to slow an attack to crawl before her eyes. Though it would take Vera many years to be a well suited martial artist, she was showing great stride on how fast she was this morning. She briefly waits a second as Vera closes in before she jumps back and begins to run backwards while barely avoiding the hit to the face. The woman wasn’t attempting to trip or make her lose her footing at all; she was purely trying to take her down quick and fast. With jumping back and keeping her footing while moving backwards, she sees the jab coming for her mid-section, possibly to really aim for her stomach. Her left hand being closest to the targeted area, she quickly dispatches the attacks with a smack to the jab.

Everything she did were moves she had taught to the Head Girl, which gave Vera a means of studying possible counters with the moves she understood so far. The smack to the jab was defensive posture, which only meant an offensive move would come next from the kunoichi. Skidding to a halt to attack now, Taisie moves swiftly, dropping to her hands and performing a high kick to Vera’s chest. Whether the woman’s dodges or stumbles back, Taisie was now onto her with a sliding kick to take her feet from beneath her and knock her to the mat. She was going to now be quite focused on attacking, not giving Vera much time between attempted moves to think of what to do next before she was attacking again.

Her opponent immediately retreated from her approaching blows which only bought a little bit of time from Vera's attacks. Her punch was deflected and the kunoichi immediately ducked to perform a high kick from off the floor. Such large motions with the entire body was more than enough for the Head Girl to read the attack from a mile away. The foot thrusts out towards face which she easily sidesteps and continues pushing forward. Her arm then hooked under the extended leg to push the kunoichi off balance and stop the second attack from even starting.

Pushing Taisie towards the mat, the Head Girl followed by landing on top of the woman. With her opponent so low to the ground, grappling was her best option. With both hands occupied with supporting the previous kick, the silver haired woman would try to lay flat against her partner's back. Her arms would begin to wrap around Taisie's neck, going for a quick finish with a sleeper hold. A benefit from learning from Tai was learning some moves that would immediately disable an opponent. Now it was just a matter to see if she could lock it in on time.

It was simple enough to counter, of which Vera did with amazing precision. The position and less than comfortable contact with the mat to her face puts Taisie in a rather awkward position. With Vera lying on top of her and having released her leg but now quite useless in this position, the Head Girl took full advantage of the kunoichi’s vulnerability and went in to simply make the finishing blow. A sleeper hold was to be expected from the blue-haired woman as she practically lay helplessly on the mat while an arm constricted her airway.

There was a simple rule Taisie made for Vera in any spar and that was the tap-out. Patting the mat incase either woman were unable to speak was to be sure neither of them got hurt by not speaking their forfeit. Though Taisie seemed to be in a rather gauche position to tap out, she wasn’t ready quite yet. With Vera so close to her, she could not move away as back head-butt temporarily disorients the woman and a quick elbow jab to the side hopefully knock her off with the pain engulfing her briefly. Of course she never hit or head-butted as hard as she could.

She pushes her hands into the mat to ensure she knocks Vera onto the mat, releasing her hold. In the midst of pushing off of one of her hands, she pushes off the other to get back on her feet. She quickly gains some distance, but it was mostly to allow Vera a good time to recover. The choke hold wasn’t exactly soft, but the woman held back trying to truly choke her. This was all pretty much a game of endurance and who can trap the other. She waits patiently for Vera’s next attack.

Though the hold was locked in and she had the other woman pinned under her body, she had forgotten to tuck in her head. The back of Taisie's head crashed against her forehead, snapping her head back and causing a gasp of shock and pain to leave her lips. Her hold loosened just long enough for the elbow to her side give the kunoichi enough room to push her off.

Vera's body hit the mat and she rolled to the side before slowly getting back to her feet. Taisie was already on her feet and waiting to continue. The Head Girl rubbed her forehead gently, luckily there would be no bruising at least. Her head would probably be throbbing later though. Sighing softly, the Head Girl took her stance and prepared for another round of their match. They had the rest of their morning to burn through before either of them had to in class or attending other matters.

Once more, she dashed quickly. Her long silver pony tail trailed within her wake as she closed the distance between both of them. When withing striking range, Vera brought up one leg to swing a roundhouse kick towards Taisie's head. With her flexible body, it was simple enough to aim that high with little trouble at all. As the kick finished swinging forward, she would leap off her other leg and continue to twist her body as she added a spinning side kick towards the midsection, hoping to catch the woman off guard as she attempts to dodge or block the first attack.

Taisie takes stance and begins to hop about, quite ready for another round of close combat. The Head Girl comes in quick to perform a roundhouse kick to her face. It wasn’t as if Taisie could not read the motion being given before and prepares. But she doesn’t block or dodge. She comes in quick to apparently take the kick head-on. But now that she’s close, Vera’s knee could possibly hit only her mid-section. She snaps a hand up to grab at the knee with her right hand and quickly grabs it with her left to ensure Vera can’t take the leg away.

With her left hand now pushing against the back of her knee, she quickly uses the woman off balance to her advantage and wraps her left arm around the leg. With Vera’s foot now trapped behind her shoulder, she easily pushes her down to the ground while pulling her closely in as well. Now with her right hand free she simply keeps the leg in place with her foot still stuck behind her shoulder and puts pressure on it to let Vera know her leg is trapped.

And already Taisie pulls the leg so that now she holds it above the grounded Head Girl’s back. But she still holds it in a situation that prevents the woman from retaliating and releases her right hand to push it down on Vera’s back, pinning her with added weight to ensure she was trapped.

“Tap out.”

"Oof!" the woman landed hard on the mat as her leg was caught and she was taken down. Her leg was then bent behind her as she layed face down on the mat, pinning her down completely. Taisie placed her hand down on her back to add further wait as the kunoichi ordered her to give up. "Hmph!" she huffed, "You do not need to tell me." Vera tapped three times to be released and slowly got back onto her feet.

"Well at least you are not holding back as much," she teased with a faint smirk. Vera took a few moments to catch her breath and shake out any pain she may have in her leg. "Shall we go another round or have you had your fill on beating up a Head Girl?" she teased further, stretching her back by gently arching backwards. Beyond using magic, Vera had no delusions of defeating a fully experienced fighter. It was possible but simply not probable.

"Care to tell me what I did wrong?" she asked, seeking to learn from her mistakes.

Taisie didn’t speak as she gently releases the woman’s leg. Helping her to turn on her back, she gives a hand to the woman’s and lifts her up to her feet with eases before inspecting any damage she might’ve unintentionally caused. Seeing nary a scratch, she was happy to see her restraint training had improved. The first time she practiced with Vera, she apologetically gave the woman a large bruise on her back. Making wounds was what she was used to, but hurting someone she was teaching did not improve things.

She huffs at the woman’s comment. “You seem to be ready to choke the life out of me again. Let us break for a moment to regain some stamina.”

She turns to her bag and grabs the water bottles before returning to Vera’s side, offering still cold water for the woman to replenish the liquids she may have lost. Though the kunoichi was used to hard work outs and barely had much sweat, she had not realized how much time had passed in their locked spar and Vera was glinting in the light. Though she had to admit, the Head Girl was gleaming beautifully.

“What makes you think you did something wrong Vera-sama?” she questions curiously. “That was a wonderfully executed roundhouse, but there are times and places to use it. I had the opportunity with the mille-seconds you gave forcing a wide kick like that and caught you in a Leg Nikyo. You’re getting faster and-” she cuts off snapping her fingers again and again to punctuate her next words, “Your thought process is quickening on what counters and defenses are being used. The only thing you must work on is what you should use in response. Even I can’t just use what I can possibly accomplish if it’s going to get blocked or caught. You must read your opponents body. Soon you’ll see the slightest muscle twitches and know what is possibly about to happen before it does. You are, however getting faster and-” she interrupts again, using a hand to rub her throat, “Quite a bit stronger.”

"Very well," she said as she waited for Taisie to return with two waters. She did not mind the break as both women caught their breath. Despite the cool temperature inside the gym, both of them had a faint gleam of sweat over their fair skin. Vera sipped her water as her partner explained what she did wrong or rather what she did right. She found it silly to hint that she did nothing wrong when she was the one who ended up flat on her face.

The kunoichi showed some difficulty speaking but that was nothing knew. The words sometimes escaped people and it was always troublesome trying to search for it when it is just on the tip of his or her tongue. "I doubt something like that will come soon," she replied, "But thank you. It has become less straining doing these matches and training with you. So it is safe to say some parts of me are growing stronger."

Vera moved closer as she reached up and ran a hand along the woman's neck. "Is your throat alright? It is not often I get the jump on you so perhaps I pushed too hard?" she asked softly.

Taisie remains silent as the woman inspects her throat. There was a red lining across it where Vera had attempted to choke her out of the match. But other than that, the kunoichi waves it off. She was simply making a point her muscle strength was improving. She wasn’t exactly meaning the woman did some form of injury to her. But perhaps she still had much to learn on her speech patterns.

“I want to set you up for success so I’m only sparring with you as an unskilled opponent. Opponents can kick and you sought to pin said opponent to prevent injury to yourself. But since I’m not using full force, I expect you to simply get me in holds without actually attempting to choke me out,” she explains simply, smiling at the last part of her explanation. Vera was doing well, she just needed to remember that her life was not in danger and Taisie was simply practicing moves out with the Head Girl. If the kunoichi lets herself get caught in pins, then Vera must understand that she is making herself vulnerable to harm and should restrain from really trying to hurt her.

At Vera’s level, she has an unlikely chance of injuring Taisie if the woman didn’t practice restraint, but since this is for her learning experience, a restraining Taisie could receive some damage if the woman tried too hard.

The concern was warming either way. “My neck is fine, Vera-sama. The redness will go away in a few minutes and then we can continue if you’d like. At least you weren’t initially trying to hurt me as another fellow classmate had attempted.”

Ally’s rampaging and over-zealous attempts to prove herself a stronger fighter than Taisie eventually led up to Vera’s intervention and a week-long tender wound to her shoulder. It was almost like a dry ice wound if it could be described in scientific terms and since it was magic, the icy touch reached deep down into the tissue and caused some pain. Taisie restrained using her ligaments for the fight because she was simply worried that she would not hold back too much in injuring the woman. Especially with how the woman’s mouth was rambling on, it deeply tested her patience and she briefly wondered if she should permanently cripple the woman and prevent another showdown to happen again.

But like any trained martial artist, patience was indeed a virtue to have. “I do not believe I’ve had any problems with my fellow combatant since you took her under your wing. I never did verbally thank-you for ending the animosity. Although you possibly wouldn’t know, I do not like forced fighting too much. It’s more emotionally draining than doing it because I enjoy it.”