Hoho Class

Tatsuya made his way down the hallway from his zanjutsu class. He was still thinking of Jaxon, who he had just parted from. Tatsuya then looked down into his hand. As he had held her hand only moments ago, as she squeezed his hand she had left a piece of paper within it. He slowly opened it up as he continued to walk. He began to smile as he read what was on the paper. She had left him the number of her dorm room. He quickly put it into the lining of his haori and continued his way down the hallway. The hallway was crowded. People were pushing and shoving, trying to make it to their own classes on time. Even with all the rush going on around him, Tatsuya continued at his calm pace towards his class. "Hoho class...I wonder what it is..." He started to think, but then he remembered Jaxon's explanation of it. She explained that it was basically a class that helped to improve your agility and reaction. A smirk spread across Tatsuya's face. Agility was something that was always welcomed into battle. Tatsuya had already prided himself on his ability to move and react at a fast pace. Being able to go to a class in order to increase his already speedy agility sounded very good right about now.

The hallways had now began to thin. With more and more people finally arriving at their designated classes. Tatsuya still managed his same pace as before. Walking calmly and thinking. His mind began to wander back to his spar in zanjutsu class. In the middle of it the "voice" interrupted once more. Causing Tatsuya a great deal of pain while it spoke. He hadn't heard it since the first time he heard it after his battle with Ryusaki. It gave him the same feeling of worthlessness as it had done before. It seemed that the voice was preoccupied with Tatsuya's ability to become stronger. It had spoke of "wielding power" as if it would be the one to give it to him. The thoughts of who and what this voice could be swirled through his head. Thinking of what its enigmatic messages could mean. Yet, there was one thing that was good out of this brief exchange of words though. Tatsuya was now assured that the voice wasn't just a figment of his imagination. Tatsuya had only heard the voice once. This one time was after his battle with Ryusaki. Which was during a time of unconsciousness for him. Having been contacted by the voice once more and not just after an incident such as that one, he was given proof of its existence.

Tatsuya slowly began to look around himself. He began to notice that the crowds were now sparser than ever before. It seemed that his daydreaming had really slowed down his already slow pace. This was alright though. He was almost to the classroom. There were two large double doors in front of him. These doors made their way outside. Tatsuya walked forward and began to press on one of the doors. This took more force than Tatsuya thought would have been necessary. The door slowly opened, leading the way to stairs that went downwards into a courtyard. Tatsuya briskly walked down the stairs, soon making his way into the soft grass of the courtyard. Walking forward a bit more he came to a large building. It had the look of a traditional japanese dojo. From the outside he could hear the voices of others. More than likely these were the voices of students. It seemed that he had finally arrived to his class. Tatsuya made his way to climb the stairs, before someones voice stopped him. "Are you....Tatsuya Ankoku?". Tatsuya slowly turned around to the sight of a woman. She wore glasses and was deathly thin. She appeared to have been reading his name off of a list.

"Yea, im Tatsuya....Who wants to know?" The woman looked him once over, and then used her pen to check something off of the clipboard she had. The woman then began to speak. "I was informed about you from your zanjutsu instructor. His name is Genji, and he is a high ranked officer in the 11th division. During the years that he has worked here he's had a talent for scoping out talent within the academy. We've decided to take advantage of this "gift" he has and provide those that he has designated a sort of..."special" education if you will." Tatsuya looked at her with a bewildered expression on his face. He had no idea that the idiot sensei that he met in zanjutsu class actually had that much influence on a lot of the running of the academy. "So...this "special" education. What does it mean to me?" The woman pushed her glasses up from the bridge of her nose. "Basically, you'd be taking all of your classes, just at an accelerated rate. You'll be given access to teachers who are the best of the best. Taking part in this program would also give you the benefit of being able to graduate faster than any other academy student who walks through these halls regularly. Also, since you're going to be in a group that symbolizes the best of the best in the academy, you'll need to be on your best behavior. As I was told by Genji, it seemed that you were already heavily injured before even setting foot into his class. We also have reports of loud noises that emanated from behind your dorm area, followed by the sounds of a scuffle. This could all just be coincidence, but I'd rather not take any chances. I'll warn you once, if you act up at all, I'll personally make sure you're pulled out of not only this program, but this academy." The way this woman spoke was very straightforward, but her last statement confused Tatsuya. "Pulled from the program? How can I be pulled from something I haven't even joined?"

The woman began to laugh, "You have no say as to whether or not you want to participate. I just decided to inform you of what you need to do from now on. Even if you had a choice to say no, it wouldn't benefit you to do so. I can tell that you are someone who is seeking to become stronger. Would denying an opportunity like this one really make any sense?" Tatsuya scoffed, though the last bit of what she said was true. Denying something like this wouldn't really make any sense. He didn't like to be forced into anything, but it seemed that he'd have to participate. "Ok then....So I won't be attending this class now?" The woman shook her head at him. "No, luckily I myself am a Hoho instructor. So I'll be training you in this class." Tatsuya sighed. "Ok,so when do we start?" The woman then turned around and began walking down the stone path through the courtyard. "Follow me..."

Sentences - 173

Tatsuya began to follow the instructor down the stone path. They continued to walk for a while, both of them silent. Tatsuya began to wonder where exactly they were headed. There was a perfectly good dojo behind them. He didn't understand why they couldn't have just trained in there. He began to figure that maybe this whole "walking to a secluded area to train" was part of her act. She had been trying to be mysterious, or atleast that's how it appeared to Tatsuya. It seemed that even the awkward silence that had ensued was even part of it. Soon enough though, walking up to a mysterious dojo all the way in the back of the academy further cemented Tatsuya's thoughts on her "mysterious" act.

"Ok Tatsuya, go inside. I'll be in shortly..." Tatsuya nodded and walked up the stone steps that lead to the doorway. As he made his way to the door he began to inspect the dojo's exterior. It seemed to be fairly ancient. It wasn't as if the dojo was decrepit in anyway, it just had a rustic feel to it. As if it had been here for at least over several centuries. Tatsuya made his way through the entrance. The interior had the same feel as the outside. There were many decorations adorning the walls. The floors were a hardwood, and a dark brown color. He began to look towards the floor a bit more and noticed the visible wear of it. Seemed a lot of training had gone on in the history of this dojo. While Tatsuya admired the room, the woman walked in silently. "Ok Tatsuya, it's time to commence your hoho training!" Tatsuya nodded, "So when do we star--" Before he could finish his sentences a fist was flying towards his face. Tatsuya quickly jumped back, his feet sliding across the wood floor.

The woman slowly pushed her glasses up from the bridge of her nose once again. "I'll be seeing how fast you are at the moment. The best way to do this is to see if you are able to evade my attacks. If you succeed, next class I'll teach you shunpo. If not, you'll have to train for on increasing your agility each class until you can pass without being hit." Tatsuya rolled his eyes. The test made sense to him, but the sucker punch he almost got hit with seemed to be out of dislike for him. "Ok then, I'm ready." The woman nodded and disappeared from his sight. He waited for a while, until she appeared in front of him and began to throw a flurry of punches and kicks. Tatsuya began to evade. Ducking, sidestepping, and jumping back as much as he could. Soon the woman ducked down and sent a sweep kick towards him, trying to flip him up. Tatsuya let himself fall backwards, his legs coming off of the ground and her sweep kick missing. Tatsuya then placed his hands out above himself and was now in a handstand. He then bent his elbows and pushed downwards, which pushed him into the air and flipping backwards into the air.

Tatsuya landed quite a ways from the woman, but this made little difference. Once again she had disappeared, putting Tatsuya on the defense. Tatsuya nervously looked around himself until a foot flew towards his face. Tatsuya ducked and evaded the foot, only to be met with a fist aimed once again towards his face. He leaned back and let himself fall onto the ground from his crouched position, which helped him to avoid the fist. Tatsuya was now laying with his back on the floor. The woman raised her leg and quickly came down with a kick aimed for his midsection. Tatsuya rolled to his left and the woman's foot crashed into the wood floor, causing splinters to fly every which way. Tatsuya quickly scrambled to his feet and began to stare the woman down. She turned towards him and began to laugh. "You're not bad at all. You have great reaction time and your body is conditioned so you're able to meet the demands that you place on yourself when reacting. You've passed!" Tatsuya smiled slightly and nodded. "Thanks...So now I get to learn this shunpo thing?" The woman nodded, "Yes, next class I will teach you how to use shunpo." "Ok whatever then....Can I leave now?" The woman nodded and Tatsuya began to make his way out of the dojo.

"Wait a minute!" Tatsuya stopped wand turned back to the woman. "You know of a student named Jaxon, right?" Tatsuya nodded, "Yea....why do you ask?" "Genji recommended that she take this class as well. Said she had some potential as well, but disagreed with her Division choice....but anyway....Would you give her this?" The woman walked forward and gave him a letter. "Inside is an invitation to learn shunpo. I've read her transcript and it says that she has already taken a Hoho Class, so she won't have to take the same test that you did. Would you be able to deliver it to her?" Tatsuya looked at her questioningly, "Why you'd assume I'd know where she was?" "Genji informed that you two became pretty "friendly" during class..." Tatsuya's face began to heat up. The woman began to laugh, "I'll take that as a yes to delivering the message then." The woman then disappeared, using some kind of technique. Tatsuya placed the letter into the lining of his haori and walked out of the dojo. Looked like he'd be able to see her again earlier than he thought.

Sentences - 96