Where's Pat Morita When You Need Him? What am I doing here? That was all Soi could ask herself as she stood outside the door to the gymnasium, debating on whether or not to go in. She had been thinking about what Yoruichi had said earlier about her joining the Karate Club-- which was strange in and of itself, considering that she didn't really enjoy sports at all and if it had come from anyone else she wouldn't have given it a second thought. But since it HAD come from the only person she could really consider a friend, the idea had slowly germinated in her mind during classes, growing larger and harder to ignore throughout lunch until she finally decided to at least try it. And thus she stood here now, after the final bell had rung and she normally would have been heading home now so that she could get her homework done. The girl with the long braids finally sighed, and turning the knob pushed the cool metal door open. What she saw on the other side made her apprehension multiply tenfold. As if on cue just about every head in the room, each one attached to a body sitting cross-legged on mats and clothed in simple white gi, turned at the click of the door opening and acknowledged Soi Fong with questioning stares. Soi instantly felt the desire to run away as her shy inclinations threatened to overwhelm her, but before she could even begin to move the instructor noticed the girl. "Hello, young lady. Come sit down, don't be shy." Realizing that there really was no turning back now, Soi Fong walked to an open space among her fellow students, quite a few of whom seemed to be female, to her surprise. "Well," the instructor said once Soi had taken a place, looking distinctly outlandish in her uniform amongst the sea of pure white. "...As you can see, we have an addition to our club as of today." He turned to the new girl and indicated that she should stand and introduce herself. Fighting down a blush, Soi jumped onto the balls of her feet and bowed low, resulting in a few snickers among the other girls. "I'm...I'm Soi Fong, C-Class 1-B." "Well, we're glad that you've taken an interest in Karate, Miss Fong. My name is Byakuya Kuchiki of 4-A, but here you'll refer to me as Kuchiki-sensei," the stoic, long-haired instructor said as he calmly observed the petite girl. Even Soi Fong, who was normally impassive to those around her, thought the imposing man to be more than a little cold. "...Is that understood?" "Y-yes," the freshman managed in a quiet voice. "Yes sensei," Byakuya gently corrected her. "...Yes, Kuchiki-sensei." Relieved that the humiliation was over, Soi Fong quickly squatted back onto the floor, noticing on her way down that Yoruichi (who gave her an encouraging wink) and another guy she didn't recognize with bright red hair and tattoos on his narrow face were sitting comfortably on either side of the instructor. "...As of today, we're going to be picking up where we left off last week," Byakuya began as if nothing had happened. "Shihouin-san will take the advanced student girls (a fact that did not surprise Soi Fong in the slightest), while the advanced boys wills study with me and Abarai-san takes the intermediates. Rukia-san!" A tiny girl at the front bowed (it was almost impossible to tell if she would have been taller standing up or not) at the sound of her name. "...Can I trust you to take the beginners?" "Y-yes, onii-san," Rukia answered, and after a few moments the organized rows of students disintegrated into a huddle of babbling teens as they headed off in different directions. "Well, over here, rookies," the girl who had called Byakuya 'brother' said to the class as a whole, in order to allow the new kids to weed themselves out from the rest. Soi was about to follow Rukia to another corner of the room when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "...You said your name was 'Soi Fong, right?" When the girl in question turned around, she nearly ran straight into a bosom that, to put mildly, simply defied logic. It almost surprised Soi when she looked up and saw that the enormous rack was sitting below the neckline of a tall redhead with curls-- she'd almost assumed that it was its own lifeform entirely. "Umm...I know we've never met," the senior said as she extended her hand, "...but I'm--" "...Rangiku Matsumoto, right?" Soi finished with such ease that the upperclassman smiled. "Hey, that's right! How did you know my name?" The shorter girl declined to mention that Matsumoto's infamous cup size had ensured that she'd overheard the name spoken by just about every horny teen in the school. "...Easy. You're Ichimaru's girlfriend, right?" She said it as politely as she could, but Soi couldn't hide just a bit of resentment from finding its way into her tone. Rangiku's face became neutral as she picked up on the freshman's additude and for a moment Soi cringed as she waited for the hammer to fall. What the busty redhead did next, however, completely surprised her-- she put her hands together in the traditional gesture of apology and did a little half-bow. "...Actually, the reason I wanted to talk to you was about Gin--I'm really, really sorry he's been teasing you!" ...'Teasing?' Soi blanched at how Ichimaru's incessant torture had been whitewashed into something that sounded almost laughable, but she had to admit that an apology, even if it wasn't coming from the bastard himself, was better than nothing. "Oh--Really, it's no big deal..." She started with a wave of the hand, but the other girl shook her head. "No, it is! Don't worry, I'm gonna straighten him out about all this the next time I see him!" Noticing the green belt around Matsumoto's gi, Soi felt fairly certain that there would be more exchanged than just 'a few words.' Before Soi could respond, Rukia called in her direction. "Hey, newbie! This isn't a freakin' coffee shop-- You can mince words with your girlfriends later!" "Oh, jeez--I need to get with my group too!" Rangiku said as her eyes widened and she dashed to another end of the gym, waving a goodbye to Soi, who only responded with a confused look before she walked over to her place among the other beginners. "Now that Miss Congeniality's decided to join us..." Rukia said with an arched eyebrow in Soi's direction, to which a few chuckled. The youngest of the Kuchiki children, however, was not amused. "HEY!" she said in a voice of pure authority, which made everyone present shudder involuntarily despite Rukia's small size. She walked up to the one who'd laughed, a fairly tall boy with medium-length brown hair and a long face. "...I DON'T THINK I SAID YOU COULD LAUGH, DID I!" ...They're DEFINITELY siblings, Soi considered quietly as she watched the boy cower from Rukia's death glare, almost as intimidating as Byakuya's. "...what's your name, Mr. I-Think-Everything's-Funny?" "K-Keigo. Keigo Asano," the boy answered nervously, not wanting to anger Rukia further. "All right, Asano-kun," Rukia said as her face softened into an apparently kindhearted smile, "...I know something that'll get some laughs." She walked onto a wide plastic gymnastics mat, taking off her shoes as she went and setting them neatly together on the floor, gesturing for Keigo to do the same. "...Come up here, please," she said in a voice too sweet to not be suspicious. He hesitated for only a moment, looking apprehensive, but finally someone behind him gave Keigo a push, the momentum of which made him hobble forward and leaving him no chance to escape. He sighed as he imitated Rukia, leaving his shoes paired beside his sensei's. "...I want you to attack me," the upperclassman said as she casually stood in front of him. "W-what?" Keigo managed, uncertain of what the tiny brown-belt had planned. "Don't be shy, Asano-kun," Rukia said in a wide, almost Ichimaru-esque grin that forced Soi to stifle a chuckle with the back of her hand. The brown-haired boy took a gulp as he planted his feet, shaking his head to psych himself up. "...Okay, here goes," he muttered just before running at his sensei. When he was within range, he threw his fist straight out, aiming for her face and hoping that he wouldn't accidentally hurt her. At the last second, however, Rukia sidestepped so that she was centered with Kiego (who was still running toward her), and in one swift, blinding movement, was standing over a very surprised and sore boy. While he was busy struggling to understand how he had somehow ended up on the ground, the beginners broke into peals of laughter while Rukia bent over him, still smiling. "...There we go. Now wasn't that funny?" The tiny girl said with feigned glee. "W-what are you talking about!" Keigo managed after a few moments of stuttering. "I had no idea you were going to THROW me!" "Oh, that's okay--I think the rest of us enjoyed it." Rukia gave a much more fearful Keigo a hand up, then waited a few moments for the laughter to die down before switching back to her serious demeanor. "Now, that move I just performed-- by the time you're an Orange Belt, you'll be able to start to learn how to defend yourself by using your opponent's weight against you. Despite what many of you may be thinking, that's what Karate is for: self-defense, not for attacking others. Moreover, Karate is an art form; it's a means for one to attain a sense of oneness with themselves and the world around them. And since the most important part of the martial arts is discipline..." Rukia's eyes narrowed as she could almost feel the disappointment emanating from the impatient beginners, "...Today we will spend the period in silent meditation." Sure enough, an almost synchronized groan came from the mass of students. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Oww...damnit... Soi rubbed her calf as she tried to pull herself up, but after sitting cross-legged for over an hour both her legs had fallen asleep and were threatening to cramp if she moved too quickly. "Hey, are you still here?" Soi looked up to see Yoruichi walking out of the women's locker room, a towel hung around her neck and her gi exchanged for a black tank top and navy-blue running pants, the material of which crinkled with every step the coffee-toned girl took. "Umm...What are you still doing on the ground? Everyone's already gone home..." The freshman's eyes shifted around nervously before answering in a low mutter. "...My leg's asleep." As she had feared, Yoruichi responded with a loud, almost cackling laugh. "It's not funny! I'm not used to sitting like this!" the Chinese girl said defensively. After a few minutes, Yoruichi calmed down, but still let out a few snickers as she got on her knees and grabbed one of Soi's legs. "Hey, what are you-- OWW!" Soi began, her face involuntarily turning red at the sudden contact, but her protestations were cut short as Yoruichi pulled the leg straight, pushing so that the prickling muscles hurt worse than before. "Just relax," Yoruichi said with a roll of the eyes and a hint of an amused smile; Soi could tell that there would be no arguing with her, so she simply sighed and allowed the upperclassman to inflict more pain on her. After a few minutes in this uncomfortable position, Yoruichi released her hold on the appendage. "There--How's that?" Soi was about to complain that it hurt worse now, but after a few seconds she realized that her leg wasn't prickling anymore. "...It's...it's better, actually!" She wiggled her foot around, stretching the tendons before standing up with no trouble. "Thanks!" she said with a smile. "Oh, hey--it's no problem. Once you've done it for a few weeks, you'll get used to it. So," Yoruichi asked as she pulled her long hair back into a ponytail and secured it with a strip of biege-colored cloth, "...Did you like it? The club, I mean." "...Well..." Soi wanted to say that she had hated practically the whole experience-- from the so-called 'meditation' and her tough-as-nails sensei to the smell of sweat that permeated the air, but she didn't want to let Yoruichi think she wasn't grateful for being considerate of her. "You see--" "That bad, huh?" Before the braided girl could make some form of denial, Yoruichi interrupted her with a wry grin. "Ahh, you wouldn't be the only one who hated this group after only one meeting. Most people just don't have the patience to stick with it long enough for it to get good, you know?" "Yeah, well..." Soi began but her voice faded off, her eyes casual and uncaring as they walked toward the exit. "Hey, come over here." The braided girl looked around to see that Yoruichi had somehow stopped walking beside her and was now standing atop one of the gym mats, her shoes tossed on the floor haphazardly. "...Wait, why?" she asked curiously, trying not to look interested but unable to prevent it from showing on her face. "Just come here. And don't forget to take your shoes off, too." Soi relented and did as Yoruichi asked, standing in a spot that the upperclassman indicated with her finger. "Okay--now stand with your feet like this." Yoruichi set her feet parallel with her shoulders, her toes pointing straight ahead. "...Wait..." the freshman said as she realized what Yoruichi was doing, "...I thought we weren't supposed to learn actual techniques yet." "Well, yes," the tall girl said with an uncharacteristically serious expression. "As a beginner, you're not allowed to learn this stuff yet. Or at least--" her face turned back to its normal mischevious grin as she finished, "...that's what Byakuya-kun thinks. I, however, know from experience that you've definitely got the potential to do well here, so I wanna give you a head start." "B...but won't Kuchiki-sensei be angry with you?" Soi asked nervously. The black-belt, however, made a little noise that was half-snort, half-chuckle. "Feh. Byakuya-kun may seem tough, but if I had a strawberry for every time I've beaten him, I'd have a lifetime's worth of smoothies right now." At that, they both shared a laugh, Soi once again impressed by her friend's strength. "Now," Yoruichi said as she settled back into her stance, "...Let's try a few basic punches, all right?" Feeling far more comfortable with her friend than she had with her peers, Soi smiled as she stood next to Yoruichi, planting her feet as the other woman had told her.
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