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Noriko's left hand reached instinctively to cover the general area of her wakizashi hidden within the jacket of her uniform. Her eyes narrowed. While she did not believe in the actual existence of a Zanpakuto spirit in the blade, it rubbed her the wrong way to think of someone else holding onto it. However, she brushed the apprehension aside and pushed her hand under the right fold in order to retrieve the weapon. She could not disagree entirely with the notion that she did not need it at that moment. The lieutenant pulled out the piece of weaponry with her eyes fixed upward on his. She despised the fact that always she has to look up.

"If you plan on taking this from me, I require your training strategy." She smirked. It was not a question.

An involuntary gasp of reluctance escaped Noriko as her eyes followed the blade's journey with the Captain to the approximate middle of the field. She watched solemnly as Captain Hogosho took a seat on the grass and placed her blade before him. She tilted her head to the left, keeping her gaze on him. Would they be fighting now? As hard a time as she was giving him, she was more comfortable using words, even harsh ones, than putting any physical effort into it. She shifted her weight slightly, trying to remind herself that she agreed to this. With a final sigh of submission, the lieutenant shook her arms and legs. The only bright spot was the promise that she would get it back. At last, the girl commenced her sprint across the field in the direction of her teacher, keeping mind clear and prepared for what may come.

When it became clear to the girl that the man planned on just sitting there, Noriko's mind started to formulate a course of action with only a few seconds left. She hated fighting, but this was important. She increased her foot speed to the point that her body began to blue softly. The lieutenant had never bothered with learning Shunpo. That should be changed, but that was not the point now. With two seconds left, Noriko shifted to the left of Captain Hogosho. She threw herself into a proper handstand. Keeping her body low during the movement, she used the velocity coming out of it as strength in both of her legs. By balancing on both of her hands, Noriko swung the lower half of her body into the back of her Captain. In spite of the fact that her speed is not the fastest, it would have a powerful impact upon contact.

Ⓢuffering a loss is...

Noriko kept her mouth shut as she felt the trajectory of her attack shift. She completed the circular movement to land deftly on the balls of her feet, still behind her Captain. His words passed over her like another one of the midnight breezes around them. She did not have to prove anything to him but somewhere deep inside, it still stung. She had given her everything to her last division. The corners of her eyes moistened slightly as she continued her onslaught. Without missing a beat, Noriko whispered the name of a personalized Kido, already pulling her right arm tightly back for Awai Inazuma no Ken ( 淡い稲妻の拳, Fist of Pale Lightning). Once the last syllable had left her lips, the lieutenant released her arm aimed at the base of the older Shinigami’s neck. Lightly, she jumped backwards a few feet. A verbal response seemed pointless at the moment. Maybe after all of this, whatever it was, she could convince the Captain to assist her in gaining speed, learning Shunpo particularly. It was the one thing that she could not master as yet physically.

Ⓢuffering a loss is...

Noriko sucked in air as her personal space was invaded so abruptly. She tried to lash out at him while he encouraged her to him at last, but that became futile when he flicked her away some yards by use of his cane. The lieutenant dug her heel in to stop skidding across the grass. Frustrated, the girl allowed her knees to buckle under her and she bent forward, resting on her arms as well. Her body leaned backwards on her calves so her current position imitated one of worship with her head almost touching the ground itself. She had formulated that Kido spell on her own time. She dug her hands beyond the wrists into the soil before her. Hitting someone did not mean attacking them. She was determined to get the upper hand here. Obviously, it was time to fight. A few minutes would pass before she said anything.

“Hado number twenty-seven, Kyōdaina Suiryoku,” she said clearly. With her hands underground, the powerful Kido barreled through the earth in the direction of Captain Hogosho, bursting forth upon reaching him, “Bakudo number four, Hainawa.” The crawling rope of crackling energy will follow the path made by the previous spell. She had laced it wordlessly with the weaker Bakudo spell of Sai so as to strengthen its impact and hold. Once that was completed, Noriko uttered the words, “Bakudo number twenty-one, Sekienton and Bakudo number twenty-six, Kyokkō.” Having the applied the last spell on herself, the lieuntenant employed Soul Jump from behind the red smoke screen before casting yet another binding spell combination. She knew that the only way to dodge an underground attack was to go up. It was logical and even if the Captain did not follow this line of thinking, she planned to release this next combo at him wherever he may be. “Bakudo number twenty-five, Kesshō Hainawa and Hado number thirty-three Sōkatsui!” By placing portions of the second spell along the first, the idea was that upon enclosing him, the bombs would explode. With this final statement, Noriko dashed a few yards away from the scene to observe her handiwork, the invisibility wearing off at last. She felt eerily peaceful at this height especially with the moon that much closer, even if it was a little bit.