Chapter 27 - Hina

A month and a half go by after Terumi started getting tutored by Hina. During that time, with Shuzo's guidance, Terumi has made significant progress with his Rokushiki training. Enough so that he felt confident today to ask Hina to train together, hoping to provide her some aid with her training.

Planning to meet up that training ground number three, Terumi sat by at the tree in the middle of the field and waited for Hina.

'In the past six weeks, I've pretty much got Soru down and Geppo mostly perfected. I did cheat a little using Breath of Thunder to provide more power to my legs while I learned, but I can pretty much perform them in my standard state of only Total Concentration Constant now.'

Terumi reminisced on his training.

'Shuzo turned out to be quite an alright guy, he was tough but helpful. Using Breath of Thunder helped immensely, hmm...I wonder if I can somehow add Breath of Thunder's leg power into the more balanced Breath of Sun. I have an idea that I want to try later.'

While Terumi was engrossed in his thoughts, he felt someone approach him and raise his head.

"Hey there-"

"Hello."

Just as Terumi was about to greet Hina who just arrived, his breath was taken away by her training outfit.

Hina wore a tight-fit burgundy-colored sports bra and shorts. Her hair was tied up, her bare stomach and legs were in full view. For Terumi who was used to seeing Hina in the standard trainee uniform, this was quite a big surprise. With Hina being slightly shorter than Terumi, being 181 cm compared to Terumi's 190, he never quite noticed how long her legs were before.

"Wow, you look great Hina."

Hina smiled slightly and nodded.

"Thank you. Okay, shall we get started?"

Terumi stood up, recovering from his stunned state.

"Yeah, sure. So, you wanted help in training your Soru right?"

Hina nodded with a slight frown.

"Yes, Hina has been struggling with the Rokushiki for a long time. Zephyr-sensei is too busy training everyone to help Hina, so progress has been slow."

Terumi thought for a bit and nodded.

"I see, okay. Well, let's start with you showing me where you're at right now. Can you attempt to perform Soru for me?"

Hina nodded and then got into a stance to perform Soru by bending her knees. Then, right as she tries to perform Soru, Terumi focused all of his power into his eyes, slowing down time for himself as he stared intently at Hina's leg muscles and used his Rhythm Sense to listen for the muscles contracting.

Hina leaps forward, stepping on the ground about five times, and rushes forward at high speed, but not nearly at the speed of a proper Soru.

Hina then had an unsatisfied look on her face and sighed.

"That's where Hina is at right now."

Terumi nodded and then smiled.

"Okay, I see. I understand why your progress has been slow. You have the basic idea and the proper form down, as well as having enough leg strength as well. I see now the reason why Zephyr-sensei hasn't been able to help you perfect it yet, the way you contract your muscles is off, that's why."

Hina then has a surprised look on her face and questioned.

"The way Hina contracts her muscles? Hina doesn't understand."

Terumi chuckled and then walked over to Hina's location.

"If you don't mind me touching you Hina, I would like to show you."

"Go ahead, Hina doesn't mind."

Terumi nodded and placed his hand on Hina's thigh.

"Go ahead and place your hand on your other thigh as well, you will see. Then, I want you to start the motion of doing Soru once again, but just one step."

Hina nodded slowly, trying to ignore Terumi's hand on her thigh, and then put her hand on her other thigh. Afterward, she started to motion to do Soru. However, as soon as she did, Terumi stopped her.

"Stop. Did you feel that?"

"Hm? Hina didn't feel anything. Hina hasn't completed the movement yet."

Terumi smiled and nodded again.

"Exactly, the most effective way to get the most power out of your legs is to let the muscle contraction start from your thighs and let it lead into your knees and into your calf, then to your foot. I think there are two reasons why your progress has been slow."

Terumi then pointed at Hina's leg.

"The first reason is that your legs are slightly longer than other people, so you haven't noticed that you tend to start your leg movements from your calves rather than your thighs. The second reason actually coincides with this first one, and I think it's that you're putting way too much focus on trying to do as many steps as possible, which is causing you to use your calf more than your thighs as well. I'd say your power ratio right now at the start of Soru movement is 80% calf, 20% thigh, then it switches to about 50/50 halfway into the movement, and then your finish by using mostly your calf muscles again."

Terumi quickly analyzed Hina's movements, Hina showed surprise on her face but listened intently.

"I think the fix is simple, though it might take some getting used to, you have to flip that first ratio and then the rest should come naturally. Zephyr-sensei's training has been designed to give us a nice even ratio of muscle divided between your thigh and calf, so once you fix this small issue, everything else should come much easier as well."

Hina thought about what Terumi said and then tried bending her knee and taking a step. Her eyes then widened and she then did the same motion again, this time slightly different.

"Hina understands. Hina will try to fix it."

Terumi nodded and then spoke further.

"Okay, now I want you to try doing Soru again while being conscious of your muscle usage, don't worry if you can't do too many steps, focus on using your entire leg in each step."

Hina nodded and after Terumi took a step back, she tried doing Soru again.

"Hm!"

Hina stepped the ground four times and disappeared, this time her movement was much faster than before, despite not stepping as many times. The speed was about half of what a mastered Soru should be but still quite fast.

Hina then smiled and looked back to Terumi.

Terumi met her gaze with a smile of his own and clapped.

"Great job Hina. I should note that this same movement is what will be required for Geppo as well. Except with Geppo, it's one step further and then muscle contraction should 'bounce' between your thigh and your core before releasing that energy to your leg for a powerful kick that will let you kick off the air."

"Hina understands. Thank you for your help, Terumi."

Hina said with a bright smile. Terumi was slightly captivated by that smile for a second before scratching his head.

"No problem. I just gave some small observation, I think Zephyr-sensei would have noticed too if he saw your leg movements closely as well."

Hina then shook her head and spoke.

"No, you've definitely helped Hina a lot today. Instructor Zephyr has indeed noticed that Hina's form was off, but he when he tried to help me, I couldn't get it down. Your explanation today was very eye-opening."

"Ahaha, no problem."

Hina then thought for a moment and then nodded to herself.

"For Terumi's help with Hina's problem. Hina wants to invite you for a meal at the Full Moon Cafe. Are you free today?"

Terumi was slightly surprised and then nodded swiftly.

"Yes, of course, anytime, I'll be there."

Hina then smiled slightly and turned around to walk away in a hurry.

"Hina will meet you there at five. Goodbye."

Left in a slight daze, Terumi thought to himself.

'Did I just get a date?'

Terumi then examined himself and also decided to head home for a shower and a change of clothes.

***

Later that day, Terumi waited in front of the Full Moon Cafe for Hina. He's dressed in a nice black button-up plaid shirt.

After a few minutes of waiting, at 5 pm sharp, Hina arrived.

"Hey there, you look nice Hina."

"Thank you, you as well Terumi."

Hina was dressed in a burgundy dress shirt and matching dress pants.

"So, shall we go in?"

"Mhm."

Terumi extended his hand and although surprised, Hina accepted it.

Together, the two of them made their way into the Cafe and found a nice quiet table on the upper floor. They put in their orders to a waiter and sat down.

"So, Terumi, Hina was curious to know why you joined the Marines."

Terumi chuckled and smiled wryly, as he felt like his reasons were pretty flimsy in the beginning. He thought about his past, what he promised himself, and his goals.

"At first, I just wanted to get stronger and felt that the Marines were my shot at doing so. I promised my mother and myself that I would one day become the best swordsman in the world. But after joining the Marines, I learned that there's more that I wanted to do. I don't want to live a life of regret, I want to accomplish my goals and help people at the same time. For now, that's all I can speak of about my goals, but I hope that one day I will be able to enact some meaningful change on this world."

Hina didn't say anything but simply nodded and then stared outside the window.

"I see. Hina can tell you have some big dreams. For Hina, I was born into a family of Marines and spent my whole life training to be a Marine. Hina thought it was a natural thing to do, so Hina never thought about big dreams or anything."

Hina then looked back to Terumi with a smile on her face.

"But Hina can tell that you have a good heart and you want to help people. Hina knows that one day you will accomplish your dream."

Terumi was slightly stunned but soon, a huge smile rose to his face.

"Thank you for your words, Hina, truly. I hope that one day I will be able to show you a world where true justice can be served."

Hina was surprised to hear Terumi's words. The implications of what was being said were not lost on her. Hina seemed to contemplate for a while but then smiled as well.

"Hina thinks it's a wonderful dream. You can count on Hina's help when the time comes."

Terumi was touched by Hina's offer. He could barely contain his happiness. For so long he had planned and thought about his dreams and goals, this confirmation from Hina was the first real step towards that goal.

"Well, before we can do anything. First, we have to get strong. I've thanked you plenty of times already but I want you to know how much your words mean to me. Now, I think that's enough heaviness for today, heh, let's enjoy our meal on a happy note."

Hina nodded with a smile and chuckled.

"Haha, okay. So, Terumi, what do you like to do on the weekends other than training?"

After spending some time with Hina at the cafe and enjoying their meal together, Terumi made plans for their next tutoring and training session. Promising each other to meet again next week, they parted ways for the day.

On the way back to the compound, Terumi felt a warm feeling in his chest, making him feel things he never felt before.

'For myself, for my dream, and for the people who believe in me, I have to get stronger.'

Then Terumi was suddenly struck by a sudden idea.

'Hm. Sleep can wait for the day, I need to test something.'

Terumi then swiftly went home to feed Amaterasu some food and left to go to the training ground. Amaterasu noticing Terumi's fleeing figure, ran up and jumped on his neck and wrapped itself around it.

"So you want to come too huh? Okay, but behave."

Amaterasu mewed in agreement and then with Asahi in hand, Terumi went to the training ground.