Seraphim and Minerva

Minerva nodded at Seraphim's words, both attentative and eager. Minerva looked at the stance Seraphim took and them looked down at herself. She put one glove over her stomach and lifted her head and glove up, covering her face, tilting it and poking out an eye to see if she matched up with the expert. Feeling confident enough, she heard Seraphim's next command and responded, "Hai sensei-sama!" Minerva knew that Seraphim probably didn't need to even block one of her punches and taking one full on would probably hurt less than a tickle. She really wanted to impress Seraphim so she pulled her arm back behind her and launched a looping glove at Seraphim. Unfortunately, she put so much force into it, her tiny body stumbled forward as well. Her battle cry of her "Waaaah!" more of a cry of suprise at loosing her balance.

When Minerva attempted to enter the stance, Seraphim was pretty pleased with what she saw. It wasn't hard to understand the basic idea, and it provided a good defense that Minerva would soon learn, but the trick was moving her arms just enough to block the blow, and then quickly enter an offensive strike. With this stance, blocking was much easier, since only a little bit of movement was needed, but it still was hard to learn the right reactions and how to strike while blocking.

When Minerva gave out a little battle cry with her attack, Seraphim couldn't help but sigh, shifting her arm that was in front of her face just enough to block the strike, Minerva's attempt hitting the back of her fist, easily and masterfully disbanding the attack. "Wrong!" Seraphim said aloud, but not angry, just disciplining her. You're trying too hard and leaving yourself open." Seraphim didn't break her defense as she quickly lectured Minerva, trying to input as much as she could with this girl so she could break her habits quick. "And don't yell out an attack, just strike. You'll let your opponent know what's coming." And with that, Seraphim suddenly threw a punch towards Minerva, her fist going much slower than she was capable of, but still quick enough to prove to be threatening, aiming for the girl's gut. Fortunately for Minerva though, if she didn't block, Seraphim was being slow enough with the strike that she could stop, not wanting to actually hit her just yet, but maybe make her flinch or see how she would react.

Minerva was not thinking the way Seraphim was. To the smaller girl, each thing she was told to do was seperate from the last one. She didn't quite grasp that it was a fluid lesson. When the reprimand rang out, Minerva snapped to attention, her hands quickly to their initial position, her eyes were wide and her thoughts raced. Stop being so nervous! But I want to make Sera-San proud. You're just messing up though. She says I'm thinking to much. Them stop, and look out! Wha... She saw the incoming punch and closed her eyes and brought both her hands down. She blocked the punch but she knew it was still wrong, or would be if she didn't do something. She pulled out one of her fists and weakly punched at Seraphim, forcing her eyes open.

When Minerva blocked the attack, Seraphim wasn't terribly impressed. It showed she wasn't completely hopeless, but she still had so many problems just in blocking and executing that last punch. "Wrong again!" Seraphim said aloud, reprimanding her, but not yelling, just telling the girl there was another problem. Honestly, Minerva was filled with problems in executing even a simple punch, but Serpahim wasn't going to give up on her so soon, there was a lot to learn and she'd do what she could to help.

Once again with minimal effort, Seraphim blocked the attack, only using one hand so she could keep an offensive. "Don't close your eyes when you block! What if someone fients the first strike?" Deciding to prove her point only a second after she said this, Seraphim sent another punch towards Minerva, this time aiming towards her face. However, this was in fact a fient, and Seraphim would stop just inches before hitting her. If the girl flinched or closed her eyes in any way, Seraphim would then show just what she meant by quickly delivering the real punch to Minerva's chest, right into her left breast, and this time, she planned on actually hitting her. She tried to pull her punches a little and weaken it, but for Seraphim, a weak punch was still quite a painful attack to most.

Minerva let out a soft whine when she was reprimanded by Seraphim again. She wasn't complaining or trying to challenge her teacher, but was becoming very frustrated with herself. She only wanted to try and impress Seraphim but all her attempts seemed to do the opposite. Just stick to what Sensei is saying. You will impress her by following orders not trying to go off on your own... but... No buts! She had the small thought in her mind as Seraphim prepared the next punch.

She saw the punch coming and kept repeating to herself as she luifted her gloves up to block it. Keep your eyes open, keep your eyes open, keep your eyes opene Minerva had escaped plenty of unnecessary harm by closing her eyes and curling into a ball and letting the kids beat on her until they got bored. This usually worked, they got tired of beating an uinresponsive girl and she came away with minimal damage, usually just bruised ribs, so her natural reaction was to close her eyes at any oncoming attack.

She stopped the attack with her gloves, though even with that her gloves were so close to her face she bopped herself in the nose. Blushing, but still determined she stepped backwards and brought her hands down to the stance that Seraphim had told her to take. She was panting but it was mostly from adrenaline. Really her biggest problem was breaking herself of the habits she had been used to. Maybe Seraphim should be told this.

She looked up and waved her hands. "Sensei-sama." She said quietly. "I-I can do these moves b-but... She lowered her head in shame. "I know what the biggest problem is... I've been so used to reacting a certain way that my body just naturally reacts a certain way. I... I had to really concentrate just to keep my eyes open when you threw that punch." She heaved a deep sigh. "Can sensei-sama help me with that? I-I think if I could condition my body... If I could retrain myself then the rest would come a lot easier." She hoped Seraphim would understand. She didn't want Seraphim to get discouraged because she wasn't getting the techniques down when there was something else that was keeping her from really getting them.

Excellent! She managed not to flinch and blocked the attack, she was surprised that it worked but she did really well~! For most, such a simple thing wasn't worth praising, but Seraphim could tell that Minerva was having a difficult time, and she wanted Minerva to know that she was proud of her all the same just for coming out here today with her.

When she saw how Minerva was taking this all though, and that she paused from the training, Seraphim decided to stop as well, carrying a soft grin of understanding and admiring the girl's cuteness through all of this, trying not to pressure her in any way, shape, or form. "Yea.. I just noticed that myself." Seraphim agreed, nodding slowly as she walked over towards Minerva, only to place a hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad you asked though, I'll find a way to help, and it's good that you've realized this, it shows me that you're really trying, and that means a lot to me; I'm proud of you for doing this." For someone who often came off as being so intimidating and strong, Seraphim really offered comfort to Minerva, her gloved hand resting gently on her shoulder and rubbing it a little as she praised her for trying so far. Despite this training, Seraphim also wanted to see Minerva be happy, and that wouldn't come from yelling at her or putting pressure on her.

"I'll be honest, breaking habits don't have a quick fix, but I assure you, if you can get over such things as flinchin' in a fight or screamin' out as much, that alone will help you improve a lot: I told you, ya have potential, and we'll find that."

Minerva's eyes widened when she saw the look on Seraphim's face. The pools quivered as she looked up at the one eyed beuty and they trembled. Though not from fear. "I..." I..." Mine-chan..." She struggled to find the words she was looking for. Tears seemed to well up at the corners of her eyes and she buried her face in Seraphim's stomach and proceeded to cry loudly.

Her tears streamed onto Seraphim as she nuzzled her head as much as she could into the woman and gripped her as tightly as she could with the boxing gloves on. "Waaaaah!" The muffled whine could be heard as she sniffled. She didn't seem to be trying to hold back, however the tears flowing from her were not from sadness at all, though Seraphim might not be able to recognize that right away.

When Seraphim saw that look suddenly come to Minerva's face, she tensed up a little, worried she might have said or done something wrong to hurt her. She had thought she came of as nice as possible, and was really trying only to make the girl feel more confident about herself, and now instead she was breaking away into tears all of the sudden.

"M..Mine-chan?" Seraphim didn't know what to say, and all the sudden, Minerva fell into her arms and lower chest, burrying her ace filled with tears as she procceeded to hollar out a cry. What happened? seraphim was sure she didn't do anything wrong, right? How come Minerva was upset..? It almost hurt Seraphim just to see her like this, and slowly she took the girl in an embrace, hoping to comfort her in any way possible as her arms wrapped around her waist and hugged her close. It didn't feel strange at all or Seraphim to have Minerva pressed against her so close, she just wanted to make Minerva feel at ease and try to make her smile again. The way she cried like this was just too much to watch...

"..What's wrong? Please don't cry... I'm sorry if I said anything to make you sad." Seraphim really put everything she had into her words as she cradled her close, one hand still on her waist, but the other now gently behind Minerva's head, protecting her as she hugged her close. She just wanted to see Minerva smile again..

Minerva felt close to Seraphim as the white haired woman pressed against her. She tried her best to pull away and explain herself but the embrace was so comforting that ti took a while. After about another minute she stepped away and looked up at Seraphim with streaks of tears still running down her face. "M-m... Mine-chan..." She closed her eyes tightly and then opened them, her little eyebrows furrowing to express an attempt at seriouslness. "Mine-chan is not sad!"

She wiped her face with her glove but that didn't work out and she sniffed and took it off. "Mine-chan is crying because she has never been so happy in her life!" She practically yelled the words, a robust echo resounding from the tiny girl. "I was so greatful that Sera-san would really want to help Mine-chan grow stronger... but she is weak and Mine-chan was afraid of really frustrating Sera-san and making her leave..."

She sniffed and sunk to her knees, more fatigued by the expressive emotions than the excersize. "Mine-chan..." She looked down. "Mine-chan has never had someone to encourage her... Only Mine-chan has been there for Mine-chan." She frowned and looked down, her voice becoming quieter. "SHe has to work twice as hard at everything! Cooking and cleaning... and school work." She looked up with a half smile. "Mine-chan does really good in school! But she has to study and study very much even to just do a little good." She sighed. "It's not because Mine-chan is stupid... " She was practically flabbergasted and knew she was getting off topic. "So fighting was something that Mine-chan just did not have the time or will to do... especially since she hates fighting!" She shook her head to emphasize the point.

But Sera-san is helping! And Sera-san is a friend and... and..." Her eyes widened and onc again she blurted out the next part. "Sara-san is like Mine-chan's Onee-chan!" She stood up, even though her legs were wobbly.

"Mine-chan has a mother and father but she doesn't have a family... Sera-san... is like Mine-chan's big sister... She is like the family that Mine-chan never had!" Tears flowed freely from her eyes once more. "That is why she is so happy. Even when Sera-San is scolding... Mine-chan is happy just to try and do her best!"

Happy..? Seraphim was a little taken back at hearing that, suddenly confused as she stood there in shock, her crimson eye widening just a bit to display her feelings about this. She had never heard o someone crying from being happy, ...well, aside from Alison, but she always thought her roomate was just a wierd person. When Minerva did though, and she began explaining why she was doing this, Seraphim didn't know what to say. She was certainly shocked, but.. she didn't feel bad about this at all. In fact, after a few moments, she felt a calm smile come to her lips, chuckling ever so softly as she had a mix of both her own sadness, but also feeling releived and happy, her own emotions colliding just a bit at this point.

Seeing her sink to her knees, yell out and cry, it certainly did hurt a bit to see someone she really cared about break down. But, it also felt like Minerva was taking a step forward, like she was letting out all her pain for a new start, and that she realized her faults, but was ready to move on once she got it all out, and Seraphim promised she would be beside Minerva every step of the way.

"..Mine-chan.." Seraphim spoke the name of the girl she cared about ever so softly, calm, but still a little concerned, wanting to just be there for her as she cried out all her tears. "It's okay to cry... I'm glad really, I'm really glad you admitted you feel this way." Not sure if Minerva will push away this time and taking her chances, Seraphim stepped closer to the petite girl, and wrapped her arms around her shoulders and back, taking her in for another long embrace, wanting her to just cry out all her tears until she felt better, giving all the comfort she could to her. "I'll be your sister, your lover, or whatever you need me to be. I care too much about you now to just turn my back on you, and to know you'll try and do your best; that's all I really want from you."