Tenko's Request – Aikido Training

"Before we decide anything, I hope you'll tell me what are the specific objectives of your training request." Kirumi spoke to Tenko, after she had asked for help with Aikido Training.

"My objective is simple, I want to improve my Neo Aikido as much as possible!" Tenko stated confidently "I can't simply stagnate during the time I spend here. So instead I shall train as hard as I can while also playing as hard as I can. That's the spirit of my Neo Aikido!"

"I understand." Kirumi said with a nod "I do believe there are some forms of training where we can take advantage of our current situation. If I'm not mistaken, one of the basic tenets of Neo Aikido is that the training needs to prepare for real situations, isn't it?"

"Exactly! You really know a lot about Neo Aikido, Kirumi!" Tenko confirmed with a broad smile on her face "Neo Aikido is designed to be effective in any kind of real world situation, because-" She suddenly looked panicked and stopped talking "Because... Because that is the standard that all martial arts should strive for!" She concluded hastily.

Kirumi completely ignored her suspicious behavior "In that case, I believe there are a few training methods I can help you with. But before that, I need to make an accurate assessment of your basic physical parameters and levels of skill, so I can tailor the trainings properly."

After that, Tenko went through a very embarrassing couple of hours as Kirumi did some very thorough examinations of her body and movements.

+0+

Later, the two went to one of the spare meeting rooms scattered across the place, in order to discuss the specifics.

Eventually, it was decided that Tenko's training would be divided into two different forms. One where she would show up to certain spots at certain times, and have to deal with whatever Kirumi had prepared there. The other was the "surprise training", where Tenko would be ambushed at random times and forced to deal with the situations Kirumi set up.

The Ultimate Maid had assured Tenko that every bit of training she was about to go through would be designed both to push her to her limits and to acquire real world skills.

Still, Tenko wasn't quite prepared for what that meant, as was proven by what happened when they were done with their discussion.

+0+

"So, when is the training going to start?" Tenko asked Kirumi, eager.

"It already started." Kirumi answered.

And before Tenko could even process what the other girl had said, Tenko's half of the room suddenly exploded.

Kirumi watched as Tenko seemed to be buried under the broken off pieces of the room, but a few seconds later, the Aikido master dug herself out of the pile, having grabbed a table to use as cover in the instants before being crushed.

"That was sudden." Tenko said.

Kirumi took note of the injury on Tenko's left hand, and shook her head "You should have been able to avoid all injuries if you protected yourself perfectly, but it seems like you need some more training."

Tenko smiled awkwardly, knowing that Kirumi was right, but wondering what kind of training the maid had in mind.

+0+

She got the start of her answer on the next day, while she was doing her usual morning training. A Monokuma delivered a package to her, and inside the package were a complicated set of binding restraints as well as instructions to go to a specific building, far away from any of the areas she had explored before.

With a sinking feeling, Tenko went there, bringing the bindings with her. Going inside, Tenko realized that the building was some kind of warehouse, with three floor tall shelves holding all kinds of miscellaneous objects, from kitchen supplies to pieces of sports equipment, all of them piled up haphazardly and seeming like they could fall over at any time.

Tenko walked around the warehouse until she found the thing that had been mentioned on the instructions: A laptop sitting on the ground. Pressing a key made the screen light up, showing a video feed of Kirumi.

"Ah, Tenko. Just in time." Kirumi spoke to her "I assume you're wondering what you're going to do here."

"Yes." Tenko said respectfully, treating Kirumi like a master.

"First, you need to put on those bindings to completely restrain your arms. Do you need any help with that?" Kirumi asked.

"No." Tenko shook her head "I already thought it should be something like that, so I took a look to see how they work." She motioned to the belt-like bindings.

Kirumi nodded, and Tenko quickly got to work of wrapping herself with the bindings. There were layers upon layers to restrain her arms completely from hands to shoulders, and to force them to her back.

It took some very creative movements and a lot of flexibility, but eventually Tenko managed to make it work. And upon that she realized that even putting on the bindings could already be considered a form of training.

"What do I do now?" She asked Kirumi.

The maid smiled "Your goal is simple. You need to prevent the Monokuma legion from messing up the warehouse."

"Monokuma legion...?" Tenko didn't understand for a moment, but then her blood ran cold.

All around the warehouse, dozens and dozens of Monokumas appeared and started giggling. One of them dropped behind one of the piles of materials and started pushing it forward.

"Ah!" Tenko yelled and dashed forward at as close to full speed as she could get without using her arms.

It was still too slow, by the time she got close, the top of the pile was leaning further and further, about to topple.

However, Tenko would not allow herself to fail so easily. Leaping into the air, she spun into a kick with exactly the amount of force needed to force the pile back into position, incidentally squishing the Monokuma behind it.

She did not have time to celebrate that initial achievement, however. As soon as she landed back on the ground, Tenko saw that another Monokuma was pushing another pile even further away. And that pile was very high up.

Taking off like a racing car, Tenko covered the distance in three explosive steps, but the height was another matter, and she quickly saw that her previous technique wouldn't work as there wasn't enough time for a jump.

So instead, Tenko clambered up the shelf, using both knees and feet to force herself higher with more speed. Even then, she almost didn't have enough time to avoid the fall, having to hit the leaning pile with her head while still going up.

It succeeded, but then Tenko saw that another Monokuma was pushing yet another pile, so instead of allowing herself to fall back down, she instead climbed to the top of the shelf and jumped at the direction of her next target, then kicked off the roof to accelerate her downward motion.

The next hour was a blur of high speed movement and extremely precise strength exertion. Kirumi had apparently calculated quite well, as each pile was just barely possible to save, as long as she exerted herself to her limits every time.

Eventually though, things calmed down, and Tenko finally allowed herself to stop, happy for having actually managed to succeed in that particular training... And promptly fell down onto her face.

Apparently she had been wrong, she wasn't exerting herself to her limits, but just slightly beyond them, and the result was that she wasn't gonna be able to move for a while.

Well, at least it was effective training.

+0+

And so it went. The trainings were very varied, but all exceedingly difficult, ranging from crossing a swamp like area by running across tiny wooden posts while having to catch (not dodge or block) hundreds of baseballs shot at her from every direction. All the way to having to cross the entire area of the show while avoiding the notice of any of an extremely large number of floating drone cameras that moved around in complex patterns.

Her strength, flexibility, awareness, agility and everything else were tested in a hellish training regimen. It was a time of pain and suffering, but Tenko could pretty much feel herself growing stronger.

So, when Kirumi said that it was time for the final test, she was somewhat reluctant.

"Final, really?" She asked "I don't feel like I'm that close to my limits yet..."

Kirumi smiled at her "Not your absolute limits, no. But you've actually gotten close to the point where resting and allowing your body to recover is the best path to strength." She shook her head "I can give you a program to follow after some time of rest, but this test is going to be the last training you do for a while."

"I understand." Tenko said, nodding at the other girl "So, what do I have to do this time?"

They were in the same meeting room as they had started at, now fixed. Kirumi placed a map of the surroundings on top of the table and pointed to a certain spot "You go here, and then wait until I come. After that, do what seems to make the most sense."

Tenko nodded, already imagining what it was that she was going to have to deal with that time.

+0+

The place Tenko had to wait at was a broad bridge, that seemed a little bit like overkill, since it covered almost the entire lake that it had been built to cross. It was a curious place, to be sure.

After getting there, Tenko didn't simply wait. Instead she used the free time to limber up and get her gears going, so that she could react quickly and accurately to whatever happened. That turned out to be a wise choice, because it definitely wasn't anything she expected.

Making a curve around a nearby building, it was a car. And it was quickly accelerating and heading straight for her. And then Tenko realized that Kirumi was the one driving the car.

"What?" She couldn't help but mutter.

As if in response, Kirumi stretched her right hand out of the car, showing that she was holding a sign that said: "It's okay. I have a license."

'Ah, that's fine then.' Tenko thought 'This must be an electric car or something of that nature.'

That question answered, Tenko widened her stance and prepared herself as the car came closer and closer at high speed. She was going to need to be very quick and precise in order to deal with that, so as the car came ever closer, Tenko started estimating its weight and speed, as well as the particular strain each of the pieces was under.

And at the last possible moment, she moved.

Tenko slid at the car, bending herself over so much she was almost laying on the ground. While going under the front part of the car, she kicked upwards at a precise angle, making the front wheels leave the ground for a few moments.

Then she kicked forwards with her other leg, extending herself the maximum distance in order to hit a precise spot, breaking a specific mechanism on the underside of the car that controlled the handbrake. And with that, said brake released and came into contact with the ground.

Finally, Tenko left herself flat to allow the rest of the car to pass over her, before getting up to watch what happened.

Without being able to retrieve the handbrake, Kirumi had no choice but to allow the car to slow down to a stop.

Tenko got up as Kirumi left the car "How did I do?" She asked, with a mixture of eagerness and trepidation.

Kirumi nodded at her "You have succeeded."

"Yay!" Tenko threw her arms to the air and celebrated.

"Though I must admit I'm a bit surprised." Kirumi said "I expected you to use the car's momentum to force it to crash, instead of what you did."

"I thought about it." Tenko admitted "But it's pretty hard to do that kind of thing while guaranteeing the safety of the people inside. You would have been fine, but this is training for real situations, where it wouldn't be you behind the wheel."

"So it's a goal to pursue for later training." Kirumi said.

"Yeah! Good point!" Tenko agreed, and then sat down on the ground "But that really tired me out. Doing things so fast takes a lot out of you."

"Would you like some juice?" Kirumi asked, offering up a glass of strawberry juice she had taken from... somewhere.

"Thank you!" Tenko accepted the glass and started drinking it, while looking at the sky.

It was another beautiful day.