Honoka was practically bouncing in her seat as Hibari laid out the ground rules of their first official excursion into the abyssal realms. Which basically boiled down to "don't do anything to create paperwork for me to fill out since I'm supervising or I will happily bite you to death with help."
As his roommate/partner, Honoka would team up with Fon for the majority of it since Kyouya did in fact take his duty as 'supervisor' seriously.
If by that one meant he made a habit of dropping in on the various groups without warning, scared the living crap out of them, and proceeded to put the fear of him into anyone who was stupid enough to break one of the major rules.
It said a lot about his habits and behavior that they had a wing just for "Hibari Victims".
Kyouya looked rather pleased when, instead of having a horrified look on her face, Honoka had laughed herself to hiccups. Before proving to everyone that she had balls of steel by hugging him for a good minute in front of everyone...and he didn't attack her for it.
As Honoka put it, Hibari was just a big grumpy cat. You just had to know how to approach him the right way and you could make him purr.
Fon had to hold back his own laughter when Honoka did just that later that night and had Kyouya's other form in her lap purring like a content cat.
"Eager to test your skills, little one?"
"I love going to new places. And this time I have actual friends with me!"
"Ahahaha. I know, it's great right?" said a voice next to her.
The boy wore the armband of the exorcist class, but had an easy-going aura around him he also had a pair of familiars...a dog and a swallow.
Exorcists weren't allowed to have demon partners, but familiars were just within the range of 'acceptable'.
"Honoka," she said politely with a bow.
"Takeshi Yamamoto. The teacher said to partner up with you since Hibari is the supervisor for this one," said Takeshi, having already sent the note to Hibari through the control crystals. He was the one who directed the other boy to where Honoka was.
"Aren't you a second year?"
"Yeah, but I missed one too many excursions due to my club, so they decided to toss me in with the first years to make it up," agreed Takeshi.
"Club?"
"I'm part of the baseball club. It's more fun than the one dedicated to swords, since I'm only supposed to practice the one style and it's not really regulation for the normal humans. I kept getting into trouble for it," admitted Takeshi.
"Isn't baseball the one where you hit a hard ball really, really far and have to chase after it?" asked Honoka, who only had a vague idea what it was.
"I thought that was fetch," commented Hayato.
Takeshi laughed a bit.
"Something like that. Would you like to know more about it?"
Honoka could tell Takeshi was somewhat lonely, so she smiled at him.
"Sure!"
Seeing the other boy brighten up as he talked about his favorite sport, she knew she had made the right call.
Some time later...
"Wow, Yamamoto, you're really good with your sword," said Honoka.
Takeshi laughed nervously.
"My old man kicked my ass repeatedly until I had the style down. And call me Takeshi, please. Every time someone calls me Yamamoto I look around for my dad!"
"Since we've finished our assignment for the day, how about you show me what this baseball thing is about?" asked Honoka. She had already fulfilled her allotment of spell work for the day, and they had some time to kill before she cooked dinner.
Takeshi's eyes gleamed at the idea...and wouldn't you know it, he carried his favorite bat and a large number of baseballs with him to play with...or use as an impromptu weapon.
It took everything Hayato had not to chase after the balls, like Takeshi's canine familiar was doing.
"Gah! I can't take it anymore!" he said after the sixth one.
Honoka and Takeshi paused from where he hit the balls she threw at him (she had a surprisingly strong throw, to his delight), to watch as Hayato shifted into his bigger canine form.
Takeshi blinked for a moment, before an evil grin came on his face. He hit the ball harder than normal (he had a habit of keeping it well within the limits of his familiar to retrieve) and watched with amusement as Hayato tore off into the distance...only for his head to return five minutes later, ball in mouth with a sheepish look on his face.
"That...is so cool. What sort of dog are you?"
"He's half inugami, half hell hound," commented Honoka, scratching his ear. When his body caught up to his head, you could see his tail wagging happily.
Takeshi laughed, and cautiously stroked Hayato's ear. It felt almost like silk under his hand.
"What did you do to make his fur so soft?"
"I groom them regularly. You know how a lot of first year summoners have a lot of trouble getting their familiars and partners to work with them or listen to basic commands? I've never had that problem. Not once."
"Seriously?" said Takeshi.
Honoka summoned Lambo, who yawned before curling into her arms, head against her shoulder.
"Is that a baby Taurus?"
"His name is Lambo, and he's practically my little brother," said Honoka proudly.
"Lambo-sama wants grapes, big sister..." yawned the little cow.
"...Isn't that the same little cow that likes to around throwing explosive spells?"
"He's not that bad," said Honoka. "And I let him play around with his explosions with Hayato, since they both like to blow things up. It's good training for him."
Hayato's primary attack was an explosive blast of hellfire that turned into molten shrapnel when it made contact. It pissed the elders of his father's clan off something fierce, because it was one of their strongest bloodline gifts that made them so feared...and it was in the hands of a hybrid no one wanted to admit was in their bloodline.
As such, whenever Honoka trained with her familiars she had a habit of pairing Hayato with Lambo, since their attacks were so similar.
Lambo's horns could unleash a concussive force of lightning, even if it was currently at the level of static electricity at the moment. None of his previous masters ever bothered to properly train with him because he was such a brat.
It was part of the reason why I-Pin liked Honoka so much... when she trained with them, she paid equal attention to her and Lambo. She didn't just dismiss the little cow and pay more attention to the little dragon.
"So what can your little bird and dog do?" asked Honoka, already sitting down.
"They turn into multiple swords."
"...Is that it?"
"Well outside of helping me refine my control over water spells," agreed Takeshi.
"That's still very impressive. I can tell you really care for your familiars," said Honoka.
"I don't really know how to groom them though. I mean yours are all immaculate," said Takeshi.
"Did you bring your kit with you?"
"I think so..."
The kit was a complete mess. It was clear Takeshi didn't really know what he was doing at all, and just looking at it made Honoka cringe.
"First things first... I am going to show you how to at least make your kit semi-organized," said Honoka, eyebrows twitching rampantly.
Hayato looked at Takeshi's canine and snorted. Jirou snickered right back.
"It would seem our masters have finally found someone who's passion for their hobby has finally met their match. No one can top Takeshi's love of baseball," said Jirou.
"And Honoka has an ingrained need to mother and groom any demon she comes across," Hayato shot back. "Don't be surprised if she teaches your master how to do it properly once she's done showing him how to organize his kit."
"Takeshi is a good master, but a good groomer he is not," said Jirou dismissively. Kojirou chirped in agreement.
Hayato's words turned prophetic when Honoka threw her arms up in exasperation, and proceeded to show Takeshi how to brush his familiar's fur properly and how to clip the nails. They didn't have to be perfect, but at least Jirou wouldn't have to suffer overgrown nails again.
(Takeshi later got the equivalent of a 'tackle box' meant to store supplies, except geared towards lazy groomers. It still drove Honoka crazy at how disorganized it was, but at least he could find things now.)
"Ahahaha... I never thought I'd find someone just as nuts as I am about their hobby!" said Takeshi.
Honoka grinned at him. Most people would take it as an insult, but she took it as a compliment. She could tell from the way some of the other students were looking at him that a lot of his 'friends' didn't really share his love of the game he had so much passion about.
She didn't mind. She could tell he really loved baseball with all his heart.
"Thanks!" she said brightly.
"Small bird, where is the food?" demanded Hibari. He was starving.
Honoka pointed to where she had I-Pin slowly roasting several shanks of red meat over her flames. It was a good control exercise with many practical applications. That, and it gave her a chance to bond with the little dragon over cooking, since it was something she was good at.
Fon, while being somewhat skilled at the art, had a major preference to spicy foods. As such it took an iron stomach for anyone to eat it without crying from the peppers.
(Hence why he left the normal cooking lessons to Honoka, while teaching both girls how to use food as a weapon against people they didn't like. Poor Hayato was the only one who could stomach anything they made without gagging after those lessons. I-Pin was particularly fond of the special gyoza buns which could paralyze even adults.)
Hibari eyed the meat carefully, before selecting one he deemed appropriate.
"Good job, I-Pin," said Honoka.
I-Pin beamed at her older sister.
"Master supervise! I-Pin not disappoint!" said the little dragon.
Hearing the sudden coughing from Hibari, as he hit the hidden surprise inside the meat, Honoka handed him some milk...and antacids.
"Life is full of hidden surprises. One must be vigilant at all times, especially when they forget to supervise the foods," said Fon cheekily.
Which was why Honoka, Takeshi and Hayato all avoided the extra spicy meats with the pepper marinade. Lambo, being a vegetarian, avoided them completely.
"Alright! Since we've finished our assignments for the day, how about a bit of training to work off the food?" said Honoka.
"Ahahaha... sounds like fun!" said Takeshi. "What sort of training though?"
"Well we already do a lot of combat training...so what about endurance and speed? I mean we have a full week and a half to train in the abyssal realms, and that means that our demons will get a lot stronger since they'll be absorbing the natural energies around."
Takeshi perked up at that.
"Oh? And what did you have in mind?" asked Fon with interest.
"Well I was thinking that maybe we could make a game of seek and retrieve with all the baseballs Takeshi brought. My throwing strength really isn't that impressive and I was mostly winging it earlier. So we could have Jirou and Hayato seek the balls Takeshi sends flying, with Hibird and Kojirou competing to see who finds it first and returns with their canine partners. And Roll could play chase with I-Pin and Lambo while we wait for them to return," said Honoka after a moment.
Takeshi blinked at that. This was the first time anyone had ever suggested they use the balls he brought with him for training purposes and it sounded like a really fun way to kill time and get stronger. He found himself openly grinning at the idea already.
"In that case... How about we add an extra level of difficulty? Since he is already used to sending them flying, how about we add targets that will explode if hit? It would be a good chance to work on the synchronization with his little bird," said Fon, smiling widely.
He knew there was a reason he clicked with Honoka so easily. Her training idea was somewhat childish, but perfect for their current level of skill. Especially since she was mostly using it to draw in the Water Exorcist into her spirit realms.
"I'm in!" said Takeshi with a grin.
"Sounds interesting. And how would that work exactly?" asked Honoka.
"Summoners and Exorcist have the unique ability to synchronize with their familiars. Partners are too strong for the full bonding, but are able to amplify their summoner's natural abilities. However familiars have a much lower higher threshold for it, provided the connection between the two is strong enough. Honoka, your bond with your familiars is much higher than the average student, so you should have no problem syncing with Hayato," said Fon.
"Come to think of it, I have noticed a few times when my eyesight suddenly got really, really good or my sense of smell was overpowered," said Takeshi.
"Which means you have the capacity to sync with your familiars, you just haven't trained in it properly yet," said Fon. "And while this is a fourth year skill, it's not that hard to pull off. It's just that most have trouble bonding with their familiars before then."
Seeing he had their interests, Fon smiled. It was good to be around young ones who weren't afraid to learn and put in the hard work.
"But for now, we should get some sleep. I'll get things ready for tomorrow," said Fon.
Takeshi thought he would be the first one up in the morning. He was sorely mistaken.
"...Is that Honoka fighting in Hyper mode?" asked Takeshi, staring.
"Fon said that if she was able to pull that off on her first try combining with her original familiar, then they might as well get her used to it while training in hand to hand," said Hayato yawning. "They always have a set time limit, so she should be done in about five minutes."
"Where's Hibari?"
"Off checking the other teams. He wants to make sure they weren't ambushed by any demons in the night, because then he'd have to go retrieve them," said Hayato.
Takeshi made a face.
"I've had that happen before. Annoying, but good training. It's weird I didn't hear any come near our campsite though. You usually hear at least one of them."
"Blame Fon. They take one look at his aura or catch his scent, even in his conservative form and they run like hell the other direction," said Hayato. "None of the lower ranked ones in this section of the Lightning realms would be stupid enough to piss off the top demon from the Tempesta plains."
"...Hibari summoned the leader of the Tempesta plains? Aren't they all really, really strong and nearly impossible to control?" said Takeshi.
"It helps that Fon is actually Hibari's father. The blood connection mitigates the power levels required," said Honoka without once breaking stride. "Just don't mention it around Hibari...he's still pissed about what happened and tends to get rather murderous unless he likes you."
Honoka never brought it up, which was why Hibari explained to her the truth. She knew it wasn't her secret to tell.
There was another reason why Fon trained Honoka in Hyper Mode all the time... she needed all the edge she could get if she was to have any chance in the abyssal realms of being able to control him. Reborn's powers were not to be taken lightly, and his behavior was even more of a trial than dealing with a very hyper Lambo on a sugar rush while throwing a world-class tantrum.
The sooner she practiced the higher tier abilities that summoners had and became used to the power drain from spell casting with her jewels, the better the chance she had of being able to reign in Reborn's powers.
It still baffled him how something that felt like it came from the darkest corners of the abyssal plains managed to take over the Helios realms, which were among the brightest.
Once they finished their assignments, Fon was going to train their asses off and test their skill levels. Somehow he had the feeling the water exorcist was going to be in for a rude awakening that had been long overdue.