With the Captains suffering casualties and heavy injuries on their side, all hope seemed to be lost... until Shinji Hirako appeared, along with the rest of the former Shinigami. Though the aid of the Vizards certainly helped to draw the battle in their favor, it seemed Aizen's power alone proved too much for them.
Roy watched as the two exchanged looks and Kyu finally saying something to Toshioni. It was getting a bit out of hand and when she shot him a look, he stayed calm. She asked about why she wasn't informed about this, well that was an easy answer. "I hadn't known about Toshioni until after I called you for this meeting. Honestly, I wasn't trying to get you upset."
Using his best diplomatic charm that he can muster, Roy was trying to defuse the situation. He had to deal with things far less stressful on the front lines this dealing with parents.
Now that the cat was out of the bag, he can get to the whole point of bringing up bows and arrows. "Now that I know, I think we should get back to what I was saying earlier." Roy brought them back to where they started, trying to get Toshioni some training in his gifts. To be able to defend himself in case something were to attack him.
"I want to take Toshioni under my wing and train him to defend himself against Hollows." He prepared for an outburst, it was the least that he expected. She didn't seem like the type to throw things or assault an educator, but you never know.
"I hadn't known about Toshioni until after I called you for this meeting. Honestly, I wasn't trying to get you upset."
Toshioni eyed Roy curiously. He didn't know if that was a lie or not. He admitted to himself that he didn't know when the school counselor had called his mother. The young Quincy looked up at his mother who was calming down now. Kyu was thinking about how it made sense that he couldn't have gotten hold of her after knowing to confirm. After all, she was a busy lady. Quickly composing herself she took in a deep breath and folded her hands over her lap.
"I'm sorry Dylandy-san, I was unaware of this fact. I do wish that you had told me that at the beginning of this meeting however. I feel it would've made things a lot simpler."
Toshioni simply looked at his mother. That must be her lawyer composure, he thought to himself. That was how she handled herself in the court room...it just had to be. He thought about how she had to live like that most of her time and that she had to act normal around him. He had never really appreciated it before.
"I want to take Toshioni under my wing and train him to defend himself against Hollows."
His mouth dropping, Toshioni stared at the counselor with a look that simply screamed "WTF?" He didn't know that that was what Dylandy-sensei was planning. The thought of someone teaching him how to fight Hollows was kind of absurd. He knew how to fight them. Albeit, he wasn't a professional at it, but that was to be expected. His mother felt the same way. She felt that she had done at least an adequate job in training him.
"I don't know if that would be completely appropriate. I've already given him enough instruction to get by. I don't think there's something he'd encounter that he couldn't deal with."
He looked away guiltily. Did Toshioni have the heart to tell his mother about Xuan and Hachi? No, no he didn't. The young Quincy kept silent and stared at his shoes.
Roy thought that might be her answer, though with less chair throwing and yelling. Makana has really gotten to him in that manner, but lets get back on subject. "Yes, I'm quite sure that his training would allow him to fend off regular hollows." He put a bit of emphasis on the word regular to make a slight point. She may not be aware of the new threats but Roy and Toshioni are.
Things have changed since Kyu's time, evolution of Hollows into Arrancar and Shinigami gaining hollow powers. Yes, things were getting tougher and harder, more so now that he discovered just what happened that winter day.
Now to get serious for a moment, to emphasis his point. "I'm not sure if you are aware of recent events, but Hollows have gotten wise to a way to gain greater power. Like everything in this world, they have evolved. I should know, I fought one of these evolved Hollows." Stour had left his mark on him, but no one could leave a scar like Nnorita and his cero. Even a grenade shrapnel never felt that bad.
He pulled out a notepad and began his own little drawing session. "They call themselves Arrancar, a hollow that has gain shinigami powers. They're smart, cunning, and dangerous." He showed a crude picture of an Arrancar that would make Rukia look like Picasso. It was of Nnorita but it was far from a perfect picture. Not everyone can be as good as Toshioni. "They remove their mask and seal their power into a zanpakuto." He pointed to the process on his sketch pad, even if someone were laughing at the awfulness of it.
"Yes, I'm quite sure that his training would allow him to fend off regular hollows."
Toshioni shot a small look up at Dylandy-sensei but he only continued to stare at his shoes. It was best that he be quiet here. He knew exactly what the older Quincy was getting at. The vision of Xuan still rang in his mind. He couldn't tell his mom about it. She would freak out and get all over-protective. Also, she would get angry for him not telling her sooner.
Kyu, on the other hand, had no idea what he was talking about. What did he mean by regular hollows?
"Dylandy-san, what other kind of hollow is there? Surely you can't mean a Menos."
"I'm not sure if you are aware of recent events, but Hollows have gotten wise to a way to gain greater power. Like everything in this world, they have evolved. I should know, I fought one of these evolved Hollows."
Kyu simply sat there dumbstruck. What was he talking about? What could this man possibly be talking about? Honestly, it was quite appalling to even think about her son fighting something like this. She gave him a scared look and almost became sick over the mere thought of it. Toshioni did not meet his mother's gaze. He knew she would most likely be worried about him now. Good job Mr. Counselor. Honestly, way to go.
Roy had started to draw an Arrancar on a piece of paper to show it to Kyu. She barely paid attention to it. She had so many questions and was just bursting to ask each and every one of them. However, the court room had taught her she must first wait. She waited as he continued to make rather mediocre drawings of the whole ordeal. She shot a small glance at her son and smiled slyly. Obviously he was a better artist than the average person.
Toshioni's mouth almost dropped when he saw Dylandy-sensei's drawings. Damn, even he could do better than that. It really didn't help the mood of the room that the school-counselor drew like a five year old. No, not even. Toshioni could've drawn better than that when he was five. He was almost sure of it. However, when Roy finished he saw his mother collect herself. She was about to ask a bunch of questions. Lawyer time.
"How much more powerful are these...Arrancars? Why don't the Shinigami increase their presence to better deal with these things? Surely they don't expect us to bear the burden of fighting these things. I don't even carry my cross around with me anymore. What are we supposed to do?"
Ok, so his picture wasn't the best, but he had to get his point across somehow. Plus, now he had to explain to Kyu some info that he doesn't have all of just yet.
"How much more powerful are these...Arrancars? Why don't the Shinigami increase their presence to better deal with these things? Surely they don't expect us to bear the burden of fighting these things. I don't even carry my cross around with me anymore. What are we supposed to do?"
Roy sat there for a second to gather as much info as he can to answer her barrage of questions. "Ok, I'll answer those as best as I can with what I know." He's been in courtrooms before so he wasn't overwhelmed with her questions. In fact, he's rather comfortable at the moment.
"Firstly, Arrancar can be as strong or stronger than a shinigami. I've encounter one that was as strong as a captain class Shinigami. Now about the shinigami increasing their presence, I've notice them doing so for some time, but even then they can't be everywhere at once." Which is true, they can't be everywhere these things appear. If they could, then Roy wouldn't be worried too much about his students.
Now back to the questions, after a quick adjustment in his seat. "As far as I know, we as Quincy must prevent what happened to our ancestors and use our powers in moderation. I feel that if we subdue these beings long enough for shinigami to finish the job. We must learn from past mistakes after all." Referring to of course to the events that led to the extinction of the Quincy. He can't help but want to prevent this from happening again, so working with the shinigami may be the best choice they have.
Kyu and Toshioni listened carefully as Roy talked of how strong the Arrancar could possibly be. The young Quincy didn't know how strong a captain class Shinigami really was, but his mother did. Her eyes widened in sheer terror at the thought of such a strong hollow. She then looked down at her son and almost teared up. If he were to fight something like that...he would die. There was no way around that fact. It was sad but true. Toshioni looked up at his mother who had that extremely sad look on her face. He knew she was most likely worried about him now.
"Mom...it'll be okay."
What didn't help matters was that Roy said that there was no way that the Shinigami could prevent these creatures. Kyu shook her head slightly and simply refused to accept this. She couldn't be of much help; she was so out of practice. At her current state, she was probably no stronger than her son. He was so good with his sword and his hand to hand; she simply wasn't. Her best ability was her ability to run away. Toshioni didn't even have that luxury.
Then Roy went on to tell about how they needed to prevent what had happened to the Quincy before. While Kyu agreed, she was more focused on the idea of such strong hollows as Arrancar. She simply nodded as he finished. Then she looked at him and cleared her throat. It was hard to do; she was so close to tears.
"Dylandy-san, what would you teach Toshioni? If you can help him in any way...please do."
Roy had made Kyu upset, but it was necessary to get his point across. He reached in his desk draw and withdrew a box of tissue. He got up and handed it to her. He let it sink in as Toshioni tried to comfort his mother.
Roy waited for a moment, to gather his idea for Toshioni. "Firstly, I would emphasis what you already taught him, then move on to some advance techniques." Roy said as he tried to reassure Kyu.
With his military training on top of his Quincy training, Roy was confident that he could mold Toshioni into a Hollow fighting machine. "As he said, it'll be alright. We'll start his after school training tomorrow." Roy knelt down to meet Kyu eye to eye and grabbed her hands in a gentle embrace. He gave her a reassuring smile before he got up to walk over to his book shelf.
He pulled a book from the shelf and handed it to Toshioni. It was Kyudo: Essence and Practice of Japanese Archery by Onuma. "I need you read this, it'll help with remembering the basics."
Kyu sat there and listened to Roy as he talked about what he would do to help her son. She was glad that he wouldn't need to reteach anything to him. It was somewhat comforting to know that she had at least prepared him for someone else to finish his training. As a mother, that was really all she could hope for. She smiled when he took her hands. It was nice to be reassured. Toshioni simply looked away as he didn't much care for crap like that. He knew that he was trying to appeal to his mother instincts and not really him.
He was, however, intrigued by the idea of advanced techniques. He had absolutely no idea what an advanced technique was for a Quincy. There really wasn't much you could do with a bow and arrow. Maybe there was like trick shots or some shit but he really didn't know. He felt like asking...but didn't want to look stupid. Screw it. He was asking. "Dylandy-sensei, what exactly is an advanced technique?"
Kyu looked down at her son. She then gave another look to Roy. Preferring to let him answer this question, she sat patiently. Also, she was kind of curious as to what Dylandy-san would be teaching him. Also he gave Toshioni a book on archery. She shot her son a look, telling him to take it graciously and to appreciate it. He could drop pretty much anything with his accuracy but anything helped. Toshioni took the book and nodded to the older Quincy.
"Thank you Dylandy-sensei."
"I'm sorry that I didn't think of this earlier. But, are you sure you'll be ready by tomorrow?"
Roy was about to sit back down behind his desk when Toshioni brought up an interesting question. It came to mind that certain things need to be clarified before he can even show him any type of technique. He had a look of calm disbelief as he stared blankly at Toshioni. "Well, after a few drills and endurance training, I'll show you some Ginto spells that combine with Seele Schneiders. " He started as he finished taking his seat. After which he continued. "I'll also be teaching you to overcome any archer's greatest weakness with some hand to hand training and close quarters knife techniques." Referring of course to close combat, a common weakness with any ranged fighter.
He flipped his note pad and started to write down some notes about today. Mostly about Kyu's calm demeanor and Toshioni's body language during the whole meeting. He had heard Kyu's question and was ready to answer it as he continued to write down some more notes.
"I have to grab a few things from my apartment, mostly old army gear, but I'm sure I'll be ready." He placed the notepad on the desk, covering it with the crude picture of his as the cover.
Roy had gotten another reassuring smile before he finished his mind's thought. "Just you wait. In no time, Toshioni will be just as successful as you or me. His schooling will not suffer, in fact I bet this would improve his overall outlook on his everyday life."
Kyu and Toshioni just sat there and listened to Roy as he continued to talk on. It might be nice to learn a little bit about Ginto and such. However, he felt a little insulted as Dylandy-sensei was implying that he was bad at hand to hand. Frankly, that wasn't true. One of the things he was best at was using his lone Seele Schneider as a sword.
"Dylandy-sensei, I'm actually not bad at hand to hand. It's actually one of the areas in which I excel."
Kyu simply looked at her son. What he said was true. She had seen him practice against a dummy and occasionally trees. She really didn't approve of him hitting trees to increase his durability, but that was just the mother in her. She checked her watch, she really had to be going soon. She had only allotted a half-hour for this little endeavor. She stood up and gave a small bow to Dylandy-san.
"I'm sorry Dylandy-san, but I must be going. Toshioni-bo, I'll see you at home."
With that, she promptly left. She had heard everything he said about her son being as successful as her. It seemed that wasn't going to be much of a problem at all for him. He was already quite alright for his age. However, she imagined him even stronger than he was now. That was...almost frightening.
Toshioni, on the other hand just watched his mother left before turning back to Dylandy-sensei.
"Dylandy-sensei, where do I need to meet you tomorrow?"