Cool, glad to see some other people playing V Akiha. Now here's my thoughts
As far as ground pits go, they are pretty useless. You can throw 22B onto the end of a blockstring if you've got an opponent who's respecting you, and this will give some nice plus frames, but it's not too useful as a whole. Air pits on the other hand, are gdlk. The art of random pit activations begins
J.22B should be one of your two primary zoning moves. BE214A/B and J.22B should be what you're using to trip your opponent up at a range. H-V Akiha's game is essentially a hit-and-run tactic, so you're gonna want to be frequently using these zoning moves to stop your prey from chasing after you too much. (You can't let them get close, V Akiha has no life, remember.) TK J.22B is good for ground vs ground pit shit. (much better than 22B.) If you get a J.22B to connect, use an available air dash to get over to the target, J.C, then land and jump again to go for J.ABC J.BC Throw. This will give you about 3.7k. If they're in the corner, you can connect 4C 2C into momiji loop for similar damage, but better oki and more meter.
J.22A is a beautiful mixup tool. I find it to be most useful in the corner as I pressure with J.C air dash J.C, cancelling the J.C into J.22A, as Sevalle said, will give you ridiculous +frames on block, and allows for you to continue to pressure you enemy. The other use for J.22A is when you're running away. V Akiha is meant to fly, and if you happen to be flying directly above your enemy, or you anticipate that they will be dashing under you, toss a J.22A out there to get them either to block or eat some easy damage. If 22A connects, land, and do 5B 4C J.ABC J.BC Throw. (Omit the J.A if you're in the corner) With J.A, the combo does about 4K anywhere, and without J.A in corner, it does about 4.4k.
As for H-VAkiha's 236 set, they are pretty bad. 236A can be a ghetto placeholder in a blockstring, so if you've got someone respecting you, give it a shot, it will serve as a blockstring reset. 236A is also a decent option after a throw. It gives some nice +frames on block, so its worth trying for. 236B can be used as a bait on oki for enemies that are DP happy. Because it moves V Akiha up and back, it will safely evade the DP and punish with the flametounge. Unfortunately, you can't really do anything off of this gimmick, so it's pretty lv.0. J.236B is useless, do not attempt.
I'd like to note that V Akiha's throw presents her with wonderful oki opportunities. In most cases, it is beneficial to throw
out of the corner. This gives you more crossup abilities, and should be desired because H-V Akiha is stronger out of the corner than in. (Now that momijis can be done anywhere on screen, there's not as much incentive to keep enemies there.) V Akiha's fast air dashes let you input 69644J.C after the throw. If you input the backdash earlier, you'll cross back up to the side you started on, and if you put it in later, you'll stay on the opposite side. After the J.C, hit confirm 2A into momiji or 6C loop or whatever you want. Another option is to SJ.22A, and then land on top of them while they block that with a j.C. As mentioned before, 236A can be done off of a throw as well.
As for that shield combo, I will experiment with that tomorrow and post up if its possible or not.