Chapter 459: Steps
"Are you a hundred percent sure about this information?" James asked me as we stood in his office.
"It is what Ethan told me. He was training me under the name of making me durable enough to take on that bastard, but apparently, his plans are much bigger," I replied. "I don’t know how reliable this information is, but even if there was the slightest chance of it being true, I wanted you all to know."
"I see," he said, leaning back in his chair, thinking about it.
"Why didn’t you tell me about the training?" Natsumi-san, evidently annoyed, asked me.
"Thought you already had too much on your plate...and that I could handle it," I said, trying to force a smile even though I was terrified on the inside.
"What did you train in, to be specific?" she continued enquiring.
"Hand-to-hand combat," I replied. "He said that it was the base of any vampire’s arsenal."
She stared at me for some time before looking back at James and then back at me. "Well, I hope you can show me what that training taught you," she said, cracking her knuckles. Oh no, the worst is about to happen. "The same goes for you, Ai. We have to train you, too, so you can keep up."
"Understood," she said and pressed herself against my back. She looked a lot more serious than anyone else. I could take guesses on why that would be, but now won’t be the right time to talk about it.
"If they have nothing else for you, I’ll be taking them to the training room," Natsumi-san said, and James nodded in response.
We turned around to walk out of the room, but I was stopped by James’ voice. "Kazuki, I hope you understand what the current situation means."
"I do," I said and turned around, shining a smile at him. "I won’t be reckless. I have no reason to."
"I’m talking about when a reason does occur," he said, and I stood there silent for some seconds. I can’t lie and say I won’t jump right in at the drop of a dime; that is just who I am. "You are worth way more than you know, remember that."
"I will," I said and continued to head out.
I quickly walked faster to stand between the two and held their shoulders in a huddle. They were a little confused by my actions. "You’re lucky I made that promise with your parents. Looking after you is much bigger a chore than any mission I have ever been on," Natsumi-san sarcastically commented.
"I know, I know, Natsumi-san. What do you want for dinner tomorrow?"
"Tempura," she replied in an instant, and I mentally noted her choice. Since we will be moving into her house, I will have to make food for more people for dinner, but at least I can make sure she has a good breakfast and lunch. Seriously, how can someone be so skilled with weapons and not be able to cook food will never make sense to me. Though that does work well for me because I do enjoy cooking for these two a lot.
We made our way to the training room and found Iwaguchi-san already there with a pile of broken-down practice dummies at his feet. He stood there in a tank top with his combat axes clearly showing his well-defined and firm muscles, so much so that I couldn’t stop staring. Ai tugged on my arm, looking at me with a pout, and I chuckled a little.
"Eyes here," she said, grabbing my face.
"As you wish, ma’am," I said.
"I hate it here," Natsumi-san commented, and I quickly let go of both of them, blocking a punch aimed right at my gut. "Your reactions are faster, that’s good."
"Can you please give me a warning before you start?" I complain only to face a kick aimed at my head, and ducked down quickly, dodging it.
"Did you forget? There are no warnings in a fight if you can’t react. You die," she said, rushing at me, and I decided to go on the offensive too. I remembered all the different ways Ethan had tortured me, but luckily, I could clearly see how he was doing it. I waited for her to get in range to aim and punch me in the jaw, and I moved my head, catching her arm. I used every bit of my strength to lift her off the ground and throw her across the room.
Chasing after her, hoping to catch her off for even a second, I closed in the distance and jumped to reach her altitude. Twisting my body, I aimed to kick her shoulder, but before I knew it, it was already caught. I looked at her, seeing a smirk form on her face as she grabbed my collar and smashed her head against mine, throwing my brain around in my skull. My vision got dizzy, my body started to get limp, and I started falling. Right before I hit the ground, I was quickly caught by a pair of arms, breaking my fall.
"Ooooh, if you fell on that angle, that would have been bad," Iwaguchi-san said, gently putting me on the ground. I nodded in thanks, and I lay my back on the ground holding my head. It was still hurting. Ugh, why is it my head she had to aim for? Aren’t headaches in the morning enough for me?
"Deflecting my punch, using my momentum to throw me off balance, and launching me in the air to catch me off guard. You are putting a little more brain in your tactics," Natsumi-san said, standing over me. "But you did forget, in the air, your enemy is not the only one who doesn’t lose most of its ability to move around."
"I think you fractured my skull," I said, still holding my head where the pain continued to persist.
"Kid, if I wanted to, I would have already done it," she said, grabbing my arm and pulling me up to make me stand.
"Ugh, the pain seriously doesn’t work like it used to in my mindscape," I said, letting go of my head, which was still throbbing in pain. "I preferred it going away in an instant after some seconds."
"Welcome to reality," she hit me right above my knee on my thigh with her shin, making me fall to my knees. Now my head is not the only thing that is hurting. "You’re lucky I’m giving you this much time between spars; normally, you won’t even get a second in an actual battle."
"If this is a spar for you, remind me to never fight you," I said, looking up only to lean back, dropping to the ground, dodging a knee aimed for the temple. If that connected, I’m sure it would have just killed me.
"Don’t worry, you will never be strong enough to push me to my best," she said and sprang back onto my feet. "Beating up children isn’t really a hobby of mine."
"I would like to object to that," I said, rushing at her. Just dodging and blocking her won’t work for me. If I wanted to win, I would have to be on the offensive more. Natsumi-san is a lot faster than I and stronger, so I have to constantly save myself from her barrage of attacks will be like a death sentence.
"Fight me, like you mean it," she said, getting into a stance. "You will not be the person I can take out without having to try."
I made my nails grow out and sharpen, and I went straight for her eyes. Before they could connect, my wrist was tightly grabbed by her, and she looked at me unamused. "Don’t tell me this is the best you can do. I saw your strength, put more power in each hit. I know you can do it."
"I just don’t know if I can fully control that," I said, trying to pull my arm, but it was held in place by her. Her hand didn’t even budge. "What the hell? Just how strong are you?"
"Strong enough to take on whatever uncontrolled power you think might hurt me," she said, making a fist and shooting it straight at my solar plexus. I quickly jumped up in the air. dodging it, but was stopped in place, unable to go any higher. I stared at her hand, which still didn’t move from its place. The moment I landed on my feet, she swept my feet, making me lose control, but even if I lost balance, I couldn’t fully hit the ground since I was held in place by her.
She smirked at me, and I quickly got up to my feet, only to face a punch aimed at my face. "These are the only three places I will hit you. Let’s see how much you can keep up with."
I quickly moved my head, dodging it, but saw the back of her hand approaching my jaw faster than I could move, and it connected, making another terrible headache make its way in my body. God, if this is the punishment for hiding things, I prefer torture.
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