The morning light, barely a sliver through the eastern windows, found Marichi already awake.
He laid still for a moment, listening to the hushed stirrings of the manor. The cold dread from the dinner the night before and the memory of the man in black's chilling words, still lingering.
Finally overcoming the inertia of sleep, he swung his legs out of bed, his earlier fear sharpening into a cold resolve.
Today's training…
He groaned.
I actually do need to train.
...I know skills that I've learnt from the streets won't be enough…
Especially for the war.
And not also that… I need to blend in more…
He thought as he sluggishly dragged his feet across and walked towards his bathroom.
After taking what felt like an hour to shower and freshening up, he dressed swiftly in simple training attire and looked at himself in the mirror, wearing a grey kimono shirt and darker grey hakama with faint dash patterns.
