The sun shone softly over the green blades of grass, its warmth settling over the forest and stone pathways surrounding the inn.
The skies were perfectly clear.
A gentle morning breeze drifted through the trees, carrying with it the faint scent of wet sand from somewhere beyond. Leaves rustled overhead, and somewhere in the distance, a bird called.
At 8:00AM, it was almost too peaceful.
Hori stood in the middle of it all, panting from exhaustion. They had just finished their morning run.
It was time for actual training.
Hori was dressed in new clothes
She looked down at herself.
An oversized cropped hoodie, the color of lavender dusk, hung loosely from her shoulders. The sleeves were long enough to swallow most of her hands, forcing her to repeatedly push them back whenever they slipped down.
Beneath it, she wore high-waisted purple leggings with breathable mesh along the sides.
Everything was designed for movement.
Unfortunately, Hori wasn't used to any of it. Sure it has helped her run better, but the way it hugged her was odd. It reminded her of the bandages she woke up with in Fukui. That she did not like.
She awkwardly tugged at the hem of her hoodie.
"Hori?"
She immediately straightened.
"Yes!" She snapped into a crisp salute.
Haruki stared at her. Then he smiled.
"You've been standing there for almost a minute."
Hori lowered her hand. "Ah..." Her cheeks warmed slightly. "Sorry."
"You're tired? Spacing out a lot."
"N-no I'm not tired..!" She lied. "Let's continue!" She wiped the sweat from her brows. The cold in the forest made it difficult to breathe, but manageable.
Haruki was impressed, just yesterday she could barely keep up with him when they ran to the hospital.
Something was different about her.
He shrugged it off and stretched a bit.
Haruki was dressed almost entirely in black. Loose-collared shirt. Skinny jeans. Nothing about his appearance suggested that he was about to conduct a martial arts lesson. Especially after running a considerably long distance without appearing tired in the slightest.
"Okay...we'll start with simple jab exchanges," Haruki said. "I want to see how you naturally move. Your balance, your reactions, your instincts."
Hori nodded. "Then you'll teach me how to fight?" She asked.
"Eventually." He shrugged. "First, I need to know what I'm working with."
Hori looked at her hands.
"I must apologize, Haruki-san..."
"Yeah?"
"I've never fought anyone before." Hori admitted.
Haruki stared at her for several seconds. Then his expression became strangely impressed.
"Wow."
Hori blinked. "Wow?"
"You must be a wimp huh."
"Eh?!"
Haruki laughed. "Hope you didn't get bullied in school?" He teased.
"I-I was homeschooled!" Hori barked back. Haruki stopped teasing and stepped forward.
"For me, violence has been part of my life for as long as I can remember."
His voice became quieter.
"Ever since I was a baby, actually."
Hori's smile faded.
She had expected him to joke. He wasn't.
Haruki slowly raised his hands. Causing her to flinch.
His posture changed. The carefree boy disappeared. His feet spread apart, his knees loosened.
His weight became almost impossible to read. He wasn't leaning forward or backward. He looked balanced enough to move in any direction without warning.
His left shoulder faced Hori.
His right hand hovered beside his jaw.
His chin tucked slightly behind his shoulder.
His crimson eyes remained fixed on the space ahead of him.
Hori instinctively took half a step backward. Fear.
'That stance...'
It resembled boxing. However Hori couldn't tell. Something about it was wrong.
His fists weren't clenched, his fingers hung loosely.
Long fingers.
Sharp nails.
They twitched almost imperceptibly whenever the wind passed over them.
Hori's throat tightened.
'Why does that look more frightening than a normal fist?' she asked herself.
Haruki glanced at her. "Hori."
"Yes?"
"Watch carefully." He raised his hands slightly. "I call this style...Open Palms."
Hori's eyes brightened. "Open Palms?" She parroted.
"Yep." His fingers spread. "The idea is simple." He looked toward a large tree some meters away.
"Without ever needing to clench my fists from the start, I'm free to Grab, Stab and Jab my victims."
Hori tilted her head. "Those are your techniques?"
"Exactly." He pointed toward the tree.
"Let's start with Grab."
The tree stood near the edge of the inns fence.
Its trunk was thick.
The outer bark was rough and weathered, hardened by years of exposure to rain, wind and sunlight.
Haruki walked toward it. Hori followed.
She expected him to touch the trunk.
Maybe demonstrate a grip.
Instead, Haruki stood several feet away.
He raised his hand. His fingers remained completely relaxed.
"Just pay attention."
Hori narrowed her eyes. "Yes sir."
Haruki chuckled. "Don't call me that."
Then he moved.
Hori's eyes widened. For the briefest instant, his hand seemed to disappear.
There was no clear motion. No obvious swing.
One moment, his hand was beside him.
The next-
CRACK!
His palm was pressed against the tree.
Hori stared. "Eh...?"
Haruki slowly withdrew his hand, something fell from his fingers. Tiny fragments of wood.
Hori looked at the tree. A section of its bark was simply missing.
She stepped closer.
"Haruki-san..."
He turned toward her. "Yeah?"
"Did you..." She touched the damaged area.
The surface wasn't scraped. It wasn't cracked. The wood had been reduced to countless tiny fragments.
Hori looked down.
A small pile of sawdust had gathered around Haruki's feet.
Her mouth opened. Then closed.
Then opened again.
"Wowww! How'd you do that...?!" She stared at his hand. "How?"
Haruki laughed.
"What do you mean how. I just grabbed a part of the tree really fast."
He opened his fingers, unharmed, not a single splinter.
Hori stared at the tree again.
'He moved so quickly that I couldn't even see his fingers close.'
Haruki casually brushed the sawdust from his palm.
"Grab is mostly useful for taking things. Important objects. Weapons. Keys. Documents."
He paused. "Anything I need."
Hori nodded slowly.
"That's rather convenient." She gently clapped.
Haruki's smile became slightly less friendly. "It can also be used in combat.... Just imagine plucking out your opponents organs. My sharp nails only makes it easier."
Hori's smile disappeared. "I see...."
Haruki dusted his hands.
"But don't worry." He walked past her.
"I won't demonstrate that part on you." Hori flinched.
Haruki stopped beside a large boulder.
It sat several meters from the inn, covered in patches of green moss.
Hori looked at it. Then at him.
"Okay next is Stab."
Haruki pointed toward the boulder.
Hori stared at the rock. "You're going to stab that?"
"Yep." He answered.
"But you're unarmed."
Haruki lifted his hand. "I am armed."
Hori blinked as he wiggled his fingers.
Haruki stepped closer to the boulder.
His expression changed again.
His fingers extended. Veins throbbing.
His hand became completely still.
Hori watched. She remembered what happened with Grab.
This time, she wouldn't blink.
'I'll see it.' She planted her feet.
'I'll definitely see it.'
Haruki inhaled.
Then-
His hand vanished.
KRAAANG!
The sound exploded through the forest.
Hori immediately covered her ears.
"Ah!" The noise reverberated through the trees. Birds scattered from the branches.
Hori slowly lowered her hands. Her eyes were wide.
"What was that?!"
Haruki stood beside the boulder.
His hand was already back at his side.
Hori looked at the rock.
A deep, impossibly clean slit ran through its center.
She approached cautiously.
Her fingers hovered near the cut.
It was extremely straight.
There were no scattered cracks surrounding it. No obvious impact crater.
Just a deep incision running through the stone.
Hori looked back at Haruki in awe.
'Her reactions are so cute.' he giggled.
While dusting his hands.
Hori stared."But...How?"
Haruki looked at his fingers. "Stab needs more speed than Grab." He flexed them. "And more precision too."
Hori looked at the boulder again.
'More speed huh...so I never had a chance following his movements.'
She remembered his hand disappearing.
"But how fast were you moving?" she asked.
"Uhhh Fast enough?"
Hori frowned. "That's not an answer!"
Hori wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or frightened.
Then the boulder shifted. A low crack echoed from within it. Hori froze.
The entire rock suddenly collapsed along the line he'd created.
CRASH!
Pieces of stone tumbled onto the ground. Hori jumped.
Haruki simply stepped aside. Then explained.
"I usually use it when I'm unarmed, decapitating and stuff. But I really don't like getting myself dirty to be honest."
She looked at the enormous pieces of stone scattered across the courtyard.
'No wonder he uses weapons.' she remembered the time with the Sinner of Addiction. The short katana he used.
She looked down at his hands again.
There wasn't even a scratch.
'If his hand can strike rock hard enough to split it...' Her eyes narrowed. 'Then what exactly is Haruki-san?...He had denied being a Priest.'
'Yet he possesses strength and speed far beyond anything human...!'
'Then what is he?' she frowned trying to piece it together.
"Hori?"
She looked up. "Yes?"
Haruki smiled, "Last one. Pay attention okay?" He said with closed eyes.
Haruki walked back toward the inn.
"Jab is different."
Hori followed. "Different how?"
"It's the simplest technique." He stopped. "All I do is punch."
Hori relaxed slightly. "Finally."
Haruki raised an eyebrow. "Finally?"
"I mean..." She coughed. "Compared to the rest, I could actually learn this one!"
He held up his right hand. "But there's one difference." He burst her bubble.
"I don't clench my fist until the last possible moment."
Hori stared at his hand. "W...why?"
"Because the closing motion matters."
He slowly curled his fingers.
"Imagine throwing a punch with an open hand."
He opened them again.
"Then imagine that, right before impact..." His fingers snapped shut.
"...the fist closes."
Hori's eyes widened.
"Ah, so it's like clapping punch?"
"Exactly." Haruki smiled.
"The knuckles slap into the target with all that force."
Hori swallowed. "That sounds painful."
"It is, but it's very hard to pull it off. For normal people at least. You might get it only once out of 10 tries." He warned.
"Haruki-san."
"Yeah?"
"How is this the simplest?!" She snarled at his earlier remark.
He laughed. "Go get me some water." He pointed at the inn.
"...Water?" Hori hesitated before moving. She looked confused.
But she hurried into the inn.
A few moments later, she returned with a red plastic cup filled with tap water.
Haruki pointed toward his right arm.
"Pour it over me."
Hori stared. "All of it?"
"Yup, from the elbow down."
She approached cautiously. Then tipped the cup. Cold water spilled over Haruki's arm.
It ran down his skin. Over his wrist. Between his fingers.
Droplets gathered at his fingertips before falling onto the grass.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Haruki flexed his hand, water scattered from his fingers.
Hori stepped backward.
"What exactly are you demonstrating?" She asked with caution.
"Jab." Haruki answered.
Hori's expression became serious.
She tightened her grip on the empty cup.
'This time.' She stared at his right hand. 'I won't blink.'
She watched his shoulder.
His elbow.
His wrist.
His fingers.
Every part of him.
'If I can't see him move...'
Her heart began beating faster. 'Then I won't learn from him.'
Haruki entered the Open Palms stance for the third time.
His right arm hung loosely.
Water continued dripping from his fingertips. The breeze passed through the inn.
Haruki leaned backward.
Hori's eyes widened.
'Now.' she said.
His arm moved!
She saw the shoulder.
She saw the elbow...
Then-
Nothing.
Her eyes couldn't follow the rest.
BOOM!
The sound ripped across the forest.
Hori's entire body recoiled.
She stumbled backward and fell onto the grass.
The empty plastic cup nearly slipped from her hands.
For several seconds, she couldn't hear anything except the ringing in her ears.
She slowly looked up.
Haruki stood there. His right hand was clenched. Hori stared in fear.
His arm was steaming. Not metaphorically. Thin white wisps rose from his skin.
The water that had covered his arm only moments ago was completely gone.
Hori's eyes widened.
"..."
Haruki looked at his fist, then at Hori. "That's Jab." He said calmly.
Hori didn't respond.
She couldn't.
She looked at the grass around her.
Then the empty cup. Then Haruki's steaming arm. Her mind struggled to put together what she'd just witnessed.
Steam continued curling between his fingers.
Hori slowly stood as Haruki spoke, oblivious. 'I almost never Jab since it'll probably just blow them up and make a whole mess of things." He said waving his arm to get rid of the last traces of steam.
"Haruki-san." Hori called out. Her eyes hidden by her short curly bangs.
"What...?" He asked. Curious in her sudden change in tone.
The afternoon breeze passed between them. Then Hori asked the question she had been ignoring out of fear.
"Y-you're not human are you...!" She pointed in confusing.
"Eh?" Haruki blinked.
"I've been lying to myself ever since you ate that Sinner! I still don't know why you did that, but no matter how strange your body is that can't be healthy...! You should be dead!" She blurted.
"L-let's calm down a bit." Haruki suddenly turned sheepish.
"It makes so much bloody sense! How you escaped the Sin of Arson unscathed.... wait...." Her head fell.
She remembered a certain moment.
From Haruki's introduction. A word that felt like random teasing at the time.
Hori's neck snapped back up with a terrified expression.
"Haruki-san, are you actually a Sin?"
She slowly backed away from her question.
The forest returned to silence.
But Hori couldn't stop staring at her so called friend with fear.
Those hands had torn wood apart.
Those hands had split stone.
She needed an answer.