As the light of dawn began to shine into the windows of our room, I heard someone knocking , "Hey. Anyone there? Hello? " Caelan waited outside for an answer.
"Give me more time..." my voice quiet as I was enjoying the luxuries a bed provides.
"Fine, I guess I'll cancel training today, " Caelan added.
'Wait. Cancel training! Damn it, I overslept.'
"We're coming!" I could see my sister on the other side of the room clearly enjoying the bed. So, to speed things up, I walked to her bed and shook her until she woke up.
"Hiyori! Wake up. Dad wants to cancel training."
"Just 5 more minutes" she keeps her eyes closed murmuring in her sleep.
"Hiyori wake up. It's not time to sleep."
She yawns while her eyes flicker open as she says lazily, "huh... Yoketsu," She looks around with her eyes barely open, "Wh-What time is it?"
She recalls something that was said the previous day and replies," Oh right." Her hand moved to her face as she realized it, " We have training today, don't we?"
"Yes we do and we're late." I help her out of bed as I tell her our current situation.
"We need to run" she says as she quickly moves towards the door, but I stop her before she could move another step, " We have to dress properly first."
"Yeah, you're right. Sorry about that."
"You'll find me at the training grounds. And if I'm not there. Just know training is cancelled" Caelan's footsteps slowly faded into the distance as he headed towards the training grounds.
I quickly tidied myself up and headed for the door before saying "Hiyori I'll see you at the training grounds,"
"Wait for me." She grabbed my hand and pulled me back.
"You need to dress up and I need to leave. It's wrong for me to be here while you're dressing." I shake off her hand and walked outside waiting for her to finish dressing
After a few minutes she comes out and we began walking to the training hall.
"Yoketsu... Are you scared?" She asked out of curiosity.
" Not really." I answered quickly, buying time to actually think of what to say.
" You're lying"
"Well just a little. I mean I know that there's gonna be pain and all but I am not really worried," then I add on, "...What about you?"
"Holding on despite the pain is a scary thought for me. But I can't just let you get stronger while I have to rely on you. It doesn't feel right." She says
"Looks like we're here," As we walked to dad, he was smiling, "You came. I'm glad to see you can actually fight against the comforts of the mattress."
" Of course we did. Aren't we the ones who decided to do this. Also who is that person behind you." I was curious as to who this mysterious figure was.
" Oh him. His name is Gojo and he'll be your instructor from now on. I promised I'd train you but I am a bit too busy at the moment and I would feel bad if you guys got hurt cause of me." He places his hand on Gojo's shoulder and smiles slightly, " Take care of my children. And go easy on them"
" Sure, I'll keep that in mind." He then slowly walked towards us and gives us an assuring smile "Take care. I'll see you for dinner" He waves back as his figure became smaller and smaller the more time passed before he disappeared completely.
" Now they're going to be rules to these sessions. Break them and hell awaits."
" So what are the rules" I asked.
"Firstly don't come late. Second don't skip your lessons ever. Third no use of any forms of weapons unless given the permission to do so. And finally any instructions I give are final."
" Wow. I expected more rules. Though I dought training will be as easy though."
" Enough with the chit chat." Gojo throws wooden sword to me, which I had picked from the ground, "Both of you. Fight me. Starting with you." He pointed at me.
"Okay. But why am I going first." I asked, confused why he chose me instead of my sister to go first.
" Because you seem like an interesting guy."
" I'll try my best. Hiyori, wish me luck."
'though I doubt I can do anything because I ended up losing to my sister.' I thought.
I dashed forward and as I was about to reach Gojo, I swang my sword with all my might. The sword had stopped moving. It definitely hit something but nothing had happened. And Gojo, our instructor, was standing there, with his wooden sword blocking mine.
I looked in the direction of Gojo, dumbfounded, " How!?"
Then before I could react I felt a sharp pain on the top of my head, " Focus. If this had been a real battle....."
"YOU'D BE DEAD WHERE YOU STAND!!"
I froze. The sheer bloodlust this man was emitting was terrifying. My mind was screaming at me to run as fast as I possibly could. But my legs were stuck in place, and before I knew it, I was sent flying to the side. My body was aching all over.
'charging in won't do anything I need to change strategy'
I ran towards him and then dodged his attack but it seemed less impactful and slower than the previous one. I swung my sword this time conserving my strength to prepare for a feint.
Then the realization hit me. 'he's going for a fei...' his knee had moved faster than my thoughts and my body had failed to react in time and this time it felt like something broke.
AHHHH!! AH! AHHHH!
"Yoketsu! Are you ok!?" Hiyori rushes towards me the Gojo blocks him. "Leave him be,"
" Why do u want to leave him injured like that. He needs to rest."
"He'll be fine. I think."
"MY ARM! IT HURTS!!" My arm was in pain, I couldn't think straight. When I looked at my arm it was broken
"My arm!!! You. YOU BROKE MY ARM!!!"
AHHH!!!
"I-it doesn't hurt anymore "
"Now I know it's in effect. Now I don't have to hold back." When he said that my eyes widened.
My legs started moving before the command was in place. My body was yelling at me to move faster. I Kept this up for as long as I could manage.
'You're telling me he was holding back. I need to find a way to survive this before anything, ' And when I turned my head to the right I knew my fate was sealed.
CRASH!!
The impact shattered the stone tiles beneath me and left cracks spreading across the estate grounds. And by the look of that face he was not worried about that.
I was at the mercy of my instructor. I had to do it if I wanted to see another sunrise. But as I was about to throw in the towel and give up...
" You can do this... "
I stood up, got the wooden training sword and faced Gojo, 'it hurts but not as much as it was.' I smirked.
"Gojo, May I ask you something,"
"Your salary... it's lower than normal for someone teaching in a noble household, isn't it?" Gojo tightened the grip on his sword as his eyes darkened to what I had just said.
"I thought so...," I smirk as I say, "Hiyori!! Now!!" Gojo looked behind for a fraction of a second then...
THWACK!!
I had just damaged his sleeve. I had scratched him. But before I could celebrate, I was sent flying . I smiled as I glided through the air.
'I was at least able to hit him'
THUD!!
I rested for a moment and my body gave up on me but this time it retained the injuries. I was losing consciousness.
" Hiyori, good... luck..."
---------------
I woke up in my bed, realizing something had happened, but I had no idea what. I ran to the training grounds looking for Gojo or Hiyori but I couldn't find them.
Then I ran to the the dining hall and when I opened the door, I found my sister sitting there looking a bit down and my parents were with her.
Mom asked, "how are you doing? Is anything still hurting?"
"I'm fine mom. What happened with Hiyori?"
"Well she doesn't seem in a mood for talking." Dad replied
"Hiyori are you ok?"
"... I'm fine..." She says
" Would you mind telling me what happened?"
"..... I don't wanna talk about it....."
"Why not."
She pulls me to another room which is a bit dark and further away from the dining hall.
".... We need to get stronger."
" Isn't that the reason we are training."
" 'He' called you a failure. I want him to pay for that." and she adds on "Also you forgot about lessons."
"Oh, right.... Lessons. Though I don't mind being called a failure. Don't worry about that. I'm used to it."
"No. It's not ok!! You tried your best! You didn't do anything wrong!You don't deserve to be called that!!"
" You tried and that's what matters. But maybe it's just me overreacting"
" Maybe. But I don't understand. What happened when I fell unconscious"
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A/N: It has been way too long since I've written a chapter, hasn't it. But it's good to be back. Thanks for reading.