"You got everything ready?" I asked Ai who was standing at the entrance of the house.
Her friends were meeting her in the mall at 10:00 AM and we both woke up at 8:45 AM so we did not have much time to have breakfast since we took our sweet time bathing. I quickly made coffee for the both of us and now Ai was ready to go out to hang out with her friends and now I understand why she dresses like this even in the summers.
She was wearing a black one-piece skirt under a red overcoat and let’s just say that she looked really good in it. Her body being cold also affected her so she normally wore more clothes than usual even in the summer.
"Are you sure you will be okay without me here?" Ai asked me with a worried expression on her face.
I smiled and pat her head. "Of course I will be, I am pretty sure you will go there and talk about me all the time~"
"Wh- no," she said averting her face and puffing her cheek. "Okay, maybe just a little bit but that is not my fault. It’s Kazu-kun’s."
"Yes, yes. Now go and have fun. I will see you later in the evening right?" I said and she nodded. "Okay, have fun."
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With this, Ai opened the door and stopped to look back one last time before going out. With her gone, a sudden wave of silence enveloped the house. Now that Ai is not here so I will be on my own here for some time. I think I can deal with that. I have been living on my own for so long so it won’t be any different from normal.
I went to the kitchen to make myself a quick breakfast and prepare lunch for later. I was supposed to go for training at 11:30 AM so I have an hour and a half. I think I can manage something in that time. It has not even been two minutes and the apartment just feels so empty without Ai here.
What the hell.
I opened the fridge and got some eggs out and decided to make a half-fried omelet and I had some bread also with it. I cracked the eggs and poured their contents on the non-stick pan. The sizzling sound softly resounded in the kitchen and I also put the bread in the toaster. Standing there and waiting for them to get ready, my hand went to my phone and I checked my messages and there was one from Natsumi-san.
"Today the training will be earlier so come by 11:00 AM since we have your test results out and we found something really interesting."
You should have told me before. I looked back at my eggs and bread and they were just about to get ready.
Looks like I have an excuse to eat lunch at Ida-san’s diner.
I quickly went and got my breakfast on the plate. I quickly munched everything down sitting at the dining table on my own and then washed the dishes. I still had half an hour so I think I can get there in time. Changing my clothes and getting the keychain and the house keys along with my wallet and phone, I head out of the house locking it behind.
I called for a taxi and getting in, I leaned back. My phone vibrated and I checked it seeing a message from Ai. I turned it on and saw that there was a video file attached to the message so I opened it.
"Hello Kazu-kun, since you don’t know my friends well, they suggested that I made a video," Ai said holding her phone and behind her were three girls from her group. "Now that I think about it, I could have just video called you. I am so dumb!"
Seeing her whine, I chuckled.
"Anyway, this is Haruka and she is my best friend," Ai said hugging a girl with shoulder-length brown hair and green eyes. "Then we have my other best friend, Sakura," she said pointing at a girl with long pink hair and blue eyes. Are those hair dyed?
"Those hair are not dyed and they are natural. Even I have no idea how that works but she looks so cute in them," she said pulling her cheek and Sakura was telling her to stop.
"Ai-chan, itw hwurts pwease stwop," the poor girl whined.
"And last but definitely not the least, we have Asumi," she said pointing at the girl with dyed purple streaks and brown hair eyes. She looked like a tomboy. "And yes, she is a tomboy but we all still love her!"
"Can you read my mind from here?" I muttered.
"And that is enough, I love you and miss you, bye," she said and quickly got away from her group and put her face close to the camera. "And they are my friends and I am your girlfriend so let me make that clear. I am YOUR GIRLFRIEND and NO ONE ELSE will ever be that aside from ME."
At least she did not say wife.
I chuckled yet again and decide to message back her and closed my phone. I would like to see how she reacts to that.
After some more time, there I was standing before the massive building and I stepped in showing my card. Natsumi-san was already standing there with her arms folded before her chest and tapping her legs impatiently. I checked the phone for the time and it was exactly 11:00 AM right now.
"You are alone here today?" she asked me raising her eyebrow.
"Ai got an invitation from her friends so I made her go with them. Today, it is just me. Now shall we?" I said and we entered the elevator and there was a scanner!
At this point, I am not even surprised.
We entered the training area and Iwaguchi-san was standing there tossing his combat axes in the air. Seeing me, he raised his eyebrow.
"Your girlfriend is not with you today?" he asked me and I sighed.
"Is this such a big surprise that Ai is no with me?" I asked them and they nodded. "Look, unlike me, Ai has friends and she is hanging out with them."
"But it is unusual seeing you all alone now. I rarely see you on your own now," Natsumi-san said.
"Yes, yes, Ai loves me so much that she does not leave my side, I get it. Now can we start the training?"
"But it sure is weird," Iwaguchi-san said holding his chin while thinking something.
"I know right?" Natsumi-san said.
"CAN WE START THE TRAINING?!"
And so the training started.
Without a warning, I had to roll over towards my right side dodging Iwaguchi-san’s attack and I felt a sharp kick on my stomach which made me fly across the room and crash into the wall. This kick was the hardest one I had ever received and it knocked the air out of me. I looked up and received a punch on my face.
"Be quick and be aware of your surroundings. The enemy won’t shout while attacking you," Natsumi-san said jumping and aiming her kick at me and I quickly activated my katana and aimed for her leg.
She twisted her body mid-air and dodged the blade and right behind her was Iwaguchi-san who quickly kicked my leg making me lose my balance and I leaned my head towards the right to dodge his combat axe which went into the ground.
"Are you planning on killing me for real today?" I said and got out of that and ducked down dodging the punch from Natsumi-san.
"Every day we are going to be making the training harder. Don’t forget, break a bone and it heals back to become stronger," she said and kicked up my face and I leaned back avoiding it but Iwaguchi-san was already beside me and I had to backflip knowing that he was going to knock me off balance.
Looks like I was a bit wrong since I felt his hilt on my back which might as well have broken my backbone and made me fall down. I got up somehow and both of them were standing before me with their blades ready to cut me off and my eyes widened. For a little moment, instead of both of them, I saw two monsters. Killing machines who knew nothing but to kill. That was the image that flashed before my eyes.
Then both their blades stopped right before my eyes. If I even lean a bit forward, I would have lost my eyes.
"So this is the power of the two strongest hunters," I said and they retracted their blades.
"We are still holding back a lot before you but it was a lot less than from when you started. Even Iwaguchi started holding back unknowingly from the start," Natsumi-san said resting her scythe on her shoulder.
"I was?" Iwaguchi-san asked confused.
"He was?" I asked.
"I have no idea," Natsumi-san said and we both blankly stared at her. "Okay, he was but he does not realize it. I have been fighting by his side for ten years now. I know what he is capable of."
"So if both of you did not hold back, in how much time would I be dead?" I asked half-jokingly.
"You won’t even have time to blink your eyes," Natsumi-san said and I shivered to hear the seriousness in her voice.
"Then I guess I need to train even more and train until my body stops moving?" I said and she nodded. "Sounds simple enough but not easy at all."
"But you have to do this either way."
"I know," I said and looked at my katana and scabbard and a thought came to my mind. "I want to try something."
I sheath my katana and placed it near my waist and then flipping it with its curve downwards, I held its handle but there was a difference in this one. I was holding the handle upside down and I quickly draw it out. I had seen something similar in many anime and mangas and I think it was called the Iaido style. It takes a lot of practice to do it and unwavering concentration.
What I am aware of is that my wrist was more flexible than a normal person so I wanted to try quickly drawing my katana while holding the handle upside down. I am pretty sure that this is definitely not how someone does it and it is definitely not supposed to be done like this but it was as if my guts were telling me to do it this way.
"Interesting," Natsumi-san muttered and readied her scythe pointing it at me. "How about you try blocking me with this?"
Natsumi-san charged at me at an inhuman speed but I was just about to react and draw my katana out blocking her attack. Our blades were holding against each other and now, it was more of a strength battle than speed. We both push each other back but I slowly felt myself losing my stance.
Nice try but I won’t do the same mistake twice.
I kicked Natsumi-san in the stomach startling her and pushing her back and using the momentum, I blocked Iwaguchi-san’s axes and slashed at him. He pushed my blade away but I kept spinning as a kick came at his shin which made him lose balance for a bit.
I jumped back and now both Natsumi-san and Iwaguchi-san got in their stance. Looks like they will be holding back less now. I slowly started walking backward while not losing sight of both of them sheathing my katana and they just stood there wondering what I was doing.
My back hit the wall and I smirked. Jumping, up high, I leaned forward and kicked the wall off really hard which made me launch at them with a quick speed. I hope I can control it now and as I quickly got in range, I held the handle upside down and draw it out. I stopped right between the two with my blade at Natsumi-san’s neck and my scabbard at Iwaguchi-san’s chest.
"Looks like I am still not fast enough," I said as the two cold blades were touching my chest.
"But you are improving at a fast pace which is nice to see," Natsumi-san said retracting his blade.
"Man, you almost had me there, not going to lie," Iwaguchi-san said rubbing the back of his head.
"Okay, let’s continue."
And so, I got my ass beaten yet again but I am improving so that is a good thing.
After all that, here I was in the medical checkup room, and before me stood Ama who had a seductive smile on her face. Also, as I thought, I was not wearing my t-shirt and pants and was just standing there in my boxers. I now knew why that was and the reason really concerned me.
"She is into teenage boys or just younger boys in general," Natsumi-san told me when I asked her about Ama’s peculiar behavior.
"How old is she anyway?"
"Thirty-five."
"Shit."
"But don’t worry, she is an old friend of mine from England and I trust her a lot. So you can tell her everything that is going on with you and she will not leak the information. She has taken quite a liking to you. Was even asking me when you will come back tomorrow."
"Fuc-"
"Now, now Kazuki-kun. You are drenched in sweat so how about you take a shower? I can hold onto your belongings for the time being," she said interrupting my flashbacks. "Or do you want me to lick it off~"
"Where is the shower?!" I quickly asked her and she frowned and pointed at the shower in the room. Wait, in the room!
There was a shower right there in the room and there was only a little curtain which covered its entrance. I should not be here. No, get me out of here.
"Is something the problem Kazuki-kun?" she asked me and her face was so close to mine that could smell a sweet citric smell from her.
"Um…Ama-san, can you just do the tests without me washing off my sweat?" I asked her.
"No, we can do that. You would have been asked to take a shower either way so get in quickly or do you want me to he-"
I quickly hopped into the shower putting the curtain on and taking off my boxers since I did not have another one and I did not want them to get wet. I quickly took a shower and luckily, there was a towel already there so I wiped the water off my body and I got out seeing Ama sniffing my clothes while breathing ecstatically.
"Ahh~ young boys just smell so good~ I don’t remember when was the last time I smelled something like this~"
GET ME OUT OF THIS PLACE NOW!!
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