Though Ryuuga never said much, he was a rough mentor.

His stares and harsh looking eye expressions always said the words for him, and Kenta had to live with this every single day. Until Nemesis fell to its defeat, that is. The boy should have been used to it; he had done this type of intense training years back with Benkei and had never given up in order to defeat Hikaru. Ever since those times, he had been pushing himself until he could not even move his own finger.

So... Why was it that he felt like he could not go through any more intensive workout? Why was it so hard now, and why did he feel the need to give up?

Oh, that was right. Because Ryuuga never said a damn thing. No praise, no congratulations for stepping up the levels, nothing positive. It was all calm orders said in an intimidating tone...and then nothing. No comment saying that he was doing good or whatever. Sometimes, though, if he was doing poorly, then the white-haired teen would shoot L-Drago at him without hesitation.

This violent person had to be the worst tutor ever. Emphasis on "worst" and "ever." Extra emphasis on "violent," instead.

Maybe I'm just not fit to be a tutee of his, the green-haired boy thought discouragingly. I'm probably just a waste of his time if he's not saying anything to me. I don't even think our relationship even grew... He most likely thinks of me as trash or something really negative...

Ryuuga is definitely not like anyone else I've been with. At least I had some friendly relationship with the others. A rivalry with my enemies, too. But with Ryuuga... I don't even know how to explain this weird...bond we share. Are we friends? Are we enemies? Are we acquaintances? Are we even...anything?

I admit. I do care about Ryuuga to some extent. Actually, I care about him, like I care about everyone else. But I doubt this concern is...mutual. He isn't really the type to be worried about anyone else. Well, actually, he did bother with Ginga and Tsubasa, so he does show some concern of some sort. He helped them out in their times of trouble.

But to me... Haha, I wish. I don't even know anymore. I'm just wasting his time and my time like this, aren't I? I'm never going to make him take me seriously... I made a promise saying that, too... What am I doing? Why did I even try to persuade him? He's not going to listen to me. Out of all people, me? That's a joke... A really stupid joke that no one will laugh at.

I'm sure he hates me.

Before he knew it, Kenta, who was not watching where he was walking, bumped into the white-haired. He shook himself after the minor collision and looked up. He blinked. When had they arrived to a city? Wait... A city? That was weird. They always camped outside for the night. Kenta had asked Ryuuga once before why they have never stopped at a city to sleep. All he received was a glare from the older male and gruff reply saying "I hate people and those annoying places are always full of blasted people." The conversation ended just like that and the subject was never brought up.

Since the beginning of their trackless journey, the duo had never stopped by anywhere comfortable for a break. It was all about constant training, wordless treks, silent meals, and rough sleeping. That had been going on for months. So why all of a sudden were they in a neon-lighted, urban area – the exact kind of place Ryuuga had despised?

I want to ask him, but he's going to be all pissed off at me like he usually is...

Without being aware, Ryuuga had already stepped in front of the automatic doors of the hotel. He turned around to the young boy, an indifferent expression plastered on his face. "Are you coming or what?"

The voice snapped Kenta out of his thoughts. He softly smiled and nodded. "Sorry, let's go."

He could have sworn he saw Ryuuga smile afterwards. But maybe it was just his imagination. As if a cold guy like Ryuuga was capable of smiling...or even know what the word meant.

"Y-You...paid...for...all...this?"

The teen eyed his tutee with a blunt look. "And?"

Kenta widened his eyes greatly, glancing back and forth to Ryuuga and the huge dinner in front of him. Not only did the teen pay for the dinner but also a grand hotel room with literally everything: two king-sized beds, a huge television with all kinds of game consoles connected to it, a mini refrigerator with so many soda cans of all the best flavors, a bowl full of fresh snacks, a clean and neat bathroom...

And the list went on and on. Basically, the L-Drago-wielder had paid for the most luxurious things.

"It... It must have been expensive! A-Are you sure?"

Ryuuga let out a sigh. "Look, it already happened. Hurry up and eat what you want. And don't get used to this. We're only staying for three days."

So it was not even a night they were staying in the city, but three days. As much as he enjoyed the indulgence, he still wanted to know what was going on the Dragon Emperor's mind.

He was hoping to get the answer out of him, but the day had gone by without the either of the two uttering a word. Only the sounds of chewing, sipping, and others around them were heard during the whole dinner. And during the silence, Kenta could not help but be confused and think about all those discouraging facts.

Ryuuga did this for his own benefit, he decided. As if this is for my sake, too...

It was now late at night and Ryuuga was still not back.

After the pair arrived back to their shared room, the teen said he was going to go off. An hour went by and yet no sign of Ryuuga. Kenta knew that the older male could take care of himself and deal with whatever came by his way, but the boy still could not help but worry for the other. The green-haired could not even concentrate on his gaming anymore, so he sat by the large window, admiring the illuminating and colorful lights.

What business does Ryuuga have in a city, anyway? I know I don't need to worry about him like this, but... If I went out this late, I'm sure even Ryuuga wouldn't be worried about me. I should do something to occupy myself, but I couldn't even focus on the game. ...Why does Ryuuga have to confuse me like this? What is he even to me? We're not close at all, yet I think as if we are. But we're not.

He let out a sigh. I'm just being silly...

Kenta felt his legs getting dumb. He had been standing by the window for a good time now. Thirty minutes had gone by, according to the clock hanging on the wall, and still no Ryuuga in the room. Stretching his arms, the boy looked around the room to find something to do to pass the time. He just could not go to sleep like this. He had to make sure the teen came back safely.

His eyes rested on a laptop placed on the desk. Oh, maybe I could video chat with Ginga, he thought, smiling a bit. He does know I'm traveling with Ryuuga, now, so there's no problem with that. The problem is if he's doing something at this time since it is pretty late here. But, then again, he could be at another part of the world and the timezones would be different. He shrugged. I should just go on and check.

The young blader lifted the top screen of the laptop and turned it on. He waited for it to load until little icons started to appear on the right. Clicking one of the little gadgets, Kenta put in his information and logged on. It took a moment for the video chatting system to show his contacts. Luckily, Ginga was online. He double-clicked on his friend's username and waited for an answer.

"B-B-B-Bull!"

"Wah!"

Not expecting the cow-like roar, Kenta fell off of his chair and onto the floor.

On the other side of the screen, Benkei peered closer to the computer to find his vanished friend. "Kenta? Hey, Kenta! Where did you go? Are you still alive?"

"I-I'm...okay..." the boy weakly said, getting up with the support of the desk. "S-Sorry, you surprised me there for a sec- Gah!" Once again, the green-haired fell back at the sight of his good friend's up-close face. "B-Benkei! Y-Your face!" He placed himself back to its original sedentary position, put a hand to his racing heart in an attempt to calm it, and let out a sigh. "Geez, d-don't scare me like that..."

"Wahaha! Sorry, buddy!" The former Face Hunter put on a grin. "What's up? It's still early in the morning, you know!"

Kenta tilted his head. "Oh, really? Then I guess you're on the other side of the world from me. It's late at night right now for me. Anyway... I guess that also explains why Ginga was not on the computer, right? He was always a pretty heavy sleeper."

"Oh, I see how it is. You want to talk to Ginga instead of your ol' buddy, huh?"

"It's not that, haha. I'm fine with talking to you, too! It's just... It's been a while. I miss you guys a lot. You're all doing good without me, right?"

The bandana-wearing male put a thumbs up. "We're awesome! Bull and I are training a lot, too! Every one of us are growing to be a whole lot tougher!" He dropped his thumb and genuinely smiled. "But, of course, we all miss you, buddy! You should hear Ginga. He's always saying how he misses his best friend not tagging along with him. He's just lonely without you, buddy!"

"Ah, really?" Kenta questioned. "I guess I have to find you guys soon so Ginga could stop complaining, hehe. I'm glad you're all fairing well."

"What do you expect? We're all experts on traveling!" Benkei's face grew grave. "You're doing well, too, right? With... You know..."

"You mean Ryuuga?" The young boy laughed. "Don't worry, he's not here with me right now. He left an hour and a half ago and has yet to come back." He put on a pout. "I do know he's strong and can handle anything, but I still hope he's okay... He hasn't come back to the hotel room..."

The purple-haired blinked. "Wait... You and that...cruel guy are at a...hotel? Seriously? I didn't expect a guy like him prancing around the city. He always seemed like a solitary dude who avoids crowded places."

"I was surprised, too. This is the first time we've been in a hotel. A luxurious one, at that! Ryuuga literally paid for everything, and we're even staying for three days! We're always doing some harsh training, so being here right now is kind of...weird."

"Tell me about it."

"Haha, I just did, silly Benkei."

The bigger of the two huffed. "You know what I mean, Kenta!" He paused for a moment. "You are handling yourself well with the guy, right? He can be...violent when he wants to. I'm just worried that he's going to eat you up, buddy!"

The green-haired had to laugh at the last sentence. "Don't be ridiculous. He's not going to eat me like this one catfish that tried to..." Shivers went up his spine. "I don't want to talk about that experience, by the way, if you're curious... Okay, we're getting off-topic! But, yeah... Ryuuga has been training me a lot, every second of every day. No, that's an exaggeration but it feels like that. I'm just shocked I'm alive. It's been tiring building up my power without proper rest except sleeping at night.

"I just..." He sighed. (God, I've been doing that a lot today.) "Sometimes, I just feel like he's pushing me too much. He doesn't praise me or anything if I do something. He doesn't say anything at all, actually! I don't think he even cares to begin with! I just feel like I'm wasting his time and I... I feel like giving up."

Benkei narrowed his eyes. "Giving up? You? That's not the Kenta I know."

"What? What do you mean by that?"

"You're always full of determination! That's the best thing about you! Why do you think I trained you myself two years ago?"

Two years ago... That was such a long time ago, but not for the boy. He had experienced so much in such a short amount of time, growing from a crybaby to someone who took almost everything pretty seriously. Even he himself was shocked by the change. However, he knew it was all thanks because of the training that he put himself into. Training from Ryuuga...and Benkei.

His mentors.

Kenta was silent. He knew it was exactly because of his unwillingness to give in to the hardships of training, but for some reason he could not say the answer out loud. His lips were glued shut.

"You want to know why you can't say the answer? Because you're not being yourself right now! Where is that fighting spirit I've been accompanied with? Where is the Kenta who would never dream of giving up to anything in this world?"

The young boy diverted his eyes away from the screen. "You were only a tutor, Benkei. Not a tutee like me. I want to hear some recognition...some acknowledgement from Ryuuga. But he's not saying anything, so what else can I think? I'm not good enough and I'm wasting his time. He doesn't care. For so long I've just been thinking all these discouraging thoughts and I know it's not like me, but I can't help it!"

The former Face Hunter let out an exasperated sigh. "Kenta, I'm telling you all this because I'm your buddy. You know, I can kind of understand Ryuuga. Why? Because he's acting similarly to how I was back then when we were enemies."

Because the younger was not saying anything, Benkei continued. "Back then, I wasn't sure how to think of you. My enemy or...friend. I did want nothing to do with you, but the way you looked at Hikaru back then...it reminded myself of me when I first faced Kyouya-san. I wanted to personally see more of that determination that you had. I'm sure it's the same for Ryuuga. He's still sticking with you because of how you chased him without stop, because of your determination, buddy.

"You probably won't see the hint, but from what you told me about staying at a hotel, don't you think it's because Ryuuga wants you to take a break? He probably knows how tired you are from your training. He even is staying at a place he doesn't want to just for your body to rest! I'd say that's caring...in his own way.

"That's not all. He's pushing you hard because he knows you can get better. You don't want to be at a place where no one is telling you that you're doing badly. It's because they're letting you know that you're doing badly that they bother to push you and that they still care about your success. Trust me, Kenta ol' buddy. That's how I was exactly with you. This is what it means to be a mentor."

He was speechless. What his friend was telling him... It all was possible and it did make sense. Was that really how the white-haired teen was? Was that why that mean guy continued to train him and bother to accompany him? Because of the determination?

There was one thing he did know...

"Hehe, Benkei. It's not like you to give speeches like that."

Benkei humphed, crossing his arms and placing them on his chest. "W-Well, you were down and you are an ol' buddy of mine so I had to cheer you up somehow from your own loss of confidence... S-So what? I can be a big softy if I want to be!"

"Haha! I don't mean it as a bad thing, Benkei." He turned back to the screen and warmly smiled. "Thanks, buddy. That did cheer me up." Suddenly, the green-haired heard a distant click. "Oh, I think Ryuuga is back, now. I'll talk to you another time, Benkei. Until then!"

"Alright, Kenta! See you!"

"Ah!" the young boy heard from Benkei's side of the screen. It was definitely Ginga. "You were just talking to Kenta, weren't you? I want to talk to him, too! No fair, Ben-"

He signed off before he got to hear the rest of the redhead's complaining. Rolling his eyes, Kenta held the power button down to shut off the laptop and closed it right before Ryuuga came in.

The teen was holding a paper bag with one hand while his other free one rested on his hip. He narrowed his eyes at the Sagittario-blader. "Who were you talking to?"

"Oh, just Benkei."

"You mean that big lump?"

"Hey, that's mean! Don't make fun of my friends like that, Ryuuga!"

The older male rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Whatever."

There was an awkward silence between the two. Kenta glanced at the other and then to the bag he was holding. Did Ryuuga go shopping? Were they short on supplies or something? But they did restock on materials not long ago in a small town. Perhaps they forgot to get something, though that was highly unlikely.

In just a few seconds following the trail of thoughts, the paper bag was right in front of it. Curiously, Kenta looked up to the Dragon Emperor with a ponderous expression.

Just as expected, Ryuuga was looking the other way with an annoyed-sort of look. "Aren't you going to take it, already?"

"This is...for me?"

"Why else do you think I'm holding it out to you? Just hurry up and take the thing already before you make me look more like a pathetic loser."

The boy giggled and nodded. He tenderly took the present and reached inside, only to find...

"A new coat?"

"...Your old one looked battered up and I noticed it hasn't been keeping you all that warm during the night, so I bought a new one for you. Don't expect anything after this. It's only to benefit your shape for extra training in the future. I'm only letting you off the hook for these three days. You better appreciate it, kid!"

So...he does care. Everything Benkei said was right... To think that Ryuuga was looking out for me like this. I would have never known...

For the first time in a while, Kenta had a bright smile on his face. It was radiating as brightly as the neon lights that colored the city and the night sky.

And it was this smile that caught Ryuuga's attention in the first place. To put on this expression even during harsh times, it was a wonder. The determination sparkling with the gentle motion was something that the Dragon Emperor admired of his student.

"Thank you, Ryuuga!"