Chapter 3
"Curiosity is one of the forms of feminine bravery." -Victor Hugo
The next day, on the way to school, Jirou thought of all the things she would ask Heisuke. She wondered what her mother was like, why she came to him to study ayakashi, and why she was so afraid of her own protection. She also wanted to ask why all of a sudden she is being targeted by an ayakashi.
She hugged close to the edge of the buildings as she walked down the sidewalk, steering clear of people's way. Today, she had her regular school uniform on that actually fits. It was a size bigger than her actual measurements, but only because it barely hid her breast size. She adjusted her blue sailor collar when she stopped at a street corner. She realized it was the same corner from last night, but she was on the opposite side.
It would be a couple days before she had a chance to pay a visit to Heisuke. She had to go to practice everyday after school and then for half a day on Saturday. Her only day off was Sunday, so she hoped he would be in then. She just hoped between now and then she wouldn't see Kaguro again.
Just as she thought about him, she peered into the crowd on the opposite side of the street. She scanned the faces and the tops of people's heads. No sign of him. She let out a sigh of relief. The sign signaled to walk and she followed the rest of the pedestrians across.
As the crowd got less dense on the way to school, and all the other businessmen took a different route to the bus station, Jirou noticed one businessman behind her. She figured maybe he worked somewhere near her school. She shrugged it off and didn't think about it. When she left the business sector and was nearing the outskirts of town, he was still following her. She didn't want to look back, it would seem like she was suspicious.
The railroad crossing bars came down as Jirou and the man came up to them. She took this opportunity to check her makeup and try to get a glimpse of the man behind her. As the train sped by in front of them, she brushed her hair from her eyes and tried to angle her small mirror to see the man. He had dark tousled hair and sunglasses. She saw he was wearing a suit but he didn't carry himself like a business man. He was rather goofy than formal, his hands shoved in his pants pockets and he leaned over like the delinquents that smoked outside the school all of the time.
The train sped away and the bars were raised up. Jirou crossed the tracks as she put her mirror away. Down the block, she turned the corner and headed to the school gate. She didn't hear footsteps behind her so she took the chance and looked back as soon as she was within school grounds. He wasn't there anymore. She relaxed and hurried to class, glad that the weird guy was gone.
When she settled down into her seat in her first period, all the girls began rushing into the hallway. Was it her? She knew they didn't like her, but they had never done that before. She decided to follow and see what was going on. Surely it couldn't have been her. A couple guys followed as well.
"See, there he is! Who do you think he is?" a girl asked out loud.
"Maybe he's a new teacher. You know Masashita-san had to go on maternity leave," another girl suggested.
"He's coming this way!" a girl pointed excitedly then hid her hand. Jirou pushed through and followed their gaze to the same man that was following her earlier, but his shades were in his suit pocket. He spotted her and grinned stupidly, making her feel uneasy. He barely had eyebrows, but they suited him. He had red eyes that studied everything he gazed upon. Who was he?
"He's really cute," another girl whispered.
"He's pretty cool too," a boy said.
When he passed by, Jirou got a whiff of his cologne. She felt dumbstruck for a moment as she watched him walk away down the hall. He must be a new teacher; he looked barely out of his twenties. He peered back over his shoulder and gave her a wicked grin. She froze.
"Wow," some of the girls gazed on in a stupor.
Jirou knew that grin. It all made sense now. But why did he look human?
"Jirou, where are you going!" one of the girls shouted when they noticed Jirou sprinting after the man.
As soon as she caught up to him, he turned around with his hands still in his pockets and that cocky grin on his face. He looked her over and the grin molded into a thin smile.
"You're wearing an outfit that fits this time," he commented, sending her into an internal fluster. She knew it was him, and he wanted her to know that right off the bat.
"Shut up, Kaguro," she growled, more angry that he could actually tell her clothes apart from the previous night.
"You must be mistaken. My name is Kuroda Genichiro," he told her with a malicious smile. "You better get back to class. I'll be seeing you around though, Jirou." He turned back and continued down the hall, waving back at her.
"Jerk," she huffed.
Thankfully, she didn't see him for the rest of the day but she heard about it from the other girls in school. Rumor spread about a cute guy that came that morning. There was a wide range of stories from a new teacher to a man in black alien agent. She had no idea what he thought he was doing stalking her at school and just wandering around wearing a disguise of some sort. Maybe he had some kind of curse that made him handsome during the day and ugly at night? Jirou laughed at the thought. But what good would that do? She still had a lot to learn about ayakashi, and time was running out if Kaguro was already following her around, waiting for that one moment when he could kill her. She was thankful for the protection charm.
After school, Jirou picked up her gear at home and headed for the dojo on the outside of town. She didn't run into Kaguro on the way, which lifted her hopes. Maybe she lost him? She knew it was only temporary. If he could find her so easily, he would soon find out where she lives. And with that look, he could get away with following her anywhere. She just hoped he didn't come to her home and hurt her father, who didn't believe in the spells that mother cast all the time. She needed to learn more spells from her mother's book in order to protect herself and her father.
The dojo was nestled two miles away from the city in a wide expanse of fields. It sat on the bank of a river, the only standing building in a small area of fallen, decaying structures. No one was quite sure why the dojo stood, or why the other buildings nearby were lying around, not even the dojo sensei. It seemed that they were ancient structures that have never been touched for some reason. The dojo had been rebuilt when the last sensei was in command, and it was rumored it had been destroyed three times before by severe storms and flooding.
Some of the boys were already gathered on the front porch, taking off their shoes and entering the dojo. Jirou took a deep breath and joined the group. As she waited in line, she could already feel the resentment radiating off of the other boys when they realized she was there. She was the only girl at the dojo, which naturally would cause the boys to go gaga. However, after she showed her true potential, they became jealous of her skill and technique and began to resent her. She hadn't grown used to that yet, even though it happens wherever she goes. Despite her skill, the sensei still hadn't promoted her to any position, she was still rated a newbie.
"Jirou!" a familiar voice called as she waited in line. She spun around and saw a boy running up the path to her, a huge dumb grin on his face. It was Renji Matsuda, possibly the only friend she had in this world, whom she was cautious of to consider anything more.
"Renji," she smiled as he caught up to her.
"Ready for today? I am! Maybe sensei will promote you today?"
She knew he wasn't mocking her, just encouraging her. "You ask me if I'm ready every day. And please, don't get my hopes up," she told him in a sad tone.
"Sorry, Jirou. It's just you're a really great wielder, you've beaten the seniors a couple times, and well, you've beaten me tons of times!" he grinned and scratched the back of his head. His grin was friendlier than Kaguro's, which was a breath of fresh air after last night's run in.
"Thanks Renji," Jirou smiled modestly.
When they had both took their shoes off and entered the dojo, Jirou went to the restroom to get dressed. The boys usually got dressed in the small locker room to the side, which was a new addition since the reconstruction. In the restroom, she quickly wrapped her chest in bandages, knocking herself down a bra size. She didn't like sparring in her uniform without cinching her chest, she felt they were in the way. She got dressed into her kenjutsu uniform and tucked her school clothes away into her bag. She joined Renji to sit along the line against the wall and waited for the dojo master to arrive.
A door on the other side of the room slid open and the master entered. Douji-sensei was a modern man that wanted to live in the Edo period of Japan, which is why he took it upon himself to instruct this dojo after the previous master retired. He was growing out his beard and taking rather good care of it compared to his balding head. Behind him was another man, which was a rare event to have a guest enter through the master's door.
As the man came into the light, Jirou noticed his tousled hair and pasty skin. Kaguro. He can follow her before she even arrives at her destination! He acted surprised to see her, or excited. She didn't want to think about it so she looked away from him towards the sensei.
"Students," Douji-sensei began as he sat down along the wall, opposite of all the curious faces, "we have an important guest today to observe your skills and assess your weaknesses. Please welcome Mr. Kuroda Genichiro!"
"Welcome!" all the students bowed. Jirou slowly bowed, peering up at Kaguro as she did. He gave a small bow to the students, but watched Jirou with a smile and his hands in his pockets.
"Kuroda-san, you may begin however you like," Douji-sensei told him calmly.
"Thank you sensei," Kaguro smiled kindly. He turned to face the students. "Alright, stand up!" he demanded.
They all quickly jumped to their feet by the change in his tone. Kaguro approached the beginning of the line and gazed over each student until he approached Jirou. He stopped and grinned. She wanted to kick him.
"Your name?" he asked her, towering over her. She almost wanted to tell him that he knew who she was, but he did this for fun so she had to play along.
"Jirou Takagawa," she answered, peering down. He walked down a bit further and came to another boy.
"And your name?"
"Tetsuya Ichigo, sir!" he answered. Jirou winced, feeling outdone.
Kaguro moved back towards the sensei's seat. "You two prepare to spar, I want a serious fight, but use your bokken."
She wondered what Kaguro was up to as she came back with her bokken. She waited in the center of the room as Tetsuya appeared with his bokken. She knew she would win this fight. Tetsuya was a little new, he has good precision but no skill and no technique. He has a tendency to try a series of systematic moves, and then when he sees he is losing, he lashes out to end it quick, which is his downfall.
"3…," Kaguro began to count down. Jirou steadied herself and readied her stance, her bokken raised to her eye level at one side of her head and her arm stretched out like a sight on a gun.
"2…" Tetsuya tried not to copy Jirou's stance.
"1… begin!" Kaguro shouted.
Jirou jumped forward poised to strike with her bokken. Tetsuya quickly evaded, but Jirou was swifter and swiped him at the side when she came near. He was already feeling pressured. He came forward and tried to strike, but she deflected the blow and overpowered him, pushing him back and causing him to stumble. She took this opportunity to end it quick as he almost regained his footing and struck his forearm, pushing him down on the ground.
"Stop! Good match, really quick." Kaguro came up to them. Jirou offered her hand to Tetsuya, who reluctantly took it. As a newbie, he wasn't like the others yet. He was only a sore loser.
"You did great, Tetsuya. Especially evading me at first and trying to strike me. Good work," Jirou smiled. She always tried to help the new guys.
Kaguro gazed on, contemplating with his mouth open slightly as he did before when he noticed Jirou had seen him.
"Thanks Jirou," Tetsuya forced a faint grin.
"Tetsuya, you can go and sit down now. That was good," Kaguro told him. Tetsuya bowed and joined the others. Kaguro turned to Jirou, still lost in contemplation as he gazed at her. She gave him a smug look before he turned away.
"Jirou, you're going to face me now," he told her. Her heart skipped a beat as he picked a bokken off the wall. Was he really going to fight her? He was going to try to kill her right here in the dojo. He doesn't play around after all. No, he wouldn't try to kill her in a public place. What was he planning?
Jirou steadied herself as Kaguro readied his bokken and grinned at her. He was playing around with her. She could see it in his eyes.
