Shadows of the Soul: The Light Shines Through
Authors notes:
Again not too much to keep in mind before reading this. I've finally started skipping days to get to the important stuff quicker. And the time passing is important both for Lights training seeming realistic as well as his relationship with Shizuku.
Oh and if you see dots like this ". . . . . ." in the middle of someone talking, it means a pause and if it's at the end probably a fade out of scene or long silence.
Enjoy
Chapter 4: Somber Light
Light, with his body still full of caffeine, gets out of bed around 5:30 feeling surprisingly refreshed. He does a few stretches, washes himself up and changes into casual clothes.
-So the real work starts today. . .
He makes his way to the living room where Shizuku is already waiting reading a book. Not bothering to put on a smile Light greets her first, more naturally this time.
-Good morning Shizuku, have you been up for long?
-Not really. I got here around 30 minutes ago.
-I've got a long day today so I need to eat something filling. I'll go cook some steak, you want some or should I make you something else?
-For breakfast? A sandwich would be fine, and maybe some rice.
-Sure no problem.
Around 6:15 Rinko walks into the house and makes her way to the kitchen without much noise. Seeing Light cooking breakfast she greets him somewhat surprised.
-You're up early Yuuto, and it's rare to see you preparing breakfast.
-It's fine once in a while isn't it? Anyway I'm going to need a strong diet from now on for my training, we should go over some meal ideas later.
-I'll be glad to help anyway I can, please let me take care of the meals in the future. I don't want to feel useless while you're working hard.
-Sure I'll take you up on that offer starting tomorrow. Here I made some sandwiches already, eat up.
She sits down next to Shizuku, who was already eating, and takes a sandwich from the plate. Right as Lights steak was nearly complete Himari walks in looking as rested as ever.
-Good morning young master, oh you've made steak. That smells good.
-I cooked two so you're welcome to have one. Here put this on the table while I prepare my protein shake.
He takes a shaker bottle, fills it with milk. puts a scoop of Whey protein powder in and starts shaking it with his hand.
-This is a must if I'm going to build my muscles, as well as a proper diet of course.
-I'm glad to see you're taking this seriously young master, you don't want to relly only on your powers to keep you alive against powerful ayakashi.
-Exactly, my powers aren't that useful actually if I don't know how to fight, or if my body can't keep up.
-Oh you know what your powers do already?
-My grandfather told me when I was little.
-Your memories returning seems to have made things much easier.
After a few minutes with everyone almost having finished their meals Light speaks up again.
-I'll be taking some time off school starting today to focus on my training.
-Huh? Yuuto are you sure you should do that? Does this have to interrupt your ordinary life so soon?
Shizuku watches silently.
-Don't worry about it Rinko it's probably only until the end of the week. I have perfect attendance anyway, a few days off won't cause a problem.
-I support your decision young master, school is pointless and boring anyway.
-Oh you'll still be going Himari.
-What? Why?
-It would be too suspicious if we both stopped coming at the same time. Especially with that stuff you pulled the other day.
-But that's not fair. And I'm suppose to be the one protecting you while we're at school.
-It's only a couple of days. Think of it as a mission. I promise there'll be some action soon. Just bare with it for now.
With a downed expression and a sigh Himari finally resigns.
-If that's what you command.
-Good. That's settled. You best get going soon or you'll be late.
-Fine.
Himari leaves to get ready and Rinko follows soon after.
-Bye Yuuto, see you in a few hours.
-Goodbye young master, don't do anything reckless.
-Don't worry I'll be fine. I'll just be doing some standard workouts for now.
Both girls head off, leaving Light and Shizuku alone in the house. With a slight sigh of relief Light turns to Shizuku.
-Well that's done.
-You handled that pretty well. So what will we be doing first?
-Well it's still early. I think I'll start with a morning run first, see how far body will take me. You don't really have to do anything at this point but I'll be needing your help later. For now just make sure no ayakashi attack me.
-Guess I can't really help you train if your body can barely move. Fine I understand. I'll keep a lookout somewhere nearby while you run.
-Right, I'll go put my running clothes on, go get ready or whatever and meet back here in 5 minutes.
-Ok.
Light goes to his room, puts on his shorts, running shoes and a running shirt. He grabs his mp3 and earphones as well and puts them in his pocket then goes back downstairs. Shizuku was there wearing a simple one-piece dress with a flower pattern on top and sandals.
-Ready to go Light?
-Yea, just give me a sec to set up my earphones.
-You'll be wearing those on your run?
-It's good motivation to keep me going. Plus matching the beat will help me run anyway.
-Makes sense. So what is your route?
-I'm planning on running to the park, then probably around it a bit and back here. Depends on how fast I get tired.
-Fine should be easy enough.
He puts on his earphones puts on a playlist of motivational music and rap, sets his mp3 in his pocket and gets going.
-I'm off. Make sure you keep a lookout.
And he runs off at a jogging pace.
-I should get going too. . . .
Shizuku slowly walks out onto the street, then after Light is out of sight she leaps onto a house and keeps an eye on him from above.
-I wonder how far he'll make it. . .
On Lights end he is pacing to the music, controlling his breathing the best he can. His legs don't really hurt yet but his heart is beating fast and he is getting pretty tired.
As he passes out of view again Shizuku starts leaping from building to building following him and evenually gets to a relatively tall one.
-Doesn't look like any ayakashi will show up. Since I'm up here I might as well use this opportunity to examine those air currents again.
Shizuku closes her eyes and reads the moisture in the air, while feeling the wind flow through her hair.
-I don't sense anything unordinary. Perhaps the phenomena is over. Or maybe whatever was causing it is taking a break. . . .
She looks down and sees Light resting on a park bench panting.
-Guess that's his limit. . . . I better go see how he's doing. No need to tell him about this, especially now that it seems to have passed.
Light ran about 2km total and decided to rest a bit before heading back. After catching his breath he looks up and sees Shizuku.
-Oh, hi. Not my finest moment but it's not as bad as I thought. I should be fine after a couple of weeks.
-That's good to know. Doesn't seem like there's any ayakashi in the area. . . . . . . Are you plannig to run back?
-Yea after I rest for a couple of minutes. Here sit down next to me, no point standing there like that.
-Ok.
She sits down next to Light who closes his eyes and takes a deep breath then relaxes for a few minutes looking at the scenery. Shizuku just sits there looking at the trees swaying in the wind. Noticing the lack of people in the park she speaks up.
-The park is pretty empty today. It is unpopular?
-That's kinda true, but most of the people who would visit a park should be at school or work right now. I'm the one who probably shouldn't be here (slight chuckle).
-I see.
-Well I've rested up, I'm gonna head back. Since nothings showing up you can go ahead to the house and wait for me there.
-Got it.
She dashes off ahead and Light puts his music back up and starts jogging back. He makes it back to the house at around 9:30 and rests up in the living room where Shizuku was waiting. After a few minutes he speaks up.
-That should be enough running for today.
-So what's next.
-I'll do some push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, that sort of thing. Hmm I should probably plan my routine in the future so I can do this stuff in the park. I could do some pull-ups on the bars there. . .
-Doesn't seem like there's much for me to do here either. Guess I'll just continue reading my book. Good luck with your workout.
-Thanks. And don't worry I'll be needing your help soon enough. Just stick around and protect me in case something attacks for now.
-Got it.
Shizuku takes off her sandals, lies on the sofa and reads her history book.
Meanwhile, Light drinks a Red Bull, grabs one of the sports drinks from the fridge and heads to the yard to continue his workout.
He does 5 sets of 15 push-ups, 10 sets of 15 sit-ups and 5 sets of 20 crunches while drinking his sports drink in between. After that he takes a shower, puts on some clean clothes and makes his way to the living room around 11:00.
Shizuku was now watching some random film about penguins on TV while eating a peeled apple from a plate.
-Done with your workout?
-Yea that should be good for today. My body needs to rest, there's no need to overexert myself.
-Sounds reasonable. . . . So what are your plans for the rest of the day?
Light sits down on sofa next to her.
-No idea, It's just past 11:00, still hours before Rinko and Himari come back. What are you watching? Something interesting?
-Penguins.
-Hmm.
And they watch TV for a few hours. . .
. . .
Himari and Rinko come back at around 14:40 and Rinko speaks up first.
-We're back!
To which Light responds.
-Welcome back.
-So how did your training go? I hope it was worth it missing school.
-It went well, I should be good to go in a couple of weeks at this rate.
-I bet you haven't had lunch yet. I'll go make something, what would you like?
-Oh perfect time to go over my diet now. I made a list. Give me a sec I'll go get it.
At this point Himari walks in.
-School was so boring young master, especially with you not even there.
-To be fair you're the one who decided to transfer in. . . . Don't worry it's just for a couple more days.
-Fine I guess. I'll go get changed.
Light comes back and goes over his list with Rinko which had a body building type diet with lots of meat, carbs, proten etc. Rinko made mashed potatos and some chicken for lunch and everybody proceeded to eat.
The rest of the day was spent uneventfully. Light went over some school work he missed with Rinko, Shizuku read another book while Himari lounged around and watched some TV. They had dinner, split up and Shizuku went to Lights room for their daily meeting around 22:00.
-Tomorrow will be pretty similar to today.
-So how long do you intend to do this.
-Well, a few more days and I can probably start practicing my fighting. I can also feel my powers returning, I'd say 2 days until I can do some basic things with them.
-Very well. I'll just keep protecting you like today. Anything else?
-Nope, that's it for today. Good night.
-Good night.
Shizuku goes to her room and spends the night as usual. Light still somewhat fatigued from his training falls on his bed and just lies there falling in and out of sleep without much else happening.
. . .
The next day Himari and Rinko leave as usual and Light goes jogging to the park, bringing his workout gloves and a sports drink this time, with Shizuku following like yesterday. She took the time to check the air currents again but nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Light reapeated yesterdays workout except adding pull-ups and chin-ups on the bars to his routine and then jogged home after resting.
Rinko prepared some food from Lights list and everybody ate as usual. A few hours later while Light, Shizuku and Rinko were watching TV in the living room Himari walks in and speaks up.
-Young master, this just arrived for you from the estate. It's the knife you requested.
It was an old japanese style knife with a hilt about the same size as the blade. The blade was 8 cm long covered by a sheath. She hands it to Light.
-I'll go to my room and try it out a bit. Shizuku you can come too.
-Ok
Then walk to his room and Light plays around with it for a bit, trying different holds testing it's weight, feel etc.
-Good. It's very well made and easy to use.
-You'd have to get in pretty close to cut someone with that.
-Don't worry, my powers will help out with that. I'll show you what I can do when they return.
-If you say so.
-I'll carry this around with me from now on. Lets head back.
The rest of the night passed uneventfully as well as the daily meeting and everybody went to bed as usual.
. . .
After the following days training after some rest, still before Himari and Rinko come back, Light and Shizuku are standing in the yard talking.
-I feel my powers surging through me. I can do some limited things with them now.
Still ignorant of what his powers are Shizuku thinks to herself. Will he even tell me the truth if I ask him? Whatever I'll give it a shot.
-So what do your powers do anyway?
Without hesitation Light answers honestly.
-Right, you'll need to know if we're gonna be fighting together. I can change the molecular structre of things, thereby strengthening them. Not just durability, but also stuff like making a sword or knife sharper. I can do this to anything that's in contact with my body, but it's the strongest if I use my hands. When my power completely retruns I'll be able to use it in more advanced ways but for now strengthening an item is just about my limit.
-Interesting. So If you lose contact with the item, does it revert back to normal?
-Eventually yes, but it will retain it's form for a few seconds so I can use items as projectiles too.
-Like your knife?
-Hmm I rather not toss that since I'd be disaremed, but in theory yes.
-Fine. So you'll be practicing using your powers too from now on?
-No, they won't become more powerful with use. It's that charms fault they're weak now, I just have to wait for them to return. Normally a demon slayer would get stronger by using their power since they'd grow more accustomed to it and learn how to control it better, but in my case I already know how to use my power so there's no point.
-I see.
-So with that out of the way, I can finally do this. Watch.
Light takes his hand and puts it on the back of his head. What looks like yellowish electricity starts flashing from his hand and he starts moving it through his hair towards the front. The areas he passes through become pitch black and in a few seconds his entire hair becomes like this.
-Much better.
-What did you do?
-Oh, the final form of my power makes my hair like this anyway. Since I've grown used to it I figured I might as well make it like this now. Anyway that's it for today, lets head inside.
They killed some time until Rinko and Himari came home, Light explained his power is back and made his hair like that and the rest of the day went by like normal.
. . .
The next few days passed in training, Light eventually went back to school on Monday and they went back to their old routine of Shizuku waiting at home while the others are at school. The next Saturday after school they went to a nearby gym so Light could use some of the equipment and use the punching bag. Light is using an array of punches and kicks on the punching bag with Shizuku standing a few meters away and watching him, thinking to herself.
He has good technique, but his strikes are pretty weak. This would barely be enough to neutralize a lesser ayakashi. . .
As Light keeps hitting, his speed and power start to increase with every blow as Shizuku looks on in surprise.
Huh? Why is he so much stronger now?
She notices a spark fly from Lights fist.
Hmph, so that's it. He's using his powers to strengthen his arms and fists. Probably his gloves too. I guess there's no reason why he shouldn't be able to, since he can use his powers on anything he makes contact with. So why not his body itself?
With this he could potentially fight on par with a stronger ayakashi.
After one last left hook, probably stronger than all the previous ones, Light stops and starts panting trying to catch his breath. Shizuku walks up to him and tosses him a towel.
-That was pretty good. I can understand now what you meant earlier about your powers helping you get close to the enemy. You intend to get into close combat and slice them with a powered up knife or something.
-Exactly. But my power increases my strength exponentially. In other words, the stronger I am on my own, the stronger I become when using my power. That's why I had to get into shape and train up first.
-That makes sense. To be honest I was starting to doubt that you'd be able to fight well enough in time, but with this you just might be able to.
-That's good to hear. . . . well lets head back.
The rest of the day passed by as usual and the daily meeting was taking place around 22:30. Light was looking out the windown where huge storm clouds were gathering and the occasional sound of thunder could be heard.
-Do you like rain Shizuku?
-As a Mizuchi I could hardly say I don't. I can control water and it boosts my power. I move faster in rain too. . . .Why do you ask?
-No reason. I like it because when if falls loudly it feels like it's blocking out the world. Everything else is silent and even if it's not, the rain would drown it out. It's extermely peaceful.
-It doesn't drown itself out. Wouldn't the loud rain break the peace?
-True, but for some reason it doesn't bother me. At least not as much as fake silence covered in a million different sounds. . . . .That's all for today, we'll train tomorrow as usual.
-Good night.
-Good night.
Shizuku leaves and Light is left alone in the room. He lies on his bed listening to the sounds of thunder. A heavy downpour starts falling and Light quickly fades out and falls asleep while listening to it at around 23:00
The rain didn't bother Shizuku either and she also fell into a light sleep as usual. The rain finally stops at around 3:00 and as if it stopping were an alarm clock, Light woke up immediately. He looks at his phone.
4 hours huh? not that bad. . . .
He walks over to the window and looks outside. It's a full Moon. It looked very large pale and yellowish. After a few minutes he thinks to himself.
Maybe I'll go outside for some fresh air.
Now outside, he takes a deep breath, walks around the yard for a bit and finally looks up at the Moon again. Looking up he glances at the roof. He finally notices Shizuku sitting up there in her blue dress and sandals starring intently at the Moon.
After a few seconds he walks into the house and gets on the roof through the attic window himself. He sits down next to Shizuku and starts talking.
-Sup. Couldn't sleep either?
She glances toward him for a second and keeps looking at the Moon.
-I like looking at the Moon when it's full. It feels like it's giving off some special power that calms me down.
Light looks at the Moon too then speaks up again.
-The summer Moon is extremely somber, large and yellow. I don't like it very much. But come winter it's probably one of the most beautiful sights in the world.
-I agree. But it still gives off a faint power even now.
-I guess. . . .Maybe come winter we could watch it together like this again.
-That might be nice. . . .
Light lies down and closes his eyes meaning to relax for a moment but instead falls asleep. Shizuku notices but doesn't wake him and instead keeps looking at the Moon until around 4:40 when the sun rises.
The sunrise also wakes Light up and he sees Shizuku looking down at him.
-You're awake?
-Huh, Shizuku? Oh sorry I must have dozed off.
-I don't mind. . . . .
Around a minute passes while Light wakes himself up.
-The Sun's already up we should probably get down. Good thing it's Sunday so there's no school. . . .Hey, feel like going out later? After training I mean. We could go to the beach or something.
-Sure. It's hot and I don't feel like staying indoors all day.
-It's settled then. Lets go after lunch.
. . .
They had breakfast as usual and Light did his training routine, then they rested a at home until lunch and went out around 14:30 under the pretense of reconnaissance. First they went to the beach and walked around for around an hour until finally stopping at a caffe to take a break and cool off. Light was drinking lemonade while Shizuku was eating her 3rd shaved ice since Light kept asking her if she wanted more every time she finished one. Shizuku talks while eating.
-This is not only a good way to stay hydrated but it also cools me off. I don't feel like evaporating in the Sun.
-I don't think that would happen since we're right next to the ocean. . .
She pauses for a second.
-True
And keeps eating.
Light sighs and speaks after taking a sip of lemonade.
-A change of pace is nice every once in a while. Just sitting around the house in between training can get repetitive.
-I guess, but there's plenty of books to read. And having the time to be bored is a luxury.
-You're right. Might as well enjoy it while we can. . . Lets go shopping around after this.
-That's fine by me.
They go around the shopping disctrict for a while, looking at the windows mostly just walking around and eventually end up at the park where Light joggs every day. They sit on a bench in the shade and rest for a few more minutes.
There's kids walking around, mothers pushing their baby carriages, old people sitting on benches, men walking their dogs etc.
-See, the park's a lot more lively on the weekends, good thing we found a bench.
-I guess nobody wants to be indoors in this heat. It's nice here in the shade though. There's a nice wind blowing too.
-True, it's pretty nice. . .
Light closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and relaxes for a few minutes while Shizuku looks around at the people. She eventually mumbles to herself with an emotionless expression.
-Must be nice to be so carefree.
-Huh? Did you say something.
-No, lets go back.
-Oh sure, it's getting pretty late.
They get home at around 18:30 and Rinko is waiting for them at the door.
-Yuuto you're back. A bunch on packages arrived for you while you were away.
-Ah finally I've been waiting for those. Shizuku, things are gonna get a lot less boring around here.
Shizuku tilts her head.
-Hmm?
End of chapter 4
After chapter notes:
In case anyone cares since the last chapter I took my entrance exams and got a scholarship to a traffic university accredited by the EU yay! Wasn't my first choice but good enough.
Basically I'll be writing a lot more now, the plan is a chapter every 2 days or so but I probably won't keep that up for long or at all.
As for the story itself I see no reason why Light shouldn't be able to use his powers to strengthen himself so it should be just fine. I used that VN style of writing with just showing the important stuff in a day like they did in Kanon.
There was some development between Light and Shizuku here, Rinko and Himari got shafted as excepted but they'll get their chance later don't worry. Lights connection to the Moon is somewhat important so keep that above part in mind come winter in story. The packages are the stuff he ordered last chapter, you'll see soon enough.
I promise, very soon the actual action will start. It's been about 2 weeks in story since the first chapter and in 2 more the battle vs Ageha will happen. With my time skips that'll be chapter 6 with preperations in chapter 5 probably.
Kuesu shows up right after that so yea.
Can't wait for Tama to show up (Like 10 chapters from now, maybe more (sadface))
Till next time