Fortify
Yao brought the butt of his fan down on Kiku's shoulder. Kiku turned. He grabbed Yao's extended arm, reflexively defending himself. A sheet of paper fluttered to the floor. Kiku felt as if the world had become sluggish. He sensed Yao's every next action, dodging each blow and striking Yao's back. Yao gasped, though the blow was not painful. He managed to cuff Kiku in the ear as he opened his fan, its blades lashing out. A light cut appeared on Kiku's cheek.
Drops of red flew from the tiny wound. Kiku rubbed them away and stood some distance away from Yao, his hands up, guarding his body. Yao shut his fan and tucked it into the sash around his waist.
"Good." He said simply.
Kiku nodded, relaxing slightly. His muscles had grown, exposed even under the light grey of his robes. His hair was knotted and pulled back on itself. His face had hardened too in over a two years of training and several quiet assassinations. He walked back to his seat and picked the sheet of paper up.
"What is it?" Yao asked, eyeing it. He kept his hair down, mostly, save for a small bun on the top of the wave. He would not have left his home with his hair as such, but at home he enjoyed the freedom. He sat down next to Kiku.
Kiku placed it on the table. It was a poem in Chinese script. "I am trying to learn." Kiku said politely.
Yao looked it over. It was a poem his mother had written in secret, giving it to him. He kept a copy of it on one of the tables. The original he kept safe. He wondered if Kiku knew who the poet had been.
"Read it aloud." Yao commanded.
"The breaking of dawn; a thousand red faces." Kiku said, articulating the complex sounds accurately, but not perfectly.
Yao nodded.
"Good, you are a quick-learner, Honda. However, you must understand that languages are far more than grammar rules, vocabulary, and all the other details. Know that language is art, language is expression." With that, Yao stood. He undid the bun in his hair and loosened it completely, letting it fall evenly along his shoulders in lacquered-black.
Kiku watched him walk away, considering what he had been told.