I stood in the middle of an empty field in a warrior pose with my sword in my hands, adding weight in front of me. I stood like that in complete silence without any words being spoken or any sound being said. I held myself in a meditative state before I heard a distant heart beat near me and I quickly unsheath my sword and twisted myself around until I held my blade close to the person's neck.
"Oh shit." I looked up to the man's face and saw that the person's neck was Master Hanzo's.
"Looks like I wasn't quiet enough." He says with a small grin.
"Oh my God! I'm so sorry!" I quickly put my sword away and bow deeply to him as I heard him chuckle.
"It's alright Yayoi. But I'm gonna need to interrupt your moment for a while." He said to me before turning around and walking back towards the academy. I run up next to him to catch up and walked next to him.
"What's going on?"
"From a scale from 1 to 10, how good do you think your swordsmanship skills are?"
"Pfft, 11."
"More than Musashi and Munenori?" Master Hanzo looks down at me with a raised eyebrow as he waited for my answer.
I looked up at the sky, thinking of my answer. "Individually; I can beat them. But if they both went up at me together; I think there will be a slight chance of survival." Master Hanzo doesn't say anything as I slightly laugh at the fact. "Not the right answer?"
"Not really." He said bluntly, making me hang my head.
"Well, I do think I do have more skill then the two."
Master Hanzo nods his head as we made our way up the steps of the academy and towards the training room.
"Why do you ask?"
He doesn't answer me as we walk up to the double doors and walk through to see Musashi and Munenori both stripped to the waist and practicing swordsmanship with bamboo sticks. Munenori using the traditional two handed method while Musashi uses his spin with two swords. Master Hanzo and I both watched from the side as they continued until Musashi got Munenori in the gut, making him slouch down to his knees and lean over his body as Musashi's about to take a blow to the neck, but stops inches away from Munenori.
"I win again. 5 to 9." Musashi says as he gives Munenori a hand up.
"I'm still not saying 'two swords are better than one'." Munenori clicks his tongue and rubs his toned abs as he slouches forwards again.
"Thought you would have seen that coming, Munenori." Master Hanzo walks up to the two and uses hand gestures to explain. "When he got you in the gut, even if you were losing blood, you would have been able to defend yourself by rolling onto your back and using the sword to get either Musashi's arm, leg, or body."
"Hm. Alright. I will remember that for next time." Munenori says to Master Hanzo then bows to him before he and Musashi both began to leave the mat room.
"Musashi." Master Hanzo calls out his name before he got close to the door. "May you stay here for a bit?" Musashi walks up next to me and we both stood side-to-side before Master Hanzo said anything else. "How much would you scale your swordsmanship skills from 1 to 10?"
Musashi smirks before answering. "Hah. Totally a 30."
"Oh, cocky aren't you?" I tease.
"Shut up." He gives a nudge before Master Hanzo clears his throat loudly.
"I would like you two to have a dual." Musashi and I both stared at Master Hanzo in bewilderment as he turns around and throws me a bamboo sword.
"Are you sure?" I ask.
"I would like to see more of your swordsmanship skills. I didn't get to see enough the day you first came here since the lights were off." I burn in embarrassment as I scratched the back of my neck.
"Shall we begin?" Musashi and I look at each other and nod.
Going on either side of the matted floor, Musashi and I both readied our wakazi and katana and stared at each other with a determined look of victory and pride. Master Hanzo raises his hand to start the match and he steps back away from the middle.
Musashi makes the first move and runs up to me with full force and our swords clashed together causing a loud echo to bounce around the room. I quickly kick him in the gut making him tumble back and regain his balance as I jump towards him and slash first with my wakazi before my katana. He easily blocks my blows and he counters with a cross at my waist. I quickly duck down and kick at his feet, but he was too quick and jumps over my leg. Musashi brings both his swords down at me and I move back just in time that the swords landed in between my legs. I swing my wakazi at Musashi's arms but he quickly moves back giving me room to stand up again and get into a stance. Running at him, I jump and use his shoulders to do my front handspring and also push him down to the ground with the force, making me land behind him and I quickly place my sword behind his neck. Musashi stayed down at his knees as the point of my katana was at the back of his neck and time just stopped right there. Until a slow clap was heard and we both look back to see Master Hanzo with a blank expression and clapping.
"Amazing skills, Yayoi." He walks up to us and we both stood side-by-side now and bow to him.
"Thank you Master Hanzo." I said as I bowed deeply. "It is in my blood to fight like a warrior."
"Well, you two will have to be fighting warriors." He says out of the blue before turning around and walking towards the door with Musashi and I behind him.
"Wait, what do you mean?" Musashi asked.
"I'm sending you two to America."
"Kill me." I said with a frown on my face as I plop down in a seat on the private jet.
"It isn't that bad Yayoi." Musashi says to me as he sits down in front of me.
"Yeah, well the bad part is that I am going back to my home town."
"What's so bad with your home town?"
I shook my head and looked out the window. "Just shit."
"I can tell it's shit because you only cuss when you are pissed. And you are pissed." Musashi says as he points out the obvious, making me snap back at him with a glare.
"No fucking shit Sherlock." I stand up and walk to the back room of the private jet and shut the door. I breathe out a sigh as I stood in the middle of the tiny room and tap my head on the door.
I then heard a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" I ask.
"Crush Grape." Musashi's voice comes through and so does a pop of a soda can.
Opening the door slightly, I peek through and see Musashi standing in front of me with a purple soda can in his hand and a small smile of his face.
"Peace offering?"
I couldn't help but giggle. "Thank you." We both walk back to our seats and buckle up for take off.
"What's wrong with your hometown?" Musashi asks two hours after we take off and were somewhere above the Pacific Ocean.
I hesitate before opening my mouth. "I was always picked out. Kids at school called me weird because I was always outside. Even when we were in the classroom learning or taking a test. I failed every class but environmental class. We were always outside for last period but after my second year of high school, they couldn't keep the class going so they got rid of it. I never had a boyfriend because boys at the school were just plain mean. I did have one friend, but apparently she was just someone who would backstab you. You know; you tell them who you have a crush on and then the next day their dating them. I was bullied in middle school also. People kept telling me to kill myself because of how I looked unnatural." I look at Musashi and I saw him staring at me with an irritated expression.
"After my dad was killed, I just lost everything and became a bad kid. I did everything on the list of a juvenile criminal. That brought attention to my school and the picking and bullying got worse. Teachers didn't even want to help because of my criminal record. I never really had protection besides my weapons and Spirit, but I never brought them to school. Until, my mom suggested that we go to Ninja Academy. Probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I also enjoy living in Japan. I know my mom does. She was so excited to wear a kimono everyday. Haha. She even learned how to sew just because of it." I shook my head and laugh with tears coming through my eyes.
"I'm sorry Yayoi." Musashi walks up to me and gives me a warm embrace. "I didn't know it was that bad."
"It's okay. But I just don't want to come back to my hometown and see people I knew." I wipe the tears away from my eyes and sniffle as I snug up to Musashi.