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"Get up, now! You'll never be ready for battle, that way!" Jijiue yelled.
I groaned, and stood up.
"That's it, Mori! You're not going to lose to him!" Jijiue said. "Round 99! Hajime!"
Koga and I ran at each other, as Jijiue said, for the 99th time.
Our claws collided several times, as we each tried to hit the target tied to the other's chest.
Neither of us had managed to score in all the rounds.
This time, however, I was going to score. This time, I was going to split that target in two.
I knocked one of his hands away, and saw a clear shot at the target.
"Sukiyari!" I said.
I went for it.
All of a sudden, I felt something hit my chest, and heard wood splitting.
"Keh. Who's open now?" Koga asked.
Koga had splintered my target.
"Point!" Jijiue said. "Koga wins this round!"
I pulled away, pushing Koga off of me in frustration.
We both sat down, panting in exhaustion.
"Not bad." Koga said.
I smirked.
"Thanks!" I said. "You're not so bad yourself!"
"Come, now." Jijiue said. "We'll go get something to eat before we start training again."
We both groaned, getting to our feet, and heading into the forest to find food.
"That old man is pushy as hell." Koga said, not really looking around.
"I know. But, he means well, so, we just have to bear with it." I said.
Koga sighed.
I crouched down, taking in the scents on the forest floor.
"Hey, how 'bout we ditch him, for the day?" Koga asked.
"No way! We can't go a single day without training! Ryuumaru's coming in two weeks!" I said.
"I didn't say we were going to ditch training. Just the guy pushing us around." Koga said.
The idea was interesting. I looked up at him.
"You know you never had to put up with him in the first place." I said. "You don't have to hang around if you don't want to."
Koga scoffed.
"Whatever! Like you're not tired of this guy, too!" He laughed.
That was true, Jijiue's yelling was getting rather old.
"Okay." I said, standing up. "What did you have in mind?"
"Well first, we'll eat, then go find somewhere else to train." Koga said.
"Keep your voice down." I whispered. "Jijiue may be blind, but, his hearing is particularly sharp. We'll both be punished if you're caught."
We looked around, just in case.
"Okay, let's go!" Koga whispered.
We took off in some random direction as fast as we could go.
Koga began to pull ahead of me. Try as I might, I could not catch up with him.
"H-hey!" I said.
Koga looked back at me.
"That's you're limit, huh?" Koga asked.
I nodded.
He looked ahead, and reached his hand back toward me.
"We'll never escape if we go at your pace!" Koga said. "Let's go!"
I nodded slowly, and reached forward, taking his hand.
It was kind of rough from the battles he had seen. But, it was warm, and strong.
I could get used to his hand in mine.
All of a sudden, I was jerked forward, as Koga took off running.
He dragged me around until we reached a cliff.
There, he stopped on a dime, and kept me from running clear over the edge of the cliff.
Once stopped, I fell to a sit, and began panting in exhaustion.
"Geez, you're fast." I said.
Koga sat beside me.
Right about then, I realized that I was still holding his hand.
I quickly let go, and looked out at the horizon.
This cliff over-looked the ocean. It was beautiful.
"Wow." I said.
"Yeah. I know." Koga said. "I used to come out here a lot, usually after I fought with you. The view's real calmin'."
I smiled.
"'Course, it's a pretty good place to train, too." Koga said. "Lotsa space, and big piles of drift wood make good targets. Running through the shallow water strengthens my legs, and makes me faster."
I turned to him. "Do you swim?" I asked.
He hesitated. "Not much... why?" Koga asked.
"I haven't been swimming in ten years... would you go with me?" I asked.
Koga hesitated.
I jumped to my feet, ran off the edge of the cliff, and fell a hundred feet, right into the water.
I swam to the surface, and looked around for Koga.
He was still at the edge of the cliff.
"Come on! Let's go fishing!" I said.
He walked away, where I couldn't see him.
Something inside me wanted to pout.
But, my pride over-threw that pouty feeling, and I turned away in irritation, beginning to dive down.
Just as I reached about ten feet down, I heard something hit the water, and turned.
Koga had jumped in.
I smiled, and swam over to him.
He quickly went for the surface, and I followed him.
"Sorry I took so long." Koga said. "I was setting up some wood for a cooking fire."
I nodded. "Let's go!" I said. "The fish will be closer to the bottom now that we've jumped in."
I dove down before I got an answer.
I heard Koga follow me.
Koga moved a lot while swimming, and seemed to be going up for breath every five minutes.
He kept scaring fish away, and abandoning a catch when he had one.
I ended up catching the fish myself, and letting Koga carry them back up the cliff.
I followed him back up, reluctantly leaving the water.
He was already starting a fire when I reached the top.
The fire started the first time he struck the flint.
"Wow." I said.
Koga looked at me. "You started the fire so easily." I said.
He shrugged. "Anybody can do it." Koga said.
"Not me. I'd freak out the second I got a spark." I said. "Fire... the very thought of it scares me."
Koga gave me a funny look.
"Fire scares you?" Koga said. "Why do you tell me this now? All those bugs, frogs, and snakes I tried..."
I rolled my eyes. "Those creatures won't hurt me if I don't threaten them." I said. "I couldn't be less afraid of them. And... I trust you, now. I think I can trust you with such a secret as that."
Koga's expression was... rather strange. I couldn't quite read it.
He shook his head, and began skewering fish, and propping them up beside the fire.
"I don't care for water much, either." Koga said. "A shark youkai nearly drowned me, and one of my friends when I was a pup. I haven't gone swimming very much since."
I nodded. "Seems we're each strong where the other probably wouldn't make it." I said.
Koga nodded as well.
"You swim like a fish." Koga said.
"You handle fire like it's a friend of yours." I said.
We smiled at each other.
A little while after lunch, we started training. Koga knew how to run through water and sand effortlessly, and taught me his tricks.
Eventually, we started sparring on into the night.
Jijiue found us around night fall, right after Koga had playfully pinned me to the ground, and accused us of taking the day off to fraternize with one another.
We were both punished, thoroughly embarrassed, and unwilling to look at one another.
However... I'm not sure about Koga, but... I kind of wished Jijiue had accused us correctly...
Sukiyari - You're open!(I think).
Hajime - Start.
Jijiue - Grandfather.
Almost done. Give me two or three more chapters. Please, review!