Training Day:
I made my way slowly over to the weight room where I knew Hotaka would be training; even from down the hall I could hear the sound of him hitting the punching bag. The door had been left ajar, letting the sound out and let me spy how Hotaka was, which wasn't good. For warm up, his stance was to close and his punching was too rapid. He would burn himself out before even getting into training, which he defiantly wasn't thinking about. I tapped the door open and Hotaka stopped long enough to glance over his shoulder to see me, and continue.
"What do you want?" He asked as I walked in.
"I wanted to see what was up with you." I heard him snort.
"I'm training." Was his only response.
Without much to go on, I looked around the empty weight room. "So… where's your dad or Fon? Shouldn't you train against someone?" Hotaka's punching only seemed to get faster.
"Dad's in a Primo meeting to deal with a fair battle ground and make sure the judges are straight, and Fon" Hotaka stopped himself and clapped the bag steady. "left a note saying he was out on a lead for your sister." Hotaka turned to face me. "So I don't have anybody to train with right now."
I was going to point out I had no control over Fon looking for Sugu, but decided taking misguided blame was better than throwing wood into the fire. I pursed my lips as I looked away, unable to look at Hotaka, probably more than anything he wanted me to leave him alone, but a nagging feeling told me not to. As I eyed the empty ring, a brilliantly stupid idea popped into my head.
"Well, now you do." I said as kicked my shoes off and swung myself into the ring.
"What do you think you're doing?" Hotaka exasperatedly asked as he leaned over the lowest rope.
"My training needs me to be tough, and you need something to effectively work off of, so it's a win-win here." I said as I began stretching out my shoulders, trying to run through this idea before its stupidity hit me full force.
"Get down from there, I don't need your help." Hotaka said as he pushed himself away and headed back to the punching bag.
"I'm not offering you help, I'm offering you a better outlet." I called out. Hotaka stopped without turning back. He sighed deeply and looked up at the ceiling before he came back and got up in the ring. He raised his guard and I mirrored his stance, and without warning his right fist bust with Sun Flames and came straight at me.
On reflex I batted the strike in with my left forearm, but he quickly stopped his strike and hooked around my guard. I couldn't react in time to stop him and simply hardened my left cheek waiting for an impact. It never came; instead his fist was an inch from my face without a flicker of Flame.
"Take this seriously Sanget." Hotaka said somberly as he reset his position. When I repositioned myself, Hotaka came at me again with a left high kick. I guarded and shoved him aside hoping to throw him off balance as I struck with my own left hook. Hotaka took the push's flow to swing his torso closer and knock my hand off course with his right hand. He then lowered himself into a sweeping kick with his still moving left leg. I was able to bend at my knees so I didn't end up with the full impact of the fall, but I was still on my back. And as I looked up, I couldn't fathom how Hotaka had sprung from his crouch to be prepared for an elbow drop, but there he was above me. Again I readied myself for the impact, and this time Hotaka couldn't stop himself, though I don't think he would have tried.
I could feel the ring buckle under me as Hotaka landed. The air left my lungs as he pressed down on me until I felt like I was ready to pass out. When he pushed himself up off me, I gratefully breathed deeply. Hotaka on the other hand stood aside and prepared his regular boxing stance. When I stood again, I did the same.
And on we went, not a word between us, just the sound of punching of flesh ringing through my ears. I would strike, he would parry, and vice versa, but I would always end up in the losing position. There was a time I was to slow to block his high kick and I was sent flying into the ropes, even passing out for a second, but when I came to, he was just there waiting for me to get in position.
It came down to a point however, when all style, even his own, was lost on Hotaka. At first it was an opening or two in his form, then entire areas were open to my counterstrikes, until it devolved into him throwing flurries of punches at me. When this backed me into one of the corners without me falling over or passing out, he began punctuating his punches.
"Why." Strike. "Does it." Gut punch. "Always." Hook. "Have to." Strike again. "Be." Hook. "You!" He grabbed me behind the head and pulled me into his knee. I blocked the knee with my right hand and grappled his leg with my left and tumbled into him. He ended on his back and I was left there sitting and staring at him. He was breathing deeply from the storm he just threw, but I knew it wasn't just that. He thumped his hand on the mat. "Why?" He asked the ceiling. "Why?" He asked me as he propped himself on his elbow. There were tears and hurt in his eyes.
"I don't-"
"Bullshit." Hotaka cut me off. "I want to know why it's always you." He pounded the mat.
"I don't try to make it about me."
"That's not what I mean!" Hotaka pounded the mat again as he sat up fully. "I don't mean the attention you draw, it happens with a new face. I'm asking why it always has to involve you, and never me!"
"What?" I was lost. There was obviously a lot going on in his head that I wasn't privy to.
"I mean, think about it, this morning. When we were talking about who might back Hideki up in the ring fights, Ryona didn't ask me who would help him, she asked you. You've known most of us for at most two weeks. I've known everyone here, especially Hideki, since forever!" Hotaka got up and leaned against the ropes to my left. "And when it came to Katsumi, she always had her eye on you, and don't you try to deny it." He glared down at me from his peripheral. "After that first day outside of school and after having your shirt stitched, she couldn't stop talking about how cool it was that you would stand up for Ryona like you did. In all honesty, I couldn't stand the sight of you for a bit after that." He looked forward and was silent as his breathing started to slow down. I didn't feel like I had a reason to break the silence myself, so I waited for him to continue.
"I'll admit one thing though, you've brought us together, for better or worse. Before you came, we… well, I, knew everyone because of our parents and having to live here. Hideki was the only one I really got to know well, Kirata kept to himself and his gardening and Ryona kept anything she did between her, Katsumi, and Tazia. I'm literally her cousin and you probably know more about Ryona than I do." Hotaka looked up at the ceiling. "When I heard she wanted the Primo kids to be her Guardians, I was kind of happy. I thought that she wanted to get to know Kirata and I better, I didn't even know about the agreement she made with Uncle Tsuna. I should have known it wasn't that way when she bluntly told me I was her Sun Guardian, but it did do one thing for me, I got to know Katsumi better."
My ears perked a bit as he said that. There was a different inflection in his voice now, he wasn't angry now, he was nostalgic.
"Even living under the same roof as her, I saw her just about as much as anyone at school would have, and that is to say she was always with Ryona. Before the Guardian agreement, I couldn't come within ten feet of those three without being glared away. Hideki always said she was a bright girl, but I don't think he knew what he was talking about when he referred to her. When Ryona dragged Kirata and I along for the first Guardian meeting, I would have to say she was the best thing about the whole event. Ryona was trying to dictate our roles for us and Kirata wouldn't have any of it, and when Tazia wasn't trying to overpower him, Katsumi was trying to compromise, though she misconstrued a few of the arguments." Hotaka chuckled at the memory. "I haven't seen Kirata that red since then." He sighed. "I think I just sat there for the whole time nodding like an idiot, but I want you to know something Sanget." Hotaka looked down at me with sincerity. "I'm not an idiot, contrary to what others might think."
I was going to agree with him, but he raised a finger at me. "Ah, don't even try. I saw how you reacted when I suggested we had a traitor in the family." My mouth snapped shut. "Uh huh. And things don't go in one ear and out the other either, when you told me Katsumi had delivered your breakfast the day after you got here, I didn't just let it go. I was excited that dad was in the weight room because it gave me a viable excuse to leave and work out my frustrations. But you know," Hotaka sighed as he turned around and leaned back against the ropes. "No matter how much I punch, kick, or flail, in the end I just can't come to hate you from the bottom of my heart. Hell, hating you if what brought Azzurra here." Hotaka chuckled. "I guess that just goes to show how much more important you are then the rest of us."
That last line made me jump up, causing Hotaka to frown as he looked me in the eye. "Now listen here Hotaka, I am not more important than you, or any of the others, if it weren't for you guys, I wouldn't be here." For better or worse I thought, but bit the comment back. "If it weren't for someone's harebrained scheme, and Sugu might be here instead of me. Azzurra might be here, she might not, but a lot of this would still have gone down because Sugu can be as stubborn as anybody in my family." I turned to lean against the ropes as well. "I even thought she could have made a friend in Katsumi. Better than I did with the rest of you guys, huh?"
Hotaka just looked up at the ceiling. "I wouldn't say you did a bad job, you sure have done a better job with Kirata than any of the rest of us have. He talk in more than arguments now." Hotaka smiled at me and we both chuckled, which slowly evolved into hearty laughter from both of us. It wasn't until my bruises started hurting that I had to stop and sit back down.
"You really think Sugu and Katsumi would get along?" Hotaka chuckled as wiped a tear away.
"As much as you and me." I said as I rubbed the left side of my abdomen. There was a lull in the conversation before I took a tangent in the conversation. "So you're crushing on Katsumi are you?"
Hotaka snorted as he shook his head. "I guess." He looked down at me. "I do know it ticks me off slightly when I see her all over you."
"Whoa, when did you ever get that impression?" I looked up at him in disbelief.
"All right, maybe not all over you, but I don't like seeing her give you special treatment."
"If you don't like it, do something about it." I shrugged. Hotaka just looked at me with a mix of worry and confusion.
"Really?"
"Do you think you have a shot?" Hotaka just looked forward and a slow smile started to creep over his face. He leaned down and swung himself out of the ring, I looked over my shoulder to see him heading to the door. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to rest, you should think of doing the same." He called. "It never helps to go into a match sore and bruised." As he said that, he closed the door behind him. I chuckled as I continued to nurse my side.
"Easy for you to say." I leaned my head against the post and closed my eyes as I tried to ignore my throbbing body.
…
"You know, you really shouldn't have been sleeping here." I heard Katsumi say suddenly. I must have nodded off for a bit because I could not feel my feet. I looked over and saw her leaning on the mat with a knowing smile.
"I guess I shouldn't, but that's my problem now isn't it?" I smiled weakly as I began to pull my legs over the side. As they were still numb, they banged against the side. "So what's up?"
"I was wondering why the lights were still on."
"Ah." I lean over the lowest rope seeing as there really wasn't anything to say, but neither of us seemed to be ready to leave.
"Have you figured something out then?" Katsumi asked after a pause.
"I dunno." There was another pause. "Did Ryona and Azzurra get their Boxes?"
"Yeah, I was just helping Azzurra with hers. She picked out a crow."
"Really? What's it do?"
"What do you think a cloud crow would do?" Katsumi smiled.
"Well, besides multiplying." I rolled my eyes.
"Dunno, Azzurra wanted to figure it out for herself, I just got her stared on controlling the thing. Seems like when she picked it out and tried it the first time in storage she got a bunch of Cloud Phantoms." When I gave her a confused look, she explained. "When a Box is misused for an animal Box, that animal will come out as an amalgamation of its Flame and just run rampant. But don't worry, everyone's fine."
"That's good to hear." There was yet another pause and Katsumi still didn't feel like leaving and my right leg was still half asleep. As I kicked my feet back and forth to get feeling into them, I thought back to Hotaka's comments on Katsumi. I considered the girl next to me, who seemed content to just be leaning bent over into the ring patting the mat. "You know, you've changed Katsumi."
"Well that's a given, we all change." Katsumi looked at me like that was the most obvious thing in the world.
"No, like, I couldn't imagine you being like this when I first got here. To be honest, you kinda felt like a ditz."
"Hmm, I guess you could say that was true." Katsumi considered as she propped herself on her elbow. "I mean, all of this hadn't happened, and you were new, and I was curious."
"But come on, you wanted me to slam a door in your face that time you brought me breakfast. What was that about?"
"It was like I said, no one had been mean to my face before. I also wanted to see if you would do it." I just sighed. "But you know how straight laced Tazia is, if I were like her, it would just stress Ryona all the way out you know? So I do what I have to." Katsumi pulled herself up. "But now isn't the time to fool around, so I won't. Just because I can be care free doesn't mean I can't be serious."
I smiled a little at the similarity between her and Hotaka. "I never said you couldn't." I said as I slipped out of the ring, my legs finally working again. "You certainly weren't acting like a ditz when you smacked me."
"You deserved it though."
"As I may well have." I nodded in agreement.
"So what are you off to?"
"I don't know, I don't really feel up to anymore physical training, but I don't feel like there's anything else I can do to prepare. I can't study any sort of opponent, there's no real intricacy to Lightning Flames, and I can already use them to a considerable degree."
"What about training with Kame?" Katsumi suggested.
"What's there to train? He comes out, I use him, he goes back."
Katsumi sighed in aggravation. "If Kame was a normal Box item, then you'd be right, but like I said before, he should probably do more than turn into a small shield. Have you even tested to see how much pressure he can take before he has to revert back, or what other forms he can take?"
"Well, no, I guess." I admitted, a bit ashamed that in the week that I'd had Kame, I hadn't really pulled him out since the assassination attempt.
"All right, come with me and let's go see if Azzurra's figured anything out with her crow." Katsumi said as she headed to the door. I slipped on my shoes and headed after her, remembering to turn the lights off before closing the door. We made our way down the hallway and turned into the mansion and actually went downstairs, which I hadn't felt like going to, aside from the fact that it was located behind a door that looked like all of the others. When we did go down however, the decor of the mansion seemed to end and it started to feel more like a stone, cold bunker, yet the doors were all still eerily the same.
I assumed we were getting close when I heard a loud rattling of chains and Azzurra's frustrated groans. "I thought you were supposed to be smart!" I heard her shout, followed by "Ow ow ow! Stop that!"
Katsumi opened the door to a large vacant room with Azzurra standing in the middle with her claws, swiping at a purple crow that was standing on her head and pecking her. It was pretty comical to see the bird hop and duck around her claws and peck at her. I began to chuckle and I could see Katsumi trying not to laugh. When Azzurra saw us, she immediately hid her claws behind her back and stand up straight.
"Katsumi, I thought I told you I wanted to figure him out for myself." Azzurra tried to manage scorn as the crow took one more peck before flying off into one of the rafter's overhead.
"I know you do, but you're not the only one who needs box training. It looks like Sanget hasn't touched Kame since the first time he came out."
"Hey, you know that's not true."
"All right fine, the second time he came out." Katsumi gave me a smart-ass grin. I only glared at her.
"Well take him to one of the other rooms, I'm using this one." Azzurra tried to say with conviction, but I saw her worriedly glance up to her bird.
"It's not like you're using the whole room." I commented as I looked around. It was just concrete all around with nicks in it from what I assume was Azzurra's work. The only thing in the room was support pillars and the rafters above.
"As a matter of fact, I was." Azzurra presented her claws. "I need a lot of space to practice with these properly. You would only get in the way here." And as if in contradiction, the crow flew down and clung to my hip, deftly opening my pocket and grabbing Kame's box. I didn't even have time to react before it flapped up to my face presenting the box. I held out my hand and the crow dropped the box and flew over to Azzurra's shoulder.
"He seems to disagree." Katsumi noted, smiling. "I'll leave you two to work." Katsumi waved as she left.
"But I said I don't- Ow!" Azzurra covered her right cheek as her crow had pecked her again.
"I think you need to make a compromise here Azzurra." I said as I unlocked Kame's box. As he came out and yawned, he looked up at me and smiled.
"What can you possibly help me with? It's not like Pecker has done anything to test." Azzurra glared at her shoulder.
"You can stop complaining then and let him show you what he can do, that's what I let Kame do."
"I tried, but he just looked around like it was my fault he couldn't do anything." With a final annoyed look at his owner, Pecker dashed off of Azzurra's shoulder straight at Kame. I curled my fingers in immediate defense, but Pecker easily pulled my fingers and picked Kame out, and with a burst of Flame, five Kame's and five Pecker's flew off in different directions.
"Well, he can apparently do that."