Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Fire and Ice. Enjoy the 2500-word chapter. I don't own FF; Atsushi and a few others do.
Seko was woken up by Maki who pressed a finger into his arm. He yawned slightly and uncurled from the ball he was curled up into.
"Hey, Ms. Oze." Seko said as he opened his blindfolded eyes. "What's the time? I hope I didn't wake you." Seko said before mentally cursing himself.
Maki was a soldier, she had to be used to waking up on some sort of schedule. He could already guess that the captain had probably sent her to get him based on her growing familiarity with him.
"I'm fine, Seko. Thank you for asking." Maki said with a smile as she pulled him to his feet. "Come with me. I wanted to do something before you join Fire Force officially." Maki stated which was greeted by Seko tilting his head to the side.
"Ok?" Seko questioned as he allowed the soldier to pull him along. "If it's something to look at? I haven't, I promised captain Obi I'd keep the blindfold on as much as possible. I don't want them thinking I'm trying to sabotage or such." Seko put in as he turned to look to the side.
He was quite curious what Maki was thinking about at the second.
Maki led him into an open room. Seko felt his feet sink and hummed as he looked to the ground.
He was looking down at the ground before he felt Maki's hands brought up to his blindfold. She slowly tore it from his face and looked around the room as did Seko who hummed.
He cracked his fingers before looking at her while rubbing at his eyes as he adjusted to his eyes. He looked around the room as he noticed that he was in a padded training room.
"Uh…" Seko said as he noticed Maki kicking off her shoes as she turned to look at him.
Maki hummed as Seko cracked his fingers and began to do the same. Maki brushed off her black tank top and orange fire pants who was preparing to duel him.
"So, do you want to train or something?" Seko pointed out which caused Maki to nod. "Uh, I don't know much about fighting… You're the soldier, not me." Seko pointed as he cracked his fingers.
"I know." Maki said as she bounced on her feet. "But you're going to be working alongside us? You're going to have to learn to fight anyway." Maki added which caused Seko to raise an eyebrow as he clenched his fists.
Maki turned to look at him. Seko hesitantly looked at his hands. This was going to be a very strange day in his book. He looked at the barefooted, training gear wearing fire force soldier who clenched her fists.
"Am I supposed to punch you or…?" Seko questioned with a raised eyebrow as he slowly walked around.
"It would help, yes." Maki said as she took a combat stance. "And don't worry about hurting me, this is training." Maki added as she cracked his fingers.
Seko was going to say something, thought better of it and sighed.
He cocked back a punch and threw it. Maki caught it easily and swept her foot around. Seko met the padded ground with a thud which caused him to rub at his eyes.
"You, ok?" Maki asked as Seko nodded. "This might take a while." Maki stated which caused Seko to hum.
"Hey, Maki?" Seko asked as he slowly climbed to his feet. "Why are you so…. No offense, nice? Your always acting so… Sweet, it's… I enjoy you being so happy. It makes me feel happy. I don't know why that sounded like stupid, I'm sorry." Seko said as Maki cocked her head to the side.
"I'm… Sorry?" Maki asked only to see Seko launching a kick at her once more. "Seko… No." Maki said before slugging him in the stomach.
Seko grunted and then collapsed to his knees. He looked at Maki a second later. He started to take slow breaths as he grunted.
"I forgot… That your… A soldier." Seko said and rubbed at his aching ribs. "And I meant why are you so nice? I mean, I know why I'm nice to you. I like talking to you. Also, my ribs are now hating me." Seko said as he slowly climbed to his feet.
"Because it's nice being like that?" Maki asked before she threw a punch which Seko barely dodged. "Are you ok?" Maki asked as Seko hummed.
"Yes, I'm just nervous like usual." Seko said as he launched a kick at Maki which she leapt back from. "I don't know how to talk to people the best, not unless I feel like I know them… Also, kinda hurts when my ribs feel like their damaged… But I'm fine…" Seko said and looked around as he sighed.
"You like talking to me a lot, you know." Maki said as she launched a kick which Seko was knocked over by. "Most people don't, besides my teammates? I don't know many people who talk with me that much." Maki added which caused Seko to blink.
"Well, your very nice to talk with." Seko said as he climbed to his feet and blocked a punch. "I guess maybe it's just because you act so nice and such…. Also, am I becoming any better at fighting?" Seko questioned which he hummed at.
"It will take a while." Maki said before she flipped Seko over her shoulder. "But somewhat. Your overextending yourself too much when it comes down to it. You need to stop being so aggressive, you're going to get yourself killed." Maki said which was greeted by Seko humming and sighing.
'Yet she's batting me into the ground over and over? Man, it's funny when I think about when it happens.' Seko mentally thought to himself as he sighed and then turned.
Seko and Maki continued to circle each other as he started to wait for an opening. He knew for a fact that Maki was just helping him when it comes down to it. He rubbed at his rubs as he could only question what to do next.
"Should we continue or are you done kicking my ribs in?" Seko questioned with a raised eyebrow.
Seko smiled before he kicked at Maki who caught it. She pushed him backwards as he stopped himself from falling to the ground. He chuckled with amusement as he punched at her and was knocked to the ground once more.
"This isn't as fun as I thought it might be." Seko stated to himself as he shook his own head. "You know, I'm going to like being in Fire Force… Unless it's going to be with you throwing me to the ground." Seko said while circling Maki.
The woman said nothing as Seko looked for when a good time to swing a punch was. She swung a kick at him which he caught only for Maki to pull her weight back, swinging Seko around. He rolled along the ground while humming at her with interest.
Maki hummed as she noticed more water was floating around… Before flicking at it, realizing it had to be sweat.
She took a punch to the chest for that, causing her to stagger back slightly. Seko kicked at one of her legs, knocking her over.
"Distractions are bad, I believe." Seko said as Maki slowly climbed to her feet. "You know, not to sound creepy, but I like training with you… Your teammates look ready to cut me in half or something." Seko put in while shrugging and brushing off his arms.
"Their… Not all going to warm up to you right away." Maki said while throwing a punch which Seko dodged and elbowed her back. "It's like training, they only open up to you the more your willing to open up to them… Even if it means they might not like you for a while." Maki added which was greeted by a hum and a raised eyebrow.
"You and I became friends pretty easy, why not them?" Seko asked as he leapt back from a kick to his head. "I'm not trying to be better then anyway. I barely know what this power is. I haven't tapped into it before now." Seko said before Maki grabbed his arm.
She started to wrench it behind him only for Seko to attempt the same trick she had. It caused her to shift as she swung free of Seko who brushed off his arms while looking to himself.
"They don't know if you can be trusted, or how well your work with us." Maki added while Seko dodged one of her lunges. "Your good at this… There's always room for improvement, though." Maki added which Seko nodded at.
There was always room for improvement, Seko knew even professionals like Maki had to train. If she didn't? She'd fall behind in skill and someone could get the better of her.
"The fighting classes I took only covered the basics, I'm afraid." Seko said while hopping from one foot to another. "Do you want me to keep training? You and I haven't done a lot of training." Seko said and noticed the water droplets once more.
He frowned before they suddenly dropped to the ground. Seko looked at Maki who was busy looking at him with interest. She noticed how the frowning boy had dropped the rain which made her ponder something.
"Hey, Seko?" Maki questioned which made him blink and relax from his awkward fighting stance. "What were you thinking about when you made the water start floating around?" Maki asked which caused Seko to hum as he tapped at his chin with interest.
He tapped at his lips with interesting, guessing what she was getting at.
"I was eager to prove myself and thinking about what the future would hold." Seko said while humming and shaking the sweat off him. "And just now? I was curious over how many training sessions we'd have before I get better at training…. Why? Do you think it has something to do with my powers currently?" Seko questioned while humming to himself with interest.
"Maybe…. It's a hunch we're have to test soon." Maki said while thinking to herself what would happen next at the moment. "Anyway, I think that's almost enough training for today, just need to finish up." Maki said which got a hum from Seko.
He knew for a fact that he'd have to bond slowly with the rest of the Fire Force… He also wasn't stupid enough to think that it would be easy. Maki seemed welcoming and eager to make new friends… The others? They'd probably be curious about why Seko had chosen to bond with her over his training.
He was caught off guard by Maki knocking his feet out from under him, smashing him face first into the mat. He rubbed at his chin and turned to look at Maki.
"No distractions." Maki said which made Seko sigh and shake his head before climbing to his feet. "Ready?" Maki asked, a smirk pulling at her lips.
'Oh, this is going to be a very long day, isn't it?' Seko mentally asked himself and cracked his neck.
"Yeah, let's get to work, Ms. Oze." Seko said which got a kick to his leg.
"Maki, call me Maki." Maki said as she balled up her fists to ready herself. "Now, let's do this, you need to improve if your going to be part of fire force." Maki added while Seto could only blink to himself.
He knew very well this was going to be a much longer day then he had envisioned… But he didn't let that scare him. There were worse things to be terrified of.
(2 hours later)
Seko rubbed at bruises forming on his arms. He knew very well they were going to be a part of him becoming a soldier.
"Damn it, this hurts a lot more then I thought it would…" Seko stated to himself while cracking his knuckles and shaking his head at the moment. This would be something else.
He sighed and laid down in bed, retying the blindfold over his face. He was quite interested in if he had to fight Maki again, she was strong, but she was no brute. She was cunning, but she was no genius.
"Maki is a soldier, but she's clearly not someone swamped in duty." Seko said as he shut his eyes to try and think. "She gets that I don't know everything. I don't know much about these powers that I have… How could I? I don't know the depths of what to do next." Seko said and tossed himself to one side.
Seko would try and think about what would happen next. He knew well enough that another fight down the road. Maki said there would be more training. She did however, say that she would talk to the others.
She wanted to train Seko, he told her that it would make sense for him to spar with someone who was familiar with him.
Seko sighed and started to close his eyes. Those monsters from before? He had a feeling that he hadn't seen the last of them… Their ilk would continue to crowd the cities around the region.
Maybe they might even team up with the infernal… Monsters of fire and ice together in one group? That terrified him more then possible at the moment. There would be things that he'd have to stack up to…
He didn't get much interested at the moment. Seko wanted to think about the challenges he'd have to face next. There would be far more work to be done before he was ready for the frontlines.
Yes, he knew for a fact that things would be winding up sooner or later. This battle was far from over, and that meant his training was just beginning to advance.
Seko sighed and cracked his neck before slowly starting to drift to sleep. There would be time for thoughts like that tomorrow… When he was awake, by the time his dreams faded and things calmed down sooner or later.
However? Seko knew things would be interesting soon…. More interesting than they already were.
Seko allowed his sight which was already blinded by the bandana which covered his eyes. It helped his keep off things on the task of passing out.
"The time for thinking will come tomorrow… When I don't have things on my mind." Seko muttered to himself and then sighed to himself once more.
He fell asleep seconds later.
Author Notes
Phew. Another chapter done! I want to point out that next chapter will be 1500 words at the moment. I don't want Seko to come off as overpowered or such or his bond with Maki to be stupid. Next chapter will be in 2-10 months and will show more training and bonding. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!
P.S: Next chapter is 1500 words at the moment.