A/N: Sorry for taking so long to upload a new chapter lol, My head has just not been in writing but now I am working on writing more and more and finally finding some consistency lol.

I am planning a few big things with this fanfic and It will keep going as I don't plan on stopping and I have no reason to so there's that. If you want to join my discord to discuss ideas for this fic and other anime fandom fics then please add me at Kano #3425

If not join my discord through the link established in my bio :)

Chapter Nine: The Morning After

"Ahhhhhhhh..."

Tiredness. Fatigue and the gloomy night.

Yamato stirred himself awake slowly but surely, the heavy feeling of weight resting on his chest had caused him to wake up. The sudden movements from earlier had forced him awake. His eyes felt heavy as he remained conscious. The room was relatively dark save for a bright light emitting toward him.

Yamato's mind remained blank. He reopened his eyes and closed them again, looking at the ceiling. Where was he? Did he wonder? What time was it? He questioned.

The young man brushed his hair back and messed with the loose strands of his hair. Yamato picked up the sound of talking coming from the opposite side of the room where he had left his television the night before. The sound of talking could be heard and the boy with soft brown hair remembered from the night before that they had left a show on the play.

'Do I have to get up...? I could just sleep in all day and relax.'

A small smile crept up on Yamato as he imagined himself ordering take-out food and spending his nights and days watching nothing but tv shows on television and the shows it has to offer.

"Mnnnnhmmm..."

A soft yet feminine moan was let out causing Yamato to quickly open his eyes.

"!"

Yamato turned to his side and noticed the dark-haired beauty sleeping on his bed alongside him. This girl turned out to be none other than his childhood friend and the girl he had liked for so long. Yamato was caught off guard by Momoyo sleeping in his bed. However, after a few short seconds followed by, Yamato remembered their night of binge-watching tv shows.

Momoyo had stayed over the night before for her own reasons, she didn't talk about it much except for the odd teasing she gave to Yamato. Luckily for Yamato, he did not mind too much. Her grandfather Tesshin had been fine with her staying, especially because she was staying with Yamato.

"Morning..." A sleepy Momoyo announced that she was now awake.

"Sleep well?"

Yamato smiled slightly and looked at the teary-eyed Momoyo. The drowsiness of sleep still remained in her eyes.

Momoyo lifted her head off of the pillow and looked around, she blatantly ignored Yamato's comment due to waking up still. Her mind and eyes were still far behind and the older girl was slack-jawed. The soft yet gentle moans she made told Yamato that she was still unaware and tired enough to not care about anything.

Especially because she was so close to him. Not that he minded.

'This feels like a blast from the past when I and nee-san would often have a few sleepovers as kids.'

It was a nice memory to recollect, he remembered the endless nights they spent gaming at the older girl's house with his video game console. He would bring it there and play it with his nee-san for nights on end. Momoyo's grandfather didn't seem to mind as long as it was strictly weekends.

"So tired..." Momoyo spoke out in a cute morning voice as she sat up.

"Probably because you are barely awake, give yourself a few minutes and you should be fine." Yamato smiled.

"Hmmmm..."

Momoyo stretched her body parts out as she yawned vigorously and endlessly. A few loose strands of tears managed to escape her eyes as she did so. The older sister knew that she was never a morning person. nor did she mind in the slightest.

Although she had gotten a full night's rest, Momoyo still found herself relatively tired. She wondered whether or not she had tired herself out over the last week or so. Considering it was almost the weekend, she was excited none of the less to sleep in tomorrow and Sunday.

"On the positive side of things, the weekend is almost here nee-san."

"Yeah..."

Momoyo spoke only a few words as Yamato picked himself up and opened up his drawers which held the clothes that he had put in there.

"Your sheets are so comfy and soft... Mind if I stay another night?" Momoyo smirked tiredly as she teased Yamato.

"For you nee-san? You are welcome to stay whenever you want as long as next time you bring snacks for us to eat." Yamato laughed.

"For us to watch movies?"

"Movies, tv shows, and games or whatever we want to do."

"Whatever we need to do?" Momoyo grinned as she spotted an opportunity.

"I'll leave the ideas to you as I have no idea what we would do if you wanted to sleep over again." Yamato folded the shirt he was going to wear and put it over his arm.

"Wouldn't I be cutting into your time of watching pornos that you have been hiding?" Momoyo stared at Yamato.

Yamato could not help but freeze as he heard his nee-san talk to him about the hidden DVD discs that he hid in his room. While he did not face her, his eyes bulged in a surprised manner as he tried to remain calm and play it off. Yamato couldn't help but wonder if Momoyo had snooped around in his room later on in the night when he had fallen asleep.

"What are you talking about nee-san?" Yamato laughed it off.

"Oh, you know what I'm talking about don't you Yamato? It's ok little brother you do not have to admit it to me but I saw those tapes and some of them were pretty explicit."

"I don't know what you think you saw nee-san but I can assure you that all is not what it is perceived to be." Yamato wondered what lie he should tell her.

'Dammit... I'll have to hide them in better places next time!'

Yamato let out a sigh and made a mental note in his mind to hide his explicit movies later on after he gets home from training and school. For now, he had school and then training that he had to attend after school with his nee-san's grandfather and the man he had known since his childhood. Up until recently, he had always rejected training from the old man but after events weeks ago...

The young man decided to give in.

Not only to better his own skills but to make sure that any scenario in the future that involved him being in a fight of some sort would lead to him being able to defend himself against his opponent.

"Hmmmm... One day I'll get the answers out of you Yamato and you will tell me but for now, I will drop it." Momoyo stretched her stiff limbs.

"Thank you nee-san."

Yamato looked over and noticed that Momoyo wore one of his shirts to bed. He couldn't help but find her rather appealing

"I'm going to use the shower." Momoyo stood up and messed with her bed hair.

"Given the time the others will be up by now and breakfast will be ready soon, do you want me to get you anything for when you finish your shower?" Yamato was thinking along the lines of a coffee for his nee-san.

"I'll be fine." Momoyo smiled.

"You sure you do not want anything? Coffee?"

"Coffee? I don't drink coffee little brother. You know that already." Momoyo snorted and leaned on the doorframe.

"Never too late to try." Yamato approached her with a smile.

"Hmmmm..."

Momoyo stared at his chest, he wasn't as big as some of the men she had fought in the past but she knew that he was going to get bigger and stronger from here on out. Her index finger dragged itself against his chest and all the way down to his abdomen slowly as she kept her eyes on him. Although the fabric of his shirt restricted her from feeling his bare chest. She could feel his abs under his shirt.

Yamato looked at her with confusion lacing his eyes. The young lad had no idea what Momoyo was thinking as she eyed him up and touched his chest.

"Nee-san?" Yamato raised his eyebrows.

"You've been working out. You have a bit of muscle definition now." Momoyo smiled like a Cheshire cat.

"..."

Momoyo looked up to Yamato who looked at her back.

"You've grown a lot since we were kids. I remember how scrawny and skinny you were a few years ago and now your..." Momoyo used her hand to feel the muscles in his arm. They were beginning to become more defined.

"We've both grown since then. In more ways than one of course." Yamato looked over her shoulder and made sure no one was watching.

The atmosphere between the two became quiet and awkward as neither knew what to say to the other. Instead, the few words they did exchange were nothing but short. Yamato did not know what to make of the situation, he was close enough to his childhood friend for something that would be considered "dangerous" in their friendship to happen.

He did love her but did she truly feel the same way back?

'Patience Yamato... If she felt the same way truly she would tell me right?'

Yamato let out a gulp.

"R-Right... Shouldn't you be going for your shower? We have school in just an hour or so and you need to eat breakfast before we leave." Yamato raised his eyebrows at her.

"Oh right." Momoyo stepped back and into the hallway.

"..."

Yamato turned around and grabbed his shirt and pants off of the drawer where he had placed them after shortly getting them out earlier and held them in his hands.

By the time he had managed to look back to see if his nee-san was still there, she had disappeared without a sound.

"Huh... I've got to get that old man to teach me how to do that."

Yamato smiled lightly.

'Well let's get ready for school already...'

(Scene Change)

Kawakami city is the city that thrives on the youth of tomorrow to live out their dreams and hopes to make the city even better than it was, what it had been and what it was going to be. As of the recent last few years. Those who were hopeful and full of dreams when arriving in the city had found themselves in deep water.

Two gentlemen walked through the dimly lit underground passageway that was once used to home the thriving trains to take the city members to the places where they needed to be. The two men were keeping a low profile and returning from a mission they were given by their leader.

These days they had been given a reason to continue with a cult living in the shadows of Kawakami city. Just like other members their leader had brought them in and taken care of them at a time when they were at their lowest.

The underground was home to them because of their increasing rise in popularity amongst the civilians living in the city, they had been forced to live in the shadows even more.

The two men only stuck around with each other out of the entire cult out of necessity and desire to have more armed protection around the others. They had seen the brutality some of the newest recruits had been forced to endure by long-standing members and they wanted no part of that.

"Do you think they will just take what we know as an answer?" The thug asked.

"We can only scout out so many people in the dead of the night. I am sure our leader will recognize our efforts." The second thug responded with a swift shrug.

The two vocal men climbed up the platform that had long since been worn out. Numerous like them had been standing around, sleeping on the floors, and standing around barrels that gave them comfort because of the fire.

To say that Kawakami city was once a thriving city felt so far-fetched to the two men now.

"Our next mission will probably have to do with getting more sacrifices and more recruits in. To make them see our ways if the boss doesn't decide to send us on a gang war again."

The second thug remembered the results of last time, they had been assigned to rustle the feathers of gangs within Kawakami City.

"No kidding, I even got a broken nose and a strained wrist because of that fight man." The first thug spoke out.

The two thugs continued their walks up a giant set of steps that led out of the bottom half of the translation and up to the top. Where they had been relocated to and where their boss was currently.

'I could do with some sleep right about now.'

"At last, you finally return! With good news, I hope! Yes?"

The first thug looked at the other briefly and then reached into his coat's pocket where he had pulled out numerous photo's that they had taken from a distance of different people.

"You found the answers we are looking for! This is how you conduct yourself and get the job done!"

Their leader had said it loud enough to get the attention of other members and made a point to them. The two thugs looked at each other again before looking around them and noticing the many stares they were being given.

"Boss, like you asked we got you a variety of different people ranging from different ages who we think could be good additions and who could make good recruits as you asked."

"Of course! Now, tell me about some of these people."

Their leader walked over to a marble table and threw the pictures on the table where he and the two thugs could see them perfectly. The two thugs followed their boss and spread the pictures out until they found the pictures they wanted to talk about.

The first thug pointed to one specific photo.

"This girl, I believe is around sixteen to nineteen years old. We spotted her fighting on the streets with some gang members who she easily beat. She appeared to be laid back and wasn't phased by the men in the slightest. We believe because of the uniform that she goes to Kawakami academy."

"A fighter? She could be someone who would well as a new recruit." Their leader pondered.

"Indeed and elaborating on what he said, she has a skill for fighting and I believe someone of her quality would be very hard to recruit but would be worth it." The second thug added.

"How does she match up against the rest?" The leader scanned the photos and analyzed the targets.

"She was one of the ones who would work well on missions but the rest would work well as sacrifices like you were mentioning earlier sir." The first thug separated the recruit from the sacrifices.

Considering last time you had brought an array of talent in I will forgive you but make sure you bring more targets that we can recruit." The leader eyed both of them and gave them a stern warning.

"Yes sir."

The two thugs were terrified of their leader and were committed to getting the job done.

Their leader swiftly walked off leaving the two around a marble table that had the photo's on. Their target. A teenage girl with frilly black hair and a huge array of fighting skills could be beneficial for their plans.

(Scene Change)

"Good. You are doing well."

The grandfather of the friend he considered dear to him had walked up and down right beside the drowning teenage boy. Tesshin Kawakami kept a keen eye on the brown-haired boy, observing everything he did from the small arm movements to the bubbles he made as he got desperate to pull out of the water.

Tesshin had put other students that had trained with him through the exact same type of training eventually. He knew how tough it was to hold your breath when you were not used to it. Tesshin was there to make sure the younger man did not overdo it and drown himself because of it. If Yamato did not succeed in his expectations, he had other means to make the boy succeed. However, so far, Yamato had been following his instructions quite literally and ignoring his natural instincts.

Tesshin shifted to the side of him and looked up at the clock.

Tapping Yamato's shoulder lightly, the boy with brown hair that had been completely submerged in the water had come up for air as soon as Tesshin signaled him. The rapid breaths Yamato took made a point in Tesshin's mind to keep around for future training.

"You...were...not kidding... about it... being hard..." Yamato's expression was a mixture of shock and surprise as he felt the dripping water drip down him.

Tesshin stepped back a little to avoid getting wet by Yamato.

"The most skilled fighters that have ever existed all shared one common training technique that is used quite frequently in today's age. If you were to ask my granddaughter, she would also tell you the same thing. I would hope the same thing could be said with those ladies you choose to room with back at your quarters."

"Oh yeah? What... was that exactly?" Yamato finally felt his breath coming back to him.

Tesshin walked over to the wooden walls that held up a wooden bat on the wall alongside numerous different weapons that were available to use in combat. His mind reminisced about when he taught Momoyo to use some of the weapons on the wall. He wondered whether or not he should do the same for Yamato. For now...

He had better things to focus on.

"You cannot be skilled at fighting if you cannot take the punishment which you wish to give." Tesshin spoke shortly as he walked over to Yamato.

Yamato let out a breath. Allowing the wise words of the old man in front of him to sink in a little bit longer before he rose to his feet and glanced over to his trainer once more. His eyes this time showed the same determination that had gotten him on this training in the first place. Yamato had an idea of what was to come next and was not backing out any time soon no matter what. His resolve stood strong as he knew the missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle was his fighting.

He had everything except the ability and knowledge of being able to be a skilled fighter. Yamato hated relying on others' strengths to cover for his own weakness. Tesshin raised his eyebrows at the young lad as the fiery eyes he had seen quite frequently from Yamato had shown themself once more.

"Is that your way of warning me?" Yamato smirked slightly.

'This boy shows the same promise he has always had... If he keeps the same fiery spirit through the training, he will make for quite the formidable opponent...'

Tesshin smiled at the process of another version of Yamato that was more well-trained going up against someone strong.

"You could say that. Being a skilled fighter requires a lot of willpower and punishment to get to a higher level that only a few can achieve. The feeling of your right abdomen hurting because you took too many hits. That feeling of your cheek being bruised because you got caught by a wayward punch which you plan to overcome by training." Tesshin reminisced.

"To learn from the mistakes, you let slip by and affect you. To get back and keep going until you reach the top."

"Exactly, follow me."

Tesshin led Yamato to a metal pull-up bar in the side of the room. Yamato couldn't help but be confused at what Tesshin wanted him to do. Yamato gave Tesshin a confused look, not understanding what the old man had planned.

"Grab onto the pull-up bar. Every time you lift yourself up you will take punishment." Tesshin rotated the wooden bat and prepared it.

"...Of course."

Yamato let out a sigh and reached up for the handlebars. Once he got a good grip on the bars, he waited for the older man's instructions for him to go.

"You may start." Tesshin responded shortly.

As Yamato did his first pull-up, he wished in his mind that Tesshin would have allowed him to have a warm-up practice to get started. His arms did not feel used to doing such heavy lifting yet and he felt odd.

He let himself down gently as he waited for whatever his trainer had in mind.

"...OW!"

It came so suddenly but the young man certainly felt the sting on his abdomen as the bat hit his stomach with full force. He began to grit his teeth and bear with the stinging sensation lingering in his abs.

"You know... for some reason this is not what I had in mind... OW!" Yamato grit his teeth once more.

He could feel his abs swelling up slightly, the stinging sensation he felt every time his trainer hit him in the stomach with the bat was becoming more and more obvious that it was going to leave a bruise in the morning. He hoped at the very least that it would not cause him too much trouble in the morning. Especially considering it was the weekend and he had a vague idea of what he wanted to do tomorrow.

Although it was the weekend and the end of a school week, Yamato did not forget for one second that his training was important to continue on. The young lad knew that he wasn't used to this feeling of pain yet. For now, Yamato tried to put those thoughts into the back of his mind and continue on.

"It will come much easier to take in time. At first, pain is your enemy until you win it over as an ally and are able to take it. My granddaughter Momoyo knows this too well."

"Oh? You've done this type of training with her...? OW!"

The third strike to his stomach with the bat and Yamato gritted his teeth and continued.

"To a lesser extent. She was much younger at the time so I went a little easier on her when I put her through this. My training methods such as this meant that my granddaughter was able to take the future punishment in her training."

"OW...! Does this mean... you are not going easy on me...?" Yamato spoke through gritted teeth.

"You are a teenager entering into his adult years in a few years' time. You are sixteen years of age which is quite the step up from when my Momoyo was undergoing her training many years ago. I am sure someone like you recognizes that I have to be extremely hard on you for you to develop and hone your skills." Tesshin spoke wisely and precisely with his words.

"I can't keep relying on others to bail me out of situations where I should fight... OWWW!" Yamato spoke with an annoyed tone lacing in his voice.

"I have seen and heard of your intellectual advantage over others, my granddaughters have told me about your efforts and knowledge." Tesshin watched Yamato very carefully.

"I'm glad you think I'm smart." Yamato laughed through the stinging pain.

"Yes, you are very intelligent and your planning has been perfect however you lack experience in everything else and if your tactical prowess is taken away from you, what are you left with?" Tesshin rhetorically asked which got the brown-haired boy thinking.

"...Nothing... OWW!"

Yamato gritted his teeth. He wondered when he would get used to such intense training that the old man was putting him through? Regardless the young lad refused to give in and give up on his training just because of how intense it was.

It was grueling and it tested his willpower but he wanted to continue regardless.

For now, Yamato had to focus on the here and now and work on making himself stronger for the future.

The fire still burned within.