Two hearts, one love
Chapter 16: Blow by blow
Crystal/Akina's POV
After giving Kai a brief tour around the house and a quick glance at the gardens, we were informed by a maid that dinner was to be served in 10mins.
"I was wondering where you two had gone" dad said from the head of the table when we entered the dining room.
"I was giving Kai a tour of the house and grounds" I replied as I sat to the right of him while Kai sat next to me with his mother opposite him and his father to the left of mine.
"How are you Mrs. Hiwatari?" I asked turning to her when my dad and Kai's began talking to each other.
"Fine, but I do recall telling you to call me Katrina" she said smiling.
"Sorry" I apologized sheepishly.
"It's okay." She said assured me. "But what I want to know is whether Kai is being nice to you"
"Yes, he is being quite nice to me" I said laughing.
"That's a relief to know. In the past he's been known to be quite err, cold towards other people" she commented.
"I think he can hear us" I said, mock-whispering while glancing at Kai who glared back at me.
"Do you like crab Kai?" I asked smiling at him.
"It's okay" he replied while looking at his mum who was obviously trying not to laugh.
"All right there mum?" he asked smirking.
"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" she replied.
The entrée then arrived; it was some kind of soup. I long ago learnt that it was better not to ask what was in it. Spooning it up, I turned to Kai and smiled.
"Remind me to show you something later" I said.
"What do you want to show me?" he asked curiously after drinking a spoonful of the soup.
"If I tell you then it won't be a surprise" I replied teasingly.
"Is it another plan to get Rei and Mariah together? Because if it is I highly doubt it would work since you get most of your ideas from the t.v" he said.
"No it isn't another plan to get Rei and Mariah together." I responded. "And I do not get all my ideas from t.v. Anyway, I think that you'll like what I'm going to show you"
"We'll see about that" he said before retuning to his soup.
Kai's POV
I watched as my mum and Akina talked animatedly throughout the majority of the dinner. Of course, they regularly included me in their conversations but I gave them simple answers since I preferred to sink into my own thoughts. The song that Akina had been singing and playing before was still stuck in my head, playing and replaying in an endless loop. It was a nice song but I didn't want it stuck in my head for the remainder of the night. The thing was that I was now certain that I had heard it somewhere before. But where? I wondered.
Before I knew it, the dessert, some kind of cake with a scoop of ice-cream, had come and gone and Akina was tugging gently at my hand. I stood up, allowing her to slip her hand into mine.
"Dad, I'm going to show Kai around some more" she said before leading me out of the dinning room and up the stairs.
We went down the same corridor leading to the studio but instead, stopped at the last door on the left.
"Ready?" Akina asked me as she pushed the door open.
The door opened to reveal a room with mirrored walls, creating the illusion that it was bigger than it actually was. Smooth timber floorboards were underneath my feet but the majority of the room was empty with the exception of a kicking bag and large cabinet in a corner.
Huh? I thought. Why had she wanted me to see this so much? I scanned the room for anything of interest and my eyes caught something glinting on the opposite wall. Since the lights on that side weren't on, I had missed it at the start, but now since my eyes had adjusted to the lighting, there was no mistaking what lay on the opposite wall.
Weapons.
The opposite wall was lined with them, each once hanging off a hook or specially created stand nailed into the wall. I gazed at them in amazement. There was a large variety of weapons, ranging from long swords to short daggers, spears, axes and poles as well as a dozen different weapons which I had either seen before but did not know the names and there were many others which I had never in my life seen before.
"Pretty good huh?" Akina said lightly.
I could only dumbly nod in agreement.
"Go ahead and take a closer look if you want" she offered casually as she crossed the room.
I followed her silently, still staring in awe at the magnificent weapons before me.
"Well are you just going to stand there? Unlike you, I let people touch my stuff" she commented and gestured towards the wall.
I approached the wall and studied the swords carefully. Finally deciding upon a silver one with blue sapphires set into the handle, I cautiously lifted it up. It was surprisingly heavy.
"Heavier than you're used to?" Akina questioned lightly and I guessed that my surprise had shown on my face.
"Not really" I added and hefted it up.
"Try this one" she said and thrust a silver pink-stoned sword into my hands causing me to nearly drop my sword.
"Hey, don't just shove sharp things at me. If I had dropped my sword, it would've sliced my foot" I protested.
"Don't be ridiculous. You wouldn't have dropped it." She scoffed. "So is it heavier or what?"
"Yeah" I said weighing up the swords in my hands.
"Well then, what do you say to a little spar?" she asked with a twinkle in her eyes as she pried her sword from my hands.
"Firstly, I don't spar with girls" I responded flatly and glanced at her clothes. She was wearing tight dark blue jeans which flared to cover her feet with a baby blue singlet top while her midnight black hair spilled over her shoulders as usual. "And even if I did, do you really think you can spar with what you have on?"
"Aww, Kai-kun. I want to! Come on, it'll be fun. I'll go easy on you" she persuaded me teasingly. "Anyway, what I'm wearing is fine. It's quite comfortable actually"
"Sorry, I just can't" I said.
"Fine then" she said and turned to place to sword back but then swung around at me surprisingly fast and I had to duck her sword.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" I said as I stepped away.
"What do you think?" she said as she stepped back into fighting stance.
"That you're attacking me?" I responded slightly confused.
"Exactly. If you won't spar voluntarily with me then I'll just have to attack you and you won't have a choice but to defend yourself" she said as she stepped towards me.
"Akina! Stop it" I snapped as I blocked her sword with mine. "This is ridiculous"
"No it's not." She replied calmly as her sword clashed against mine.
"I don't want to hurt you" I stated as I ducked a glancing blow from her sword.
"You won't" she said confidently. "I'm too good. You'll never catch up with me"
The instant those words left her mouth, she turned up the intensity of her attack and I was forced to match her blows with my sword. The constant clangs of our swords clashing rang in my ears and for the first time in a while, I had to focus on my defense. She continued her assault on me and there were a few times where she nearly managed to catch me off guard.
"Come on Kai-kun" she coaxed me as she paused her attack for a moment. "I know you can do way better than that"
"How do you know what I can do and what I can't?" I snapped losing my impatience. "You don't even know me"
"Aww Kai-kun" she said pouting, "That isn't very nice"
"Well I don't care since I know that I'm not very nice" I retorted and walked back to the wall to replace my sword. "I don't want to fight you Akina"
"Well technically you're not. You're defending yourself against me" she pointed out before reluctantly replacing her sword as well.
"It' still the same thing" I replied flatly before walking out of the room.
Okay, that's it for now. Thanks to all those who review, keep reviewing please. I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can.
Chapter 16: Blow by blow
Crystal/Akina's POV
After giving Kai a brief tour around the house and a quick glance at the gardens, we were informed by a maid that dinner was to be served in 10mins.
"I was wondering where you two had gone" dad said from the head of the table when we entered the dining room.
"I was giving Kai a tour of the house and grounds" I replied as I sat to the right of him while Kai sat next to me with his mother opposite him and his father to the left of mine.
"How are you Mrs. Hiwatari?" I asked turning to her when my dad and Kai's began talking to each other.
"Fine, but I do recall telling you to call me Katrina" she said smiling.
"Sorry" I apologized sheepishly.
"It's okay." She said assured me. "But what I want to know is whether Kai is being nice to you"
"Yes, he is being quite nice to me" I said laughing.
"That's a relief to know. In the past he's been known to be quite err, cold towards other people" she commented.
"I think he can hear us" I said, mock-whispering while glancing at Kai who glared back at me.
"Do you like crab Kai?" I asked smiling at him.
"It's okay" he replied while looking at his mum who was obviously trying not to laugh.
"All right there mum?" he asked smirking.
"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" she replied.
The entrée then arrived; it was some kind of soup. I long ago learnt that it was better not to ask what was in it. Spooning it up, I turned to Kai and smiled.
"Remind me to show you something later" I said.
"What do you want to show me?" he asked curiously after drinking a spoonful of the soup.
"If I tell you then it won't be a surprise" I replied teasingly.
"Is it another plan to get Rei and Mariah together? Because if it is I highly doubt it would work since you get most of your ideas from the t.v" he said.
"No it isn't another plan to get Rei and Mariah together." I responded. "And I do not get all my ideas from t.v. Anyway, I think that you'll like what I'm going to show you"
"We'll see about that" he said before retuning to his soup.
Kai's POV
I watched as my mum and Akina talked animatedly throughout the majority of the dinner. Of course, they regularly included me in their conversations but I gave them simple answers since I preferred to sink into my own thoughts. The song that Akina had been singing and playing before was still stuck in my head, playing and replaying in an endless loop. It was a nice song but I didn't want it stuck in my head for the remainder of the night. The thing was that I was now certain that I had heard it somewhere before. But where? I wondered.
Before I knew it, the dessert, some kind of cake with a scoop of ice-cream, had come and gone and Akina was tugging gently at my hand. I stood up, allowing her to slip her hand into mine.
"Dad, I'm going to show Kai around some more" she said before leading me out of the dinning room and up the stairs.
We went down the same corridor leading to the studio but instead, stopped at the last door on the left.
"Ready?" Akina asked me as she pushed the door open.
The door opened to reveal a room with mirrored walls, creating the illusion that it was bigger than it actually was. Smooth timber floorboards were underneath my feet but the majority of the room was empty with the exception of a kicking bag and large cabinet in a corner.
Huh? I thought. Why had she wanted me to see this so much? I scanned the room for anything of interest and my eyes caught something glinting on the opposite wall. Since the lights on that side weren't on, I had missed it at the start, but now since my eyes had adjusted to the lighting, there was no mistaking what lay on the opposite wall.
Weapons.
The opposite wall was lined with them, each once hanging off a hook or specially created stand nailed into the wall. I gazed at them in amazement. There was a large variety of weapons, ranging from long swords to short daggers, spears, axes and poles as well as a dozen different weapons which I had either seen before but did not know the names and there were many others which I had never in my life seen before.
"Pretty good huh?" Akina said lightly.
I could only dumbly nod in agreement.
"Go ahead and take a closer look if you want" she offered casually as she crossed the room.
I followed her silently, still staring in awe at the magnificent weapons before me.
"Well are you just going to stand there? Unlike you, I let people touch my stuff" she commented and gestured towards the wall.
I approached the wall and studied the swords carefully. Finally deciding upon a silver one with blue sapphires set into the handle, I cautiously lifted it up. It was surprisingly heavy.
"Heavier than you're used to?" Akina questioned lightly and I guessed that my surprise had shown on my face.
"Not really" I added and hefted it up.
"Try this one" she said and thrust a silver pink-stoned sword into my hands causing me to nearly drop my sword.
"Hey, don't just shove sharp things at me. If I had dropped my sword, it would've sliced my foot" I protested.
"Don't be ridiculous. You wouldn't have dropped it." She scoffed. "So is it heavier or what?"
"Yeah" I said weighing up the swords in my hands.
"Well then, what do you say to a little spar?" she asked with a twinkle in her eyes as she pried her sword from my hands.
"Firstly, I don't spar with girls" I responded flatly and glanced at her clothes. She was wearing tight dark blue jeans which flared to cover her feet with a baby blue singlet top while her midnight black hair spilled over her shoulders as usual. "And even if I did, do you really think you can spar with what you have on?"
"Aww, Kai-kun. I want to! Come on, it'll be fun. I'll go easy on you" she persuaded me teasingly. "Anyway, what I'm wearing is fine. It's quite comfortable actually"
"Sorry, I just can't" I said.
"Fine then" she said and turned to place to sword back but then swung around at me surprisingly fast and I had to duck her sword.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" I said as I stepped away.
"What do you think?" she said as she stepped back into fighting stance.
"That you're attacking me?" I responded slightly confused.
"Exactly. If you won't spar voluntarily with me then I'll just have to attack you and you won't have a choice but to defend yourself" she said as she stepped towards me.
"Akina! Stop it" I snapped as I blocked her sword with mine. "This is ridiculous"
"No it's not." She replied calmly as her sword clashed against mine.
"I don't want to hurt you" I stated as I ducked a glancing blow from her sword.
"You won't" she said confidently. "I'm too good. You'll never catch up with me"
The instant those words left her mouth, she turned up the intensity of her attack and I was forced to match her blows with my sword. The constant clangs of our swords clashing rang in my ears and for the first time in a while, I had to focus on my defense. She continued her assault on me and there were a few times where she nearly managed to catch me off guard.
"Come on Kai-kun" she coaxed me as she paused her attack for a moment. "I know you can do way better than that"
"How do you know what I can do and what I can't?" I snapped losing my impatience. "You don't even know me"
"Aww Kai-kun" she said pouting, "That isn't very nice"
"Well I don't care since I know that I'm not very nice" I retorted and walked back to the wall to replace my sword. "I don't want to fight you Akina"
"Well technically you're not. You're defending yourself against me" she pointed out before reluctantly replacing her sword as well.
"It' still the same thing" I replied flatly before walking out of the room.
Okay, that's it for now. Thanks to all those who review, keep reviewing please. I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can.