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Raising the Sword

Chapter Three

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And thus, chapter three commences! Kind of really late though...

Jenn (aZn DrEaMeR xD): Mwee, give all credit to Isabellerrr. She's the awesomeful weirdo who wrote everything. :D

Isabel (ANGELforSHOW, formally xx Painful Bliss xx): Ah, ah, ah! I'm sooooo sorry! Gomen ne, reviewer-san! It's so, so late, but at least it's up! So, how much time has passed so far? …Since 2/13/06. Crapp. Sorry!

Anyway, after my apology letter up there, this chapter was written by me, ANGELforSHOW! Speaking of which I need to update the account information about me then…what was the password again? Ah, I'm horrible… Well, enjoy!

And don't listen to Jenn-chan. I'm not THAT weird...just weird in a GOOD way!

"Normal." – Spoken Dialogue in English/French

Normal – Narration

Italics – Thoughts

"Italics" – Japanese Dialogue

(number) – Author's note.

Author's notes at the end of the sentence will explain what the Japanese text means. Yeah, it's annoying as hll to scroll up and down, up and down, up and down…so this is a favor for you all!

Ulrich's POV

"Mother! Where is Father?" I heard her distant voice sighing. Whining was accompanied by her sleek voice. "PAPA! PAPA!" It was most definitely the voice of young Hiroki.

"He is still in the fields, Yumi-chan," Mrs. Ishiyama replied with the same calm, serene voice as her daughter's – when she wasn't fighting that is. "He should be back in a few minutes, I'm sure."

Just then, a small young Japanese boy toddled in, a small black-clothed bundle of curiosity and energy.

"YUMI–!" he began screaming when he saw me, and his eyes grew as wide as the fancy china plates back at home. I quickly clamped my hand over his mouth.

"Now, now," I hissed, panic rising from my chest up to my strangled voice, "I'm not a bad person. Please, stop screaming."

He disobeyed, and kept on yelling through my hand, although it was muffled a big deal. The two women weren't able to hear him, but he still thrashed about.

"Please!" I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath, then reopening them. "A-ha! Are you hungry?"

He stopped hollering as he looked up at me with glazed eyes. "Yes."

"Good." I dug deep down into my pocket, and retrieved an apple. I had saved it as a snack, but had forgotten about it. At least it was put to good use now.

"Mmm!" his mouth watered, as he reached for the apple. I happily gave it to him, relieved to the point where I almost collapsed on the floor.

He bit deep into the apple, and began eating big chunks. I was astonished as I watched the little guy eat his way through the apple until only the core was left.

"You… must have been… hungry?" My eyes were bugging out, I knew. "Hai," (Yes.) he replied, in a matter-of-fact voice.

He threw the apple into the trash, and ran off – probably to his female family members.

Apparently he did, because they quickly came with Hiroki dragging both by their hands. He pointed at me enthusiastically, a smile blossoming on his face.

"It's not nice to point." I mumbled under my breath so no one would hear.

"HE NICE!" Hiroki nodded his head toward me.

I looked up to meet the eyes of a young, stressed-looking woman whose hair was in a sloppy bun, falling out from working all day.

"Who are you?" she questioned me, her voice as factual as her children's. "I demand an explanation this instant!" her eyes were filled with fury, as well as curiosity. She was obviously not used to other people being invited inside her home without her consent.

"Mother!" Yumi-sensei quickly defended me, standing right in front. I stared at her, puzzled at this sudden movement. "You have the wrong idea. He is my student, the son of the ambassador."

"You are the son of the ambassador?" the woman's eyes softened a little, anger no longer present.

"Yes…?" I cowered under her.

She was speechless. She began speaking in such rapid Japanese I could not understand her. Yumi's cheeks blushed prettily, as she began speaking in fluent, quick Japanese as well. Yumi kept shaking her head at her mother, as I wondered what was going on. Hiroki just stood there, gasping in amazement, his mouth agape.

"You understand what they're saying?" I asked him. It made me feel stupid that I didn't understand the native language, but a young child did.

"Yes," he nodded cutely and gave me a pleasant smile.

"What're they saying?"

"They're talking about how Mama wants Yumi to ma–!"

"Hiroki-chan!" his mother slapped him lightly, but playfully. She turned to me and smiled sweetly. "Absolutely nothing of the sort is being said. Nothing of what we are speaking of should concern you and your pretty head."

"Wha…?" I was dazed. Huh?

"There's nothing to worry about." Yumi answered quickly, her head bowing down, as if in shame. "Absolutely nothing."

Her mother smiled at her and turned back to me. "Oh yes."

We heard the sliding door open, and instinctively we all turned our heads to look.

"Hello!" A wrinkled, but well-built man came into the small room and greeted everyone. He kissed his wife, hugged his offspring, and… stared at me.

"He is the Ambassador's son, Papa. My student," Yumi replied to his unspoken question.

"Oh! Yes!" he began shaking my hand so hard; my entire body began to vibrate.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" he began smoothing out the invisible wrinkles of my uniform. "Oh so sorry!"

"For what?" I looked at him, my eyebrows furrowing. This family was definitely none I have met before. They were up to something. But like Yumi, I had no idea what. Next time I saw Hiroki alone, I would make him spill everything with another apple. Perhaps I would throw in some more food as well?

"For wrinkling your uniform!" he exclaimed, as if it were obvious.

I glanced at Yumi, but the instance she saw me, her head was bowed down.

We went through dinner with Yumi avoiding my gaze, Hiroki chattering happily, and the parents fawning over me with adoration, in which I completely did not need.

As I left, my head was spinning with reasons why the family was acting so strangely. The REAL reason was the one I've never even thought twice about.

Normal POV

"Ahhh!" Yumi stretched in the dim sunshine as she waited for her student to arrive. It was 6 A.M. – perfect training time! Sitting back down onto a stone bench she had requested from the ambassador (he had agreed to move one there happily), Yumi patted the black bag full of supplies she had brought with her.

Today's lesson should be fun.

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6:15 A.M.

Ulrich should be there. Maybe he overslept a tad?

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6:30 A.M.

Perhaps for the guy's next birthday, she would buy him a big, loudly ticking, pocket watch. Come to think of it, an attached buzzard would do nicely too. Silver would fit him.

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6:45 A.M.

A bird flew across the sky. Nothing else.

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7:00 A.M.

Yumi rearranged her pack. Everything was in perfect order…

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7:15 A.M.

What do you think?

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Finally, at 7:30, a certain well-nourished son of an ambassador walked serenely through the tree grove, carrying as usual, his katana.

"You're late," Yumi said bluntly before getting up off the bench.

"You told me to meet you here at seven. It's only half an hour. Sorry," Ulrich said apologetically, setting down his sword on the bench.

"I said six."

"…Oh."

Yumi slapped a hand to her forehead. Why did she agree to taking Ulrich on as her student again? Oh right, she needed the money – her family needed the money. "It's…okay. Just try to remember that six is when training starts. It's the best time to get up and out of bed."

He nodded.

"Alright, let's warm up," Yumi said, starting to stretch out her legs and arms. Running a few steps, she leapt off the ground and hung onto a tree branch about ten feet up off the ground. Gripping the smooth branch tightly, she swung herself up and onto the branch. Standing up, she walked on the branch over to the tree trunk and leaned against it. "You try," she called down to Ulrich. He seemed hesitant.

Trying to imitate his sensei, he stretched and then ran up off the ground and jumped. Catching the branch, he tried to swing himself up, but failed. Letting go, he landed on the ground on his knees and shook off his hands. They were turning red from the hanging.

Yumi sighed and jumped, landing on her feet.

"This is why I went over the right uniform with you before," she said, going over to her belongings and rummaging through the bag. She pulled out some white bandaging that was rolled up into a compact ball. Unraveling a few feet, she instructed Ulrich to show her his hands before she started to wrap it around his raw hands.

"You seem like you've done this a lot," Ulrich remarked, sighing inwardly. Why did he choose to make himself seem like such a fool now?

"Mm hmm…well I wasn't always a good martial artist," Yumi answered as she continued to bandage him expertly, wrapping it tightly and securely. "Ulrich-san, I want you to wear gloves from now on," she said. "I have a spare pair for you to wear today, but I think you should have your own too."

"…I can't imagine you not being good at this…" Ulrich whispered quietly. She was amazing.

Yumi looked up. "Pardon me?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Had he, the competitive, quirky, son-of-a-rich-man just complimented her? She forced her gaze back down at the hands she was taking care of, trying to hide the blush that was spreading on her cheeks.

"Nothing," her pupil said passively. "I'll wear gloves tomorrow." He turned away as well. Another flush was growing on his face, he could tell…

But wow. She must think of him as a total idiot for saying something like that.

Yumi took another few seconds to finish her medical care and stood up, lacing her fingers together and stretching them out. After rummaging through her pack, she produced a pair of black gloves made of a stretchy material. "These should fit," she said, throwing them casually at him. "Catch."

He fumbled the gloves as he caught them, but pulled them. "Well, should we warm up properly this time Yumi-sensei?" he asked.

"Of course we should. I guess we can start with stretching out our muscles," Yumi answered, starting with her legs. Ulrich nodded, doing his stretches as well. Stretching was good.

Ulrich's POV

Before I leave the mansion every day for training, Midori-san always told me to "Remember to stretch!" I understood her – stretching was supposed to be good for you.

…However, after a quarter of an hour of warming up, it's not as good as it's supposed to be. After doing leg stretches, arm stretches, neck stretches, back stretches, finger stretches, toe stretches…everything possible to stretch, Yumi was still going full steam ahead. Before I could stop my rudeness, I sighed. It wasn't really loud, but it wasn't silent either.

Yumi-sensei, in the middle of a back-bend (1), stretching who-knows-what out, looked up at me, after pulling herself back up into a standing position. "You do know why I'm having you stretch so much, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, to warm up." It was self-explanatory, right?

"Yes, but do you know why we're warming up so much?" she asked. I could hear a faint edge of sarcasm.

I shook my head in defeat.

"Ulrich-san, how many pounds can you lift?" (2) Yumi asked me, a smirk growing on her pretty face.

"Um…I dunno, 100?" I answered, not sure at all. I couldn't look like TOO much of a wimp. The truth is, I haven't lifted anything exceeding 10 pounds. Ever. Usually, servants got to do these things.

"Mm. That's…a start?" Yumi-sensei said, smiling nervously. "Well, supposed you decided to lift 110 pounds. The strain put on your muscles would make them rip. After they rip, they heal weaved together, not just stuck back in place, so they get stronger. The healing process makes you sore, so stretching will help reduce the pain."

I think I got that…?

Eh, well yeah…actually no. Sorta…?

Who cared that she was a girl? I think I would learn a lot from Yumi-sensei after all.

Normal POV

Ulrich panted heavily, as he finished his lesson before lunch with his sensei. It was 12:30, and he was beat. Sitting on the soft grass, he let out deep breaths, trying to slow down his breathing while he continued to fidget with his katana.

"Ma taishite hiruhan!" (Time for lunch!) Yumi announced happily, while bringing two bento boxes out for them to eat. (3) She dug through her backpack to find a plastic bag filled with clean chopsticks and found two matching pairs. One for Ulrich, and one for herself. Inside was a variety of foods. Today, Yumi had packed rice in the biggest slot of the bento, with gyouza and salad with ginger dressing. The biggest part was the takoyaki she had made. (4)

"Yumi-sensei, this is really good!" Ulrich exclaimed as he ate the gyouza after dipping it in sauce. "Thank you for making this!"

Yumi smiled slightly as she chewed her takoyaki. "Arigato! I like to cook, so it was no problem at all." (Thank you!)

They both enjoyed a few moments of silence, listening to nature. The birds chirped and the wind rustled the leaves. It was beautiful.

"Ah!" Yumi smiled suddenly. "Ulrich-san, I have an idea!"

"Yeah?"

"While we're eating lunch, let's go over equipment and weaponry. That way, we can still work while we're taking a break!"

"…Ok?"

He sighed inwardly. Then this wouldn't really qualify as a break, now would it?

"Ok Ulrich. What's this?" Yumi asked, dropping a random weapon out of her bag onto the soft grass. She smirked. This foreigner boy would never know the name of…

"Shuriken."

Yumi sweat-dropped, but smiled anyway. "Yes, that's correct," she said, bending over to retrieve her weapon. She made sure not to touch any of the sharp blades on the knife. "Even though you may know them as 'ninja stars' or whatnot, the proper name is shuriken."

"How about this one?" Yumi held out another weapon for him to examine. It had one big circle at the end, big enough to use to grasp with your whole hand, and the foot long blade was flat and sharp. It was curved too, making it seem deadlier. She flicked her wrist at the side away from her and her student. Three more identical blades uncurled from underneath the first one. "You know it?"

Ulrich shook his head and reached out to grasp the quad-bladed saw thing.

Yumi saw the violent, weapon-crazy look in his eyes that she often saw in Hiroki's eyes when she practiced reflected in Ulrich's. She smacked his hand lightly away. "No touching. Not until you learn how to handle shuriken at least," she said, glancing down at the bandaged fingertips that she had waved away.

Ulrich growled under his breath and withdrew his hand. "Well, what is it?" he asked, irritated.

"Oh this? It's a fuuma shuriken. It's harder to control then it looks, so you won't be using it for a while now," Yumi answered, retracting the blades with a smart snap of her wrist. She sheathed it too. The blades were sharp enough to cut through the bag it was transported in.

"Anything else?" Ulrich asked, still a bit miffed that he hadn't been allowed to play with the dangerous looking, shiny knife.

Yumi nodded happily. "I've always loved weaponry," she said with a smile, rummaging through her bag again. "Here!"

They continued on, through a tireless game of show-and-tell. Kunai, katana (Ulrich's personal favorite), shuriken of all types, senbon, hatchets, swords, machete…it didn't matter, Ulrich knew some, Yumi knew all, and both were happy to share their knowledge.

Even as the weapons grew harder, and the day became hotter, they both didn't mind.

They felt a need for each other's company.

Authoress' Notes:

(1) – It's self-explanatory, but a back-bend is when you stand up and lean back onto your hands. Some people may call them "bridges" or whatnot?

(2) –I know that most places in the world don't use pounds (only us Americans) but since I don't know kilograms or whatever the world uses, we can stick to pounds.

(3) – Bento: A Japanese lunch box.

(4) – Gyouza: Pork dumplings

------Ginger Salad Dressing: A special salad dressing made from ginger…duh.

------Takoyaki: Octopus balls.

IsabelSPACE: So yeah…I hope you liked it and haven't lost your interest in this story! Sorry about the crappy ending too…

JennSPACE: Reviewing will make Isabel and me very. very. happy. if you don't review, we won't update, so REVIEW! Please&Thankyouu.

Remember that reviewing is nice!

--ANGELforSHOW and aZn DrEaMeR xD