"Nrgh! Hah... I think my heart's gonna give out." Kazuma said, his head hung with his hands on the floor on his knees, panting and gasping for breath as he struggled to complete his physical training. He had been tasked with completing 50 push ups among other workouts, and after Kakashi took the time in improving his forms, Kazuma had been at it. Thankfully, the life of an adventurer did let him grow some muscle, but not so much it was ever visible through his clothing.
Kakashi had made good on his promise, and the day after they returned he grabbed both him and Megumin and threw them into the training room. Aqua was to be included as well, but she ran off before Kakashi had woken up. It unnerved Kazuma how Kakashi just laughed it off, it did not bode well for Aqua.
"If that were the case, you wouldn't be wasting any valuable breath speaking. But I can see you're struggling, so we'll take a break for now. I'll check on Megumin in the meantime." Kakashi ceased his own workout while Kazuma dropped to the ground, and he walked over to Megumin who was covered in sweat. They had all changed into something more suitable for exercise, minus Kazuma who was simply in his tracksuit. Megumin had requested something similar, but in red, which Aqua had happily made for her. Kakashi himself was simply in the jounin blues without the jacket, and at this point he had paid Aqua to make a ton of them, to the chagrin of Darkness.
Speaking of which, she did say she would come by to join them in a bit, at which point Kakashi would allow her to take over Kazuma's training for the day as it wasn't anything complicated and Darkness already trained most days. Once Kazuma is able to perform the body weight exercises to completion, he would move him to weighted training. He would never admit it to the man, but Guy did have the greatest routine he had seen, although he obviously tuned it down so Kazuma wouldn't collapse.
"Is this what you wanted? Ha... ha... to see me like this... ha... you creep." Megumin spat at him. He knew she wasn't really angry at him, and he had heard much worse thrown at him.
"But remember why you're doing this? Need I remind you?"
Immediately, Megumin's face went redder than it already was and she shushed him.
"I get it! I get it. Don't say a word about that to anyone!"
Naturally, Kakashi had used a tried and true tactic to make sure Megumin stuck around: using her embarrassing secret against her.
"Why exactly should I even go through with this?" Megumin had asked.
Kakashi put his hand to his chin and rubbed it thoughtfully. "Well, I distinctly remember Kazuma telling me a big secret of his."
Megumin's red eyes narrowed at him. "What does Kazuma have to do with anything? But... what kind of secret?"
"Nothing special, he just told me how he really loves how toned Darkness' body is, and that he finds it super attractive because it shows her curves."
Megumin grew both a bit angry and inquisitive. "So... he likes women who work out?" She cut eye contact with him, looking around at different parts of the floor. "Did he say anything else?"
"He really likes girls with long hair."
In other news, Megumin had decided to grow her hair out. For now, it was in a ponytail for the workout. For her, he had thought about putting her on the same deal as Kazuma, but given that her stats allowed her to be stronger without the actual muscle (which took some getting used to), he decided she could start on weighted training right away. As it stood, she was tasked with carrying plates to every corner of the room while doing lunges. Previously she had to do squats and the like. However, for someone who had never worked out a day in her life, nor had the endurance to last long, she was particularly struggling.
It reminded Kakashi of Sakura as a child, where she would constantly be on diets and watching her 'figure'. While it bothered Kakashi then, he at least knew Sakura had a good home life, especially in comparison to the rest of the team, and that her own inability to gain weight was her own fault. However, from what Kazuma told him on the ride back from the capital, Megumin's family was extremely poor, to the point that they could barely scrape by at times and went hungry other times. She was underweight, and by a good margin for a girl her age. He didn't blame her for it because she doesn't know any better, but he'll make sure to make her eat more after training. That way she'll start filling out more.
After Kazuma and Megumin did what they could before collapsing in a heap on the floor, Kakashi and Darkness trained some more on her sword work while they rested. Afterwards, they would need to shower and go out to eat to commemorate their first true training session.
"So, Kakashi-sensei-"
The title almost made Kakashi flinch. She hadn't called him that since the first time, since he didn't personally oversee her training often. Of course, once she mastered the basics of wielding a sword and could do a proper swing, he would have to be more involved, given he was the only other person that was proficient at wielding one.
He lowered his own wooden training sword he used for demonstration purposes. "Yes?"
"I think I've mastered the basics by now, I'd like to start sparring with you."
Kakashi thought about it, Darkness had been looking a bit bored of doing her stances, and she had legitimately improved. So, he figured he could humor her.
"Alright, we'll do one spar and then we can go collect those two off the floor." He pointed towards the other duo spread out on the floor next to each other. Kakashi couldn't use his preferred stance as the training sword was not built like a katana, but rather a heavier sword more akin to that Darkness used, so he opted for a more general one. He moved his left foot back facing away from him, and held his training sword close to his torso with both hands. One hand was at the top of the grip while the other was at the bottom of it. "I want you to practice your offense for now, so swing at me with the intent to kill. I'll parry, but I'll give out some hits of my own. Understand?"
Darkness narrowed her eyes as she readied her mind. She hadn't forgotten Kakashi's words at the castle, and she was trying to not let her mind wander. The thought of finally getting to face Kakashi, even if it was still practice, was exciting. She almost wished he would face her with both eyes, but she knew that his lack of a second eye was not a hindrance at all. He could fight better than anyone she had ever heard of. Her stance was the opposite because she opted for a lower grip, her feet being the opposite of Kakashi, but she held her sword at her right side, next to her leg.
"I understand."
"Then... begin!"
Immediately, Darkness ran forward and performed a diagonal swing which Kakashi anticipated. It was a move she was fond of. He moved his sword to meet hers and Kakashi could feel the strength in her swing and it was honestly terrifying. He wondered why she didn't just use her fists like Sakura did. These new training swords were built to last though, so they didn't break under the pressure.
Darkness pulled her sword back and brought it over her right shoulder, she then brought it down with as hard a swing as she could, but Kakashi hit her in the wrist with his sword before hers could reach him.
"You're leading your swing with the pommel, it leaves you exposed. Swing with the sword leading, not your hands. Remember, the sword is an extension of you." Kakashi lectured, and he readied himself once more for her attack.
The crusader processed the information and committed it to memory. Steeling herself, she swung with the sword horizontally hoping to catch Kakashi on the side, but he dodged backwards. Picking up her pace, she did a flurry of swings at him that he met her for blow for blow. It frustrated her.
"When your opponent is faster than you, you need to think outside the box. Surprise them. On the battlefield, there is no honor. Use every method you can think of to your disposal."
She paused in her attacks as she formulated a plan. Kakashi was not only faster than her, but had more experience wielding a blade in real combat, so in a direct confrontation she had no chance of ever landing a hit on him. There were no crusader skills that would help her against him. Think... think!
"Are you ready?"
"Kakashi? What are you doing here?" She had been putting on the finishing touches to her outfit before one of the nightly parties at the castle. "You should knock before entering a woman's room, you know." Darkness stared at him through her mirror. "You bastard, wearing that same kind of outfit again."
Kakashi looked down at his own outfit, eyes widening as if he was surprised. "Ah, I hadn't noticed! I'm surprised you're not more angry, you're usually pretty hardheaded about these things."
She pouted and crossed her arms. "Hardheaded?! I am not! It's just that in parties with nobility, there are practices one must follow at all times. Etiquette, you know?"
"Right, right. Well, I'll see you at the party."
Darkness uncrossed her arms and sighed in resignation. "I guess I will, though I doubt we'll get to talk much with all those suitors around."
As Kakashi turned to close the door, he turned back to her slightly. "Once they see those muscular arm of yours, I'm sure they'll be quite intimidated." He chuckled, laughing even harder when she threw a bottle of lotion at him. But he closed the door before it hit, and Darkness was left fuming half-halfheartedly.
"That guy always enjoys getting me riled up." She told herself and went back to fixing her hair in the mirror with a smile. "That big idiot."
Darkness smiled at the memory. Ever since Kakashi had come into their lives, she'd improved herself under him in such a short amount of time. But right now, he was the enemy.
'Hardheaded, huh? I'll show you hardheaded.' She thought to herself. Preparing for a move that may or may not backfire immensely, she opted to attempt a diagonal swing so that he too would do the same, leaving a small space in between both swords. With both of their heads leaned forward, she faked at seeing something above them, which Kakashi predictably did not fall for.
"I'm almost offended you thought that would work." Kakashi said. What she did next surprised him, as he could clearly see her bring her own head down to hit him with. He could dodge it by jumping back, but he decided to let her have this. It was clever.
Darkness brought her head down, hitting his skull against hers. The man's soul almost left his body due to Darkness' superior defenses and crazily strong body due to her stats. Kakashi's ears rung for a moment as he collected himself and held his head with one hand.
"Argh, good job." He said, squeezing his eyes shut. "You got me."
Darkness' smile was wide. "I did it! I really did it!" She jumped in joy before worrying, "Oh, are you alright?" She walked over to him.
Kakashi held a hand out while the pounding in his head subsided. "I'm fine. I'm fine. You might have given me a concussion though." He joked.
Darkness tilted her head to the side, confused. "What's a concussion?"
"Let's just say it's a form of brain damage."
"I gave you brain damage?!"
Kakashi sighed. It wasn't his job to play doctor. "Don't worry about it. Now, you can go grab Megumin and take her to the baths. Kazuma and I will wait for you two to finish up."
Darkness nodded, still a bit worried before grabbing the smaller girl and taking her to the bath.
When Kakashi and Kazuma got to go into the baths, there was hardly much small talk. Which was fine by Kakashi, until the boy did speak up finally.
"Oi, Kakashi." Kazuma called out to him. Kakashi was in the bath, masked, sitting in the bath calmly while Kazuma was using a bucket of water outside of it to wash himself more thoroughly.
Kakashi opened his normal eye, sitting up more. "Hm?"
"Were you... sent here by any chance?" He asked cryptically.
"You could say that."
"By your boss? Or..." Kakashi knew what the boy was getting at.
"Aqua is a Goddess, isn't she?" He said, looking directly into the boy's eyes which widened at the question.
"Uh, yeah, she is."
"And she was the first one you met according to her, so that means you were likely sent to this land the same way I was, more or less."
Kazuma could hardly believe someone as strong as Kakashi could be killed in any capacity, but if he came from a different world like he did, then there were probably other people as strong as he was, if not more.
"Yeah, that's true. I figured you had to be since you seem so unlike anyone I've met in my time here. That jutsu stuff you use, and that eye of yours... no one here has stuff like that."
"Why do you ask?" Kakashi was curious, as he didn't feel like it was any crazy revelation.
Kazuma sighed and shrunk in on himself a bit. "It's just nice that I'm not the only one that's far from home, you know? Sometimes I feel like an outsider with how unused I am to everything. This world operates on such weird rules completely different from my own. So... yeah."
Kakashi's eyes softened. He hadn't considered how a boy as young as Kazuma would take being away from home, from his family if he had any. Kakashi himself was used to long stretches away from the Leaf Village, but Kazuma likely was never trained for such a thing.
"For a kid as young as you, I'd say you're doing a pretty good job in adjusting." He told him, arms folded behind his head. "So chin up, you're doing better than most people would."
"You think so?" Kazuma asked, looking at the man again. Kakashi nodded his head. "Thanks, no one's ever said something like that to me. I mean, who would?" He asked rhetorically. "Anyway, we should probably finish up soon or the girls are gonna take their time getting ready."
Kakashi waved the boy off. "Go ahead, I'll catch up with you."
Kakashi was sat on the couch near the fireplace as he stared hard into his adventurer card. He had gained ten levels from the battle at the Royal Castle. It seems that he receives two skill points per level, and skill prices were basically all multiples of two. As it stood, he had twenty points to spend.
"You know, you could just hold onto those points for later." Megumin sat down next to him, petting her cat as it purred in satisfaction. Kakashi thought the cat looked beyond strange, but kept that opinion to himself. "Explosion is out of the question for you, unfortunately. However, there may yet be a great skill hidden within the ninja class."
"Hmm." Kakashi was a bit indecisive, as many of the best skills cost many points to acquire, much less upgrading them to be more effective. He held his finger over one of them, Voice Mimicry.
Voice Mimicry allows the user to copy anyone's voice for a limited time. To copy a voice, the user must have had prolonged exposure to the individual in question. Once a voice is copied, it can be used at any time from a mental list. This ability can be upgraded in two ways, one that decreases the exposure time required and another that allows for a longer duration of usage.
Note: This ability only works with humanoid beings who can speak, not animals or monsters. Once the ability has run out, there is a cooldown until it can be used again. This ability is considered magic, and is therefore able to be resisted by those with a high enough magic resistance stat. Increasing your own magic power will increase the likelihood of success.
Exposure requirement is on a case by case basis dependent on an individual's magic resistance. The user must interact with the victim to gain exposure, simply being by the victim will NOT suffice.
Cooldown: 1 day.
Cost: 10 points
Following this, Kakashi held his finger over the other skill he was mulling over, Mind Reading.
Mind Reading allows the user to subtly hear the thoughts of one person near them. At the first rank, the user can only do so while in direct line of sight of a victim and at a short distance. Upgrading this ability further will increase the distance allowed and can allow for the user to not even need to be in the same room as someone to read their mind, allowing for maximum stealth at the highest rank.
Note: You can not control what thoughts you hear. If the information is not what you seek, you must wait for the cooldown on the ability to reset. This ability is considered magic, and is therefore able to be resisted by those with a high enough magic resistance stat. Increasing your own magic power will increase the likelihood of success.
Cooldown: 12 hours.
Cost: 16 Points
Kakashi thought about the positives and negatives of each ability, weighing them in his mind.
With Mind Reading, he could eliminate the need for guesswork when dealing with people, and easily surmise who was trustworthy, that is if the ability worked as he wanted it to. There was an element of chance there that rubbed Kakashi the wrong way. On the other hand, Voice Mimicry seemed to be guaranteed so long as the work was put in to make it work. And if Kakashi knew himself well enough, he would always try to reduce risk if he could help it. In essence, one ability was a high risk with high reward, while the other was more dependent on his own ability to use it.
Making up his mind fully, Kakashi spent the points on the Voice Mimicry and dumped the rest on armor penetration as a failsafe. The latter had a limit to how much he could upgrade it, but it at least accepted even a single point with small increases with each upgrade. it would be his offensive failsafe.
The feeling as the ability integrated itself within his mind was an odd experience to describe, it was almost like falling from a high height where your stomach feels strange, and then you slowly come back to normality. Deciding now was as good a time as any to test out his new skill, Kakashi went through the list of people he could mimic. Disappointingly, all he could copy was Luna and Kazuma. Strange, he felt pretty sure going in that he had been around Kazuma's group long enough at this point to copy their voices. Not that he would, mind you, unless it was totally necessary. It was an unspoken taboo to use jutsus on comrades. Much like it was taboo for Uchiha to copy non-bloodline abilities from private clans like the Nara.
Kakashi realized that the reason he could probably copy them was because both Kazuma and Luna had low magic resistance. Luna was a citizen, and Kazuma was still at a somewhat low level. Darkness was expected given her Crusader class, and now that he thought about it, that might be the reason why Crusaders are in such high demand at the guild. To be able to resist so many effects when others could not would be invaluable. He wasn't aware of Aqua's defenses, but he had never seen her seriously hurt from anything so perhaps that spoke for itself. Regardless, he decided to mimic Kazuma's voice for now.
It was like a mental timer ticked down in Kakashi's head. Thankfully, since he always wore his mask, Megumin probably wouldn't even be able to tell he was speaking if he played it right.
"Megumin, you ready to go?" Kakashi said in his fake voice, looking slightly away from her.
Megumin looked around for the source of Kazuma's voice, turning her head and even looking behind Kakashi to make sure.
"Kazuma? Where are you?"
"Right here!"
Frustratingly, Megumin kept walking around him, and finally checked under the couch even though there was no physical way Kazuma could fit under there. Finally, she stood in front of him, having dropped her cat a while ago during her search.
"It's you, isn't it?" She said with a dead stare into his eye.
He eye-smiled at her, "Guilty." His internal clock told him he could use the boy's voice for another ten minutes at most.
Megumin pouted adorably in a way only a young girl could, and told him, "You owe me for playing tricks. I wanted to go to Wiz's store before eating, so come with me."
Kakashi relented and told Kazuma and Darkness to find them at Wiz's store when they found a nice place to eat and headed outside.
"Lead the way, then."
DING
"Oh! Welcome customers!" The shopkeeper exclaimed happily.
"Wiz, it's just us." Megumin told her, shattering what little optimism the store keep had left.
"Sigh, Vanir is in the back sorting things, but he should be-"
"Welcome! If it isn't the Crimson Demon girl who has feelings for her male comrade!" Vanir yelled, loud enough for the neighbors to hear.
Megumin's face turned completely red, and she went to attack him but her attack was nimbly dodged. "Shut up!"
"Tut tut, child. You'll have to be faster than that, however, thank you for the immense shame and embarrassment, truly a delicacy!" Vanir laughed.
"I take it you're Vanir." Kakashi spoke.
Vanir turned around, where his grin disappeared. "Hmm, this one has emotions that I do not enjoy." He commented, finger rubbing his chin. "An interesting specimen you may turn out to be."
Kakashi was a bit confused at the man's antics, but didn't comment on them.
"So, is this a husband and wife business, then?" He asked, curious at which one of them would allow such odd items in their store.
Vanir paused in place, processing the question, before chuckling and full on laughing at the thought. Wiz in her embarrassment and red face, told Vanir, "A relationship with me shouldn't be that funny, Vanir!"
The demon continued to laugh which made Wiz come close to tears. After having his fun, he stood straight. "No, the shopkeeper and I could never engage in such a thing. After all, moi is a genderless demon."
Kakashi's eyebrow raised, a demon? Common logic would dictate that demons were evil and were a threat to society, and under normal circumstances he would assume the man was on drugs or drunk to say such a thing. However, based on how this world operates, he wouldn't be shocked at all if everything he said was the truth. Yet, no one in town seemed to mind he was around, and no one has even mentioned such a threat to the town. Perhaps there was more to him?
"So you're evil, then? Killed people, that sort of thing?"
Vanir shook his head in response. "Wrong yet again! Moi has vowed to never harm a human, as it would run counter to my hunger for shame and embarrassment. Moi can not enjoy such meals if someone were to die. As to whether moi is evil-"
Wiz cut him off. "Oh no! Vanir is so nice to the children around town and he always likes to play with them, and he even gives consultation services to the people around town, sometimes for free!"
"Stop exposing Moi, woman of questionable age!"
"I'm only-!"
"Anyway, Megumin wanted to come here."
Wiz spoke then, "Did you, Megumin? Since you're here, Yunyun is helping us right now."
"I have no idea who you're talking about."
Kakashi had looked around for said girl, but couldn't find her until he spotted extremely red vibrant eyes from behind a shelf of items.
Yunyun jumped out from behind the shelf in disbelief. "You take that back! We went on a quest together!"
Megumin's response was to simply look away from her.
"Ahh! You looked away! Don't act like you don't know me!"
"Ah, Yunyun, I didn't see you there." Megumin mentioned, as if just noticing.
While the two kids squabbled and complained to one another, Kakashi and the other two adults kept conversing.
"I didn't see you around the store last time I was here." Kakashi told the 'man'.
Vanir wore a frown. "It is an unfortunate result of this inept shopkeeper's business habits that it falls upon Moi to keep the place afloat. As such, moi frequently must head out to other cities on business."
Wiz looked sheepish at the accusation. "I try my best, honest!"
Vanir turned on her, his masked eyes somehow conveying how he was feeling. "Cease your lies, woman! Moi has told you time and again that buying from that worthless salesman is a waste!"
"But Vanir! He makes some really good stuff, I just bought these new things he made that are like portable toilets!" She picked up this miniature looking toilet from behind the counter. "Look! With a press of this button on top, it'll become big, and then all you need to do is bring your own water, way to dispose of waste, and then it makes lots of noise so no one will hear your business but it does attract some monsters-!"
Vanir slowly approached Wiz with his eyes glowing a bright red. "Vanir-style-"
Just then, the door to the store opened with a ding of the bells, and Kazuma and Darkness walked in.
He pointed behind himself and said, "We found a pretty good place, so we came to get you guys. Oh, hey Yunyun." The shy girl waved happily at being noticed.
Megumin quickly separated from the girl and joined Kazuma's side. "Finally, I thought you'd never show up."
"Oi, I don't need to hear that from a hothead like you." Kazuma replied, looking down at her slightly.
"Hey!"
Kakashi walked away from the bickering pair as well, waving goodbye before they all stepped out.
"Alright, so the place we found is a bit pricey, but we thought it would be nice." Kazuma told them.
Darkness added, "A shame Aqua isn't here with us, she'd love for a chance to eat out."
Kazuma eyed her, "Don't save her any food, either. She made her bed."
Kakashi shook his head at Kazuma's pettiness, but figured that's just how they always operated.
