Mifune was getting a bit tired of waiting for Hiro to make a single punch to his body. Not that he had much room to blame the boy for not being able to do so. Hiro was not really seen as anything special among the DWMA. He wasn't as studious as Maka or Ox, not as talented a fighter as Black Star or Kilik, he definitely was nowhere near the level of someone like Kid, and to top it all off, he still didn't have a weapon partner with him. He was just a regular student, and there was not much else to say about it.
That last part about him not having any sort of weapon partner was one of the two reasons why Mifune didn't train him using his traditional samurai fighting style. The other reason was that not every weapon was going to be a sword, so he felt it was best to teach the students basic hand to hand combat. He may have been a master with his blade, but he was no by no means a slouch when it came to fighting with his bare fists either. The one that actually was a slouch was apparently his blonde student in front of him. Try as he might, Hiro was sloppy in his technique.
"You're going to have to improve yourself Hiro, because this is just pathetic." Mifune commented as Hiro got off the ground, visibly tired from all his past efforts to land a hit.
"You can't expect me to be anywhere close to your level," Hiro countered. "You know your stuff when it comes to fighting professor." Mifune was still getting used to that title.
"Of course I don't expect you to be on my level of expertise," the samurai agreed. "What I do expect is to see you to make progress with your training, and yet so far your results have been average at best. We have been doing this for close to a year now. You should at least be able to land a hit."
Hiro didn't have much of a counterpoint against Mifune's arguments. He was right. He should have been able to at least do the bare minimum, yet it seems that was going to be an issue for him as well. It was at times like these when he wondered why he was in the DWMA in the first place if he wasn't even a competent fighter. Still, he was a firm believer in getting better with practice, so maybe that was a possible explanation. At least Mifune didn't compare Hiro to his superior classmates, otherwise he probably would not have been motivated at all to continue trying to fight his new teacher.
The blonde pulled himself back into a fighting stance, as did Mifune. Hiro rushed back at him, going on the offensive while Mifune was on defense. The results were not much different from the other times Hiro tried to hit Mifune. Every punch Hiro would try to throw at him, Mifune would see it coming and dodge or block accordingly. Every kick Hiro would try would also not land a hit. It seemed like this time would be the same as always, however Hiro decided to use a trick that Mifune was not expected. He opened his mouth wide open and clamped down on Mifune's arm just as the samurai was deflecting one of his punches. This obviously caught him off guard.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Mifune scolded furiously. He then felt something hit his gut that made him lose his breath. He looked down and he saw Hiro's fist buried deep in his clothed stomach.
"How's that professor?" Hiro's smirk was undeniable. Mifune's eye twitched before he sent his student flying back.
"That was a foul move on your part Hiro." Hiro's triumphant smile never ceased.
"Hey, in my defense, if this was an actual battle, I say anything is fair game."
Mifune didn't know what to be more annoyed by. The fact that Hiro would resort to such a cheap tactic to get a shot in, or that he actually did have a valid point. If this was a real battle, the enemy would certainly not care if they played dirty or not, so he had to give him credit where credit was due. However, this was not the case at the moment. He was a student sparring with his teacher and not against an actual dangerous opponent.
"I'll be reporting this to Lord Death tomorrow morning," Hiro's sense of accomplishment finally faded at his teacher's words. He would surely be punished for this. "However, I will say that at the very least this time was different. I was not expecting a strategy like that, so I will give you credit for using your head, even if it wasn't exactly ideal in this scenario. Don't tell anyone I told you though, or else."
Hiro gave him a salute, his grin returning full force. "Aye aye sir!" He didn't see it because Mifune's back was turned to him, but there was a small smirk of satisfaction on his face as he walked off the school grounds.
Black Star and Tsubaki were busy taking care of Angela while Mifune was teaching students after school. They left after the school day had finished to take care of her, as her previous caretakers were Sid and Nygus, who would have to do all their work at the DWMA overnight because of this new responsibility. That didn't mean that they didn't train with Mifune, far from it actually. They would usually practice and try to improve their abilities over the weekends when Mifune was not working. It's just that Angela was picky with her caretakers, as her previous nannies had left because she didn't trust them and kept on wanting Mifune, and while Black Star and Tsubaki would have taken care of her themselves without question, they still had to go to school, so Angela had to settle with Sid and Nygus for most of the day. Admittedly Sid and Nygus were not much better than her nannies, but at the very least she was familiar with those two, and she did trust Black Star and Tsubaki too. However, just because she trusted them didn't mean that she didn't have her moments where she annoyed Black Star.
"When is Mifune going to get here?!" Black Star swore he heard her say that almost 30 times by now in some way or another. He was starting to lose it.
"Mifune is busy at the moment," Tsubaki reminded the young witch, keeping herself surprisingly calm. "He has new responsibilities as a teacher now." Unfortunately for young Angela, this was not a good enough answer.
"I want Mifune! I want him now!" Black Star had finally snapped.
"LISTEN HERE MISSY! MIFUNE IS BUSY RIGHT NOW BEING A TEACHER AND THAT'S NOT GOING TO CHANGE, SO YOU BETTER LEARN TO ACCEPT IT BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN CLOSE TO A YEAR NOW THAT THINGS HAVE BEEN THIS WAY!!! AND ANOTHER THING-" Black Star's ranting was cut off by Angela hitting him in the balls. Hard. He kneeled down in pain while Angela looked away, annoyed and with her arms crossed.
"You were getting on my nerves." She said, failing to see the hypocrisy in her statement. Just as Black Star was about to burst again, the door opened to reveal the man Angela had been waiting to see for the whole day.
"I'm back," the swordsman announced lazily. "I hope Angela was not too much trouble."
"Mifune!" The witches' mood changed dramatically as she hugged him like a child who just found her father. Mifune picked her up with a small smile.
"She wasn't troublesome at all." Tsubaki reassured Mifune with her signature smile.
"I'll say," muttered Black Star as he got up off the floor. "I can only imagine how Sid and Nygus must feel if she is like this with them too."
"Black Star was being a meanie!" Angela accused loudly. Black Star sent a glare her way.
"I was not!" He defended himself. Mifune just sighed. He should have expected this.
"Okay, that's enough Angela," the swordsman put her down. "I think it's time you head off and clean yourself up. It's getting late, and I'm pretty sure Black Star and Tsubaki have to head back to their apartment and do their homework."
"Okie dokie!" She skipped off the the bathroom, leaving the weapon, meister, and teacher alone in the living room.
"Thanks again for taking care of her while I was busy," Mifune told them. "I know she can be a bit of a challenge, but I really do appreciate that you guys are able to go through this every weekday."
"Not a problem Mifune." Tsubaki said.
"We do what we can." Black Star replied simply as the two walked out the door. Mifune smiled and bid them a good night.
"Geez, this is impossible." Black Star said in frustration and fatigue while he and Tsubaki made their way back to their apartment.
"She is still just a kid Black Star," Tsubaki reminded him. "I know she may be immature, but that's to be expected. It's not like you were any less rowdy when you were younger. Even now you're still very loud."
"Hey! I'm mature!" The pout on Black Star's face said otherwise. Tsubaki giggled. Even after standing up to the Kishin himself, Black Star was still the same old Black Star.
"All I'm saying is that you have to be patient with children. You can't expect them to know everything." Black Star just looked on ahead.
"Easy for you to see. It seems you were practically born to be a good mother Tsubaki." That comment actually made Tsubaki blush. Black Star had complimented her before, but she never heard him say she was a good mother figure.
"Thanks Black Star. That means a lot." Black Star grinned at her.
"Of course! You would make a badass mom Tsubaki! Certainly a better parent than I would ever make, that's for sure." While he meant it as a joke, Tsubaki could see the ever small dimming of his smile upon saying those words.
"I'm sure you will make a good father Black Star," she tried to brighten things up. "You just need time to figure things out for yourself. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect."
That was true, Black Star admitted. Perhaps he just needed to figure out his own groove on how to do things, and maybe taking care of Angela would be the perfect way for him to find it. Of course, it was going to be a long, long journey with tons of annoyance and trial and error if today or any of his previous interactions with Angela were anything to go by, but life was never easy. He didn't become a skilled meister overnight, despite how much he boasted about how good he was, so he didn't really expect this next journey to be any less difficult. That didn't matter to Black Star. He was going to become better than a god one day, and if he couldn't handle taking care of children, he might as well give up right now.
"You're right Tsubaki. I need to be more patient with this stuff, even if it will be a challenge," he agreed. Then suddenly, he grabbed her wrist and set off to their apartment running. "Now come on, we don't want to be late for school tomorrow, so we better rest up. The man who will surpass a god needs his beauty sleep!" Tsubaki smiled and shook her head at his predictability.
Tsubaki just knew Black Star would stay the same in terms of his loud personality, no matter how mature he would get. Yet, if she was being honest, she preferred it that way. Black Star was Black Star, and she wouldn't have him any other way.