Chapter 11: Learning to Fight

Kairi followed Mew out of the Pyramid. It was barely noon, if even that. So much time to spend clearing the Pyramid, and instead she was being dragged out. Once more she followed the boy's whims and wants.

"...I hate this. I hate this so much." Kairi pouted the whole trip back. Her thoughts were all focused on Mew. Whether she knew it or not, he had rented out a sizable space in her mind.

"'Why do I need a reason to help someone?' Who says that crap? Nobody does good things without a reason. Fame. Money. Love..." Kairi widened her eyes and realized, "Oh god he's trying to earn brownie points with my mom...Or brownie points with me!"

She narrowed her eyes at his back and thought, "There's no telling what he'll try and pull to get his kicks!"

But for a moment, she imagined him turning around with that goofy look on his face. Her heart went "Thump! Thump!" until she shook her head. She then continued staring at his back and grumbled, "...There's no telling what he'll try."

They soon made their way back to Kairi's house. Kairi took the lead and peeked through the door. "Mom?" She repeated a few times and got no response.

"Out shopping again..." Kairi sighed and reluctantly told Mew, "Ok follow me."

Alone in her house with a guy she just barely trusted. This was a recipe for disaster, but if push came to shove Kairi knew his weakness. While walking to the door beneath the stairs glanced at Mew. He stood there – smiling. He quietly prodded her with, "Well go on."

Kairi opened the door. Behind it a staircase going down. They climbed down it and wound up in a dusty space with little lighting. Kairi flicked the nearby switch and brightened the whole room up.

The walls were made of plaster except one, which was a giant mirror. There were a couple wooden dummies with human figures. A big gym mat on the ground stood around for practice. Kairi stared at this room with one-hand flat on the wall.

Suddenly a quick breeze kicked up the dust and carried it off into the nearby vent. Mew clapped his hands waltzed into view, and laid his palms on his hips.

"Perfect!" He declared, "Lets get started!"

While Mew took a moment familiarizing himself Kairi walked past him and approached one of the dummies. She stared at its blank canvas of a face and went to its chest. There she examined a couple thin cut marks and gently rubbed one hand on them.

Her eyes sank with a puckered frown. Then a loud slapping sound jolted her head back. She sees Mew planting pieces of note paper on the mirror with tape.

"That should do it." He said with a puff of satisfaction.

"What are you doing?" Kairi wondered.

"Setting up lesson notes," Mew turned and headed for the gym mat. Waving at himself he then said, "Come on! We got work to do."

Kairi crossed her arms under her chest and stepped onto the mat. Mew pointed at her and remarked, "First off none of that."

"None of what?" Kairi responded cheekily.

"Your arms. Don't cross 'em like that. It makes you too tense."

"You do it all the time though." Kairi bluntly pointed out.

"Yeah but that's..." Mew paused mid-sentence. Kairi closed her eyes and sighed, "Really inspiring confidence here."

"OK look..." Mew wagged his open hand out and said, "Gimme your staff."

"W-What?" Kairi didn't like where this was going. Mew quietly egged her on by saying, "Come on, hand it over."

"He wants my weapon," Kairi suspected the worst, "My best means of self-defense. And if he tries to cop a feel...or worse."

Her mind went to dark places that left her in shivers. Mew looked at her and said, "If its cold I can heat the room up a bit."

Kairi grumbled "F-Forget it!" and then summoned her staff. She gripped it tight, glaring at Mew. She then thew it with all her might and it gave him a nice blow to the gut as he caught it in one hand.

Mew bit his teeth and said, "You got a good throwing arm princess. Ever thought about playing baseball?"

Kairi wasn't amused and yelled, "Get on with it!"

"Settle down, Gravitus isn't going to be here for six more days..." Mew whispered. He then started to lift the staff but had some trouble, "Wow this is...oof! Heavier than it looks!"

But after some fumbling for Kairi's amusement Mew easily treated the staff like a twig. He even threw and spun it with a flick of the wrist.

"He's treating it like...like a cheerleader baton!" Kairi's eyes lit up in disbelief.

"Tough stuff..." Mew finally held it tight and looked up from the corner of his eyes, "I'm guessing...Orichalcum?"

"Y-Yes?" Kairi wondered "How did he know?" while Mew started going off on his own.

"Do you know what Orichalcum does?"

Kairi responded forthright, "I-Its a stone that does well against magic."

"Yeah. Like say...my elements?" Mew cupped the staff in one hand like a bat and floated a fireball before his face. He swung the staff at it and it was blown aside, leaving behind not even an ember.

"You could've had an easier time fighting me if you had done that."

Mew's advice came across as a put-down and Kairi blurted out "I-I knew that" to try and humble him a little.

But then the tip of her staff tickled her nose. She pulled away a bit as her heart leaped from her chest. Mew balanced the other end of her staff on an open palm and said, "A bo-staff is one of the longest practical weapons out there. Counting your arm, I'd say you can cover about...sixteen feet of circumference around you."

He nudged a brow and said, "That's a pretty huge advantage against most opponents. You got to try and play keep away sometimes, especially if your opponent is faster. Also, did you know you can swing with your full strength at any length one-handed? All it takes is keeping a firm grip on your weapon."

Mew flipped the staff back in the air, causing it to land upright at his side for him to grab. Kairi was utterly confused. She'd seen the boy use nothing but fists and sword, and yet he held that staff like a pro. This was suspicious, so Kairi's inquiring mind led to her asking, "How do you know any of that?"

"Oh you know. Anime. Video games...Old Jackie Chan films." Mew uttered these inane things as if they were something to be proud of.

"Of course..." Kaiir said belligerently. She then leaned in and grumbled, "And yes, that stuff is obvious."

"You're right. So lets move on to the first actual lesson." Mew let go of the staff and shoved it back with the heel of his shoe. He then snapped his fingers and locked the staff up in a big steel coffin. Kairi widened her eyes and held her hand up to try and call it back, but all she heard was it smacking desperately to try and break free.

Mew moved one hand up to his face, curling it into a fist as he smiled, "Nice try princess. But I need your hands freed for unarmed combat."

"Unarmed...combat?" Kairi stopped and took a second to register what he was saying.

She then looked at his smug little grin and thought "He's getting off on toying with me..."

She bit her teeth down and squeezed her fists. One was thrown up by her chest, the other at her hip. Mew's eyes lit up and he remarked, "Oh ho ho! So you already know a thing or two?"

"Naturally!" Kairi boasted with a smile, before speaking with a bit of malice, "A staff just hits harder."

"T-That it does..." Mew stammered with a reactive wince of pain near his legs. But then he perked up and said, "Alright go on. Hit me with your best shot."

Kairi went wide-eyed but followed it up with a smirk and snicker. A thought went through her mind. A terrible, mischievous thought.

"Last time he let me hit him where he's most vulnerable..." She stared right at his grinning face, "Now I'll ruin that 'pretty' face of his!"

Kairi eagerly ran at Mew and swung her fist straight at his face. She threw her all into it, yet Mew just sidestepped behind her. She went "Huh?" as the force of her swing nearly sent her tumbling off the mat.

She hung there as Mew had a giggle at her expense. She slapped her knees then spun right around to throw another punch. Mew expertly swung his head out of the way.

Kairi staggered over a bit and had to plant her hands on her knees. Mew waddled a couple steps back then held his arms out and remarked in an overly over-the-top voice, "Oh? You are approaching me?"

Kairi flinched and then lifted her head with a firm scowl to say, "I can't beat the shit out of you without getting closer."

Mew's eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store as he remarked, "Hey! You knew the reference!"

Kairi bit her teeth down and turned bright red. She immediately stood and rushed Mew with a few more punches, all while telling him to "S-Shut up!"

After a few failed attempts to clobber Mew in the head Kairi started to yell, "Hold still damn it!"

As his jolly ol' self Mew remarked, "Contrary to popular belief princess, no one likes to get hit."

He then paused to note, "Well...unless you're a masochist."

In that moment Kairi thrust one fist straight for his face. He looked shocked as he caught it in his right hand, the back of which was forced to his nose. Mew whistled and lowered her fist, complimenting her with, "Well...you sure know how to use your strength."

Kairi suddenly felt a couple pokes under her arm. Mew was prodding at her biceps, which jiggled a bit at the touch. Kairi took a deep breath through her nostrils as Mew had the gall to say, "Huh, I would've thought you would have worked out more."

Kairi ripped her fist out and swung at Mew's head. He almost didn't duck in time, unfortunately. Kairi started swinging at him faster, madder than before. Mew continued evading while handing out "advice", "The key to hitting your opponent is to get inside their head. Out think them, predict where they'll dodge to!"

"Who! Would ever! Want to be in your head?!" Kairi emphasized with every swing she took. Mew also got this really big grin, as if what she said was hilarious.

After a few more failed attempts Kairi stopped to catch her breath. There Mew tagged her forehead with a couple fingers and knocked her on her tush. He then said to her softly, "We'll pick that back up later."

Kairi rubbed her bum then stood up pouting angrily at Mew, "This is stupid. He's treating this like a game."

"Pop quiz time!" Mew's eccentricities led to more confusion on Kairi's part. Before she can say something more he pops a pointer finger up and asks, "What part of the body should you strike to best weaken your opponent?"

Kairi dully raised her hand and stated, "The neck, duh."

"Geez aren't you violent..." Mew retorted, "You're close though."

He laid a hand up on his face and said, "Its the face you wanna aim for."

"The face? But why? The neck's the quickest way to finish someone off." Kairi's response made Mew tremble for a moment.

"Y-Yes it is...But that's pretty common knowledge. A warrior should know to guard their neck at all times."

"Ok wise guy then why's the face better?"

"I'm getting to that!" Mew shouted somewhat impatiently. He then took his hand off his face to start pointing at individual parts of it.

"Well for starters, we breathe out of our nose and mouth. Without a steady influx of air we wouldn't have the strength to walk let alone fight. Second of all, our two most vulnerable body parts are the eyes and ears. No matter how much training you do, they'll never get stronger. Compared to say like, the neck and ribcage, which you can make tougher."

Mew then giggled and said, "And I should know, I once spent a month staring at the sun an hour a day thinking it'd toughen my eyes up."

"...Is he for real?" Kairi uttered with a slacked jaw. Mew then threw a punch and poke out in quick succession while saying, "A quick jab to the eyes will usually take care of most opponents for a bit. The ears are tougher, since ya kinda need a thin weapon."

Kairi puffed her cheeks and spat out a sigh. She then groaned in boredom, "None of this sounds practical. Can't you focus on the important stuff? Like how to keep people from dodging?"

"The key to a good offense is a strong defense princess," Mew was like a kid on sugar, he just wouldn't stop having something to say, "On that note, onto the next step."

He stood there and stared at her. Kairi could clearly tell he was looking at her body, as he let out one of his bog standard giggles. Kairi covered her breasts with her arms, just to be safe. Mew then rubbed the back of his head and sighed, "W-With your permission, I'd like to grab onto you."

"WHAT?!" Kairi's scream made Mew recoil. Good. She couldn't believe he'd have the nerve to even ask, "You're insane! I won't let you touch my breasts!"

"I'm not going to touch your breasts!" Mew replied, trying to keep his cool, "I already felt enough of them for one week..."

"Mrrrr...!" Kairi's violent, vibrating growl left her face beet red.

"Ok bad choice of words," Mew admitted, "I'm just going to grab your waist. That's it. Promise."

"I-I don't believe you!"

"Yeah I uh...don't blame you." Mew snickered and seemed to take her lack of trust in stride, "If I was you I wouldn't believe me either."

It was an odd thing for him to say and yet, it got Kairi wondering to herself, "If he wanted to fondle me or force himself on me he could've done so anytime by now. We're all alone, there's nothing stopping him..."

Her eyes sunk as she considered the possibility that perhaps, just maybe, "Have I been...wrong about him?"

In that brief moment of reflection Kairi let slip a "F-Fine" thinking full well that she might come to regret this.

Mew's smile on approach seemed innocent enough. He was gentle with grabbing the sides of her waist too. Kairi never had a boy touch her. She squirmed a little and whimpered but nothing about this felt uncomfortable. In fact it started feeling a little warm down where he touched. Mew looked her in the eyes and sounded oblivious to what he was doing as he said, "Now try and resist me without using your arms or feet."

"Huh...? W-Whoa!" The next thing Kairi knew she was being lifted off the ground.

Mew held her three feet off the ground. Compared to his overcompensating sword Kairi knew she must've felt light as a feather. Heck she could feel that weightlessness herself, and it left her heart in a flutter.

"O-Ok...n-now how do I get out of this?" As she tried to work that out she felt the thin later of flab on her waist being pinched at. Mew was staring at her stomach while puckering his lips and saying, "Huh, squishy..."

Kairi let out an inflamed gasp and swung her knee right up into Mew's nose. The boy staggered but unfortunately let go of her. And there was nowhere for her to go but down...

"Gack!" Kairi uttered to curse herself as she fell on her tush once again. Mew had worse luck and collapsed flat on his back, where he proceeded to grumble a sigh of, "Me and my big mouth."

He then sat right back up. Kairi wanted to bark at him but the feeling of warmth, no matter how brief it was, placated her long enough for Mew to say, "Sorry. My bad."

He was then able to bring up the point of that little demonstration, "See how easy it was for me to lift you though? If you put some strength into your legs you would've forced me to use more upper body strength to lift you. And then my own legs would be susceptible to a kick."

"I guess that makes sense..." Kairi grumbled, still fuming internally at his earlier remark. As Mew got up she looked at him and wondered, "But aren't you like, always fighting at your best? Why all these fancy tricks when you can just overpower someone and get on with it?"

Mew blinked at her oddly a few times then wandered over to an unfilled note. He whipped up a pencil and started writing something down where Kairi couldn't see. Kairi glanced at the mirror then stood up to get a better vantage point. A near success on her tip-toes was foiled by Mew slapping the note to obscure it.

"No spoilers allowed." He said slyly.

Kairi lowered herself and was all like "Whatever" about it. From there Mew changed subjects in the blink of an eye, "Say I've been giving it some thought and realized...I don't really know how Aurians fight."

He wagged his hand out and clarified, "I-I mean obviously I have watched them but like, I don't really know how you learn to fight. Self-taught? Mandatory class? Etc?"

Mew's bumbling guesses aggravated Kairi into saying, "Couldn't you have read a book on all that?"

Mew coolly replied, "I prefer to learn things hands-on."

"Have you ever read a book in your life?"

"...Do mangas count?" Mew said shamelessly.

"You're hopeless," Kairi sighed and then in a moment of pity said, "Fiiine I'll tell you but only once so you better listen up!"

Kairi closed her eyes and wagged a finger up by her face. She peered open for just a moment to see Mew sitting on the mat and leaning his head in like a child during show and tell. Feeling embarrassed for herself for enabling his behavior, she got straight to the point.

"Aurians are taught at a young age about the four styles of combat. And those are Offense, Defense, Projectile, and Body."

"With Offense you learn how to bolster the strength of your weapons via adding aura to them, along with creating separate constructs for weapons that an Aurian can't manufacture here in Sancturia, such as guns, cannons, etc."

"Defense is taught to the cowards who think that summoning a wall around their bodies is the best way to solve their problems."

"Projectile was once considered an offset of Offense but eventually grew to become its own subject. As you can no doubt imagine, it focuses on long-range uses of aura. The average Aurian can fire a projectile up to about a kilometer away from their body, but the stronger an Aurian is the further it goes. The farthest recorded projectile is said to have reached the moon."

"And finally there's Body. That style focuses on augmenting your body parts to increase their durability, offense, and speed. Its the hardest class and not very many Aurians tend to gravitate towards it."

Kairi finally opened her eyes and saw Mew grinning from cheek-to-cheek. She grumbled at him, "Did you get any of that?"

Mew nodded and said, "Oh totally! Offense, Defense, Projectile and Body. Those are the four Aurian fighting styles."

He then perked up a little and remarked, "Its just that you put that so eloquently. Why can't you talk like that all the time?"

Kairi took in a deep breath and dug her fingers into her elbows, "I will kill you I swear to god..."

Mew then tilted his head and wondered aloud, "So you lean more towards Offense right?"

"Yes." Kairi replied bluntly.

"Why not any of the other styles?"

"I don't need them." She claimed with the utmost certainty.

Mew let out a dragging sigh and then stood up and wagged his hand towards her, remarking in as courteous a tone as he could muster, "You could probably stand to learn a little more about Defense. Maybe check that class out next time you're at school."

Kairi glared at him and remarked, "School's out for the year. We're on our summer break."

Mew suddenly perked his eyes up and said "You are?" before tapping a foot on the ground and looking up at the ceiling, "Lost track of time there...Its June already huh?"

He then waved his hand up from his chest and asked, "What grade are you in anyways?"

"What does ANY of this have to do with training?!" Kairi yelled impatiently.

Mew leered back and grumbled, "I'm just trying to chat. Golly, don't need to pop a blood vessel on me now..."

Kairi closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and whispered out, "I'll be in the 11th Grade next year."

"Really?" Mew stood there looking momentarily gazed, then waved his hand around once and remarked, "So you're about...16? 17? That's about as old as I am, wow..."

Kairi looked at him with an assumption of mockery in his tone of voice, "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"I-I honestly pegged you as older than me..." But there wasn't any of that. He was genuinely surprised, and perhaps a little nervous too.

In fact he changed subjects really fast after learning that, bringing mention to Kairi, "S-So anyways, back on track here. Next we're going to cover weakpoints."

Kairi blinked and tilted her head with a mutter of "Huh?" before wondering out loud, "Didn't we already do that with the face talk?"

"Yeah we did. Sort of. But there's more to a person than their face y'know," Mew then closed his eyes, bracing himself for what he was about to say, "Truth be told uhh...While the face is the best target to aim for, its still one of the hardest to hit in the heat of battle."

"Then why did you even bring it up?!" Kairi's anger was something Mew was well-prepared for. But Kairi was more than ready to punch him in the gut for wasting time.

In quick response Mew widened his eyes and remarked, "Because its still important to know that."

Kairi narrowed her eyes and mentioned, "These lessons of yours are all over the place. You suck at this."

Jovially the boy grinned and forced out a sigh, "You got me. I actually flunked out of getting my Teacher's Degree. I am, as you say, a complete...and utter...fraud."

After that sharp-tongued bit of teasing Mew winked one eye open and chuckled, "It may seem unfocused now but it'll all come together eventually. Trust me."

He then quickly resumed focus by asking, "Now the elbows and knees are easier to hit in the heat of battle, but what are some other weak points you can think of?"

Kairi stared down at Mew's legs and smiled maliciously, "The balls."

Mew wincing at her saying that was a highlight of Kairi's day. Mew nervously said, "Y-Yes they are but..."

He pointed down at her legs and remarked, "It'd hurt just as much if someone hit you down there."

Kairi looked down and then up at Mew, who gave her a knowing smile and fluttered his hand up all the way by his face. This time, Kairi had to concede the point to Mew, as much as it pained her to say it.

"Fiiiiiiiiiine."

Mew got to a less uncomfortable subject by asking, "Do you think you can tell me why its important to attack someone's weak points?"

"So you can make your opponent get on their knees and beg for their lives?" Kairi said with a sneer.

"Yes actually!" Mew snapped his fingers proudly at Kairi, taking her by complete surprise as he elaborated, "Thinking of a fight as like standing on a balance beam. The first to fall flat on their face loses right?"

"R-Right but..."

"You never want someone to be standing at your eye level. Any good opponent will easy be able to match you blow-for-blow. But if you make them lose their balance, knock 'em down on their knees? Then it'll be so much harder for them to retaliate."

Mew snapped his fingers out and drew a pointer finger forward like a gun aimed at Kairi's face. Playfully pretending to pull the "trigger" he whispers "Bang!" and then remarks, "And that's when you're free to whale on their face."

"...S-So it does all tie together?" Kairi was taken more than a little aback by how well Mew brought the face talk back into the big picture. The boy smirked at her as he put his hand down. When he crossed his arms she thought, "...No. I refuse to accept it. There's not a single clever bone in that idiot's body."

Mew then suddenly said, "Alright I think that's enough talk for now."

He swung his right hand out and Kairi heard some rattling from behind. She turned back and saw the coffin crack open and her staff went flying straight at her. She caught it in her hands and was pushed a couple feet back, where she stared blankly at her weapon.

She turned around and Mew remarked, "Now take a moment or two to practice what I taught on the dummy."

Kairi gripped her staff in both hands and pointed it at Mew. He closed his eyes and chuckled, "The other dummy, dummy."

He stepped aside and with a flick of the wrist dragged one of the wooden dummies onto the mat. He then started walking for the stairs. Kairi pivoted her body to follow him and remarked, "And where are you going?"

Mew glanced over his shoulder and replied, "Gonna get a drink. I shouldn't be gone long."

Kairi pouted and then faced the dummy hesitant to take a whack at it. Then her heart skipped a beat as Mew suddenly shouted, "Hey Big Green! How's the chest wound treating ya?"

She spun right back around and saw Mew standing in the shadow of a familiar, if unwanted, guest. Kairi didn't hear the brief conversation the two had as she spaced out from shock. After Mew passed the guest by and headed up the stairs Kairi turned back on the dummy and tried to focus on hitting it.

But then she heard footsteps slowly approaching, and a knock on the plaster wall. What was once a voice of comfort for her now left her in goosebumps as they asked, "May I come in?"

Kairi squeezed her staff and tensed up. Her eyes darted to the mirror where she saw Gabriel's reflection coming from the bottom of the staircase. He was out of his armor and back in his civilian clothes, with his skin lacking that green tint and a bunch of bandages covering his chest and arms.

Kairi whacked the dummy on the side of the head and muttered, "I don't know...can you?"

She cautiously watched Gabriel come a couple steps closer in the mirror, stopping with his toes up against the mat. Kairi whacked the dummy's face two more times and then swung in a curve towards the left hip.

Gabriel crossed his arms, using one to prop up his hand upon his chin. With a smile he said, "That doesn't look like what Mew was teaching you."

"...Maybe I don't want to put it into practice." Kairi aired her thoughts dismissively.

"I see..." Gabriel replied calmly.

Kairi glanced to her left. She noticed Gabriel was without his sword. But just because he was unarmed didn't mean a thing. He was strong enough to give Mew a hard time. If he tried to get any closer...

"Kairi..." Gabriel took one step forward and instantly Kairi spun around and whipped her staff at his neck. She pressed the end of it up against it and started breathing heavily.

"Make one move and I'll...and I'll...!" Her heart was racing. A mix of anger and sadness clouded her judgment and made her hesitate. And yet in the face of her rage Gabriel's smile only shrunk, not disappear entirely.

"You'll hit me in the jugular, and I shall breathe no more..." Gabriel gently laid one hand atop Kairi's staff and lowered it to his chest. Then he said to her, "But before you deliver your verdict...May I have a chance to speak in my defense?"

Kairi trembled and lowered her staff to the floor. She hung her head and muttered aloud, "I just don't understand...Why didn't you say anything to me?"

She swung her head up and yelled at him fiercely, "Did you think I'd be too young to get it?!"

"Age has nothing to do with it, Lady Kairi..." Gabriel bent down on one knee so he would be the one getting looked down on as he spoke his remorseful words, "The truth is...I was scared."

To hear this man, who wore honor on his sleeve with every step he took, admit to his own shortcomings without a shred of doubt...It brought Kairi to hesitate at yelling at him further.

"You were...scared?" She muttered.

Gabriel firmly nodded and held his head like that while closing his eyes, "Yes I was. You see, the older you are, the scarier life becomes."

"...And I have been alive for a long, long time. Longer than your mother has been alive in fact," Gabriel then crossed one arm over his chest and remarked, "And long before she was born I swore an oath to her great grandmother that I would look over and protect the future generations of her bloodline from harm."

"And it was for that reason that I swore an unwilling oath of servitude to Gravitus. I hold nothing but contempt for the man's ideals but I knew that if I resisted him your mother would suffer his wrath. Unfortunately, this put me in a very compromising position. In order to uphold my oath I still needed to get close to Lady Auris' children. But I knew that it would only be a matter of time before they inherited her hatred of Gravitus and come to seek vengeance upon him."

"And when that time came I would have no choice but to stand in their way. They would hate me, hurt me, curse my name...As I would stand there and let things be. I thought that what I was doing was the right course of action to uphold my oath, but only now do I realize it wasn't."

Gabriel looked Kairi in the eyes and said, "I was a coward. A coward who lost hope and used lies to hide himself from the truth, and left the people closest to me suffer because of it."

"I do not wish for your forgiveness Lady Kairi. Nor your mother's. But please, allow me to help you train. I now have a renewed sense of hope...And with it a belief that its not too late to ebb the tides of fate."

He closed his eyes once more and said, "But my fate, as of now, I shall leave in your hands."

This was a lot to take in all at once. Yet again Kairi had to concede to Mew's judgment on what was going on. This was in fact a "grown-up" thing that Gabriel had to deal with. His struggles, his conflict, Kairi couldn't even begin to imagine what it had been like for him.

"If I was in his shoes...W-Would I have been able to last as long as him?" That was the only question Kairi could ask herself as she put her staff up above her head and looked down at Gabriel's own.

"Nothing he said changes what he did...He lied to us. Hurt us. Who knows what else he's keeping hidden? Why should he be trusted now?" These thoughts were not said directly by Kairi, but they were what she was feeling.

Her body quivered under pressure and she gulped deeply in turn. With the shadow of her staff lingering over Gabriel's head she swung it right down as he didn't even budge an inch.

But what started out looking like a lethal hit ended on a harmless bonk on the head. Kairi held her staff against Gabriel's head as he lifted it up and looked confused.

Kairi bit her teeth down and then quickly bonked him on the head three more times, all the while telling him, "Stupid! Asshole! Idiot!"

"E-Excuse me?" Gabriel stuttered in flaccid surprise.

Kairi widened her eyes and yelled at him, "I was so mad at you! A-And then you have the nerve to say all that and expect me to decide your fate?!"

Kairi raised her staff and bonked Gabriel one more time on the head for good measure. Having exhausted herself she caught her breath and said raggedly to Gabriel, "...I-I can't do it. I just can't..."

She dropped her staff on the ground and waved her hand up to get Gabriel to stand. She then forced her arms around his waist and whispered, "I can't lose anyone else..."

Gabriel put one arm around Kairi's head and then the other on top of it. He held her close for a few long seconds and then remarked, "Then I am not going anywhere. That shall be my personal oath to you, Lady Kairi."

When the embrace has ended the two part and Kairi picks up her staff. She looks up into Gabriel's eyes and finds her vision watery. She wipes her face dry, shakes her head, and turns to her side to look at all of Mew's notes on the mirror.

"...Gabriel, do you think Mew is full of shit?"

The man turned his head and drew a blank on his face. He walked over to the notes and plucked one off the mirror to look it over. With a hearty chuckle he remarked, "He is many things, but when it comes to fighting..."

He plants the note back where it was and turns around to finish, "He is a one-of-a-kind teacher."

Kairi slumped over and grumbled, "So what you're saying is...I should listen to what he has to say."

"Not everything he says no. But that is what I shall be here for. To offer up my knowledge and correct his mistakes."

Kairi had half a scowl as she looked aside and spoke her thoughts clearly, "I don't like him. He's obviously up to something."

"I've encountered a lot of unique individuals in my time," Gabriel turned to the stairs and while rubbing his chin gave a rather scathing review of the boy, "And he is definitely...unique, I'll grant him that."

"He sure is taking a long time getting that drink though..." Kairi pointed out.

"That's fine by me. That shall give you time to put your training into practice on a live target."

"Huh?" Kairi turned and saw Gabriel walk onto the mat and stand right in front of her. He laid his arms by his hips and summoned his sword, sheath and all, by his left one in a quick flash of white light.

"Try and land one hit on me Lady Kairi. If you can do that before he returns, I shall tell your mother to make her world-famous cake."

Kairi stumbled back a bit at his indomitable presence and said, "H-Hit you? Can I actually...?"

"You must become stronger if have any hope of making it past my comrades let alone defeat Gravitus. But do not fear..." Gabriel smirked as he drew one hand towards his blade's hilt, "I do not bruise easily."

Kairi smiled and held her staff before her waist in both hands. She then confidently told her sparring partner, "We'll see about that. You don't know how tough I am!"

"Hahaha. With a moxie like your mother's I have no doubts about your strength..." Gabriel pulled the blade an inch out of the sheath and exclaimed, "Now come! Show me what you have learned thus far!"

In the quiet comfort of home Kairi sparred with Gabriel. Little did the two know though was that Auris was watching them from the shadows of the staircase, wearing a proud smile towards the both of them...

Next Time: First Day of School