Chapter 4

"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting," - e. e. cummings

In the blink of an eye, Kaguro came at her with his weapon raised above his head with one hand. His eyes were wild and red, like an animal. Jirou's heart almost stopped but as soon as he came down at her, a voice in her head told her to get out of the way. She rolled to the left and put up her guard as Kaguro twisted after her. They crossed swords, and Kaguro began to loosen up. Jirou fought back, keeping him off.

"You want to hear my assessment, Jirou?" Kaguro asked when his face came near to hers, his bokken forcing her onto her knees.

With a push against him, Jirou slid underneath him, between his legs and quickly turned to greet him with a strike. He deflected it and smiled when he returned the favor.

"You are either holding back, or your technique is unrefined," he squinted and moved his head slightly when she tried to smack his face with the sword.

"Don't get me wrong, you're pretty good. But you're hiding your true talent," Kaguro moved behind her to dodge another attack. He began to play evasively and didn't attack as much as he had when they started.

"Judging by what I have learned, you did not come here initially by choice. I mean, what kind of father would send his daughter to study the art of the sword?" With the bokken in one hand, he deflected Jirou's attacks like they were flies. "You are intimidated, insecure. You want to make him happy."

Jirou too, began to slow down as she tossed his words in her mind when he spoke. Yes, it was all true. How could he see through her so easily?

"But you aren't only studying to make him happy. This is all you have, you've taken a liking to it," he grinned proudly, knowing he was right when she came running at him again. He pushed her down with the bokken in one hand. She landed on her rear end but she quickly jumped back up to steady herself. "I can tell by your endearing encouragement to the other students," she gazed at her through slits. He ran at her and struck her in the leg and tried to strike her shoulder in a second attempt but she blocked him. "You tire too easily!" he shouted, bringing the bokken down on her. She rolled out of the way.

"Get up Jirou!" Renji cheered her on from the wall.

"Matsuda! Be quiet!" Douji-sensei snapped, pointing a long skinny finger at the boy.

"It's all right, sensei," Kaguro said kindly before turning back to Jirou who had stood herself up again. He narrowed his eyes at her and for a moment, she could imagine his huge yellow eyes glowering at her. "Now I'm sure of it. You're insecure and holding back."

He grabbed a katana off the wall and unsheathed it. All of the students and the sensei jumped up in alarm. Jirou dropped her bokken out of fear.

"Kuroda, don't!" Douji-sensei shouted, but to no avail.

Kaguro ran up to Jirou and slashed at her chest. He took a step back and tried to hide his grin. Jirou didn't feel anything at first, then her chest felt loose as if layers of skin were falling off of it. Even though she was afraid to look, she swallowed and looked down.

Her bandages slipped down her kenjutsu uniform, letting her breasts free from their tight bondage. He had made a simple cut across the top of her rib cage, which was enough to cut the bandages underneath and leave her skin unscathed. She looked up at him to find him staring with his mouth slightly open.

"You were holding back," he told her quietly, looking from them and then up into her eyes.

She wanted to call him a pervert, but she bit her tongue. He knew she was hiding that, but there was something else, something he was thinking about that caused him to do that.

Kaguro picked up another katana and underhand-tossed it towards her. She fumbled and drew it close to her chest, feeling naked that she was free.

"Come at me with a real sword, and no holding back," he told her, steadying his blade.

Jirou stood, frozen. Use a real sword? Was he crazy? What if she got hurt? No, she was wearing the charm, he couldn't hurt her. And she couldn't hurt him; he was an ayakashi after all. She unsheathed the katana and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and focused as she steadied herself. She couldn't stumble. She couldn't tire. Everyone was watching her, or staring at her chest, she didn't want to truly know. In any case, she couldn't make a fool of herself using a real sword for the first time against a live opponent.

With her eyes closed, she sensed Kaguro coming at her, swinging his sword from underneath. Her eyes shot open as she met him face to face, metal clashing as her sword met his. He pushed harder, testing her. She brushed her sword along his until she reached the end where she pushed him back with a kick in the stomach as she twisted on her toes like a ballerina and when she turned back around, met the stunned Kaguro with another strike, but he was quick enough to guard. He pushed her sword away and tried to attack her shoulder but the charm deflected it. Jirou followed suit to try to make him not look bad and tried to strike his side. He sidestepped out of the way but grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back to face him. For a moment, she saw him grin like an idiot again and he let her back up to strike.

"My… I have never seen anything like this," Douji-sensei mumbled as he stroked his beard. He observed the two fighting in a dance of sorts. It seemed that whenever one would stumble, the other would help them up.

The duo clashed once more and held their swords for a moment. Kaguro was smiling at Jirou all the same, a look of excitement on his face like a child in a candy store. Jirou only glared at him, not sure of what to make of his moves. He probably only wanted to touch her, as most boys do when she becomes herself.

"I think we should stop," Kaguro said quietly, but everyone heard anyways.

"I think so too, Kuroda-sensei," she smiled slightly. His grin became wider before they both backed off and bowed.

"Jirou, I was wrong before," he said as he put away the katana. "You do hold back, but you also lack the endurance and skill. But you have a high sense of aesthetics, which I like," he said as he turned to her, taking her katana. "You can go sit down."

Jirou was at a loss for words. What do you say when a perverted ayakashi impersonates a teacher and tells you that you lack what you've been training to achieve for the last twelve years, and then compliments you on your aesthetics? Who the hell do you think you are? It wasn't her place at this moment. She bowed and retreated beside Renji.

"You did a great job, Jirou," Renji whispered to her with a soft smile.

Jirou peered over at him and forced a smile. He looked into her eyes instead of at her chest. "Thank you, Renji," she told him, ignoring his compliment.

Kaguro quickly checked his watch and turned to Douji-sensei. "I'm sorry but I must get going. I have to attend a meeting at five," he said with a bow.

"Oh, thank you very much for coming, Kuroda-san. You are welcome back any time," Douji-sensei dipped his head. Kaguro bowed once more before leaving the main way.

Good riddens, Jirou thought to herself.