Phantasy Star Portable – Kotone
Chapter 10
Sorry for the late update!
Mina was confused. Very confused. According to rumors, Hyuga had a student. She'd never seen the girl in question, but Hyuga had dropped all pretense of flirtatiousness since the rumors started. He was far more serious, and many women had started stalking him, now that he was more solemn, not that it stopped him from asking her out every other time he saw her. His meticulous care of his appearance had diminished down to keeping clean and washing his hair, which had grown an inch or so in the week he'd started teaching. Those thoughts came back to her as Leo smiled at her and asked which training room Hyuga was in.
"Uh, give me a second," Mina mumbled, searching for his file. "Ah! Here you go!" Mina handed the page over to him, looking uneasily at the few women who were watching with too much interest. She smiled at him and glared at the women as they tried to sneak after Leo. "GUARDIANS Lisa, Anne, and Rica, get over here!" Stalkers.
"Leo!" Hyuga smiled at him. "Eat breakfast?" Leo chuckled softly at the question. Hyuga never lost an opportunity to feed people, he knew that.
"You'd have stared at me pitifully until I ate something so no, I didn't," Leo said with another laugh. Hyuga smiled at him, leading him into the room. Inside, a young woman was setting the table with rich plates of batter-dipped and pan-fried slices of stuffed raisin bread, bursting with dried plums, topped with bits of raspberries and whipped cream. Leo whistled. Traditional home cooking. They really wanted him to stay around. "So who made this?" The girl raised her hand, blushing faintly. "Mm, I think I might just stay for the food," Leo complimented, making her blush scarlet. Hyuga laughed at her and ruffled her hair.
"You might want to eat quickly, or she'll eat it all." Hyuga teased lightly. Kotone blushed furiously, scowling at Hyuga. Leo laughed good-naturedly, and sat down to eat.
Ten minutes and one joking introduction altered back to an honest one later, Leo decided that Hyuga had not in fact been joking about Kotone's meal consumption ratio. She had, in the space of time it took him to eat three (incredibly delicious, he might add) pieces, Kotone had eaten nine, two glasses of orange juice, and begged off two of Hyuga's, all while introducing herself. She did, in fact, eat more than he and Hyuga together.
"You must work hard if you're always hungry," Leo decided, finishing his last piece. Kotone flushed darkly again, and Hyuga grinned, shameless.
"I run her into the ground," Hyuga agreed, fluffing her hair up. Kotone swatted his hand away, fixing her hair hastily. Leo chuckled huskily at the familiarity at which they behaved. "I'm worried about her flirting habits." Leo paused. He . . . didn't just say what he thought Hyuga said. Right? They said that they were joking. Hyuga burst out laughing as his student tried – and failed – to scowl furiously, crossing her arms with an amused huff. "Just kidding!" Leo breathed easier, and he chuckled along with Hyuga. It was a fairly convincing joke, and one that could work on anyone who knew Hyuga.
"Well, let's get started." He advised, standing up to take down a light staff, the tiny little Newman following behind. Kotone took the offered staff with a blink of mild confusion. "Until I deem you not a threat to society with your skill in spear drills, we shall use this." Kotone nodded, not in the least offended, smiling faintly. "Stand like this." He showed her the basic starting position, and she copied his form. "Good. Now, as a woman, you won't be able to carry as much weight until later, so we'll go with lightweight spear maneuvers until later. You'll want to tilt the weapon this way, so that a sword or claws will slide off the weapon.
"Here, you need to tilt a bit further with this hand." He tapped her left thigh with his staff. "That leg goes further back." Kotone obeyed quickly. "Hold the position . . . Hold it . . . Good." Leo nodded to himself. "Drop and give me ten. This will be painful and no childish pushups." Kotone handed off the spear to him and assembled herself in the proper pushup procedure. "I will count for you. Down . . . Up. One." Leo counted slowly, watching her arms and body tremble faintly. Kotone gave no complaints at all, instead focusing on her breathing control and center of gravity. That was good. He usually had to pound it into his students. She held the last position until he looked at her. "You can get up now. Once I finish the count, you are free to stand up. Unless you don't practice." She got up, huffing heavily. Hyuga smiled at his student who smiled back shyly. Leo admired her reserve.
"And break for lunch." Leo told the purple-haired Newman, who was quivering all over. He'd put her through several exercises, and to be fair, the little slip of a thing had done more than just fine. Jumping jacks, running, pushups, sit-ups, pull-ups and even stretches. If this was what she did all of the time, then he wasn't surprised she ate so much. The little woman gratefully took his offered bottle of water.
"Thank you," Kotone murmured, taking small sips of her drink, unlike his other students who gulped it down and nearly choked. They sat at the table, and Hyuga set out a verifiable feast. A platter of rice and seasoned fish was set in front of both of them, as well as honey mead, and a slice of Mary's cheesecake. Mm. His favorite.
"Now that I'm sure you can do just fine with a staff, our next class will be on using a spear, as well as holding and running around with one." Hyuga nodded quietly along with his student. Leo had given him a tiny frown. "Now, I'm sure that Hyuga expects me to introduce myself and hasn't said much about me." He used his fork to point at himself, and introduced himself to her aimlessly. " . . . And I am married, with two kids. Any questions?" Kotone shook her head, munching on her cheesecake, occasionally stealing bits of Hyuga's rice when he wasn't looking. Hyuga caught her at it and laughed softly, giving the rest of his plate over to her.
"Eat up, my short little munchkin," Hyuga chuckled at her silent outrage.
"I am not short!" She huffed, pouting. She pouted some more when he ruffled her hair again.
"Sure you're not," Hyuga teased good-naturedly. "You're fun-sized." At Kotone's light whine, he managed to get her to take another bite. "Now eat up." Kotone made several faces at him, but obediently chowed down on the meal, neither of them noticing the smile playing on Leo's lips. Hyuga made a good teacher. Leo had been around, and knew good teaching when he saw it. It was one of the reasons he had recommended Tonnio. If he could get out of his inferiority complex, he'd be a wonderful teacher. His eyes watched them banter playfully and laugh together. Kotone glanced at him and smiled, offering him another slice of dessert. Leo accepted gratefully. He'd be sticking around for quite a while. It wouldn't do to let them lose such a relationship.
I didn't think I'd need to bring this up, but I'd like it if you guys would review every once in a while, even if it's to tell me it sucks. I have no idea how you people like my story!