Hey guys! So, the next few chapters, as well as this one, are going to be told in the perspectives of Ayaka, Furuichi, and both Hilda and Oga. I want to show how much training each one is getting in. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Beelzebub belongs to Ryuuhei Tamura, not me.
Chapter 7- Let the Training Begin!
I change into a black salwar pants and a black tank top before tying my hair back into a high ponytail and tying a red dupatta around my waist. Today is the first day of training. I had woken up at the first sign of dawn, and after bathing in the temple pond (which was empty when I had come), I did my prayers in the small temple and had breakfast. Now, I'm on my way to the kalari for training.
"Good morning, Ayaka!" Furuichi greets me. I turn to greet him, and I feel my face heat up in slight embarrassment. Furuichi is wearing the standard training outfit for men: a black dhoti which was tied in a way that it looks like knee-length shorts, with a red sash tied around the waist. He's also shirtless, and the morning sun manages to show off a lean, yet well-toned body.
"Uh… good morning," I stammer, turning away. "Well, let's go get started." I walk towards the main kalari.
We reach the kalari, where we see several of the disciples stretching and warming up. Grandpa looks up and sees us. "Good morning!" he greets. "Today, we're going to get started." Right then, one of the disciples, a dark-skinned man who looked to be in his mid-twenties, comes up.
"Ayaka, this is my senior disciple, Arjun," he introduces. "He will be training you individually, while I'll be training your friend individually. Before we begin, allow us to show you what kalaripayattu looks like. You may want to stand back, though."
Furuichi and I stand back as two disciples step up to the cleared kalari. Right then, they start off with one of them flipping the other over his back. I hear Furuichi gasp in shock and awe as they perform such complex moves. We watch as they aim strikes and kicks at each other, as well as flip each other over and throw themselves at each other. Finally, it ends with one of them on the ground while the other holds his fist over him.
"Whoa…" I say. "That's impressive!"
"It's like an art," Furuichi adds. "For some reason, I can almost see Oga or even Tojo-senpai doing this to their enemies."
"Now, you'll get a look at the use of weapons in kalaripayattu," Grandpa tells us.
We watch as two other disciples step up, each one grabbing a long stick. To our shock, they both begin spinning them very quickly around themselves before clashing them together. They use the sticks to their advantage by using it almost like an extension of their arms to try and flip each other over. They finish with the sticks and move onto using the sharp weapons.
"Wow…" Furuichi says, staring in shock. "It's like they know how to avoid seriously injuring themselves with those."
I nod. "Yeah…" I say.
By the end of the viewing, we are both so slack-jawed that if they were to fall open anymore, they would surely hit the floor. Grandpa chuckles at our shocked faces.
"It's time to start training now," he says. "Ayaka, you go with Arjun. Takayuki, you come with me."
(Hilda)
"You are probably wondering why I gathered you all here today," I say.
It's been a day since Furuichi and Ayaka had left for India, and Oga and I have already planned out how we can prepare to fight back. To start off, I managed to convince Kunieda and her friends to get everyone else, and Oga convinced the two St. Ishiyama students, Kazuya and Azusa, to get the three strongest members of the Six Holy Knights: Shizuka, Izuma, and Miki. Now, we are all at Oga's house, and everyone is here.
"What's the deal, Oga's wifey?" Tojo asks.
"Don't think that you and Oga are at the top now," Kanzaki retorts.
"Oi, oi," Miki suddenly butts in. "Where's Furuichi?"
"He's gone for a wedding in Kyoto," Nene-san replies. "Ayaka-san's gone to India for a wedding as well."
"About that," I begin. "They're not really at a wedding."
Right then, I have everyone's attention. I nod at Oga, who starts talking. "You see, a few weeks ago, Furuichi and Mizushima had gotten into a fight with someone, and they both barely made it out alive. Hilda and I had gotten involved, but even we found him too strong," he begins. "This person is not from Ishiyama. He even threatened to come back for revenge. So, both Furuichi and Mizushima have gone to India for some extra training with Mizushima's grandfather."
"So?" Himekawa asks. "What does that have to do with us?"
"And what about us?" Shizuka asks.
"He threatened both the students of Ishiyama and St. Ishiyama," I reply. "He even mocked your schools and even the groups. He called the Tohoshinki 'weak and stupid'." I see Himekawa, Kanzaki and his lackeys, and Tojo look angered, and I smirk inwardly. "He said the Red Tails are nothing more than 'mere women who should know their place in life'." Kunieda, Nene-san, Yuka, and Chiaki look furious at that. "He even said that the Six Holy Knights are 'useless and full of idiots." Shizuka, Izuma, and Miki look appalled.
Perfect. Everything's going according to plan. I think, feeling a bit happy. Right then, I see Tojo raise his hand.
"What?"
"Did he look unusually vicious and carried a weird mace?" he asks. "I ran into two of them on my way home from my job. They said something about 'asuras' and stuff like that, and they looked weird, like they were from a different school."
Oga widens his eyes a bit. "Really?" he asks.
I look in shock. They're coming already?! So fast?! However, I mask my shock with a calm tone. "Yes, they're from a different school," I say.
"Even their name is terrifying," Oga adds. "They're from…"
"Narakasura High School!" we say at the same time.
Right then, everyone looks around at each other in shock. "That's why we need your help. During the school break, and the week after, we're going to be training hard to fight against these people."
"Count us all in!" Kanzaki declares. "No one messes with us and gets away with it!"
"And us!" Nene-san chimes in. "He dares to call us 'mere women'?!"
"We'll help too!" Miki adds.
Oga and I smirk. Things are working out well after all.
(Furuichi)
I bend myself backwards, trying to hold the pose without shaking. This is one of the warm ups that I have to do. However, since I have never done anything this strenuous before, I find myself struggling to hold the pose, as well as my back hurting. Meanwhile, Ayaka's grandfather, or Mohan, stands over me.
"So, Takayuki," he starts. "What do you think of my granddaughter?"
"H-Huh?" I ask.
"You know, Ayaka's a very lovely girl," he tells me. "She's kind, caring, very motivated, and she'll make your favourite dish as well."
I stare in disbelief. "What does that have to do wi- Ahh!" I fall over. "Ow! That hurts!"
He steps up to me. "You shouldn't be getting so distracted, Takayuki," he chides. "Focus is key."
"Wait, what?!" I ask. "You asked me those questions just to distract me?!"
"You need to deal with distractions in your life," he tells me. "You shouldn't pay so much attention to them. Now, try again."
Grumbling to myself, I bend myself backwards and assume the same pose. This time, I try and keep my breathing steady and relaxed, rather than tensing up. I also use this time to try and think about what would happen if I master all this. I'd earn the respect of everyone, and quite possibly… even Hilda-san! I'd probably become as popular as Oga is, and even get a girlfriend!
Eventually, Mohan comes up and helps me flip myself over so I'm standing on my feet. Surprisingly, I found that warm up fairly easy, compared with trying to do the splits. "All right, your warm ups are done now. Let's get started on the actual training."
He starts telling me about how I should position myself when fighting, before teaching me how to deliver a strike and kicks. However, when I try, I end up failing pretty badly, since I can barely even get a single strike in. He may be an elderly man, but he's pretty fast and strong! Then again, the strenuous warm ups really tired me out, so I'm kind of weak from that.
"Don't quit now!" he tells me. "We're just getting started!"
(Ayaka)
I bend down for a moment to catch my breath, already feeling exhausted. Right now, Arjun has been teaching me how to fight back if someone were to attack me from behind. "Ayaka," Arjun tells me. "You need to be more relaxed when fighting. It isn't good if you're tensed up, your movements won't be as free and smooth, otherwise."
"I know," I say. By now, the sun is already setting, and I'm starting to droop a bit.
"We're done for the day," he tells me. "If you have any muscle injuries, then you can go get a healing massage from Praveen."
As I head back into the kalari building, I hear some cries of pain from the massage room. Taking a quick peek, I see Furuichi, lying face down on the bench as Praveen, a healer, massages his back with a medicinal oil. "Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Furuichi cries out. "It hurts!"
"Don't tense up!" Praveen chides. "This is supposed to help you get better and heal your muscle injuries! Relax, Takayuki!"
As if noticing my presence, Furuichi suddenly grins and tries to put on a manly appearance. Yet the moment I leave, I hear his cries of pain again. I can't help but giggle at that. It's kind of cute to see him like that. Although, how did he get so many injuries?
"Oi, Furuichi?" I ask during dinner. "How was the massage?"
He winces slightly. "It hurt a bit, but I handled it like a real man," he tries to brush it off.
I raise an eyebrow. "Oh really? Then why were you screaming so much?" I ask teasingly. He looks down in embarrassment.
"It was quite the massage, actually," he says. "I felt a lot better after. Right now, though, I'm really exhausted. Training really wore me out today."
I nod. "Yeah, it can be quite intense," I say. "Don't worry though. You'll soon master it."
"Just a question. What do the massages do?" he asks.
"The medicinal oil massages are to help increase the physical flexibility and to heal muscle injuries," I explain. "There's also another technique, called marma shastram, in which learned warriors can disable their opponent by touching the correct vital point in the human body. You need to know a lot about the human body to do this."
Furuichi nods. "I have a feeling that I'll be frequently getting these oil massages," he says. "Today wore me out pretty badly, so I'm gonna go to bed early. So, good night."
"Good night," I say.