Interlude
Hairo
Hairo Kineshi never backed down from a challenge. He met challenges toe to toe and overwhelmed them with the force of his burning aura and matchless enthusiasm. Not only that, he was the kind of guy who went out of his way to make things all the more challenging for himself and others—like requesting extra laps at tennis practice or hauling a log across town to cut his own lumber—because challenges were what made life worth living. If one isn't being challenged, why even be alive?
That said, this training sucked.
It wasn't that the hours stretched into literal days (that was actually pretty awesome) or the limited, uncomfortable sleep on a bed of piranha plants he had to ward away by keeping his spirit energy constantly flexing. It wasn't even the high-protein, high-carb, tasteless square blocks he ate as rations (though that was an admitted low).
No, what sucked is that he sucked. As in, he couldn't do what Kurama-sensei was asking him to do. As in, Hairo Kineshi was a failure.
They had started his channeling training by having Kurama walk Hairo through the basics of circulating his spirit energy and using it to sense the gaps in a physical object.
"You have, I would assume, at least a basic understanding of general physics," Kurama had asked that first day. "Which means you are aware that the items we see are largely comprised of the empty spaces between molecules."
"Sure," Hairo said. "That's why, when something is compressed, it may lose its shape, but the weight and density remains the same."
"Yes," Kurama said. "Those gaps between spaces is also what allows spirit energy to be channeled. By filling those gaps with your spirit energy, you can enhance the object's structure to improve its durability through maximizing its molecular density. I am certain you can understand why such an ability would prove useful when battling against an assailant who possesses four or five times your physical strength."
The next few days were spent introducing Hairo to multiple types of weapons from the classic katana to a bat studded with nails, but no matter how hard he tried, Hairo was unable to connect with the weapon well enough to sense the gaps in its structure. He could coat them with spirit energy, which did a lot toward improving the weapon's durability and sharpness (if it had a blade), but he couldn't push his spirit energy into the weapon itself.
Realizing Hairo had hit a wall, Kurama changed tactics by having Hairo channel his spirit energy directly in an attempt to take control over his base element. Like Kurama, who had a strong affinity for the living earth element, Hairo had a strong affinity to fire. But as with channeling, he couldn't meld his spirit energy with the fire well enough to make it bend to his will. He'd tried holding the fire, coaxing it, teasing it with his energy, sticking his hand in its heart to grab a fistful of coals (terrible plan, that), and even—in a fit of psychosis induced desperation—sang it a lullaby in an attempt to put it to sleep to take it by surprise.
He wasn't proud of that train of thought, but he'd been running on less than five hours of sleep over a six-day period, so it had seemed like a good idea at the time.
On the bright side, Hairo was in the best physical condition of his life. In fact, if it was on the table, he could probably breeze through a Grand Slam without breaking a sweat. Shockingly, that was only a minor consolation for the overwhelming negative that weighed down on him day after day after day.
I'm a failure…
"I believe, Hairo-san, that Koenma-sama and I have made a miscalculation."
Hairo's heart lurched and his gut clenched. This was it; Kurama would tell him that he was nothing but deadweight and cut him from the team!
He clenched his eyes shut, hating himself for being such a loser. His friends were all counting on him, but he'd let them down!
"You were recorded by Nadeshiko-san as a channeler because of your ability to infuse your spirit energy into your tennis racket, but the connection you have with that piece of equipment is impossible to translate to a weapon you have held for only a few minutes. The trust is not there, on either side, and so the connection cannot take place."
Kurama paused, and Hairo somehow tensed even further.
"Your friend, Kuboyasu Aren, on the other hand, has difficulty extending spirit energy beyond his own body, and thus is unable to harness it into a weapon. By the same token, Kuwabara has reported his ability to create an extension of himself by placing spirit energy into external object, something he seems able to do by instinct alone."
Hairo relaxed a bit, confused. He didn't understand much other than Kuboyasu was apparently excelling in his training—Good for you, man!—in the way Hairo was supposed to. So did that mean Kurama was dumping him for Kuboyasu?
"Hairo-san, you can open your eyes," Kurama's amused tone wasn't quite mocking, "you are not being punished."
Hairo dared a peek at his assigned teacher, who was sitting in his usual chair with his usual grace, though it still surprised Hairo to see him with glasses and his hair pulled back. The most Hairo knew about Kurama came from the Ghost Files, and in those episodes, his bright red hair fell loose to his waist. Apparently, loose hair got in his way as a physician. The glasses were prescription-less and, Hairo would guess, intended to make him look doctorly and harmless. Doctorly, the man may be, but he was anything but harmless.
"The error is ours," Kurama continued, motioning toward Hairo with his bladed hands, "and therefore, ours to reconcile. Be assured, you have not failed, and you are not being dismissed. We are merely reorganizing our efforts."
"So…that means…?"
"You are better suited to learn from Kuwabara, who is a master at molding spirit energy directly, while Kuboyasu-san will work under me to hone his channeling abilities."
"Oh…" That meant Hairo really was getting tossed over for Kuboyasu, but at least he wasn't getting kicked out. "So…does that mean these last few months were pointless?"
"Not at all. In fact, this likely worked out for the better. You, who have had no control over your spirit energy before now, are now intimately acquainted with its feel, touch, and weight. You know how to draw it up and out, and how to mold it to fit your needs. All of these things will be crucial to the work you do with Kuwabara. While Kuboyasu-san's training with Kuwabara has made him that much more attuned to his instinct for channeling." Kurama offered him a wry smile. "In a way, this mix up was the best-case scenario. Without it, you and Kuboyasu-san may have hit a much more crucial wall in your training; one I am not certain you would have been able to overcome."
"I see…" Hairo looked down at his palm, the scarred flesh still unfamiliar even after weeks of healing. He grinned and clenched his fist, grateful for the scars and the lessons they had imparted. "Well, when you hit rock-bottom, there's no where left to go but up! So, let's do this coach trade; I've got some climbing to do."
Kaliea: So, I realized after I started writing Aren's training that I had made a mistake in pairing off the gang with their teachers, and yet, it was too late to go back and change it (not really, but I'm lazy), so I decided it wasn't my mistake at all, it was the Yu Yu gang's mistake (innocent whistle). That said, Kurama's discussion with Hairo isn't just BS, what someone grasps onto instinctually is often the way to go, but it can also create bad habits. In Hairo's case, by instinctively infusing his racket with spirit energy, he created sort of mental block that stopped him from being able to fuse with anything else that way unless there was already a bond between himself and the object. On the flips side, by trying to channel his spirit energy in that way, he became more adept and aware of his energy as its own entity, which will make generating an energy weapon that much easier. Which I totally planned all along...
Edit: I found the training schedule I made up long before writing the earlier chapter that divided everyone into their teams, and it turns out that I originally planned to have Hairo with Kuwabara and Kuboyasu with Kurama from the start. Which, on the one hand, vindicated! On the other hand - ugh, seriously? Why couldn't I have found that sooner?! Oh well, que sura sura and whatever ;)
