Chapter 60 : Tempus Fugit - Famous samouraï

"So we're really doing this, I guess?" Hanako-san drawls dispassionately, a wood training sword loosely held in her grasps, looking thoroughly unenthused by the coming spar.

Kiba can't help but chuckle a little awkwardly as he is subjected to the very real lack of enthusiasm of his opponent, scratching his cheek a little abashedly.

"Mou!" His King interjects before he has the time to formulate an answer himself, "You promised, Prima-chan!"

"I guess I did." The girl with a side-shave sigh, making Himejima-san titter.

"If you really don't feel up to it, there's always next week, Hanako-san." Kiba politely says, even as his grip on his own training blade tightens a notch.

It's almost imperceptible, but he catches his fellow swordsman - swordswoman, more like - mirroring his own motion, the tip of her blade shifting minutely into something that could almost look like a guard.

Proof enough that her instincts are sharp if anything.

"Nah, it's fine." The dark-brown haired girl admits after a short beat, her bored countenance vanishing slowly, "It was a long time coming anyway, and I can't keep waiting for my weeks to be a little less tiring since it doesn't look like it's getting any better anyway."

"Oh?" The peerage Queen 'curiously wonders', a hand put against her own cheek in mock-concern, "Did you again have any trouble sleeping last night, perchance?"

The innuendo is so blatant that everyone seems to catch it, including the diminutive Rook, who throws a dirty glare the jade-black haired girl's way while mouthing out the word 'pervert'.

Kiba's opponent, standing tall in her tank-top and jogging slack combo, eerie and artful tattoos on full display, woodenly turns Himejima-san's way.

The dark-blue eyed girl and her purple eyed vis à vis stare at each other for a beat, the first with a mildly disappointed look and the other with a falsely innocent air.

"Moving on." Hanako-san eventually says after turning back Kiba's way, "Ready when you are, Yuuto-san."

"So am I, Hanako-san." The Knight politely answers back, shifting into a proper guard, a gesture promptly followed by his opponent.

"Oh! Oh! Can I call the start?" His King excitedly calls, bouncing on her feet a little.

The girl with a side-shave rolls her eyes in mild exasperation, the little upturn of her lips betraying her inner amusement at the childish display.

Kiba's own lips quirk up minutely in turn.

"Yes you can, Rias." Her King's friend says, her guard still up.

"Yes!" The Gremory heiress fistpump, before suddenly turning serious, a hand raised skyward.

"Hajime!" She yells while dropping her hand-

-and the two combatants don't instantly move.

For a beat, the two of them look at each other, unwilling to do the first move.

Kiba's blood, running at a low simmer until now, starts to pump a little, the little upturn of his lips turning more genuine.

Truth is, he had been anticipating this spar for a long time by now, and the Kuoh High School Kendo Club victory at the last Young Japanese Kendo League made it all the more enticing to finally get to taste his King's friend mettle.

As Hanako-san had so aptly pointed out earlier, this has been a long time coming. Almost too long, in his own opinion.

The 'hidden protagonist' as his King calls her may even reveal the potential aces in her sleeves during this encounter, assuming it wasn't just his Master's japanophilia getting the better of her, as usual.

Granted, there were quite a few suspicious things about the dark-blue eyed girl, hence why he wasn't entirely dismissing those tales out of hand, contrary to what the Queen and Rook of the peerage might say.

His excitement, carefully hidden as it is, finally gets the better of him and he steps closer to his opponent, getting himself ready for a simple downward chop.

Hanako-san mirrors his probing strike as she smoothly glides in his own direction.

The two weaks of the blades meet with a resounding 'clack'.

And the spar is on.

I have to admit, Kiba is good with a blade.

We have going at it for a couple of minutes by now, and while I wouldn't put him at Sakura's level - and no, I'm not simping, she is just flat out his better, I've got enough spar against her under my belt to know it - it shows that the guy is diligent, dedicated and pursue the blade with the single-mindedness of a particularly obstinate bull.

He is just a bit too rigid, in my opinion, and focus a tad too much on bladework at the detriment of everything else, the couple of cheap shots I tried slipping through just for the hell of it systematically taking him off-guard, even if they all amount to jack-shit since he ends up reacting faster that I can pull them off while fighting like a human.

I lightly sidestep away from a stab, letting his blade slide against the flat of my own, feinting an elbow strike that he smoothly dodges by stepping back, the glint of interest in his eyes getting more pronounced as the fight goes on, his Excitement merilly pulsing in the Immaterium.

He has yet to pull out the big guns though, because I'm low-key convinced he will try to go beyond human parameters in an effort to see what I can really do at some point or maybe just bait me into revealing myself as a supernatural - it's not really paranoia if they're really out to get you, after all - but I've gotten really good at sandbagging with the Kendo Club, so I should be able to slip through the attempt without too much trouble.

He goes for a downward chop once more, Anticipation ringing in the air, his blade cutting through the air faster than before.

Our blades clash once more, and it's only because I'm actively channeling Serenity through myself that my eyebrows don't shoot up.

The last strike was at least fifty percent stronger that the last one at a guess, which means he is definitely done playing around-

-and so I take a couple of steps back, one leaving my guard as I pretend to shake the backlash of the hit off.

"Damn." I swear 'under my breath', wiggling my fingers 'absentmindedly', "What kind of strength is that?"

Kiba halts his advance almost instantly as he registers my words.

For a short beat, you could hear a pin drop in Rias' fancy gym.

"A-Are you alright, Prima-chan?" Rias eventually scrambles, raw Panic throbbing in the Warp.

I turn myself to look in the redhead's direction, her vivid blue eyes wide-

-and I relentlessly quash the little bit of self-loathing bubbling in my gut at lying to my friend once again.

"Yeah, yeah I am." I answer, flexing my fingers a couple of times, "But I'd be interested in knowing what Yuuto-san eats for breakfast, because that last exchange almost sent me reeling."

Absolutely not, but I do have to overplay it to maintain my cover.

"... My apologies." The Knight ends up saying over a stuttered excuse of his King, dropping his guard and giving me an apologetic look, "But maybe it was just a lucky blow? I swear I didn't do anything different than usual."

Which is an absolute load of bollocks, and everyone in the room knows it.

"... I guess so?" I wonder aloud, "Maybe I fumbled my block? I mostly listened to my instincts on that last exchange."

"You do seem a bit more tired than usual~." Akeno daintily prevaricates hums, lips upturned, Mirth tainted with a little bit of the telltale pink-purple glow of Lust.

… Guess she's appreciating the show or something along those lines, uh.

Granted, since I've started becoming more than human and our little heart-to-heart in the changing room of a lingerie shop, that little glow has steadily grown over the months.

I'm still pretending I noticed absolutely nothing though, because I have zero urges to open that particular can of worms, even ignoring the fact that I'm currently dating someone.

I still throw her an annoyed look while Rias throws a scathing glare her Knight's way.

Koneko is largely unmoved by what's happening, eyes half-lidded and barely staying awake, truth to be told.

"... Shall we call it a day?" Kiba ends up asking after a beat, Deception and Regret ringing in the air.

I take a moment to mull over my thoughts, before shaking my head.

"Nah, I'm good to go." I end up saying, taking up a guard once again, "... As long as I don't fumble like that again, anyway."

His ever-present smile turns a little plastic, Shame peaking in the Immaterium.

"Are you sure Prima-chan?" Rias asks anxiously.

"Yeah, I am." I give her a genial nod, "Yuuto-san's been wanting to spar with me for ages, I'm not calling it quits just now, yeah?"

I can at least throw him a bone, now that I've potentially disarmed the situation.

Surprise echoes in the room, and the Knight's smile turns genuine once again as his grip tightens around his sword's handle once again.

I inwardly sigh, getting my head back in the game.

I guess I'm going through all this trouble to be a - relatively - good friend.

"You're good, Yuuto-san." I end up complimenting him once we're back in Rias' living room, my lap full of a sleeping catgirl, one hand slowly combing her white locks while the other holds a tea cup.

"I feel obligated to return the compliment, Hanako-san." The blonde teenager politely answers back, his hands in his lap and an aura of Satisfaction permeating him.

"Yuuto-kun's really good!" Rias happily chirps, "His trainer is really proud of him!"

"A trainer, uh?" I idly muse aloud.

"That's right!" The redhead nods energetically.

"Is he a local or something?" I ask 'conversationally', feeling a hint of schadenfreude overtaking me.

"No, he is from abroad." Akeno answers smoothly, side-eyeing her King with the most 'don't be a dunce' look I've ever seen her direct the Gremory heiress' way.

"I bet he's familiar with either katanas or single-edged swords, though." I keep 'musing', eyes looking skyward and with my arms crossed over my chest, one of my finger tap-tapping along the porcelain of my cup.

"Oh? What makes you say that?" The Knight asks, visibly intrigued.

"Your forms look very similar to those we use in the Kendo Club, although they seem a bit more practical." I answer back, locking eyes with him, "And you mostly tend to use only the edge facing your opponent despite wielding a double-edged blade."

Cue three surprised blinks directed my way.

"It's easy to catch when you know what to look for." I preempt future questioning, "I do have a HEMA background, and you tend to get caught flat-footed when I throw the script off by making use of the second edge."

"... I guess I grew a little complacent, then." The Knight mumbles under his breath, one hand coming to cup his chin.

"More like you got too focused on your teacher's forms or something." I posit, before grinning while exaggeratingly winking the three Devil's way, "Hell, if I didn't know any better, I'd say Okita Souji trained you or something!"

Cue a general startle, Confusion, Fear and Surprise blaring in the Immaterium.

In my lap, Koneko grumbles.

I throw a confused look of my own Rias and her peerage's way.

"... Why are you looking at me like this? It was a joke." I give them all my best 'weirded out' impression.

"A-Ah Ah, a joke, really?" The redhead asks, lips in a thin line.

"Well, yes? You're the biggest japanese otaku round the block-"

"Hey!"

"-So I spouted the first famous samurai name that crossed my mind. I could have gone with Sasaki Kojiro or Myamoto Musashi too." I keep giving them my best 'perplexed' look.

For a moment, silence falls amid the room.

"Well, you got me good Prima-chan." Rias eventually says.

"Doesn't really look like it." I huff, "I don't get why you all suddenly got your panties in a twist, geez."

"... I think I speak for all of us when I say that you caught us off guard." Kiba masterfully prevaricates.

"Umu." The Gremory heiress nods in assent.

I inwardly grin.

I still haven't lost my touch at throwing them off with oddly accurate comments, eh.

[AN: We be a little cheeky.

Hope you enjoy, xoxo!]