Sacred High (Book One: Freshman Year)

Chapter One: Different Kinds Of Strengths

As Kensei bowed after introducing himself politely, he took a quick glance around the room. There were only few people around of which two were himself and the Phoenix. The one that slid open the wall was another, then followed by a bulky guy with short, brown hair sitting at a table in the middle of the room. The man crossed his arms, letting out a sigh.

"I can probably train you a bit but I can't make promises it'll be effective or of much use against ability users like ourselves. You can most likely handle non-combative abilities or weaker ones, else Aki wouldn't have brought you to us." The bulky man stood up and peered toward Kensei's body, seemingly eyeing him up and down. "Name's Jiro by the way." He said, introducing himself. Simply his name, nothing else to it.

No codename or anything, just his name. That's how it's supposed to be, instead of having people labeled like animals, right? This was the start of a new chapter in Kensei's life, and he hoped it would have a good ending. Motioning Kensei to follow him, they seemed to move to a back part of the room.

Without a door and just a simple hole in the wall to pass through, a new section of the room was revealed. It had various weights for lifting and some training tools, along with open space to do whatever was necessary.

"Show me what you've got."

This was all he would get, as Jiro took on a casual fighting pose, waving his hand to signal Kensei to come at him. Left with no choice but to display his will to survive and his possible skills that Aki felt he had earlier, he had to go in and fight the guy. Even though it was sparring, Aki was hoping to see a spark of the potential she announced of Kensei.

Kensei dashed in quickly, shifting into a sideward stance and lashing out his left fist toward Jiro's abdomen. Jiro twisted his own arm to block the blow with his elbow, trying to strike with his free arm toward Kensei's head. Kensei duck through his knees deeply, rising and thrusting his palm up toward Jiro's stomach. Being pushed back slightly, Jiro let out a small cough, smiling. He seemed quite satisfied with Kensei's skill.

"Not bad at all. You know some good moves, kid." Jiro said, as Kensei smirked. Jiro walked up to him all of a sudden, feeling up his arms and twitching them a few times, then caressing Kensei's legs. "E-Eh? Wha-" He shouted out of surprise, taking a few steps back and looking at Jiro awkwardly. "You've got some good natural muscles, but you should probably train your body if you want to survive a fight."

Kensei nodded and felt happy that he wasn't just a lone target anymore, he didn't know these guys very well but he would show them what he could do: "I'll survive here without powers, I'll do it my own way!". Aki smiled and walked up to him: "Well done, you did well and you should be able to improve further. We can help you build up those muscles."

Just as she finished this the school bell rang, the survival has started. "Time to go out and see what you can against someone with powers, but don't worry. We'll back you up!" Jiro smiled and went with everyone else to the exit, it was time to fight. Kensei looked into Aki's eyes and saw a spark ignite. She ran to the school building out of their hidden safehaven.

"Let's see what you're really made of, let's survive and manage together." Said Aki, as Kensei felt a little uneasy and wasn't up to getting beaten like before, but he had faith in his comrades and went out. "Just us two ?" Kensei pointed at Jiro. "I'll train a little on my own." He said.

Aki and Kensei ran up and looked if the coast was clear. No one was near, "I know a place where some weaklings always hang around. Follow me, and better not get killed, because I see something in you ... Something more than just potential."Aki winked after those words left her lips. Kensei felt his chest warm up, he felt like her flames filled up his body and he was now ready for the fight. The two stopped in front of a classroom, and sitting there was one of the bullies that picked on Kensei.