The Good Demon [KNY]

Part 87: Steam

"Breathe in..." Righty ordered and took in a massive exhale of air, the recruits trying to emulate him to the best of their ability. "Breathe out..." Righty sighed a long trail of steam as his body emitted the faint golden glow of Hamon. At this point, around 3/4 of the recruits could channel Hamon. 

"I thought you said we were doing combat drills every day?" A recruit asked.

"Lefty's busy at the moment. But if you really want, we can skip the small stuff and have a go at it right now..." Righty's eyes glowed a vicious red, and the recruit shut his mouth in an instant. "Now... Breathe in... Breathe out..." Righty repeated the breathing motion as his chest sparked with Hamon once again. "Who hasn't channeled Hamon yet?" Righty asked the crowd. 

He was annoyed to see a few dozen hands raise. 

"#546, #321, #11, #87..." Righty counted with his fingers as he saw each recruit that raised their hand. "#299, #78, #143... Aoi!?" Righty was surprised when he saw her raise her hand. Aoi averted her gaze out of shame when she heard him exclaim her name in surprise.

"Sorry, Aoi!" Righty realized how embarrassing that must have been and whisper-shouted an apology to her, not realizing that this served as even more embarrassment.

"Alright, everyone who can channel Hamon, head into the woods and do some sparring with a partner. Every recruit that can't channel Hamon yet, stay here." Righty ordered. Immediately, most of the recruits cleared out, leaving the last fourth that hadn't channeled Hamon. "Now that you're all here... Line up." Righty's voice darkened and the recruits began to sweat.

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"Deep breath." Righty stood behind a recruit, his hand placed on their back.  The recruit took a deep breath, and Righty squinted, focusing all of his senses to try and find a flaw. 

"You aren't breathing deeply enough, you should feel it in your diaphragm," Righty explained. "Deep breath, now." Righty ordered the recruit and sent a small amount of Hamon into the recruit's body. "You feel that? I sent some into your core, breathe as deep as you can and try to get a hold of it, focus." Righty ordered and the recruit followed, taking a deep breath and holding it in. Righty smiled as a warm tingle met his hand. This recruit had done it.

"Next!" Righty called the next in line as the recruit that had been helped strutted into the woods triumphantly.

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Lefty sighed a puff of steam as he followed Ume, who cheerfully walked down one of the corp's many trails. Ubuyashiki allowed her to leave her room, on the condition she'd be shadowed by at least one pillar or one of the demon brothers. 

Over the past few days, Ume had seemed to grow warmer. She asked to see him more, and not always for demands. Bit by bit, she seemed to be getting closer to him. More... touchy. Whether or not it was her missing a brother figure in her life or something for Lefty to vomit violently about was to be revealed. While he would most likely never feel safe around her, he knew what isolation could do to a person. Lefty looked at the marked walls of the building as they entered. When was the last time he had bathed? He didn't really need to shower when he had control over every cell in his body and could set himself on fire instantaneously.

Ume went in and Lefty followed. She picked a bathroom to use and Lefty leaned on the wall and closed his eyes as she opened the door. He was confused when he didn't hear her enter.

"You coming with?"

...

...

...

Lefty opened his eyes and turned his head slowly.

"What?" Lefty was understandably confused.

"You know, help me take a bath?" Ume chuckled.