Yasu's POV
"A slayer?" I ask, surprised. I never had any training for anything. Can I really become one?
"Yeah!" Senjuro perks up, almost knocking over his bowl. "You can train with me!"
I think about it for a little. "But... I don't know anything-"
"It's okay! Everyone starts like that!" Rengoku-san grins. "Do you want to?"
I bite my lip. I'm so young though... It sounds really dangerous being a slayer...
Then I remember the demon back at my home. My aunt.
I squeeze my eyes shut. "O-okay. I'll try!"
Rengoku-san smiles, and cleans up our bowl. "We'll start after you get changed into more comfortable clothes!"
My head shoots up. "E-eh?"
Senjuro grabs my wrist. "Come on. I'll give you my spare clothes."
He drags me to his room, and starts digging into his closet. He throws his clothes everywhere, some landing on my head.
"Aha! Here it is." He holds out a comfortable looking shirt and pants. I laugh a little. He has clothes on his arm and head.
He tilts his head in confusion, but shakes his off. I take the clothes from his hands.
"Uwah! Sorry, I made such a mess!" Senjuro panics, finally realizing what mess he made.
"No, no. It's fine. I'll get changed now." I smile slightly and leave his room. I quietly make myself to the guest room where I am staying. I shut the door behind me, and quickly change out of my kimono.
After I'm done, I move around to see how it feels. It feels really light and comfy. I make myself out to the backyard. The Sun looks like it's about to set.
"Ah! I'm glad one of Senjuro's spare clothes fit you!" Rengoku-san laughs. He took his cape off. I can study his uniform now. There's something written on the back. Too bad I can't really read.
"Sorry! I was cleaning up the mess I made in my room." Senjuro shouts, running out. I realized that both of them has their hair up for training.
I take off my hair tie placed on my right wrist. I hold it with my mouth while I get my hair ready, bringing them together into a simple ponytail. I tie it around three times, making sure it's steady.
"Okay. Hmm.." Rengoku-san rubs his chin. "Lets see where you are at, Yasu. Who knows, you might be really skilled with this stuff! You'll fight Senjuro."
"Eh? But I'm not that strong-" Senjuro mutters, and glances over at me. "At least I trained a little... Yasu didn't."
"Worrying about her, hey?" Rengoku-san jokes, poking Senjuro. The poor boy's face turns red.
"Stop it!" He defends, covering his face. "It's normal for a person to worry!"
"Okay, okay. I apologize. It's hand to hand combat, by the way. Yasu, tell him to stop if you're actually hurting."
I nod, nervous. But I feel something tingly inside my body. I feel like I know how to do this. Confidence? No.
Senjuro charges at me, and I read his movements. Straight-ahead attack.
Wait, how do I know that?
I swiftly move to the side, making dust rise as I slide off to the side.
"Whoa," Senjuro exclaims. "Maybe I can skip this part-"
He charges me once more, slightly faster this time. He zigzags back and forth, making it harder to concentrate. I don't dare leave my eyes off of him. He suddenly disappears from view.
He's at the back.
I jump up, seeing Senjuro stumble forward. He turns right around. He narrows his eyes at me. "You trained, haven't you?"
I shake my head. "No. Not that I remember."
Rengoku-san gets up from his seat. "It seems like you know the basics of combat. How about sword uses?"
"I get to use swords?" I ask. Senjuro tosses me a wooden sword. Oh, we train with these I guess.
Another part of me tingles. What's with the tingling? I shiver.
Suddenly, without thinking, my body takes over. I stand firmly.
"You already know how to stand properly?" Rengoku-san asks. He then grins. "Very nice."
"I'll charge you with my wooden sword. I can say using swords is basically like hand combat, but not using your fists. In order to 'win' this game, you have to lay your sword on my body. If my sword lands on yours, or you drop your sword, I win." Senjuro explains. Okay. I can do this, right?
Senjuro runs towards me with perfect posture. He must've trained a lot. He lunges his sword at me, and I move sideways. I didn't even think.
I swiftly ran to Senjuro's back, and hit him with my sword slightly. "Did I win?"
"Whoa.." Senjuro turns around, stares at me, and then nods. "How'd you-"
"Good job, Yasu. It's getting late though. We should get inside now." Rengoku-san... oniisan says and gets up. "Senjuro, you did a good job too. Tomorrow, go a little bit hard on her. I want to see how she does."
"Okay." Senjuro replies and takes the wooden sword from me. "Great job, Yasu."
My lips form a small smile. I head inside and turn back. "Good night guys."
"Good night, Yasu." They say in chorus and I walk inside the guest bedroom. I can see my earring placed beside my pillow. I change into my night clothes and crawl into the safety of the blanket. I listen to the lullabies of the owls, and my eyes slowly flutter close.
---
I open my eyes. I'm back at my auntie's house. But how? My legs take me into the house.
Stop. Why isn't my legs listening to me?
My legs stops moving when we entered the house. I widen my eyes.
Blood. Auntie. Demon.
I try and run outside but my feet are glued onto the floor. No matter how hard I try, I can't move them. I try and close my eyes, but I can't seem to do that either.
The demon looks up and spots me. It grins and dashes towards me, getting ready for the kill.
---
I gasp and get up from my futon. I'm sweating, and I can feel tears in my eyes. I don't think I can sleep here anymore.
I grab my pillow, hugging them tight. I look out the window to see that it's still midnight. I slowly get up, and quietly slide open the door. I sob as I make myself to Senjuro's room, since I don't know where Rengoku-san's room is.
I slide open his door, and I stand there, sobbing.
"Hm..?" I hear Senjuro's tired voice. "Yasu..? What are you doing here-" He stops when he realizes the tears in my eyes.
"I-.. Where is hch Rengoku-san's room..?" I ask, wiping away my tears.
"It's down the hall... but he had a mission to go to... Are you okay?" He asks, getting up.
"...nightmare." I sniff. Senjuro stands in front of me, unsure what to do.
"Here," He says, dragging me to his futon. "We can talk for a little to make you feel better. We gotta be quiet, though. Father gets cranky when someone wakes him up."
I nod, taking a seat. He takes a seat in front of me.
"So." He starts. "We're the same age. When's your birthday?"
"June 2nd.." I reply, calming down a little bit.
"I'm older!" He laughs quietly. "Mine is on April 27th."
I nod. We fall silent.
"We can be like siblings now, right?" He asks.
"Oh.. I guess so." I mutter, hugging my pillow tighter.
He studies me and gasps. "Your eyes are pretty in the moonlight."
"Thanks.." I sniff, smiling. He gives me a shy smile.
"You're really different from your brother." I mention. "You're so shy when he's so open."
"Aha... yeah." He grins. "I tend to be shy."
We talked for a while, until I yawn.
"Let's go back to your room." He says, holding out his hand. I take it and we walk back to my room.
"Good night, Senjuro." I say.
"You too. Feel free to come to my room anytime when you get those nightmares again." He waves, and shuts the door.
When I hear Senjuro's footsteps fading away, I make myself over to the window. My sleep chases away when my face meets the cold wind brushing against my face. My tear dries from it, so now my face is all stuck and weird.
I stare at the moon for awhile before closing the window and crawling into the blankets. Without any hesitation, I fall asleep.