You all watch as the Rokuhara Tandai members enter the amusement park. All wearing dark hoods and masks. As if to keep themselves anonymous. But you guys knew they were Rokuhara's kids.
You look down at the photo of Draken you'd been carrying. He was still looking around for Takemichi in the amusement park.
"We have about ten minutes until they find Draken," you look up from the photo, whispering to the two. You put the photo back in your pocket.
"Alright, what's the plan?" Chifuyu whispers back. His full attention was on you. "I... I don't know," you said both honestly and anxiously. "If we leave this spot now, there's a possibility that some of them will gang up on us," you say. "Letting the other members, especially the one with the gun, run ahead."
The other boy next to you grins. Cracking his knuckles, "As if we can't take 'em!" He boasts confidently. You and Chifuyu shush him, scared he talked loud enough for the Rokuhara members to hear.
"Why think of a plan anyway?" The boy turns to say to the two of you. Quietly this time.
"We can just beat the dog shit outta them!"
~
Your eyes shot open. You feel something wet dragging down the side of your face. You blink, trying to wake yourself up. You feel your face and check your hands.
It was blood.
You sit yourself up immediately.
What the fuck... What the fuck. What the fuck!
You wipe your face hastily as bloodied tears leave your eyes. It finally stops and you look down to your pillow.
"God, how am I gonna get those stains out...?" You groggily said out loud. Staring at your now red-stained pillow.
I hate this power of mine.
-
"Have fun at training!" Chifuyu says, waving at you as you unlock your bike. The lights turn on and the engine booms. "See ya!" You replied back.
You start to drive on the road. The whole school day, you'd been so occupied with classwork that you hadn't had the time to think about the vision you had. Or why it made you bleed.
That vision isn't even that far into the future. You assume. Seeing that it was July 7th, which was in about two weeks.
The only time I've bled from a vision was if it was set in the next ten years. Or if I stayed too long in it without blinking.
Also... Who was that guy?
You could barely remember his face now. But he had long, dark hair. A little taller than Chifuyu as well.
A Brahman member? But why would I trust a Brahman that quickly? That vision doesn't make sense at all.
It reminded you of the feminine figure you saw through Draken's eyes. Moments before he opened them up after getting shot.
I can't make any sense of these at all...
You park your bike in front of the Gojo gym. Kicking the stand before you get off. You take a deep breath. I'll think about it later...
"[Y/N]!!" Senju cheerfully greets as you walk in. You set your bag down and say hi back to her, smiling.
It was only the second day of training, but you were slowly starting to get used to Senju's over-the-top energy. It was also nice to be able to spend time with another girl. Since Hina goes straight to cram school after her regular classes.
"Was school boring? You look tired!" Senju asks. "My day was pretty boring! Felt like I barely attended," she speaks again before you can answer her question.
"It felt like you barely attended because you slept through your classes again..." Takeomi says, sighing at his little sister.
Both you and Senju greet Wakasa and Benkei near the boxing ring. They announced it was lower body training. Compared to yesterday's training session, the teachers switched. This time you get to train with Wakasa.
Senju groans, "Does that mean I have to do a bunch of leg workouts...?"
"OF COURSE!" Benkei yells excitedly. "Nothing wrong with strengthening 'em up more!"
"You really don't like working out, huh?" You looked over at Senju. "It's so slow!" Senju complains, "And I can't rush them either or I'll pull a muscle again..."
Again?!
"Shall we?" Wakasa says to you. Gesturing to follow him. You do the regular stretching routine, copying every move Wakasa does. It was pretty silent compared to yesterday's with Benkei.
Without even uttering a word, you knew Wakasa's way of teaching would be different. You already had a glimpse of it, before your first spar with Senju.
Finally, he gets up and you follow his lead. He had you perform different types of kicks on him. This time, without a forearm guard.
Guess he's testing my strength this time. You inferred. The last time he had you do kicks, it was to see if you knew how to do them at all. Testing your technique.
He must've already known from the start that I was gonna lose to Senju...
"Your technique and posture are fine. Your strength, however..." Wakasa finally spoke. You braced yourself for a harsh answer.
"... Is shit," he says bluntly.
You expected physical strength would be a weak point in your fighting. You wondered if he was monotonous on purpose, or if that was really how he speaks.
Wakasa gets you to repeat multiple kicking techniques. Urging you to hit harder each time he would block them.
Senju must have crazy stamina if this is the kind of training she prefers! You think as you continue to do the routine. It felt like you were kicking faster rather than harder.
As the minutes went by, you could hear yourself breathe louder, getting more exhausted. You try to give yourself a few seconds of rest before doing the rotation again.
Each time you would rest, it felt like Wakasa was looking down on you impatiently. He was a hard person to read, with how blank he is.
The repetition was starting to frustrate you. You began to wonder what kind of strength Wakasa was even looking for out of you.
It's only my second day! How high of expectation does this guy have?!
You continue the routine. Feeling your back and forehead moisten from sweat. As well as your face feeling strained.
You step back to do the one last kick in the routine. The roundhouse. You shift your leg back before swinging it at Wakasa. As your leg went down, you found yourseld shocked.
The whole time, Wakasa wouldn't move each time you'd target at it. But you were able to knock it down.
Wakasa smiles proudly. "That's the kind of strength Brahman needs," he says. "Rokuhara and Kanto are nothing like the smaller gangs you've beat. They're not afraid to throw full punches or even wield weapons."
"Which is why you can't afford to hold back," he said more sternly. "I know you're strong. But you don't."
But... I don't? You repeated in your head. You didn't understand what he meant. How can you, yourself, not know your strengths?
You do a few more repetitions of kicks before joining Benkei and Senju with strength training. Using the machines in the gym.
The training session finally ends. With no demonstration on how to utilize your moves today. Since both you and Senju were already well-educated in lower body attacks.
Before you leave, you make sure to get a quick photo of you, Senju and your teachers. Telling them that you liked to take photos to look back on.
Once the photo develops, you greet everyone goodbye before leaving.
This will probably be handy later on. You think to yourself. You walk outside of the building.
"Your strength, however, is shit."
Should I start working out with Draken again? Would he have the time for that anymore? You started to wonder. You wanted to improve on the criticism you were given today, but how?
With July 7th approaching closer and closer, you have to get stronger. But will two weeks really be enough?
You had so much going on in your mind right now. You had no clue what to focus on. Training? The vision you had this morning? Draken's death? There were so many things you felt like you needed to work on. Yet, it felt like you couldn't possibly find the time for all of it.
"You're still here, huh?" You jump a bit, hearing Wakasa's voice behind you.
Was I that lost in thought or does he always quietly sneak up like that...?
"Mind if I smoke?" He asks, reaching into his pocket. "Yes, I do," you tell the man seriously. You found it disappointing that Wakasa was a smoker.
He chuckles a little, "Thought asking politely would make you let it slide." He takes out two lollipops out of his pocket and offers you one of them.
Wakasa puts the lollipop in his mouth. Supposedly to mimic having a cigarette. "You're a good student," he compliments. "But I don't feel right putting you into battle."
You couldn't help but feel a little gutted by what he said. You felt you couldn't even be mad at him for thinking that way either. Wakasa telling you that solidified to you that even with this training, you won't be strong enough.
Wakasa notices your silence. "You can call me an asshole for thinking this," he speaks again, "But I think your mind might be clouded when you see Mikey again."
"If you don't keep your composure, you won't be able to fight well," he finishes.
I almost forgot about that. I was talking big to Koko the other day... But can I even handle seeing Mikey again? Especially in battle...
"Wait, how do you know about me and Mikey?" You asked the man. Curious how he'd figure that out. "Draken's mentioned it before," he answers, "One of his excuses for not letting you join Brahman sooner."
You look down, "So... You won't be putting me in the battle?" You asked sadly.
"No," he answers, "You'll still be there." Wakasa leans his back in the wall, "I'm just worried about you."
You didn't expect to hear that from Wakasa. You thought he'd be indifferent to you. Then again, it could just be his monotonous voice and harsh choices of words.
He takes the lollipop out of his mouth, holding it like a cigar. You open your mouth to ask him why he'd be worried. But he spoke before you could.
"One time, Shinichiro got rejected by a girl so bad, his punches were even sloppier than normal." Wakasa suddenly tells you. "It was a little funny," he adds. Chuckling as he reminisced, "It looked like he had noodles for arms and was just flailing them around."
It was a little unexpected to see Wakasa sound teasing and playful. Maybe he's like this because he's talking about Shinichiro.
"What happened after that?" You asked. "We won," he answered. "But he was still bummed."
You frown, feeling empathy, "He must've liked her a lot," you comment.
"Eh, it happens," Wakasa said flatly, "What's important is how you get over it."
"Have you been rejected before?" You asked the man curiously. He smiles, "Only once," he says.
You weren't entirely surprised. With how handsome the man is, Shinichiro might've been rejected purely because the girls were more into Wakasa.
The only shock you had was that he was rejected at all. You asked him how he got over it.
"I didn't," he said honestly, "I kept pursuing her despite the initial rejection."
You furrow your brows, "But why?" You asked.
"I liked that she didn't like me," he replied. You looked at him oddly and he noticed.
Wakasa puts the lollipop back in his mouth. "I was your age. Around second-year of high school," he continued, laughing a little. "Teenage boys are dumb. Even me."
"So... You never got over her?" You questioned. Wakasa shook his head, "She was my first girlfriend."
You asked him how that went. "She eventually went on a date with me, thinking I'd stop bothering her," he tells you, "To her surprise, we hit it off."
"I liked her because she was really strong. Mentally. Always stood her ground. Even now, I still think the most attractive thing about a woman is confidence," Wakasa says.
Ah, so I probably wouldn't be his type... You think disappointedly.
Wait, he wouldn't go for me anyway! You realize. He's like a decade older than me!
"She hated the fact I was in a gang though. But she still loved me, despite it." You stayed silent to listen to him more.
"But the more involved I got with gangs, the less I spent time with her," he continued. "Before an important brawl, she broke up with me."
"Oh, I'm so sorry..." You mutter. "Don't be," he waves his hands up and down, "I got what was coming," Wakasa says.
"I wasn't sad at all. I was pissed. I thought 'Who is she to break up with me'?" He shakes his head, laughing at his past self.
"I thought she wasted my time," he says. "Up until a year later, I bumped into her on the street. And the memories filled my mind."
"I realized a person I used to hold and love dearly now saw me as a stranger."
You couldn't help but feel sad hearing his story. But mostly on the girl's part. "How'd you get over her?" You asked Wakasa.
"I let her go," he said, "If she wanted to see me again, she would. But if she's better off without me, I should let her be better."
Their relationship must've been pretty long... You think. Wakasa noticed that your mood was still down from hearing his story. "Falling out with someone happens," he starts again. "Whether they're your first love or your friend, it's almost inevitable."
Wakasa takes the plastic stick out of his mouth. "But you can't expect that relationship to be the way as it used to be. Especially not after what caused the falling out to begin with."
You see him looking around before speaking again, "It's like if you popped a tire and expected your bike to work the same way. You have to fix the tire first before it can even run."
You started to realize that his story was a reflection of you and Mikey's relationship. He was worried about how you'd be in the battle because he's experienced something similar.
"How am I supposed to fix the tire...?" You ask. Subliminally asking him for advice. He smiles at you comfortingly. "Depends on how bad the hole is. If it was just a poke, it's a quick fix. If a whole chunk is missing, you get a new tire."
"What does that mean?"
Wakasa pats you on the head. "You'll figure that out eventually," he tells you softly. "You're a smart kid."
"Here's my personal training for you," he says. You listen closely. "You can't improve a relationship if you haven't improved yourself."
"I want you to work on building yourself up before the battle," he assigns. "I told you, I know you're strong. But you don't."
He pats you on the shoulder before walking back inside the building. "Now go get some rest, drive safely," he waves at you.
You wave back and thank him for the lesson.
'Who is she to break up with me,' huh? You repeated what he said, walking to your bike. If Wakasa used to think that way, what made him change? You wondered curiously.
You start your bike and hop on. A new tire... What could that mean?
You pull into the road and start to drive. You couldn't help but hear a similar engine to yours start to come closer. You turn your head and see Takemichi speeding towards you.
"[Y/N]!! [Y/N]!! WENEEDTOTALK!!"
"WHAT?!" You shout back from behind you.
"WENEEDTOTALK!!!"
"WHAT?!"
You couldn't comprehend what he was yelling about with how loud your bikes were.
"WEEE!!! NEEEEED!!! TOOO!! TAAALK!!!"
Chapter seventy-six, end.