A/N : Honestly... (Name) fits well with Fujii Kaze's song : 'Hedemo Ne-Yo'.
It was absolutely not on your to-do list to wake up to find your lover wrapped his arms around you.
He looked so peaceful when sleeping with his chin resting on your shoulder.
A hint of pink started to appear all over your face.
He was not only serene, but extremely adorable as well! His cheek was pressed against your neck, and anytime you tried to move, he tightened his hold.
Seriously, you're grateful that luck was on your side because, chances are, nobody entered the tent yet.
To be honest, you were even taken aback when you were able to get some sleep too after two days.
Perhaps sleeping in his arms was the solution to your lack of sleep, huh?
'He's warm...' You pondered inside your thoughts, without even recognizing that your lips were slightly curved upwards.
Just when you were starting to relish this brief moment of peace and quiet, Kohaku let out a yell outside that seemed to suggest that Chrome had returned home or something.
'What?!' In an instant, your eyes widened in disbelief, 'Chrome is back!?'
Without hesitation, you scrambled to your feet and hurried outside.
Senku's comforting embrace vanished right away, leaving you feeling a little shocked, but you didn't care.
If the yells and cheers heard outside were true, Chrome has truly returned. That means there was no need to save the Kingdom of Science's have-it-all!
Senku, on the other hand, became alarmed and stared at you worriedly.
"What the hell." He croaked out since he was still attempting to make sense of everything and was clearly bewildered, "Wait, (Name)-!"
Unfortunately, when you began to carelessly leave, he couldn't help but become a little irritated. So, he swiftly got up and followed you outside.
Even though his hair was disheveled and he was still wearing his sleepwear, it didn't bother him.
He had to know what had happened to make you no longer stay in his embrace.
When he eventually came to a stop and saw people hurdling around, he understood why you started running like crazy.
Chrome has survived.
Your cherished newbie scientist was back at home.
"Google Chrome!" You threw your arms around Chrome, nearly causing you both to collapse, "It's so good to see you!"
"(Name)..." Once he heard your voice and felt your warmth, he did nothing but weakly grinned. He wouldn't lie; he swore he felt his eyes becoming somewhat watery.
You didn't give a damn what was going on around you.
He was alright!
Thank goodness, he was alright.
Even though you knew he would be okay, seeing him right now eased you from all your concerns.
"You broke out of there all by yourself." Kaseki laughed, "Way to go, boy!"
"I'm impressed you knew how to find our camp so easily." Kohaku beamed, glad to have her best friend back at her side.
"Honestly I didn't know where the hell it was." Chrome raised both hands in surrender, "I just went in the direction that I saw Suika go when she was scouting. I hope you'll be able to see me with the telescope."
"Another excellent job by the Great Detective Suika-sama." Gen gave the little girl's head a gentle pat, "But, I'm curious. How did you manage to break through the cell bars?"
"Who cares about that! He's homee!" You dramatically sobbed, smacking Chrome's back several times until he lost his balance.
"Dude, stop!" He chuckled a little, glad that he was finally able to feel you smack the crap out of him once more, "I made that melty-chemical stuff with some salt water and a battery to escape. Sodium Hydroxide, right?"
Just as everyone was about to give him admiration, Senku cut off their excitement with yet another scientific explanation.
"Um, actually it's Sodium Hypochlorite." He gave Chrome a deadpan expression, much like a nerd, "You're close but that's what you must've made in there instead since you didn't have any kind of membrane in the salt water. It's what folks in my day called 'Bleach'."
"Powers up your cleaning!" Gen chimed in excitedly, which made both you and him cackle.
"It's a perfectly useful base." You added, "Great idea to use it too. It melted right through all the cellulose and the weeds used to make rope. Can't think of a better way to break out of a bamboo prison."
"Kukuku! While you were doing all that, we were using an alkaline solution to melt down cellulose for making paper." Senku informed.
"Hah! That's amazing!" Kohaku snickered, "So you three were basically using the same type of science."
Yet when Ruri got a closer look at Chrome, her expression changed to one of slight concern. Yes, she was delighted that her crush was back, but she also noticed something, "Hey, Chrome? You're bleeding."
In less than a second, Chrome unexpectedly dropped to his knees and coughed up a thick, crimson liquid. It dripped down his chin and onto the ground, bringing Ruri rushing worriedly by his side.
"Oh, no." Ruri's eyes widened with fear, "No... T-That's like what happened to me."
"Poor Chrome must've got Pneumonia while he was in there!" Suika shouted out.
"The fuck. No, he doesn't." Your once happy face twisted into a scowl.
Senku crouched to examine the blood curiously. After a brief pause, he unexpectedly let out an amused laugh, "Did you really use fake blood to make those guys stop chasing you?"
"HAHAHA! You bet!" Chrome replied haughtily, "I knew you two would understand. Chew up some sorrel and mix in a little shiso, boom! Fake blood."
"Kukuku, that's awesome!" Senku nodded, acknowledging the young scientist's clever plan, "Of course shisho turns red due to the mixture of oxalic acid from sorrel."
"Mhm. My science is from experience." Chrome remarked with smugness.
"Not bad at all, Chrome." Senku raised his fist along with you, smirking, "You never fail to amaze us both, have-it-all. I'm proud."
As a gesture of appreciation for Chrome, the three of you gave each other a proud fistbump.
'Very proud.'
"Well, I'm pretty amazed you managed to keep your science tools. I thought for sure those guys would've taken them." Kohaku spoke up again.
"Yeah... About that," Chrome looked away, nervously rubbing his nape, "I had some help from Taiju and the others. They slipped me a battery."
'What battery?'
His remarks undoubtedly raised a number of concerns for you and Senku. Were your two friends actually involved in that? It sounds nothing like them.
Senku, though, only gave a careless shrug of his shoulders, "I'm ten billion percent sure that meathead would've never thought to do something that clever."
"While Yuzu should be too busy with her secret mission." Sweetly, you put your index finger in front of your lips, "She's not the type to get distracted from the task at hand and slack on her duties. An interesting woman, really."
"She's got a secret mission?" Kohaku inquired curiously.
"You mean the infiltration? In order to keep in contact using the cellphone?" While the rest waited for you two to respond to their questions, Kinro asked as well.
Unfortunately, neither of you answered them. Instead, you both chose to remain silent.
"Well, whatever. At least someone saved me." Chrome exclaimed, flashing a silly smile.
All of a sudden, a huge ass tank arrived behind him, shocking him till he felt as if his own spirit had lifted to the sky. Of course, Kaseki was the one running it; He wanted to show off his new invention and let Chrome know that this machine would no longer be lined up to save him.
"T-This is a huge ridiculous gorilla machine!" Chrome's face became pale at the sight of it, shouting out a terrified cry, "This is so incredible! I can't believe I missed the entire process of making this."
"Now we can storm the enemy on the final battlefield." Senku smirked as he crossed his arms, "I'm talking about the battle to take control of the miracle cave. Whoever has access to the nitric acid brewing in there can make revival fluid and-"
"-AND GUNPOWDER!" You interrupted him mid sentence, shrieking out loud like a kid on a sugar high, "I can now create weapons! At last, I can create guns and bullets and bombs and more!"
"That means if we're able to take it away from their side, then Tsukasa won't be able to get more people." Ginro's jaw sprang open in realization, "That also means we get our hands on the ultimate weapon of science!"
"Like I said before," Casually, Senku stretched his limbs to relax the tense muscles, "The condition for the Kingdom of Science victory is ridiculously simple. We're not looking to annihilate the enemy. All we wanted to do is capture the cave with the miracle fluid."
Luckily, that made the village warriors consider the idea carefully.
"You know... Tsukasa's gonna throw a whole lot of army at us." Kohaku commented.
"We can pull this off with sorce- I mean, science." Magma stammered slightly after he noticed your glare.
"But they gotta have around a hundred people or so." Suika muttered anxiously, holding onto your clothes.
"While we've only got about a dozen fighters." Kinro responded, "We're totally outnumbered."
"Don't be so negative, fellas!" Smugly, you scoffed, "That's why Yuzu and the others are working so hard. Not to mention my beloved Arthur and Steam Gorilla are here to help!"
'R-Right... She owns a lion that is capable of killing us all. Amazing.' Everybody gave you blank looks and frightened sweats that ran down their foreheads.
"Which means that the rest of it is up to these two; The mentalist and the balancer." Your boyfriend flicked his eyes over the individuals mentioned, "We'll bring them all over to our side."
"Quite the responsibility." You and Gen weakly pat each other's shoulders.
"It's been a wild ride for me." Gen let out a huge sigh, "Thanks to Nikki the Superfan's intense coaching style, I can finally reproduce Lillian's voice perfectly. Compared to that, after only two tries, (Name)-chan had already gotten hundreds of compliments from Nikki-chan! This world is really cruel!"
"Hey!" Immediately, you whipped your head to frown at him, "I'm sorry that I've been instructed to flawlessly duplicate everything in one go ever since I was just a kid."
Hearing such a statement, Senku softened his eyes slightly. He was aware of the problems you occasionally had in keeping up with the ongoing training back when you two were kids.
He frequently noticed various bruises on your limbs when it was time you were trained by your great-grandfather.
"Goldfish, your arms-"
"I'm fine! Let's just play at the park, yeah?"
Let's just say it was rather... brutal.
"Alright. Let's get started, guys." He yanked himself away from those thoughts, commanding, "We've got one last mission before we can move on to the final phase; The strike on the Tsukasa Empire!"
Now that the chief had given a command, it was time to get to work!
In order to divide up the work and get it done more quickly, some worked on making the paper shield, while others completed the remaining Steam Gorilla enhancements. While that was going on, you, Gen, and Senku were attempting to persuade Tsukasa's army using Lillian Weinberg!
With the amazing impression of her voice, the opponent has no reason not to trust every lie you and Gen provided them.
This was fantastic since it signified that everything was going according to plan. Unfortunately, your luck ran out since Senku always brings bad luck with him.
"You guys are having fun."
A faint voice came from the background, heard by all three of you. As it turned out, Ukyo was here; The main obstacle in this plan.
"I'd like to get on that phone call too. Is that okay?" His silky voice echoed through the speaker.
"This is it," Senku mumbled, "We're in too deep to stop now."
"I know," With an uncomfortable smile, Gen handed you the phone, "Here you go, nepo baby-chan! I-It's your turn! Just as promised. It's time for an unexpected death duel — your flawless imitation versus Ukyo-chan's superhearing."
'MOTHERFUC-' Right away, you felt like a lunatic inside your head, wanting to just scream your rage out by burying your head in a pillow.
Seriously, you should not have made such an agreement with Gen.
You rapidly mimicked Lillian's voice after inhaling the fresh air deeply, "Howdy! This is Lillian Weinberg. Who do I have the pleasure of speakin' with?"
Ukyo chuckled in response, "Incredible. It really is Lillian. I would've never seen that coming in a million years."
Oh, that is very suspicious. The way he stated it was extremely suspicious. So, instead of celebrating your win, you waited for him to speak something more.
Over the phone, you could clearly hear his satisfied smirk as he suddenly switched his language from Japanese to English, "However, I can't detect a vibration in your voice after singing so enthusiastically. I supposed that would be hard for you to imitate."
"The first voice I heard was Gen's... But this time, it's different. Who are you, hm? Perhaps you are my former co-worker's cousin? The Tsuyoshi Clan's final heir; Tsuyoshi (Name)." Just by listening to your voice over the phone for a few seconds, Ukyo was able to figure it out.
'Ah, he's an interesting guy.' An anxious chuckle crept into your voice.
"Shit. We couldn't fool him for a second!" Senku scoffed, slowly losing hope. Thus he secretly grasped your hand to calm him down, which he did.
"Hold on a minute. Ukyo-chan may have busted us but he said it in English. That means he didn't want the others to hear what he was saying. The things he's doing are quite odd." Gen furrowed his brows, "And I'm suspicious about his motivations. When he found us at the gravesite, he chased after us by himself without telling Tsukasa or anyone else."
"Kukuku... Shrewd up observation, mentalist. That puts (Name) versus Ukyo showdown at one to one so far." Senku hummed, gently taking the microphone from your hand and placing it near his lips, "At this point, it's stupidly obvious who slipped Chrome the battery."
Ukyo gave a fascinating reply in return, "Not bad. You sure do catch on quickly, don't you? If I hadn't gotten involved, you would've come to save them and both of you would be dead. Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not really on your side."
"Yeah, I didn't think so." You spoke out, but you were speaking with far more confidence than your two best friends, "If that were the case, then you never would've captured Chrome."
"Ah, (Name). Clever. As one would expect from Tsuyoshi." Ukyo mumbled in bitterness, "I guess you could say I'm assessing the situation. I want to know what kind of people you really are. I saw what you're up to; The unbelievable secret mission your friend is trying to pull off."
"What are you gonna do about it? Report the entire situation to Hyoga and Tsukasa?" You challenged, raising your eyebrow.
"No, no. It's insane." Ukyo admitted, "Even with things as far gone as they are now, your people are still trying to save humanity with the power of science."
"Sounds crazy. But even the ones that were smashed, if we put them together like 3D puzzles, there's a chance we could save them," Right by your side, Senku chimed in, "Ten billion points for finding out."
"Honestly, I'm open to cooperating with you guys. I do have one condition." Ukyo extended an offer, "It's pretty cut and dry. Nobody dies."
The guy with excellent hearing wanted to consider himself an ally? Perfect.
"Heh. I'm having a hell of a time trying to get a read on who you really are, Ukyo," Senku truthfully informed, "You're either some kinda sunshine and rainbows idealist-"
"Idealist? That's not quite it." Ukyo let out a sigh, seeming a little disheartened to himself, "I'm the biggest coward there is. The first time I saw Tsukasa destroy a statue, it made me sad and angry. I thought he had no right to do such a thing. Still, I wanted to keep those who have been revived from killing each other."
'Guess my cousin was right. He was kind beyond imagination at some point.' You thought, clenching Senku's palm for comfort before he squeezed back.
"I decided to turn a blind eye to Tsukasa's destruction, trying to convince myself it was okay. I know that I'm a hopeless coward. But the truth is I can't take it anymore." Every word he spoke began to sound more sincere, voice beginning to tremble, "I can't bear to see anyone else die. Isn't that the last shred of humanity we can hold onto in this crazy world? If you make a promise of zero casualties, I'll cooperate with you. But if even one person dies, then-"
"Works for me. Count us in!" Senku stated nonchalantly, perhaps a little too eagerly, "It's perfect, really. From the very beginning, we said we'd do this without spilling a drop of blood. Now, that's just a requirement instead of an ideal."
Gen was going to exclaim his protest, however thankfully you swiftly shut his mouth up with your palm, deciding that this was just a conversation between Senku and Ukyo.
"Thank you. Well, after this... There's one thing I'm sure of now." Ukyo threw all of that sentimental stuff out the window and began speaking professionally, "When Hyoga attacked your village, he reported something back to us. He said our men were killed by what you did to them. He lied. It couldn't have been your doing. It was Hyoga."
"We're back in business, boys." You pointed out, putting Senku and Gen's attention back on the phone.
"Tsukasa and Hyoga are both at the top. But, they're totally different creatures. I can't sit on the fence any longer. There's going to be bloodshed between those two. I just know it." Ukyo reported back, earning different responses from all three of you.
What exactly is Ukyo meaning to say?
Does that mean that Tsukasa and Hyoga truly hold different ideologies?
Now that piqued your interest.
→
"Time to get excited, you guys! Our awesome papercraft tank is ready to go!" Senku announced as he sat on top of the tank, while the others continued to observe from the ground, "We're gonna be using a leather rupture disk."
"Although it's not a bomb, it'll do." You let out a dramatic, depressed grumble, "Burst diaphragm; it explodes when it's expanded. We'll zap some water inside the tank with electricity, which will make it boil. When the oxygen and hydrogen gas that's release completely overfills the disk, it'll blow!"
"Oh, I see! Even I can understand how that one works." Chrome beamed before realizing something that left him flabbergasted, "Wait! If it blows up, that means we can only use it once!"
"Yep. Once will be enough." Senku stated, "As soon as we roll up in this tank, the odds are ten billion to one that modern people are gonna lose the will to fight."
"That'll scare them into giving up." Gen added, finally getting the idea.
"If we're gonna do this with no casualties, that initial shot has to seal the deal," Kohaku tightly clenched both of her fists, "We'll be relying on shock and awe!"
"Yeah. Control of the miracle cave is at stake here," Senku mused, "Once it starts, we've only got a few seconds to finish. We'll throw everything the kingdom of science has at 'em. We totally need him. The toughest guy that I've ever known."
You went on, smiling softly at the thought of both of them being here, "His crazy stamina is like a cheat code from Mother Nature."
You didn't have to turn around to see who had just arrived from the forest.
The two shadows that emerged in the distance startled everyone, yet you and Senku had no reason to do so. After all, this moment was as planned.
A familiar spiky, brown-haired guy showed up, as did a familiar brown-haired girl.
Letting out a heavy sigh, you lifted three fingers, "In 3... 2-"
"(N-NAME)!! SENKUUU!!"
As usual, Taiju threw himself at you two since he attempted to give you a bear hug. Unfortunately, Senku simply avoided him and dragged you along with him.
Tears were welling up in Taiju's and Yuzuriha's eyes, your eyes as well but all you could do was look up to hold them back.
"(Name)!" Unexpectedly, you were greeted by Yuzuriha with a hug, "Oh, how I missed you!"
"Yuzu..." Muttering, your hands cautiously hugged her back, trying to soothe her trembling body, "Welcome back."
"I have a ton of stuff I want to share with you." She sobbed. hiding her face in the crook of your neck. She was slightly dampening your clothes with her tears, but you didn't seem to mind.
She was safe.
Taiju was safe.
They are both safe now.
"Me too." You reassured, "Especially about this village. Jeez, there's too many stories. I can't even list them all."
A few seconds later, Yuzuriha delicately lifted her head off your shoulder, showing her eyes glistened like stars, "By the way, congratulations!"
Congratulations?!
Right then, there was nothing on your mind. For what reason is she congratulating you? Everything was blank; You had no idea what she was talking about.
"On...?"
"On being a couple with Senku-kun." She proceeded innocently, flashing you a cat-like grin. Gen and Taiju mirrored her expression as well, causing your face to gradually heat up.
"WHAT?! HOW DID YOU- How did you know that?!" You were too flustered to say anything.
Even your confidence was slowly slipping out of you.
"Taiju! Do you also know about this?!" You shrieked, your brows twitching with embarrassment.
"Yup!" Taiju winked at you playfully, "Senku, along with Gen, contacted us for advice about how to confess to you, (Name)! He did plan everything from scratch on his own too."
Gen giggled mischievously, standing between Taiju and Yuzuriha, "Mhm. The amount of effort he put in for you is immaculate, (Name)-chan. It's unbelievable to me that a guy like Senku-chan would do anything like that."
Rapidly, you turned to glare at Senku. But it appeared that his ears were turning bright red. Unwilling to acknowledge it aloud, he was also flustered!
"Now the Kingdom of Science is playing with a stack deck of cards," Senku declared, his face locked in a proud expression, "So get excited, you guys."
"This is gonna be interesting, isn't it?" You pointed out, attempting to get all of your embarrassment out of yourself as well, "It's the beginning of the final battle against the Tsukasa Empire."
Indeed, all of you were prepared to fight and win this battle.
Nobody wished to give in anymore.
"I've done some reading on human behavior." Senku started seriously, his gaze looking at everyone's faces, "According to Harvard Psychologist — Shawn Achor's research, a human impulse lasts about 20 seconds and no longer than that."
"That means our enemy will only have the instinct to panic and run away for the first 20 seconds of our raid. Then, who knows what will happen." You went on to elaborate, hoping everyone would understand, "After that time's up, some of them may decide to start fighting back."
"If we do fight, then people will die." Senku will refuse to back down. He wanted everyone to understand the disadvantage of the war, "In other words, our victory conditions are tough. We're conquering the miracle cave with our science-powered blitzkrieg without killing a single person!"
"You all better be ready because this won't be a quick war!"
Oh, it would not.
Trust me.
Although 20 seconds seemed short, the rush of adrenaline was too much to bear.
Everyone wasted no time in waiting for the ideal opportunity to attack. The ideal time to attack was usually when both sides unexpected it.
There was only one thing you could hope for in this battle.
Your skills.
Your skills have been polished, developed, perfected by your entire family since you learnt to walk.
They had been fairly patient and kind with you when they had been teaching you.
But as they often say; 'Without a little suffering, that is not a true teaching.'
← ←
"You are still failing to comprehend what I am teaching you. Why are you not getting it?!"
Pain.
Harsh.
Perfect.
Cruel.
Regret.
Disappointed.
Embarrassed.
When describing her physical training, an eight-year-old (Name) would use those exact same words.
You were in pain.
Every part of you was aching.
Blue and purple bruises covered your arms and legs, leading them to look like constellations. It was not beautiful to be seen nor to be touched. Even the mixtures of red reflected how much you've scraped your knees each time you've been knocked to the ground by loss.
'It hurts.'
You could say that the training was harsh.
You despised physical training — You despised everything about it.
You must follow each step, each move, and each breath in order to execute such graceful movements correct-
No.
Not correctly.
Perfectly.
'I don't want to do this.'
With grief in his eyes, your uncle — the one who had been teaching you — watched.
He felt terrible that he was the one who had to teach you.
If it weren't for the order from his own grandfather, he would have taught you gently as a feather.
'Help me.'
In contrast, your great-grandfather was disappointed in you.
He should have started teaching you martial arts when you were little.
He should not have waited until you were ready to learn.
He should have done things HIS way.
"Again, (Name). Pick it up again." Your uncle whispered. But as soon as he caught a glimpse of your great-grandfather's scowl, his tone toughened, "You are not a true Tsuyoshi, if you keep making mistakes like these!"
'I can't do this anymore. I'm tired.' You were embarrassed of who you were, really.
It was expected of you to be courageous and formidable since you are the heir to all of the family's abilities.
"Please, uncle..."
Why has your body given up on you?
Glancing to your side, you noticed that every one of your cousins was staring at you with regret and concern in their eyes.
All they could do was watch you go through training that was far more severe than anything great-grandfather had ever given them.
The second youngest member of the family attempted to bang on the window to at least pause the madness he just saw. Thank goodness the others held his wrists. Great-grandfather was going to beat you much harder if he did that.
"This is pathetic!" His voice boomed through the dojo, "You are pathetic!"
His voice resembled an endless bell, reminding you that he had been watching all along.
One wrong step, and you'd have to start over from the beginning. What a cruel way to educate a little girl how to accomplish something.
'Stop this! Mother... Father!'
There was so much sweat that your clothes clung to your body like a second layer of skin.
As you gazed down at your hands, you were breathing heavily, inhaling and exhaling the oxygen like you're about to die.
It trembled, burned, and splintered.
"Great-grandfather..." Feeling desperate and trembling, you croaked out for his help.
Maybe... Just maybe, he would show a glimpse of kindness to you this time.
Yet when you looked into his eyes, they were cold and unyielding, "You are not Tsuyoshi a if you continue to be a damn brat, you hear me?! And, please! Do everything it takes to stop your hands from shaking. It is childish."
Childish?
But, you were still a child.
"Try anything to stop it; Slam your head against the wall or scratch your skin till it bleeds!" He spat out cruelly, "Do not show your weakness, young Tsuyoshi!"
A grimace of hatred from his dry lips was shown, brows furrowing.
Hearing it, your heart sank to your stomach. The words pierced deeper more than any blade was able to.
Slam your head?
Scratch your skin?
How cruel.
That left you with no one to look except your uncle, who has always chosen to ignore what was going on.
Once your great-grandfather showed no mercy towards you, he tried to fight back. The results of the debate? It wasn't even something you wanted to remember.
Therefore, you did what he had instructed. You bit your lip until it bled, an attempt to stop the trembling. Surprisingly, it succeeded.
"Let me teach you a lesson, young Tsuyoshi." He spoke in a quite icy manner at first, "You'll be flawless with a little more practice. If you are mentally weak, it will only make your physique weaker. You must be perfect. One movement requires you to properly replicate those exact elements. Again, Koa."
Ah... Your great-grandfather taught you how to become like water; Go with the flow.
Your uncle glanced at you sympathetically before he sighed, "Get up. We have not yet finished."
Even though you knew he didn't want to say it, he still gave the order.
Shit.
Your legs were barely supporting you.
You felt miserable, both mentally and physically.
You wanted to tell your uncle that you were done training, refuse him to teach you any martial arts anymore.
You wanted to curl up on a couch and play at the park after a long day, just like any other normal kid.
You were too tired.
You didn't even have the energy to speak.
Thus your body moved automatically, as if it were in autopilot mode.
Why? Because you knew you'd get a harsh punishment if you tried to flee from this anymore.
You grabbed a long wooden stick that resembled a staff from the ground, grasping it securely.
"Ready?"
"Yes."
'No.'
Your uncle paused for a few seconds before making a move. He charged at you, swinging his staff in a vertical cut.
Thankfully, you stopped the attack, earning an amused hum from the head of the family.
You blocked the attack. Yet, your arms felt weakened, as if a ton of weight was pushing against them.
Tragically, he didn't give you any time to think things through. Your uncle once again swung diagonally.
This time, he did it twice.
Since you failed to block it, that caused him to strike your arm harshly.
You clenched your jaw.
It ached.
'Crap.'
It definitely gave enough impact to cause bruising.
"You are too slow." Like usual, your uncle spoke bluntly, "You would have been dead if this had been a real combat."
'But, it isn't.'
He suddenly grabbed your wrist and knocked you down, kicking away the training stick you were holding.
Slowly accepting your defeat, you were on the ground, tears welling up in your eyes. Your breathing seemed to be getting heavier, the stress you were experiencing caught up with you.
Still, you were on your feet once more.
The staff was once again in your hands.
Why are you doing this?
Was it pure determination?
No.
Determination wasn't in you.
It was obedience.
You felt you had no choice but to continue.
"You're pathetic!" Your great-grandfather yelled out unexpectedly, "You can't even defeat a mere staff! You ungrateful child!"
"I'm sorry." You muttered, worn out, 'I don't give a damn about what you have to say.'
Just when your uncle was ready to fix your stance, your great-grandfather hurled a thick wooden stick at you, striking you in the head.
Few seconds later, you noticed a metallic taste of liquid leaking out from your skull.
It trickled from your head down to your chin as it slowly dripped onto the ground.
"Have you had enough of behaving like a child?!" He roared, his expression full of rage and despair.
'I am a child.'
Oh, how you wish you could just tell him that face-to-face.
"I had higher expectations for the clan's heir. Do not think we are going to stop. You are a waste of time, do you realize that?!"
You felt like you were living a nightmare.
This was not how you were trained before! Before your great-grandfather came into the picture, you were taught with care, not with abuse!
You hated this, you hated this, YOU HATED THIS!
You hated every aspect of martial arts.
It was pitiful, it was terrible, and it only brought about misery!
"The Tsuyoshis are a wonderful and talented family. Each of the members in it prove to everyone that they are special. Prove to everyone that you are one too, young Tsuyoshi. If not, you are only viewed as a speck of dust; A disappointment."
A shiver went straight up your spine.
He would say the same thing to your mother, father, cousin, uncle, aunt, and everyone else — The same words he spoke every day to all the Tsuyoshis.
You were nothing but a doll to this old creature.
Why is he still living after more than two generations?!
"You still have to study with your aunt, (Name)." Your uncle's voice, faint as it was, was powerless to wrench his fearful voice from him, "Come on. Wake up, okay?"
He was afraid for you.
Before you were born, your father was trained nearly just like you when he was a kid.
Although... it was never this awful.
It never got to the point where you were choking if you breathed air.
Whatever.
You never gave a crap about your crappy past.
At this point, all you wanted to do was concentrate on the present and the future.
The past remains in the past; It can't change.