Revenge awakens parts of someone that you might never have thought existed.
She slept soundly in my arms, in much the same way a scared child sleeps with their parents during a thunderstorm. If I tried to pull her off, she clung to me, if I tried to move the position of her arms, she complained with halfhearted groans in her sleep. It's not that I can't sleep in the same bed with someone, but this was just odd to me, her sudden attachment had grown twofold since we came to Rev's house.
I didn't even know what this was, anymore. I doubt she understood the magnitude of what she was asking me, or that if I did agree to it that I wouldn't go easy on her just because she'd asked. Turning an average person into a weapon was not a simple process, it wasn't like a summer camp where you graduate and get a certificate saying you made it. It was a lifelong thing, and it changed you forever once you started into it.
For these reasons, I thought as I looked at her sleeping, I didn't think I was going to honor her request. She'd said she'd been thinking about it this whole time, but I highly doubted that she'd thought about it to the actual extent of it.
She was such an innocent girl - aside from the horrors she'd been through at the hands of Grabenstein... and me... - and I didn't want this type of life for her. There were SO many other opportunities out there for her, why was she so adamant about this one? She said it was because I was all she had. That may be true at the current time, but I could help her into so many other paths besides this one. Just because I took care of her didn't mean she HAD to follow in my exact footsteps.
I told her she should sleep on it, so I'd ask her about it again in the morning and see if her resolve was still as strong. And then, if she was still gung-ho about this idea, I'd test her resolve. You can only prove so much with words, sooner or later you have to show it through action.
-
The next morning - or rather, the same morning that I hadn't really ever gone to sleep - I woke up and cooked us breakfast. It was about 9am, I didn't expect her to wake up when I did, and I wouldn't even be surprised if she didn't wake up at all today, after what she went through yesterday.
But she did, and she came upstairs yawning.
"That smells good..." She said, walking into the kitchen from the secret passage to the basement.
"Oh you're up? I didn't expect you to wake up for a while. It might be a bit before it's ready." I told her.
"That's fine, we can just talk then!" She said, excitedly.
"Talk about what?" I acknowledged her, flipping some pancakes over in the frying pan.
Of course I had a strong suspicion of what was coming.
"Umm... what I asked you about last night?"
Whoop, there it is.
I remained busy while I talked to her. "And what about that?"
I saw out of my peripheral vision that she took a seat by the bar.
"Well... did you think about it?"
The reality of that question... I only spent the whole night tossing and turning over it. At one point or the other, I made those 'half asleep' decisions that seemed like such a good idea at the time, then when you wake up you realize how crazy you were for thinking it.
"How about I finish making breakfast first?" I asked, wanting to put this conversation off.
"Okay..."
When I finished, I set a plate for her at the bar and set mine on the counter directly across from her, electing to stand up and eat.
I wasn't gonna bring it up myself. If she really wanted it she would persist asking about it.
It only took a few minutes for her to bring it up.
"So we're eating breakfast..." She started, probably hoping I'd take it and run with it.
"Yep."
"Did you decide?"
I took a sip of my orange juice. "Decide on what?"
Dedication was the most paramount aspect of what she was asking me to train her for. If she wasn't ready to keep badgering me about it, she wasn't ready to be trained.
She looked defeated. Good. If she gave up on such a simple task as this, she definitely wasn't ready. I knew she wasn't. I didn't want her to be, anyway.
We ate in silence for a few moments, before her silverware clattered onto the plate.
"You said you would sleep on it. Training me to be able to help you. Training me on being able to fight." She finally let out.
"Oh, that..." I said, nonchalantly, finishing my orange juice.
She averted her eyes and nodded, slowly.
I reached down my back and unsheathed the knife on my belt loop, and stabbed it into the counter right next to her hand. She was frozen in fear the whole time.
She looked at the knife and then at me, wide eyed.
"You're not ready." I said, relinquishing the knife from the counter.
"What, why not?!" She protested.
"You made zero attempts to either counter me or move out of the way. If I was a real enemy, you'd have a knife in your chest right now."
She swung her arms at her sides. "C'mon! That's not even fair, I didn't know you were gonna do that!"
I sheathed the knife back on my belt. "Precisely. Because those that wish to harm you are not going to give you a three second head start, so why should I?"
She pondered this and nodded. "Okay. So am I right to assume I should always be alert around you now?"
I shrugged. "Not necessarily. A killer - that is, someone who is capable of inflicting a great deal of pain to someone at any moment - should always be alert around anyone. Human beings are prone to mood swings and irrational choices at any time, thus you should never NOT be alert around anyone, ever."
She nodded, though it wasn't the understanding type of nod, it was more the obligatory nod that students give in class to make the teacher think they are listening.
I guessed I'd have to get my point across a little more.
I swiped one hand under her plate, sending it flying into the wall and grabbed her by the neck with the other.
"Still... no... reflex." I said to her.
I released my grip.
"Why are you doing this? You haven't even told me you agreed to help me, yet..." She rubbed at her throat.
"It's not this simple 'yes' or 'no' answer, Selena. It's more me deciding whether or not you're actually serious and somewhat making a fuckin' effort to BE ready. You're not doing such a hot job, so far."
"I didn't realize your definition of training was like this."
I shook my head and chuckled. "Well what did you expect? Did you think we were gonna go downstairs in a marked off circle and me to say for the next hour we are gonna train and after that it's back to normal? It's not a role that gets any time off! It's 24/7, for the rest of your life! That is why I asked you last night if you'd really thought about this or not.
And do you wanna know why this is how I would train you? Because you should never be able to say, in any situation, that you were caught 'off guard'. Because you should always be on guard. All the time. No exceptions." I explained to her.
It may have been a little harsh, but it needed to be. She needed to completely understand what she was getting herself into. I wasn't exactly prepared to take her under my wing in this way, when I'd brought her back here. But if this was what she wanted, I was more than capable of giving it to her.
"Okay, okay!" She put her hands up in surrender. "I get it."
Was she going to realize maybe she hadn't thought this through, and it wasn't for her?
"Did you really have to ruin my breakfast, though? I was still eating that..." She said, dejected.
I laughed. "You went nearly three days only eating a sports bar, and now you want to complain about not being able to finish your meal?"
She cleared her throat and changed her expression. "No, you're right. I don't need it. Sorry."
I gathered my plate, and swept up the remains of hers from the floor and went to the sink. "So. We'll go downstairs when I finish this, and we can do some more 'proper training' like you were expecting. Depending on how you do, will determine my decision on whether or not to continue."
She perked up. "Okay!"
I started to wash my plate. "Your assignment for today, is to try to hit me. At any time, whenever you think I am susceptible."
She groaned. "That's not fair because now you'll be expecting it!"
I turned my head back towards her. "Then hit me when I'm not."
-
"Rule number one. You only get one opportunity to make a first impression. Fail to connect with a punch or fuck up on your first move, and that's the person they will see, regardless of what you do after that. You might think their mind will change if you show skill, but they will always be thinking in the back of their mind of that one mistake you made initially, and that maybe you might make it again. Moral of the story: don't fuck up." I told her once we were downstairs in the Killzone.
She looked intimidated. "That's... a lot of pressure."
She'd changed into some sweatpants and a tank top, like she was going to work out at the gym or something. I of course, stayed wearing my jeans and t shirt from earlier. Clothes don't matter in the overall picture, you can kill in anything.
I let her indulge though, if it was going to give her more confidence.
"The plus side to that is, after you dispose of that person, you get a fresh start with the next one. But it is beneficial to make a good first impression in any fight, that's what you need to get in your head." I explained.
She nodded. "Okay."
"Rule number two. This isn't fuckin' feudal Japan where you have to worry about winning under honorable conditions, do whatever it takes to win. I always say, if you're not fighting in some televised tournament, then who gives a fuck how you win?"
She giggled at this. "Okay, got it."
I grabbed my knife off my belt and she jumped back.
"Good. But I'm giving it to you."
She looked at me then at the knife in my hand. "What?"
"Take the knife. I want you to try to hit me with it." I told her.
She seemed worried. "But what if I DO hit you with it?"
I grinned. "Then you won't need anymore training."
It looked so foreign in her hands once she grabbed it, and it was obvious she was uncomfortable. She held it with the blade facing up. Mistake number one.
"Okay, now try to hit me with it." I crossed my arms.
She kept looking down at it in her hands like she was afraid of it. "Seriously?"
I started to walk away.
"Where are you going?!" I heard her say.
"If you're not gonna do what I tell you, or you're gonna question me, we're done here."
I continued walking with my back facing her towards the stairs.
I felt her presence behind me and turned to see her about to charge into me. I put my palm over her face with one hand and grabbed the knife out of her hand with the other and threw it to the side, then kicked her to the ground.
She sat on the ground afterward, looking at me in wonder.
I have to say, it was kinda nice to have someone recognize my skill. It had been a while, years probably, since someone had looked at me like she was.
"Very good." I said.
"What? But you totally took it from me and knocked me on the ground! How was that good?!"
"You charged at me. I didn't think you had it in you. You surprised me."
She looked downwards and seemed to smile to herself.
"Now go get it and let's try again."
She got to her feet and obediently retrieved the knife, which I'd accidentally thrown all the way on the other side of the room.
Once we were standing in front of each other again, I told her, "Okay, try to hit me again."
She noticeably wound her arm back before attempting to slash at me with the knife, so I reached up and grabbed her forearm and twisted it to the side, gripping tightly. She dropped the knife.
She cried out in pain. I didn't actually twist her arm to cause any damage, I think it was mainly my grip. I relinquished my grip, letting her arm fall to her side.
"Do you know what you're doing wrong?" I asked her.
She was breathing heavily. "Umm... not fast enough?"
I smiled. "Your speed is fine, but you're giving off too many signs as to what you're doing. As soon as you wound your arm back, I knew how I was going to counter you."
She squinted her eyes in deep thought. "So... don't bring my arm back..?"
"Well, you can... in certain situations, like maybe after your foe isn't looking to see it, but definitely not as an opening move, no."
She brought a hand to her chin. "So... what is a good opening move?"
"First of all..." I grabbed the knife from her and turned it upside down. "Hold it with the blade pointed towards you."
"Why?"
"Because the knife is not supposed to be a weapon in your hand, it's supposed to be an extension of your arm. If you punch someone with the knife like this, your fist and the knife will do damage. Understand?" I made a slow punching motion, demonstrating my point to her.
She nodded. I noted how much attention she was paying attention to everything I said. Maybe she really was serious about this... Only time and tests would tell.
"However." I turned to the side, and made the same motion again, this time dropping the knife. "If you ever lose the knife, it is only a minor inconvenience, because the whole time you've been fighting it's only been an extension anyway, right? You should never feel powerless without a weapon. That is one of the most important things to remember. Because your opponent can see in your eyes whether or not you are still confident. You must always appear confident, regardless of the situation."
I let her attempt to hit me a few more times, blocking each one, before we moved on to the next subject.
"Now. Drop the knife. Matter of fact, just throw it to the side. I'm going to show you how normal fighting melds seamlessly with using a weapon, so that when you have it, you won't even think about it." I instructed her.
I started to really pay attention to her focus on me whenever I was saying anything, so much so to the point where I wouldn't try very hard against her when I told her to try to hit me again. Her dedication was cute to me.
At one point I decided to give her some self confidence and didn't try at all to repel her, letting her think she'd actually overpowered me.
It might be detrimental and unrealistic in the long run, but she'd been working very hard for about two hours so I felt she deserved it. Everyone needed that little pick-me-up every now and then, whether or not it was true.
She put so much power behind the swing that when I grabbed it and stopped her momentum, it caused me to fall backwards - well more accurately, caused us BOTH to fall backwards - onto the floor.
She was breathing heavily and smirking on top of me, thinking she'd finally succeeded.
It was true I hadn't given it my full attention, but goddamn did the girl manage to develop some power behind her punches really fast.
"Okay..." I started, slightly surprised at this turn of events, "Now my arms are still free to hit you, so what do you want to do?"
"Disable them?" She guessed.
It was cute how she said it, all innocently.
"And how would you do that?"
She closed one eye, thinking hard. "Umm... with my arms?"
I shook my head, looking up at her. "No, because then I could headbutt you or something, and change control of the fight. What are your legs doing right now?"
She looked back at them. Of course her legs were on the floor on either side of my torso, not doing much.
"Holding you down?" She guessed again.
"No..." I poked her in the midsection. "Your torso and core can hold me down just fine by itself if you apply enough pressure.
"So..." She was lost, clearly.
"So... if you pin my arms down with your legs, your arms are still free to punch me. Get it?" I finished for her.
"Ohhhh..." She had a revelation.
"Of course, by this time, I'd already have you off of me, but for the sake of practice... scoot upwards and lock my arms down with your legs. More specifically, place your knees in the middle part of my arm. That limits my range of motion for my upper arm to be able to do anything." I explained to her.
"Okay..." She kind of shimmied up on my torso and did what I told her.
Now her crotch was basically right in my face, and I tried to ignore this.
"So now..." I found my eyes darting back and forth between her face and her crotch.
Get it together! I told myself. I shook my head quickly.
"Now... you have both arms you could use to punch me in the head. See? Obviously, you'd have to be a lot faster as soon as we fell on the ground, but now you know in case it happens again. Because in the future I'm not gonna give you the step by step, I'm just gonna throw you off."
She nodded and grinned. "Right."
"And..." I lifted my arms quickly, causing her to fall backwards to where she was sitting on my stomach. "You might want to use a little more power to pin someone down."
We both got awkwardly back up to our feet.
"I think that's enough for today, wouldn't you say?" I asked her, rubbing my hands together.
"Yeah..." She smiled. "I think I learned a lot today. Thanks, Capricorn."
I noticed she was really sweaty, I could see the shine on her chest, neck and face.
I still had to laugh to myself at her nickname for me. "You did. But today was the easiest it's gonna get. But... and I didn't think I'd say this... I think you might have what it takes."
She squealed and visibly brightened at this so much I wondered how she would look if I had told her otherwise.
What I hadn't anticipated, was her crashing into me with a hug. Her arms wrapped around my back tightly and her head rested on my shoulder. I reluctantly placed my arms on her back as well.
"Thank you so much! I feel like I have a reason to live again." She said softly.
"You're welcome, Selena..." I said, trying to be formal.
She seemed to squeeze her grip on me tighter when I said this.
"Now go take a shower and change into some clean clothes, you stink." I told her, adding a laugh.
She broke away from me, smiling still. How could she be so happy when I had basically kicked her ass for the past two hours?
Then she stepped in close to me, catching me totally off guard, her lips were so close to mine.
She whispered. "Oh, and Capricorn?"
"Hmm." I acknowledged her.
She smirked, and I felt a fist go into my side. It was surprisingly painful. Right in the ribs.
I winced, since I wasn't expecting it.
She walked away towards the stairs, and turned her head back to me before she started going up.
"I guess I passed your assignment, huh?"