"Dad...!" came the small yelp from Hinata's direction who was flabbergasted at the turn of events. Both other parties disregarded the small voice and continue the conversation.
The usual belief that Hinata's father doesn't care about her was being falsified right in front of Dix. But he already had a good idea of Hiashi's personality. Even though he has to make the Clan's interest his first priority, he still deeply loves his daughters. So now he spoke with the temper of a father that is protecting his daughter from some punk that tries to approach them.
"Sir! As of now I have no other intentions than being the schoolmate and a friend to Hinata. I felt like she needed my help in school, which I was glad to provide." he said firmly with a slight bow.
Hinata was about to be disappointed a bit when she noticed the little 'as of now' and blushed all the way to her ears. The clan-head caught on quite fast too.
"As of now? What do you mean?!" he said with a bit more anger in his voice. Dix was expecting this, so he answered with a bit more bow and a still firm voice.
"Nobody is able to tell what the future brings, sir. I am no different, thus I rather not talk about it." he finished, still bowing.
"Hmmm..." he clan-head seemed to ease a bit at hearing this. "You are quite wise for your age, aren't you, kid?" he said, his voice trailing off. Then he paused for a second. "Okay, you two can be friends, but don't you dare take even a step closer to my daughter, you hear me?!" he said with even more force behind his words. Dix nodded and answered.
"Yes sir, as you wish." he said and bowed once again.
"Okay. I believe that is quite enough of that. Now you can spar as you originally intended. Yesterday Hinata came to me that you are worried about your secrets being revealed by my Byakugan. She was quite desperate to make me promise I won't use it to see trough you, but to be honest I wasn't willing to agree. But now I can see that my daughter managed to find a reliable friend. I want her to be happy, so now I promise you that I will not use my Byakugan on you." he said with a now gentle voice. It was like he was a completely new man. Seems like if he acknowledges someone then he will really treat them well, just like Hinata said the day before. Hearing Hiashi's promise he almost let out a huge sigh of relief, but managed to control himself. Instead he just bowed and thanked him for his understanding.
"Great, with all that out of the way, you two take your places in the middle." he said, then walked to the side and sat down. The two youth did as instructed and took up their respective battle forms.
"Try not to injure each other. Now... Ready. Fight!" Hiashi gave the word to start the battle after everyone assumed their positions.
Hinata, just like her usual self, wasn't willing to attack first. This was one of the reasons she was unsuccessful. She had the dedication to make herself better, but she lacked the heart of a warrior. Dix understood this right away and started taunting her.
"What are we waiting for Hinata? This is not my training, its you who asked me to fight with you. You have to come and get it for yourself!" Hinata was obviously perplexed, but she didn't want to show herself as weak in front of the two men he admired the most, so she did as she was told and attacked. She didn't think of this before, but she was reluctant to actually attack her friend, so her hits were destined to miss and even if they were to connect, the hits would do no damage.
Seeing this Dix started devising a plan to awaken her fighting spirit. Ever since the start of the fight he simply evaded Hinata's light fists, even though she had her Byakugan enabled already. He also noticed how Hiashi was just shaking his head on the sidelines in a disappointed manner. Seeing that Dix's blood started to boil and he executed the first part of his plan.
Even though Hinata's fist was about to miss him, he deliberately jumped in front of it to tank the hit head on. This surprised Hinata as she didn't expect to actually connect a punch. She was about to apologize to Dix when she looked up and saw his disappointed face. She was scared by that simple face. She had already seen that face so many times before. She was about to tear up when she heard Dix's words.
"What is this Hinata? You take me lightly? Or is this all you can do? How am I supposed to trust someone who hit so light to defend my back? If you can do better, then show it! Do not worry about me, I will not worry about you either!" he said. He took the hit of Hinata's Gentle Fist, a technique developed for Byakugan users, but it didn't even faze him. As soon as he said the last word he kicked with his right leg and swept Hinata off her feet and let her fall on the ground.
Hinata's face turned pale at the events and what Dix just said. She was anxious, but she was also angry at what Dix said. She could do better, but then why...? She noticed an extended hand reaching towards her. Dix offered his arm to help her up, then said:
"Come at me with the intent to kill, as you will have no other chance to become stronger." he said, then took two steps back. Once again they both took up their fighting positions. This time Hinata attacked on her own and had more strength in her punches and they were more accurate, but she still lacked the spirit to fight. Dix kept evading or blocking her punches, then cried out.
"Still not good enough! Leave your gentle nature behind, it has its own place, but this here now is a battlefield! Do you intend to go to fight with me with birds chirping in your heart? That will not cut it! Hit harder, you still can't hurt me!" Hinata got scared by the sudden loud voice and got distracted. Using this Dix tanked one of her careless hits once again, then swept her away just like before.
Hearing the mean but true words and being swept away made Hinata want to give up right away. She felt like it was a mistake to involve him by now. But once again she noticed the hand reaching out towards her. Next she was told something she never heard before.
"Go on, Hinata. You can do it, I believe in you, so why would you not believe in yourself? Also, hit me harder, do you think I'm weak or something?"
Hearing this Hinata felt stupid all of a sudden. Dix was way stronger then her, why would she hold her punches? She looked up once again to take his hand, and she had seen that the disappointed expression was gone and instead just a small smile greeted her. Dix was strong, and not like his father. He was willing to cheer her on even though he was shown how weak she is. With new conviction she attacked Dix once again.
This time Dix could actually feel the intent to fight in Hinata. He wasn't able to dodge most of the attacks anymore, so he had to block or redirect them. He himself also started to attack, throw a few punches towards Hinata who, thanks to her Byakugan, was able to deflect most of them. This fight lasted for minutes instead of mere seconds like the first two exchanges. Dix periodically sped up, so Hinata had to follow suit due to their rapid movement not leaving any room to stay slow. Soon she was unable to hold her punches whatsoever, she had to fight with everything she had.
It seemed like with every few exchanges Hinata's accuracity would rise. She missed less attacks and successfully defended more and more attacks from Dix. After about 20 minutes of intense sparring Hinata almost collapsed. Dix was able to see her dwindling energies, but he decided to push her to the limits so she gains more from the training. In the last exchange Hinata barely had the strength to do proper punches, so Dix just moved behind her and stopped her arm and got her off her feet simultaneously. This time, instead of letting her fall, he slowly let her lie down on the floor. She already lost consciousness by the time her head touched ground.
Hiashi slowly stood up and approached them.
"Marvelous, you are the first to get so much out of my daughter. Good job, she might get somewhere if you were to train her. Also, make some distance and be less intimate with her. I won't let you get close to her no matter what you want."
"Thank you, sir. I will do as you say. Now I'll excuse myself, seeing Hinata's state I presume we finished for today, so I don't want to intrude anymore." Dix replied.
"Yes, go on. I don't want to see your face anymore." he said, seemingly angry, but actually his face had a satisfied expression.
"Yes, sir. Good day to you." Dix said then moved to the door to change back his clothing and left the premises.
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