"What the... You've gotta be kidding me..." Yue's voice said with disbelief, "What the hell?! Why is he here?!"
Inside the Takahashi residence in their living room, she dragged her mom in the hallway to speak in private, and she whispered angrily, "Mom, you're joking, right...? R-Right!?" and her mother spoke up softly, "What do you mean? And no, I'm not kidding whatsoever." She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, "Wait, do you know him?" then gasped as she came to a realization, "Ohh! Is he the foreigner you were talking about?"
Yue was at a loss for words she fumbled at what she was about to say next, "Well, how unexpected! I've personally tested against him and well... he passed. He's got the brains and brawn that you asked for, and well here he is. And besides!" "The good looks don't hurt." she teasingly said, while muttering under her breath, (And the only one that matches your requirements...)
And she added, "You can test him out if you want, there's plenty of time." Yue glanced at her potential tutor who was sitting on their couch, and sighed in surrender, "Whatever... I'll deal with him myself."
And she and her mother walked back into their living room and a male voice grunted, "Is... something the matter?" And Yue's voice yelled, "Siegfried-san, why the hell are you here applying to be my tutor!?" He shrugged, "Boredom, I suppose." As he spoke softly with his deep voice, as he gestured to Yue's mom, Himari, about her daughter's test papers, "I took a peek at your test papers..." And she had a look of surprise, "You wha—!? When did you!?" he interrupted her "And I must say..." she gulped and braced herself for what he was about to say next, "I got my work cut out for me." And he laid out and spread her failed test papers on their coffee table and Yue averted her looks from her tutor's gaze and feigned ignorance towards her exam papers, "Also..." He glanced at her and asked, "You wish to fight me?" and added, "Will that finalize me as being your tutor?" She looked at him and her expression changed into a look of pleasant surprise and her eyes dazzled in excitement, "Y-Yeah, sure! I wanna fight you!" she caught herself being too overtly excited about her going 1 on 1 with him and toned it down a little, "Uh, I mean... Yes. If you win, then it's official..." She fidgeted for a second before steeling herself by saying, "Siegfried-san. Fight me. I want to see both how and how well you fight."
Even though she was trying her damnedest to have a neutral expression but a little smirk of enthusiasm slipped on her face. While Siegfried's neutral mien looked her in the eyes, then promptly closed his eyes and said, "Understood..."
The scene shifted the two were now in the backyard, and Siegfried stood there as Yue was preparing for combat and began stretching, she had a cheeky grin and took off her casual clothing, revealing a black sports bra, and a skin-tight sport short. And she wore her MMA gloves and started warming up, she stretched, and took a deep breath to calm herself, she chuckled confidently, "Y'know... I dunno how you managed to beat my mom fair and square, but despite you having my mom's approval I want to see that for myself. I don't want a spineless tutor; I want a tutor that knows how to fight!" And immediately dashed for Siegfried and launched a straight punch with her right arm, but Siegfried simply dodged it by swaying to the left, "Hoho?" and she disengaged, her mother watched in the sidelines, "Don't go too crazy, now! Otherwise, we'll have to send one of you to the hospital if one of you two broke a bone."
She got into her stance; a boxing stance and took advantage of their height difference by closing the gap between them by rushing toward him. Siegfried instinctively used his arms to block as he was now being bombarded with combos, Yue launches multiple lightning-fast alternating jabs before releasing a powerful straight into his elbow breaking his defense. (She's fast. And she hits hard...) he silently remarked.
He dashed back, to put some distance between her, "Hmm..." He looked at his arms, they were red as they took all of her combos, "How interesting..." He took off his jacket, revealing a white sleeveless shirt underneath, and Himari had a reaction to his toned arms, (Ho? His arms are hella toned. They ain't half-bad at all.)
And Siegfried taunted her, "Come. Entertain me." "Hah! As you wish!" And she rushed Siegfried again, but this time she ducked underneath and successfully struck his stomach, and she followed up by ducking down and struck his legs by doing a sweeping kick, causing Siegfried to lose his balance and fell over, she seized this chance by climbing over his body and began pummeling him with punches. But Siegfried blocked it with his arms. (She's not half-bad... Despite my suppressed state, I actually felt her blow to my stomach. Her technique, and her battle sense, they're a bit sloppy and unrefined as she's still an amateur. But overall, she has potential... I have to make her concede defeat without hurting her.)
He thought as he was busy defending, Yue taunted him, "What's wrong? Is defending all you could do?!" as she was about to launch another punch, he pushed her to the side, but that's what she wanted to happen, as she pulled his arm in dragging his face closer and started to squeeze his head (and face) with her thighs. (Not a bad way to die in my opinion.)
"You're mine!" The hold lasted for a few solid seconds, but Siegfried on the other hand as his face was being smushed, had different plans and broke free from her grip after a few seconds of struggling, he started to pant, as Siegfried thought earlier, he must come up a way to make her concede without hurting her, and that's the tricky part. (That leg strength...) And a split-second of respite before she wiped the sweat off her face with her arms and smiled confidently, "Just tell me when you wanna give up." He shook his head and scoffed, (Giving up? Amusing.)
(Suppose, I'll take her a little serious now. Her moves resembled Boxing and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu since she knew how to grapple...) he thought to himself and an idea popped into his head, he sighed and said, "Bring it on."
He prepped his stance, by placing both his hands in his pocket, "You cannot hit me." He declared, and she said, "Oh?" being taunted, she immediately continued her assault. She swung, kicked, and swept, but this time something was off, her attacks couldn't connect. He was dodging her punch, her kick, every move while placing his hands in his pocket and having a cold expression plastered on his face. (What the hell? I managed to hit him earlier! Why can't I hit him?) he silently scoffed, (Hmph. Don't get ahead of yourself, that's because I let you hit me.) He thought to himself, (I'll just keep dodging, and whittle her down bit by bit.)
"Keep. Still. So. I. Can. Hit. You!" as she launched a barrage of attacks, and so he did, he stood still as she launched a punch, but he parried her attack, as Siegfried effortlessly caught it with his hands and pushed her in the other direction causing her to lose balance and fall over. As she was on the ground, she panted heavily, (This guy... is toying with me.)
As she looked at him with frustration as his expression is as empty and cold as a bottomless abyss. She struggled to rise up and her opponent suggested, "Concede defeat, Takahashi-san." And added, "Haven't I proven that I can fight...?" She slowly rose to her feet and as she panted heavily, she said, "You did... but all you did... was just dodge... and, I... I'm not done yet! And besides, all you just did, you just shoved me aside, if you want this job, then you gotta hit me!"
And lunged at Siegfried and began a barrage of fruitless attacks, and now, a full 30 seconds passed and Yue still showed no signs of slowing down. (Tsk. Her stamina and endurance... Change of plans I suppose. She won't cry from a little pain, won't she?) And when Yue was about to launch another punch with her right arm, Siegfried caught it, pulled her in, locked his arms around her body, placed his right foot on her left heel, and used his bodyweight to perform a takedown on her. Now as Yue is on top of him, he used both of his legs to lock hers and used both of his arms to lock her neck, while delicately balancing the right amount of pressure on her throat to slow down her breathing while not hurting her. And now Siegfried is the one doing the choke-out. And Yue gripped both of Siegfried's hands and had a slowed and labored breathing, "Grrk...! Grah...!" (Shit... His arms... wrapping me...! Have... to... escape!) She raised her right arm and began to elbow Siegfried's side, then alternated with her left hit and struck him again and again and again, but Siegfried in his suppressed state could feel the blow of Yue's elbows on his ribs. The pain was flaring on his sides but he held strong and whispered in her ear, "Tap out Takahashi-san." And defiantly yelled, "N-Never...!"
And slowly Siegfried tightened his grip and slowly Yue's field of vision is slowly tunneling before she heard someone calling out her name.
"Yue! Yue! Yue, are you alright?!" she gradually regained her consciousness and saw the worried look on her mother's face, as her expression slowly changed into relief, her mother helped her up, and she asked one more time, "Yue, are you alright? Are you hurt? Are you injured anywhere?" she shook her head before rubbing neck, "N-No, I'm fine. I was just surprised as all." Her mother too had a deep sigh of relief, "Whew, I was worried there for a second." She stood up and confronted her daughter's opponent, "You!" Siegfried looked around and pointed at himself, and had an exasperated look, "Well, who else am I talking to?" she nodded, "You put on quite the sparring session with my daughter. Well, since you're the only one whom my daughter challenged, and everyone else failed to live up to her requirement, and by default, you're now her tutor." She held out her hand for a shake, and Siegfried took it and they shook hands, "Congratulations, Siegfried Silverstein." He nodded, "I'll do my best..." She too nodded in confirmation and had a sneaky smile on her face, (Hmhmhm, finally Yue found herself a tutor, to be honest, it was a real pain in the ass but my, my, look who came into our doorstep and quite the looker as well. And to top it all off, he's foreign! Maybe I can expect some grandchildren after all!) and Yue noticed that her mother had a very, very sus look, (Oh boy, I wonder what my mom's thinking of right now?) She approached her newly-appointed tutor, punched him in the shoulder, and flashed him a confident and friendly grin, "Well, guess I'll be troubling you for a bit!" before melting into a shy and hesitant look, "I... uh, I look forward of you teaching me." She scratched her head and bowed respectfully, he nodded, "Likewise..."
And added, "Your moves..." and she tilted her head, "Eh? What about 'em?" he continued, "They were but sloppy." She furrowed her eyebrows and angrily said, "Huh?! What do you mean by 'sloppy'? My Mom taught me!"
Then after the "interview" of Yue to her tutor, she requested him to start their official session tomorrow. But Siegfried didn't mind as he had other business to attend to. Hours passed, and in a large luxurious apartment complex sat a familiar old man in a large luxurious leather chair. He was sipping whiskey when a vintage telephone rang, "Yes? Akihiko Shiroyama, speaking." And in a garbled yet comprehensive voice spoke, "Shiroyama-san, Reaper here..." And he had a tone of pleasantness in his phone, "Ah! Reaper-san, hello, what brings you to call? Do you have something to report?"
And the Reaper filled him in on what happened over the last 48 hours. He nodded and nodded as he was being filled in. And as he was about to take a sip from his whiskey, he lowered it from his lips and stopped, "I see..." Said Shiroyama-san in a grim tone, "This was to be expected. Yet, at the same time not this soon..."
On the other side of the phone call, (The fact that someone hired someone to be out for my daughter's head is concerning... Did someone leak information? Was it someone from my company? Or a third party? If so then who...?) and the Reaper asked, "The identity of your daughter..." "Hm?" and he continued, "Is a tightly-sealed secret, am I wrong...?" And Shiroyama-san grunted in confirmation at the Reaper's question, "Indeed. This is strict company secrecy, but it raises several questions..." Shiroyama-san sighed and decided, "For now, Reaper-san, we will wait and see. It's too early to tell. I hate to ask this for you, but I want you to investigate: Who placed a bounty on my daughter's head." the Reaper grunted in approval, "Understood..." And Shiroyama-san paused for a brief moment before saying, "Although, I am... I'm glad that she and Himari are well. Excellent work on infiltrating that tutoring job, Reaper-san. Phase 2 is underway: Protection of my Daughter and subsequently her mother as well." And he realized that he forgot to mention something, "Ah, I remembered something: please do drop by our HQ as soon as you can. I have something for you that will aid you in guarding my daughter, it's something fast and maneuverable. I would like to meet her soon, whether by you bringing her to me or Lionel and his men. I just wish to meet my daughter. Be well, Reaper-san, and good luck with protecting her." And the Reaper rumbled his throat, "Copy..." Then the call ended and Akihiko Shiroyama took a deep breath before sighing greatly, "Now, things just got a whole lot interesting..."
Meanwhile, in the Silverstein Residence, Siegfried was preparing for the first day of his job as a tutor, there beside him is a suitcase containing the lectures and topics he'll teach to his client. As he spent all-night last night researching her subjects.
There the trio was present behind him, "Nya, you're going out?" asked a female pink-haired Nekomata, and Siegfried nodded, "I have a contract to fulfill..." And a female Pan with long shiny white hair said, "My, my, I'm glad that you've found a part-time job, Siegfried. This is your first day, no? Please do your best!" He nodded, and the pink-haired Nekomata remarked, "Nya, I didn't know you could teach, Siegfried." He shrugged and for a brief moment he paused before asking, "Food... Is... there anything you girls desire when I'm out?" and Lily spoke up, "Nya! I heard that there's a shop that sells hot and delicious Fish Croquettes nearby!" he nodded, then faced the remaining two, "C-Can I?" and when Siegfried locked eyes with her for a moment she immediately averted away from his gaze before slowly and hesitantly said, "I'd like to have what Lily's having..." and turned her back on her Host to hide her bright-red face, and Ivanna turned to face her Host, "Then it's settled then, I too, would like to have a croquette, Siegfried." And she asked, "What is a 'croquette' to begin with?" and Siegfried quickly explained to her what it is, "Ah, then we ate that some days ago! It was quite delicious!" He grunted, "Potato-only version for you." Then turned to Mina, "Meat version." And turned to Lily, "Fish version...?" the Nekomata nodded, "Hehe! Yup!" and Siegfried grabbed his suitcase, "I'll be going now... oh, and Ivanna?" she answered, "Y-Yes?" he cracked a smile at her, "Thank you for doing cooking duty, tonight. You have my gratitude." And left, but the trio inside was taken aback by their Host's unexpected smirk and left them with faces as red as tomatoes and looks of astonishment.
"Did he... Did he just smile at us, nya?" Lily said in bewilderment.
As Siegfried was walking, he thought to himself, (Let's get to work...) He pursed his lips and whistled at subsonic frequency, after he whistled a familiar black raven soared overhead with ebony wings and descended down and perched at Siegfried's shoulder, and as he was walking, he and the large raven had a silent exchange, "I see..." and commended the raven as he gently caressed his Familiar's head, "Return to for now." And the jet-black raven dissipated like a dark mist. Siegfried took a deep breath and sighed, "Now then... It's too early to do anything yet."
Then at the Takahashi Residence, the two were well underway on their session. "You have to finish this mock exam I made you, Takahashi-san." As a male's soft and deep voice faded in the background as Yue was answering the question sheet given to her by her tutor.
Siegfried successfully secured the position of being her tutor and completing Phase One, as Phase Two on the other hand will be a continuous operation that intertwines with Phase One. He sat on the floor in Yue's bedroom, paying no mind to the unfeminine décor and martial arts paraphernalia plastered all over her room. Yue sat on her office chair with a nervous and uneasy look on her face, "W-Well? How did I do?" Siegfried held his index finger up to indicate patience as he was not done examining her exam papers.
It was taking too long and she laid her head on her study desk and stared at Siegfried, (Man, this is some twisted coincidence I just met him the other day and now, he is my tutor? This is crazy...) she then closed her eyes and scoffed, and muttered, (Then again, my missing deadbeat father is a billionaire and wants me to inherit his stupid company, and his stupid wealth, so that's the least of it...) She then caught herself staring at her tutor and snapped out of it, "Congratulations." She celebrated, "Yay!" and he promptly said, "You failed." And her face turned to disappointment, "Ehhh?!" He clicked his tongue, "When was the last time you actually studied...?" and Yue looked away and tried to feign ignorance by whistling, he shook his head in disapproval, (This is just an assessment for me to gauge her academic abilities...) "You are rather weak in this particular skill set." And he continued, "I'll be sure to make academic exercises to sharpen your mind."
She sighed, and rolled her eyes, "Fineeee...!" Siegfried closed his eyes and remarked, "Takahashi-san... I acknowledge your skill in the physical side..." and added, "And recognize your hard work in the pursuit of fitness and health. (For a human anyway...) But you need to train your mind also, life isn't always about how heavy the weights you lift or how fast you can run nor how hard you can punch." And he pointed at his head, "Train the mind and the body will follow. Knowledge is power and Wisdom is strength, remember this." (I think that's the first time I talked that much in a while... I said too much...)
He scratched his head, "Is there... anything I can help you with?" she averted her eyes and deflatingly said, "Y-Yeah, there's this math homework that my teacher made us do..."
She got out her math textbooks and flipped the page to indicate the mathematical exercises, and Siegfried leaned over to see. "Ah. Seems easy enough. What part of this do you not understand?" she laughed nervously, "Umm... All of it?" Siegfried was not surprised and he grunted, "Let's get to work then..." he softly said, Siegfried taught Yue the basics of her math lesson, and in order to solve the equation presented in the textbook in order to understand the solving process he told her to see how the formula works. "Oh, ok, ok, I think I got it." And answered one of the questions in her homework and asked Siegfried if she got it right or wrong, and Siegfried shook his head, "Oh... Is it wrong?"
Siegfried nodded then pointed down to the formula viable to the questions, "The formula... You skimmed past." And patiently Siegfried taught her step by step in order to answer the question, "Ohh...! I see." And wrote again and presented the answer to her tutor, he saw it and computed the answers in his head and it matched, and nodded, "Correct." And she celebrated, "Haha! Yes!" and Siegfried grunted in approval, "Good, it seems that there's hope in you, after all." And she took offense to that, "What?! What do you mean by that!?" and he ignored her and pointed to the rest.
She nodded and answered while Siegfried took this inaction as a chance to rest for a short bit and closed his eyes. (Void be damned... I spent all night last night both making her study material and keeping watch in case Takahashi-san is in danger.) He recalled what happened when that figure tried to kill Yue, (Shiroyama-san's worst fears came true. There is someone out to kill her, but who? Who ordered the hit? And according to him, it was company secrecy... I'll dig for more info soon and learn more. But first...) "Siegfried-san?" Yue's voice echoed outside of Siegfried's ears, "Siegfried-san!" and again, "Siegfried-san!" and finally, "Hellooo! Earth to Siegfried-san!" he grunted, "Hm?" and Yue had a smug grin on her face, "You were totally spacing out weren't cha?" and Siegfried denied this, "No. I was not." With a playful grin, she teased, "Pfft, liar." He asked, "Something you need, Takahashi-san?"
While Yue was doing the rest of her homework she asked, "Yeah, uh, call me curious but why'd you become a tutor?" he scoffed at her question, "I have my own reasons Takahashi-san. With all due respect, keep your business to your own." She angrily turned her head against him, "Hmph! You're no fun at all, Mister I'm-so-cool-and-mysterious." And Siegfried simply ignored her, and thought, (I already utilized a Familiar to keep surveillance on the Takahashi residence and the surrounding area...) Yue glanced at him and send, (Sheesh... What's with this guy? He speaks so little and so softly! What's his deal...? A little boring to be honest...)
Then after a while...
"Ahh! Finally, I'm done!" he got up and went to her to check her work and grunted in approval, "I checked and all of your answers..." and Yue waited in anxious anticipation, "...and all of them are correct, excellent work, Takahashi-san."
And said with his usual cold expression, and Yue who wasn't expecting praise just sat there and stared at her tutor, and when their eyes meet, she flashed him a wide and cheerful grin, "Heh, thanks!" then they heard a knock on the door, "Yue? Siegfried-kun? I brought snacks." Yue stood up and opened the door and her mom brought in some snacks and cold refreshments for the two of them.
Upon meeting Himari, Siegfried bowed, "Thank you for the snacks, Takahashi-san." Himari waved her hand dismissively, "Pfft! Nah, it's cool. I'm the one who's offering after all." He nodded, "I see." Then Himari asked her daughter how the tutoring session is going on, "It's going fine, Mom. We just finished doing my math homework." She nodded in approval, "I see. I see. Then that's good!"
"Mrs.— Err, I mean... Takahashi-san?" she glanced at her daughter's tutor, "Yeah, what's up, Siegfried-kun?" and he continued, "May I have a word with you, in private?" she tilted her head in wonder and said yes, "Sure, what's wrong?"
They descended downstairs and headed to the kitchen, "About your daughter..." she asked, "Well, what about her?" he closed his eyes, "Upon seeing it for myself... I've concluded that academically speaking, she is lazy, not stupid. Also, I would like to apologize for my crass language the other day. Forgive me." And bowed solemnly, and upon seeing Siegfried's sincere apology, Himari's reaction was just a light and casual chuckle, "Haha! Don't worry about it, I know that you did mean it. But I'm glad that Yue herself proved you wrong." He grunted, "Indeed so..." And he continued, "Your daughter... Ma'am, I recognize that she's a hard worker in the physical aspects such as fitness, exercise, and most probably sports as well. But she is absolutely lazy and disinterested in the academic side."
She nodded in an understanding manner and sighed, "That part is obvious, Siegfried-kun. I'm proud of how far my Yue has come, she's won multiple 1st Place trophies and medals in sporting events in elementary, in middle school, and just last year, in freshman year in her high school."
She gestured to a spot in their living room, where a large wooden cabinet was placed in the corner, curiously Siegfried went up to it to examine it, and inside, it was full of sporting trophies and 1st place medals hung around them and others are 2nd place medals, Track-and-Field, Swimming, Basketball, Soccer, and even Karate awards. This trophy cabinet is a testament to Yue's physical prowess as an athlete and martial artist.
And beside it is a wooden desk, it was also filled with pictures of Yue wearing her medals while holding up a peace sign with a wide smile and triumphant look. In other, photos she's with her mother smiling so widely and happily, after her victories, and pictures of her in action.
There's a picture Siegfried noticed, it looked like she was a baby who was just beginning to walk. Siegfried upon seeing the cabinet full of trophies and medals remarked, "You have a potential Olympian Athlete, Takahashi-san." She walked and stood beside him and gloated, "Hell yeah I do. After all, she's my pride and joy. Whether or not she wants to become a world-class athlete, ultimately, it's up to her to decide. Because I'll support her either way." He grunted, "I see." And he muttered, "A life that I will never have... A life I will never experience..."
She turned her head, "Hm? Did you say something?" he shook his head, "No. It's nothing." And he continued, "Back to your daughter, Takahashi-san." She coughed, "Oh, um, right. Well, suppose that she wasn't held back due to the extracurricular activities she participates in." He nodded, "It affects the overall grades?" she nodded, "Yeah, it does." He closed his eyes, "Hmm..." he blew air out of his nose, and Himari spoke, "That laziness and disinterest in one's studies is dangerous." And added, "As a mother, I only want the best for my daughter. After all, that's why I hired you didn't I?"
He nodded, "Yes." And he grunted, "I'll think up a way to motivate her into her studies, and quite possibly make her interested in her academics. You have my word." Himari is impressed at Siegfried's resolve in improving her daughter's grades, and chuckled and sighed in assurance, "I know you will, Siegfried-san." And he realized something, (I should get back to her daughter...) "That's all I want to talk about, Takahashi-san, thank you for your time in listening." He bowed politely and went back to Yue's room.
And as he arrived, Yue was laying on her bed looking bored out of her mind as her drink and her share of the food is gone, "You sure took your sweet time, huh?" he bowed slightly, "Forgive me, I had to talk to your mother regarding your... grades." And she sighed contemptuously and lazily, "Ugh, that so?" And noticed that Yue was out of it, as her expression told Siegfried that something was on her mind but decided to keep silent about it. Then scratched his head, "Shall we resume?" Yue lethargically got up and got out of her bed and sighed, "Yeah, yeah... Tsk, bring it on."
*END OF CHAPTER*
Current information bestowed for the public, provided by the Knights of Nights.
Subject: Knights of Night (2/5)
"The Knights of Night is legally classified as a "Paramilitary Organization" that swears no allegiance to any country or nation. We have armed forces that cover the land, sea, and air. Our ground forces are called: Knights. They are the backbone of our entire Organization as the Knights of each Branch in each nation are divided into 8 Divisions commanded by a Division Commander. Our armed forces in the air are called: Lancers. And our armed forces in the sea are called: Tritons. Our forces operate similarly to the United States and other Western Powers."