"I have been waiting all this time just for this blissful moment." Ayase became too comfortable that her hug tightened around Shin's neck. She also put her head together with Shin's.
'This feels wrong as it sounded like a joke or something. I actually loved it when I heard her confession, not gonna lie. But, this was just... So fast and sudden.' Shin stood up, knowing that there was an added weight on him.
"What the? You will not let go of me?" Even though he was having the feeling of being strangled, Shin tried to turn his head to look at Ayase, who made herself stuck on his back.
"Bring me back inside the dojo in this state." Ayase grinned merrily at him. It was clear that she was pleased with what was happening.
"You want a piggyback ride?" Shin set his head back in the front. He held up Ayase's lower body by locking her knees. "HAHAHA... How childish of you, Aya." He had a smile on his face. Furthermore, he started walking towards the dojo at a slow rate.
"Heh... Did you use my old nickname? Hearing that from you soothes my heart and soul." Ayase snuggled her head as she curled herself up while on Shin's back.
Shin was snickering repeatedly. His body instinctively wriggled as he received some tingling sensations, making his pace unstable. "Stop it, Aya! It tickles!"
"It has been so long that I can't stop myself from doing it." Ayase quit tickling him. "I hope that soon, you will also do that to me. Hehehe." She conveyed a grin again.
Shin's walking pace went back to normal. "I can always tickle you in that style if I want to." He jumped to fix the piggyback ride as Ayase was slowly sliding down on his back.
Seeing that she was resting her head on Shin's left shoulder, Ayase was staring at him, mesmerized by the face of the person she was admiring. "Ohhh... Then, I'm looking forward to it, Shin."
-----
They were now back inside the dojo. Shin and Ayase were sitting cross-legged on their respective side around the kotatsu. The water bottle, which was full yet forgotten, was still on there.
Shin pushed his sitting body forward. "Do not make any bitter reaction after hearing this silly question of mine." He interlaced his fingers as he clasped his hands on the kotatsu. "I did not have the time to ask this. But, why was I topless earlier?"
When she heard Shin's half-assed question, Ayase scowled at him in puzzlement. She deliberately crossed her arms. "What are you trying to say?"
Shin straightforwardly glared at Ayase and asked, "Are you into necrophilia?"
After hearing Shin's unexpected concern, Ayase's uneasy expression instantly reversed into a jolly one as she cackled loudly on him. "Dumbhead! I know that I like you, but I would never do something so disturbing. I don't have any fetishes like that necrophilia thing you were babbling about."
"For your information, when I arrived here, I saw that you were unconscious on the ground. So, I checked your pulse and heartbeat. You have them pumping inside your body. It indicated that you were not dead, but alive."
Shin's eyes and mouth broadened. "I see... I was already alive when you came here, huh." A strange smile formed on his face.
"I haven't told you anything regarding the incident in full detail." Shin separated his clasped hands. He put it down on the table.
"Due to the severe cuts on his back, Grandpa Makoto lost way too much blood. In my case, I was punctured thoroughly in my gut. We both died in the hands of Abe Toujou, the assigned culprit."
"Ehh?" Ayase shockingly put her hands down on the kotatsu with some applied vigor. The water bottle fell as the whole kotatsu quaked from the impact. "That's a lie, right? You don't have a hole or any wounds in your gut."
Shin shook his head, implying that it was not a lie and everything he said was the truth.
Ayase's sight was blurring. She held her head with both of her hands, being crazy. "Then, why are you here right now, healthy and alive? Am I corrupted by my own delusions of you? Am I really that obsessed with you?"
"Calm down!" Shin flicked Ayase's forehead. Ayase snapped back to reality and covered the flicked part. "Overthinking is not a good thing." He held Ayase's cheeks as he kneaded them.
Shin stopped kneading Ayase's cheeks. "I understand your feelings about this. I will discuss what happened after I had died, so listen to me first."
To answer him, Ayase nodded. She removed her hands from her forehead.
Shin withdrew his hands from her cheeks. He interlaced his fingers as he stretched it upwards. Afterward, he rested his hands on his lap.
"This is the whole scenario if I remember correctly. I was ordered to get that thick blanket right there." Shin gazed at the blanket, which was on his right side, placed on the futon.
Shin looked back at Ayase. "So, I obeyed. I went back here inside the dojo and took it outside. I was kind of having a hard time dealing with that heavy thing. Anyways, while I was on my way back to the bench area, I noticed that Grandpa Makoto was standing as if he was facing someone."
"I bent my body like this—" Shin inclined his head to the right. "—to see who was the person Grandpa Makoto was facing. And, when I saw him... My whole body shivered. The only action I could do was recklessly running towards him."
"It was obvious that it didn't turn out well." Shin groaned. "Grandpa Makoto blocked the incoming attacks from Abe. Of course, after taking severe cuts, the chances of him dying were higher. Even though I expected that we would die there, I was still so shocked."
Shin facepalmed himself. "He was on the verge of death but he endured it. He even said that I should perform the ritual on his last breath." He pulled his hand out from his face. "And, I did it. But I died after doing it, though."
"What kind of ritual did you perform? I'm trying to connect the dots here." On the kotatsu, Ayase crossed her arms as she laid her head on it. Her eyes were fixated on Shin.
"It was a Forbidden Rhythm Ritual. The name of the Forbidden Clutch that I obtained was 'Salutary Resurgence'."
"Forbidden? As in the former strongest ranking, which had an old term called True?" Ayase was so surprised that her eyes widened while she was resting her head.
"Yeah, it is the one. Also, take a look at this." Shin lifted his right arm in the midair with an open hand. He started exerting some of his black auras onto it. Shortly, from its initial black shade and hue, his aura evolved into the shade of vantablack. It was one of the darkest colors known, absorbing up to 99.965% of visible light.
Ayase put her head up and undid her resting position. "So dark... That is the darkest color that I've ever seen. However, I think your aura seems suspicious. When you first released your aura, it still had a black color, but it was lighter and not as dark as that one."
"You're a good observer, Aya." Shin raised his other arm and opened its hand. He discharged his initial black aura onto it.
"My left arm is infused only with my original black aura. Whereas, my right arm also has my original black aura, but with a twist. I enhanced it by using the King Clutch 'Tails of Limit', giving the aura in this arm a darker color and more strength than the normal infusion." Shin simultaneously closed his hands. The materialization of the auras was absorbed back inside him.
"A clutch with a King Rhythm Degree? The Victor Rhythm Degree is already hard to pass. How did you do it?" Ayase stood up from the floor as she stretched herself.
Shin shut his eyes. He brushed his hair as he said, "Actually, the Forbidden Clutch associates with it. I was dead for 3 days, but my inner consciousness was taken into my Soul of Sovereignty. In there, I was communicating with 2 trails of light, Amari and Lila. They benefited me to have this clutch. It was like a cheat." He smirked after saying this.
"That's kinda unfair, isn't it?" Shin also stood up. "I'm getting bored here. We're just chatting about the past. I wanna move on from there. Moreover, my fighting skills would be rusty if I were to not train after the 3 days of not doing so." He cracked his knuckles.
Shin went in front of the main entrance of the dojo, planning on going outside. "I will take Grandpa Makoto's place of being your trainer. I'm feeling rather confident about my martial arts skills. Now, my question is... Will you accept my training sessions to further improve your skills?" He took a glimpse at Ayase.
Ayase looked back eye-to-eye and smiled at the passionate Shin.
"Why would I not?"