"But, I don't have any martial spirit. So how did I get this talent?" Yon pondered about but couldn't come up with an answer as the sun was slowly rising.
"I better go back to my room before I get caught by Jisan"
Chouji wasn't able to find out or remember that he passed out and was carried by Yon. So everything went normal just like yesterday. The only difference is that later on, Yon will be facing an instructor in the dojo after class.
Elementary School
Once again Yon was sleeping on his seat without a care in the world. That was until a certain individual came to him during lunchtime.
"Excuse me!" a girl's voice entered Yon's ears and took him out of his dreams. He lifts his head and tried to see who it was with his drool still pouring out from his slightly opened mouth.
He could see the black spiked hair girl looking at him with a mild disgust as she tries to back away a little. 'Uh, you're still drooling." Tatsuki said as she pointed out with her fingers.
"Huh? Oh sorry." Yon wiped himself with his uniform.
"What is it Tatsuki?" He asked Tatsuki after cleaning himself up. The girl was surprised being called by her first name casually and how Yon knows her name when this was the first time they talked.
"H- how did you know my name?!!" Tatsuki asked suspiciously and embarassed.
"I just do?" Yon explained tilting his head. 'Oh right! We haven't introduced yet!'
"Hi, I am Tokisawa Yon. May I know your name? hehehe" Yon tries to resolve the issue smoothly as he could.
"A- Arisawa Tatsuki. But how did you know my name beforehand?" Tatsuki still didn't let him go.
"Tatsuki, introduce me too!" another girl came saving Yon from Tatsuki's question.
"And you are?" he immediately asked
"Orihime Inoue, tatsuki's bestfriend. Nice to meet you!" Tatsuki was unable to say what she wanted to say as Yon asked another question immediately.
"Is this boy your sibling?" Yon pointed out Ichigo who was behind him.
"Huh? I have an older brother but it's not Ichigo." Tatsuki was gettig angry.
"Ichigo? So is that your name?" This time Yon faced Ichigo.
"Yes. It's Kurosaki Ichigo." the boy gives out his full name politely
'Huh? Oh right, he's still a kid. Man I liked him more when he sounded badass and not like this.'
"Then can I call you Ichigo?" he was answered by a nod.
"Great. So Ichigo, Tatsuki and Inoue. Got it! Let's be friends then." Yon lifts up his hand for a fist bump which confused the Ichigo.
"Isn't it normal to bump fist with friends? come on." And tatsuki exploded punching Yon's head.
Yon didn't bother to defend and just let Tatsuki punched him resulting for a bump on his head to grow.
"Tatsuki chan why did you punch him, he didn't do anything wrong." Ichigo reprimands her.
"Huh? you want to be punched too?" answered an angry Tatsuki which scared Ichigo. Orihime was fine though, and was even able to diffuse Tatsuki's anger.
"Calm down Tatsuki, why don't you tell him whatever it is you were gonna ask him instead of punching him?" Inoue approach Tatsuki by the shoulder as she said this calming the beast down.
"You!" Tatsuki points at Yon.
"Me?" Yon points at himself too.
"Why don't you join me and Ichigo in training Karate at the dojo?"
"Why?" asked a disinterested Yon. 'It's a good offer but I wonder if Jisan would let me? Besides I need more martial arts technique as a manual.'
"Well, you look weak. So you might want to know how to protect yourself."
"You do have a point but, I will have to ask my grandfather about it first. Besides, I am already training in Kendo with him." The three kids was surprised to hear this.
"Amazing!" commented Inoue.
"That sounds good." was Ichigo's comment.
"Oh, Is your grandfather strong?" asked the curious Tatsuki.
"Heh, he told me he was the strongest at the dojo he was instructing. Apparently he's already at the rank of 7th Dan/Nana-dan and will be able to raise his rank to the top next year." Yon boasted about his grandfather.
"That's so cool.!" Inoue praised with a nodding Ichigo.
"Your grandfather is not bad." was Tatsuki's comment. They continued chatting up until it was time for class again. It meant sleep time again for Yon.
As class ended Yon was able to say good bye to his 3 new friends unlike yesterday. 'who would've thought that the loner me of the past gets to have not 1 but 3 friends. And they're all characters in an anime I've watched! And I am living in their world!' Its like a smile was pasted on his face as he found his way outside where his grandfather was watching.
"Jisan!" He rushed over to his grandfather.
"Yon, How was school?"
"It was great! I made three friends! Can you imagine that?" Chouji was so happy for his grandson. After so many times of moving homes, his grandson is finally living the ordinary life he's always planned and wished for.
"That's good. I'm so happy for you Yon." Chouji lifted his grandson and hugged him as the both of them laughed.
They both started walking towards the dojo while continuing their conversation.
"So are you ready to spar with one of the instructors?"
"Yes Jisan, I am ready and excited at the same time. So let's hurry up!" They started running to the dojo.
(...)
"You made it just in time, Tokisawa sensei." Iruka greeted them as soon as they arrived.
"Will Yon be participating on the training today?"
"No, but he will be sparring with somebody."
"Hoh? And who will be his sparring partner?" Iruka being interested about it asked.
"Can I spar with you Iruka Sensei?" Yon answered with a question of his own. Surprising both his grandfather and Iruka.
Iruka looked at Chouji in confusion as if asking 'Is your grandson seiours?'
Surprisingly enough, chouji nodded to him.
"Well okay, you must have started training kendo early considering that your grandfather is a 7th dan himself." Iruka accepted.
'That must be why he's so confident to challenge me. Over confidence is not very good for a young one. Tokisawa sensei must have wanted me to teach his grandson a lesson that's he's not doing anything.' Iruka misunderstood. Good thing Yon didn't answer that he just started two days ago.
(...)
Tokisawa Yon vs Takahashi Iruka, Kendo Sparring match.
Ji-Geiko or free sparring practice. It means undirected practice where the kendōka tries all that has been learned against an opponent. The students didn't start their training and gave the main stage of the dojo for the sparring match of Yon.
"I'll be the referee for this sparring match today. This will be a Ji-geiko to allow everyone to apply any and all they have learned to defeat the opponent. The first one to land 3 hits to his opponent wins. Are you both ready?" One of the instructors was the referee. He asked both individual who were now wearing a full bogu except for Iruka who didn't wear a protective head gear.
As both of them went towards each other in the center Yon asked "Sensei, why are you not wearing anything on your head?" he asked innocently.
"It's okay Yon-kun. You won't be able to reach it anyway."
"But what if I did? I might hurt you."
"Haha, then that would only mean I'm weaker than you. But you don't have to worry about that ever happening and just give it your all okay?"
"So you won't get mad if I hit you on the head?"
"Yes I won't."
"You promise?" Iruka was beginning to have ticked marks on his face in annoyance.
"I promise." He still answered calmly. 'I will teach you a lesson kid!'
The 10 Kendo Kata are fixed patterns of moves performed by uchidachi and shidachi (Teacher and student). However for someone who lacks Martial Arts manual like Yon, it was something incredibly important at the moment. While the 2 waza set of techniques his grandfather taught him were indeed important, they were too vague to be considered a Manual.
So Yon did the only thing he could do at that point of time. Combine their principles to modify the 10 kata into a martial arts manual that he could practice. Using the limited time he had last night when his grandfather passed out he succesfuly developed his very own martial art technique.
He was only able to master the first 2 set since there were hollows who showed up and he had to breakthrough after absorbing them.
Back to the spar
Both of them bowed and formed their chudan stance(the most common stance, you should know even if I don't describe it). Then referee signaled. "Start!"
Iruka initiated the match with a simple downward cut to probe Yon. Since Yon was just a 7 year old kid. He was shorter than Iruka. Although Yon was taller than most his peers, it wasn't excessive to the point that he could be misunderstood as someone older than a 7 year old kid.
In Yon's point of view however, his move was very slow. Much slower than his grandfather whom he practiced with for 2 days. Yon simply sidestepped and raised his shinai at the same time. As Iruka's slash missed it's target, it was Yon's time retaliate and he did so by slashing downward too.
Iruka was surprised by Yon's reaction speed but immediately picked himself up. He stepped back to avoid Yon's hit to his head by a very small margin. He continued stepping back and created distance between them so he could restart his stance. Yon didn't bother chasing after him.
That simpple exchange left the student and instuctors speechless. Not a sound was heard from them that a pin drop could be heard if there was one. Chouji was among the croud and has a smiled plastered all over his face.
Once again both Yon and Iruka were in their chudan stance. Iruka was now looking at Yon seriously. Being a 6th dan kendo practitioner, he would have been a laughing stock if he didn't pick himself up awhile ago. Clearly his experience helped him preserve his face and honor.
Seeing Iruka taking him seriously this time and seems to be waiting for him, Yon lost his patiencce and initiated an attack. Yon raised his shinai overhead and his knees bended ever so slightly as the sword overhead found its way towards his left shoulder leveled to his face. Yon almost looked like someone who was picking his sword from his back.
'Modified 10 Kendo Kata! the 1st Kata: Ippon-me!' Yon launched himself towards the taller opponent. He targetted his opponents head with the intention to cut him all the way down. Restricted by a 7 years old kid's body and without using his cultivation, Iruka was able to block the strike and retaliate.
Yon didn't back down and slashed against Iruka's retaliation as their shinai met. Yon used his weight since he was still in the air and pushed down. But his body weight felt like a feather for someone like Iruka so he was pushed back away as he landed on the ground. They made their way once again to the proper distance to restart another exchange.
The audience was so quiet, some even forgot to breath as they watch the spar unfold in front of them. The instructors were wondering if this was still even a spar between a student and sensei. They all had one thought 'Chouji's grandson is a Kendo Genius!'
End of chapter 10