After leaving the armoury, Seijuro walks to the bathroom to wash his face. He unties his long, dark brown hair, letting it rest just above his shoulders. He stares at himself in the mirror, his brown eyes reflecting the sunlight coming through the window. Seijuro takes off his top, his well-toned body still covered in bandages,
I got to remember to go back to Ruma to get rid of these bandages.
Seijuro flexes his biceps and then his triceps and smiles proudly,
My body still looks great. I thought I would have much more damage done than just a few cuts.
Seijuro grabs the towel on his right, wiping away the water from his light brown skin. He places his necklace back around himself and places his white top back on. He reties his hair and let's put a sigh. Prior leaving, he picks up his sword, gently caressing the toy on the edge of the grip. He sheathes his blade, placing the sword on his back.
He shuts the door behind and walks towards Lily,
"You sure took your time."
"Yeah I was just cleaning myself up, that's all."
"Uh huh. Anyways, Captain Lisa wants to see us near the training grounds."
"Again? But what we just saw her?" Lily shrugs and resumes advancing to the given location.
Captain Lisa turns her head to face them both, waving ecstatically at them,
"Seijuro-san! Lily-san! I have some news for you both! The master wants you both trained up before you leave again." Lily frowns at this information,
"So we can't leave?"
"Not until 3 days have passed of training, as well as three days of rest. Just a precaution, little siblings!" Lily felt annoyed with this,
More of this delaying. I gotta get back on the field…
"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly is three days of training going to do for us?" Lily asks with her arms crossed, not even trying to hide her annoyance on the situation,
"The master wants to make sure you both are ready. We don't you both coming back in comas everytime, Lily-san."
Meanwhile, Seijuro remains unbothered and nods his head to Lisa's orders,
"Doesn't Captain Frank lead practical training?"
"He normally does… but he is quite busy! So I'm gonna be helping you guys this time! Now let's get started!" Lisa points at two huge logs and they both walk towards them.
Seijuro and Lily lift the logs over their shoulders, resting it across them,
"Now walk around the entire track 3 times carrying these logs. The logs weigh 100 kilograms." Lisa gives them a supporting smile and a thumbs up! Her red eyes seem brighter and her smile even more vibrant. Her white hair flows in the breeze, and her milky skin reflects the sunlight, causing her skin to glow. The 22 year old woman was truly a personification of optimism.
Seijuro and Lily begin trudging, carrying the logs on their back. After completing their laps, they throw the logs off their back, they are breathing heavily and their foreheads drip with sweat. They clutch their knees and breathe deeply. Lisa gives them a small round of applause, which angers Lily,
She's pitying us…
Feeling insulted, Lily gives Lisa a slight glare,
"Looks like you guys need to work on your stamina! Captain Frank has trained your strength well Seijuro-san and Captain Jade and Captain Rose have trained your strength well to, Lily-san!"
Lily let's out a small scoff, and stands up properly. After a while, Seijuro does the same,
"Looks like your stamina can do with some work though." She chuckles a bit, which causes Lily to grit her teeth, her black eyes begin to squint and turn red, but Seijuro quickly interferes,
"What do we gotta do, Captain?"
"More cardio! A lot of it! So push-ups, 1000 of them!" Lily gives Lisa a dirty look before tying her back,
She's so unserious… I hate this…
Both of them get on the floor and begin performing the exercise as Lisa observes them. The ground was hard and hot, as the sun was beaming down on them. After completing their order, Seijuro and Lily stand up even more exhausted than before, they see Lisa standing next to a kuroi dummy, Seijuro groans,
Not this again…
"Well done! Now, your next exercise, in your current condition... will fight a kuroi. This one will be stronger than the one on your practical exam." Lisa gently touches the dummy on it's chest, her hand glowing a dark purple, as it slowly spreads onto the kuroi. It's eyes now glow a dark purple. Seijuro unsheathes his sword, and Lily's staff grows and she points it towards the dummy,
"Get ready!" Lisa yells as the kuroi charges at them both.
Seijuro quickly readjusts his grip,
"Wrath Of Tatsu!" He lunges forward, thrusting his blade directly at the heart.
Lily swings her staff to the left, aiming for its head. The kuroi evades both blows by jumping above them. Lily immediately moves back by performing a quick backflip and aims her staff in the air,
"Might Of Zeus." She throws her staff into the air. The staff glows a dark purple and this time, instead of splitting, the staff remains intact, moving at an incredible speed towards the kuroi,
He's in the air… he won't be able to dodge…
Suddenly, the kuroi moves its hands and grasps the top of her staff, just before it can connect, and pushes itself forward, successfully dodging and landing safely on the ground,
Impossible… it used my own attack to evade…
Lily begins to clench her fists in anger. Meanwhile, Seijuro charges in, grasping his blade with both hands and positioning his blade on his left side,
"Ryu's breath!" The kuroi blocks the swing and simultaneously moves back, as it regenerates its arms,
Damn it… I can't use too many moves… my stamina is already as low as it can be…
A powerful blow to Seijuros mid-section interrupts his train of thought, as he is sent flying back by a kick,
So fast… I didn't even see it coming…
Lily, with her staff in hand, charges from behind the kuroi,
"Spartan Assault." In an instant, the kuroi turns around and and moves to the right, evading the attack,
What?!
Before Lily could even react to the dodge, the kuroi grabs her by the throat and lifts her in the air. He then proceeds to slam her into the ground,
"Lily!" Seijuro yells in a panicked state,
The kuroi turns his attention back to Seijuro, his eyes widen as it breaks in a full sprint towards him. Grasping his blade tightly, he charges back at it,
"Kiyohime's Vengeance!" The trading of blows cause the ground to crack, however the kuroi is able to land a severe blow to Seijuro's rib, causing him to fall to one knee in agony,
Damn it… I can't move…
He looks up to see the dummy about to deliver one final blow, when Lily intervenes, striking at its forearm to prevent the punch from landing. Her face was grazed, and her the side of her white top was ripped and covered in dirt. The kuroi performs several backflips away from Lily, creating some distance between,
"Lily!"
"You know, Yoshiki… you need to stop distracting yourself…" Lily states inbetween breaths.
Lily and the kuroi move towards each other with an immense amount of speed. They begin trading blows, however the kuroi is pushing her back,
I have to… help her…
Seijuro clutches the side of his torso and grits his teeth, as he attempts to stand up. The stings of pain becoming greater with each movement. After what seemed like forever, he is back on his feet. He looks to see Lily, still holding her own against the dummy,
I have an idea.
Seijuro immediately grabs his sword and runs in their direction.
"Lily! Move out the way!" She turns her head, while pushing the kuroi back with her staff.
He jumps into the air, holding his sword above his head,
"Wani's Hurricane!" He yells as he brings his sword downwards, Lily quickly performs a backflip to move out of range and the kuroi is then sliced in half,
"Now Lily! Finish it off!" She nods and is readjusts her grip, lunging forward,
"Spartan Assault!"
This is gonna work…
Seijuro falls to the floor, unable to move,
Damn it… I've used all my dark matter up…
His attack had caused a dust cloud to form, so he was unable to see anything. However, as the dust began to settle he notices Lily. His eyes widen as he notices what has happened. Lily was lifted in the air by her throat, her staff was on the floor,
We… lost…
Lisa steps in and stabs the kuroi from behind in the heart, releasing the dark matter causing it to fall lifelessly on the floor,
"You both performed well, but it does seem like you guys need a bit more training on your stamina, and I've noticed a few things that could be worked on as well." Lisa helps Lily to her feet,
"I don't need your help." Lily pushes Lisa away. She picks up her staff, shrinking it as places it on her waist, before storming off.
Lisa then walks over to Seijuro and offers a hand, to which he takes,
"Sorry about Lily…"
"No worries, Seijuro-san! I don't take it personally anyways."
"I'll err... try to speak to her when I get the chance. I don't understand how we lost."
"Well you see, Lily-san exhausted herself of dark matter, and was unaware of it." Seijuro's eyes widen slightly and he wipes the dirt off his face,
So that's why we lost… Lily is probably blaming herself for it too…
"Thanks Captain Lisa… I'll see you around."
"See you around, little brother." She gives him a wave and small smile.
During the evening, Seijuro heads down to the canteen, where he spots Lily on a table by herself. After grabbing his lunch, Seijuro walks to her table and sits down opposite her with a plate full of ramen,
"So…" Seijuro is abruptly cut off by Lily,
"I don't want to hear it, Yoshiki. If you're here to eat. Then eat." He blinks, not knowing how to reply to her,
"It wasn't your fault we lost, you know."
Lily let's out a small growl, before standing up and storming away. Seijuro tilts his head to the side and raises an eyebrow,
She sure is really short tempered. Maybe I should just wait till tomorrow.
And with that, Seijuro continues to eat, finishing his meal, before leaving the canteen.