บท 14: Chapter 14: Director Xiao
"A Ryōshi student does not rely on their weapon alone," Akira told Kaede during their sparring. "You must concentrate on your body too because that is your weakness. A weak body means easy death. And when your enemy finds it, they will target all your opening spots when you wield your weapon," he added. "Come. Attack me with your polearm. Let's see if you can hit me."
Kaede unsheathed his Deathmatch and prepared to attack Akira. He firmly held the center of his polearm shaft and readied himself for an attack. He took three steps and lashed the polearm towards Akira, but he effortlessly dodged it and punched Kaede on his side when Akira saw it open and unguarded.
Kaede dropped his polearm and bit his lips. The pain erupted in his left side, where Akira punched him like three or four rib bones had been broken from that punch. He dropped to the ground and felt like he had stopped breathing.
"See? I told you. You must strengthen your body: the higher your pain tolerance you can do, the better. The thing you will fight out there will be two or three times stronger than the punch I gave you. And you also need to train your hand-to-hand defense," he said.
Kaede trained under Akira for almost a year to strengthen his body. Shoma has been checking on him repeatedly to ensure his progress has increased. Not only that Akira train him physically, but he also focused on his flexibility.
"How was he?" Shoma asked Akira when they met at the school grounds a few days before Kaede would be officially listed as the first year. Unlike the other first year that was trained to start at a young age, Kaede is not an experienced Ryōshi yet. He needs to learn first.
"Oh, the kid? He is doing great," Akira answered him. "He's a remarkable student who doesn't give up easily, just like Minami."
"Good. So when do you think is the time to join him in the real class?"
Akira thinks for a bit.
"I teach him everything he needs to know, but I suggest you let an Exorcist train him too. From my point of view, he is not a Shaman, Shoma, but to make sure, let Rioji or Dane see this kid. I think he needs more training. He is new to this, so I guess you need to feed him more about Ryōshi. This is just my opinion."
Shoma thinks about that too. Of course, Kaede is new to this, and if only Minani didn't hide him during his childhood days, he would be one of the best Shamans out there. But no, Minami never dared to tell him about his fate, her family's fate.
"You know I can't do that. Rioji is an idiot, and Dane is ruthless," he answered Akica before sipping on his cup of tea. "They will just dump Kaede with their schoolwork."
"When they see a potential, they will be hell-bent on teaching this kid, and also, there's something in that kid that makes me want always to watch my back," Akira told him with a serious face. "I don't have eyes like Hiro, but my strong senses never fail me. Does a Dybbuk possess that kid?"
Shoma looked at him under his lashes.
"Yes, but not a dybbuk or maybe something else. This kid is special; Akira and the elders are watching him. If he did wrong, his execution would proceed. That's why I want to keep this close to me," Shoma told him.
"Hi, hi, my dear teachers. How are you doing today?"
A short guy with a funny hairstyle suddenly appeared between them.
"Director Xiao!?" Both of them were surprised when they saw that their Director was on leave for a year. He was Minami's partner during the mission and was severely injured to the point that he was almost dead.
"When did you come for work? Are you healed now?" Akira asks him worriedly.
Shoma and Akira are those teachers who came to their aid when Xiao sent them a distress call. Akira was the one who arrived first, and he witnessed how the Director was clinging to his dear life when forced to open the huge monster's mouth to save what remained of Minami. And when Akira finally kept him, he was almost dead. Lucky for him, there were shaman healers during that rescue operation. They gave him a first aid kit to ease the pain and blood loss until he arrived at the Ryōshi hospital located overseas. Even though he was already ranked as Director in their school, Xiao still worked as Exorcist along with Minami.
"I came yesterday," he said, smiling at them. "So, I heard about this kid under you, Shoma. And as respect to my former partner, I want to meet him and give everything I can," he added.
Shoma smiled at the short man.
"Yeah, I have, Director. He is Minami's younger brother," Shoma told him, which made the short man gasp. Obviously, he is not aware of this.
"Are you sure? When did Minami get a brother? She told us she lives alone," Xiao said, confused.
"She told me before you two went into a mission, Director. She told me that if she cannot make it back, I have to get her brother," Shoma answered him.
Shoma and Akira witnessed Xiao's tears up.
"Thank goodness," he said, smiling. "Show me this kid. I want to see him," he added.
Xiao has been bearing guilt after the mission that took his partner's life. He couldn't eat or sleep every time he remembered her. The responsibility of not being able to save her has eaten him alive for the months passed. He lost everything, including his self-esteem as a Director. The truth was he was about to report and quit being Director if only Shoma didn't drop the bomb in front of him. Now, upon hearing that, Xiao wanted to meet this boy.
When they arrived at Akira's house, they saw Kaede currently punching a tree, trying to knock it down just like Akira told him. He inhaled deeply and started his concentration. He needed to summon energy from within and tried to let it travel in his hands. When he felt like the heat had formed in his fits, he punched the tree as mighty as he could. The punch he gave to the tree created a hole in the trunk but not as big as Akira had shown him.
"Yo, Kaede," Shoman called his attention.
When Kaede heard the familiar voice of his Sensei, he turned around and saw him smiling.
"Sensei!"
"Ah, Kaede. It's been a while."
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