Chương 64: Arc 2, Chapter 42: The Balance of Training
She saw the blue bicycle chained to the railing outside the abode. Hotaru stepped out of the carriage, flipping her blue scarf around her neck; she adorned a faded-blue dress made for the slight chill in the air.
She knocked a couple of times. "Who is it!?" Master Tensuo yelled from behind the door.
"Hotaru Kinoshita. I'm a friend of Jotou Howllett?" Hotaru tried to peek in between the seams. The dawn gave enough light for her to take in the pleasant surroundings. Her ears pressed against the screen.
"She's a friend. Would you mind if I let her in?" Jotou's voice she heard. She did not hear much after that- "Swish!" -other than the door sliding open. She jumped back, hand on her heart and ears spiked.
The sweat had not made it down her blonde eyebrows yet—still in the same adventuring gear Jotou always seemed to go out with these days.
She leaned both arms on the door frame, "Hotaru," Jotou greeted with a smile before her brows knitted, "Is, something wrong?"
Hotaru squinted, "No, why would anything be wrong? I just wanted to visit," she reciprocated Jotou's smile, "You went out before I could make breakfast and only got back when we were finishing dinner yesterday…
You've been doing that for a week now and I wanted to see what you were up to is all… Going back and forth by bicycle must be tiring," Hotaru glanced over to it.
"Yeah, I don't need to work on my legs too much. It's cheaper compared to paying for carriages every day."
"I'm still surprised you picked a blue one."
"Blue is my favourite colour; though, yellow's growing on me. The leaves look really beautiful with the yellows and reds," Jotou faced Hotaru.
Hotaru's tail wagged behind, "Autumn's my favourite season… and blue's my favourite too," her skin reddened as her eyes darted down.
"The cold's just much nicer."
"Because it's much easier to get warm?"
"Huh?" Jotou faced up in pondering, "I guess that is the main reason-"
"Jotou! You asked to let a guest in and you're talking at the door!? Don't you have any manners!?" Jotou shrunk and ducked to the voice from inside.
With an eye winced, "He… yells a lot… Come on in," Jotou made way. Hotaru's eyes averted hers walking in—an unending smile on her face.
'Why was she red? It's not THAT cold… Maybe I'm just used to it- Wait… yellow and… Was I flirting!?' Jotou groaned internally at her revelation, having not realized it at the time…
_
Master Tensuo gave a soft bow, "Ms Kinoshita, I'm pleased to meet you. Please, allow me to leave you with your friend while I arrange some refreshments.''
"Oh, of course, thank you. I'm honoured to meet you as well," Hotaru gave a curtsy in response. Master Tensuo left to do as he said.
Jotou stared back to Hotaru, "He didn't even give me a bow when we met," her eyes glazed over, "That's my master for you… I guess I got a bow in the end."
"How far have you gotten? He seems wise."
"I can swing a sword now, instead of flailing it into danger. He says I've improved… a negligible amount. He's very calm, but suddenly gets screamy and shouts; catches me off guard…
But I have to listen or else I won't learn, right?" Jotou's arms fell, one of her master's swords to her side.
"How have the other two been doing with magic?" Jotou moved her hands as she spoke—Hotaru snuck glances to her palms.
"We figured out that Fumeko can't blink unless she can see. Teaching her any other spells hasn't gone great…
Asobi's Asobi; she's getting better at blinding light, scaring the bugs out of the grass at least. You're the one I'm more concerned about.
I'm glad you're getting better at using a sword and I can hear you heavily breathing while doing sit-ups in your room but you haven't practised your magic in a while.
You need to fine-tune your time to be able to do it all. I don't wanna make your life more difficult," she sighed, "I'm just saying-"
"I know," Jotou cut her off, "Saying what's the best for me. I didn't do all of this thinking it was gonna be easy anyway; wish it was though…
I've had to hear him yell at me and then bop me on the head when I do something too wrong… I would've lashed out if I was in my world and some teacher kept pissing me off.
Though, I keep telling myself, if I need to be better, I need to listen. If I want to learn, I need to listen and- Aru? What're you doing?" Hotaru had grabbed Jotou's palms.
Water formed and began going over both her palms as it glid over the lines, giving a cool sensation. The dry cracks forming and firm fingers felt smoother.
"I can see that… You've put so much effort into this and all you get are tears, bruises and cracks," Hotaru healed over as she spoke, "There," the water dripped down their hands, "All soft again," she smiled.
Jotou's palms felt akin to silk, "Well, I've been doing great really. The adrenaline rush is nice when it's not in the face of danger," Jotou giggled.
Jotou frowned slightly, "Thanks for healing my muscle tears day-to-day, I don't think I say that enough," Jotou looked the redhead in the eyes.
Hotaru let go of her hands gently, "It's my pleasure."
"As for the push-ups and stuff… I can barely do five, so, sorry for the panting; having rooms next to each other with thin walls isn't ideal."
"I'm glad your room's next to mine and stop saying sorry. You don't need to act humble or whatever with me," Hotaru's fangs grinned.
"Hmph," Jotou smirked, "Then allow me to criticize you; you left Asobi and Fumeko on their own? Have you lost your mind? Do I need to find a healer? Or better yet a maintenance worker?"
"I know, but Fumeko's pretty much in her room or the kitchen and Asobi's probably talking to herself again. They've been doing their training enough.
As long as Fumeko doesn't fill Asobi's head with ideas, we should be back home to a… 'home'. Plus, you ditched me when you visited the Lexokodac;
The best adventuring party in Kria; they've dealt with the Velatos Case consistently; I like adventuring-"
"Okay, yes, I get it, but I didn't want you to push yourself so early after being in the jaws of that thing."
Hotaru smiled and shook her head, "Oh, don't regret your decision now my golden knight in shining armour. I made the best out of that day.
I'm here to watch you; the one who's constantly getting injured; the one who won't listen to me; the one who insists I heal her with ALL her clothes on, making my job immensely more difficult-"
"Ai, ai, ai, I was just… overly worried; and with good reason at least," Jotou stuttered out.
"Jotou!" Master Tensuo called over. Jotou turned, "I can entertain your friend for a while; you still have another set. Let's go."
"Right away master…"
"…Such a hypocrite," Hotaru whisperingly teased.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing," Hotaru walked past in a giggle, to where the master was setting up a small table and some tea—overlooking where Jotou would train.
Jotou sighed, going over to the post that had blade marks all over it.
'Fine, I won't get injured! You'll see.' The blonde picked up the blade next to the post, made of red wood. "Attack stance; practice your spinning technique," the master told.
Master Tensuo and Hotaru sat at the table, watching Jotou out of earshot while he began brewing tea.
Knowing Hotaru was watching made her hands all the more unsteady. The serene wind wisped past the blonde strands that covered her ears.
Bangs held back by pins—she unsheathed her sword, making it whistle across the garden. Her pupils made contact with her master and Hotaru to the side.
'They're watching… Good.' A smile crept up, "Hyah! Ha! Huguah!" the elegant voice verbalized, swinging the blade in her grasp.
"Slish! Smack! Knock!" The post hammered into the ground shifted to her movements, deep cuts made in the wood; adding to previous slash marks.
With each fourth swing she would make, she spun around, twirling in a flash and scratched against the post with an added strength and flair. 'Ha! I did it! I actually did it on the first try this time! Alright, again!'
Invigorated from her successful slice, she followed the 'infinity' pattern, spinning. "Strike!" She struck the post and placed her feet down apart. "Rumble-Thud… Ss…"
"Jotou! Clean that up!" the master scolded as Jotou had stepped back a little too far and stepped into the gravel, knocking over several arranged rocks and pebbles in the process…
Jotou averted her gaze from them… 'Really? In front of her? Come on…' Her face shut down as she cleaned up the mess she made.
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