Chương 30: Hesitation

"Alright, class, today we'll be conducting our first spars of the year. It's been about three months since we started our taijutsu training, so I want to see each of your progress. Remember, you were put in the accelerated class because of the potential you showed, so don't let me down," Takahiro-sensei said in a somewhat bored tone of voice.

'Not that I can really blame him, though. We have been focusing mainly on taijutsu, the academy jutsu, and chakra control.'

"Alright, first I'm going to explain the rules. The battle will go until someone either 1. steps or is thrown out of the circle, 2. is knocked out, or 3. someone gives up. If you use any ninjutsu at all, you will be disqualified, and depending on the circumstances, you could end up seeing the principal, so absolutely no ninjutsu. Got it?" The whole class nodded, not wanting to have to go to the principal's office for using ninjutsu. "Ok, then, up we have Ryota Shirogane vs. Akira Fujimoto. Please step up to the circle and make the seal of confrontation. Once you guys do that, you can feel free to start whenever."

They both stood up and went to the middle of the circle and made the seal.

One minutes later...

"Ryota wins by knockout. You seemed to have grasped the academy style very well, Ryota, good job," Takahiro gave encouragement to the young clanless ninja. "Next is Yuta Chinoike vs. Kiyoko Saoto, please come up and make the hand seal."

Both of the friends looked surprised, even if Yuta's reaction was a little more subdued than Kiyoko's. As they went into the middle of the circle and made the hand seal, Yuta took a deep breath and went to step out of the arena, not wanting to fight his dearest friend.

Kiyoko saw this and dashed in front of him, looking very sternly at him. "Where do you think you're going, Yuta?" She asked him in a confrontational tone of voice.

"I don't want to fight a friend; I'd rather give you the win than have to raise my fist against you, Kiyoko," Yuta let out a small sigh before sidestepping Kiyoko and walking towards the edge of the arena.

As he was about to cross the threshold of the arena, he felt a hand grip his wrist. This seemed odd to him, considering that he was giving her the win. He went to turn his head to look at her before his whole world turned upside down.

*BAM*

Yuta landed flat on his back, the air leaving his lungs. The takedown happened so fast it left Yuta's mind grasping at straws about what just happened, then he saw Kiyoko enter his vision, standing over top of him.

"And just why did you think I was just going to let you leave? Do you honestly think I care about a win in this fight? Let me answer that question for you: no, I don't. Do you want to know what I care about? Getting better, and do you know what you're doing by leaving this arena without a fight? You're cheating me out of that progress and I won't have it." Kiyoko and her upfront attitude sounded off.

As Yuta regained his breath, he looked at Kiyoko, one of his dearest friends. "What happens if you get hurt during this fight, Kiyoko? I don't want to hurt you by accident; that's not what friends do."

Kiyoko rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated groan.

"No, that's not how that works. You leaving without a fight hurts me more than a gut punch or a kick to the ribs. What happens when I don't fight enough or get enough practice in during the academy and we get thrown out into a world where we have to fight for our lives, Yuta? I'll tell you what happens: we die. You giving up in this fight is not only hurting your growth but also mine. Now, tell me, is that what friends do?" Kiyoko asked, her eyes as hard as steel.

Yuta's eyes widened slightly before it looked like one piece of the puzzle fell into place for him. With no further prompting, he got up and went to the edge of the arena and got into his stance.

Kiyoko's eyes sparkled with excitement as she watched. "That's exactly what I wanted to see! I love the Hemocurrent Stance, Yuta," she exclaimed, admiring Yuta's posture. It was the signature taijutsu style of the Chinoike clan known as the Crimson Flow. The practitioner would turn their body slightly to the side with knees bent and arms held loosely at the side. The stance allowed for quick shifts into offense and defense in the blink of an eye, allowing the versatility of their blood manipulating abilities to be shown.

"I think I kind of understand now, although I still don't like raising my hands against you, Kiyoko."

"Well, that's alright. I'm sure we can coax it out of you, Yuta," Kiyoko said with a grin as she settled into her stance known as the Wind's Edge. It was the signature taijutsu style of the Saoto clan, called Gale Force, enabling them to harness the full power of their swift release. The practitioner maintained a low, wide stance, facilitating explosive bursts of speed in any direction, akin to sudden gusts of wind.

Not one to sit around, Kiyoko opened with Tempest Rush, a rapid advance towards an opponent to deliver a barrage of strikes meant to get early damage on an opponent.

Yuta, knowing her temperament, anticipated this move and immediately shifted to his back foot to defend against the incoming strikes. Despite not having awakened her bloodline to this point, she was still very speedy, and without the dynamic vision of the Ketsuryugan, Yuta was having trouble keeping up.

Regardless, Yuta hung in there as he threw a right Ironclad Strike meant to deliver a hard blow to a person's body, leaving them stunned and open for follow-up attacks.

Kiyoko, fully on the offensive, didn't have enough time to dodge out of the way before the hit landed, and boy, did it land. The audience heard the hit as clear as day as they sat and watched the fight happen in front of them.

Yuta's eyes flickered for a moment with regret swirling in them. Before he knew it, she was pressing him again with her impressive speed, launching four consecutive Gale Palms at Yuta. This caused Yuta to stumble back and hit the ground with Kiyoko following him to put the finishing touches on her victory. But before she could do that, Yuta grappled onto her arm, making use of the Coagulated Clutch technique, causing it to lose feeling almost instantly while he twisted it behind her back.

Kiyoko screamed out, and for just a second, Yuta hesitated again, allowing Kiyoko to kick him in his stomach, causing him to fly out of the arena.

"You have to stop hesitating, Yuta. I've seen what you can do when sparring with your trainer. You just need to let go of the connotation that sparring and 'hurting' your friends during it is a bad thing and shows that you don't care about them," Kiyoko told Yuta while helping him stand back up.

Yuta nodded, getting his breath back from the kick to the stomach that she had just used to push him out of the circle.

"I understand. I'll try to break myself from that habit."

"You better, because if you don't, then we certainly will," Kiyoko said as she turned back to the rest of us and smiled devilishly, while we did the same.

(A/N: Check the auxiliary chapter if you want the full list and description of each taijutsu style and the different moves they have.)