Training
"Hey, girls. I hope you aren't too busy.?" Komoku called out to the girls, in the
hallway between their rooms.
Yumi's voice came from behind her door. "Nope. Why?"
"I wanted to train you, of course."
Tsukiko's door opened up. "I thought we had pretty much a free day today."
Komoku was annoyed at the circumstance. "Yeah, I know. Truth be told, it took years
to find you, and we should have searched a decade earlier. If I had found as infants,
then..." He paused. "Forgive me. I put my own interests before those of your families."
"It's okay, Komoku-sama. Your world is in danger, right? We were born to save it, so
I don't mind helping." Tsukiko
"You've adapted quite quickly, Tsukiko-chan." Komoku was surprised by her reaction.
"I have grown to accept change in my life, and I've always wanted to be someone
special. This is my chance, and, honestly, it could not have come at a better time."
"A better time? What do you mean?"
"I've found myself here, and have already learned so much, in so short a time....
That, and my life is at a turning point anyway."
Komoku became perplexed, and rather interested.
"Her sixteenth birthday. It has always been a big deal in her family, especially for
the girls." Yumi answered.
"When?!" Komoku shouted instinctively.
"In three days. March 10th. Why?" Tsukiko stated matter-of-factly.
Suddenly, Komoku began shouting. "We do not have a lot of time. We need to train as
much as we can before then. Once I feel you girls can honor the title of ‘Sacred', how
about I allow you to return home as a reward?"
"Yes, sir." answered the girls.
"Tsukiko-san, promise me you two will be strong enough to fight on your own by your
birthday."
"We'll try, Komoku-sensei."
Komoku lead them out to the training yard. He and Tsubasa instructed them in their
training, still restricting them from using any magic for now, but allowed them to use
melee weapons. Tsukiko practiced how to inflict effective wounds with her bare hands and
little effort, while Yumi focused more on defense using her wooden pole to replicate a
spear or halberd.
"Let's take a lunch break for now." Tsubasa suggested, the noon sun beginning to
reach its height in the sky.
They ate their lunch, and returned a little over an hour later to begin again, this
time with real weapons, and Tsukiko was handed a bow and quiver full of arrows. "Be careful
with those. They are incredibly sharp. In fact, they had just recently been sharpened, not
too long before we brought you here."
"Don't worry, Tsubasa-sensei, I've had archery training before." Tsukiko said,
notching the arrow and taking practice shots at a wooden dummy.
Several hours later, Komoku asked if they had wanted to continue their training,
apologizing for stretching their limits so far, reasoning that three days was an impossibly
short amount of time. "Magic is, for the most part, easy. Especially relaxing on the body,
if done in small enough amounts. I would not worry about it too much, but, if you are too
tired, then feel free to back out. I will not force you."
They declined the training. It was starting to get late, the sun going down. "I
understand. You girls have already learned so much as it is, and yet, are still so far from
what we had in mind. Forgive us for rushing, it is just that well, time is not our friend.
We took far too long to find you, and we weren't fortunate enough to have you trained
already. In other words, circumstances aren‘t in our favor."
"I don't mind being rushed," Tsukiko remarked, bowing politely. "I feel we're going
too slow to be honest. Yumi-san has had prior training, and she's stronger than me, so
maybe I should begin early tomorrow morning."
"I applaud your enthusiasm, Tsukiko-chan, but I wonder where it is coming from."
Tsubasa said with a hint of wonder.
"I just want to become stronger. There... really is no other reason." Tsukiko tried
to pass off what seemed like an attempt to dodge the question, but failed. Yumi, as well
as Komoku, began to become curious of her motives.
Komoku spoke up. He decided to make the decisions immediately. "Fine then. I see no
reason not to." He took the chance to inform them of something else. "Also, I will contact
your parents tomorrow and let them know you two are still alive and in good care."
The girls then return inside to rest, finish the rest of their day, and finally call
it a night. So much lay ahead of them. That was a fact that could not be changed. Even as
much as they have grown from their teachings, they were still weak. Still, Tsukiko would
begin her training early next morning, so she went straight to sleep as soon as possible.
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