yawn~
Hori sluggishly arose while stretching.
I'm so tired...I wonder if Haruki-san would mind me waking him up.
She removed the bed cover to do so, and noticed his...uhhh... his third hand erect.
"kyaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Jesus fucking Christ! Who is screaming like that?!"
Haruki yelled in English.
He searched the room for the source of that noise.
"...Hori?"
She was in a corner breathing heavily.
"G—g—good...m—mm—mmooo... morning....Ha—Haruki-san....!"
Hori tried her best to say with an embarrassed face.
What's up with her?
Haruki looked down and sees his erection.
"....Oh my God, I am so sorry!"
He immediately bent his head down.
"S— sorry for what???"
Hori tried ignoring the situation looking all flustered elsewhere.
"You see, it gets like that in the morning."
"You really don't have to explain!"
"It happens to most guys...I think, and definitely not because I was sleeping with a girl."
"Stoooooop!!!!"
Hori ran out, covering her face.
Haruki did his morning stretches and came out of the house.
"Alright! Let's get started!"
Time 12:30 PM
Hori and Haruki took their bath and ate breakfast, it was bread and jam.
Hori was wearing a simple white singlet with black tights.
And Haruki wore a black shirt with blue jeans.
"Okay! your training begins today!"
"Sir! Yes sir!"
"And good thing we're in the forest! there's plenty of room! Now since you're a rich girl, we'll start with basic exercise."
Cause I'm not sure if she's ever done a days work before.
"Okay now give me 3 pushups!"
"Understood!"
She yelled with a salute.
let's see what I'm working with....
Hori backed up and looked at the ground.
"....ehmmm, how does one do pushups?"
Haha, she's fucked.
"How the hell don't you know how to do pushups?!!? First you say you've never heard of pizza, now you don't know what exercise is?!"
Hori faced her side, feeling ashamed of his disappointment in her.
...sigh
"I'm sorry.... Christ, your like a kid! Don't fall back when someone raises their voice at you okay?!"
Haruki said while patting her head.
He quickly demonstrated a single push up.
"like that! now you do it!"
Hori laid down flat and tried but her hands were trembling.
She soon fell but her chest coushned her fall.
She apologetically looked at Haruki, ready for another scolding.
"It's okay, it's your first time just try again!"
Hori tried again and managed to do one. She gave a confident look for such great achievement!
"Good job! Just like that!"
He gave her a thumbs up.
She smiled briefly and tried again.
Hori finally did a proper pushup.
"See? It's easy! Now do like 50."
"Understood."
Hori got to it and Haruki monitored for a bit.
"I'm gonna go clear up inside the house, call me when you're done."
"Okay Haruki-san! I promise not to disappoint you."
Haruki heads inside the house to arrange. He carried up the futon, and cleared where they ate.
Haruki was in the middle of sweeping the floor when he remembered.
Wait a minute! Didn't Hori say she'd work for me?! That means she's meant to be the one doing this!!
He peeped and saw Hori still doing the pushups.
...I guess it's fine, sure she's forgotten too.
Haruki faintly remembered last night, Hori encouraging him to speak with his mother.
A sad expression grew on his face.
I'm so stupid....Hori's on a desperate reunion with her dad, meanwhile I'm ignoring my mom....she must be angry with that....
Haruki glanced at the smashed wall of the house.
I think I'll call some guys to fix up the house, maybe even re-innovate it since Hori's living here for now...
He washed the plates and decided to check up on Hori.
It's been a while now, why hasn't she called?
He stepped outside of the house checking the time with his phone.
Honestly, 50 pushups is just unrealistic, it's giving all those over powered anime characters...
damn I hate overpowered characters.
He returned his smart phone to his pocket after checking the time.
12:45 PM
Haruki squinted his eyes, noticing Hori was moving up and down while upside down!
32,33,34,35...
She counted accordingly, Hori was performing one fingered pushups.
"Oi,oi, oi! What are you doing?!"
He yelled as he rushed to her side.
Hori stood straight, sweating and breathing heavily.
"Haruki-san! I was done with the 50, so I tried one handed pushups, then after that I tried 1 fingered."
"Why didn't you just tell me you finished?!!?"
"...you were busy with house chores so i didn't want to be a bother."
....sigh
Haruki face palmed, wondering what was wrong with her.
"....sooo if you'd excuse me, I would like to continue-
"Hell no! you've already warmed up enough! I just wanted you to free your joints before we get to actual training."
"Oh, really?! You should have said so silly!"
Hori said stretching.
"Shut up! I'm angry with you, now go bring me those ropes."
Haruki pointed at some rope close to the house.
Hori ran to get it and brought it back.
"like we discussed yesterday, you can't use your hands cause you'll kill someone."
"So now I'm gonna tie you up reeeeaaaal good."
Haruki said with an inappropriate look.
I have a bad feeling about this...
Hori thought.
Haruki started walking closer looking even more suspicious.
She backed away, her instincts at alert.
"c'mere!!"
"Nooooo!!!"
She ran holding her chest.
Some time after all the tomfoolery.
Hori finally agreed for him to tie her up
NOT INAPPROPRIATELY!
"... Haruki-san... this feels naughty..."
"Stop having bad thoughts!"
Haruki bonked her head.
He simply tied her hands behind her back.
"I'm tying it at your back because you might still hit me if it's at your front."
"You're hands aren't only strong but straight up weird!
I healed pretty fast but I was still unconscious for hours."
"I'm deeply sorry about that."
"I told you to do it, so stop apologizing."
He bonked her again.
Now time for training!
Haruki made some distance between them,far enough that they needed to raise their voice for effective communication.
"Okay this should be far enough.
You've got strength covered from blowing my head apart, and enough stamina to do 100plus pushups"
"So we're gonna work on SPEED!"
"Understood, Haruki-san!"
"Now sprint over here and land a kick under 3 seconds!"
"That's just unrealistic Haruki-san!"
"Don't worry, you give off this MC vibe. They do unrealistic shit like this all the time!"
"I don't know what that means but I'll try my best Haruki-san!"
"aaaand GO!"
Hori's brain started reasoning!
All right, I just have to run fast!
"Times up!"
Haruki yelled.
"Huh?!"
"What the fuck were you thinking about?! You should've just ran!"
"oh, apologies Haruki-san!"
"Don't worry about it, just go when you hear GO!"
"Okay, I'll try my best!"
"I believe in you!!"
"Awwwn, Thank you Haruki-san!"
"... aaaand GO!"
Hori's feet dug into the ground as she started running.
Haruki monitored and was already counting.
2,3,4,5
She finally reached.
"How did I do?! Haruki-san?!"
Her mind hazy as she looked up to Haruki.
"...we both know that was more than 3 seconds, go back and try again!"
"awww man!"
Hori said with a disappointed look.
She went back to try again.
"Ready?!"
"Yes!"
"aaaand GO!"
Hori started running towards Haruki again.
He was counting with a neutral face...3,4,5,6,7
She finally reached.
breathe
"How...how
about now?! Haruki-san?!"
Haruki went quiet, but suddenly kicked her calf!
"Ouch! Haruki-san?!"
"You forgot I told you to land a kick on me."
"Oh... I'm sorry..."
"Stop apologizing, it's annoying... And your time, it's worse than last time. Are you even trying?!"
"I'm... I'm sorry"
"I said stop apologizing"
Hori flinched from fear.
She wasn't good with her seniors raising their voices.
....sigh
I want her to toughen up, she's too reserved and polite.... that's not a bad thing, but for the Sabbath Exams she might need to make some tough decisions.
Haruki said in his mind, he honestly didn't like yelling at Hori.
Is it because her hands are tied?
He asked himself seeing Hori looking sad from his scolding.
"....Haruki-san? Could you please untie me? I promise not to use my hands"
Hori's face was slightly red as if about to cry as she asked that.
Haruki saw her sad face and decided to stop yelling for now.
He agreed and untied her arms.
Hori timidly walked back to the starting point, cleaning her eyes so Haruki wouldn't notice.
This is difficult...
She started doubting herself as she walked.
but I won't give up! Haruki-san is doing this for my own good!
Hori reached the starting point and took a running stance.
Oh yeah... now that her hands are free, she can take a proper starting stance.
Haruki reasoned seeing her crouch down like an athlete.
"...ready?!"
He motioned raising his right hand up.
"Yes!"
Hori answered boldly whilst looking at the ground.
"aaaand GO!"
As soon as the words left his mouth.
Dark Frame
Again?!
Haruki Acknowledged the empty saturated background but...Hori had vanished.
Time seemed to slow down for the two as Haruki was met with Hori's leg in his front.
What the...
He instinctively blocked his head with a double arm guard anticipating a devastating kick.
Birds flew away from the trees of the forest as an explosion could be heard.
Bathump...Bathump
Hori's heart throbbed as her feet returned to the ground.
"How did I do, Haruki-san?!"
She squealed, excited that she got another Dark Frame.
"Haruki-san? Haruki-san?!"
She called out, Haruki seemed to have disappeared after the kick.
Tiiiiing~~~
His ears rang, Hori's voice calling out to him was audible but muffled.
.... what....happened?
Haruki collected his thoughts after seeing he was still in the forest but far away from his inn.
He stood up and scratched his head but had a strange crunching sound.
Every bone in his arms were powdered.
"Ow... that hurts!"
He yelled squatting down.
"Haruki-san?! Where are you?"
Hori still called out trying to locate him.
"I'm over here!"
Haruki declared waving, 40 meters away from where he was kicked.
His hands had already fully healed.
"Haruki-san! You're okay!!"
Hori ran with excitement and gave him a big hug.
"So how did I do?!"
She asked referring to her kick.
"Uhh... that was awesome! You definitely pass speed as well!"
Haruki exclaimed massaging his wrists to ease the pain.
"Ehhh?! Really?!"
"Yeah! Can you try to recreate that kick?"
"I'll try my best!"
They both took their stance but Haruki noticed something from each kick.
They were quite... average compared to the one that shattered his arms.
He decided not to say so, as to not upset Hori so he came to this conclusion.
"Okay Hori, it's like your strength depends on your emotion."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I think. Were you feeling agitated when I yelled at you before untying you?"
"Ehm.....a bit....I wanted to impress you and was a bit angry from your yelling"
"Then it makes perfect sense! Your at your peak when you're angry!"
"What a fascinating discovery!"
"So for the Sabbath Exams, just try to remain chill when fighting, okay?"
"You can count on me, Haruki-san!"
They did some more quick drills, making sure Hori could kick from different angles, since her hands were too dangerous.
"let's take a break"
Haruki yelled seeing as Hori was exhausted.
She had very good stamina for a girl.
Phew~
Hori's body layed on the grass, her chest slowly motioning up and down as she caught her breath.
"On a serious note Hori, I think your actually super human."
Haruki said approaching where she laid.
"Super Human?"
She asked curiously.
"You know! those things in a lot of Western movies!"
"Oh, I am not too familiar with television, so i might not understand."
She said raising her head up.
Running is so exhausting!
Haruki brought a towel and a bottle of water to her.
"Thank you!"
She collected it, drinks some water and wiped her sweat.
"You did great!"
He said extending a fist bump, to which Hori awkwardly shook with her hand.
Haruki gave a warm smile and down besides her.
"Haruki-san I'm sweating right now! so i must smell!!"
She panicked shifting away.
"For the love of God,if you did i wouldn't sit next to you!"
He said rolling his eyes.
"....if you say so."
They both sat in silence sipping their respective bottles of water.
Haruki glanced at Hori, her slightly tanned skin looking extremely attractive mixed with hair sweat and exposed parts.
He faced his front at took a big sip from his water and spat it out.
".... I'm sorry about yesterday...."
He said awkwardly, messing with his silky bangs.
"Huh?"
She blinked, wondering what Haruki was talking about.
"y'know.... when i told you to stop talking about my mum...."
"...huh?"
Narrator - Hori already forgot.
Forgot what?!
"but on an unrelated note, I'm really impressed! If you continue at this rate you might even end up a Bishop yourself!"
"That way talking to your Dad should be easy! Cause I heard Bishops have meetings with other bishops."
"That would be wonderful... I'd want that as soon as possible...I really miss him"
Her smile faded, remembering her days at the Kantei.
She raised her head and added.
"Apart from that, I want to save as much lives as possible on my journey!!!"
Hori flash backed to the arson incident Matsumoto Springs.
She whole heartedly wished to reduce attacks like that from happening.
Be it from a Sin or Sinner.
"Sins and sinners! Their nothing but disgusting creatures that ruin peoples lives!"
"I'm sitting right here."
Haruki rose his hand.
"Oh, my brain hasn't fully accepted that your a sin Haruki-san."
"You're too caring and beautiful to be one."
Hori said innocently.
"Besides, you haven't told me what sin you embody"
Hori said as she faced him.
".... I don't know why I keep telling you all this private stuff in my life but....,"
"The reason I don't know what sin I embody is because.... I was unconscious"
Haruki said hesitantly.
"You were unconscious?"
Hori dropped her water bottle and leaned in.
"At least that's what my mom says, most people already know about this but the curse manifests in random people right?"
"Yes, I at least know that much"
"So what if a person was asleep when a sin manifested in them?!"
"...I guess that makes sense... but won't that mean there should be more special cases like you"
"You mean people that might be asleep when a sin manifests in them right?"
Haruki said.
"Exactly!"
Hori replied.
"Well that's where the writing comes in, I've done some research and people said there's an extremely painful feeling when a sin manifests"
"The pain is caused by some marking that appears on your hand showing the sin you now embody"
"Oh! So that's what led you to saying you were unconscious when it happened!"
Hori said.
"Yeah, Mom said it's like I missed seeing that marking, writing my sin on my hand"
"So it's as if you never acknowledged your sin! Meaning that your still you! Despite housing a sin!"
"Correct!"
Haruki gave a thumbs up.
Narrator - Wow, that was impressive deduction. I didn't even have to explain anything.
"So with that, as long as I don't find out what sin I am, I can keep my humanity and still be me"
Haruki said with a faint smile.
".... well...I don't think it matters what sin you are..."
Hori said.
"I'll like Haruki-san no matter what!"
She said with a cheeky smile.
Causing Haruki to blush.
He turned and remembered a similar line his mother said.
She didn't care what he was, she'd love him no matter what....
So what caused the fight that made him run away?
Haruki stood up and tossed his water bottle away.
"Why don't we go shopping for dinner, your probably hungry."
"ooohhh what are we making Haruki-san?!
Hori stood up with excitement.