Spiders and Moons

The Rengoku's and Final Selection

When she entered the house she was greeted by a man named Kyojuro. He had a huge smile on his face all the time and his eyes were massive.

"Hello there! You must be Yumiko!"

She wasn't expecting him to be so loud. "Um yeah. I was told I could stay here till final selection."

"Of course! My father doesn't care as long as you don't get in his way. He is a bit of a drunk and he says things he doesn't mean but he is still a good man!"

"Well It's nice to meet you. Do you mind spiders?"

"Spiders? What do you mean?"

Yumiko then held out her hand and told a couple hundred of them to crawl around her hand. Kyojuro watched in awe. Another kid with similar hair stood in horror and he prevented himself from screaming.

"Senjuro! I believe she is fine! They have been with her since she got here and I can assume since before."

"Don't worry they won't hurt anyone I don't order them too but they have free reign over insects and such. Would you like to hold one? They won't hurt you if you don't hurt them."

"N-no I'm good. Thank you though."

Yumiko shrugged and the spiders went back. Kyojuro Showed Yumiko to her room and told her to make herself at home. She asked if the spiders could set up webs. She would clean before she left. Kyojuro said that they had to go to his father Shinjuro.

Kyojuro opened the door to Shinjuro's room. "Father, our guest has a question for you!" The man had alcohol at his side and he reeked of alcohol.

"What do I care? It doesn't matter as long as she doesn't come in here."

Kyojuro explained the spiders to his father. His father scoffed and said he didn't care. They then left.

"I am sorry about that. He hasn't been the same since mom died."

"A demon?"

"No. Illness took her from this world. But I am blessed to have had a mother such as her and I am grateful that I am her son!"

"I wish I could say the same. My parents ran a cult and were killed by a demon when I was a child. A disgraced swordsman then took me in and taught me to kill demons."

Kyojuro cocked his head to the side. "A disgraced swordsman? Why would he train you?"

"Because he didn't have anything else to do and I begged him."

Kyojuro listened intently about Yumiko's training. He was amazed at the experience she had.

"Would you like to spar? We have training swords!"

Yumiko looked at the training grounds. "Sure. I gotta stay in practice for Final selection."

"I am sure that you will pass. It is difficult but it is possible."

They took up their swords and Yumiko had a very different stance then Kyojuro. Yumiko's stance was more relaxed and flexible while Kyojuro's was more firm and strong.

Senjuro was there to observe the fight. "Alright you may begin!"

Yumiko charged at Kyojuro at full speed to see how he reacted. He barely jumped to the side in time. Yumiko turned around and saw Kyojuro charge at her. She gracefully jump and put her hand on his back to get over him. This continued with the continuously dodging each other until after 10 minutes Yumiko landed the first blow. She got Kyojuro in the stomach and sent him across the grounds.

"Well You beat me this time. I think you will be a fine swordsman when you pass final selection. It should be an easy feat for you. How long have you been training with a sword?"