Butterflies and Puppets

Chapter 31

"Come on! You're not going to hurt me! You need to practice with them!" Kumiko shouts.

"I'm not doing it!"

"Yes you are! Stop being a stuck up bitch and let me see what you got!"

"What the hell did you just call me?!" Mayumi hisses.

"What do you need hearing aids?! Or are you just being a scaredy cat? Maybe I was wrong on training you!" Kumiko shouts swinging her sword around hitting the ground making a crack in the earth.

"I am not scared!" Mayumi shouts hands making a fist by her side.

"Then prove it!" Kumiko shouts jumping at her bringing her sword down where Mayumi was standing. Mayumi quickly back flips away biting her thumb blood trickling down her finger as she slams her hand on the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!" Hikari appears and swoops down as Mayumi quickly jumps on his back. "Oh, so you have a summoning? What good is that thing going to do?" She taunts also biting her finger and smearing the blood on her arm. "Summoning Jutsu!" She shouts as a elegant phoenix appears where she jumps on the back of the phoenix and flys up also.

"Mayumi, remember you're not the only one with a summoing. This, is FiFi. She's very wild, and was very hard to tame."

"That's funny you say that. Hikari here was wild, but the thing about owls... Is that they choose their partner, I never had to train him, he listens to me!" Mayumi retorts. "Come on Hikari!" She shouts and she jumps off his back. "Spinning Shields of Wind!" Kumiko quickly dodges.

"Now that I know you have a summoning, why don't we test your skills?" Kumiko flies high into the sky on FiFi with Mayumi on her tail.

"Hikari!" Mayumi shouts as they go up higher, she clings onto Hikari and she pulls gently onto his feathers directing him to go down.

"Awh comeon Mayumi! You trust him? Right? With your wind release even if you were to fall you could help yourself.

"No! I'm too high up for that!" She shouts.

"This is all about trust in not only Hikari, but you too! Come on, try it. Fly up, then jump believe in yourself! Just like Naruto believes in you!"

"How do you know about me and Naruto?!"

"I got a hold of your file. Your grandfather just waves it around." Kumiko says laughing. "Come on! I promise, Hikari will catch you if he senses anything."

"He did not! I trust Hikari enough to know he would catch me."

"Don't be a scaredy-cat! Come on! I'll show you."

Kumiko flies up and jumps off FiFi diving to the ground. Within a quick swoop she lands safely onto the Phoenix's back. "It's more than just trust." Kumiko states flying next to Mayumi. Mayumi shakes her head.

"There is absolutely no way I'm doing this shit."

"I figured you would say that." Kumiko sighs. "Come on Fifi." Fifi goes and hits Hikari causing Mayumi to fall to the ground screaming. Before she knows it she lands onto Hikari's back, she lets out a giant sigh of relief and holds onto Hikari.

"What the hell was that?!" Mayumi shouts.

"You need to learn to trust in him and yourself Mayumi. There is going to be a time that you are going to be knocked off during a fight. You have to learn to also catch yourself. That is the downside of having an aerial summoning. I believe you can do this. I don't want you using anything to shield you, trust in yourself, and Hikari will trust you. You can do this Mayumi. You may never have to do this, but it's good to know how too. He will know when you are in trouble, you have to trust him as much as he trusts you."

Mayumi looks below her at the ground biting her lip then back at Hikari. "Hikari. You trust me right?" He lets out a hoot and flaps his wings. "Then let's go!" She says as they shoot up into the sky Kumiko and Fifi right behind them. "Ready Hikari? Trust me okay?" Fifi goes and hits Hikari again Mayumi holds on tighter as Hikari swoops and hits Fifi hard, they continue to fly up higher as Hikari takes a sharp turn and Mayumi is thrown off. She looks down at the ground quickly approaching. "Hikari!" She shrieks, in an instant she is caught by Hikari.

Tears start forming around her eyes. "Come on Mayumi! Push yourself! You can do this!"

"No I can't!"

"Yes you can!" Kumiko shouts back. "Stop being a wimp! Grow a pair! Where is the fearless girl that your grandfather told me so much about!? Stop bitching out!"

"Shut-up!"

"I don't shut up, I grow up and when I look at you, you make me throw up. Mayumi, you need to get off your high horse and do this. You are going to do this." Kumiko says standing up on Fifi with her arms crossed. "How would you like it if I did this!" She shouts as Fifi hits Hikari again with great force once again knocking Mayumi off. Kumiko quickly gets Fifi to trap Hikari and jumps off Fifi gliding through the air next to Mayumi. Mayumi screams for dear life. "Just breathe!" Kumiko shouts Mayumi looks over to her terrified, Kumiko holds out her hand. "Breathe Mayumi! or else we are both going down! And I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to die just yet!"

Mayumi quickly grabs Kumiko's hand as the ground appraches so quickly. Both Hikari and Fifi notice how close they are to the ground and both feathery creatures dive down as fast as they can until they stop because their is a giant cloud of dust making them not able to see. They flap their wings together making the dust disappear where they see Mayumi and Kumiko standing hand in hand  unharmed onto the ground.

Kumiko turns to Mayumi smiling. "See I told you!"

Mayumi turns to her wide eyed. "That.."

"Mayumi?" Kumiko calls out to her before she quickly catches her as she passes out.