Rikunai: Genesis

Chapter Twelve: Caution

Tiomoyo cautiously walked to the front door as he used Water-form to pick the water off of his hands and throw it into the sink. Hands dried, he slowly opened the door. At first, he didn't see anyone on the wooden deck outside of the door, but as he opened the door completely, he saw a figure leaning against a wooden pillar holding up the roof to the veranda, or roofed porch.

The figure was dark due to the sun not hitting them, but Tiomoyo could make out a few distinct features. A ponytail was hanging out of a dark hoodie, and the figure was also wearing jeans. They tilted their head ever so slightly, and light poured onto them.

"Sasame?"

"Hey..." Sasame took down her hood as she felt a gust of cold air brush past her face.

"What're you doing all the way out here?"

"I, uh-" Sasame was holding something behind her back. Tiomoyo tried to peek behind her to see what it was, but Sasame swiftly moved the object out of view. "I just wanted to check on how your training has been going, you know? I didn't know that you and Raja were close enough for him to drop his duties and do this."

Tiomoyo laughed. "Trust me, it's not usually like this. He would take care of me when I was younger, sure, but as I grew and the island started going crazy, he's been a bit busy. By a 'bit' I mean he sometimes spends several days at a time in his office downtown. Maybe he felt bad for not training me at all, but... Well, whatever the case..." Tiomoyo's gaze softened as a warm grin replaced his neutral face. "I'm just glad I get to spend time with him." Tiomoyo's ears perked up. "Wait, you said you wanted to check in on my training?" His eyes lit up as he nearly leaped into the air, but then he remembered that was still exhausted. It was like seeing Sasame had made him forget about the horrendously draining practice he had been doing earlier.

"Oh, uh, yeah!" Sasame's hands were still held behind her back.

"Well, I'm very tired... But..." Tiomoyo smirked as he saw the excited look on Sasame's face. She wanted to see how much he had learned, both as a former opponent and as a friend.

"I'll make an exception for you."

Sasame felt her body suddenly become extremely heavy as her cheeks flushed. She excitedly nodded and watched as Tiomoyo stepped down the stairs of the deck to the path connecting to the gravel driveway outside. He moved to a grassy area away from Raja's parked car and created a block of Earth-form against a tree. He sent a Tempest into it with one hand, turning it to dust and pebbles with the hyper-concentrated mass of Wind-form Reiki.

Sasame's jaw dropped. "That's... Strong. H-How?!"

"I'm just good, and that's not even the half of it. Here, follow me outback." Tiomoyo chuckled and dashed around the cabin's side to the backyard, checking to see if Raja was still outside. He wasn't, so Tiomoyo motioned for Sasame to quickly follow him. She set down the object she was carrying and followed him. As she followed, she noticed his new training outfit.

"Oh my, is that an E-Ninja grade bodysuit? How'd you get one of those?"

"Raja bought it for me!" Tiomoyo threw his head over his shoulder and laughed. His grin brought a smile to Sasame's face.

Sasame blinked in confusion. While she understood that the two were very close, she never knew that Raja practically had a son in Tiomoyo. After all, her family was connected to the other masters through her late aunt, so she knew the relative happenings of the nobility of the city, but even so, she never knew this relatively 'normal' student was connected to the second-in-command of the city to such a close way. Raja didn't bring his existence up that much in casual conversation, and the only reason Sasame knew of him beforehand was through Amy and his general presence as the best swordsman in their class. Besides that, though, he was just... Normal. He wasn't exceptionally good at Reiki Seidou, he didn't have some sort of special power, his look was basic, his hair was relatively generic– despite Sasame's very positive opinion of it– he lived alone away from major social groups, and his friends were also relative loners. Even Guy, despite his status as the nephew of the late master of Earth-form, wasn't particularly popular. Were it not for Amy's bullying and his accomplishments with a katana, his existence would be obscure at best.