𝘉𝘖𝘕𝘋𝘚 | ⁿᵃʳᵘᵗᵒ

thirty seven

+

"I know you can come at me better than that!" I shouted playfully from across our little rocky training area, having just successfully dodged one of Katsu's attacks. I balanced my tanto by the blade on my pointer finger and faked a yawn, fawning at my mouth. "What a bore."

Katsu huffed, bending over with the red and gold handle of his katana clutched between his hands. Sweat dribbled down his forehead, black hair more matted than usual from the amount of sweat he was producing. He narrowed his dark eyes, sneering. "Shut up! You're so irritating."

I let out a low whistle. "Man, you're starting to sound like me! Now just throw in a little 'fuck' and then we'd practically be twins!"

Ryuu, who sat on a rather large boulder a little ways off to the side by the rushing river, chewed on the handle of his paint brush. He stared down at the blank seal tag sitting before him, ink dripping mindlessly from the wet tip and falling onto the rock.

"Don't patronize me!" Snapped Katsu, adjusting his grip on the handle of the katana.

"I wasn't!" I smirked. "Just waiting for you to make a move already. That is, if you ever do. At this rate I'm bound to be a century older by the time you even take a step forward."

Fed up with my patronizing, Katsu let out a battle cry and raced across the training grounds toward me. I grinned, flipping my tanto so I was actually holding it properly, and getting into a battle stance. I met Katsu's dark gaze and didn't even attempt to avert my eyes, actually enjoying the pure determination in his eyes. Honestly—it was kind of hot.

Katsu swung his blade at me when he got close enough, but I was faster, bending backwards into a low limbo. The blade was just a hair off from scuffing my nose, and if I had moved even a second slower, the tip of my nose would have been fucking shaved off. Good thing I wasn't a slow dumbass.

While Katsu recovered from his way too aggressive swing, I took the opportunity to do a back handspring, putting some distance between us. Katsu grit his teeth and made a move to come at me again, but I didn't wanna deal with that. So I did kind of what I always did—body flickered away.

I landed on a large boulder in the middle of the rushing river we'd been sparing by. Placing my hand on my hip, I allowed the other holding my tanto to flop down by my waist. I shot Katsu a smirk.

"You can't do that every time!" Shouted Katsu, looking nothing but infuriated.

Ryuu shrugged from his place on the boulder, paintbrush now in his hand as he made delicate strokes on the sealing paper. "She's just usin' her advantages. Don't get all mad because of that. If anything, think of it as a challenge!"

"Listen to your very wise friend, dumbass-san," I bent over in a mock bow, palms pressed together. "For he is your only hope."

A rock knocked me in the head. I cried out, standing up again and putting my hand on the spot that had been hit. I glared daggers are Katsu. "You dick!"