5
Hidekazu
Hidekazu knelt at the edge of the circular arena, the same position he’d occupied in Tano Natsuko’s martial ki class over the last jun. By the class’ next session, however, the punishment for his late arrival at the academy will have run its course. Soon, it would be his turn to punch fireballs out of the air, to send torrents of electricity crackling through the stadium.
In the meantime, he sketched the kigou from Natsuko’s lecture in his notebook while she demonstrated with the students below. A combination of fire, wind, and—
The brush and paper flew from Hidekazu’s hands, ink splattering the white marble and his school-issue haori. A cacophony of laughter hissed from the responsible parties, a young man and woman at least a few years older than Hidekazu. An oni marked th
