An Assassin's Respite

Progress is Progress Even if it's Slow

Ms. Katsuchi stays up in Kazuna's room for the next couple of hours before she hears Akeno calling for her from the living room. She snaps out of the daze she had been in for the time and headed down in response. 

"Did you need me?" She asks as she enters the living room.

"No, I just wanted to let you know that Ayame and I are going to head home. After all, it is getting pretty late." Akeno answers as she gathers her things.

Ms. Katsuchi looks at the clock on the wall, realizing just how long she had been in Kazuna's room.

"Yes, it does seem so. I guess I will go ahead and let the other group go as well. They're probably unaware of what time it is. Have a safe trip home." She says with a smile. 

"We will." Akeno assures her as she leaves. 

Ayame just bows as she follows Akeno out of the house. Ms. Katsuchi closes the door behind them and heads to the basement where the others were. She heads to the darkroom first. In order to test if Shiba and Chiyo have made any progress, she shuts of the lights in the opening area so that they aren't illuminated with light. She opens the door and sees Chiyo and Shiba turn towards her instantly as she enters, making her smile.

"It seems that you all have utilized my advice faster than I thought you would." She notes.

"Thank you, although, we're still struggling to actually hit each other." Chiyo replies.

"The very fact that you applied my advice is a sign of progress as well." Ms. Katsuchi reassures her. 

The three exit the room and head to the obstacle course. They enter just as Haruna makes it past the tight rope.

"Yes, I finally made it!" She shouts in celebration although it's short-lived as the floor opens under her as she takes a step. 

"Ah, I almost had it." She groans in annoyance as she makes her way back to the beginning.

"You all are also making some very good progress." Ms. Katsuchi notes as Haruna climbs out of the pit. 

"Still, it's infuriating to fail when you're so close to the end." Haruna states.

"Speaking of the end. What's the trick with the wooden floor?" Ayanami asks.

"I thought it would be fun for you all to figure that out when you got there, so I guess I'll tell you since Haruna already fell victim to it. The trick with it is that if the floorboards creak under your footsteps, then the floor will open up and drop you into the pit." Ms. Katsuchi explains. 

"That sounds much easier than the first two parts." Haruka states.

"It just may seem that way, but I'm sure Kazuna has made the floorboards more likely to creak so that it's more difficult than it normally would be. Also, don't forget that you have to finish in under a minute. You can't spend a ton of time slowly walking across the wooden floor in an attempt to stop it from creaking." Ms. Katsuchi adds.

Haruna just sighs in defeat as the group heads to the last room. In it, Kagura and Emiko are both drenched in sweat as they continue to strike with exhausted arms.

"Yes, all of you have exceeded my expectations." Ms. Katsuchi states as Kagura drops to her knees, gasping for air.

Ms. Katsuchi walks over to her and places a hand on her back.

"You have done a fantastic job today. It's time to go home and get some rest, training hard is good, but training excessively is dangerous." She states as she helps Kagura to her feet. 

She looks at Kagura's hands and see's that they are blistered horribly. A sad look flashes in her eyes as she thinks about the strain that she is putting on these children. However, this depressing thought is quickly pushed from her mind as she sees the emphatic faces of everyone. Despite the danger they're about to face, they don't look scared. The pain that they must be feeling from losing Kazuna must be much greater than their fear or the strain of the training.

They exit the basement and Ms. Katsuchi closes it behind them. Before the group gathers their things to leave, Ms. Katsuchi gathers them in the living room for a few words.

"Today was your first day of training, and you all have exceeded my expectations of where you would be. This shows that you all have the drive and the spirit to withstand and overcome the training that's been put in front of you in order to save Kazuna. I know it's just the first day and saying this may sound premature, but if I am good for one thing, it's discerning potential. This just proves that I was right in asking you all to save him and honestly, I am truly grateful to you all. So once again, thank you, for choosing to save my son." Ms. Katsuchi says.

The students just smile and give an exhausted laugh, causing Ms. Katsuchi to laugh a little.

"I can see that you all are tired so I'll let you all go for today. Tomorrow you can come a little later since you all have progressed so much in just the first day." Ms. Katsuchi says.

They all exit, leaving Ms. Katsuchi alone. As she heads to the living room, Karma flies in from the window and gives her a paper that she instantly unravels and reads. 

"Good, it seems that our scout is getting some valuable information." She notes.

"Indeed." The dragon says in agreement.

Ms. Katsuchi looks at the name of the sender for a few seconds before burning the letter in the flame of a lit candle.

"Do you think I'm doing the right thing by involving so many people that Kazuna holds dear." She asks Karma.

"That is something that I cannot answer for you. But I can say that you couldn't have picked a better set of people to rescue him." He answers.

"You really think so?" She asks, still unsure.

"Yes. Although he may put up a front of him being angry, deep inside, he will be overjoyed to know that so many people care enough about him to risk their lives to rescue him." He adds.

"I think I can rest a bit easier with those words in mind." Ms. Katsuchi says as the remainder of the letter burns away.

Next door, Kagura gets out of the shower, changes clothes, and flops into her bed. She holds her hands to her face and stares at her bruised hands. She had only been swinging that wooden sword for maybe an hour of the two and a half hours she was there and the strain was still so great.

"Kazuna did that training and then fought two intruders and still managed to protect us. How can I possibly hope to be someone that can call themselves his equal." She thinks to herself as she drifts off to sleep in exhaustion.

The next day, nearly half the students of class 1-A were basically out of it. They were dozing off in class and performing horribly in their training exercises. Things were so bad that Ms. Saugoma was beginning to worry about them. At the end of the day, Ms. Saugoma asks for Emiko, Haruna, Haruka, Chiyo, Shiba, and Kagura to stay behind. Once the other students leave, a serious expression shows on her usual lax face.

"I already know the answer to this question, but I'll ask it anyway, what are you all doing after school?" She asks, getting straight to the point.

The students are quiet. They didn't know if they should answer truthfully or keep it a secret. After a couple of minutes of silence, Ms. Saugoma sighs and decides to break the silence.

"Look, I understand how all of you feel I mean, he's one of my students just like all of you are. I've been doing everything I can to get the school to send a rescue party, but they don't have a clue as to where he is. It doesn't help that Yuu is saying that he has everything covered, so even if we knew where he was, Yuu would stop us from interfering. So, if you know anything, please tell me. Maybe it will help me in getting the school to approve a rescue." Ms. Saugom pleads.

She looks between the students and stops her eyes on Kagura.

"Kagura, you're the class rep and the one that keeps everyone in order and makes sure they follow the rules. You have to know that you're breaking more rules than you can count. Just trust me, I want to help." She says.

Kagura is silent for a second before she answers.

"I'm sorry Ms. Saugoma, but I can't say anything, not after what Yuu said. Believe me when I say I trust you, but this is something that we have resolved ourselves to do. This isn't about us trying to be special agents or heroes, this is about us doing everything we can to rescue a friend." Kagura states.

Ms. Saugoma sighs and puts her hand to her head, deep in thought. After a couple of minutes, she looks back at her students and sees their determined expressions. This was something that they were serious about. She lets out a groan as she slaps her hand on her desk.

"Dammit, fine. You all can continue, whatever you're doing, but on one condition. Whenever you launch your plan, come get me so that I can come along. If I can't stop you from going on this suicide mission, then I'll at least make sure none of you die. Now get out of here before I change my mind." She says in annoyance.

The students look between one another in relief and they leave the classroom. Kagura exits the school and sees Matt and Yua standing by the front gate of the school.

"Were the two of you waiting for me?" She asks.

"Yea, we wanted to know what you learned two days ago when you called everyone over to your house." Matt says.

"Oh, right." Kagura says before she explains everything, Kazuna being an assassin, the plan to rescue him, and even the connection between her and Kazuna. Once she finishes, Matt and Yua are left speechless.

"Seriously?" Matt asks in disbelief.

Kagura just nods in response.

"That must mean that my father is connected to Kazuna as well since he said that he knew more about Kazuna than any of us." Yua notes.

"Probably, but that's something that we'll have to ask Kazuna once we save him since Yuu probably won't tell us anything." Kagura states.

Matt and Yua both nod in agreement. The three walk home together as Kagura talks about training and the finer details of their plan. After walking for a few minutes, they reach the point where Yua separates to head to her house.

"Thanks for keeping us clued in even though we can't help." Yua states.

"No problem." Kagura replies.

"I'll try and do some sneaking around in my dad's office and see if I can find any useful information." Yua states.

"That would be nice if you found something useful." Kagura says as they wave goodbye.

Kagura and Matt continue on until they go their separate ways as well. Kagura goes to her house, changes, eats and prepares for the second day of her grueling training.