An Assassin's Respite

Yua's Reason

The training under Ms. Katsuchi had reached the fourth day and the students were seeing significant progress. Chiyo and Shiba were able to have decent sparring sessions in the darkroom, Kagura was able to slice iron and was close to cutting through steel, Emiko's arm blades were as strong as steel, and, as a whole, the entire group was able to complete the obstacle course in under a minute.

As for Akeno and Ayame, thanks to the information that Ms. Katsuchi's source had gotten, they had a map of the base's dimensions, guard rotations, and guard locations allowing for the finer details of their plan, such as where they were going to infiltrate from, to be settled. The training was going well so Ms. Katsuchi decided it was time for Kagura's specified training. She approaches Kagura and taps her on the shoulder.

"Did you need to tell me something?" Kagura asks.

"Yes, I think it's time I taught you that technique I was talking about." She states.

"Am I finally ready?" Kagura asks. Ms. Katsuchi nods and takes Kagura to the opening room in the basement training area.

"Alright, this technique will make use of your wind power and it's pretty simple but extremely helpful under our circumstances." She starts to explain to Kagura who was looking at her with a stern expression.

"Basically, you will be manipulating the wind around your group to muffle any sound you all may make while infiltrating the enemy's base." She explains.

"Muffle the sound?" Kagura asks a bit confused.

"Yes, sound travels through the air and the direction that the wind is blowing can affect how far it travels. If you can manipulate the wind in a way where you push the sound towards you from all directions, then you should be able to cancel out any small noises that your group may make." She explains.

"Will that make us completely silent?" Kagura asks.

"No, you're not canceling out the sound, just limiting how far it travels." She explains.

"Ok, but how does Kazuna use this? His power lets him control lightning." Kagura notes.

"Well, that's because his power isn't lightning specific and he can control wind thanks to Karma." She adds as Karma shows up on queue.

"Thanks to Karma?" Kagura asks even more confused than before.

"I'll let Kazuna explain. If I tried to explain it, I would probably only raise more questions. Anyways, I am going to sit by the exit. I'll let you know how you're doing." She says.

"Fine." Kagura groans as she begins her training without a single question being answered.

Kagura spent the rest of her training that day working on perfecting the nuances of the technique. She couldn't use too much wind or the wind would be felt and heard and she couldn't use too little or it wouldn't be effective enough at quieting her footsteps.

As their training for the day ended and everyone went home, Kagura went home six feet deep in questions. 

What was Kazuna's power if it isn't lightning? What does Karma have to do with it? Why did Kazuna keep his real power a secret? These questions were swirling in her head long after she left Kazuna's and they even invaded her dreams. 

The next day after school, Yua was waiting for Kagura per usual. Matt wasn't there since he had cleaning duty. Kagura continued the routine of informing Yua of their plan and training. Once she finished, a question popped into her head.

"Hey, Yua. Why are you so fixated on Kazuna?" She asks out of nowhere.

"What, are you nervous I may actually take him from you?" Yua teases.

"N-No, I'm just curious." Kagura shouts defensively while blushing,

"Didn't I tell you, it's because he's strong." Yua responds.

"That can't be all. If it were, then you would have shown interest in Usagi as well, but you haven't shown even the slightest bit of interest in him. So what about Kazuna really caught your attention?" Kagura asks again.

Yua stops and groans. "Man you really can't keep anything a secret from your class. Oh well, might as well tell you since you're my rival." She says as she takes a seat on a bench that was near them. Kagura follows suit and sits next to her.

"My uncle used to tell me about the research he did. He said he was researching about some mysterious clan that was involved with all the most powerful nations in the world. He said the next head of the clan was a kid my age that carried three swords and had a scar on the left side of his chin. I thought it was just some crazy conspiracy theory based on fairytales and urban legends, but then I met Kazuna. He fit the description of the kid my uncle spoke of too well. I didn't act when I first saw him, but after the Coalition Festival I knew he had to be him." Yua states.

"But that doesn't really answer my question." Kagura says.

"Yeah, yeah I was getting to that. Anyways, my uncle also said that the leader of the clan may look impressive on the outside, but they're just empty shells on the inside. I would tell him that that wasn't the case. Everyone has feelings, I'm sure that they're just misunderstood. But he was deadset on his take of them as if he had seen this emptiness himself. If Kazuna really is who my uncle was talking about, then I'm going to fill that empty shell up. In the beginning, I only shouted about marriage because I thought it would leave a lasting impression, but now, I don't know. The more I would watch him the more I realized how sad of a person he was" Yua adds.

"What do you mean?" Kagura asks.

"Well, I mean, he never truly smiled. It always looked like he was forcing his happiness and he never conversed with us. The only time he had full-blown conversations with us was with combat or school-related things. It was like he was trying to stay away from our social lives so that when he disappeared he wouldn't be missed or so that we wouldn't get dragged into his issues. My fascination with him quickly turned into something more intimate more personal. He doesn't see me as the daughter of Yuu or some beautiful girl, he sees me for me." She elaborates.

Kagura looks at Yua with a bewildered expression. "Wow. That's a lot more deeply rooted than I thought it would be." She says.

"I am a deep person after all." Yua says as she hops off the bench.

"Shall we keep walking?" She says.

Kagura nods and hops off the bench as well.

"Yua has a clear view on Kazuna and how she feels about him, meanwhile I'm not sure of anything." She thinks to herself as she walks next to Yua.

Meanwhile, at Zer's base, a room of researchers were analyzing some data. An electronic door slides open as Zer walks in. He walks towards a glass window that was on the far side of the wall and looks out at Kazuna who was locked onto some mechanical stretcher.

"Any new developments?" Zer asks the scientist to his right. He leans on the desk and looks at the data

"The subjects that were injected with his DNA saw improvements in healing ability, strength, speed, and other areas. However, it seems that after about eight hours their cells deteriorate. Whatever is in his blood is something that isn't found in any other human being." the scientist notes.

"A monster amongst men." Zer notes as he eyes Kazuna.

Kazuna opens his eyes and looks at Zer with cold eyes.

"Even while being probed, tested, and on the verge of death his eyes are as scary as always." He notes as he stands straight up, staring back at Kazuna with eyes that were filled with a frightening curiosity.

While Kazuna was being used as a test subject, Kagura and the rest of the rescue team were continuing to prepare themselves for the task ahead.