An Assassin's Respite

Kazuna's Fierce Training Regiment

The next day after class, Kazuna walks into the training grounds after school. His classmates were already there and were getting warmed up. They notice Kazuna and immediately stand up. Among those that showed up were Shiba whose power was speed, Ayame whose power was compass, Kagura whose power was wind, Matt whose power was strength, Haruna whose power was ice, Chiyo whose power was water, Emiko whose power was arm blades, Vincent whose power was supersonic and Haruko whose power was magnetism.

“It seems you all are ready.” He notices. 

“Yes.” They all reply.

 “Alright, I'll be splitting you up into two groups. One group will focus on improving their powers while the other will improve their combat skills, specifically hand-to-hand combat. Ayame, Vincent, Akeno, Emiko, Kagura, and Matt; you all will be improving your combat skills. Everyone else will be improving their power use. We’ll switch the group's training focus after a week so the groups will switch their focus from either powers to combat or combat to powers so you can train in both. Alright, let’s get to work.” He finishes. 

“Understood.” they reply in unison as they separate into their two groups. Kazuna walks to the group that was focusing on hand-to-hand combat.

"Hand-to-hand combat isn't all that difficult to learn. How long it takes to learn is completely dependent on you as an individual. So, for starters, I'll split you all into three groups of two so that you all can practice some moves I'm going to show you on your partner. Any questions?" Kazuna says.

"Will it hurt?" Matt asks a bit worried about his safety.

"We're going to be hitting each other repeatedly, what do you think?" Ayame asks. 

She was a tiny girl that rarely seemed to show any emotions. She had short blue hair and gray eyes that seemed to pierce right through you. 

"Well, how much it hurt depends on who you're training with. It can go from feeling like a pinch to feeling as if they are seriously trying to hurt you." Kazuna adds.

"Please don't pair me up with Ayame... Please don't pair me up with Ayame... Please don't pair me up with Ayame..." Matt prays to himself.

"As for the groups that you all will be in; Vincent and Kagura are together, Akeno and Vincent are together, so Matt you're with Ayame." Kazuna says. 

Matt's face goes pale. "I'm going to die." He whispers under his breath.

Kazuna shows the group a few moves to practice and watches them for a short time before he's satisfied that they are doing it right enough to be left alone. He then moves to the second group. Shiba, Haruka, Haruna, and Chiyo were in this group.

"Ok, so your training will be more specific than learning a wide variety of moves. I'll give you tips that may seem insignificant at first glance, but, will procure extraordinary results." Kazuna notes. 

"Will it be advice like what you told me about increasing my speed?" Shiba asks.

 "More or less although, I will focus more on how to better make use of your powers in combat as opposed to general use." Kazuna adds. "First I would like to ask for more information on your powers Haruka, Chiyo, Haruna." Kazuna says.

Haruka steps up first. She had long blonde hair and brown eyes. She had an average body type and height. "I guess I"ll go first. As you know my power is magnetism. I can either use it to attract objects to me or to another object by touching them." She says.

Haruna goes next. She had long black hair and had a curvy body with hazel eyes. She could be a bit harsh at times. "My power allows me to create and control ice from moisture in the air or from my body and by using natural ice or by freezing water." She says. 

Chiyo is up last. She had black hair that was tied up into pigtails and had hazel eyes. She and Haruna were twin sisters although Haruna was born with a more curvy body and had a harsher personality compared to the sweet Chiyo. "My power allows me to create and control water. I can create water using the moisture in the air or from my own body. Oh, and I can control natural water too not just water that I create." She says with a smile. 

Kazuna nods as he closes his eyes. He was thinking deeply about what the best course of action for each of them would be going forward. After a few seconds, he opens his eyes, sure of what to do for each of them.

"Shiba, you'll focus on increasing your speed in quick bursts. This will help you get the drop on opponents. Also, since the first event is an obstacle course, rapidly increasing your speed can help you avoid any traps that might be set along the course." Kazuna starts.

"Gotcha." Shiba replies.

"Next, Haruka. Instead of only using your power to have two things attract or repel one another, try and create a magnetic field. That way you can have a defense for when there isn't anything for you to touch." He continues.

"Mhm." Haruka grumbles.

"Haruna, You're going to try and increase the speed in which you freeze the moisture around you. If you can do that, you'll be able to attack and defend much faster." He says.

"Understood." She replies.

"Last, Chiyo. You focus on how fast you can create water. In essence, it's the same thing as what Haruna is working on but in a different form." He says.

"Okay!" She replies while saluting Kazuna.

Kazuna takes a deep breath. "Listen up everyone!" He shouts, getting everyone's attention. "Today is going to be easy. All you're going to be doing is figuring out what you will be doing for the week. That means that the first day of next week will be easy as well since you'll be switching your focuses, however, I can assure you, the other days will hold some of the most difficult training you all have ever experienced. Are you all prepared for that?" Kazuna says. 

"Yes!" They reply in unison.

"Well then, let's give this training all we've got!" Kazuna shouts, causing everyone to cheer.

"Wow, who would've thought that Kazuna would be such a good speaker." Shiba notes.

Kazuna would spend the rest of the day giving pointers to the fighting group on their footwork, body placement, and moving while giving small tips to the powers group whenever they seemed stuck. After about two hours of training, Kazuna calls everyone over.

"Alright, that'll be all for today. We'll meet tomorrow at the same time, got it?" He asks. 

"Yeah." They reply in unison.

"Well, since we're done for the day why don't we eat. I made enough food for everyone." Kagura suggests. 

Everyone's face lightens up as she heads to her stuff and starts to pull out an excessive amount of food.

"Did you really cook all of this?" Kazuna asks, astonished.

"Well, I thought that everyone would be hungry after training." Kagura replies as she starts handing out food to everyone.

"Hmmm... I'm impressed. You even boxed up everyone's food into their own personal lunchboxes." Kazuna says.

Kagura blushes a little. "It's nothing really." Kagura says in an attempt to brush off his praise.

"Oh, It's really good too." He adds.

Kagura blushes even more. "R-Really? That's good." She says with a smile.

Everyone eats together and talk excitedly about training, the Coalition Festival, school, and random other things. After they ate everyone thanked Kagura for the food and head their separate ways as they go home. On their way home, Kagura stops.

"Hey, Kazuna?" She says.

"Hmm?" He mumbles in response.

"Do... Do you think you could do some extra training with me? I know it's a selfish request but since we're the only ones that use swords there's no one else I can ask." Kagura says.

Kazuna looks at Kagura a bit surprised. His expression changes once the surprise lightens. "Yea, sure I can. How about we do it after we finish the regular training. Since the Festival is over two weeks away, I was going to have the remaining days be for rest. But, I would be happy to give you some sword training in those days instead." Kazuna replies.

Kagura's face brightens. "Okay." She says with an ecstatic smile on her face. The two continue home talking about their upcoming sword training ending another eventful day in what was supposed to be Kazuna's normal, high school life.