An Assassin's Respite

Kazuna's Struggle

Kazuna looks at Yuu with a look of newfound determination.

"Your speech was cool and all, but does he really have anything new to show him?" Shiba asks.

"Dude, it's Kazuna, I'd be shocked if he didn't have something up his sleeve," Matt states.

"He does tend to pull out some crazy things," Akeno says in agreement.

They turn their attention back towards the fight as Kazuna prepared to make his move. He pauses for a moment, understanding that he would be breaking the oath he had made to himself, but he looks over towards his classmates who only strengthen his will.

Just then, as if nature herself had done it, a gust of wind had swept Yuu off of his feet. The move wasn't going to limit his mobility due to his power but was meant to catch him by surprise which it had succeeded in. Kazuna used this chance to blitz Yuu, but if a little shock was all that was needed to take down Yuu, he wouldn't be the top agent in Japan.

Yuu quickly regains his senses and teleports away from Kazuna. Kazuna pulls him back towards him, but Yu teleports behind him and kicks him to the side. Kazuna twists his body mid-air and lands on his feet. Yuu teleports in front of him, but Kazuna was expecting it and had already thrown a punch. Yuu blocks it but Kazuna still had one more trick up his sleeve. Yuu goes for an attack, but he feels his hand burning so he teleports back. When he looks down at his hand he can see that he had been slightly burned. When he looks over towards Kazuna he can see that there was a flame in the palm of his hand.

"How's that Yuu. Not only did I show something new, but I managed to land a hit." He says.

He looks back towards his classmates and sees Kagura's face painted with fear. He had gotten so caught up in the moment that he had forgotten the reason he didn't use his fire power, but before he could say anything Yuu chopped him in the back of his neck, knocking him out cold.

He woke up about thirty minutes later in the nurse's office. He sat up groggily.

"I'm really starting to get tired of waking up in bed's that aren't mine after getting knocked out," He says.

"It does happen a lot," Someone to his left says. 

He looks over and sees that Kagura was lying in the bed next to him.

"What are you doing here?" He asks.

"The same thing as you," She answers.

Kazuna sits up.

"Now do you see why I didn't want to use my other powers?" He asks.

Kagura follows his lead and sits up as well.

"Mhmm," She mumbles with a nod.

They sit in silence for a brief moment before Kagura breaks that silence.

"How did you know I was afraid of fire? I acted normally during the Coalition Festival," She asks.

"Your mom. But, I would've figured you were afraid of fire anyway, although, it did throw me off how you acted so calm during Mia and Haruna's fight" He answers.

"I wasn't completely calm, I was terrified on the inside, but I was probably able to hide it since they were so far away. But being so close to your flames, being able to feel the heat, was probably too much for me to hide," She states.

Once again, silence passes between them.

"So, what about your other power? I assume it has something to do with wind?" She suggests.

Kazuna nods.

"I didn't want to use my flames because you're afraid of fire." He says.

"But what about your wind?" She asks.

"Who knows. Maybe it was because I feel like I betrayed Karma's beliefs, maybe I thought it would make it easier for me to blend in, maybe I just thought that I shouldn't be gifted with the same power as you." He replies.

"What do you mean you shouldn't be gifted with the same power as me?" She asks.

"You're like the sun, bright, warm and always shining down onto people while I'm like the night. Dark and cold. It felt like I was using a power I shouldn't be allowed to have." He answers.

Kagura buries her face in her knees. Her face was so red from the embarrassment that it felt like she would pass out. Her heart was racing, the way he thought of her made her so happy, but it also made her sad. He didn't use his fire because of her fear and part of the reason he didn't use his wind is because he thought she was special. But it seemed more like he pitied her and like she was something he shouldn't have anything to do with when all she wanted was for him to acknowledge her and treat her as an equal.

"Why? Why can't you see me as an equal? Is it because I'm not someone that can walk by your side? Is it because I have so many weaknesses? If I got stronger, would you let me stay by your side?" She thinks to herself.

Kagura slaps the sides of her face to snap herself out of her daze.

"Alright then, how about this," She says suddenly.

Kazuna looks at her with a puzzled expression.

"I'm going to get over my fear of fire so that you can freely use your fire power and you're going to use your wind power to save people that way you'll be worthy of using my power. Besides, the sun offers its light even to the night." She states.

Kazuna just stares at her, unsure of what to say.

"That sound good?" She asks, pressing for a response.

Kazuna laughs a little.

"It's almost like your mom can see the future," He says.

"What led you to think that?" She asks.

"Because a while ago she said 'One day I'm sure that Kagura will c***k your shell and you'll use your fire and wind powers once more.'" He states.

"That woman always seems to know more than anyone else," Kagura says in agreement.

"It's called wisdom," Someone adds.

Kazuna looks at the door and sees Yuu close it behind him as he enters.

"What are you doing here?" He asks.

"Checking up on you two," He answers.

"Pretty bold seeing as you're the reason we're in here in the first place," Kagura says.

"Sorry, I'm not one to take it easy on people," Yuu states.

"You say that but you were definitely holding back." Kauzna points out.

Yuu was silent for a moment before he responded.

"Yea I was holding back. I could tell that you were already beat up so you must have gotten involved with something in the past couple of days." Yuu replies.

"With you knowing that did you really need to knock me out though?" Kazuna asks.

"It was for the best," Yuu says while casting a quick glance at Kagura.

"Whatever, it doesn't really bother me anyway. So, are you satisfied?" Kazuna asks.

"I guess you pass," Yuu says.

"So, Kazuna can stay?" Kagura asks.

"I didn't plan on making him leave anyway," Yuu states.

"Huh?" Kagura squeaks.

"I don't have the time to watch after a kid that's being targeted. Plus, Kazuna is my only lead to Zer. As long as Zer is a problem, there's no way I'm letting Kazuna get away from me," Yuu explains.

"Basically, you were just messing with me," Kazuna suggests.

"No, just helping you break free of some unnecessary restraints," Yuu says as he starts to leave.

Kazuna scratches the back of his head and grunts before he speaks.

"Thanks, I guess," He mumbles.

 Yuu gives him a little wave before he left. 

"For two people that don't get along, the two of you are pretty similar," Kagura notes.

"What? There's no way I'm anything like that guy," Kazuna says.

"Then why do you trust him so much?" Kagura asks.

"It has nothing to do with how similar we may or may not be or me secretly liking him, it's just that I know that his strength is the real deal," Kazuna says.

"Obviously, I mean, he is the number one special agent in Japan," Kagura says.

"Not just that. what really forces me to acknowledged his strength is the fact that my grandfather respected his strength," Kazuna states.

"Really?" Kagura asks.

"Yeah. One time, when my grandfather returned from a mission, he said something I couldn't believe. He said, 'Kazuna, I ran into someone insanely strong. Honestly, if he had a little more experience, he might have got me. If you ever run into a guy named Yuu protecting your target, give up on the mission. That guy is the real deal,'" Kazuna replies.

"Was your grandfather that strong?" She asks.

"He was extremely strong. As a kid, I felt that there was no way that I could ever get close to him," He answers.

"I believe you can," Kagura states.

Kazuna looks at her and gives her a small smile. 

"Well, I can't let you down now can I," He says.

Kagura blushes as she looks at her feet and squirms a little before Ria bursts in.

"Kachi! Are you okay?" She asks as she rushes to Kazuna.

"I'm fine," He answers. But after he flinches once she hugs him it was obvious that he was in a lot of pain.

"Damn that Yuu, how dare he knock you out like that. Can I kill him?" She asks.

"No," Kazuna replies immediately.

"Tch," Ria grunts.

"Don't tell me she was serious?" Kagura thinks to herself.

"I'm feeling better anyway, what about you?" Kazuna asks while turning towards Kagura.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," She replies.

"Then we should head to class. Rimi, what period is it?" Kazuna asks.

"Oh, it's lunch right now," She answers.

As if waiting for its queue, Kazuna's stomach grumbles. Kazuna clears his throat.

"We should probably head to lunch," He says.

Kagura and Ria laugh as Kazuna shuffles out of the nurse's office. He hurries ahead of Ria and Kagura, not out of embarrassment, but because something else was on his mind. He didn't ask Kagura about it since she would avoid the topic, but she never did tell him why she was in the nurse's office with him. 

It didn't matter anyway, he already knew why she was there. Seeing his fire must have been traumatic enough that she had to be taken to the nurse's office. The fact that he caused her to go through such an experience bothered him to no end.

"If just being close to fire is enough to put you out of commission, how are you going to get over your fear?" He thinks to himself.

Kazuna spent the rest of the day keeping a close eye on Kagura to see if she was acting strange, but he doubted that he would actually notice a difference. Knowing her, she would probably hide it until she was alone, but he didn't know what he could do to help. He had spent his whole life learning to suppress his emotions and think with his head, that it was almost impossible for him to think through his emotions. 

While they were walking home, Kazuna taps Matt on the shoulder and slows down so that he and Matt were walking a little behind the rest of the group.

"I need your help with something," Kazuna says.

A smug grin covers Matt's face.

"The great Kazuna needs my humble help?" He asks, milking the situation as much as he could.

"The great?" Kazuna whispers, but he shakes his head and decides to ignore the comment.

"Look, are you going to help me or not?" He asks once more.

"Yeah, just messing with you man," Matt says.

Kazuna gives him a small smile, but he quickly returns to his trademark blank expression. Despite Matt's tendency to joke around a lot, he really is someone that he could trust.

"So what can I help you with today?" Matt asks.

"It's just, I'm constantly finding myself having to wait for people to figure things out over being able to help them. I can help quite a bit if they needed help with combat or strategy, but when it comes to emotions or personal problems, I'm at a loss. I have no idea what to say or do to help and, more often than not, I find myself making things worse," He says.

Matt gives him a supportive smile.

"You know Kazuna, a few months ago, you wouldn't have said anything like that. Recently you've opened up a lot more and that's made you much easier to talk to. Honestly, I used to be a bit scared to talk to you, you were so cool, calm, and collected. I thought, 'Man this guy is something else.'" Matt states.

"You really thought that? What changed" Kazuna asks.

"Yeah, I thought that. But after getting to know you and especially after the past couple of months, I've come to learn that even people as amazing as you have struggles similar to normal people, to people like me. It made you a lot more approachable and I think that since we all know about your past and everything, that you have started to be okay with opening up more. If you just give it time, I'm sure that you'll be able to think with your emotions more easily," Matt adds.

"You think so?" Kazuna asks, still unsure.

"Well, you did ask me for help on the matter. Would you have done that before coming to GA?" Matt asks.

Kazuna chuckles a little.

"Yeah, you got a point," He says.

"Well, I'll see you later," Matt says as they reach the point where he separates to go to his house. 

Kazuna waves as he continues walking.  Once he gets to his house, he begins making dinner as Kari and Ria fight over who was going to get in the bath first. He turns the oven top on and stares at the flames.

"People are telling me to use my other powers, but should I really? Is my lightning not enough to keep everyone safe?" Sparks of lightning dance on his palms as he thinks.

He continues to stare at his hand before the lighting changes to fire. But he only keeps the fire for a short period before the image of Kagura's frightened face causes him to close his fist and refocus on making dinner.