Part One of a Collab between @Letter Bee and @Morgannis.Ouga’s Mechanics ShopAfter he and Darius arrived at the Mechanics shop where Ouga was, Mikazuki approached Mitsuaki and asked, “Mitsuaki, would it be okay if we sparred? You sound like you need to let off some steam.”
Mikazuki knew that Mitsuaki did not trust him yet; why would he? So a longer, more heart-to-heart talk was not on the table. That’s why the boy asked him for a spar; probably in their Shinigami forms; despite Mikazuki’s training in Kendo, the boy was still sixteen to Mitsuaki’s twenty, and there was a physical difference.
He waited for the older youth’s reply, hoping it was received correctly.
Mitsuaki had found himself a nice wall to lean on, arms crossed over his shoulders while he waited for everyone else to step into the mechanic’s shop. He hadn’t expected this sort of crowd, though; was
everyone here? With the arrival of Darius and Mikazuki, as well as Sara, yeah, it seemed like everyone was here.
Gray eyes cast themselves down to the floor, only snapping upwards once he was approached by the younger Mikazuki. A brow raised, quirked in interest at the proposal.
“You want to spar?” He repeated the question, before shrugging. “I mean, yeah, sure? Right now though?” Once more his eyes cast over the group. “Kinda want to eat first.”
Sparring wouldn’t hurt anyone; in fact, as Mitsuaki saw it, it would really only help all of them in the end. Training themselves, being prepared for anything that might come their way, stopping them from all being killed or eaten alive. Yeah. Sparring was a good idea.
Mikazuki searched his pockets but found that while he had cash - A good reserve of it - and his Smartphone, he had no food at all and only a bottle of water. He frowned at that, then said, “I… I only have cash, not food. And it might be too late to buy some. Do
you have food? I already ate, though, so I can do without for a while…”
“Mmm, we don’t have to go anywhere,” Mitsuaki rubbed the back of his neck, raising a hand at one of the mechanics who had brought out a tray of rice balls and sandwiches. “Haven’t eaten since I got up this morning, so…” Trailing off, the young man inched his way away from Mikazuki, towards the free food.
Grabbing a sandwich, he glanced sidelong at the other. He couldn’t help but be reminded of the younger kids, back in the orphanage he grew up in; they were always seeking attention, actively going out of their way to try to find something to do with him, or the other older kids. It wasn’t the same, sure, but it
felt the same.
Looking away when he caught himself staring a little too long, Mitsuaki bit into the sandwich. “Where do you wanna spar at?” He said, in between bites.
Mikazuki mused, “Well, my family’s dojo is too far, and I doubt Mr. Ouga would want us to avoid a potential meeting, so why not just outside? We can use Modsouls on our bodies and spar as Substitute Shinigami if you want?”
A thought then settled into him, and he looked intently at Misuaki and his body language, before saying, “That said… don’t feel forced to accept my request. I know we barely know each other, but…”
He decided to be honest, “I saw you argue with your employer in the cafe today. I don’t think you’re in the wrong; I’ve hung around long enough to know that you’re more than you look - It’s a small town, so I know quite a bit just from keeping my eyes and ears open. So I just want to say that if sparring helps you let off some steam, let’s spar. If you’d rather do something else, let’s do it. But, we’re all Substitute Shinigami now and I am not blind to how those of us who would accept such a destiny have all had our losses and traumas or something that pushes us to be more than what we are.”
The boy looked Mitsuaki in the eyes and said, “I want to fight - I want to spar. But only if it helps.”
Listening intently to the other’s words, Mitsuaki’s eyes narrowed towards the wall, his back fully turned to the younger man. “Don’t act like you know me,” his voice was low, sandwich lowering from his mouth. “I left because I didn’t
want to be there. What are you doing, anyways,
watching me?” His eyes shot towards Mikazuki, finally seeing what emotion he held in them. He had a good heart, Mitsuaki
knew that, but still.
“Don’t talk about trauma. Don’t talk about losses. Just…” he was clutching his sandwich a little too hard. Looking away again, he stared out of the window, at the wall, at the ground; anywhere else other than another person. “I already said I’d spar with you. Just take that and leave the rest,” he took another bite of the sandwich.
Mikazuki nodded, knowing that an apology would do
squat. He waited for Mitsuaki to finish eating, then went outside of the Mechanics’ Shop, hoping Mr. Ouga wouldn’t stop them, then consumed the Modsoul candy/marble, expelling his spirit from his body in Substitute Shinigami form.
Ouga wound up giving them some training swords.
Mikazuki Nakajima took the training sword, and his eyes glinted as he took a defensive stance, part of him feeling furious at himself for saying
words that made Mitsuaki’s mood worse and part of him annoyed at
Mitsuaki for snapping at him in such a way, even if it was deserved.
But he will fight, in order to prove that he was more than just some ‘cute’ but tactless kid.
As Mikazuki left the mechanic shop, Mitsuaki turned to watch him. Ouga seemed to sign off on their little makeshift spar. Fine.
Leaving the half-eaten sandwich on his plate, Mitsuaki followed after Mikazuki. Popping the candy in his own mouth, the Konpaku took over as his spirit separated from his body. The sword at his side was simple, except for the two small, wooden ornaments of a koi and shiba inu attached to it.
Taking up his own wooden sword, eyes narrowed at Mikazuki, he lunged towards the other to make the first strike. Mikazuki was right about one thing; the elder boy wanted to blow off some steam. He wasn’t exactly sure how much this would amount to, but at least the offer was up there to try.
Mikazuki
grinned as he parried the lunge (Miraculous Parry), his kendo training, and the Zanpaktou’s supernatural qualities melding together to ease him into the fight. He struck back the very next second with a flurry of blows, although only the first one was boosted by his ‘Counter’ technique (Counter).
Observers can notice that one, Mikazuki was practiced at this, and two,
the kid liked fighting.
The boy grinned as he prepared for his opponent to attack once more; his flurry of blows had petered out.
Wood clashed against wood as his sword was parried, only making Mitsuaki more rash. Jumping back, trying to get away from the flurry of blows that came his way, he let out a light ‘tsk’. Mikazuki was a lot more skilled than he was; the boys training in kendo doing wonders for him. No matter how you looked at it, Mitsuaki was extremely outclassed, although the older boy would never admit it. Maybe he didn’t even realize it himself.
A frown further tugged at Mitsuaki’s face as he lunged again, trying to dart around Mikazuki, in an attempt to get beside him. If he could, a knee to the side would be better than a slash in the face.
Mikazuki had a Kido he wanted to test out, so he took the knee while trying to parry any slash. Staggering several steps back, the boy activated his Kaidō, concentrating the Healing Arts on his own body to mimic the effects of constant regeneration.
His next words were, “I’m going to try and keep Kaidc active for as long as possible; I want to test how effective constantly using it in a battle works. Is it okay if you, umm… what’s the word? Help me test it out. I don’t think you’ll seriously hurt me beyond the minimum needed to test out this sub-technique; You’ve proven in this spar that you’re a kind guy, Mitsuaki.”
He smiled warmly at that; every word of that last phrase was sincere.
Clutching the wooden training sword tighter in his hand, Mitsuaki clicked his tongue again, feeling the power of the Kido that Mikazuki used. “So you just want me to attack you?” He took a step closer. Training swords or not, it was probably going to hurt, but at least they would just be bruises. This wouldn’t be considered bullying or anything, would it? Mitsuaki wasn’t the
nicest guy in the world, but he drew the line at bullying someone four years his junior.
“Just say when, then,” a smirk was slow to cross his face. If Mikazuki was trying to test out his Kido, maybe it would be a good idea for him to test out the skills that he was training, too. A new goal formed in his head; knock Mikazuki off his feet.
Suddenly, the young man was springing into action. Sword held low, he ran at Mikazuki with all of the speed he had. Closing the gap between them, his sword moved to thrust towards the chest of the other. Directly after the thrust, Mitsuaki put all of his strength into his attack, swinging upwards, and finishing up the Hirazuki skill that he had been taught in training. If he were lucky enough, one blow would be all that he needed to knock Mikazuki off of his feet and onto his back, winning him his makeshift game.
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