Ikigai

Chapter 21: The (Awkward) Fellowship

"You're early."

"You're early," she uttered back.

"I told you to meet at 3."

"Well, it's not like I have a clock I can look at," she yawned as she pointed to her eyes and dusted off her hair for any residual dirt that may have been leftover from the tunnel she had emerged from.

3 o'clock in the morning. The days when she would need to get up at that hour seemed so long ago now. She didn't miss them. 

"I didn't tell you to bring a dog either."

"He would bark if I didn't bring him."

Her lower lip puffed and curled in a childish pout as she turned to scratch Yami behind the ears. She recalled the first time she saw him, muddied and filthy under a heap of trash, barking at her until he bit her hand the moment she reached to touch him. He had drawn blood and the wound from that day was now faint on her hand.

As if to throw in his own piece, Yami shook himself and circled in place before letting out a bark in his direction. 

Itachi sighed staring at the dog that had immediately fallen asleep at her feet.

"The dog stays," she said bringing his attention back to her.

He wasn't sure how to take her response but before he thought about it any further, he was behind her, one arm wrapped firmly over her as the other supported his own, embracing her neck in a tight grip.

"Does this mean we're training?" She choked out, her hands reaching to pull at his arms.

Kintsugi internally blushed, she had never been hugged and she cringed at the embarrassing thought that this was the closest she had come to one without the other person actually exuding complete and utter hatred. Sure, he had her in a chokehold, but at least she wasn't dying. She had thought Rashaan had come close to hugging her once, though it had turned out he had only been reaching to open a door. She had been in the way.

Yami opened one eye and huffed in response, seeming to sense the man's true intentions before nodding off again. 

With a quick flick of her wrist, she threw him off her, her body feeling a slight chill from the sudden disappearance of warmth. 

"No powers," he said as he landed on his feet a few feet away. 

"Just...don't actually kill me? At least not yet."

She lifted her arms in the well-practiced stance Rashaan had taught her, the many years of training had permanently scarred her knuckles and palms into an ugly layer of tissue, something she had grown to hate the older she became. 

With a slight nod, she signaled his advance.

Like before, he was immediately behind her, Kintsugi making sure to dodge his grasp as she evaded his grip in one move.

A quick fist headed towards her face before she managed to block it until his foot headed towards the back of her knee. 

Going with the momentum of the fall she twisted to reach towards his ankle, flipping out of his reach the moment he evaded her.

It was only a few minutes after a series of further jabs and kicks that Itachi suddenly stood still.

"What?" She asked bringing her hands down momentarily, a thin layer of sweat bordering her brows. 

"Why are you doing this?"

"I need the practice," she shrugged, hands lifting up again in a fighting stance.