Belladonna

Chapter 7: Wide Awake

WARNING: Violence and gore

A series of metallic clangs could be heard from within the depths of the woodlands, the sharp sounds reverberating through the area. Two shadowy figures clashed fiercely, their gleaming blades meeting with an occasional earsplitting screech as sparks flew. The smaller of the duo broke away, quickly placing as much distance between them as possible.

Ibaraki Dōji did not give me much room to breathe. Immediately closing the space between us, he let loose a flurry of unrelenting swings and strikes. My skin prickled, sensing a swift change in the wind before catching the ominous shine of an incoming blade in my peripheral vision. Without a second thought, I ducked beneath it just as it sailed overhead and lunged to the side.

My instincts had been gradually honed to the point where I could now narrowly avoid most of his attacks in the past few months. However, I was still not quite fast enough yet to completely avoid every single one of them. Since my split-second switching between offense and defense Osore has yet to be perfected—in a way that Kidōmaru would not catch even a glimpse of the hairstyle he hated—I had no choice but to stick to my offensive form throughout my training sessions.

A few lessons after I finally managed to transform into my night form, Kidōmaru-sensei questioned why I did not use 'Meikyō Shisui', and the best answer I could give back then was that I did not know how to. Obviously, he harboured some doubts, but since he lacked ample evidence to hold it against me, he could only chalk it up as a lack of knowledge due to my young age and merely kept on with his training program. During the following months, he may or may not have gone a lot harder on me to try and force that technique to the surface once more.

I tilted my head back just as the katana swept past where my face had been a mere second ago, cutting off a few strands of jet-black hair. My training clothes were already looking a little worse for wear; some spots were torn and bloodied, while superficial scratches and not-so-superficial littered my body. Though I am pretty much numb to the small cuts by now, the bigger ones were protesting against my movements rather vehemently.

I sucked in a sharp breath between gritted teeth when I landed from a high jump, an agonising pain zipping up my right leg and straight to my brain like electricity. Dark red blood stained my clothes, oozing from the long gash made along the outer side of my thigh, and I could only ignore it for now, knowing that my current opponent was the type to exploit any known weaknesses.

And I was right.

Because the next thing I knew, my body jerked backwards on reflex before a bolt of lightning hit the ground where I had just been kneeling, charring the earth black. A burnt scent filled my nostrils, and I grimaced, ears still ringing from the sudden and deafening crackle, my heart pounding loudly.

I shot a glance towards Ibaraki Dōji, who stood a few feet away, and I noticed a purple-like cloud slowly dissipating over his form. My instincts were screaming at me to run, while simultaneously, a certain numbness clouded my mind, and I realised the meaning of that attack.

They had upped the difficulty level again. But they only did that every month or more, and it had been less than three weeks since the last upgrade.

'What did he do?' The fleeting thought crossed my mind before drifting away; I cannot afford to lose focus right now. Once I got back up onto my feet, taking care not to put too much pressure on my bad leg again, I shot toward the yōkai when I saw he made no move to attack. Raising my katana, black tendrils of Osore gathered smoothly upon the blade, and vaguely, I registered a faint cracking sound as I swung my weapon in his direction.

A huge blast was heard, and dust flew, shrouding the clearing and clogging up the air with a thick scent of the earth. I blinked rapidly, keeping my senses peeled for any signs of disturbances within the smoke around me. The atmosphere felt as though it was charged with electricity once more, causing the hair along the back of my neck and arms to stand on end. Immediately, I swerve to look toward the source, swinging my katana horizontally to slice through the dust and clear my vision.