Locked and wounded. (A Hololive fanfic)

Chapter 10: Tranquility in the storm.

(Sora's POV.)

"Ack!" Was the most common noise I heard from Arato-kun for the past two days . A noise he commonly made whenever Fena struck him with the blunted end of a wooden stick as they trained for the duel, I remember the shock on my face when Fena approached us and told Arato-kun that he'd help him train. I didn't expect it since he was Vincent's bodyguard after all, he might want his boss to win. "Not too bad, but you're still pretty sloppy when it comes to parrying." Fena lets out as he reaches out and pulls Arato back on his feet. "Not surprised considering that old priest raised you." Now originally I didn't really understand what Fena meant by that, but then I remembered just how amazing the priest that raised Arato-kun was. He was not only a priest, but also a doctor and a duelist, and before he passed on he made sure to leave at least two of these qualities with Arato and letting him choose his own path. "Ready?" Fena then asked him once they got back into position. Arato-kun took a moment to wipe away his sweat before he nodded in response, holding up his stick in preparation before the two went at it again. Dueling each other with the blunted sticks, thrusting and parrying one another's attacks with incredible skill, while entertaining to watch I still had a tinge of worry on me. There was a real risk of Arato getting hurt while practicing, not to mention what might happen if this was the real deal...
I watched as Arato-kun thrusted and parried Fena's attacks with increasing finesse, despite my nervousness I couldn't help but get hooked on watching him as he practiced, the way he moved, the way he parried and thrusted with increasing confidence... There was something about it that made my heart skip a beat and brought a wave of heat to my cheeks, the sensations amplified by the fact he was doing all of this... For my sake.

I watched this go on for a few minutes, Fena would thrust at Arato and then Arato would parry it away and respond with his own thrust. Neither side wanting to give in as they pushed on with increased vigor, until finally the intense exchange was ended by one noise emitted by Fena. "Agh!" He yelped out as he took a poke to the stomach and stumbled back, marking Arato-kun's first win in this kind of dueling. "Okay... That one was good, again." Fena ordered once he regained his composure, and Arato just hummed and nodded in response, readying up his stick for another round while Fena looked on with a renewed sense of competitiveness. "Don't expect an easy time from now on." He added with a confident smirk. "Do your worst." Arato responded, signaling another round of poking and parrying as the two boys went at it again, and I was given another chance to watch Arato in combat again. There was just something about it that makes my heart race, makes my cheeks flush red, and I don't know why... Now that I think about it, this feeling is becoming a common occurrence. It would come up whenever he'd hold my hand even though we've done this numerous times before, whenever we'd walk home from school, or when I'm just watching him talk with one of his patients... What's going on with me today...? I just keep getting flustered watching Arato-kun do the most simple things...
I looked away from the fight for a moment, trying to wipe the shades of red on my face. I was just so flustered for reasons I couldn't understand.
"Hey... Sora, you alright?" A voice pulled me out of my thoughts, and I looked back to see Arato and Fena looking down at me on my position on the grass. "You've been distracted for a while, something wrong?" It was only then that I realized I was so flustered and distracted on hiding my face that I ended up skipping the rest of their training, I looked away again, trying to hide my flushed cheeks with my hair as I spoke. "Y-Yeah... I'm fine... It's nothing." Clearly neither of them believed that, but a nod from Fena urged Arato-kun not to push it further. Judging from the look that Fena gave me though, I could tell he knew something. He just didn't wanna see me lose my mind from embarrassment. "Anyway... You learned quick, Arato." He then tells the doctor, and Arato nodded in response. "It's not that I'm bad or don't know it, it's just that I'm rusty." He says, earning a hum from Fena. "I can tell, you knew how to do this already. Just had to figure out how to do it properly again."