Wisteria

7 - To Him.

We're on a time crunch here, but we'll keep building our base. After all, it had been a couple of months now. Spring had arrived about a month ago, and Yasuo was lying under the wisteria trees, breathing steadily.

He had mastered total concentration breathing to the point it was natural. Mostly. Yet, Yasuo still had a while to go. He may have mastered a breathing style, but he never touched a sword in his life.

And so, Yasuo did his usual fifty laps, keeping his breath constantly steady as he ran seamlessly. Fifty laps were completed in probably seven minutes, but Yasuo was faster now, so it wasn't a problem. After Yasuo's laps, Hanako tossed a wooden katana to the boy.

Yasuo's eyes widened as he admired the training sword with glee. "For me?" He whispered with excitement. Hanako only snapped her fingers in his ear.

"No time to ogle. It's time you learnt how to use it," She muttered, adjusting Yasuo's grip. Yasuo felt the grin on his face grow as Hanako let go, allowing him to swing the sword. He did a couple of twirls as he battled imaginary demons, watching their non-existent heads roll away. He continued to move around, slicing the sword down as he moved, enjoying himself as-

Yasuo's thoughts were cut off as Hanako parried the attack, knocking the sword out of his grasp. His eyes widened as the sheathed sword jabbed his chest, knocking his body down to the ground. Even with the cover on, the jab hurt which caused Yasuo to rub his chest and frown. "Ow..!" He whined, curling his lip in frustration.

"Get up," Hanako ordered, tapping Yasuo's knee with her foot. The boy groaned, quickly getting to his feet and readjusted his sword, lunging forward without warning. His steady breath was faltering, but his determination refused. He was going to land a blow on Hanako, whether she liked it or not.

Again, Hanako dodged the swing easily, swiftly clamping her unoccupied hand on top of his head and pushing him down with brute force. Yasuo grunted as his face landed in the dirt again, his fingers curling in frustration. "Son of a BITCH!" He hollered through a mouthful of dirt. The mixture of soil and saliva slipped down the sides of his mouth as he spat the sick combination out.

"Don't you dare call me that," Hanako spat, firmly digging her heel into Yasuo's back. "Get up, and don't whine. You won't beat me, not in a long shot, but to lose like a regretful loser is worse than trying again." Her heel dug deeper as she nudged the boy. "So get up. Now." She ordered.

Yasuo groaned as he pushed himself up, quickly readying himself again. He took a deep breath, attempting to humble his ego as the girl rushed forward. And so, the fight ensued, with Hanako's moves gracefully dancing while she swung.

And again, Yasuo fell, just as he got back up. Again, and again, and again, and again, he pushed himself up and readied his sword, only to fall on his knees, chest, and back. I'm not ready. He criticised himself. I'm not ready, and I'll never be. Hanako's words felt like nothing, no matter how hard he tried to follow. Maybe he wasn't even cut out for this.

Why am I even here? His mind pestered. Yet he was rudely interrupted by a brute hand pulling him up to his feet. "Did you even eat? Did you sleep?" Hanako asked, keeping a firm grip on the boy's wrist. Yasuo silently shook his head, to the eating part, of course. He skipped out on breakfast to train with Hanako as any good pupil would.

Hanako's eyes narrowed slightly, yet she let go, sheathing her sword and beckoning Yasuo to follow with a small hand gesture as she headed back inside. Yasuo paused, quickly catching up and kicking his shoes off as he entered the house. He quietly rubbed his wrist, ensuring he wasn't in trouble. The vibe felt like it though, as Hanako didn't dare to say a word nor glance at him. Maybe he should've tried harder.