The Faces We Do Not See

Chapter 03

You slowly approached the two, slightly put off by Kazukis' presence. Professor Kato looks to you with a confident look, "Ah y/n, I think I've found the perfect partner for you..." and he puts a hand on Kazukis' shoulder, who rolls his eyes with an unenthusiastical look.

"You're kidding, right?" You point to Kazuki with a perturbed face.

Kato laughs as he lightly pushes Kazuki forward, his face falling back to its usual stone-like expression, "I never joke when it comes to the growth of my students."

"I'm only doing this because Professor Kato asked me to, normally I wouldn't give people like you the time of day..." Kazuki huffed, grabbing a training stick from the rack before standing on one side of the field.

You look around the training field, some students were still sparring and training, but most of them were looking at you and Kazuki. You slouch over, suddenly losing all of your confidence before arming yourself and standing opposite of him.

Kato stood in the middle, "This will just be to gauge how much you've grown, give it everything you've got you two." He retreats to his usual spot under the tree before clapping his hands, "Begin!"

Kazuki smirks and glares at you, walking circles like a predator. Your grip tightens around the staff, taking defensive position. A glint flashes in Kazukis' eye, and he charges forward swinging the staff around him, you manage to block the first few strikes but are soon forced to dodge as he thrusts multiple times at you.

He laughs, "What's wrong? Having trouble keeping up?"

You block his next strike, attempting to get a quick hit but he ducks and kicks you in the chest, causing you to stumble back. He rushes forward, spinning the staff before slamming it into your side and then onto your head.

"Come on now...You're making this too easy!" He lunges forward with the staff aimed at your neck, but you're able to dodge and land a clean strike on his torso. His eyes widen slightly before evening out.

You cheer for yourself inside your head, counting that by itself a victory. You take the offensive, forcing him to block and dodge your attacks and you swing the staff into his chin, and another onto his torso, sending him stumbling back. Kazuki shakes off the damage and his breathing evens before he approaches, once again forcing you to dodge, and he laughs, "Seriously, what was Mr. Kato thinking pitting you up against me? Honestly I'm insulted!" and he steps back, thrusting the staff into your chest multiple times and prepares a another kick, but you swat his leg away, pushing him slightly off balance, giving you a chance to attack, Kazuki keeps his guard up and your staffs collide. The sounds of your staffs smacking against each other rings through the yard, causing more students to gather and watch.

As you block and dodge his attacks you see a slight opening on his left side, you side step his thrust, swinging your staff into his side, thinking you've won your heart sinks when you see his stupid smirk, his eyes brighten like a flash and he blocks your attack, and in that instant he kicks you back and hits you in the side of the head before hitting you in the chin, putting you on your back instantly and makes your vision fuzzy.

His slightly overshadowed silhouette stands above you, pointing the staff to your neck and you sigh in defeat. "Well, needless to say that was rather boring..." he leans down, "I suggest you take a  shower, you smell like a rat that just crawled out of the sewer" he turns his back to you, "And look like it too..." he laughs to himself as he places the staff on the rack and you watch, anger building inside of you 0as he walks away with a small group of students.

Kato walks up to you and gives you a hand, pulling you to your feet. "Don't feel too bad y/n, Kazuki is extraordinarily talented for his class. If anything, you exceeded my expectations..."