Journey of the Three Failures

Chapter 19: Dealing With Devils

Journey of the Three Failures

Nineteen: Dealing with Devils

Part One: Raise the Stakes

Hanabi ハナビ

The smack and slap of forearms striking forearms, palms meeting palms snapped furiously into the air, and below it dusted the tap of light, swift feet dancing with purpose over the earth. Sweat burned my eyes. My arms swung loose and fast, hands throwing off a flurry of gentle blows, and I shifted my stance in a flash as my palm swept to halt an abrupt, powerful and unexpected fist.

I darted, she dodged, I retreated, feinted, advanced again, strike, step, strike, shift, block – rushing air sifted in and out of my lungs, fast, controlled, efficient. Chakra crackled and cancelled between two palms; without pause her larger hand folded deftly around mine, swift as the lunge of a snapping serpent, and my hand was a fraction of a moment from being expertly broken when the sole of my foot impacted the side of her ribcage, savage. She yelled, and I barreled into the weakness, striking more and more sharply still; she deflected it all, backpedalling precisely, teeth clenched.

I saw it in her eyes before I saw it in her body, and then I saw it in her body before she even moved to strike. At that point I spun neatly in evasion, hair splaying out, as the palm lanced by. She tried to back away, to distance her body from me, whilst lashing the heel of her other palm down for my shoulder; I blocked, caught her strength on my raised forearm, and thrust away as my free palm split the air, arced for her chest, as I struck to finish it.

A drop of sweat fell from my chin, plopped to the dirt. I blinked.

I... miscalculated the dist–?

WHOMP!

Auntie Harumi leaned away from the palm a centimeter in front of her chest, turning and artfully throwing a sharp boot into my collarbone. I was kicked off my feet, back smacking to the dirt. I gagged a second and rolled onto my side, pressing a hand against the pain throbbing on my clavicle.

"Daijoubu?" Hitaka murmured in concern, coming to my side. Hikujaku frowned bemusedly.

"What was that?" Hiryuu-oji-san asked drily, voice containing some hint of a growl of distaste. His patience was wearing thin.

I began to sit up. "I don't know, I-I..." I stuttered and trailed off. Oh...

"What's the matter?"

Chilled, I disguised a sudden sick shiver behind a shake of my head. "It's nothing; I can keep going. I'm just a little off today."

Hiryuu frowned, and the near-contempt in his eyes made me cringe. "You've been out of it for a week now, Hanabi-sama. I don't know where your mind is, but it would best swiftly find its way here, to your training."

Before my shamefaced 'hai' could be muttered, Harumi spoke up.

"Sir, you've been pushing her hard for several days in a row now. I know that time is of the essence ... but in a child especially, overexertion can impact one well more negatively than the benefits can hope to counteract."

After a moment Hiryuu nodded slowly, relenting. "We'll step it down a notch today."

Harumi shook her head. "No, sir. For at least today and tomorrow, she needs to rest."

"Two days, Harumi?"

The woman walked to and knelt by me, and I looked up in puzzlement until she, with a polite 'sumimasen,' pressed a finger lightly to my thigh and brushed downward. I winced, yelping in pain and startling from the contact. Harumi looked up. "You see? Even medical ninjutsu can't fully play the substitute for the time it takes the muscles to recover from stress. I've kept quiet, but if we continue at this pace Lady Hanabi's resilience will only deteriorate. Not to mention... this girl has broken five different bones in the last twelve days. There's only so much I can do to keep accelerating her body's natural healing processes."