Battlefield Romance: Hakuōki x Reader

First Day of Training: Hajime Saito

Scenario: It's your first day of training, and the one who found you is the one responsible for your instruction. What will it be like to train with him as your mentor?

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With so many targets being expertly set in front of you at lightning speed, you feel your trigger finger begin to give way with the aid of Saito-san's ruthless training. Since you had first risen from your bed this morning, you've been shooting at targets under the direction of Hajime Saito: the man who saved you -- and the man who now seemed hellbent on destroying your only means of self-defense (your trigger finger).

"Only a few more rounds" you mutter under your breath through clenched teeth. You can practically feel the blister starting to form, and you knew that you'd have to wrap your hand after this.

"Come on, (y/n)! Stay strong!" He yells. You know he probably meant it as encouragement, but at the moment, it sounds more like criticism. Pressing your lips firmly together, you continue to reload your pistol and shoot rapid fire at the multiple targets as his men quickly set new ones up.

You feel your strength begin to flag. Crap, this isn't good, you think to yourself. If you failed this tyrannical man now, you feared that you'd never hear the end of it. In fact, you wondered if you might even go numb from the beating that you'd most likely receive. After all, this was an all-men samurai group; wasn't that how they dealt with weakness?

"(y/n)! Stop zoning out!" You jump at the sound of his voice. Suddenly, you notice that you've missed the past four targets and that your pistol is now out of ammo.

"Sorry!" You yell, moving to reload my pistol. A firm hand stops you, and you look up to see your whip-cracking trainer standing above you.

"Are you okay, (y/n)?" He asks abruptly, looking straight into your eyes. "I want you to tell me the truth -- that's an order" he adds.

You sigh in resignation. "No, I'm not fine: I think my trigger finger may be blistering." Without warning, he takes your hand in his and examines it carefully.

"You're right" he comments bluntly. "We should get your hand wrapped." He takes the gun out of your hands and gives it to one of his men, instructing him to clean it and put it away. Saito-san guides you towards the medical room and away from the training field.

"You should have said something sooner" he says, rather gruffly.

"And risk your potential wrath? No thanks."

"Are you trying to be funny, young lady?" He looks at you and raises an eyebrow, causing you to blush.

"Uh, no." You continue to walk in silence for a minute or so before he speaks again.

"I don't want you to be scared of me."

"Wha-?"

"You are intimidated by me, are you not?"

"Well, I -"

"And I noticed that you haven't called me by name yet."

"Ah..." He stops walking altogether and moves to stand in front of you.

"(y/n), I want you to become as strong as possible. In order for this to happen, we need to be able to communicate. Is that clear?" His voice is serious. You bite your lower lip and nod.

"Yes" you say softly.

"Yes...?" He waits for you to correct yourself.

"Yes, Saito-san. It's crystal clear."