Falling Light 1.5: The Chaos that Crawls

Chapter Eight

"Hah!!!"

I spin my body and reverse roundhouse kick, aiming at Reimu's head to take her by surprise. Her left arm positions in an angle, blocking my attack with no problems at all. This is my chance to move in and grab her arm if I'm lucky. I put my right hand out, reaching out to grab her left arm. I see her pull her left arm back.

She grabs my wrist. Her right hand goes around my right arm. I blink once, suddenly being upside down all of a sudden. The world seems to spin for a brief second. My senses warp, not sure where I am.

"Urgh!!'

My back hits the ground. I cough out, almost attempting to get up. A weight is on my chest. Two strong forearms lock on my neck. I look at Reimu.

She has an unamused stare, almost as if she looks bored. It wasn't much of a challenge to her. Not that I'm surprised. Reimu is a superior martial artist than I am since she learned Tai chi and Judo at a young age. The stare fades, replacing itself with a more cheerful look and a smile that makes my loss seem worth it.

"Not bad. You're getting a lot better."

As usual, huh? Reimu takes my hand, helping me off of the ground. She has such a strong grip despite having such a slim, lean frame. The strength she has isn't even human when she punches me. She has to actively hold back since her first kick to my ribs put me out of commission for a long time.

She's right, though. I did much better than last time. My body is becoming much lighter, but at the same time, I'm much stronger, too. I react better and I can actually pull off some moves I couldn't do before. It's still taking me a while to perfect Reimu's Ascension Kick since I don't have the strength to pull it off like she does.

I'm like the Ken to her Ryu. I focus on dealing mobility and multiple hits and she deals the most damage with focus and precision. I tend to move around a lot during most of my fights, so I can see why I'm the Ken. I use a lot of kicks like he does. Just not spinning kicks that defy logic and allow me to fly forward for a brief moment.

I haven't reached my peak yet. I'm trying to get there, so that Reimu doesn't have to worry about me that much. She's not just honing my martial arts and physical abilities. She does train me with controlling my power. Right now, I can barely harness it.

It's difficult to control this kind of power. It's so weird that I never knew I had it in me. I shouldn't believe that this power of mine is a good thing. I have to take responsibility for them. A single mishap will spell death for me and the consequences would cause devastating effects to those nearby.

I can't let it get to my head. That my powers make me invincible and that I should use them for some other purpose, thinking that I'm above the spectrum of power. I'm below them. I don't see my powers as something that should be used for fun. They should be used to understand what I have to do.

How I use my powers is dependent on myself. No one else will control me to use this power for their own ends. I can't let people push me around if that happens. I have to stick up for myself, fight back against the odds that are against me. There are still times where I need to know when to fold them if I'm out of my league.

"You're in deep thought, aren't you?"

"What?"

Reimu catches my attention. She keeps the same smile on her face, then pats my shoulder. It's a kind of gesture that is meant to cheer me up. She must be thinking that I'm upset about the loss. I'm not really upset about that.

"Don't worry about it. Focus on the training at hand. Help me sweep the grounds."

"Okay."

I help out Reimu around the shrine. We would sweep the grounds, pray, clean and rearrange the storehouse, wash the futons and hang them, and cut some weeds. We made a deal that I'll help her with these activities in exchange for training. Neither of us minded it at all. Of course, it bothers me that I would be staying here.