Blood in the Water

Part 8

The two of you entered his room. Both the coffee table and couch were pushed against wall, leaving plenty of open space.

"Don't be shy, make yourself comfortable. I shall get us some tea. ♥" He says, walking to the sectioned off kitchen.

"Okay.." You say with a shrug, taking his offer. You take a seat on the floor in the middle of the room, sitting criss cross. Despite your nerves from your previous encounters, you felt oddly comfortable.

He comes back in with a very expensive looking tea set on a tray. His strides were controlled keeping the tray completely still. How does he harness such power?

"Were you a waiter before you became a full fledged magician?" You ask. He sets the tray on the floor and takes a seat across from you. You grab a cup and take a sip.

"If you must know, I had humble beginnings in a circus. ♥" He said.

"Wait, seriously?" You ask, almost spitting out the tea.

"I'd love nothing more than to discuss my past with you, but i'm afraid that isn't why we're here~"

Oh yeah, I'm suppose to be training.

"Then what's all this for?" You ask, downing more of the tea. That cereal made you thirsty as hell. (Maybe those milk people were onto something..). He smiled

"It's for your training, of course." He says. You almost spit it out again.

"Wha-Why did you let me drink all of it?!" You ask, putting the cup down. It was empty.

"You looked so happy~"

"Shut it. Now explain what I do with this."

"Now, now. You're going to harden this cup so it doesn't break. " He says, picking up your empty cup.

"Pffh. Is that all?" You ask, all arrogance. He smiles and nods. He stands up, and drops the cup on the floor. It shatters.

"Hey, what was that about!? You know I have to touch it, right?"

"Oh? So you're saying that order to use your ability on an opponent, you'll have to be in arms length. Which is especially bad for you, seeing that your hand to hand combat needs some work and you're considerably slow."

"Well that's kind of n-"

"So you have no gap closer, little to no defense, and your single offensive ability can only be used when touching the opponent. You don't truly think you will get to the floor masters with that, do you?"

"I came here knowing I had some work to do but you make me sound pretty useless."

"You are far from useless, flower. ♥" He says grabbing another teacup. He drinks it in one gulp, then prepares to drop it again. You begin to stand up, but Hisoka stops you.

"Stay where you are. You need to reach."

"Reach? Just how long do you think my arms are?" You say. Hisoka looks at you entertained.

"Reach your nen. Remember that you're a manipulator. If you can learn to control millions of molecules simultaneously, then manipulating your nen a few feet should be a simple party trick."

"How am I even suppose to do it?" You say, skeptical.

"Everyone has different ways of going about it. However, visualization seems to be the most effective. ♥" He says. You close your eyes, picturing your nen first. Your aura gives you a warm, serene feeling. You felt comforted.

"Just what are you smiling about?" Hisoka asks. You immediately adjust your face back to neutral.

Oops, too comfortable. Okay. Let's try to make some magic.

You visualize your aura beginning to move around you in waves, building in energy each time it goes around. You then picture a small amount trying to separate from you, reaching out like a hand, and then an arm. Smiling again, you ask.

"Am I doing it?"

"Hardly. ♥" Hisoka says bluntly. You open your eyes, using gyo. You see that a small nub was trying to escape. The words puny and pathetic came to mind.

"What? But I visualized it just like you said!"

"You won't be able to trick the body as easily as you can trick the mind, Y/n. Follow through your thoughts with actions."

You close your eyes, trying again. You play the same scene in your head. You try to reach out again, with even more determination.

"How is it?" You ask.

"Needs improvement, but we can move on. " He says. You smile delightedly.

"Reach out, and I ask of you not to let any more cups break~"

"We can always buy more, right? If you're just breaking them for exercise I doubt they're all that expensive." You say, delaying him.

"This tea set is a priceless antique. You'll be punished if it goes to waste."

Punished, huh. Is it bad i'm so intrigued?

One by one Hisoka began dropping the cups. Your reach just wasn't fast or calculated enough to get to the cup in time, much less have time to absorb and change the density.

"It's useless.. I'm never going to be able to do this effectively." You mope. All around the floor was shards of the broken tea set.

"You've made progress. Just continue to practice it on your own. Consider it homework~" Hisoka says, giving you a hand to help you off the ground.

"Oh my gosh, I just realized.. Your tea set.." You say looking down with guilt.

"Ah, yes. Punishment is in order..." He says, darkly. Against your will, your ears perk up. He walks to the closet, sliding open the door. You freeze, your mind drawing a blank. There was so much anticipation you couldn't even imagine the possibilities of what he might bring out.

"..."

"Here." Hisoka hands you a broom and dust pan. You reluctantly reached for the items.

"Don't look so disappointed, flower. Keep cooperating and I shall give you a treat.." He says, as his cold hands brushed across yours when as he handed you the items. His touch left your skin tingling and craving more. You swallow.

"Now I trust you can let yourself out, right?" He says, referring to your first conversation with him. You had met him fresh out of the shower after he trespassed into your unlocked room. Realizing you needed to respond, you were drawn from your thoughts.

"Yes."

"Lovely. I'll see you in two days. I expect much improvement, so don't disappoint me. ♥" Hisoka says, leaving the room. Silence.

After cleaning up all of the glass, you take a seat on the couch. That training left you extremely exhausted, so you decided to rest your head for a second. You slowly drifted to sleep.