Lesson Learned

You have to rely on yourself

Oh, wow so this as longer than intended, but I'm really enjoying writing this so far.

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Left

Right

Up

Left

Her fists followed a rhythm.

Mitsuko smiled as she tried to land a hit on Mr Karasuma.

The agent dodged and parried each of their attacks with ease.

Isogai and Maehara attacked him both at once, trying to keep up with him as he moved.

Mitsuko snuck in when she saw a gap and tried to strike his ribs with the anti-sensei knife; he grabbed her hand before the hit and pushed it away. Her smile grew.

Holy shit this was fun.

She stepped back as Kataoka and Okano dived in.

Mitsuko took a second to glance to the side and saw Karma looking ready to pounce.

For once she couldn't really blame him for being eager for a fight, trying to attack Mr Karasuma was the most fun she'd had in a while, and it was less intense than the martial art training she'd endured as a kid.

Karma attacked as soon as she saw an opening, striking with two knives.

Mitsuko tried to approach from the back while Karma had him occupied at the front.

Mr Karasuma parried on his feet, rotating around to block any blind spots.

Her smile grew crooked and she lurched forward to strike under his chin—and collided straight into Karma, sending them both the ground.

Damn it.

Karma winced as she landed on his stomach. "Geeze! Warn a guy next time."

"Hey, you should have seen me going in for an attack!" Mitsuko snapped.

"You both should have been more aware of your surroundings," Mr Karasuma lectured, causing them to look up—she could have sworn there was a tiny smirk on his face—as he held both his hands out to help them up. "When attacking in a group, you need to be aware of your target's actions as well as your teammates."

Karma and Mitsuko grabbed his hands as he helped them back onto their feet.

"I was! But Karma's attacks were too sporadic to predict," she said defensively, shooting the red-head a glare.

Karma stretched, deliberately yawning. "Hey, I wasn't the one holding back."

"It's called strategy," she snapped.

Mr Karasuma sighed, crossing his arms. "The point still stands that you both need to learn to work together as a team," he told them. "Go practice together."

Mitsuko scowled, crossing her arms while Karma's brow furrowed, but Mr Karasuma had already turned away to monitor the rest of the group.

"Come on then." Karma sighed, stretching his hands behind his head. "I'll go easy on you."

"Such a gentleman." She rolled her eyes and followed him further back on the field.

Without warning he tried to strike her with the knife, she shifted to the side and parried his hand.

Her eyes narrowed. "You're such an ass."

She tried to kick him in the face, he bent down and tried to stab her stomach but she swerved out of the way.