Hell Hath No Fury

The Tough Get Going

When the going gets tough, the tough get going
＼(^▽^＠)ノ

Once she calmed down, Sonoko told Subaru everything. How she was worried about Ran, and how Amuro pointed her to Kuroha Hikaru. She told him about Sato offering to help and then coming up with nothing when she asked around, even with all the information she had. She told him about the man who attacked her, how he tricked her and disappeared without a trace. She told him how Shinichi was her last hope, and he was the reason she’d come here in the first place.

Subaru quietly soothed her fears, assuring her of Shinichi's safety by calling Shinichi's mom. Shin-chan is fine, just recovering from an injury, Yukiko told her, and Sonoko could at last relax.

The next week or so did wonders for Sonoko’s stability. Subaru didn’t comment on her skipping school, and with some help from Ran and a bit of begging Makoto, her parents had no idea where she actually was. She dropped back at the house for a few changes of clothes, but since that night, she lived in the Kudou house. It was odd at first to be in Shinichi’s house at all, and Subaru had a few quirks that took a few days to get used to. But she fell into a routine with him, and the normalcy in this fortress of a mansion soothed her paranoia.

The first thing she noticed was that Subaru woke up early. Sonoko thought herself an early bird, easily waking up at six in the morning without an alarm, but it almost seemed like Subaru never slept. He burned the midnight oil like nobody’s business, and he was dressed at 6:15, sitting down with a hot breakfast, keeping a second serving for Sonoko warm on the stove. He had morning classes for two hours a day three times a week. As soon as he returned on the first day, her training began.

She was surprised by how much Subaru knew about “street smarts.” When she asked where he learned it all, he said nothing more than “Universities can be dangerous places.” He showed her how to walk with confidence, trained her to turn her cellphone, her keys, a credit card into a weapon, told her how to recognize a dangerous situation before walking into it. The best part? He taught her self-defense.

He said it was Jeet Kune Do, the same thing Sera knew. For hours, Subaru coached Sonoko in the living room, the furniture pushed against the wall and the air conditioning turned on high. He demonstrated moves and sparred with her (she knew he was going easy on her). At the end of each session, Subaru took her to a nearby park where they ran for five kilometers. Each night, Sonoko collapsed into bed dog tired and completely and entirely sore.

Sonoko was ready to cry in an hour on the first day. She kept getting thrown to the ground again and again as they practiced countering. Subaru was kind, but none of her punches connected. He knocked her down again, but this time she stayed there.

Subaru gave her his hand. “One more time. You're getting better.”

Sonoko covered her eyes, hiding the tears welling at her eyes. “It doesn't feel like it. No matter what I do, I can't get it right.”

Subaru took one of her hands. “Sonoko-san, I have been doing this for over ten years. It took me a long time to get this good. You aredoing well, believe it or not.”

Sonoko sniffed, wiped away her tears. “But I'm not doing it right.” She took his hand and he pulled her to her feet. Letting go of her hand, he got into fighting position. “I don't understand what I'm not doing.”

“I won't give you the answer,” said Subaru, “but I will show you how to find it.”

A weighted target sat next to the wall. Subaru pulled it over to them. “I'm going to punch this two different ways. Tell me what I do differently.” Sonoko nodded, and he got into fighting stance. He punched the target, quick as lighting, but it hardly budged. “Now the other way.” He punched the target again, this time leaning into it, his eyes looking somewhere past his target. The target fell over with a mighty thud, and Sonoko frowned thoughtfully. “Can you do it again?”