Guardian Angel

Chapter 7: Training begins

Walking through the lamp-lit streets of Kuoh, even with Rias' heart raised by Túrin and his promise to help her, she still felt both the icy sting of betrayal and the uncontrollable fire of rage, caused by her family.

Nearly walking out onto a busy street, she stopped herself and walked into Kuoh Park, where she sat on a nearby bench, to recompose herself. Taking steady deep breaths in and out, a man seemingly in his mid 70's, wearing an older style grey suit with a white shirt, blue tie, and a darker grey trench coat, approached her.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked her calmly.

"Not at all," Rias assured him, with a calm smile on her face.

"Thank you, my dear," he expressed his gratitude before taking a seat on the other side of the bench and watched the swans swim around in the pond in front of them. "Beautiful creatures aren't they?" he sweetly asked Rias.

"Hmm? Oh yes, swans are very beautiful," Rias agreed with him.

"Is everything alright my dear, you seem both frustrated and sad at the same time," he confronted her.

"Let's just say my family and I aren't really on the best of terms right now," she began. "They want me to marry this man, who is by no means someone a woman should ever be near, much less marry, and they knew this too, but still went on and arranged the marriage as if what I want doesn't mean anything to them," she explained as she grew frustrated. "What it is I'm trying to say is, I feel betrayed by them, and I don't know if I can ever trust them again, which is horrible because I want to love my family, but they're really making it hard on me to feel that way towards them," she recollected.

"I see, and what have you done exactly to prevent this arranged marriage?" he asked her causing Rias to think about it for a brief moment.

"I guess I haven't really done anything up to this point. What I've done is basically equivalent to a child throwing a temper tantrum because their parents wouldn't let them eat candy before dinner," she admitted.

"And now?" he asked her.

"I'm determined to grow stronger so that I myself can tell my family through actions, that this is my life and I will live it however I please to live," she proudly stated.

"And are you doing this alone?" he asked her.

"No, because, I know my friends will have my back through it all, and someone I've previously butted heads with has also offered his help to help me grow stronger," Rias told him as her spirits continued to be lifted.

"Strength is a funny thing my dear, a person can be physically weak but mentally as strong as Superman, and then there are people who a strong physically, but lack the mental fortitude. My dear, before you start any sort of physical training I think it would do you good to reflect on yourself and decide whether it is your physical strength that needs improvement or your mental strength. You may already have the physical strength, but because fear and doubt dwell within your mind, they have muddled the truth," he confronted her sternly, but calmly before taking out an old wooden pipe with cravings along the base and stem. "Do you mind?" he asked her.

"Not at all," she assured him before he used a match to light the tobacco in the base of his pipe.

Sucking in some of the smoke he moved it around in his mouth before exhaling in a way that turned the smoke cloud into the shape of a sailboat, utterly astounding Rias.

"How are you able to do that?" Rias asked him completely amazed.

"Like with all things, practice my dear," he told her with a jovial laugh making Rias laugh and smile as well.