Blackened Blade (Murasaki x OC)

Chapter 7: Showdown at Sensei's

      At the signal we both advanced forward. Me, keeping my sword between us in a mid guard chu dan stance. Her, circling side to side, sword in one hand down to her right side with her open hand held in front of her.

     Her spacing was pretty good. Just out of reach but not far enough that I'd gain momentum if I moved toward her. We slowly paced around one another, advancing and retreating, trying to bait the other. Enough dancing around, time to act. I shot forward and struck at her outstretched arm. In response she parried it with only 2 fingers pushing the side of my blade away and casually swung her sword at my head.

     I barely had time to duck and could feel the practice sword brush against my hair. From my lower position I swung at her legs but she simply stepped over my strike, half heartedly swinging her sword at my head again. I couldn't duck any lower and I wasn't fast enough bringing my sword back from my whiff a second ago. Whack! She connected right at the top of my ear.

     I reeled back from the pain and instinctively reached up to my ear before I could stop myself. Mistake number two. In my distracted state she shifted to my side and followed up with an audible strike to the back of my leg, causing me to drop to one knee. I managed to look up in time to see her silhouette against the bright morning sky as she brought down her sword right between the eyes, knocking me out cold.

     I came to a few moments later, her still standing over me. She reached out to me and I accepted her hand as she pulled me up.

     "You done already?" She asked, a slight smile forming on her lips.

     "I'm just getting started." I said, dusting myself off. I looked over to sensei. He was chuckling to himself like always.

     "Looks like Miyabi takes the first win. Go Head and rest up you two. I'll be back when its time for the next round." He gestured to a spot in the shade that had a few water bottles laying there.

     We both sat in silence for a moment. I just listened to the wind rustle the nearby trees for a moment and let the late summer breeze cool me off. After a moment I turned to Miyabi.

     "So you're a student at Hebijo, correct? Whats it like being a shinobi?"

     "I'm a third year, so I don't exactly count as a full fledged shinobi just yet. It can be a hard life, but my team makes it both possible and worth it." She didn't turn to face me as she said it.

     She had her own team? I'd assume she's the leader as she's the elite daughter of the headmaster. It might be a long shot but...

     "Hey, while I was accompanying Sensei to the school, I uh ran into a girl there. Purple ankle length hair, dark eyes, any chance you know her?"

     This prompted her to turn her gaze towards me. "Oh so you were the scary guy skulking in the halls with my uncle. You should probably watch where you're going."

     I felt my face grow slightly hot at that and looked away. Damn man what a first impression.

     "Do you happen to know her name? Maybe sometime I could make a better second impression."

     "Ha! Listen she's on my team so I'd know, she doesn't like to talk to strangers. At all." She emphasized.

     "Well good thing we already met. We've moved on to being acquaintances. "

     "That doesn't count and you know it. You don't even know each others names. Nice try though. Tell you what, if you can beat me even once. I might tell you her name." She stood up and began stretching in preparation for the next round.