Boom!

 

Along with light, the sound of thunder sounded as heavy rain began to pour. Luckily we just made it back in time, or else we’d been drenched.

 

Returning to my room, Mom took out a wooden sword as always before we began to spar amidst the sound of rain and the impact of wood hitting each other.

 

Taking a step back from the blow, I rotated before sending a strike towards her.

 

“Too slow!” unfortunately mid rotation, I was lightly hit on the hips. Luckily she didn’t put a lot of force into it, or else I would’ve tripped.

 

Feeling embarrassed, I retreated before readying myself for another round. This time, I attempted to spin while parrying her sword, however I was kicked on the butt, sending me stumbling forward.

 

Mom’s pace quickened as she appeared in front of me, her strike’s speed increasing.

 

*Thud* *Thud* *Swish* *Boom*

 

While circling around me, I continued to defend. The sound of rain, footsteps, wood colliding on wood, as well as thunder sounded in the room.

 

Before I knew it I had entered a weird state.

 

While continuously feeling the force of her blows go through me, I began to subtly manipulate my body so that it would travel to different directions.

 

“Ei!” without spinning, I shifted the force all the way to my left hand before throwing a light jab forward. 

 

However it had contained everything from the last strike she had sent towards me.

 

*Bam*

 

Mom caught my fist with her free hand, as if throwing a rock into the sea, everything disappeared.

 

“Good daughter,” she praised me, causing me to blush and feel a happy feeling. She didn’t continue this time and released my hand.

 

“We’ll stop here for today and continue tomorrow. Throwing me such a line, she went off towards the kitchen.”

 

After catching my breath I went off towards the Bathroom, the rain had stopped before I noticed.

***

 

Time passed, and another month had gone by, aside from watching Lily and Olivia’s tournament matches for Big Brother’s sake, Mom would take me towards the forest to train my detection skill. At first it was tough, but gradually, I’ve been able to form a broken picture of my surroundings using sound and smell whenever I closed my eyes.

 

Bang. 

 

Along with the sound of wooden swords colliding, I had begun to spar with Mom. However our location wasn’t the hotel, but in the middle of the forest.

 

Parrying her strike, I sent a kick towards her when she gripped my legs with her hand before sending a stab at me.

 

Dodging backwards, I used her hand as a leverage to send a right kick at her. My target was the arm that was holding her sword. Unfortunately, she was too strong, with a simple wave of her hand, she knocked my leg away before letting go of my left, causing me to spin in the air, when I suddenly felt her kick my butt, sending me flying towards a tree.

 

She chuckled, causing me to feel a sense of shame, however I didn’t have time for that, as slamming against the trunk of the tree looked painful! Especially that raggedy bark.

 

With a thought, I flipped in midair before landing on the trunk of the tree, tanking the impact before rebounding towards Mom again.

 

She blocked my sword, causing me to feel like everything was drained away again. Losing my momentum, I began to descend onto the ground when she sent a kick at me, raising my legs up, I was knocked away from her, causing me to land on the ground before stepping backwards, each step causing the pile of leaves on the ground to scatter.

 

“Roar!” I suddenly ducked, dodging whatever was coming my way.

 

Ahh! Why’s there a tiger here!

 

Luckily it was only a normal tiger and not a dimension monster. After landing, it looked and found Mom standing not far away from me. It’s hair suddenly stood on end before running away while whimpering.

 

Feeling a little speechless, I turned to face Mom.

 

She shrugged before leading us out of the forest and into the grassy fields, taking Little Fish’s hand, we began to run about while playing catch until it was midnoon.

 

Mom would have us meditate and study until it was evening before bringing us back.

 

Tomorrow was the top 5, Lily and Alexis had both made it towards the finals. As for Olivia, she also made it, however her opponent was a level 30, someone an entire tier higher than her.

 

Upon going back towards the hotel, after I took a bath. Mom came over to dry my hair before having me go off to bed. 

 

As for Little Fish, she climbed in behind me, before hugging me from behind. My heart grew quicker again, for some reason, I can’t get used to having her hug me from behind.

 

“Little Fish, I can’t sleep like this…” I tried to undo her hands, however she held them tightly. In fact, she entangled her legs with mine from behind before pressing closer to me.

 

Gritting my teeth, I turned around when I suddenly felt something soft press onto my lips, however it was only for a brief moment, Little Fish had quickly turned around.

 

I felt myself heating up, my first kiss ahh! 

 

“...Xi...I love you…” I heard her mutter.

 

“...” Mom is right next to us! 

 

Although I wanted to respond, I hesitated, confessing to someone while your parents were listening was way too embarrassing!

 

Not wanting her to misunderstand my silence, I went forward before hugging her tightly from behind while burying myself in her long hair.

 

After a while, I slowly calmed down.

 

Is this fair for Little Fish?

 

Gritting my teeth, I made a decision. So what if Mom is right behind us, didn’t Little Fish do the same? 

 

“Little Fish?” Although I decided to confess, it would’ve been pointless if she already fell asleep.

“Hmm?” 

 

“I-I love you too!” my voice raising during the last part along with my sense of shame. 

 

“Nn!” she happily turned back around before hugging me back, her eyes bending in crescents as she came forward to kiss me, I felt her soft lips press onto mine again before separating.

 

Blushing, I turned around to find that Mom currently had her back turned against us.

 

“Mom?” Seeing that she was already asleep, the embarrassment in my heart lowered. However I decided to test to see if she was actually sleeping.

 

“...” 

 

Seeing that I was met with silence, I let out a sigh, maybe Mom didn’t hear us in the end?