Another day means it’s time for another tutoring session with Hisakawa-san. I’ll admit it, I really was prepared for this to be one of the worst experiences of my life, but it turned out to be surprisingly tolerable. All it took was someone to slow down the learning process to a meandering crawl.
“Hiyaaaa!”
Eh? A battle-cry? What’s going on?
I finally make it up the staircase to the Hisakawa Temple and follow the mana that I’m sensing. I’m really glad that I happened to be predisposed to Detection, because it’s quite useful. As I round the bend, I can see that Hisakawa-san’s little brother is fighting a training dummy, much like Scarecrow. I believe his name’s Take.
“Take this!”
He swings his bamboo sword at the dummy with full-force, but the dummy effortlessly evades it. In response, Take follows up with another wild and ungainly swing, which is again evaded.
“Darn it!”
Take stomps his foot frustration. Unfortunately for him, that lapse in attention left him open to a punch square in the jaw, sending him sprawling. Blimey, is he alright?!
I rush over to Take, who still hasn’t stirred yet. Jeez, why is a lad his age fighting this thing unattended? I cast the dummy a look to see it stood stock still in a fighting position. I’m guessing that it’s waiting for Take to re-assume his fighting stance.
“Ughhh…”
Graciously, he’s starting to come around.
“Oi, are you okay?”
Slowly, Take opens both eyes and looks up into my face. After a pause, he yelps and bolts out of my arms.
“You’re that bully! What do you want, you big jerk?!”
He hastily picks up his bamboo sword and levels it at me, looking wary. Before I could explain anything, the dummy leaps to assault the hapless lad. So, I grab hold of it and-
“Paralyse.”
My trusty spell is quite reliable in cases such as this. The spell activates, and the dummy's body becomes rigid, leaving it wholly defenceless against my forward throw. It seems like that amount of damage did the job, as it now simply lays on the ground like a rag-doll. It seems like this dummy works differently than Scarecrow does.
“You-you just used magic! Who the heck are you?!”
Oops. I was so interested in protecting Take that I forgot that I shouldn’t be using magic in front of the common folk. Although, it’s clear now that Take isn’t exactly a normal person.
“That’s right.”, I nod. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I am! Do you think that a lame dummy can beat me?!”
“Well, yes, seeing as to how I just saw you lose a minute ago.”
Take frowns deeply, slumping his shoulders in a show of defeat and embarrassment. I need to think of something to rally his spirits.
“My name is Colen Daisuke, and I’m nineteen years old. It’s nice to meet you.”
“My name’s Hisakawa Takehiro.”, Take sniffles. “Uhm..I’m eight years old…”
Eight years old, eh? I started learning about mana and magic at around his age, but I didn’t have to get walloped by any training dummies.
“Hey, you tried to use Streaming Tiger Blade on me the other day. That means you’ve watched Hyper Sentai: Jungle Rage, right?”
Take snaps his head up at me, his eyes wider than saucers.
“You know about Hyper Sentai?”, he asks in disbelief.
“Know about it? All of my special moves are based off of Hyper Sentai attacks! My favourite is Hyper Sentai: Magic Force, by the way.”
“That’s my favourite, too!”, Take says excitedly. “The Green Sentai is so cool, isn’t he?”
“The coolest!”, I grin.
He’s in good spirits again, which is good. A lad his age shouldn’t have to be so dismal like how I was.
“Hey! Can you show me some of those moves?!”
Take, now brimming with energy, wants to see me fight. If that’s the case…
“Why don’t you and I spar, then? It’ll be much more engaging than fighting that dummy.”
“REALLY?! YAAAAAY!”
Take immediately assumes a fighting stance, bamboo sword in hand. In exchange, I reach into my bag and pull out my wooden sword, removing its sheath and tossing it aside.
“Haaaa!”
Take charges at me with a full power swing that I block. The lad’s got some power, I’ll admit that. I redirect his follow-up and stab at his shoulder, but he just manages to evade it.
“Streaming Tiger Blade!”
There it is! I knew he would use it! Time for my counter.
The initial swing of Streaming Tiger Blade is downwards slash, followed by a flurry of swings, and finished by a leaping slash. But of course, I won’t let him get that far.
“Half Moon!”
My uppercut slash sends Take’s bamboo sword flying away, and makes Take himself fall back on his bum. I point the tip of my blade at his face to declare my victory.
“Looks like I won this round.”, I smile.
I help him up to his feet, expecting him to get a bit pouty, but-
“That was so cool, Ani-ue!”
Eh? Ani-ue?
“You knew how to counter Streaming Tiger Blade! And your Half Moon attack was awesome, too!”
“Heh, I told you that I’m a fan, didn’t I?”
“There you are, Colen-san. Why haven’t you come inside yet?”
Ah, it’s Hisakawa-san. I had almost forgotten that I’m here to tutor her. She’s wearing a shrine maiden’s out-fit, and I have to say that it suits her quite well. Her silver-grey eyes survey the situation in front of her slowly.
“Ane-ue! You won’t believe it, but Ani-ue watches Hyper Sentai!”
“Ani-ue???”, Hisakawa-san repeats.
“He even knows how to use a sword, and even magic! Can I train with him instead? Can I, please?”
Hisakawa-san stares at me through her long bangs. I can’t quite read her expression, but it doesn’t seem negative, I think.
“You’ll have to ask haha-ue, Take-chan.”, she says finally.
Take bolts into the temple with breakneck speed, leaving Hisakawa and I alone. I think I should apologise.
“Sorry about intruding on something that had nothing to do with me, I just got caught up in the excitement.”
“No, it’s quite fine. I’m glad to see that you and Take-chan are getting along so well. And besides…. It’s nice to meet someone who’s like us.”
With that, Hisakawa-san turns around and begins to walk away.
“I’m looking forward to showing you how far I’ve come along in reading The Cat in The Cap.”
“Huhuhuhuhuhu! You sound younger than Take! Huhuhuhuhuhu!”
“Don’t laugh, I’m working hard, okay?!”, Hisakawa-san protests.
I’ll try my best, I promise. Huhuhu.
