Guardian's Stand

Kallias ran his finger through the rings of water. The disruption did no damage to the shape, returning to the original form after he finished. A single water sphere pulled away from the ring, the same size as previously used. “I’m thinking it’s time to increase the stakes.” Grinning, Kallias launched the orb at Saki.

The water suddenly disappeared from Saki’s sight. “What?!” Her eyes widened in surprise, but didn’t have a chance for any more of a reaction. Something heavy and sharp hit her shoulder knocking her back. The force caught her off guard and nearly put her to the ground. Only a bracing leg, from preparing to run, managed to save her.

After the impact, Saki clutched her arm to her shoulder. ‘It hurts…It hurts!’ It surprised her. All of the beatings she took from the water before numbed her, but her shoulder still hurt. Saki pulled her hand away to look at her shoulder. Something red distracted her before she examined her shoulder. ‘Blood…on my hand?’ It wasn’t a lot of blood, but it was clearly from her shoulder. Another round of shock hit Saki as she realized the significance of the blood.

Her eyes panned back to her body. The tan canvas of the tunic darkened around a crimson hole in her shoulder. Saki brushed her fingers over the wound. Stings from the open flesh bit through her body. It was shallow still, but Kallias wounded her with a single attack. ‘Dammit…’

Several more beads of water formed up in front of Kallias. “I hope you’ll show me something more interesting now.” Disappearing from sight almost immediately, the water sped towards Saki before she could respond. Kallias looked only slightly pleased by the scene of Saki collapsed to one knee.

Grinding her teeth through the pain bolting up through her leg, Saki fought to keep everything in control. The whole fight was never at her pace. She couldn’t get started. ‘I feel like a helpless child again, unable to do anything, but flail around.’ Saki closed her eyes. Her mind pushed back the pain in her legs. It couldn’t stop her. She forced herself to stand. ‘I’ll keep getting back up, like always!’

Chapter 181 – Guardian’s Stand

Hushed whispers echoed through the large dojo. Young children filled the front half of the room. They all obediently sat on the floor. The instructor gathered them all together before their lessons began. He had a young girl following behind him. “Listen up! We have a new student starting today. She is new so I expect all of you to help her!”

“Yes, master!”

The middle-aged man turned around and pushed the girl up in front of everyone. “Introduce yourself.”

Before the sea of eyes and myriad of expressions, the girl hesitated opening her mouth. No words were needed for her to see them. They already passed judgment on her. Her words wouldn’t reach them any longer. She wanted to run away.

A strong wind blew in from the open doorway. It pulled at her hair and an instinctive hand came up to draw it back out of her face, however she learned it was unnecessary. Her hair fell back into place. It sent images through her mind digging up emotions. She stifled it all and straightened up her back. “Saki Furukawa. Please take care of me.”

Murmurs broke out from the crowd of children. Many kept watching to see what she would do. They looked a little curious and a little disgusted.

“What’s with her face?”

“She doesn’t look Japanese.”

“So she wants to play pretend?”

The instructor stepped forward. His mere presence was enough to get the children quiet. “Start doing the warm up exercises!” He motioned at one of the older kids to help direct the group. Once they began, he turned back to Saki. “Find a spot and join in. Everyone learns through doing rather than lecture.”

“Yes, master!” Saki scurried off around the block of children searching for an opening. She thought she had found one, but it suddenly filled up as one kid shifted. It made her push on. Several more openings disappeared for Saki in similar fashion. Eventually, she gave up and stood behind everyone. She watched them and followed their actions.

The couple of hours progressed in like fashion for Saki through all of the lessons. When her father came to pick her up some of the kids still stood around. They all watched her wondering how she might react.

“How did it go, Saki?” asked her father, kneeling down as she approached.

Saki ran up to him. He gave her a light pat on her head. “It was a lot of fun, dad!” she answered with a cheerful expression. “I want to come back!”

“It wasn’t too hard for you?”

She shook her head at him. Sweat dripped down her face, but she only gave him a smile. “Yuki showed me some of the things he knows from his classes! So it wasn’t hard!”

Her father’s face was difficult to read, but gave her a pleasant grin. “I’m glad to hear that. I’ll talk to your mother and bring you back again.”

“Thank you so much!” Saki added a little bounce to show her excitement.

He chuckled a little at his daughter’s enthusiasm. “Why don’t you go get your things? I’ll wait for you.”

“I’ll be right back, dad!” She nodded to him and ran back across the dojo to collect her bag. Her voice was loud enough that the kids staring from a distance heard her. Saki glanced over at them, checking out their complicated expressions. She quickly gathered up her things and started back. They remained silent the entire time. While walking back, Saki paused for a second to meet their gazes. Her eyes narrowed sharply as though speaking for her. They all understood clearly, but remained quiet.

Kallias summoned up even more of the water balls. He let them dance around in his palm, six in total. They orbited his palm no larger than a marble. ‘A real sense of danger should bring out something new from her. It’s not going to be fun if there’s no real risk for myself.’ His free hand hovered over the orbs of water. Waiting out a few seconds, Kallias glanced back up at Saki, still pulling herself back together. “Show me something new!” A flick from his finger launched the first sphere.

Still groggy from the last attack, Saki barely caught sight of the incoming attack. It moved too quickly still, her eyes saw nothing. Her body felt everything. The last struck her forehead, knocking her off her feet. Saki fell back in the water with blood pooling in her wounds. It all caught her off guard. ‘I can’t see it…’

‘I can’t see it…he’s too fast for me,’ thought Saki, as she laid on the floor of the dojo. After a month, the instructor let her begin participating in the sparring matches with the other kids. She insisted on going sooner, but he held her back.

“She was stupid volunteering to fight him.”

“That should knock that smile off her face.”

Saki stared up at the wood ceiling briefly. She knew how it was going to end better than the others. ‘Is this how he feels? Is this what it’s like for him?’ It was important to her to know. She needed to understand him if she was going to protect herself.

Once she felt content with her answer, Saki pushed herself up from the floor. She tugged on her robes. The boy across from her waited on her. Nodding to him, she returned to her stance and prepared to accept his advance.

“She lost again.”

“It’s pointless to keep challenging him.”

“She’s just some stupid wannabe, thinking she’s Japanese.”

Saki continued to challenge the boy at every sparring match. He beat her every time and like the rest of the kids, he took enjoyment in knocking her down. However, he never spoke to her during the entire time in class. The boy simply kept accepting as though it was his job out of everyone to show Saki her place.

“There she goes again.”

“She never learns.”

“A girl will never beat a boy.”

Saki stood up again. She brushed off the fall she took as nothing. The look in her eye remained unchanged. She immediately went back into her stance demanding he attack. Her defiant look that never changed kept him coming back. He kept trying to knock it out of her. They all did, but it never disappeared.

“Hey, Saki!” her father greeted, as he did with every end of class, “How was today?”

Wiping sweat off with a towel around her neck, Saki, age eleven, beamed with a wide grin. “It was great! I’m definitely getting better!”

“Glad to hear it! Just don’t go trying to challenge Yuki,” he teased.

The expression on Saki changed for the briefest of moments before returning to her smile. “Don’t worry, dad! I wouldn’t do that! I’ll go get my stuff! Wait here!”

Time passed in the class for Saki. She laid on the floor once more staring at the same ceiling. It always looked the same to her. It was so very tall and always out of reach. Reach didn’t matter to her. Saki drew herself back up. The fall barely even fazed her anymore. She lost count of the times he threw or knocked her down. It was never about the count. ‘I won’t stop! He can’t stop me! None of you will stop me!’ Saki returned to her stance waiting for the boy once more.

“She should just give up.”

The boy accepted her wish and went on the offensive. They danced around each other. He tried for a grab, but she deflected him. Their fight lasted longer than in the past. The boy saw how much Saki improved, but he still had the advantage. He was older, taller. It might have been a minute, but Saki was back on the floor again.

“It’s already been a year.”

“She’ll never beat him.”

“Look, she’s getting back up again.”

“She never learns.”

Saki dragged herself out of the water. Every part of her body felt drowned. Water clung to her like a thick film unwilling to free itself. She didn’t care about the water. None of it mattered to her. She only needed to stop him. Saki dropped her foot down heavily. The impact kicked up water splitting the area around her. “Your water isn’t enough to keep me down!” Her body entered a familiar stance. She lifted her arms up waiting to receive him.

The constant unyielding look in Saki’s eyes bothered Kallias. ‘She hasn’t changed. Even now she’s got no sense of danger. There must be more she’s holding back, but I need something more to draw it out.’ His finger ran through the water and pulled out a droplet. It shaped and hardened for him quickly, but it had a pointed edge rather than being a perfect sphere. “Let’s test that will of yours!”

Kallias released the water from his hold. A meter away from him a shockwave exploded from the sonic boom as it surpassed the speed of the sound. It disappeared in the next moment ripping echoes through the air, but it was already delayed. The water had long reached its target as the sound found it to their ears.

It wasn’t until after Saki felt the shockwave from the water that she knew something was wrong. A second later, she felt a tearing through her abdomen. Thin trails of blood erupted from the front and back of Saki. Her eyes widened in shock realizing the pain in her body. Saki collapsed into the water, her eyes still wide with surprise and her mouth agape. Blood drained out of her quickly. Nothing remained in Saki’s eyes.