48 Who Said Romance Was Dead - 6

"…I gotta ask, do you actually find this fun?"

Kaito looked up from where he lay flat on his back, panting deeply and trying to regain his breath. He'd changed out of his school uniform in favour of a pair of shorts and tank top…that were practically cut to ribbons and his body was covered in bruises and cuts.

The one who asked the question, was Yanagi. Currently, they were in an abandoned construction lot Kaito had come across a few weeks back, where he'd taken to sparring with Irina away from prying eyes.

Yanagi was sitting atop an empty drum of what was once probably oil, hand cupped in her palms and leaning on her knees as she stared straight at him.

A golden glow emanated from behind her bangs.

"…Kind of, yeah." Kaito shrugged, despite the extra gravity pressing him into the dirt and making it even harder to move with his beat up body.

The result of sparring with Irina and letting her try out out new Sacred Gear…while having Yanagi herself use her Gravity Jail on him to increase the gravity pressing down upon his body five times over.

…He got his ass kicked.

Badly.

While it was true at his full strength he had been stronger than Irina. They were more or less on the same level when they fought Satanael until he transformed his organs and then gained Arondight.

Her own new Sacred Gear was very simple to use and an incredible equalizer. It could go either way in a fight with her at that point, never mind with gravity increased around him.

"Do you want to go again Kaito-kun?" Irina asked with a bright smile from where she stood a few feet away from him, in much better condition than himself.

"No I think that's enough," Yanagi shut her down right quick, "I'm bored now." she informed.

Kaito winced a bit.

Honestly, things were…a bit awkward still after everything that went down in his apartment. A few hours had passed since then, it was already passed six and approaching seven in the evening.

Beyond anything else, he'd wanted to make sure Yanagi understood the kind of world she was entering. For all she knew she had 'super powers' she hadn't even known where they came from until today or the true wider world.

So he figured he'd kill multiple birds with one stone. He'd explain things to her and give her a demonstration of what a lower-tier supernatural fight was like using himself and Irina as an example.

…And at the same time get a feel for moving under gravity and see if it was viable to train with it.

Also, seeing him get beat up would possibly vent some of the anger Yanagi had at him. While she had accepted things in the end, that did not mean she was at all happy with him right now.

He found that indeed it was possible to train under increased gravity. But, multiplying the force of gravity pressing down on him even from just above…was not at all as simple as just increasing weight.

He'd not even been sparring with Irina half as long as they had a few times before, but already his body ached in ways it never had before.

It was quite painful, but at the same time he relished the feeling. It was an odd mindset to have for sure.

"Mmm, fair enough, probably for the best Kaito-kun is super beat up, he'll need to take a day or so to heal," Irina agreed with a shrug, "And it's about time for dinner, I tried out making cookies with protein powder this morning that I want Kaito-kun to try out."

"Tch, you're good Irina-chan, I have to admit, you're a worthy rival," Yanagi clicked her tongue. Weirdly, as opposed to her being angry with him, the short girl had started getting along quite well with Irina, "But it's my first time at his apartment, so I'll be making dinner for him tonight."

"Okay dokie!" Irina agreed without much fuss, or any actually, "He can just have my cookies for dessert."

'I don't understand girls at all.' Kaito sighed. Even with the memories of his other self, he didn't get them one single bit. It wasn't even like he was the one that actively pursued them and dumped this on them, it was the other way around yet somehow he was the one in the bad books.

Well, he supposed it didn't matter. As long as they were getting along he could deal with Yanagi being a bit miffed at him for a while.

_________________________________________

And so they returned his apartment. Though on the way, they had to stop at one of the grocery stores.

Because and Kaito quoted, 'An idiot himbo like you won't have proper ingredients for making true healthy food.'

It was rude.

And insulting.

And when they got back to his apartment, Irina wasted no time in jumping back on the chair to resume watching her anime. Some kind of magical girl thing. Milky-something or whatever while Yanagi got started on cooking up dinner for the three of them.

Kaito found himself just standing there awkwardly, not sure what to do. Sure, he could watch the television with Irina, but he found his eyes more on Yanagi than anything.

He wasn't sure what to do.

And it was awkward.

"Idiot," Yanagi sighed, not looking back at him as she stirred something in one of his pots, "Don't just stand around, if you're gonna say something, say it already…and change your clothes while you're at it, those are all ripped now."

"…I will in a minute," Kaito couldn't help but let his lips quirk up into a deprecating smile, "I'm just not sure what to say, you kind of got put on the spot earlier."

A spot partly of her own making, but she was still stuck in it and having to decide.