CHAPTER FIVE

THWACK!

A loud crack in the air resounded in the room as Kurosu hit a sleeping Shiro with a pillow.. It was only four o'clock in the morning so Shiro wasn't exactly thrilled to be awoken so harshly so early.

Shiro sits up, the warm blanket covering his fluffy hair. He groaned, tired and annoyed

"Uggghhhh-!"

"Wake up, snowflake. It's time to train" Kurosu unceremoniously threw the pillow he had in his hands to the floor.

Shiro looked at his attacker now more annoyed when he realized it was Kurosu.

"Ughh!! Why are we up so early!?! The sun's not even up yet!" He groggily shouted, letting the blanket covering his head slip down and fall to his shoulders.

Kurosu didn't take pity on him

Kurosu started to poke at Shiro through the blanket with his sharp nails, making him squirm and yelp as Kurosu kept going.

"It's the perfect time to work our bodies until dawn comes. Now get dressed! We're leaving in five minutes" Kurosu instructed the other dragon as he moved out of the room.

"AH!!! H-HEY!! OWWW!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!? THAT HURTS!?!"

"I'm going to train you like I told you I would!! Now get the hell up! I'm done being nice!"

"WAIT-! THIS IS YOU BEING NICE!?!"

Kurosu gripped the Shikibuton and pulled the covers away from Shiro, forcing his body to face the cold morning air since Shiro had left the window open last night.

"OK! OK! I'M UP!! GEEZ!!" Shiro screamed as he tried to cover his bare chest, the cold is not something Shiro wasn't used to being an islander.

Kurosu stood in place as he observed Shiro silently, unnerving him as he thought Kurosu was going to do something else to him.

"....Just get up or I'll come back with my sword. Be ready in 5 minutes!" Kurosu demanded as he stomped out of the room abruptly.

Shiro was left alone and confused but also relieved Kurosu wasn't tormenting him further.

The streets of Ryoko were quiet and almost eerie to Shiro as the two walked so early in the morning. Not a single soul was outside and even the stores were still closed.

"Where are we going?" Shiro inquired as he followed Kurosu

Kurosu looked over his shoulder as he spoke

"There's a forest just past the south gate of Ryoko. It's perfect for what we're about to do."

"You make it sound so much worse" Shiro retorted, still annoyed with how early Kurosu had woken him up at.

"What if it is so much worse? What if it's an ambush or even a murder conspiracy? You never know"

"...fuck you"

Kurosu chuckled as they passed the south gate.

They went down a dirt path and into a dense wooded forest. It was still dark but Shiro was greatful all dragons have superb vision even in the dark. He could see a clearing up ahead that had a dirt circle. It looked like someone had trudged it up recently.

"We're here" Kurosu stated, "This is a spot I made for my own training so it's perfect for what we'll be doing….eh?"

Kurosu felt a pull on his purple scarf as he tried to walk further. He thought it got snagged on a thorn bush but it was Shiro gripping the bottom part of the scarf.

"...you can let go now"

Shiro came back from his thoughts and let go of the scarf.

"O-oh! Right!"

"He kept going so fast, I just grabbed it so I wouldn't be left behind. I feel like such a kid now" Shiro thought to himself, embarrassed by his childish actions.

"Heads up"

"Ah!"

Shiro reflexively grabbed what had been thrown in his direction: A Bokken*

It didn't look too shabby but was clearly used as he had cuts and marks from where the Bokken had been used in sword training prior.

"Will start with a sword since it's the most common weapon of choice. Come at with all you have, snowflake"

"I'm far better with my fist then a metal stick"

"I still will teach you how to use this metal stick but will start with a wooden stick since I'm not here to kill my student"

Shiro rolled his eyes "Oh, how thoughtful of you"

"This is important. Hunters are seasoned killers and spies so the more weapons you can wield, the better. Now-"

Kurosu flicked his wrist and the bokken made a whipping noise as it sliced through air.

"Attack me. If you can knock my sword out of my hand: you win. You have to have 25 wins to call it a day. If I win 25 times, then I'll make you run a full lap around the forest. Now go!"

Shiro felt a swift wind and in the nick of time as Kurosu moved to strike with incredible force.

"Nngh!" Shiro could feel the pressure as Kurosu pressed his bokken on Shiro's.

"Good, you can block. But that will only get you so far in a real fight."

Kurosu then kept pressing until he left up suddenly, making Shiro lose balance. Kurosu took the opportunity and jabbed at Shiro's hand holding his sword, making him drop it.

"You lose"

"Nnngh!!!"

This is going to be a tough one.

THWACK 

Get up. Again!

THWACK

You're losing your posture, stand firmer. Now Again!

THWACK

Again. 

THWACK 

THWACK

THWACK

Shiro fell to the ground once more covered in bruises and welts after getting hit with the bokken so many times by Kurosu. His chest felt tighter and his arms felt tense; His heart was beating so fast, it hurt. 

"I can't keep this up any longer. He's going to kill me at this rate" Shiro thought to himself

Shiro could feel his mana overflowing his veins, it instinctively wants to protect this vessel. 

"Kggh!" Shiro slowly gets himself back up, his stance not perfect from his body being so bruised.

Kurosu looked on with an expressionless face. 

"We're at 15 wins for me so far...do you intend to keep this up?" Kurosu hissed as he gripped his bokken and took a quick swing at Shiro.

"Nngh!" Shiro pulled up his bokken to block it but the force of the swing made him step back. Kurosu was pushing his weight into the bokken and trying to force Shiro to kneel and buckle on the force pushing him down but he held as best as he could in his state.

"This isn't training, you bastard! This is torture!" Shiro spat at Kurosu as he kept holding his ground. His wrists and hands were on fire as he felt them strain to keep hold.

"Torture…?" Kurosu paused "It's torture to have to see you be so pathetic! You're not even trying!" Kurosu yelled as he kept pushing. 

"What happened to the dragon you snapped my foot into two!?! Or threw another dragon through a brick wall!?! Was that all a trick!?!" Kurosu yelled, baring his sharp teeth in an effort to scare Shiro.

Shiro kept holding, but his anger swelled in his chest. He wanted to fight back, to show he can do the things he did at will. 

"Why can't I do anything!?! Come out already!!!" Shiro internally screamed to himself. Shame and rage filled his thoughts.

"I need….to prove myself for once!!" 

Shiro felt his heels start to dig into the dirt as Kurosu kept pressing forward.

"I'll give him credit...he can't at least hold his ground…" Kurosu told himself. He thought back to when he would spar with Kade on occasion and Kade could barely hold his ground when pressed like this. It wasn't his style and he wasn't nearly as strong as him. "Kade couldn't barely keep it together long enough before falling over. So Shiro has the potential to best me….but he's not!"  Kurosu gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Atleast make this a challenge!!" Kurosu yelled aloud. "What has changed between now and yesterday!?! Is this some joke to you!?!" He continued

"N-Nothing!?! I just-!" Shiro stuttered before he was cut off.

"Then what!?! What is making you not do what you did yesterday!?!" 

"I don't want to hurt you!!?

"Hah! Do your worst! Do it! Or are you too cowardly now!?!" 

"No-! I-!"

"DO IT!"

Kurosu kept belittling Shiro. 

"That's it! Be angry!! Use it!!" Kurosu screamed as he pressed even harder.

He needed to break him.

Kurosu decided to turn it up a notch.

"Come on!! I'm insulting you!! Just like yesterday!! Now do something about it!!!" 

Shiro turned his head away in shame. His anger was at a boiling point the more Kurosu hurled insults at him.

"Did you come to learn how to fight or to be a whore!?! I'm starting to think it's the latter!!" Kurosu exclaimed loudly.

Shiro felt a deep pain in his chest and an intense throbbing sensation ran through his arms. He had enough, he couldn't contain this mana coursing through him. 

It felt like a dam had broken. 

Shiro screamed as he moved forward with Kurosu stepping backwards so as to not fall over; With both their hands still on their respective bokken. Shiro now was pressing Kurosu back with an intense force of pressure, Kurosu dug his heels into the ground but Shiro kept moving, leaving drag marks in the dirt.

"Nngh-!" Kurosu could feel his feet throb as they dragged on the ground. But he didn't care too much as his provoking worked.

This was it. The power he saw Shiro wield yesterday. This intense strength that almost didn't fit Shiro's little body. This mana that couldn't be distinguished as any element. 

This was what he had hoped for as he was now pressed to the ground, having finally lost his balance. His bokken lay to the side somewhere and Shiro's now pressed against his neck. 

Shiro panted as he now hovered over Kurosu in a compromised position. He pressed harder.

"Don't. Call. Me. A. Whore!" Shiro growled,  "I want this! I want to fight! But I don't want to hurt you like I did yesterday!" 

Kurosu looked up in mild interest but on the inside he was shocked as Shiro continued.

"This power is not something I understand! When my emotions become too much!! I just-! I can't control it! And my body just-! Ahhh! This is annoying!!" 

Shiro pulled away from Kurosu and got up.

"I won this round I guess! But I'm not doing that again!" Shiro yelled.

"But what if I want you to?" Kurosu smirked as he got up from the ground and dusted himself off.

"This is what I wanted to see from you. You may not be able to control your powers now but I can make you be able to control them" 

"How!?!"

"I explained this last night. Did you not listen to me at all, snowflake?"

Shiro yelled as he gripped his bokken in a swinging position.

"You just said I was weak!!" 

"Yes and No-" Kurosu continued as he realized he reached to grab his lost bokken, "Your body is weak, not your mana. In fact your mana is begging you to use it! That's why it's so overwhelming when it is used. Your body isn't used to it but your mana needs an outlet" 

"Mana isn't controlled by emotion but it's influenced by it..." Shiro remarked 

"You definitely learned something from the academy then…"

"Oh thanks dickhead" 

"Ugh! What I'm trying to say is when your emotions are heightened like now and yesterday, your mana output goes haywire. It's unstable so that's why it's so hard to control for you...but I can fix that"

"How!?!"

"Your body needs to get stronger so now I'm going to make you run til you can't run anymore"

"....eh?"