11 Chapter 18: Momentary Bliss

There are less than 4 days until the the exams and I still have yet to practice any techniques. After spending another half a day doing a circulation exercise, I ate lunch and then continued the same thing. As the day progressed and I start to think more about the Trials getting closer with every minute passing, it becomes harder to just follow Yua-san's orders. 'Everything she tells me has a reason. With my body still not used to the amount of Chi running through my body, I know I have to take things slower than I want. Stop thinking about the Trials. Just absorb as much as you can from what she's teaching.'

A familiar rustling comes from behind me, but I ignore it. 'It must be around 3 pm if she just got here.' Yua wakes up from her nap and goes over to greet her. The two start talking and I hear Yua say the term 'super awesome move.' I can't help but sulk in the corner, my agitation shows through the 'I want to learn a super awesome move too.. No don't pay attention to what others are doing. I just have to give this my all until Yua-san says I'm ready to move on.'

*Thwak* I look a little above my head and see hole drilled into the tree that wasn't there before. "Taitsuke!" I turn around with my mouth open. "Get over here."

"YES?!"

Hearing a her footsteps come closer I wake up from my 'nap' and jump down to greet her. "How was school?"

The edges of her mouth turn upward to her puffy. "It was a good day. A really good one."

"Hmm.. It doesn't really look like it."

"No. I just look like this because I cried a lot of happy tears earlier. Anyways, I actually am pretty pumped up for training today."

"That's good to hear. I guess I should get started then."

She sits down cross-legged as I stand to lecture her. "Now that I've got an understanding of what you need to work on, we're going to work on a super-awesome move." Mai face is full of anticipation. I can't help but return her eagerness with a smile. "The technique you will work on will be a life saver, so make sure you take it seriously." The girl nods excitedly. "What it is considered a defensive tactic."

"Hah?" The enthusiasm on Mai's face completely disappears.

Knowing full well that her reaction was going to be this, I feel laughter wanting come out, but I hold it in. "Taitsuke." The crimson-haired boy who I know was listening a bit ago doesn't respond. Sighing, I pick up a pebble then throw it his way, drilling a small hole through the tree. He turns around with a question mark written on his face. "Get over here." He gathers all his Chi back and sits down just like Mai. "Mai, since Taitsuke has been gone for you know how long, can you please fill him in on what was your mock exam like?"

The girl looks down dejectedly. "It was.. bad. Really bad. My group got our butts whooped by two secondary students. We didn't even stand a chance. I was so confident in their progress up until then. Only one group passed and were exempted from taking the Initiation Trials."

"Mm, and during the battle, what was your opponents like?"

"They were strong. Really strong. We didn't even have time to-" she pauses. "Oh."

I raise my brows as an expecting expression "Time to what?"

Mai lifts her head and meets my eyes. "We didn't even have a chance to attack back or even defend ourselves. Just like what you said yesterday.. They just kept bombarding us with quick release attacks."

Not completely understanding what the underlying meanings of our small exchange meant, Taitsuke inquires, "Isn't that how it usually is though? During sparring most people go for the kill right away by using quick release. Well, at least on me they do."

I give him a so-so hand gesture. "I'm sure they do. At your age, kids are taught how to perform skills, but they lack experience and execute their moves without much forethought. Thus, they try to overcompensate by trying to learn the strongest, coolest techniques. Unlike how Mai fought you yesterday with a plan in her mind, they just expect to win by being overpowering. When you're a Secondary student, it's obvious that you will be stronger than a Primary student. Thus all they have to do is overpower you. They won't even have to think about strategies."

Because of my compliment, she regains a bit of confidence. She sits up straight to ask, "But if they are going to overpower us anyway, how are we going to beat them?"

"Easy you learn defense." Their faces look skeptical again. "Well, more like defensive strategies. A common misconception is that the Initial Trials is will be based on individual performance, but it isn't.. well for the most part. It is about teamwork. It's rare for Chibushi to work alone when they are so young. It's dangerous for one to complete missions or tasks when they have a limited amount of experience. Being born with a Blessing is a precious gift. Our Alliance don't want people who forget about the gift of their existence and During the Trial, I'd say at least three-forth's of your classmates will forget about how you all formed teams in your mock exam and just rush blindly forward. I'm hundred percent positive that ninety-nine percent of those who do this will fail and will have to do a retake next year. Anyways, after that, the remainder of you will try to form a team and if your all successfully work together you can pass."

I can see the wheels turning in their heads, but the question of 'what does this have to do with defense' is still on their faces.

I go on. "However, that is only if things go smoothly. Out of that handful of you, someone will probably volunteer to lead the group. However, just like all of you, they are still inexperienced. They won't be able to bring out the full potential of the group. And because of that more than likely, Mai, you will probably be put in middle because she can do field-manipulation and Taitsuke would be put in the front as a sacrificial pawn. I'm not sure of what your type of battle styles your classmates they will probably be itching to use their offensive skills; which means, although it's a group, everyone will just go rushing in, trying to get a piece of the action. There won't be anyone to defend." My words seem click in their heads considering their facial expressions change.

"If you're going against strong opponents, it will only take only one person to fall for the entire group to go down. I'm not saying that I won't be teaching you offensive skills, or that they aren't important, but that in order to pass the Initiation Trials, you must understand that you need for both. And to compensate for your teammates, the two of you are going to have to be good in defending. Taitsuke, what is it exactly that Chibushi are meant to do?"

Without any hesitation, he answers, "They protect people."

"Mm. Now both of you, what is C.O.D.E. an abreviation for?"

Together they respond, "Chibushi Organization of .. Defense."

"Defense. In order to protect, you must defend. In order to defend, you need strength. It's incorrect to say that Chibushi must train until they as powerful as they can possibly be, because power is not everything. The ones who fail as Chibushi are the ones who fail to understand this lesson."

I can see that phrase struck something in Taitsuke. "So, we must defend our teammates so that they can safely attack?"

"Yes. Everything ties in together ties together. As you gain more experience, you will realize how shallow the thinking of overpowering an opponent is. No matter who it is, you should always find a way to defend yourself. What good is a strong punch if you get knocked out by your opponents hook? And because your opponents will be stronger and more experienced than you, no one will expect you to knock them out with your own power. The mock exam was for all of you to realize the need for teamwork. The Initiation Trials is to test your teamwork. With your classmates being the sword, the two of you will learn to be their shield. THEREFORE, from now until the Trials the two of you will be working on barriers."

I can tell she's trying to hold back her annoyance. "Yua-Sensei, that's exactly what I did yesterday. You just said I'll be working on a new super awesome technique?"

"Yes.. but if I recall correctly, you went back home before you finished the thousand repetitions.. Therefore, until you do at least a thousand of them between the two of you, I won't teach you the next step to this 'super awesome technique'," I reason. I watch their expressions change. Mai wearing dejection and Taitsuke wearing excitement. "I'm going to leave for today. I have a lot of work that I need to catch up on. When you two create at least a thousand three-person barriers, you can go home. Tomorrow can be an important lesson, but if I see that your barriers are sub-par, then don't expect anything fun," I tease.

~

She disappears like a gust of wind. Once again, the two are left alone. After yesterday's conversation with Yua, Mai can't help but feel even more awkward around Taitsuke. 'What should I say to him?' She asks herself. She sees Taitsuke picking himself up from off the ground and starting right away. Not wanting to lose to him, she does the same.

Remembering the concepts he was taught by Naoki-sensei a long time ago, Taitsuke tries his first attempt at Chi element manipulation. He gathers his white-Chi to his fingers. 'When Naoki-sensei made a wood-barrier, she first placed her hands out like this...' He creates the hand-motion for barrier. 'Then she said she'd imagine a strong tree in front of her... a tree...' An image of a red maple pops into his mind. 'Ah.'

His white-Chi starts to change to green. With his forearm he removes his goggles to see better and looks at his hands in shock. "Ishichi-san.... Ishichi-san!"

Mai quickly punches through her barrier to see what's going on. "You're Chi! It's turned green!" She exclaims. "I've never seen someones color change like that when it's the same element... They only have different colors when they're using two different elements."

"I read that somewhere too. I don't understand why this happened," he expresses with concern.

Mai walks through her barrier and sifts through her knowledge on dual-Blessings. 'Ryoko's white-chi was confirmed to be the Blessing of wood yesterday when he was training yesterday. The color of wood-element Chi is always a variation of green. White-chi has always been a mystery since it's not a color of one of the eight elements. But once the element is determined, it doesn't differ in any other way.' She puts her hands to her chin and then comes up with an idea. "Ryoko, don't try to do any wood-element techniques, just gather your Chi to your hands."

Taitsuke does exactly so. "It's white.."

"Now try making a wood-element barrier."

"Okay." Once more, he lays out his hands and gathers his Chi to his palms; it's white. He then imagines the red maple in his head. His Chi glows emerald green. "Release!" From the ground, a beautifully red maple rises up to the sky. Forgetting the worry he had a few seconds before, Taitsuke proclaims, "Goddess of Shika! I did it!"

Mai stares in amazement. The trunk of the tree is only large enough to cover only two people, but in all, the size of the entire maple is much larger than anything Mai can make through quick release. "Ryoko, I think you need to tell Yua-sensei about this. I don't think it's normal."

Taitsuke snaps out of his momentary bliss, "Yea. I think so too."

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