16 Chapter 23: A Game of Tag

[3 Days until the Initiation Trials; Tuesday, 20 Nov *676, 4:30 am]

Once again, my body feels sore all over. But this time, it's slightly more bearable than before. I roll out of bed and scoot toward the window after hearing Yua's tapping. She hops over me and greets, "G'morning, kid." I groan in response, so she teases, "You seem much chipper this morning."

The usual routine occurs and by the time I know it, we're already at the training grounds.

Yua gives directions right away. "Okay, until Mai-chan shows up, let's start on-"

Raising my hand, I say, "Actually, I have something I need to show you." I move a little bit out of the circle and allow my Chi to turn green. "Release." A red maple tree springs out from the ground. "Is it a normal thing?" I look back for reassurance and for the first time, I see a disturbed expression form on her face. It bothers me. I walk back into the circle and then show her my white Chi barrier. Still quiet, I explain, "I guess when I have the intentions to make things more traditional wood-element-like, my Chi will glow green. But if I just think of a plain barrier or shield, this happens.."

She takes quite awhile to assess the situation. I back away and wait on the top of a boulder for her assessment. Finally, she moves. I walk back over.

"Taistuke, from now on, your prohibited from using green Chi."

I try not to look too disappointed. "I thought you say that.. But if I just practice a bit more, it could be useful."

Her lids lower over half her scarlet colored eyes. "Useful, maybe, but different most definitely. I've seen many things while I during my travels, but never someone with two different colors of the same element. We need to be cautious in what you show. I want you to be strong too, but not at the cost where it will bring you unnecessary danger. The work you will be doing is already dangerous and your being is already considered a threat to most people. We don't need you to stand out even more than you already do."

'I understand what she means, but adding another restriction onto me is quite annoying.' I heave a long sigh and accept her orders. "Okay. But everything else.. I can still do?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, Taitsuke." She ruffles my hair. Her apology makes me feel even worse. 'If she apologizes, who am I supposed to direct my angst to?' Her hands are covered in an unfamiliar white Chi. My eyelids start to be heavy. 'I feel.. tired."

"Sorry, Taitsuke." Her voice sounds far away...

I wake up under the tree. The sky is dark. "Crap! How long was I asleep?!" My body shoots up and my head spins. Yua looks over me and smiles an evil grin.

"It hasn't been even ten minutes and you're already passed out?"

"Urgh... what is up with me? I was doing so well yesterday too..."

She helps me up. "Mm.. Let's get to work, shall we?"

Hours pass and I the soreness starts to kick in again. I take a break and drink the green liquid. Yua sits on the boulder and stares intensely in the sky. I look up to see what it was she was looking at, but don't see anything. I call her name, but she is still lost in thought.

She clicks her tongue. "Tch."

Again, I call her name, "Yua-san!" She finally directs her attention back toward me. "What are you looking at?"

"Ah. Nothing." She falls back onto the boulder until all I see are dangling feet on the ground. "Do another thousand reps of the making a barrier. If any of them are weak enough for a third year secondary student to break through, then start again from the beginning. Wake me up when you finish."

I push myself to complete another thousand. Just when I create the last barrier, I hear the familiar sound of rustling in the background. With an exhausted expression, she croaks. "Hey."

Greet her back with a silent nod.

Yua wakes up from her usual nap and jumps down from the boulder. With sleep in the corners of her eyes, she yawns, "How was school, Mai-chan?"

Mai tilts her head back and forth. "It was 'meh.' A lot of the kids that have been gone to do personalized training have returned, so it was pretty rowdy. A lot of them tried to test out the techniques with others."

The edge of Yua's mouth flips up. "That's interesting. Were they powerful?"

"Mmm.. Kind of. They're probably only good enough to use against secondary school student..." Mai smirks. "..but from the way I see it, they definitely aren't skillful enough to actually defeat anyone."

"Excellent." She ruffles her sandy hair. The two wear creepy smiles that send shivers down my spine. The two give a hearty heckling laugh. "Now Mai,Then I guess the two of you passed the first stage! Now, it's time to work on stage two!"

The three position themselves in their usual teacher-student positions, with the two kids on the ground staring up at the white pony-tailed woman. "Now that the both of you now are able to create quality barriers, I'll start the lesson. Firstly, what are barriers used for?"

Mai raises her hand out of respect. "For protection against an enemy. They are used for protect or shield against enemy attacks."

"Correct. What else?"

Taitsuke sticks his hand up partially. "Obstructions. They can be used to slow down your enemy..?"

"Correct. What else?"

The two are stumped. Yua waits a moment before continuing. "When you use your barriers, one would usually use them in either of those two ways. However, there are many other useful ways to use them. In general, Chi can be formed and manipulated in many ways. Therefore, if you think about if, shouldn't techniques have a lot more ways for being used? I don't want the two of you to be stuck in with mundane thinking." She holds up up two fingers. "SO, we have two uses: protection, obstructions. Think of at least.. three more ways it can be used."

Sitting in a crisscross position with their arms folded over their chest, the two wrack their brains as they try to conjure up some ideas.

Seeing how they probably won't get anywhere anytime soon, Yua decides, "How about we do a 2 vs 1? Sitting here will only give you blank thoughts." Excitement fills their eyes. They've never had a chance to go up against a real Chibushi before. The only battle experience they've had were against other students. Like practicing a sport, most kids would spar with their parents in order to train for battle experience. But since their circumstances don't allow them to do so, it is quite an exciting event. Yua takes a few steps back into the center of the circle. And gives them instructions. "Your goal for the rest of the day is to try to tag me. You can use whatever skill or tool, against me, but I promise you that any attack from either of you will be like trying to destroy a mountain by taking out one grain of dirt at a time. A word of advice, try to think on your feet and outside of the box. If you don't use something innovative, then you won't be able to catch me. I won't be using Chi or my full strength, but don't expect it to be an easy task. Good luck!"

~

Fat drops of sweat fall down onto the ground. The sun has gone down and not even once have they come close to Yua. "Why.. are you.. so.. fast?" Mai huffs. Yua stands at the top of the boulder to wait for them to becoming fighting fit again. The moonlight shines on the top of her hair, giving her have an ethereal glow.

Taitsuke, who hasn't ever used his Chi in an battle yet has long been sprawled out on the ground. If he counts how many barriers they produced in the passed 15 hours since he's been up, it is more than likely well over 5000.

Mai's knees wobble, but she refuses to fall.

Yua hops down and flicks Mai's forehead. "I told you that it won't be easy." Like a doll, the girl topples over.

Taitsuke groans. His body has been long aching from the recoil of overusing his powers. Yua throws another bottle his way. "Drink up kid."

Looking up at the sky, Yua calls the session to an end and the three of them head out of the forest together. "Mai, can I expect you to be here again tomorrow?" Mai nods exhaustedly as she refuses to consume any of the disgusting reparative medicinal food Yua tries to hand to her. "Good. Get home safely. I don't want 'Baa-chan worrying."

The three reach the hill that connects all the districts. With Mai on her back, Yua says, "Taitsuke, I'll bring Mai home. Be sure to not lollygag and head home straight." The two disappear into the 7th district.

Taitsuke feels the medicine kick in, but continues to drag himself across the ninth. 'Jeez. I knew Yua-san was fast, but how did she move like that without activating her Chi? She didn't have a bead of sweat after being chased by the two of us for 5 hours.' Since he could remember, there have been only a handful of times where he has encountered such an amazing Chibushi. When he first came to the island, there was a time, where he saw Principal Miyamoto do a demonstration for his class back when he was a third year. With a flick of the Principal's wrist, a huge thunderbolt fell from the sky and created an indent in the ground as big as the classroom. He saw Naoki-sensei recreate all the trees that were annihilated by the Principal. He's witnessed the effects of Honoka's amazing Chi infused medicine that healed majors injuries in a day. Stopping underneath a flickering lamppost, he remembers, 'Now that I think about it, I don't recall ever seeing Taiyou-san's power. Well.. I know that he's super strong from just his presence, but I've never seen him use his Chi...'

According to Honoka, the Taiyou is only a water-element user. His parents were originally from Koisan, but he himself was born and raised in Shikakokka. To Taitsuke, Taiyou was a very mysterious man even though he is very much well known. 'I wish she would have told me more. I wonder if there are some articles about him.. or maybe I can try asking Yua.'

He reaches his apartment and unlocks the door. '..Someone was just here..' He does his usual routine and ignores the feeling. 'This is probably why the Dragon hid himself yesterday..' He pretends to sleep for awhile to monitor this weird presence. Time goes by and he can feel the effects of the medicine wearing off. He struggles to keep his act. 'At least, my body is getting used to strenuous activity little by little.'

He hears a very light rustling. Still pretending to sleep, he tries to listen. 'It sounds like footsteps on the roof...' Other than the landlord who only comes by once in a while to inspect the building, no one else ever comes to this apartment. Since Taitsuke moved in, all the other tenants have moved out, leaving him there alone. In order to compensate for his stay, the Ambassador bought the entire building, leaving the landlord as the building's caretaker.

'Hah.. it's probably the Council trying to monitor me again. How annoying.'

[2 Days until the Initiation Trials; Wednesday, 21 Nov *676; 4:30]

For the rest of the night, Taitsuke falls in and out of sleep until Yua shows up at 4:30 on the dot.

He drags himself out of bed at the first tap. Though she is surprised, Yua doesn't say anything about it. She heads to the fridge and pulls out his breakfast, lunch and dinner for the day while Taitsuke gets himself ready. The two walk hastily to the west forest having not said a word to each other.

They walk through the brambles and take their first steps into the training circle when Yua finally says, "Not enough sleep last night?"

Taitsuke's eyelids droop heavily. "No.. I kept hearing noises outside my window."

Behind her joking face, there's a hint of coldness. "Hmm, that sucks."

"Right?" Taitsuke plays it off as well. 'There's no way she doesn't know something.'

The usual practice happens until Mai makes her way there. Just like Taitsuke, her eyes droop downward. "Hi.."

They begin immediately in their little game of tag. The fatigue that was resting on their faces flies away and Mai and Taitsuke turn into their usual alert selves. Yua starts center with Mai to her left and Taitsuke to her right. "3..2..1. GO!"

They two kids leap forward while Yua stands steadily. As usual, Taitsuke bombards her with Chi-filled kicks and punches while Mai tries to cries to obstruct Yua with barriers. Yua barely moves while the two of them struggle. An hour passes and when Mai starts to feel tired from the continuous use of Chi, she switches to offense while Taitsuke tries his hand at obstructing Yua with barriers. The cycle goes on and on until the two are bent over gasping for air. Yua returns to her position on the top of a boulder, overlooking the two kids.

"C'mon guys, is this all you have?" Yua pesters. "I thought you two would have thought of something new by now." The two stare at her dumbfoundedly. "Remember what I said, think on your feet. The same moves won't work on your opponents all the time. Try to use those pretty little heads of yours." Completely ticked off, the two look at each other and begin to walk away. "Hey! Where are you going?! Don't be like that!"

Mai turns back and shouts, "You never said that we couldn't strategize."

Taitsuke nods in agreement. "What she said." Mai places a dome shaped barrier around the two of them."

Pleased by their determined attitudes, Yua holds her head on her knees and waits for them on top of the boulder. Fifteen minutes pass, thirty. Yua's patience starts to dwindle. "What the hell!" She finally jumps off the rock and knocks on the barrier. "Did the two of you pass out from the lack of oxygen in there?"

In a moment, a flash of white Chi captures her. Mai jumps up from behind her barrier and flicks Yua's forehead. "Tag. You're it!"

"Heh. Nice plan, kiddos." Behind her, Yua stands lightly on top of the half destroyed earthen barrier. Mai looks back at the Yua that they so clearly caught to see that a body-double made of earth element.

Though she is thoroughly impressed, the sandy haired girl clicks her tongue in disappointment. "Tch. Dammit, how did you even do that!?"

Yua hops back down and retracts the Chi from the double. Then flicks its forehead, causing the poor thing to burst into smithereens. Mai winces at the slightly disturbing sight of seeing the fake Yua explode. "Taitsuke, you can come out form hiding."

He drops the white-light barrier and drags himself out from the back of the tree. "How'd you react so fast? Don't tell me you already knew."

Encouragingly, she responds, "Of course not. You guys really surprised me there!"

Mai's frown falls even lower. "We just wasted half an hour of our time just to fail."

"Fail? What are you talking about?" Yua motions to the pile of dust next to her. "Did you forget that I told you that I wouldn't use Chi? You guys won that round." Their eyes widen with excitement. "Now, tell me. What did you guys discover?"

Feeling more confident, Mai clears her throat to explain. "Well.. We weren't getting anywhere by just simply taking turns to attack. Also, there was no way I could even dream of landing a hit on you, for me you were way to fast. But, I noticed that Ryoko actually was becoming pretty quick in producing barriers. He even had a pretty long range for them too. If you were just a bit slower, then I thought that maybe we would have a chance.. Therefore, if we could just create a moment where he can do a surprise attack, I'd be able to tag you."

Taitsuke jumps in. "When we were putting our ideas together, we figured that the only way that we could get you is if you we could ambush you somehow. If you were to come up to us yourself, then I thought that maybe I would be able to trap you inside a barrier instead. I just needed you to not notice me somehow."

"That's when I suggested that he sneak out of the barrier. Since earth barriers don't glow like others, I retracted my Chi and started chipping away at inside like an egg. If you looked on the other-side of the dome my , you'd see that there is a hole that he escaped from. In order for you to not notice him, I told Taitsuke to place a barrier around himself."

"When Mai surrounded us in a barrier, she actually unconsciously came up with this idea. It's hard to hear things outside when your surrounded by a barrier. Naturally it'd be hard for you to hear me sneaking away. With the barrier as our distraction, I waited behind the tree until you were tired of waiting."

Yua gives an approving nod. "So you found a few new uses of barriers, soundproofing and bait. Very good. Now you only need one more."

Mai objects strongly. "NO! There was one more!"

Seeing how Taitsuke is also surprised, Yua replies, "Oh? Please, enlighten me."

Just when she's about to explain, she stops herself. "Ah.. never mind."

Though she's curious in what Mai conjured up in her mind, Yua lets her keep her idea to herself. "Well then I guess that means I'll just have to wait until you actually put it into action." Yua stretches upward, cracking her neck and knuckles. An evil smile appears on her face. "Since the two of you had such a s nice long break, maybe I should kick things up a notch."