4 Misunderstanding

As Maki lunged forward, her right fist grazed the left side of my chest, missing barely as I moved to the side. Her frustration was palpable as she cursed under her breath and prepared for another assault.

"Calm down! I can explain." I tried to say but had to stop talking as she threw a sweeping kick towards my head. 

I moved my head back as the sole of her shoe scraped against my nose. Usually, I would block with my arms or at least catch the leg, but blocking Maki's attacks would probably break my bones, so I'll stick to dodging and tiring her out.

Despite how she tried to hide it, it was clear as day she grew angrier with every missed punch and kick.

'If I fight back, she'll get angrier. If I keep dodging her attacks, she'll get frustrated which would make her even more angrier. I have to end this now or I'll regret this later when she wants to Itachi the whole clan and specificly remembers me for hurting her sister.'

I backflipped to gain some distance and continued talking, "Please, just hear me out! This is a misunderstanding!"

"Why should I listen to you!" she shouted back. 

"You're just like the others! Looking down on us for being talentless!" she continued.

In the blink of an eye, she crossed the distance between us and delivered a punch right against my stomach with a force that sent me hurtling through the air. 

I didn't have enough time to reinforce my chest, as I didn't expect this sudden burst of speed, which led to a lot of pain.

'Ugh, where did that come from?!'

"I come back, and you tell me that my little sister is in the infirmary because of you!" she says as she prepares to cross the distance again between us.

'I get it! This must be Hysterical strength. She tearing her muscles by forcing them to work at a 100% to attack me. If she keeps going she'll really hurt herself for nothing!'

I look at her and see she's on the ground in a runner position, ready to spring forward like a coil again. 

I notice that my shadow is in front of me, which gives me an idea, but I need to time this right, or else I'll end up like Hughie's girlfriend in The Boys.

'3'

Her muscles tense.

'2'

I hear her breath in and out loudly.

'1'

I hear nothing but trust my timing and extend my shadow in front of me.

***

Mai could be seen in the infirmary bed with sheets covering her face. If you were to see her face, it would be red and hot, not because she was sick, but because she was embarrassed. 

She finally succeeded in getting her cursed energy to flow out of her. It wasn't much, but she was still happy that she got to see it with Megumi's help. She then tripped and fell into Megumi's arms, which is why she fainted and got very hot with embarrassment. 

She was already awake by the time she was in the bed and had the doctor checking her over. She still had to fake being asleep so that she didn't have to deal with that doctor who she remembered from a previous time.

She and her sister once went outside the Zenin Household to see the forest. They couldn't go there, but her big sister wanted to see the outside world.

Mai didn't get it. They weren't allowed to go out and were already on thin ice with the clan. Doing something like this would get them in a lot of trouble. It would be better to stay inside and follow the rules. Plus, there was a scary curse in front of the entrance.

Maki didn't care and still wanted to go. She convinced Mai to go with her, and while they were running around happily in the forest without a care in the world, they promised never to leave each other behind.

Sadly, Mai fell while running and scraped her knee. So, they had to return to the household to the infirmary to get her knee treated.

That's where they met this doctor. He didn't want anything to do with them. Mai remembered that he was a Zenin but wasn't a sorcerer. He had a similarly low status but was higher on the totem pole because of his gender and occupation.

Maki and the doctor fought because he refused to treat Mai. He thought he could win against her sister. He faced the consequences of his actions by being kicked in the balls by Maki. Sadly, that made him unable to treat Mai, and they also had to run away, or else they would get into even more trouble.

Now, Mai was stuck under the sheets of the infirmary bed. She wanted to leave quietly, but Megumi got his attentdant here to watch over her recovery. 

She just wanted to crawl up and die!

'Why does he have to be nice, why isn't he just be like the others and leave me alone?'

Luckily or unluckily, she could hear the heavy footsteps of someone approaching her bed. 

She then heard Megumi's attendant speak, and someone responded.

"Young Master, are you alright? You seem to be walking with difficulty."

"I'm okay, just give me a second."

She then heard a loud plop on the floor and could listen to her sister shouting: "YOU BASTARD!!".

The next moment, Megumi's attendant took her sheets to show Mai.

"Young master, I noticed that Mai was already awake for some time, but sadly I couldn't inform you because of your fight with Mai's sister." 

'Megumi and Maki were fighting!' 

Mai saw Maki rearing to punch Megumi in the back of the head but quickly stopped her by shouting: "It's a misunderstanding; he didn't hurt me!"

Maki looked conflicted as if she still wanted to hit Megumi, but she decided to drop her fist.

Maki then looked sharply at her sister and asked, "What happened?"