11 Chapter 11

Trence's POV

Dane and Kiko informed the kendo instructors about the type of fights we're supposed to do in the play and the kendo instructor then choreographed simple fight scenes. We were told to wear the whole 'bogu' or the kendo equipment for practicing, and for good reason - the instructor's hits hurt. Apparently though, if we were going to practice kendo for real it would take much longer for us to get bogu privileges.

The instructor first taught us the basics of kendo, and just a few Western styles too just for the sake of our story setting. I'm pretty sure most of us ended up pissed at Dane and the others who wrote this complicated setting, although I had fun doing the 'men', 'kote', 'do' swings.

After doing a few stretches, he smacked his hands together to signal a stop. "Alright, now to see if you blockheads learned anything, pair up. Don't forget to wear the full gears; it's all in the cabinet in the corner." The kendo instructor ordered and sat on the monoblock chair.

I looked around, and as I expected, nobody walked up to me and asked me to be their partner. 'So much for being a "popular school prince", heh.' I thought with a sigh. 'Nothing new, though. Well, I guess I could rest for a while...my shoulders do kinda hurt...'

After waiting for a few seconds more 'cause who knows? Maybe someone would suddenly decide to be my friend...but I decided to give up.

'Do we really need to pair up? Can't I just do this alone...then again, I think Sensei's going to make us spar each other. If I don't find anyone, I might end up sparring with Sensei again...oh god. In that case, I DO need a partner. Damn...'

Then a realization came to mind. 'Right! The brat!'

I looked over in Taileen's direction with an expectant smirk, but to my surprise, three guys were surrounding her, who looked very pissed and uncomfortable amidst her (obvious) fake smile.

"Want to partner up with me, Anderson?" Chris, one of the guys, asked with a grin. Taileen's fake smile widened. "No, sorry."

"How about with me, then?" Jackson, another one of them, asked, leaning closer. Taileen then leaned back and pushed his face away by the forehead. "Nope, not with you."

Dane, who's one of the three who were surrounding her, beamed and walked closer. "Oh, then with me! I'm better than everyone here with sword-fighting, aside from the teacher, of course." Dane kidded. Although I was largely opposed to Taileen pairing with him, I do realize that he's a much better option in comparison to those playboys, so I sighed. 'He's got a point, too. I'd pair up with him if given the choice.'

I looked at Taileen's reaction, expecting her to agree with a genuine smile, but to my surprise, her face was blank. Totally, completely blank, and the answer she gave was;

"No."

Just a firm, simple no. Chris, Jackson, and most especially, Dane, was relevantly shocked. Hell, even Taileen seemed surprised by how she answered.

I noticed her hands behind her back. 'They're...shaking...?'

"I'm sorry, I--" Taileen swallowed back her words and bit her lips. "I - I was just, um,"

'She's super uncomfortable...should I walk over there and...no. No way, that's HELLA embarrassing...but...'

Taileen looked like she was about to...

'Ugh, damn.'

I clenched my hands and walked over there. Not caring about the possible DIRE consequences, I placed my hand over her shoulders and smiled. "Hi, sorry, but if you don't mind, Taileen and I decided to practice together in case pairings happen so, could you please...?" I hinted at them to leave, and they did. It was surprisingly easy.

I immediately let go of Taileen once they left and checked her expression. 'It's still blank, but obviously less tense. That's good.'

I faked a cough to break the silence. "This is honestly the only use I get out of this 'Prince' status, heh." I kidded and looked away awkwardly. I heard a faint snicker from her, "Yeah, it's surprisingly cringeworthy."

"Wha -" I stuttered, a blush forming on my cheeks. 'The actual audacity!'

"Why? It's true. Lol, what was that again? 'Hi, sorry, but if you don't mind? I'm such a prince, hoho.' Lol." She mockingly said with a teasing grin. "What?! I didn't sound like a grandpa! And I wasn't trying to be a prince!"

"Then what were you trying to be, huh? Pfft, what a loser~" She laughed. I could feel my cheeks burning out of embarrassment, feeling the stares that our other classmates burn my back.

"This is what I get for helping you, huh? Never, EVER again." I muttered. Taileen stopped laughing and looked at me.

"You...what?"

I rolled my eyes. "I was helping you. You seemed like you were stuck between those guys and uncomfortable, so...I don't know, I assumed you didn't want to partner up for the activity so I thought I'd lie to them. Was I wrong?"

Taileen was silent, and I noticed her cheeks slowly turn red. "W - Why are you blushing!?" She asked, turning the situation onto me. "Huh? Why WOULDN'T I be blushing? You were teasing me earlier! Why are YOU blushing?"

"I - I am NOT blushing, you dumbass!" She shouted. I covered her mouth. "Dude! Don't shout! You're making a scene!" I said, now even shier.

"I'm not shouting, stupid NCS. Get your dirty hand off me." She said and yanked my hand off. Her face was still really red, and that made me chuckle. Taileen glared at me, "The heck are you laughing for, huh? Weird NCS." She mumbled.

I laughed more, which made her hit my arm. "Ow! I wasn't laughing at you!" I lied, and this made her blush even more. I chuckled, "Kidding, I was totally laughing at you."

She hit me once again, this time it was much harder. "My arm!"

~

Obviously, Taileen and I ended up with no other choice but to be partners. Seems like a lot of them saw me saying that we "decided to be partners beforehand".

"Okay, I've given you guys a lot of time to pair up, so settle down and listen." The kendo instructor finally said and smacked his hands together to catch our attention.

"Now, I'm sure y'all already knew but yeah, spar with your partner but make sure you apply all that we've thought ya earlier."

As the instructor answered some of my classmates' follow-up questions, I looked over to Taileen. No reason, actually - or, at least, none that I could remember. I guess I was checking to see her reaction.

She looked as if she already knew everything needed to be done. She looked passive and bored. "Quit staring," She muttered and looked back at me. "It's weird."

"I'm not doing anything." It's like the words just slipped out on their own, but I didn't care enough to say anything else. She quickly changed the topic, "Have you found a partner?"

"Oh...this is awkward." I chuckled. Her brow arched, "Why?"

"I guess I assumed that we're already partners. Did you find someone else?"

Her cheeks seemed to burn slightly. "Oh, uh, I mean-- Ugh, what's with that phrasing?!"

I laughed a little. "What phrasing? Do you have another partner?"

'This kinda feels like deja vu...' I thought and brushed it right off.

"Let's be partners then! Gosh, why do you have to make 'partner' sound so - so stupid! I'll be your partner." She mumbled, her eyes darting from one place to another. I smiled, "Okay then. I'm not all that great with sword-fighting so be nice to me, okay?"

"Whatever, just shut up." She muttered, her whole body now facing away from me. "Hey, why are you looking away? We're supposed to be sparring!" I said, trying not to laugh.

"I don't care! Spar by yourself."

I laughed a bit too hard, "Wha - We're partners, we're supposed to be sparring together. Don't be ridiculous."

Taileen turned around roughly, her cheeks bright red. 'That's cute,' I immediately thought.

"You want to spar? Fine!" She suddenly said. "What are you waiting for? Go wear a kendo uniform."

"And you...?"

She scoffed. "Go."

I went and wore the whole bogu, looking over to Taileen every now and then. While I was wearing it, I watched my classmates having fun and shouting all the 'men's and 'do's and 'kote's.

'Taileen did shout earlier at times, and she shouts at me a lot, but I'm kinda looking forward to her shouting...at me...huh? What the hell.'

I tried to put on the 'men' by myself, but it was almost impossible. I looked over at Taileen and was surprised to see her staring. "Uh..." I said and chuckled nervously. She sighed and swung her hand in a 'come here, dumbass' motion.

I walked over and knelt. She stood up and angrily placed the 'men' on my head. "Ouch! Be gentle, why don't you?"

"Shut." She muttered, and I immediately obliged. She tied it up rashly, making my face hurt. "Ow..." I mumbled quietly. I noticed that she also fixed up the other parts of my uniform.

"You're so uselessly tall." I heard her whisper to herself. I fought the laugh that almost slipped from my mouth.

"Done, move your ass."

I stood up and moved a few inches away from her. She picked up a sword from a nearby rack and went across me.

"Fix your stance." She barked, immediately putting up an almost professional-like stance. Don't get me wrong - I know little to nothing about kendo or swordplay, but even I knew that she had a perfect stance. It's like...her aura...or something.

"Okay boss," I joked, trying to imitate her posture. She rolled her eyes, "Don't play dumb when you're already dumb."

"Fine, fine." I stood properly and held my sword the right way. "Are you sure you aren't gonna wear a ken---"

"YAAAAAAAAAAH!"

I was startled by her shout. "Whoa, honey, that's a great scream, but warn me next time, please---"

At great speed, she went towards me and swung the sword to my wrist, inflicting pain that I could SWEAR tore through my kote. "Kote!" She shouted. "OUCH! Dude, I -"

Once again, she went to me and swung. I tried to guard it but I may have predicted wrong as she went for a 'do' strike. "Do!" She barked. "Hey-" I heaved a sigh. It wasn't that hard this time, but it was still strong. I noticed that she was barely sweating.

She walked backward and seemed to be preparing for another strike. I decided that it was time for me to strike back, but I hesitated. 'No way I'm hitting her when she's not even wearing any equipment-'

A swift, light strike on my head. "Men!"

Long story short, I had barely landed hits on her, which were mostly gentle 'do' hits. It's not that I hesitated the whole time - I tried my best to concentrate and land 'men's and 'do's but it was surprisingly hard because she shielded most of them and then struck me. 'I became a whole ass tree.' I thought, exhausted beyond compare.

We sat across each other on a corner, both gasping for breath. I was obviously much more tired and sweaty - wearing the bogu and all, but Taileen was doing whole ass combos earlier, so she was tired too.

"Do you want me to get us some water?" I offered, still panting. She chuckled a little, "Wow, even when you're the one who looks like a wet dog? AND smells like one too?"

I sighed. "Do you?"

Taileen seemed to be caught off-guard. "Um, well, I'll go with you." She mumbled.

I smiled and stood up, lending a hand towards her. Taileen grinned, "When aren't you a 'prince'?"

"I'm just gonna assume that when you say 'prince', you mean 'nice', so my answer to that is; I'm always nice, thank you very much."

She was about to say something so I just yanked her wrist and pulled her up. "Wh -"

"To the vending machine!" I cut her off and pulled her out of the room, laughing afterward.

"Let go!"

-