Chapter 12 : Kuina's defeat

It was dark and cold at night and heavy snow fell.

Inside the brightly lit gym.

Blaze carried a bamboo sword and walked across from Kuina.

Koushirou stood aside, looking at them with his arms folded.

His eyes were more on Blaze.

A boy who seems to be younger than Kuina carries with him Raikiri, one of the 21 great grade sword that have disappeared for hundreds of years. How can he not care.

Kuina held the hilt in both hands then looked at his sword-holding posture and asked, "Is this the first time for you to use a bamboo sword?"

"Well, I have held real sword several times but this is the first time for bamboo sword."

Blaze said.

Kuina said nothing, she stared at Blaze and her eyes gradually sharpened:

"come on!"

Blaze was also ready, stepping on his feet and rushing towards Kuina extremely fast.

"So fast!"

Both Kuina and Koushirou were surprised.

Blaze rushed in front of Kuina and the bamboo sword in his hand slashed over her head.

Snapped!

Although Kuina raised the bamboo sword in time to block the blow, her palms were numb and she couldn't stand her feet and took two steps back.

"What a heavy force!"

Kuina was shocked.

Koushirou also opened his eyes a little.

He saw far more than Kuina.

"Steps, standing postures, holding and swinging are all without skill at all. It's just pure speed and strength... Can you reach this level at such young age?! What kind of exercise does this child go through to achieve this level of physique? ! "

Kuina hadn't stood still, but another blow came.

Snapped!

The bamboo sword in Kuina's hand was directly shot out.

"With two strikes, I... lost?"

She fell to the ground in a daze, little desperate.

Blaze called her a few times but she didn't respond.

Even after Blaze and Koushirou left the room together, she didn't even notice it.

She did not know how long it has been.

A hand fell on her shoulder while Koushirou's soft voice rang in her ear.

"Kuina."

Light gradually appeared in Kuina's eyes.

"Father... Father..."

In an instant, tears gushed from her eyes.

"Why? Why can't I become stronger after practicing the sword so hard?"

"Kuina, you are strong enough now and even some adults can't match you in kendo."

Kuina buried her face in her knees and cried:

"But I still lost. I didn't even hold up his two strikes. This is not as strong as I want! I, I...what's the point of the hard work I have spent so far?!"

Koushirou put his hand on top of her head and said solemnly:

"Kuina, you are already very strong and I can assure you of this! All your practice so far is worthwhile and useful, not in vain!"

"But I still lost."

"Because of your opponent, Blaze... is an exception." Koushirou's tone was a little strange: "His strength is not on the same level as you."

Kuina, eyes red with tears, raised her head and looked at him.

"Not on the same level?"

Koushirou nodded to her solemnly and said, "Yes."

"After seeing you playing against him, I can vaguely feel his strength. If you say you are 10, then he is 50! Under his attack, even I have to be a little serious."

Kuina's eyes gradually widened, unbelievable.

She is very aware of the strength of her father.

And that black-haired boy named Blaze... could he make his father take him little seriously? !

"So, losing to him is definitely not a shame. On the contrary, you can block his first strike , it is already very powerful."

Koushirou patted Kuina on the shoulder.

"Father..."

"I have decided to keep him in the dojo. I will teach him swordsmanship personally and he will be stronger in the future."

Koushirou stood up.

"Think of him as a goal to cross, Kuina. In this case, you will definitely become stronger. "

After listening to Koushirou's words, Kuina wiped her eyes, her eyes gradually firming up.

"Father, I understand, I must defeat him before to become the strongest swordsman in the world!"

"Where is he now? I want to challenge him again!"

Kuina's eyes were full of war.

She had never felt this way before.

"Kuina, it's already late today, I let him sleep in one of the rooms and you can challenge him tomorrow."

Koushirou smiled wryly.

...

Early the next morning, it was just dawn.

Kuina took two bamboo swords and opened the door of the room blaze was staying with a snap.

"Blaze, I'm here to challenge you!"

There was no one in the room and the quilts were neatly stacked there.

"What about Blaze?"

Kuina looked around in the gym and finally heard the sound and found Blaze who was doing three-finger push-ups in the forest behind the gym.

"Three hundred forty three, three hundred forty four, three hundred forty five..."

In the snow, the black-haired boy with the naked upper body was sweating profusely and he was bubbling with a lot of white vapor and the snow beside him was melting into water by the heat emitted by him.

"Hey."

Kuina called to him.

Blaze heard the sound, turned his head and glanced then retracted his gaze to continue his exercise.

"Don't make sudden noise, it's scary."

You don't seem to be scared at all...

Kuina couldn't help thinking.

After watching Blaze who was exercising for a while, she couldn't help but ask:

"How long have you been here?"

"I only came last night, don't you remember?"

"No! I mean, how long have you been exercising here?"

"Oh, you mean this."

Blaze stopped doing push-ups and sat on the ground. After stabilising his breath, he looked at her and said:

"I have been here for about two hours."