Chapter 14: Terracotta Punching Bag

A little fact I learned recently, Getting punched in the face by a clay statue hurts.

A lot.

"Again!" Hachiman stamped his foot on the grass again, my injuries were healed, and the Statue returned to its starting position.

Getting back into my position, I got ready for the statue to attack me again.

And it did.

I quickly ducked to the left and threw out a punch, gritting my teeth as my knuckles scraped on the hard clay body of the Samurai statue.

I stepped away quickly, dodging another telegraphed punch from the statue before I retaliated with another punch to the chest, injuring my other hand in the process and dodging the follow-up attack from the statue.

Only for my back to hit the barrier holding up the ring the two of us were fighting in, giving me no room to dodge the next hit.

"Enough!" Hachiman yelled, stomping on the grass again to heal my knuckles, "You get knocked down by just one punch? Enough of this! Go home, boy. We shall continue this tomorrow." The deity straightened his back and stomped on the grass again, causing the terracotta Samurai to crumble like dirt onto the floor, and the eight banners that made up the corners of the barrier flew into the sky, disappearing beyond the clouds.

I just nodded my head, too tired to argue with the God of War and Archery.

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"Yo Ken, did you even sleep?" Oki asked me as soon as we sat in class the day after.

"Yeah bro, you look like shit," Issei helpfully added, taking his seat.

"Heh, I feel like shit," I told them, an uneasy smile on my face as I tried to focus on what my friends were talking about whilst also coming up with plans to win against that damn Statue.

I can't punch it without injuring my hands, I don't have enough room to dodge repeatedly thanks to the small and enclosed barrier that Hachiman placed us in, And all it takes is one punch for the statue to knock me down.

There has to be a way to beat it...

"Ken, are you even listening?" Oki slapped me on the back, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Oh sorry, did you say something?" I replied easily, "I was too busy thinking about the size of your ears,"

"Hey! My ears are perfectly normal!" Matsuda quickly yelled, catching the attention of none other than Aika Kiryuu as she opened the door to the classroom.

"Don't worry Matsuda," She smiled teasingly at him, "I'm sure your ears are average for a boy your age," She giggled.

"Yeah, bro! I'll even say your ears are above average! Maybe even large!" Issei unhelpfully added, causing Oki to turn and look at him with tears rolling down his face.

"We're not talking about Dick sizes, Issei. We're talking about my actual ears..." He sniffed his nose, watching as Issei tried to think of some way to defend himself.

"Oh yeah... Did you see the newest trailer for Pocket Creatures X and Y?" Nice deflect there Issei!

"Oh yeah, I'm more interested in that rumored Dynasty Soldiers-type game for The Legend of Hilda," It seems that Oki Matsuda has returned to normal.

As the two guys started talking about upcoming video games, Aika took her seat and turned to look at me.

"Did anybody tell you that you look like shit?" She asked, resting her head on her hands.

"Yes," I answered and leaned back on my chair, trying again to think of ways to break that stupid statue.

"Settle down class!" Ojin-sensei said as he walked into class, and set his papers on his table, "We have garden duty today in third and fourth period, don't be late," He sat in his chair and started class.

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"Ugh! Why are we on garden duty?" Issei bemoaned as he carried around a ceramic pot in his hands.

"Because every week a different class is on Garden Duty, Hyoudou, It just so happens that this week is ours," Aika said as she passed by, carrying a trash bag with her.

"It's all fine Issei," Oki said and I nodded along, "All we have to do is water and weed some plants, pick up any trash we find, and move some pots around, What's the worst that can happen?"

CRASH

We all turned to look at Issei as he stared in horror at the school property he just dropped onto the floor, the ceramic pot shattering upon impact, and the noise alerting the always-ready Ojin-Sensei.

"Hyoudou! Stay here after class!" He yelled, and Oki and I bid Issei our farewells.

"We'll miss you," Oki said, giving the red-shirted pervert a salute.

"I'll visit your grave," I told him, my hand covering my eyes as I mock cried.

"Just promise me one thing," Issei said weakly as he acted out as if he was dying, "Just promise me that you'll... Delete my search history... blah!" What beautiful acting!

But wait...

My eyes returned to the ceramic pot, or more specifically, to the shattered remains on the floor.

"I got an Idea..." I whispered to myself as a plan to beat the Terracotta Samurai surfaced in my mind.

"Did you say something?" Oki asked as he turned to look at me, ignoring Issei as he mock cried on the floor.

"Nah, Just thinking out loud."

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Once school ended, I left my bros behind, citing Shin-corp business as the excuse.

Which technically isn't false.

Once I reached the park and noticed the sky once again change color, I readied my body for the incoming Kick.

"You're late," The disapproving voice of the God of Archery came from behind me, causing me to jump in fright and quickly turn around to face him.

"You're too jumpy," he said as he looked down at me before he stomped on the floor and the barrier from yesterday returned.

"Same as before," He said as the grass on the other side of the barrier grew before the Terracotta Samurai statue stepped out.

"Begin!" And with another stomp on the grass, the fight began.

The Samurai threw a punch forward, narrowly missing my face as I dodged to the side before Ducking and kicking at the statue's legs.

It didn't break, but the statue moved a bit, so my plan seems to be working so far.

Quickly dodge to the side with a roll as the statue stomps down at me before kicking at its legs again.

Pushing the statue another few centimeters.

I quickly stand up from my downed position and run to the side of the statue, causing it to turn and keep me in view.

Its back now to the small indent in the ground it created when I kicked at its legs.

As the Statue put its leg forward to run at me, I stopped running around it and dashed towards the statue, ducking below the straight punch it threw and tackling it in the legs.

Pushing the statue into the small groove in the grass, causing it to fall backward.

And shatter on the ground.

"I did it!" I cheered excitedly seeing the statue break.

"Don't be excited," My mood instantly soured as Hachiman started talking, "We're not done," And with another stomp, a new statue appeared.

Once again the statue was dressed in Samurai attire, a sword sheathed on its hip and armor on its chest.

But no longer was the statue brown like clay and dirt, but a reflective green.

"How will you shatter your opponent if they're made of Jade?" Hachiman asked, and with another stomp on the ground, the second match of the day started.

And I got punched in the face.

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A little fact I learned recently, Getting punched in the face by a Jade statue hurts.

A lot more than a clay statue.

"Again!" Hachiman yelled from the other side of the eight-cornered barrier of banners, the soft wind healing my injuries again, magically fixing my glasses in the process.

"Okay," I whisper as I get back in position across the jade samurai, "Dropping him won't work, And punching him won't work," I look for a way to win this, my eyes moving to the sheathed sword on its hip.

I remember seeing a sword like that on the Terracotta statue but dismissed it as decoration.

But what if it wasn't?

What if the sword was real...

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Hachiman looked dispassionately at the child inside the barrier, getting hit and healed over and over again for almost an hour.

But something in the boy's eyes this round made him look closer, he wasn't staring at his opponent.

But at his weapon...

"Begin!" The god yelled and stomped on the ground, and the Jade statue moved on his will.

He looked on as Ken Motohama once again dodged the first punch, always telegraphed for ease to the poor boy, and his eyes widened a fraction as the boy snatched the jade sword inside the sheath, leaving the sheath on the statue's hips as he ran away with the weapon in his arms.

And he smiled as he watched the boy hold the sword, wielding it in his hands like a natural, the entire form the boy held seemed to change on a dime.

"So he really is a spirit inheritor," Hachiman thought to himself as he continued watching the boy unknowingly utilize experience from a past life, like a master swordsman in an instant.

But that was nothing compared to what came next, Hachiman's eyes widened considerably as the boy held the sword above his head, and his chest started glowing with light.

"That's his sacred gear," he whispered as he watched as the blade of the jade sword also started glowing with the same light before the boy slashed downwards at the statue, the glowing blade shearing the Jade samurai like a knife through hot butter.

"Enough!" Hachiman called an end to the fight as the boy fell onto a knee, his breath heavy and tired from what must have been the first time his Spirit Inheritance came into play.

"Boy! Go home and sleep, we shall meet here again tomorrow, don't be late," Hachiman stomped on the ground and watched as the boy's breaths stopped leaving rapidly.

"Yes sir..." A small smile climbed onto the Deity's masked mouth as the boy struggled to stand up, using the jade sword as a sort of cane.

"And boy," Hachiman added, "Give me the sword,"

The boy blinked before looking at the jade blade in his hand, widening his eyes, and quickly scrambling to give it back to the god.

Hachiman felt a smile grow on his face as he took the sword and with but a weak flex of his power, he fixed it.

The small cracks on the blade from utilizing whatever the boy's Sacred Gear was were fixed, the blade was sharpened to a razor edge and shined brand new.

A dark wooden sheath appeared around the blade, with a red cloth wrapping around the hilt of the sword for easier grip.

"Here," Hachiman tossed the newly sheathed blade to the boy, "Keep it,"

Ken Motohama looked at the God before looking at the sword he tossed him before nodding his head and bowing deeply.

"Thank you, Sir!" And after that, he ran to his bags and went home, a bright smile on his face and a Jade Katana in hand.

Hachiman hummed watching the boy leave before turning his head to look at the white-haired man standing beside him.

"Tsukoyomi-sama," Hachiman bowed in respect to the chief god before turning back to look at the boy.

"No need to bow Yahata, I am merely inspecting the Human my brother decided to take as an apprentice." The god of the moon said calmly as he watched Ken Motohama run back home.

"Are there any problems you found with the boy?" Hachiman asked Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, receiving a thoughtful hum from the god.

"Problems? Plenty," The god said, "But he is a Human, they are at their core flawed creatures, filled to the brim with hypocrisy and differences. I can not fault the boy for being what he was born as,"

"That doesn't sound approving," Hachiman pointed out.

"Hmm, But it is also not dismissive, is it not?" Tsukuyomi rebutted the God of War and Archery, "Teach him well, Yahata, I know not what my brother wants the boy to do, but whatever it may be, I do not wish undue harm to fall upon him," He said, his eyes still staring at the far away body of the boy, barely recognizable to Human eyes from this distance.

"Are you questioning my teaching capabilities?" Hachiman turned away from looking at the boy only to see the God of the Moon gone, in his spot sat a paper crane, nested on the green grass of the park.

"Humph, Could at least bid farewell," Hachiman grumbled as he stomped on the ground, fixing whatever damage to the park his training of the boy caused, and disappearing in a red wind.

Leaving the park clean and empty, as if nothing in it happened.