Chapter 10: Discussion

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

*Sound Effects*

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Chapter 10: Discussion

Yasui had carried Koda on her back all the way to their lodgings, which wasn't too taxing of an endeavor considering he was quite light by her standards.

For now.

She laid him down on one of the mattresses and ran her hands over his body, solely to inspect his injuries of course. Not that her flushed expression necessarily reinforced that fact.

'Get it together! I'm not taking advantage of him, I'm just making sure he's alright…' Not even her own thoughts seemed to be all that convincing.

However on a more serious note, Koda was doing just fine.

Surprisingly, his plentiful Reiryoku reserves had already sprung into action, his body was healing at a rapid pace rendering the need for any form of Kaido treatment null. That alone was a massive weight off Yasui's shoulders, she wholeheartedly felt as if she could have held back more, perhaps tried to have been more soft on him.

But then she recalled Koda's expression as they fought, no hesitation, no regret, just pure and unadulterated killing intent. 'I didn't even sense a tinge of animosity beforehand, did he really get that absorbed in our fight?' It was hard to imagine a diligent worker like Koda as two-faced, but as always, reality suggested otherwise.

'What's your deal…' She cheekily poked Koda, but after a few twitches and groans here and there she decided not to push her luck, letting him rest was paramount.

If that was a normal Koda, she didn't even want to imagine what a grumpy Koda would look like.

Taking one more glance at the sleeping beast, she realized his hand still had the hilt of his Asauchi in his grasp. 'Why doesn't that surprise me…I better put it aside for now' The very instant she reached for his blade, all her senses were put on red alert as a threatening aura descended upon the cabin.

And it didn't take a genius to guess where it was coming from.

'Great, even his Asauchi wants me dead, somehow I find that extremely fitting…' Deciding to follow her better judgment she left the blade alone and stepped outside to grab a much needed breath of fresh air.

"So, how was his first day?" Emerging from the wilderness was a staunch figure with spiky umber locks and an imposing build, he waved at Yasui and shot a friendly glance her way, knowing full well what her newly assigned student was capable of.

With a miffed look, she pointed to the thin scar that ran down her forehead and wrinkled her brow at the man, "You tell me!" Justifiably, she was bitter.

Okita stiffly tried to laugh her comment off as he scratched the back of his neck "In all fairness I did give you a warning beforehand" Yasui scoffed at him as she started to pour herself a drink.

"But seriously, are you alright? Remember it's perfectly acceptable if you think he's too much of a risk, I don't wa-" Yasui promptly cut him off, not appreciative of his condescending tone.

"Yes yes I know, you don't want to lose me and all that jazz, don't worry I can handle him, today I was just caught slightly off guard" A bitter lie, and Okita knew it.

But he didn't wish to trample on her pride anymore, so he let it go. Okita walked up to the front porch and sneaked a glance at the sleeping menace before swiftly pouring himself a cup.

"At the very least, might I suggest cutting the sparring sessions, or perhaps I could take over them for you?" Okita wasn't all that competent when it came to the technical stuff, but going one on one with Koda was definitely within his expertise.

Moreover, Yasui was like a daughter to him, he had cared for her throughout her entire life. No matter how loyal he was to Yachiru, she was something he could never jeopardize, no matter the trade off.

"You assigned him to me, so let me take care of it alright?" Deep down she knew Okita simply worried for her safety, but she wasn't too keen on being coddled especially during her adulthood.

More than anything, she wanted Okita to have complete faith in her independence, even if that meant she had to incur risks.

Okita took in the sight of Yasui and smiled gently, softly patting her on the head. The latter didn't show much reaction, but didn't make any attempt to reject his affection — which spoke volumes.

"I'm proud of you Yasui, you've come a long way from the fragile child you once were, no matter how much I worry about you, please remember that" Okita's tone clearly indicated that he meant it.

Yasui was well aware that Okita's concern came from a good place, but her desire for recognition still burned hot. She wanted much more than for Okita to be proud, she wanted his undying and complete confidence.

However she failed to understand that no good parent wouldn't worry about their child, it was just in their nature.

"On a more serious note…" Okita scratched the brunt of his chin, carefully contemplating how much information he could safely reveal to his daughter. "Try to avoid getting too attached to him" Yasui looked at him with solicitude, his tone had grown awfully grim.

Today had eliminated even the faintest shred of doubt in Okita regarding Koda's potential.

Which meant sooner or later, he would attract…her, attention.

Feeling as if he had already startled his daughter enough, he shook his head and patted her back reassuringly. "It's nothing too dire, just a bit of advice from me, you know how our line of work is and all" In consummation, Okita didn't see the need for his daughter to have all the details, it would do her more harm than good after all.

'Hah, he might end up killing me before my work does' Candidly, Yasui was fearful of Koda's latent power. On the one hand she wanted to nurture it, but on the other she knew that it could end up crushing her.

Her newly added scar was proof of that, she had to confront the fact that this wasn't even Koda's base prowess, that would reveal itself after his nutrition affair was sorted out.

"Mind if I take a gander at our ambiguous student?" Yasui gestured for him to enter, taking another sip from her glass as she attempted to formulate a more stable plan of action regarding Koda's training.

"By the way, you might not want to touch his sword" Okita couldn't quite discern what she was getting at, until he noticed that Koda still had his Asauchi firmly grasped in his clutches despite him being sound asleep. "What the hell?" He murmured.

Out of interest, he haphazardly reached for the blade, but this time it did not make its discontent known.

Instead Okita found his wrist being clamped by Koda as he jolted from his bed, clearly spooked, his eyes darting up and down until he finally recognized who the figure at his bedside was.

"Oh, it's you, sorry about that" Okita shrugged the "attack" off and nonchalantly waved his hand at Koda, "It's no biggie, how are you feeling?" Okita did an excellent job at masking his intent to slug Koda in the face right that instant. He understood that to do so would be hypocritical considering he was the one responsible for awakening this side of him.

Not to mention also being the one responsible for assigning him to Yasui in the first place.

"I'm fine, just tired" Koda didn't bother to ask about Yasui, as he was clueless to the fact that he had actually managed to land a hit on her.

"That's good, Yasui, would you mind giving us some time to discuss in private?" The woman in question didn't bother trying to refute him, heading off to take a much deserved leisurely stroll through the woods.

"Something the matter?" Okita's expression following her departure grew considerably more stern, the atmosphere in the room clearly expressed Okita's "no-nonsense" mood.

"You could say that" Okita adjusted himself, wondering if it was worth mincing words or not. "Koda, you have a lot of promise you know that?" Normally that would be regarded as a compliment, but to Koda it somehow sounded like a warning.

"Thanks…?" He replied ineptly.

"As a matter of fact, I think it's safe to assume you'll become a truly prominent member of our group in the foreseeable future" Once again, Okita's words sounded cautionary rather than appreciative.

Koda's posture stiffened, he wasn't a fan of how Okita seemed to be talking in circles — his glare made it clear he wanted him to get to the point already.

The recruiter cleared his throat, "Our leader, Yachiru, is quite…lonely? I guess you could say" Now Koda was well and truly stupefied, never had he expected Yachiru to be spoken about in that manner.

'He's talking about her with…pity?' Now he just had to know where this conversation was going.

"Ever since she founded the Roamers, she has been on the search for someone who could match her in the field of battle — I once deluded myself into thinking I could be that person" Okita loosened his haori revealing a gargantuan scar across his chest. "But very quickly, I learned that the gap between us was more vast than I could ever imagine"

Koda couldn't find any words to respond with, that wasn't a scar that someone who still resided among the living should have.

"Koda, myself and an acquaintance think you will become such a person" The prospect wasn't even remotely confident in what Okita had to say, Koda had felt his power firsthand, but Yachiru was able to inflict such a wound upon him? The thought of matching someone of that caliber was clear lunacy.

"Okita, I'm going to say this as respectfully as possible, I think you're full of shit" A bleak chuckle escaped Okita's lips, he understood where Koda was coming from.

"Well, it's not as if we're completely certain you'll reach such heights, but if you do…" Okita put a hand on his shoulder, clenching it firmly as he looked him in the eyes. "She is going to want you by her side, whether you like it or not" Koda couldn't stop himself from breaking into a cold sweat, being a part of her group was one thing.

But having to face her in person? He wanted no part of it.

"And if I refuse?" Okita grimaced as he dipped his head helplessly.

"Koda, she's going to want to fight you, or maybe even force you to marry her, who knows?" The latter half was said mostly in jest, mostly. "But should that time come and you truly intend on refusing her, you'll have to kill her, there's no way around it" Koda's jaw was left hanging, what exactly did Okita expect him to make of all this?

"I know you have a lot to process, if you have any further questions I'm going to go spend a bit of time with Yasui" Okita promptly left the cabin, and Koda was left clutching his head out of stress.

Once again, he felt lost.