Daisuki~: Finally finished this chapter! There's just been so much happening that getting to this was so much work! Family life, work life and everything starts adding up! Especially for the pieces of art for this page! I'll do my best to get chapter 8 ready and hopefully release the webtoon comic by the end of the year if not sooner!
Remember our artists are Bizzy-Bee and Symptom99! Please show them some love in anyway you can! I had a blast with this chapter and I hope you do too!
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The Son of the Hero slept with his mouth agape. Next to him was his guitar and next to that was the book on how to play it. Although he appeared peaceful, his mind haunted him with images of his rival, causing his eyes to squint in his sleep.
He remembered as he poured water over Natsume disguised as Natsu. His dream self instead of doing as he did in the actual moment, he closed his eyes and leaned his lips closer.
"Ryuji! What the hell are you doing!?" Dream Natsume questioned as she stood there in her date dress.
Immediately Ryuji stopped what he was doing, his hands warding evil as he looked in the direction of the one girl he believed he was attracted to.
"What were you about to do with my cousin!?" She questioned, stomping her foot in front of herself.
"N-nothing! I swear!" Ryuji defends, waving his hands out in front of him.
"Nothing you could stop," Natsume disguised as Natsu said casually.
"What the hell is he talking about?" Natsume asked, getting closer until Natsu disguised as Natsume had pulled away from Ryuji.
"Hell if I know!" Ryuji defends, freezing when he feels Natsu holding him from behind.
"We're rivals and lovers," Natsume disguised as Natsu said, taking a step back and then turning the fang-toothed teen around before grabbing his collar and pulling Ryuji in close.
"Natsu is wrong! We're just rivals!" Ryuji countered, trying to lean his face away from his rival's face.
"After our kiss, this is what you do?" Natsume asked, her eyes gazing longingly into Ryuji's eyes.
It was as if someone with flashcards kept switching between pictures of Natsume and Natsu disguised as Natsume.
AAAHHHHHHH…!
The fang toothed teen gasped loudly as he sat up on his bed. Looking around he tried to remember what he had been dreaming about but only bits and pieces stuck with him. He looked down at his bedsheets and then clenched his fists shut.
Try as he might, there was nothing in his mind could offer him. He fell back onto his bed, looking up at the ceiling.
All he could really remember was the sad face of Natsume from his dream, then his mind compared it to the face he saw when he last saw the girl he wanted most. Telling him how stupid he was.
"I can't sleep…" Ryuji's voice trailed as he climbed out of bed.
When he got to the kitchen he saw that his Mom had prepared everything early in the morning.
He saw a bowl of miso soup, grilled fish and some fermented soybeans ready for him. Beside that was his Father's food which also consisted of the same things. Getting closer to the table he saw that everything was still fresh.
Matsumoto yawned as he entered the room. He smiled as he saw the food his wife had prepared for him, though, his eyes widened slightly when he saw his son.
"After breakfast son, there's something we need to discuss about training." The Elder Araya informed his son calmly.
Wordlessly Ryuji looked at his Father and blinked.
After finishing their morning meal, they went to the training area where they had first started Ryuji's aura training. Standing with his back facing Ryuji was The Proud Flame as he looked up.
"Ryuji now that you're on your path to becoming an aura master, there's something you should know."
"What's that, Dad?" Ryuji inquired as he placed his hands on his hips, a curious look on his face.
"During my last outing to protect the city, there was an attack heading for our home town. Thankfully your Mother and I were able to handle it." Matsumoto continued, closing his eyes in contemplation.
"I don't think I like where this is going," Ryuji mumbled, narrowing his eyes slightly.
"They managed to use aura skills like I'm able to." His Father informed him with a stern face. "Still their usage was flawed, filled with nothing but the will to conquer and destroy."
"Wait! That reminds me!" Ryuji exclaimed, images of Yamato filling his mind.
"Huh?" Matsumoto uttered, looking over his shoulder.
"The Phantom Claw will come for you!"
"Some guy by the name of Yamato attacked me using aura. He said something about "The Phantom Claw will come for me" before that he called me "your happy little accident", which, I swear he was just mocking me." Ryuji did air-quotes when he finished.
"O-of course!" Matsumoto assured before clearing his throat. "Still! The Phantom Claw you say? The ones I fought off didn't mention anything like that, perhaps they're related though."
"I'll see if I can get any more information out of them," Ryuji answered calmly, however, he couldn't help but raise a suspicious brow at his Father's hesitation.
"There's more I have to say. I think because of this threat, we'll need as many able bodies as we can, so I want you to take two worthy students from our dojo or two you think are worth training in the ways of aura." Matsumoto outlined, crossing his arms with his eyes closed.
A moment of pause followed after his Father's words.
Immediately his thoughts jumped to Haruka when she last challenged him, 'Even though she can't beat me she's still better than even our own students here, then there's Natsu and his cousins Natsume,' he pondered.
"I think Haruka would be a worthy student," Ryuji said to his Father.
"Isn't she from a rival dojo?" Matsumoto asked, giving his Son a slightly perplexed look.
"She is but she's the strongest aside from Natsu and Natsume," Ryuji explained.
"Natsu and Natsume? Almost sounds made up." Matsumoto commented.
"I figured it's probably because both had a similar name at the same time," Ryuji speculated.
"That or one of their parents told them what they were going to name their kid then didn't expect them to actually go through with it." Matsumoto added.
"That aside. My second choice will be Natsume," Ryuji continued.
"Why not Natsu?" The more experienced Master questioned. "Or would you rather spend more time with your crush?" Ryuji's father chided, with a knowing smirk.
"Dad! I-It's not like that but-but!" Ryuji defended but couldn't help but remember his vision of the younger version of her.
"But what?" Matsumoto questioned.
"She's the one I've remembered, the girl in the yellow sundress I told you about. That's not all, I think our suspicions of someone tempering with our memories is right, so can I ask you…" Ryuji's voice trailed as he looked off to the side.
"Ask me what?" Matsumoto inquired, tilting his head to one side.
"Do you remember anything about a redheaded girl with blue eyes in a yellow sundress?" Matsumoto's Son asked him.
"Can't say that I have, all I can imagine is a blank spot in our history." The Proud Flame admitted, closing his eyes and placing his hand against his head.
"So nothing has changed for you, guess I didn't kiss her long enough…" Ryuji said without thinking.
"Wait! You kissed the girl that beat you!" Ryuji's Dad exclaimed in shock.
"Dammit! I-I didn't mean to! B-but yeah!" The Fang toothed teen explained, twiddling his fingers.
"I'm the same as you, your Mother was my enemy before I ended up kissing her too." Matsumoto said in hopes of easing his son's nerves.
"I've always wondered about that, she was your sworn enemy but here I am." Ryuji explained, looking down.
"I honestly didn't see it coming, I could just tell that she wanted to be more than what her family expected of her," Matsumoto explained, averting his gaze.
"Still you managed to change her mind, weren't you against it too?" His Son asked with a confused look.
"I was at first but one day we both got so weak that neither of us could keep fighting anymore so then we started talking." Matsumoto continued but found himself smiling.
"That's when you managed to get her to see the light?" Ryuji asked with a soft smile.
"Not exactly. Remember she was my enemy but once she stopped reminding me that her clan would lay claim to all, I started asking her the real questions she wouldn't ask herself." Matsumoto elaborated calmly.
Ryuji remained silent, his eyes wide as he listened closely.
"To what end were her clan's goals? After a while she said that endless war was all she knew, she was but a servant to her family and forefathers' wills…" He continued while looking down.
"Is that she saw herself as a weapon of someone else's will?" Ryuji asked.
"That's exactly what I asked." Matsumoto replied, then continued with. "She asked me, "What do I even know about one's duty to their family?"
"I know more than you know, was my answer." The Hero continued. "I told her I came from a family of warriors that protect their fellow people."
"Let me guess, she didn't believe that." Ryuji interjected, looking down.
"She actually did. The thing is, I can't account for all the failures of my forefathers, much like she couldn't have." Matsumoto said, looking up at the same time as Ryuji did.
"So was that when you changed her mind?" Ryuji asked with a hopeful look.
"No. It was a start though." The Man of the household stated plainly
"That checks out, Mom doesn't talk about her past often," Ryuji added, but his face softened sadly.
"Yet, my dear Tsukiyo has always been good to you," Matsumoto said with a wary but genuine smile.
"Yeah. She has." Ryuji replied without hesitation.
Inside the classroom Natsu was seen looking down at his math sheet. His eyes narrowed as he kept his pencil hovering over the page. But he couldn't bring himself to solve the equation. He closed his eyes and grit his teeth, trying to forget the kiss he had shared with Ryuji, 'Stop thinking about it! Just cause he took my breath away and made my heart pound! Doesn't mean a thing!' the redhead thought, blushing a little before looking up to see Ryuji's back.
Almost as if he could sense him, Ryuji straightened his back and looked back at him. In his hand was a small paper football. He quickly flicked it with his finger.
Natsu with a glare caught the paper football, opening it he saw that inside Ryuji was asking him to talk.
Angrily he turned the paper football around and wrote back. Folding it, he flicked it back and as he did he opened it to see a crude drawing of himself sticking his tongue out.
Ryuji stared blankly, his mouth agape in annoyance.
Once class was over, Natsu immediately tried to get as far away from Ryuji as possible. However, he followed him with a determined look.
"Look! I just need to ask you something!" The fang-toothed martial artist called out, reaching his arm out.
"I don't care what you gotta say!" Natsu exclaimed over his shoulder.
"It's important! I swear!" Ryuji defended, having to power walk to keep up with his rival.
"Ugh! Fine!" The annoyed redhead said, stopping immediately with his back to Ryuji. "But keep it short!"
"I need someone talented! Capable and an excellent fighter! Someone like–" Ryuji began.
Natsu's eyes widened, then hearing Ryuji's words he immediately figured it was him so he closed his eyes with a smug look.
"Natsume!" Ryuji finished.
Natsu's left eye twitched, his mouth went agape. "W-what! What about me?" he asked, turning around and pointing.
"There's a difference here! She's beaten me and you haven't!" Ryuji exclaimed. "And I need the best of the best!"
"Best of the best my ass! You're just into Natsume!" Natsu exclaimed in anger, blushing before turning around and walking away again.
"Honoki! It's not like that! You're a great fighter! One of the best I've ever fought!" The Son of The Hero explained apologetically, following Natsu.
"If you thought that then you'd have asked me!" Natsu continued, growling. "Not like I'd have said yes!"
"Then why are you so upset!?" Ryuji asked, annoyed as he power walked so he was next to his enemy.
"I ain't upset! What's this training even about?" The pissed off redhead asked.
"It's a special training to unlock the aura that's made my Father famous, since you're close just ask Natsume to teach you what she knows once she's done training with me." Ryuji scoffed a little.
"You're kidding," Natsu's mouth went wide. "You're telling me he knows how to teach that?" Natsu asked with a shocked expression.
"Yes. Please let Natsume know as soon as possible." Ryuji urged him.
"Yeah. I-I'll let her know." Natsu looked off to the side, 'Try to get away from the guy but learning aura would give me what I'd need to become the strongest, but could I really get away with this after we kissed an all?' he thought, pursing his lips in worry.
"Thanks. If you remember when you walked in on my fight with that one green haired guy, there's something big going on with some group called 'The Phantom Claw' and if we weren't strapped for time then I'd have invited you and Natsume both." Ryuji explained, giving Natsu a strong look of respect.
Natsu paused and scratched his cheek with his index finger, 'Okay maybe it's a good thing he thinks we separate people cuz if he wanted to invite us both then this would be really hard to do.' He thought.
A redheaded girl whose hair bordered on orange hid nearby, giggling while she happened to be listening behind a wall.
"Honey! It's nothing like that," she muttered in a low voice before rolling eyes as pulling up her phone before going away.
"Hanabi! We gotta go!" Chiyu called out to the redhead nearby, sounding faint as she waved to her from a distance.
"So that's who!" Natsu turned around to catch a glimpse of the girl who kept making fun of him and Ryuji.
After his talk with Ryuji, the prodigy redhead found himself trying to organize his thoughts. This was his chance to close the gap between himself and Ryuji but at the price of training with him as his hated girl form.
"If only he invited the real me, then this wouldn't be a problem." Natsu spoke to himself as he walked further into town and home.
Nearby was a pale blue cloaked figure with broad shoulders, the only part of him that was visible was his tan chin and nose. From the building they could see the redhead quickly approaching an alleyway. Said figure wasted in no time and began hopping down from its position.
"How am I gonna' trigger my curse reliably enough? Not like I wanna use Mitsuru again, who knows what that manic could get on me." Natsu muttered to himself, glad that the amount of people around him had thinned out to the point of being able to talk to himself without anyone eavesdropping.
Or so he had thought…
Before Natsu had a chance to snap out of thoughts, the sound of a cape flapping in the wind hit his ears.
Wham!
The bewildered redhead grit his teeth in pain, absorbing the blow to his left forearm as he stopped the attack at the last second behind him.
His assaulter had tried to land an axe kick from above. Natsu leaped forward before immediately doing an about face. He immediately turned to face his attacker, grabbing his sore spot before glaring his enemy down.
"Sneak attacking? For real?" Natsu scoffed in disgust.
"I was only testing your abilities, the strong must adapt to any threat no matter where it comes from." A deep but monotone voice answered, the cloak covering his form before his garments could be seen.
"I don't know what your deal is but you're gonna' pay for that," Natsu released his arm.
"Defeat me and you could perhaps find out my deal," The strange combatant lowered his hood and revealed himself to be a bald man with his eyes closed, looking to be somewhere in his twenties.
Right after that he took his own stance, entering the Xu Bu empty stance he tilted his right leg to support his weight as he stuck out his left leg and rested it on his toes. His hands went inward to the right side of his torso before one was held out in an open push palm, his other hand had the back of his hand facing Natsu with his thumb up.
"Get ready then," Natsu remarked as he took his own stance, then as if to mock his opponent he took a similar leg stance to his enemy but not dipping as low as his opponent. Each one of his hands was in an open palm but his right extended whereas the other was closer to his chest.
Natsu's opponent curled their front foot inward before using that to spring him forward with a left vertical fist punch. The focused teen swayed his head to the right, only for his enemy to anticipate this and swing the back of his palm back towards Natsu who noticed this and took the hit before he rolled his head downward to evade.
His hairless attacker maintained the pressure, swiftly going in for a right hook. The redheaded prodigy stepped back and batted away his attack by the forearm with his left hand. His enemy tried again but this time with his left arm only for Natsu to do the same.
Natsu's enemy then swung a right hook but then spun around to swing with his left arm. Natsu avoided this by jumping back at the first hook by pulling back his stomach, then stopping his second spin strike by blocking his forearm against his enemy's.
Natsu's hair challenged combatant remained on the assault, each strike making the redhead take a step backward.
Aiming upwards with another right vertical fist strike his opponent had done as he had before, redirecting his strike so that he could land a surprise closed fist backhand. Just for Natsu to lean back and take another step back.
His blue-eyes widened when his adversary predictably tried to strike with the opposite fist. The Jeet Kun Do master countered by grabbing the Shaolin practitioner's left shoulder, which caused the monk to try and hit back with the other arm.
Grunting the redheaded fighter caught his second strike by the forearm and shoved it down, which in turn caused his hand on his Shaolin Fu fighter's shoulder to drag down to his elbow.
In this locked state an exchange between their legs began, the bald man attempted to stomp on Natsu's front foot. Missing this meant little as he roared in anger before doing a side kick which then transitioned into a hook kick; looping outwards and to his back.
Honoki absorbed the strike, seething in pain for a second before jumping back.
Their eyes narrowed, both near the same speed. Not giving up his pressure, the stubborn monk did a Shaolin jump front kick. To which Natsu blocked with both his hands slapping it down, however, the force of the kick was enough to push Natsu off the ground by about a foot and sent him backwards a little.
Landing on his feet Natsu looked up and saw that his assailant had begun smirking, getting to his stance when they first started.
Natsu scoffed but with a smile, he straightened out his back and casually strolled over. This got the cocky monk to look pleasantly surprised.
The equally cocky redhead stopped just as he was about a foot away from his open palm.
With no hesitation the Shaolin Master shot out a right vertical fist, this allowed Natsu to grab him by his forearm with both hands and shove it close to his attacker's chest. Right after he tried the same kind of punch only for his left forearm to get caught by the blue-eyed martial artist's right hand.
Although his eyes didn't open, they widened as the once confident monk was genuinely surprised. Especially since Natsu ended up doing the same thing over and over again, the bald monk wanted to kick him but his redheaded target would simply take the lead and cross his knee over his to keep him from kicking.
Reading the monk like a book, Natsu's eyes honed in on another left swing. He grabbed it with his right hand, locking in his wrist while his other grabbed that same arm's forearm by the middle and shoved it back against the side of his chest.
"Now!" Natsu exclaimed as he still held his enemy's wrist while his right fist reeled back with a straight punch.
Wham!
The determined prodigy landed his attack so hard that the bald man's face caved in a little.
Clearly it hurt given how much he grit his teeth but that didn't stop him, because he recovered quickly and tried to use his right arm.
"As if!" Natsu shouted, really using the fact he had such a strong grip on his adversary's wrist to his advantage by lifting it up to make his own fist deflect his punch by the wrist.
Bam!
Natsu landed a right jab at his enemy's gut as hard as he could, making the Proud Monk have to gasp deeply for air and eject spit from his mouth.
Becoming over confident Natsu took a step back and copied his opponent, taking the stance they had both first taken at the start of their fight.
Except rather than staying that way, Natsu tilted his further outstretched hand until his open palm was facing the sky.
"Come on," The redhead taunted while grinning.
"Yes. You'll make a fine addition…" The monk chuckled, 'Looks like I'll have to give him a taste!' he thought as he concentrated, humming deep in his throat as he closed his eyes.
"What are you yammering about?" Natsu questioned, maintaining his grin but stopped suddenly when he swore he could see a faint foggy smoke coming off his enemies body.
There was little time for him to speculate because Natsu had to react to being charged. Right as he was in front of Natsu he was about to do another jump front kick Natsu did as Jeet Kun Do does and countered mid-attack by hitting the bald bastard's chest with a spinning roundhouse kick.
"And that's that!" The supposed victor claimed, turning around just in time to see his foe landing on his knees and hands.
"Was that it?" He questioned all of a sudden, whipping his head up with a proud grin. "Because if that's all then I'm afraid this is already over."
"What the hell?" Natsu gawked for a second before shaking his head, 'He's trying to get in your head, stay calm, Honoki…' he thought as he shook out his hands and started bouncing on his feet.
"All that skill and still at this level," His bald enemy commented as they encircled one another, although the hairless man had dropped his stance and was merely walking in a circle with the redheaded prodigy. They both only stopped until the alley walls were behind their backs.
"Got a problem with the level of my skill?" Natsu wondered, dangerously narrowing his eyes.
"Come at me and find out…" The Monk's voice mockingly trailed.
"Your funeral then!" Natsu exclaimed angrily, punching and kicking his foe as many times as he could.
Like a ragdoll his enemy just kept taking hit after hit, maintaining his ground and not even moving from place.
"Oh! That tickles!" He continued to belittle Natsu.
"Shut the hell up!" Natsu demanded, unable to believe what he was seeing, 'I know there's training for this stuff but this guy's off the frick'in charts!' he thought.
"Ehehehe…" The Phantom Claw warrior stood strong, 'Yes! Keep hitting me! Keep wasting what precious stamina you have!' he thought while tanking everything the furious teen could give him.
"You think this is funny!?" Natsu barked.
"Yes! Immensely!" Was the response given to the agitated redhead.
"If just wailing on you ain't enough! Then how about we change things up!" Natsu roared as his mind's eye projected an image of him striking the seemingly unstopped monk repeatedly in the gut.
"Try all you–" He got as far as saying, his voice caught in his throat he needed to gasp for air.
Crumble…!
"Haaaaa…!"
Natsu roared as loudly as he could, forgoing all forms of style and wailing on his enemy as hard and as fast as he could, 'I can't lose here! I won't lose! Not to some jackass like this!' he thought.
"You!" His enemy only got as far as saying before he was right hooked in the gut, then left hooked, following that was a right elbow jab then after that a powerful left knee, 'If he keeps going I'll run out of–' he only got as far as thinking.
"HHHHHAAAAAA........!"
Natsu pushed himself beyond his limit, the veins on his face began to expand. The sound of his enemy's sandals scraping the ground was drowned out by the thundering impacts of Natsu's attacks.
"STOP!" The distraught Monk ordered but he was only met by another insanely quick burst of attacks.
The prodigy lost all control, his eyes went white as he no longer had thoughts in his mind. Only one goal, strike his enemy's abdomen as many times as he could, even if his hands hurt, even if they were going numb.
Crumble....!
The wall behind Natsu's prey began cracking, slowly spreading out like a spider-web.
"Ahhhhhh…!" Natsu reeled back his left fist into a blindly fast uppercut.
Smash…!
Boooom…!
The wall behind the monk caved in and he fell onto his back, behind him was an empty laundry room as he fell on his back squinting his eyes painfully shut.
Natsu simply stood where he was, arm held up in his uppercut pose. Panting heavily as if he were letting out smoke to cool himself down.
All of a sudden a smoke bomb went on in the room the Monk had been in. Natsu finally snapped back to his senses and covered his face.
"R-Ryuji wasn't kidding, that nutjob is probably what Fang-Face was going on about." Natsu remarked before crossing his arms and leaving the alleyway, 'It was like punching a thick steel door!' he thought.
Once he was back on the sidewalk he felt his phone vibrate, taking his phone out of his pocket he noticed that he had gotten another message from Haruka.
"We're training again tonight. Can you come over early today?"
Natsu looks at his message with a flat look, then starts to text back. Although, before he texts back he stops right as his thumbs are mere centimeters away from the screen. He grit his teeth as his hand and especially his thumb trembled. Mustering the strength he texted back.
"There's something I gotta talk to you about. I'll be right over."
Natsu waited for a moment but soon after he got a message back from Haruka. Reading it he saw that she replied with.
"Okay. I don't see why you can't just text me."
Natsu pocketed his phone, then began walking towards Haruka's house. Eventually he found his way over to Haruka's house.
Once there he rang the doorbell, eventually he was greeted by Haruka herself. She was already dressed in her usual Muay Thai training uniform.
Natsu gives her a flat look.
"I know we're supposed to train, but there's something I need to talk to you about."
"Again. You could've just texted me." Haruka remarked as stepped aside as she allowed Natsu inside.
"It's embarrassing, so let's just get to your training and I'll explain there." Natsu offered as he placed his hands behind his head while Haruka led them to the training room.
Once inside the padded Muay Thai training room, Haruka stood across the battlefield from Natsu.
Natsu assumed his Wing Chun stance, arms held up, elbows bent upward near his face, his left hand higher up than his eyebrows while the other was slightly lower. His left leg stuck out but pointing to the right while his other leg was bent but also pointing in the same direction.
"Before we start, Fang-Face invited me to train with him." Natsu announced.
"Ryuji?" Haruka asked, raising a brow before taking a Muay Thai Sprinter stance.
"There's a problem though, he invited me but not exactly me." Natsu began but after finishing what he said, he looked off to the side with a blush.
"Not exactly you?" Haruka asked with a perplexed look before while looking at Natsu it finally hit her.
"He invited, N-Natsume…" Natsu's voice trailed.
"Wait. Does that also mean, you were the girl Ryuji was talking about!?" The proud female warrior concluded.
"I-I didn't mean to! I had to because I changed into my guy form in the women's bathroom and-and our school's known for expelling boys for that-that!" The shocked redheaded boy defended himself.
"So that's what you really wanted help with then," Haruka remarked, lowering her hands and suddenly frowning.
"Yeah. I ain't proud of it." Natsu replied, closing his eyes and lowering his arms as well.
"Poor guy. Does he know you're really a guy who just turns into a girl?" Haruka looked a bit bummed out while asking.
"I don't know what'd he do if he found out Natsume ain't real, I figured I'd show him I wouldn't be a good match for the guy so he'd give up,"
"You should just be honest before he falls head over heels," Haruka warned, shaking her head disapprovingly.
"I don't think I should, you see, there's something big happening and Ryuji's gonna' need all the help he can get."
"What are you getting at?" Haruka inquired.
"Ryuji got attacked at school and to make it worse, so did I. Honestly I'm pretty sore right now so I'm not sure this would be a fair fight." Honoki made his opponent aware.
"Oh great. I was hoping at the very least I could get better at fighting the guy who's almost beaten Ryuji." Haruka remarked, 'Wish he'd say something before I got changed into my uniform,' she thought.
"Hey! For your information I have beaten the guy!" Natsu exclaimed, pumping a fist out and stomping his right forward in anger.
"Oh? Then why haven't you let the whole school know?" Haruka asked, surprised because of how cocky her sparring partner came off as.
"I beat him as Natsume," Natsu replied before crossing his arms, turning away from her in a huff.
"So it'd be Natsume which you can't claim the glory for if it reveals your secret and keeps you from getting that special training as Natsume."
"And when I get that training! You bet I'm turning it back on him!" Natsu revealed, lowering his hands while clenching his fists.
"Still. How are you supposed to train with him as Natsume? Aren't you afraid he'll fall for you more or put the moves on you?"
The redheaded martial arts expert suddenly realized a flaw in his plan, the image of them kissing and the thoughts Natsu had as Natsume when realising that Ryuji had in common.
"T-that's true," He responded while gulping nervously.
"And isn't your girl side kinda' unpredictable?" Haruka questioned.
"Well. Actually that's maybe where you can help me…" Natsu replied, looking off to the side.
"Wait! You know how to use it?" Haruka asked suddenly, eyes wide.
"Not exactly. I know how to trigger the curse reliably enuff though," Natsu began, his index finger reaching up to scratch his cheek.
"H-how so?" Haruka asked, blinking in confusion.
"That's where you come in…" Natsu nervously began, his mouth going flat.
Vrrrr…!
Haruka remained confused until her phone rang, she held a finger up to check her phone nearby on a bench.
"Araya?" She questioned.
"Wait! He's got your number!?" Natsu questioned with a shocked face.
"Yeah. He hasn't responded to my calls to challenges for a while though." Haruka remarked as she accepted the call and placed her phone to her ear.
"Figures the tomboy only used it to challenge him," Natsu muttered, crossing his arms.
"Takayama. There's something I'd like to talk to you about." Ryuji said on the other line.
"Are you calling to arrange a fight?" Haruka asked, wondering if Ryuji wanted to take the initiative this time.
"Not really. I know we have our differences Takayama but I'm calling because I think you're one of the best of the best in the city and what I need to ask you is above our scabbles." Ryuji answered.
"Above the fact that your dojo is keeping my family from success?" Haruka questioned, leaning away from the phone with a raised brow.
"There's an underground criminal syndicate. They go by the name The Phantom Claw, and from what I saw, I didn't even fight their best fighter and that one even gave me a run for my money." The fang-toothed teen on the other end explained.
Haruka hummed in contemplation, furrowing her brows as she absorbed the implications of all this. "So then what exactly are you calling for?"
"I want you to join me for some special training with my Father, it should bring us to new levels."
"I don't think I can do this, I can't abandon my art…" Haruka answered with a little hesitation.
"That's the beauty of it." Ryuji said confidently. "You don't need to abandon your style so you don't need to worry about that."
"I can keep my style!?" Haruka questioned, eyes wide. Immediately after she shook her head. "W-wait! Are you sure you want me to learn this! Aren't I a rival dojo? Aren't you afraid I could use this against you?" Haruka scrambled as she didn't know how to process this.
"We need to put our scabbles aside, besides, it'll be more fun when we fight if you have an edge." Ryuji responded calmly, almost sounding as if he welcomed the challenge.
"I need a little time to think about this," Haruka responded after a hot-second.
"Don't take too long. We start tomorrow at 9am sharp." Ryuji says on the other line.
Haruka's eyes widen as she hears this. She sighs heavily and closes her eyes. "I'll see you then." The raven haired teen confirms.
"So what'd he say?" Natsu inquired, raising a suspicious brow.
"He offered me what he offered you as Natsume, except he added that it wouldn't require me losing my fighting style…" Haruka began but then her voice trailed off near the end.
"Glad I'm too tired to train then." Natsu said with a sigh of relief as he fell onto his butt and placed his hands behind his head.
"That means we'll be training together then, except with you as a girl…" Haruka started then pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Yeah," Natsu begins softly as he falls onto his back.
"Again. Aren't you scared he'll find you out?" Haruka questioned, eyes wide in annoyance.
"That's what I've been meaning to talk to you about before Fang-face called. I know how to control my girl side a little more now, it's just, you're not gonna' like it." Natsu spoke calmly while looking up at the ceiling.
"How so?" Haruka asked, giving the same inquisitiveness she had been given before.
"I'm gonna need you to go through some crap, okay! My curse only triggers when a woman is really pissed off!" Natsu began calmly but as he kept going on his expression soured.
Haruka needed a moment to process this suggestion. She knew she wasn't perfect but to sit there and accept so many disrespectful remarks just to help a boy she barely knew, she wanted some assurance; namely revenge for his words.
"That's fine! As long as I can punish you afterwards!" Haruka answered, raising her fist and clenching it in front of herself with a look of malice that would scare any man.
"Punish?" Natsu repeated, mouth agape and with a look of worry.
"If you get on my nerves too much I get to hit you," Haruka added.
"Just don't go overboard, I can't train if you knock my lights out." Natsu reluctantly agreed.
"Alright then, see you later then." Haruka replied, smirking a little. "And by the way, make sure you're able to train before I have to go and change outfits." She scoffed.
"Don't know. Makes you look a lot less like a tomboy." Natsu remarked, closing his eyes and failing to notice that he had transformed into a girl again.
"Look who's talking!?" Haruka asked, eye twitching.
"Huh?" Natsume opened her eyes and looked down to her chest.
The door to Natsume's apartment opened, on the other side was Natsume as she sighed with her hands in her pockets. Looking around she looked for any signs of her mother being there but was greeted with the still darkness of her apartment home.
Flicking on the light and slipping out of her shoes she walked until she reached her couch.
Flopping onto her butt she leaned her head back in exhaustion. She opened her eyes while staring at the ceiling. "I need some 'me' time." she emphasized.
Looking around her she spotted her Gameportal 4 controller. Next to it was the TV remote. Silently she picked up the TV remote first, changed the input into the proper HDMI input. After that, the redhead pressed the Gameportal logo button and watched it boot up loudly.
"Keep it down! I'm trying to sleep!" Natsume's neighbor beneath her floor audibly complained.
Natsu flinched with wide eyes and immediately looked around and spotted her Gameportal headset. Slipping it on, she looked through her game options. She noticed a notification at the top right corner of her screen. Natsume raised a brow and checked it, the gamertag was the one she had seen when she looked at Ryuji's profile on their date.
"And reject…" Natsume's voice trailed as if saying no to his request was the most obvious thing in the world. Her finger hovered over the controller button but she closed her eyes and lowered her head, closing her eyes and shifting the left controller stick so the accept icon was highlighted.
Opening her eyes, she looked up at the screen and saw that Ryuji was online. "He's probably about to message me," Natsume remarked, expecting a direct message.
Instead, however, she saw that on top of being online Ryuji had also loaded up the game BloodScorn.
A pinging noise rang in Natsume's headset, she noticed that she had been given a game invitation by Ryuji.
"Is this for real?" Natsume blinked a few times.
Hesitating for a moment she also accepted his game invite, she was greeted by the opening cinematic before she pushed another button and skipped it. The screen cuts to a gothic looking Victorian European city shrouded in what seemed like perpetual night.
Natsume shortly after saw a large grey bar with a brown border saying, create your character. As she began she noticed that there were limited options.
"Probably best to play as a girl since he thinks I'm Natsume." Natsume said to herself, choosing the female gender option.
Another pinging noise hit her ears as she got a voice call from Ryuji. Natsume stared at the screen for a second before shifting her left joystick over the reject button. Immediately after she continued to make her character.
A ping followed the rejection, a quick message appearing at the right corner of her character creation screen.
"So no audio?"
Natsume rolled her eyes and pushed the logo button on her controller, responding to the text message.
"I ain't got no mic."
Without further delays, Natsume finishes her character creation and the screen loads. Her character appears, looking strikingly like her but dressed in a white dress shirt with a red vest over it. Near her head but folded back was a black hood. Around her hips she wore a black pair of trousers with black boots on her feet. In her left hand she brandished a shotgun while her other hand held a somewhat large but rusty looking axe.
A bell icon went off on the corner of her screen before a summoning circle appeared next to Natsume's character. From it came Ryuji's character, also sporting the same outfit but his was a male character which also happened to look exactly like he did. However, instead of having the same weapons as Natsume he had a strong looking metal cane and a pistol in the other.
His rival's avatar emoted, bending forward from the waist as he swept one arm smoothly across his torso. His hand came to rest flat against his chest, holding the deep, formal bow for a brief instance in the gothic twilight before rising back up.
Natsume rolled her eyes in response to this and went through the in-game gestures, she settled on a simple wave emote.
Ryuji's character pointed in the direction they needed to head, without gesturing or anything Natsume's character led the charge and ran past her rival.
What followed was Natsume and Ryuji hacking and slashing their way through various monstrosities. Such as evil dire wolves with glowing red eyes, twisted gangly looking villagers with elongated limps attacking them with huge gardening tools.
Ryuji blasted a giant diseased looking rat, causing it to flop forward.
Natsume shot a giant crow from behind with her shotgun as it was going to attack Ryuji.
"Man, this game is so much better with a teammate!" Natsume remarked as she and Ryuji went up some stairs.
Before Natsume could say anything else, she got another message from Ryuji and it read.
"On this bridge there's a boss coming up. Since you don't have a mic this will be harder."
"Whatever. How hard can it be?" Natsume commented to herself as she texted Ryuji back exactly what she said.
Right after she said that, a giant werewolf hopped over the gate at the end of the bridge. It howled loudly before dropping down on all fours and charging at their characters. Ducking and rolling at the last second both managed to evade it at the last second.
"We got this! So he's fast!" Natsume commented, closing her eyes with a nervous look.
Natsume raised her shotgun when it got close to her but she however was struck before she could even get a shot out.
Ryuji's character loaded a pistol shot and fired before it could finish its seemingly endless combo. Right after Ryuji ran towards it while it was stumbling and swinging his cane at it repeatedly.
Inside Ryuji's room the brown haired teen was glaring at the screen and rapidly pressing buttons.
"Holy crap I need health!" Natsume glanced at her health and then Ryuji. "Hold on! I just need a second!" The panicking redhead immediately healed her character with a potion.
"Ugh! Ah!" Ryuji's character began grunting and groaning in pain as the giant werewolf had started comboing him now.
"I'm coming!" Natsume screamed as she dashed forward.
A final slash mark is heard before Ryuji's character fell forward onto his knees, fading away and reappearing outside the boss zone.
"Dammit!" Ryuji sighed and lowered his head, dropping his controller in front of him on the ground as she sat on a cushion.
"You bastard!" Natsume exclaimed as she swung her axe downward, only for the giant wolf to sidestep on all fours before leaping towards Natsume's character and slashing her across the torso.
Natsume's eyes widened as she saw what happened to Ryuji's character happen to hers next.
"Are you kidding!?" Natsume watched as her character appeared outside the boss zone standing next to Ryuji's character.
"Dammit! If only she had a mic then we could work together better!" Ryuji argued with himself, picking up the controller with a disgruntled look.
Ryuji looked at the screen and noticed Natsume's avatar pointing in the direction of the boss zone.
"Back to it then, this game is known for being hard so let's go again." Ryuji commented as he followed Natsume back into the battle.
Sadly for them they only kept losing. First, Natsume's character was slammed into a wall before fading. After that, Ryuji followed and was crushed by a hammer fist strike onto the ground. After that they tried again.
Only for them both to get the boss down to half-health and then both be swiped to death by the giant werewolf doing a wide sweeping slash.
Both Natsume and Ryuji felt their eyes twitching and mouths going agape. After that both just stayed outside the boss zone for a hot minute. The blue eyed beauty sighed and got up quickly, going over to her kitchen fridge to get a soda before quickly making her way back and popping open her can.
Ping!
During a long drink of cold soda, she heard the familiar sound of her game notification. The text message from Ryuji read.
"How about I call you even if you don't have a mic?"
Natsume finished her sipping, then closed her eyes in exhaustion. Opening them up she remembered how her last interaction with Ryuji went, how sad he looked when they had to finish their date.
"Alright. Fine."
Natsume disabled her mic on her headset by pushing a button on her microphone which muted her.
"Alright. If I see anything I'll let you know. Hopefully this works this time!"
The redheaded girl's avatar emoted a thumbs up, before pointing ahead again. Silently they went back through the bridge archway. Once again the giant werewolf leaped over the gate at the end of the bridge.
"I'll go right!" Ryuji exclaimed in his room, as he looked at the screen he saw that Natsume had gone to the left.
Suddenly Ryuji's teammate took the initiative and was the first to start swinging her axe sideways. Her teammate anticipated the enemy dodging so he came to a quick stop and fired his pistol causing the enemy to stagger before it could dodge.
Bang!
"Hell yeah!" Natsume cheered as she took that as her chance, before the giant werewolf could recover from staggering she started hacking away at the giant werewolf's health bar.
Joining the fray, Ryuji ran over to start clobbering the twisted monster along with Natsume.
"You're out of stamina! Let me keep his attention!" Ryuji's voice instructed as Natsume backed away for a second.
Natsume had her character get behind the boss while she regained her stamina. Keeping her distance but close enough to still be able to jump back in to help.
"Oh no!"
Natsume watched as the giant monster leaped into the air and did a double hammer fist strike down onto Ryuji, sending him flying back. The werewolf reeled its arm back back but before it could strike the downed fang-toothed teen.
Boom!
Natsume's shotgun echoed as it hit the wolf in the back, it turned around and howled before dashing towards Natsume. It did to her what it had done to Ryuji, a double hammer fist strike. She gasped in person and leaped backwards at the land second.
That didn't mean the nightmarish creature stopped attacking, it followed up its attack with claw swings towards Natsume's character.
It missed the first swing but right after it managed to land a hit, now it had her where it wanted her as she was staggered. "No! No! No!" The redheaded gamer lost her cool as she kept getting hit.
"Get away from her!" Ryuji's voice exclaimed in what sounded to be genuine worry. Once again he fired his pistol and gained its attention. Running towards it he slashed at it from behind, only for it to recover quickly and sidestep his attack before turning around.
Ryuji screamed as he swung wildly, luckily right before it could attack he landed his hit which interrupted its retaliation.
Natsume found her eyes going wide as she could feel the worry in Ryuji's voice, she even found herself blushing. Shaking her head she started button mashing in order to maybe help her character get off her back faster.
"Come on! Come on…!" She said watching as Ryuji's character ran out of stamina.
The boss monster howled loudly, however, it was more than just a loud noise but an area of effect scream that sent Ryuji's character on his back.
"Noooo!" Natsume shouted, finally getting up.
Boom!
Her shotgun made the wolf flinch, it turned around right as Ryuji got back up.
"Oh shit!" Natsume noticed she had it's attention and she was only one hit away from going down.
"Natsume!" Ryuji's voice roared as he leaped and rolled over to the wolf as it was going to finish Natsume.
A loud thwacking sound echoed as the werewolf in front of Natsume fell to its knees and onto his side, howling faintly as it faded away.
Behind it was Ryuji's character as he had swung his cane to his right, extended outwardly before whipping it to his side.
Natsume blushed, shaking her head and grit her teeth in frustration. Without thinking, she reached her hand up and enabled her microphone.
"The hell man! I ain't some weak little princess in need of saving!" Natsume argued, practically fuming.
"Wait! I thought you said you didn't have a mic?" Ryuji questioned on the other end.
"I lied! I just didn't wanna talk!" Natsume admitted, closing her eyes and so glad that Ryuji couldn't see her blushing or feeling the butterflies in her stomach as she placed her hand over her heart; remembering how much Ryuji's worried exclamations made her feel.
"If I hadn't done that we would have needed to start over!" Ryuji defended in an angry tone.
"I'd still rather lose than have you think I'm some weakling who needs saving! I'm-I'm a–" Natsume realized all of a sudden she almost said she was a man.
"I get it, you're mad! I didn't do that because I think you're weak! Honestly I think you're one of the strongest people I've ever met! And that's why I wish you would have let me call you sooner because I told Natsu to invite you for a special training session with my Dad!" Ryuji explained quickly then suddenly became silent.
"N-Natsu did tell me, still, you shouldn't have invited me especially after everything…" Natsume didn't specify but it was obvious what she was getting at.
"Don't sell yourself short. I respect Natsu and when we have enough time and Natsu can't keep up anymore, I don't mind teaching him later on too." Ryuji assured her.
"Yeah, yeah. Alright." Natsume replied, sighing and putting down her controller to lean her chin onto her hand.
"Y-you okay?" Ryuji asked cautiously.
"When do we start?" Natsume asked all of a sudden.
"Tomorrow at my place, 9am sharp." Ryuji responded softly.
"See ya then." Natsume responded.
"Goodbye, Natsume…" Ryuji's voice trailed softly and longingly.
"G-good night." Natsume replied.
Her headset made a pinging noise as she ended the call, leaning back onto the couch her head leaned back so she could stare at the ceiling.
"Why couldn't he have just invited me as a guy instead?" She wondered aloud.
Distant chirps filled the morning sky as above the tori gate to the Araya Dojo was a small Eurasian tree swallow. Its gaze was fixed on the green and brown structure before it heard faint footsteps and it turned around to see both Natsume and Haruka in training gi's. Natsume's hands behind her head while Haruka walked with her hands swinging from her sides.
"Lucky this place is so easy to spot," Natsume's voice echoed.
"Being a world renowned hero has its perks," Haruka's voice said plainly as it followed Natsume's.
The small bird atop the gate tilted its head once at them before chirping and flying off.
"Man I need an energy drink," Natsume mumbled before holding a hand up to her face and yawning into her palm.
"Did you have a hard time sleeping last night?" Haruka inquired, looking at the redhead.
"Guess I was just too excited," She lied with a shrug, while looking off to the side, 'I was having too much fun gaming last night,' she thought with a light blush.
"For the training or when Ryuji inevitably hits on you?" Haruka questioned seriously at first but then when she saw the tired redhead switch from tired to flustered she stifled a laugh with her closed palm over her mouth.
"Can it! Why don'cha!?" Natsume responded too quickly, keeping her hands above her head and leaning her head back a little; her blush deepening.
"I'm messing with you but remember if anything happens and he finds out, he might not wanna train with you anymore." Haruka honestly warned Natsume, to which she received nothing but silence.
"Yeah. I know." Was the gender bending martial artist's simple response.
"Ladies!" A gentle and warm voice rang out before the sound of a sliding door was heard thudding.
Haruka looked ahead while Natsume opened her eyes in an angry shock, not liking being referred to as a lady, 'Just suck it up Honoki, right now you're Natsume,' she thinks.
They were greeted at the front door to see the legendary hero Tsukiyo Araya. She clasped her hand together, moving as if she wasn't even blind.
"I-it's an honor to meet you!" Haruka bowed, clasping her hands together in the same way.
"S-same! It's a really big honor to meet the Blind Maiden herself!" Natsume bowed her head, hands to her sides.
"Girls! Please!" The Blind Maiden waved them off when she stood back up straight. "We're not here to talk about me! You're both here to see my husband for some training with my son!" she clarified.
"Dear! Is that them?" Said husband's voice echoed inside.
"Yes! They'll be right there!" Tsukyio said, calling back to him by looking over her shoulder and shouting.
"Anyways. It's a pleasure to meet you two as well. I'm Araya. Tsukiyo Araya." She announced.
"Takayama! Haruka-Takayama!" The dark-haired girl gave her name.
"Honoka! Natsume-Honoka!" The redhead also gave her name.
"Now with the formalities out of the way. Please come in." The heroine suggested as she took a step out of the doorway, 'So Natsume was the one Ryuji went on a date with, best not embarrass Ryuji by bringing that up.' she thought as she could see their energy through aura sight and roughly make up both the girl's images but as black silhouettes.
Wordlessly they went inside, slipping their shoes off at the front before proceeding further inside.
As they went down a hallway filled to the brim with decorations and motivational scrolls, they saw a pair of opened sliding double doors on the right side of the hallway.
Above it was a plaque with the words training room on it.
"This must be so odd for you Miss Takayama, coming to train at a rival dojo." Tsukiyo began.
"I'm not going to hold that against anyone here, besides, I was told I wouldn't need to sacrifice my fighting style to train here." Haruka responded while letting the blind woman lead them, 'And if I can't beat Ryuji at the very least, learning whatever Matsumoto has in store should boost our dojos numbers,' she thinks to herself.
"That's right. And what about you Miss Honoka?" Tsukiyo asked, looking over her shoulder at the serious redhead.
"My goal is the same as Ryuji's really, to become the strongest there is." Natsume replied with a cocky look, right before punching her fist into her open palm.
"No wonder he likes you," The fang-toothed woman commented, placing a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh.
Haruka snorted, closing her eyes with a big smile.
Natsume merely gasped before lowering her hands and blushing with an angry face, looking to be in a huff.
Inside the training room was Ryuji setting up a cassette player by plugging in the headphones.
Matsumoto was across from him also setting up another pair of headphones onto a cassette player.
Between them were two mats where no doubt Haruka and Natsume would be undergoing their Aura-sight training.
"Hopefully after this both of them will have access to Aura-sight like you do," Matsumoto began but when he looked at his son, he saw a conflicted soul.
"Yeah. Hopefully." Ryuji responded in a dour tone, looking down at the mat.
"Something troubling you? Figured you'd be excited considering you're having two girls over." Matsumoto gave an encouraging smile.
"It's not like that. Last night me and Natsume got to play an online game together and she said that she didn't want to talk about what happened during our date and-and I guess I'm kind of afraid we'll never actually talk about it." Ryuji explained, closing his eyes with a sigh.
"Ryuji. If it's meant to be, it'll be…" The Proud Flame said softly, giving him a soft but encouraging smile.
"It's just, like I told you, I think she's the girl that haunted me and now here she is and I'm afraid she doesn't want anything to do with me," Ryuji went on but once he looked up to his Father he saw him raising his hand, telling him to stop as when he raised his head, across the room was his Mother, Haruka and Natsume.
In that instant Haruka and his Mother became background noise, the only thing Ryuji could focus on was Natsume. His mind's eye super imposed Natsume's beautifully sad face when they parted.
Natsume froze in place, almost as if she could sense his thoughts as in that moment she remembered that look of longing in Ryuji's eyes during their date.
Ba-dum! Ba-dum!
Their hearts were beating in tandem but neither could bring themselves to say anything, merely stare into each other's eyes.
"You two okay?" Haruka asked all of a sudden.
This managed to snap both of their trance-like states, Ryuji looking down with a shocked look and a deep blush on his face.
Natsume's eyes went wide before she looked away, pursing her lips while blushing as well.
"Oh my…" Tsukiyo chuckled awkwardly.