Chapter 49 - Fumio-senpai

After a few more combo attempts by Fumio, Kotone notices that his movements have considerably slowed down. While she sees no sign of Fumio being exhausted, the reduced speed is still a curious thing to her.

Fumio is still not giving up trying to land a strike on Red however, he hopes that his considerably slowed speed will catch Red off-guard.

To his disappointment, *smack*, he still gets his wooden sword smacked out of his hands with a strike from Red that matches his slowed speed.

"I've run out, boss." Fumio can only sigh as he massages his wrists.

"You've done well." Red then opens his eyes and nods.

"Thank you, boss." Fumio is proud of himself.

"So. Good things first." Red starts, making Fumio stand in silent attention.

"You've quickly gotten used to channeling spiritual energy from your elixir sea to your meridians. And I like how stable you maintain the supply of spiritual energy throughout your body."

Fumio sighs in relief, as those things are what he worked on in the past three days.

"BUT. It's far from enough. There are more things I didn't like."

Fumio's pride takes a hit.

"I told you that channeling spiritual energy between meridians is just as important, if not more, than releasing them out of your body…" Red starts listing things that does not satisfy him.

Kotone, while clueless of what the two are talking about, is trying hard to pick up things, not wanting to bother the two. After all, this is the first time she witnessed a spar and a teaching moment between Red and Fumio.

"But boss… I just need more practice, right?" Fumio says after Red's input.

"True. But the problem is your approach. You keep practicing what you're good at. But with the aspects you find difficult or complicated, you become neglectful. Am I wrong?" Red asks.

"…" Fumio takes a moment, before realizing that he indeed practiced like how Red described him.

"I'll work on them." He can only promise.

"Good." Red moves on.

"Another thing, is your reserves. You only have a limited amount in your elixir sea, but you use what's in it with reckless abandon."

"Uhhh.. five minutes of continuous use… wouldn't that be enough?" Fumio asks.

"If you want to drain yourself and leave nothing for at times when you have to flee. After all, it takes you how many minutes to fill yourself up?" Red shakes his head.

"During a fight, you have to conserve spiritual energy. Why keep them running in your arms when you're not attacking? Why keep them running in the rest of your body when using just your footwork? It's a waste."

"Then I would have lasted… ten minutes…" Fumio realizes his mistake.

"But… it sounds complicated and mentally draining." He also realizes the effort and focus it takes to control his meridians while fighting.

"Yes. But you can do it. Just like how your breathing technique has become second nature, you will eventually master the control of your meridians in no time as long as you practice." Red explains.

"Okay, boss." Fumio takes it to heart.

"I also want to see you control the output of your spiritual energy." Red resumes his guidance.

"Question, Fumio. Do you open the faucet of your kitchen sink all the way when rinsing a pair of chopsticks?" he asks.

"No. That'd be wasting too much water…" Fumio shakes his head.

"I'll learn to control the faucet better, boss." He pledges, understanding Red's metaphor easily.

"Good." Red nods.

"Boss… Uh…" Fumio suddenly gets an idea.

"Can I improve my elixir sea first?" He asks.

"Why?" Red raises his brows.

"Well, you call it elixir sea, but mine looks like a puddle on the ground after a light rainfall. Is there something that I can do to at least make it a pond? No, at least a basin?" Fumio asks.

"Didn't I just tell you that you need control more?" Red scratches his eyebrow.

"Yes boss… But still, may I? So, I can have enough spiritual energy to practice my control for long periods of time without the interruption of running out?" Fumio reasons.

"You can't yet. That's all your body can handle." Red reveals.

"Oh…" Fumio is disappointed. "Yeah. Even though I upgraded your resistance seals, and you can power them with your own spiritual energy, it'll take weeks to months again before your body increases in strength. So instead of waiting for your body to be stronger and expand your elixir sea, it's more efficient if you practice control starting now." Red explains.

Fumio, getting a reasonable answer, gives up on his idea.

"Don't be too impatient, Fumio. You're already progressing fast." Red assures him.

"Okay." Fumio can only nod, glad of Red's assessment of his progress.

"How long have you started training? Nine months, right?" Red asks.

"Yes. September last year." Fumio nods.

"So, nine months ago, you were just a regular non-superioris. Now, you're as strong as top tier C-Class Physically Enhanced Superiori. So what's the worry? You might harm yourself." Red warns.

Fumio realizes that indeed, he has been too greedy.

"So, tell me. What do I want you to do for now?" Red asks.

Fumio inhales deeply as his mind churns.

"Mastering my meridians, conserving my elixir sea." He recalls.

"That's the gist of it." Red nods.

"And to give you a better image to strive for…" He leans closer to Fumio.

"You have the strength greater than what 'Old Phantom' has showed in the arena so far. You can beat an average B-Class with what you have right now." Red says.

"Wha-" Fumio is stunned.

"I have to so I can learn how to maximize what I have right now…" He then recovers and utters his realization.

"Precisely." Red nods. 

"Good afternoon." He then turns his attention to Kotone.

Fumio snaps his head to Kotone's direction and is surprised to see her as he did not notice her arrival.

"G-good afternoon, Kichirou-san, Fumio-san. Long time." Kotone, caught off-guard by the attention from the two men, awkwardly greets back.

"Barely noticed the time. Those must be the documents?" Red asks, pointing at the envelope on Kotone's arms.

"Yes. Congratulations, Kichirou-san. This place is officially yours." Kotone walks to Red and hands over the envelope.

Red receives the envelope, takes the documents out for a simple scan, and nods.

"Good job, Kotone." He then puts it away to his storage space.

"Thank you for doing the legwork. I'll give you a bonus on your next payday." He promises.

"You don't have to, Kichirou-san. You already let me keep half of the earnings from the shop these past two weeks." Kotone adamantly refuses.

"Your loss." Red shrugs.

"I'll leave you two. I have to continue what I'm doing." He then leaves the two.

"Wha.." Kotone is at a loss at Red suddenly zooming out the backyard.

"He's just leaving like that?" She asks Fumio, a bit hurt.

"He's not even going to check the progress of my training?"

"He already knows." Fumio says, making Kotone raise her brows in skepticism.

"Even I who barely knows anything have an idea how far along you are with your breathing. But I'm guessing boss must have already noticed as soon as you arrived." He continues as he looks at the air around Kotone.

"So? How am I doing?" Kotone asks.

"I don't know what boss thinks, but I think you're still far from reaching what's required for the next level." Fumio shrugs.

"Just keep on practicing your breathing. It may be slow, tedious, but it's worth it. I myself took months to do it subconsciously." He assures.

"Okay…" Kotone trusts Fumio.

"Still. Can't he at least tell me what he thinks? It's been two weeks since I last saw him." She is still hurt by Red suddenly leaving.

"Hey. I get it. But don't take it to heart. During the months I was mastering my breathing, he was with you every day. I barely saw him and when I did, all we talked about is his side rackets." Fumio sympathizes.

Kotone on the other hand, immediately feels guilty hearing Fumio's concern which stemmed from herself and her training.

"Even though I thought he was neglecting me and my training, I still kept on my practice to reach the requirement he put on me. He told you, right? What to do with your breathing?" Fumio asks.

"Yes. I have to make the breathing technique replace my regular breathing… Something like that." Kotone recalls.

"But… How's that even possible?" She sighs.

"Uhn. I thought it was impossible too. But that's exactly what I accomplished, or at least almost did. I kept on practicing the breathing technique to the point that I can breathe using it almost subconsciously as long as I'm awake. And suddenly, without any signs, after being unchecked by boss for three months, he just told me I'm ready for the next step of my training. That was the morning you left for Nerima." Fumio accounts.

"Ah…" Kotone is feeling somehow inspired, now having a better idea of her goal, and having someone in front of her who achieved that goal.

"Thank you, Fumio-san." She cannot help but be grateful.

"Heh… You're lucky to have a senpai like me. I didn't have one to give me tips." Fumio rubs his nose, feeling burdened of Kotone's gratitude.

"Kichirou-san might be strong, and very knowledgeable, but he seems to be a bad teacher. Fortunately, I have you." Kotone realizes how lucky she is.

"Alright. I was just sayin' shit." Fumio shakes his head, embarrassed.

"About Kichirou-san..." Kotone smirks, noticing Fumio blushing, stops her flattering.

"Where'd he go? He did say something about continuing what he's doing?" She asks.

"I don't know what he's doing, but he seems busy… I myself only saw him a few minutes every day over the past two weeks." Fumio shrugs.

"Huh… If that's… Doesn't that mean that he takes better care of me?" Kotone chuckles.

Fumio knows that Kotone is starting to tease, so he smirks.

"Hey. I at least got to eat a lot. He cooks three meals a day for me." He brags.

"Hah. Yeah, right." Kotone rolls her eyes.

+"Hey, it's true. I don't lie like that. It's like boss wanted me to REALLY focus on my training." Fumio insists.

Kotone looks at him and after seeing no signs of teasing or lying, feels a bit jealous.

"I hate you." She can only send him a glare.

"Hey. I've stepped to the next level of his training. Must be the benefits of that. What can you do about it?" Fumio teases.

"About this next level… Can you give me an idea?" Kotone asks.

"Secret~" Fumio teases.

"But. I got another bonus from boss." He switches topics, wanting to brag further.

"What gift?" Kotone asks in anticipation.

Fumio then goes to retrieve the wooden sword that Red smacked away earlier, and shortly rejoins Kotone.

"Look at this." Fumio stretches out his hand which is holding the sword, to Kotone.

The next moment, Kotone's eyes widen when the wooden sword suddenly disappears out of Fumio's grasp.

"T-that… t-that…"

Kotone has only seen Red making things disappear, but seeing Fumio also doing it is incomprehensible to her.

"Heeheee~" Fumio is tickled at the face Kotone is making.

"Tada~" Suddenly, the wooden sword reappears in his hand.

"C-can you teach me?" Kotone asks.

Fumio almost steps back at the hunger in Kotone's eyes.

"I can't. You're not ready." He says.

"Can't or won't?" Kotone realizes how presumptuous she sounded but decides to insist nonetheless.

"Can't. Because you really aren't ready. Can't, because only boss can teach you." Fumio explains.

"Oh…" Kotone deflates.

Fumio no longer finds Kotone's reaction funny, and sighs and covers his thumb, feeling protective of it.

Kotone however catches Fumio's guarding behavior and her eyes are drawn to Fumio's hands. Soon, she remembers something.

Throughout the sparring earlier, she dodged countless of punches from Fumio to her face, so she cannot help but take in the details of Fumio's hands and she remembers that Fumio's left thumb is donning a broad silver ring embedded with different gemstones of varying colors.

"Hey.. Nice ring, by the way."