The redheaded boy leaped in the air and as soon as he landed smoothly on the ground, he smacked the stone floor with the spear in his hand, the sharp cracking sound resonating in the training area before he brought the spear up straight in motion with his body. Suddenly he was moving again, his hands quick and sure making his spear look like a red blur as he stabbed and swung it in the air in a flurry of motions that showed expertise and strength.

Finally, when all that he has learnt was spent, the boy closed off his exercise with a fluid dance with his spear, the soft feathers at the hilt of the spear fluttering across his face before the hand that held the spear stopped, the weapon positioned to his front to sign an end of the exercise.

The redhead exhaled a deep breath, controlling his breathing, before the seriousness on his face suddenly broke away into an expression of pride and smugness.

"So, What do you think, Anzai-san?"

The white-haired man that has been watching the boy performance smiled. "Not bad, Sakuragi-kun."

"Not bad?!" cried the boy in affront, "I was great!"

Anzai stood up and walked up to the boy, his hand clasped at the back. "Yes, you have the skill, the speed, the stamina and the focus but you lack the grip you have of your weapon."

"My grip is fi-"
Suddenly, the spear on his hand was wrenched away before his brain could even register the movement.
He was still gaping when Anzai tossed the spear back to him.

"Wh-"

"Before you fight you have to understand yourself, Hanamichi. Your strength, your weaknesses and most importantly, your weapon. Learn of its weaknesses, its strength. Know and accept that there might be room for error and work hard upon preventing any losses. Picture in your mind that there are better spearmen than you are and then improve yourself until you reach their level, and then add ten more levels to it."

Hanamichi stared at the man in front of him in awe. He has never thought of that before. He even dared himself to think that Maki might not have had that thought to ingrane it in him like Anzai-san did. His guardian was always pushing him to be better but he has never wanted to compare himself to anyone else since he has it in his mind that Maki was unbeatable. He wondered if it was in his subconcious that he allowed himself to believe that he could only be second best since the best fighter he could think of was his warrior guardian.

Anzai took a deep breath and sighed gustily, ruffling his moustache slightly.
"Well, I think it's soon time for dinner. Would you like to rest first before washing up?"

The boy blinked and thought for a while. Then he said, "No, I think I'll stay here for a little bit more."

The white-haired man nodded and turned away from the boy. As he walked away, a pleased smile played on his lips. He didn't need to be told that as soon as he stepped out of the training area, the boy will start practicing again to improve himself. Hanamichi has potential. Anzai would not be surprised that soon, the boy will grow up to be one of the great warriors in the land.

Sweat was dripping down his face like a flow of tears before he allowed himself to stop. Since his hold on his spear was slipping caused by the dampness on his fingers, he tucked the spear under his arm before wiping his palm on his clothes. More sweat fell down his face and one lone trickled came into his eyes, making him blink in irritation. As he tried to wipe it out of his eyes, his other hand moved to properly hold his spear again when the weapon slipped, the blade nicking him before it clattered onto the ground carelessly.

Hanamichi winced and made a motion to stick his cut finger in his mouth when he heard soft footsteps approaching him from his right. Turning to look, he was surprised to see a young woman walking up to him with a worried look on his face.

"Are you alright?" she asked him, taking his hand in hers. Her soft voice was melodious to his ears and when she looked up with genuine care in her gentle brown eyes, Hanamichi felt his heart began to skip a beat. Although he has been acquainted with the loveliest women in the heavens, Hanamichi found himself stupified in front of the earth girl with the plain red garment around her girlish body.

Taking a handkerchief from her sleeve, she pressed it against the wound before tying the cloth around the finger firmly but carefully.

"There," the woman said, smiling at him for the first time. "Now what were you doing practicing this late in the day? It's time for dinner and you should wash up."

Hanamichi just nodded, still feeling flustered since the young woman has hunched down so that they were face to face for them to talk.

"My name is Akagi Haruko," she said, "What's yours?"

"S-Sakuragi Hanamichi," the redheaded boy stammered.

"So, Sakuragi-kun," said Haruko cheerfully, extending her hand out to the boy "Shall you come in the house now? I'll show you where to wash up and you can join us for dinner."

"Uh, h-hai..." Hanamichi said, nodding again. As he picked up his spear on the ground, he felt his face burn but he shyly accepted the hand that reached out to him and held it tight as the girl brought him out of the training area and into the closures of the Akagi house.

Rukawa and Sendoh were walking along the corridor to their room as both of them slowly allowed what Chief Otta has planned to sink into their minds. Going to the police to complain about the theft would be fruitless since they did not have any concrete evidence to accuse Toyotama of the missing cup so the only thing that they could do was to steal the cup back. The two brothers and a few of Otta's warriors have agreed to spy on the Toyotama household to plan on how to best get the cup back before doing anything else.

"You're still coming?" Sendoh asked his brother about the plan that the chief proposed to them.

Rukawa gave him a look that said that Sendoh should know better than to ask a stupid question. Sendoh chuckled as he tucked his sword under his arm before slipping his hands in the folds of his robes.

"I wonder what Hanamichi is doing?" the spikey-haired swordsman asked out loud.

Rukawa snorted. "Making trouble somewhere."

Sendoh laughed. "That's my Hanamichi."

The other brunette arched his eyebrow as he turned to look at his brother with question in his eyes.

Sendoh gave him an enigmatic smile. "That's right. Hanamichi is mine."

"Since when are you into children?" Rukawa said disdainfully.

"Baka," Sendoh chastised the younger brunette in a congenial manner, "I'm not going to make my move until he's of age. For the time being, I'm laying my claim on him. So don't go seducing the boy behind my back, y'hear."

Rukawa rolled his eyes, showing Sendoh how ridiculous those last words were. Hanamichi was a menace and a brat. Sure, the boy was unique and often adorable and he did sometimes look cute when-
Rukawa mentally shook himself from those thoughts before snorting again. Ridiculous, indeed.



*******

That evening, the masters and friends in the chief's house sat down together for dinner, including their new acquaintance, Sakuragi Hanamichi who was sitting happily on his maroon cushion next to the young lady of the household. The boy was wearing a soft earth-brown kimono of the same colour as his eyes while most of the men in the room used darker tones in blue, green or black.
Beside Hanamichi sat Sendoh Akira and in front of the spikey-haired youth was Rukawa Kaede who looked as if he was trying hard to keep his eyes open before Chief Otta allowed dinner be sent in by the maids of the house.
Food was as good as the fare that he had in town that Hanamichi attacked his meal with relish. Sendoh, like before, indulged the boy in his appetite, slipping some strips of food from his plate onto the redhead's or signalling to the maids to have more sent out for their little ravenous guest. Haruko watched on, amused, while also occasionally pampering the redhead when Sendoh wasn't doing so. The rest talked about everyday things that would not darken the light atmosphere in that room. Rukawa sat there, silently eating his meal while sometimes looking at the scene in front of him. Sendoh, Haruko and the brat looked happy and although he was not directly involved he felt as if he was included in the group with the shy smiles Haruko gave him, the grins that Sendoh flashed at him and the glares that the little do'aho showed to him.
Rukawa would not smile or grin in return but he was more than happy to give Hanamichi a few condescending looks for the dirty ones the boy gave to him.

For Hanamichi, he could not have been any happier. He could not remember the last time where he had a small nice dinner with lots of people around that he liked. The dinner and banquets that he attended in his father's palace were not the same for he felt that since everyone knew that he was one of Phoenix's son, they treated him differently but here he could be whoever he wanted to be and no one would mind. Especially, the lovely Haruko who sat beside him at that moment. He looked up to see the young woman in question and felt his heart beat fast. She was smiling again, her radiance stunning him for a moment before he looked to see who she was smiling at.

Rukawa Kaede.
Quickly, Hanamichi told himself that she was probably smiling at the cold fox as her beautiful soul insists on but upon seeing the shine in her eyes that was similiar to the look that his guardian, Maki, had had for Fujima during his last banquet at the palace, his brain would not accept any other explanation.

Hanamichi felt his heart break the second time.



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