Kaminari Indy sat beside Sakei with a round body, who was the mentor assigned to him by Urashin. Sakei had a yellow, thin beard and a bald head.
They had sat in silence for far too long; in fact, it had almost been half an hour since they sat down.
Kaminari jolted up from the bench after having restlessly changed positions.
"Damn it! How long are we going to sit here for?" Kaminari's patience had run out as he did a quick stretch.
"What do you mean?" Sakei asked, his eyes half closed.
"Training! We only have..." Kaminari's loud confidence disappeared for a second as he counted something with his fingers.
"Twenty-eight days! ...I think."
"Are you sure you're ready to train so suddenly? Just yesterday and the day before it, you locked yourself in your room."
Kaminari froze for a second.
He had been completely shaken by Kazuhiko's death, unable to leave his room. Kaminari saw himself as someone who wasn't strong enough to protect others.
That was his duty, even though Yamikuro was trying to do the same.
"Well, your mood shifted quickly."
"I'll feel worse if I don't train. The longer I sit around... Doing who knows what, I'll be more far away from taking down Jacinto."
"Jacinto?"
"Man, what's with your questions... He's the Resonant who sided with Lucian. He's the one I want to fight."
Sakei stood up at that, and surprisingly easily, considering how inhumanly round his body was.
"I'm intrigued to see your capabilities then."
Sakei stared at Kaminari, with Kaminari awkwardly standing with his hands beside him. Silence crept over them.
"So... What exactly am I supposed to do?"
"Show me your Seikodo, Naiko, or Shintai abilities. We'll see just how far from defeating Jacinto you are."
"Uh, yeah, sure," Kaminari muttered, slightly eyeing Sakei every other second, before looking away.
Kaminari placed his hand before him.
"Now what?"
Sakei let out a slow laugh, running his hand through his beard.
"Lower your hand. Let's take a different approach with this."
Kaminari followed Sakei's introductions and lowered his arm.
Sakei put his hands together as if he were praying, closing his eyes, putting all of his focus into channeling his Seikodo.
Kaminari suddenly fell to his knees, as if gravity itself pulled him to the ground. He tried his best to hold himself up and not collapse.
Kaminari looked up at Sakei, his head shaking.
"I'm surprised," Sakei announced proudly.
Kaminari groaned, but couldn't ask why.
"This force should've been enough to make your body collapse, but you stood your ground."
'What? Was he trying to kill me?' Kaminari thought to himself.
Once Sakei let go of his hands, Kaminari finally dropped, as the strong pressure suddenly disappeared.
"It appears you've got above-average Naiko control."
"Well, yeah. I've trained every night, hoping to be strong enough to kill The Watcher."
Kaminari had promised himself never to forget that name. The name that echoed in his mind wherever he went.
"I don't have any special talent, so all I can do is train," Kaminari muttered.
Sakei
"I see, however, you've wasted a quarter of your Kishin from just defending my Seikodo," Sakei revealed, using his Naiko to sense Kaminari's Kishin reserve.
"Uh... What's that mean?" Kaminari squinted his eyes, as if Sakei was using an alien language.
"Basically, the reason why you may feel more tired after using your abilities is because you're burning through your energy faster than usual."
Kaminari thought back on the training he did every night, and he was always exhausted at the end of them. Sometimes, he'd even go as far as to pass out on the grass near the training grounds.
Kazuhiko would always find him and bring him back to the dorms...
Kaminari clenched his fists at the thought of that.
"Teach me control."
"Huh?" Sakei responded, confused at Kaminari's more serious shift in tone.
"It isn't about defeating The Watcher or Jacinto. I want to protect my friends... So teach me, how do I protect them?" Kaminari looked Sakei in the eyes, motivation burning within him.
Sakei gave Kaminari a wide smile, promising to bring him to his full potential, with at least Kishin control.
Since Kaminari had already trained by himself more than others in his friend group, Sakei didn't have much to teach him. Unlike with Yamikuro, whom Urashin had to explain the power system from the ground up.
Kazuhiko used to teach Kaminari the basics, mostly theory, but those were the only lessons Kaminari paid attention to. Kazuhiko was more than a teacher to him; he was a friend, hence why Kaminari was so fixated on getting stronger.
If he lost any more of his friends, he'd have no one to blame but himself for not putting in enough effort. Others had talent, while Kaminari had just his electricity.
The training consisted of stuff like Kaminari balancing on thin rocks, using just his feet, Seikodo, and Naiko.
Kaminari wasn't much of a learner, but adapted fast. He had everything done in just three weeks, leaving them with free time.
"I can see improvement in you." Sakei congratulated Kaminari.
"If possible... Could you teach me the Seikodo move you used on me on the first day we trained?"
Sakei raised an eyebrow, taking a bite of his glazed donut before answering.
"It's not possible."
Kaminari slammed his hands against the kitchen table, jumping up from the chair.
"What? Why not?!"
"C'mon, man... You gotta help me out, otherwisewhoknowswhatmayhappen."
Sakei almost choked on his food, being overwhelmed by Kaminari's other half of the sentence.
"Could you repeat that?" He asked, his food full of a donut.
Kaminari thought Sakei was weird for asking for something like that, but with a sigh, he repeated it slower.
"...Otherwise, who knows what may happen."
"Actually, you may have talent that exceeds even mine. It wouldn't hurt to have you at least try." Sakei glanced at him to see how Kaminari would respond.
"Oh, thankyou! Thank you!" Kaminari jumped from excitement.
Once Kaminari calmed down, they headed outside to train for the Seikodo ability of overwhelming an enemy's senses to the point of collapsing.
Compared to Urashin, who could've been considered a natural with Seikodo, cutting and slashing as if it were nothing, all Sakei could really do was use the overwhelming ability.
And thus, the month was over, and it was time for the friends to finally reunite again, after the death of Kazuhiko.