[Author note:]
I think I'm a fucking undiagnosed autist. Do you know why I have slowed down with what I post here? because my attention has once again been sucked into writing something completely different. Almost thirty thousand words about Demon kings and martial artists and such. Anyhow, here's another chapter.
Also, if anyone has experience with writing original stories here, is it worth it? I don't fancy losing my rights to a story just for some chump change, but what do you all think?
Also Also. I don't think I can write good fights :/
Also Also Also. Brownie points if anyone guesses what Tetsuya asked for.
[Author note end.]
Three months passed.
The anklets became part of him. Both in the sense that Tetsuya never took them off, and the delay that kept throwing off his every move was gone.
His mind had adapted. He could walk normally now. Run. Fight.
The weight was still there, dragging at his legs constantly, but he'd grown used to it.
And that's when Tetsuya decided it was time.
Naobito Zenin sat alone in his private garden, tea steaming faintly in a ceramic cup, eyes half closed in quiet contemplation.
Peaceful. Undisturbed.
Until the door slid open without warning.
Tetsuya stepped inside.
Naobito's eyes opened fully, irritation flickering across his weathered face.
"Boy. What do you think you're doing?"
Tetsuya sat down across from him without being invited, legs folded, posture straight.
"Naobito san." He said bluntly. "I want something from you."
Naobito's grip tightened slightly on his cup.
The sheer audacity of it. A twelve year old brat interrupting his tea time, sitting uninvited, addressing him without proper deference.
"You interrupt my tea time to ask me something like this?"
Tetsuya's cursed energy flared.
Not aggressively. Not a threat.
Just enough to fill the room with pressure. Enough to make his point clear.
"I don't care if I seem rude, clan head." Tetsuya said flatly, meeting Naobito's gaze without flinching.
"I want a private training area. Somewhere remote. Away from the estate. Where I can practice freely."
Naobito's eyes narrowed.
The boy continued.
"I'm sure you're aware of what happened against that Grade 1 curse."
Everyone knew. The report had reached the clan head within hours. A twelve year old obliterating a high end Grade 1 curse and carving a trench through an entire warehouse.
It had raised questions. Speculation. Interest.
Tetsuya pressed forward.
"I also want the twins."
Naobito's eyebrow raised slightly.
"As servants, of course." Tetsuya clarified, voice cold. "To take care of the place. I don't want monkeys who can't even use jujutsu stinking up the place."
The implication was clear.
He wanted the twins. Specifically.
Naobito studied him for a long moment.
Any other twelve year old making demands like this would be thrown into the disciplinary pit without hesitation.
But Tetsuya wasn't just any brat.
He was a proper Grade 1 sorcerer. At twelve. With an inherited technique and Ce reserves that surpassed the clan elders.
That kind of talent earned a hearing.
Naobito took a slow sip of his tea.
"What exactly do you want?" he asked, voice gravelly and measured.
Tetsuya spoke his wish, and the clan head rubbed his eyes.
"Fine." Naobito said. "I'll arrange it."
Tetsuya stood, bowed shallowly, and left without another word.
Naobito watched him go, then picked up his tea again.
'Arrogant little bastard. But I suppose the boy is better than my own arrogant brat.'
The twins were by the pond again.
Maki and Mai, seven years old now, squatting at the water's edge, watching the koi drift lazily beneath the surface.
Fresh bruises marked their arms. A split lip on Maki. A swollen cheek on Mai.
Ogi's handiwork.
Tetsuya approached quietly, then squatted down beside them.
"Hey." He said softly. "Want to go on a trip?"
Both girls turned, eyes wide with surprise and slight fright at someone speaking suddenly from behind.
"A trip?" Mai asked, voice small and uncertain.
"Where?" Maki added, suspicious but curious.
Tetsuya smiled faintly.
"Who knows. It's a surprise."
"Really?" Mai whispered.
"Really." Tetsuya confirmed.
Then his expression shifted slightly, more serious.
"I'll come pick you two up soon. But I'm going to have to be a little mean when I do."
Both girls blinked, confused.
"Your shit father wouldn't be convinced otherwise." He said bluntly. "So I'll act like you're just servants. Understand?"
Maki's eyes narrowed, understanding faster than her sister.
"You're lying to him."
"Yeah." Tetsuya said.
Mai's eyes went shiny, but she nodded quickly.
Maki just stared at him for a long moment, then nodded too.
"Okay."
Tetsuya ruffled their hair gently, stood, and walked away.
Behind him, the twins sat in silence for a moment.
Then Mai turned to her sister.
"What kind of trip do you think it'll be?"
Maki shrugged, but there was a faint smile tugging at her lips.
"Doesn't matter. Anywhere's better than here."
A day or two later, Tetsuya was walking through the training grounds when he felt it.
A presence. Familiar. Heavy.
Jinichi.
His father stood a few paces away, arms crossed, expression somewhere between angry and something else Tetsuya couldn't quite identify.
"Do you find my training lacking?" Jinichi asked, voice tight.
It was clear. Jinichi probably heard what he had asked, and didn't want him leaving for whatever reason.
Didn't want him training somewhere else. Didn't want the distance.
Even if the man couldn't bring himself to say what he really meant.
"And what if I do?" Tetsuya spoke.
Jinichi tensed. His cursed energy flared faintly, controlled but present.
"Seems like beating that curse made you all puff up." He said, voice low and dangerous. "If you want to leave, then you'll have to beat me first."
Tetsuya's heart hammered in his chest.
But he didn't back down.
"Fine."
The reinforced training ground was different from the usual circles.
Enclosed. Stone walls reinforced with cursed energy. Floor carved with drainage channels for blood. High ceiling to contain stray attacks.
This was where Zenin sorcerers fought each other seriously.
Tetsuya and Jinichi stood across from each other, ten meters apart.
Neither spoke. Jinichi's cursed energy surged first.
Violet light exploded around him as eight Missile Fists formed instantly, hovering in the air around him like sentinels for a split second before speeding towards his boy.
Tetsuya mirrored him.
Six Missile Fists. His maximum without slowing down.
The projectiles collided mid air, detonating in bursts of violet light.
Jinichi's missiles exploded against Tetsuya's, the shockwave scattering both attacks,
as they closed the distance.
Hand to hand.
Jinichi's first strike came fast, a fist aimed at Tetsuya's chest.
Tetsuya blocked, forearm meeting fist, the impact rattling his bones.
He countered with a low kick, aiming for Jinichi's knee.
Jinichi stepped back, dodged, and returned with a knee to Tetsuya's ribs.
Tetsuya twisted, took the blow on his reinforced side, pain flaring but manageable, and slammed an elbow toward Jinichi's temple.
Jinichi ducked under it and swept Tetsuya's legs.
The boy's hand pressed on the ground, and pushed up, twisting into a roundhouse kick.
Jinichi met the kick with his forearm, the force pushing him back.
Jinichi's eyes narrowed.
'He's gotten stronger. Faster.'
A spar was one thing. A real fight was different.
And this was starting to feel less like teaching and more like actual combat.
They clashed again.
Faster now. Harder.
Tetsuya had to use way more Cursed energy than his father to match his strikes, but his capacity let him do so without much issue.
He ducked a hook and fired a Missile Fist point blank.
Jinichi ate the attack on his stomach, the impact pushing him back a step or two.
Tetsuya pressed forward, a flurry of strikes, each one reinforced, each one faster than the last.
Jinichi blocked most of them. But not all.
A fist grazed his jaw. A kick clipped his shoulder.
Small hits. But hits nonetheless.
Jinichi retaliated with a strong elbow that sent the boy tumbling backwards, Blood dripping down the boy's face.
'Since when could this brat fight like this? Look at him. Focused so much.' Jinichi thought, scowling as Tetsuya showed things he was keeping hidden.
It was at that moment that Jinichi's battle instincts screamed.
His hair stood on end. A primal, visceral warning, as Tetsuya released the anklets.
Danger.
Lethal danger.
His body moved before his brain caught up.
A kick. Full force. Killing intent.
Aimed straight at Tetsuya's body, aiming to create distance.
The boy twisted at the last second.
The sole of his foot grazed Tetsuya's side.
And in that split second, Tetsuya's fist shot forward.
A fist containing cursed energy formed by all the neglect and negative feelings he had against the man.
It connected with Jinichi's side.
CRACK.
The sound was different. A distortion in the air itself.
Black and red energy exploded outward from the point of contact.
"Kokusen!"
Jinichi's eyes went wide as he felt the force of the strike.
The force launched him backwards like a cannonball, feet carving trenches through the stone floor as he slid, barely stopping before slamming into the far wall.
Jinichi knelt on one knee, hand pressed to his side, breathing ragged.
He coughed. Blood splattered onto the stone floor.
His fingers probed carefully. Two ribs. Broken. Maybe three.
He looked up, staring at Tetsuya's form standing, fist closed.
"A Black Flash?" He muttered, voice rough. "Seriously, this kid..."
Tetsuya simply stared at him, his aura completely different from before.
"I'm not done yet, old man." He spoke, taking a step closer.