The cold breeze streaming through the window gently caressed Hori's face, coaxing her awake. She stretched, arching her back and extending her arms above her head, giving a languid yawn. The soft sheets rustled as she sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Morning already?" Hori murmured, her voice husky from disuse.
She glanced to the window, The sky was painted with hues of pink and orange, a beautiful sunrise unfolding before her eyes.
'I'm so tired...I wonder if Haruki-san would mind me waking him up.'
She removed the bed cover to do so, and noticed his... his third hand erect.
Hori's face ignited with a fiery blush as she froze, her eyes fixed in shock. "KYAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!"
She screamed at the top of her lungs, jolting Haruki awake.
Haruki's eyes snapped open, and he bellowed, "What the...?!" as he scrambled to locate the source of the ear-piercing scream. His gaze landed on Hori, who was huddled in the corner, her face beet red and chest heaving as she struggled to catch her breath.
"G-g-g-ggood morning... Haruki-san..." she managed to say, shielding her face with her hands.
'What's up with her?' Haruki frowned. Eventually noticing something different in his body, he looked down and saw his erection.
"....Oh my God, I am so sorry!"
Haruki almost smashed his head to the ground while bowing.
"S-sorry for what???" she stammered, her eyes darting everywhere but at Haruki. He attempted to downplay the situation. "You see, it gets like that in the morning."
"You really don't have to explain!" Hori cut him off, her voice panicking because of his attempts of explaining further.
"It happens to most guys...I think, and definitely not because I was sleeping with a girl."
"Stawwwwp!!!!" Hori ran out, covering her face.
Haruki scratched his head, hoping she wouldn't view him as some creep from now on. He did his morning stretches and exited to inn.
--------------------------
At 12:30 PM, Hori and Haruki had finished their bath and settled in for a simple yet satisfying breakfast of bread and jam.
Hori looked fresh in a white singlet and black tights, while Haruki sported a black shirt paired with blue jeans. With renewed energy, Haruki declared, "Alright! Let's get started!" His eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as he added, "Your training begins today!" Hori snapped to attention, a playful grin spreading across her face. "Sir! Yes, sir!" she replied, her voice crisp and obedient.
"And good thing we're in the forest, there's plenty of room!"
Haruki said, eyeing the vast expanse of trees around.
"From your character so far, I'm gonna label you as a 'rich girl' so we'll start with basic exercise."
He raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself, 'I wonder if she's ever had to break a sweat.' she cleared his throat and continued.
"Okay now give me 3 pushups!"
"Understood!" Hori yelled with a salute.
Haruki placed close attention, he had never trained anyone so he needed to see what he was working with.
Hori backed up and looked at the ground, she awkwardly said. "....ehmmm, how does one do pushups?"
'Haha, she's fucked.' Haruki chuckled. "How the hell don't you know how to do pushups?!!? First you say you've never heard of pizza, now you don't know what exercise is?!"
Hori looked down, her eyes dropping as she sensed Haruki's disappointment. She let out a soft whimper, feeling a twinge of embarrassment. "I'm sorry..."
Her sudden timidness made Haruki feel bad for yelling. He awkwardly scratched his cheek and spoke. "Christ, your like a kid... Don't fall back when someone raises their voice at you, okay?!"
His words were softened by a gentle pat on her head, a gesture that surprisingly made Hori feel a little better. Haruki stepped in front of her, his movements fluid as he demonstrated a single push-up. "See? Like this." He stood up and gestured for Hori to try.
Hori laid down flat and attempted, but her feeble muscles trembled from supporting her weight.
She soon fell leaving her chest to cushion her fall. Hori apologetically looked at Haruki, ready for another scolding.
"It's okay, it's your first time just try again!" Haruki encouraged.
Hori tried again and managed one, although prematurely since she was still shaking. She gave a confident look for such great achievement!
"Good job! Just like that!" He gave her a thumbs up. She smiled briefly and tried again.
Hori finally did a proper pushup.
"See? It's easy! Now do like 50."
He bluntly ordered, pointing the ground.
Hori nodded resolutely. "Understood." As she got to it, Haruki watched for a bit, ensuring she was doing the form right.
After a while, he said, "I'll be inside the house, getting some stuff cleaned up. Call me when you're done." Hori, already at her fifth pushup, looked up and yelled, "Okay, Haruki-san! I promise not to disappoint you!" Her determination was palpable, despite the sweat starting to trickle down her face.
Haruki walked back to the house to arrange. He carried up the futon, and cleared where they ate.
In the middle of sweeping, he briefly remembered the deal they both made at the hot springs.
'Wait a minute! Didn't Hori say she'd work for me?! That means she's meant to be the one doing this!!'
He peeped and saw Hori still doing the pushups, trying her best with her speed slowly increasing.
'...I guess it's fine, sure she's forgotten too.' he thought with a chuckle, letting her be, Haruki honestly enjoyed housework.
His thoughts drifted back to the previous night's conversation with Hori, and his expression turned somber. "I'm such an idiot," he muttered to himself.
"Hori's trying to reunite with her dad, and I'm ignoring my mom.... She must be irritated by that...."
His gaze fell upon the damaged wall, clumsily hidden by an old brown curtain. "I'll get some guys to fix this up, maybe even renovate the whole place since Hori's staying here for a while."
---------------------
After washing the plates, Haruki decided to check on Hori, wondering why she hadn't called him yet. He stepped outside, glancing at his phone for the time, it was 12:45 PM.
'But for real, 50 pushups is just unrealistic.' he thought, shaking his head. 'Only in manga can people do stuff like that...' As he put his phone away, he squinted, his eyes fixed on Hori. What caught his attention was that she seemed odd, as if upside down, her body moving up and down with ease. Haruki's jaw dropped in surprise.
"...32, 33, 34, 35..." Hori's steady voice counted off each rep as she performed one-finger pushups with ease, her form nearly flawless and controlled. Haruki's eyes widened in shock.
"Oi,oi, oi! What are you doing?!"
He yelled as he rushed to her side. Hori stood straight, her chest heaving as she was she caught her breath.
"Haruki-san! I was done with the 50, so I tried one handed pushups, then after that I tried 1 fingered."
"Why didn't you just tell me you finished?!!?" He curiously asked,if he remembered correctly, his order was 50 ordinary pushups. Hori was going overboard.
"...you were busy with house chores so i didn't want to be a bother." She spoke with muffled lips.
Haruki sighed then face palmed hard, wondering what was wrong with her. Hori's eyes darted about, waiting if Haruki was done talking, "....sooo if you'd excuse me, I would like to continue-
"Hell no! You've already warmed up enough! I just wanted you to free your joints before we get to actual training." He nagged at her.
Hori giggled, stretching her arms overhead. "You should've said so, silly!"
"Shut up, I'm still mad at you," Haruki growled, "Now go bring me those rope over there." He pointed to the inns wall. Hori ran to retrieve it.
Haruki collected then continued,
"like we discussed yesterday, you can't use your hands cause you'll kill someone, and most likely turn into a Sinner of Murder."
"I've read their quite strong Haruki-san!" Hori interrupted.
"Yeah we wouldn't want that right? So now..... I'm gonna tie you up reeeeaaaal good." His eyes locked onto hers, a mischievous glint dancing in them.
'I have a bad feeling about this...!'
Hori thought. Haruki started walking closer looking even more suspicious.
Her instincts kicked in, and she backed away, her eyes fixed on him. "Come here!" Haruki called out in a playful tone. "Nooooo!!!" Hori ran holding her chest.
Some time after all the tomfoolery. Hori finally agreed for him to tie her up
NOT INAPPROPRIATELY!
"... Haruki-san... this feels naughty..." She wiggled with a flushed face.
"Impure thoughts begone!" Haruki bonked her head with a chomp. He simply tied her hands behind her back, not too tight, but enough to hold them still.
"I'm tying it at your back because you might still hit me if it's at your front. You're hands aren't only strong but straight up weird! I healed pretty fast but I was still unconscious for hours."
Hori apologized again for hitting him then. "I told you to do it, so stop apologizing." He bonked her again.
-------------------
The time for training had finally arrived.
Haruki made some distance between them, far enough that they needed to raise their voice for effective communication.
"Okay this should be far enough. Let's see, You've got strength covered from blowing my head apart in one go, and enough stamina to do 100 plus pushups. So we're gonna work on SPEED!" He announced, standing far away.
Hori understood and asked for what he required her doing.
"Sprint over here and land a kick under 3 seconds!" Haruki said.
"That's just unrealistic Haruki-san!" Hori said with a smile.
"Don't worry, you give off this MC vibe. They do unrealistic shit like this all the time!"
"I don't know what that means but I'll try my best Haruki-san!" She bent her head showing compliance.
"Aaaand GO!" Haruki shouted, waving his arm vertically through the air.
For some reason, Hori's brain started reasoning! 'All right, I just have to run fast!'
"Time's up!" Haruki yelled, his voice laced with sarcasm. Hori's face scrunched up in confusion. "Huh?!"
Haruki shouted with annoyance, "What were you thinking about?! You should've just run!"
Hori's expression turned sheepish. "Oh, apologies, Haruki-san!" She bowed. Haruki shrugged "Don't worry, just go when you hear 'go'!"
Hori nodded enthusiastically. "Okay, I'll try my best!"
Haruki tried cheering, "I believe in you!!" Hori's eyes went all gooey. "Awwwn, thank you, Haruki-san!"
Haruki smiled back and returned to business. "And... GO!"
Hori's feet dug into the ground as she started running. Haruki monitored and was already counting.
'2,3,4,5' after multiple strides, She finally reached.
"How was that, Haruki-san?!" Hori asked, her eyes shining with anticipation as she looked up at him, still slightly breathless. Haruki's expression remained stern. "We both know that took way longer than 3 seconds. Go back and try again!" Hori's face fell, and she let out a disappointed "Aww, man!" before trudging back to the starting point, ready to give it another shot.
"Ready?!" Haruki asked. "Yes!" Hori replied,
"And... GO!" He motioned once more, Hori tried her honest best as she sprinted towards Haruki, her feet pounding the ground with each stride.
Haruki watched, counting silently with a neutral face: '...3, 4, 5, 6, 7...' Hori finally reached him. She asked, gasping for air, "How...how was that, Haruki-san?" her eyes pleading for approval. Instead, Haruki's expression turned cold, and he suddenly kicked her calf. "Ow! Haruki-san?!" Hori yelped, shocked and hurt.
"You forgot I told you to land a kick on me." He reminded, Hori had completely forgotten. "Oh... I'm sorry..."
"Stop apologizing, it's annoying... And your time, it's worse than last time. Are you even trying?!"
She faced down with a dejected expression, "I'm... I'm sorry."
"I said stop apologizing!" Haruki snapped, causing Hori to flinch, fear creeping into her eyes as Haruki's tone had suddenly turned sharp. She hated it when seniors yelled, Haruki shouting reminded her of her father's scolding when she failed to correctly solve math problems.
Haruki let out a heavy sigh, as his anger dissipated, replaced by a mix of frustration and concern,
'I want her to toughen up, she's too reserved and polite.... that's not a bad thing, but for the Sabbath Exams she might need to make some tough decisions.'
Haruki said in his mind, he honestly didn't like yelling at Hori.
But why was she so bad at running. 'Is it because her hands are tied?' He asked himself seeing Hori looking sad from his scolding.
After a minute of silence, Hori finally spoke. "....Haruki-san? Could you please untie me? I promise not to use my hands when attacking."
Hori's face was slightly red as if about to cry as she asked that.
Haruki saw her sad face and decided to stop yelling for now.
He agreed and untied her arms.
Hori timidly walked back to the starting point, cleaning her eyes so Haruki wouldn't notice.
'This is difficult...' She started doubting herself as she walked.
'but I won't give up! Haruki-san is doing this for my own good!'
Hori reached the starting point,
Now that her hands were free, she could take a proper running stance. Crouched down like an athlete.
"...ready?!" He motioned raising his right hand up.
"Yes!" Hori answered boldly whilst looking at the ground.
"Aaaand GO!" As soon as the words left his mouth, the unexpected happened. For the third time making an impressive record.
DARK FRAME
'Again?!' Haruki gasped, he Acknowledged the empty saturated background but...Hori had vanished.
Time seemed to slow down for the two as Haruki was met with Hori's leg in his front.
'What the...' Haruki instinctively raised a double arm guard to block, anticipating a powerful impact. The tranquility of the forest shattered as a massive explosion rocked the ground, sending birds into frantic flight.
Hori's heart pounded in her chest as she landed, the rush of adrenaline still coursing through her veins. "How was that, Haruki-san?!" she squealed, barely containing her excitement, thrilled to have successfully unleashed ANOTHER Dark Frame.
"Haruki-san? Haruki-san?!"
She called out, Haruki seemed to have disappeared after the kick.
-------------------
A high-pitched ringing sound pierced Haruki's ears, muffling Hori's voice into a distant call. Groggily, he shook his head, trying to clear the haze. 'What...what just happened?' he tried collecting his thoughts, assessing his surroundings, the color they owned had returned seeing as he was surrounded by miles of green.
He found himself lying some distance away from the inn, the forest landscape around him a complete blur.
He stood up and scratched his head, smelling the faint scent of charred flesh, surprised to see his arms with a dark patch around them as if burnt. 'What in the?' he brought his wrist closer for a better look but heard a strange crunching sound.
Every bone in his arms were powdered.
"Ow... Hey that hurts!" He yelled squatting down.
Hori constantly called out, looking for where Haruki had vanished to. "I'm over here!"
Haruki declared, waving 40 meters away from where he was kicked.
His hands had already fully healed.
"Haruki-san! You're okay!!"
Hori quickly ran with excitement and gave him a big hug.
"So how did I do?!" She asked referring to her kick.
"Uhh... that was awesome! You definitely pass speed as well!"
Haruki exclaimed massaging his wrists to ease the pain. He was honestly scared, why and how did she suddenly get so fast?
Haruki asked if she could recreate the kick, which she replied she would try her best.
They both took their stances, far away from each other.
Hori ran and kicked him again, this time however was laughably pathetic compared to the previous one.
He decided not to say so, as to not upset Hori so he came to this conclusion. "Okay Hori, I think your strength depends on your emotions."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I think. Were you feeling irritated when I yelled at you before untying you?" Haruki asked.
"Ehm..... maybe a little....I wanted to impress you and was a bit angry from your yelling." She confessed.
"Then it makes perfect sense! You're at your peak when you're angry!" Haruki pointed out. Although this wasn't anything ground breaking. Most fighters were at their best when angered but the improvement Hori had was too much.
"So for the Sabbath Exams, just try to remain chill when fighting, okay?" Haruki suggested, that way she wouldn't injure/kill weak opponents.
"You can count on me, Haruki-san!" Hori reassured him.
----------------------------
They did some more quick drills, making sure Hori could kick from different angles, since her hands were too dangerous. She got better and better and eventually performed an impressive round house kick.
Haruki was impressed, constantly asking if Hori was an underground fighter before this, a question she denied. Hori simply moved as if having years of fighting experience, Haruki who was an assassin even fell prey to some of her attacks.
"let's take a break." Haruki yelled seeing as Hori was exhausted, he wasn't tho, being a Sin meant an extraordinary supply of stamina.
Phew~
Hori lay on the grass, her chest rising and falling as she caught her breath. Haruki approached her and spoke with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Seriously, Hori, I think you're superhuman." Hori looked up at him, curious.
"You know?! Those things in a lot of Western movies! Or even manga and stuff." Haruki explained. "Oh, I am not too familiar with television, so I might not understand." She said raising her head up.
Haruki handed Hori a towel and a bottle of water, which she gratefully accepted. After taking a refreshing sip, she wiped the sweat from her brow. "You did great today." Haruki said, offering a fist bump. Hori's face flushed slightly as she awkwardly shook his fists with her hand. Haruki's warm smile accompanied his words as he sat down beside her.
Hori's eyes widened in embarrassment as she shifted away from Haruki. "Haruki-san, I'm sweating a lot! I must smell right now!" Haruki let out a dry laugh and rolled his eyes. "For the love of God, I wouldn't be sitting next to you if you did,"
Hori looked uncertain, muttering under her breath, "If you say so..." Returning her gaze to the skies.
They both sat in silence sipping their respective bottles of water. Haruki couldn't help but steal glances at Hori. The warm sunlight danced across her slightly tanned skin, accentuating her healthy and developed physique. A faint sheen of sweat only added to her allure, and Haruki's gaze lingered on the subtle curves of her figure.
Haruki turned to face his front, taking a sudden gulp of water that he quickly spat out, his face scrunched up apologetically. "About yesterday... I'm sorry," he said with a voice tinged with awkwardness as he nervously ruffled his silky bangs.
"Huh?" She blinked, wondering what Haruki was talking about.
"Y'know.... when i told you to stop talking about my mum...."
"...huh?" she asked, her brow furrowed in confusion. Haruki's face fell and he seemed to realize that Hori had no recollection of the incident.
Narrator - Hori already forgot.
'Forgot what?! And where have you been?!'
Haruki dropped it and changed the subject. "But on an unrelated note, I'm really impressed! If you continue at this rate you might actually end up a Bishop yourself! That way talking to your Dad should be easy! Cause I heard Bishops have meetings with other Bishops." Haruki said.
Hori's face lit up with a warm smile as nostalgia washed over her. "That would be wonderful," she said softly as her eyes softened with memories of her time at the Kantei.
She raised her head and added, yelling. "Apart from that, I want to save as much lives as possible on my journey!!!" Hori flash backed to the Arson incident Matsumoto Springs.
She whole heartedly wished to reduce attacks like that from happening.
Be it from a Sin or Sinner.
"Sins and Sinners are detestable creatures that ruin people's lives!" Hori exclaimed. Haruki, sitting beside her, raised his hand in a gentle gesture. "I'm right here, you know," he said, a hint of amusement in his voice.
Hori turned to him with an innocent expression. "Oh, my brain just can't wrap around the fact that you're a Sin, Haruki-san. You're too kind and... beautiful to fit the mold. Besides, you haven't told me what Sin you embody."
Hori said as she faced him.
Haruki hesitated, his words spilling out in a low, introspective tone. "I don't know why I keep sharing all this with you... but the reason I don't know what Sin I embody is because... I was unconscious when it happened." Hori's eyes widened, and she leaned in. "You were unconscious?" she repeated, her curiosity piqued.
Haruki continued. "At least that's what my mom says, most people already know about this but the curse manifests in random people right?"
"Yes, I at least know that much."
"So what if a person was asleep when a Sin manifested in them?!" Haruki said.
"...I guess that makes sense... but won't that mean there should be more special cases like you?"
"You mean people that might be asleep when a sin manifests in them right?" Haruki said.
"Exactly!" Hori replied.
"Well that's where the writing comes in, I've done some research and people said there's an extremely painful feeling when a Sin manifests. The pain is caused by some marking that appears on your hand showing the Sin you now embody."
Haruki said showing a picture he got from the web. Barely visible because of the poor camera, but the victims hand wiggled in pain as blood wrote on its hand in English.
"This was recorded on 2019 July 1st, when the Sin of backsliding reincarnated in salary worker Fredrick Kennedy." Haruki spoke with surprisingly high intellect. It was obvious he had spent time making research on Sins and their physical manifestations.
"Oh! So that's what led you to saying you were unconscious when it happened!" Hori said.
"Yeah, Mom said it's like I missed seeing that marking, writing my Sin on my hand." He dropped his phone rubbing his wrist where the mark was supposed to appear, although written with kanji.
"So, it's as if you never acknowledged your Sin. Meaning that you're still you despite housing a Sin!" Hori gasped.
"Correct!" Haruki gave a thumbs up. Happy to see someone who he could finally share this with.
Narrator - Wow, that was impressive deduction. I didn't even have to explain anything.
Haruki's lips curved into a faint smile. "I guess that means as long as I don't know what Sin I am, I can still be myself, I think."
Hori's expression softened, she paused before saying, "Honestly, Haruki-san, I don't think it matters what Sin you are." Her eyes sparkled with a lovely glint. "I'll like you no matter what!" Hori said with a cheeky smile, Haruki's cheeks flushed, and he looked away.
The words striking a chord deep within him. A faint memory surfaced - his mother's gentle voice, saying something similar, long ago. Her love for him was clear, so what caused such a fight that caused him to live in the woods?
Haruki stood up, casually disposing of his empty water bottle. "How about we go shopping for dinner? You must be starving," he suggested, turning to face Hori. Her eyes lit up, and she bounced up from the floor. "Ooh, what are we making, Haruki-san?!" she asked, her voice bubbling with excitement.