c1 part5 (1/2)

Chapter 1 – Bound Together (cont.)

Starting the next morning, Kuroh poured himself even more furiously into his training. While this naturally included his studies and sword mastery, he also attempted a number of tacks in an effort to develop his Clansman abilities.

And he decided that the best way to accomplish this…was to thoroughly observe Miwa Ichigen. He rationalized this as, ‘It’s simply that I don’t completely understand Ichigen-sama yet. This is surely why I cannot yet wield the power of the Seventh King, the Colorless King.’

Truthfully, though, he hadn’t yet been taught the details of what exactly a Clansman was. He hadn’t even learned the terms “King” and the “Clansmen” who share their power from Ichigen himself–picking them up indirectly from the man who’d once shared their home with Kuroh and Ichigen. As such, Kuroh had little choice but to try and figure out the details himself.

The Clansmen received part of Ichigen’s power, necessitating as much synchronization as possible with Ichigen’s consciousness. Kuroh therefore came to the rather overly simplistic conclusion after the evening of the ‘gathering’ that the best way to accomplish this was to imitate Ichigen’s movement and behavior.

Kuroh was the sort that, once he got an idea in his head, he would carry it out with brutal focus. During meals, he would lift and lower his chopsticks with the same timing and rhythm as Ichigen, moving his feet forward in tempo with Ichigen’s own pace, and when Ichigen settled in to read a book, Kuroh endeavored to take up his reading as well. He would recreate his chuckles, and the way he c.o.c.ked his head, and through it all…actually found himself enjoying the exercise a bit.

At one point, he’d even tried wearing the same clothes as Ichigen as well, but this turned out to be rather too awe-inspiring to carry out, and so he settled for simply imitating Ichigen’s style as much as possible. And then there were his attempts to occasionally go about muttering haiku, as was Ichigen’s penchant:

“The rainy season…generates so much anguish…over the laundry”

and

“Behold here these snails…lumbering about, dazed…through the misty rains”

but none of his poems seemed to have quite the same flair. Ichigen truly must have been a genius, Kuroh recognized anew.

Though of course, there was no way Ichigen wouldn’t, along the way, notice Kuroh doing all of this, and one day he questioned curiously, “Hey, Kuro… Is there some reason you’ve been acting like my mirror lately?”

Kuroh candidly explained his efforts, how he was training himself as a Clansman by imitating Ichigen.

“Hmm…” Ichigen crossed his arms over his chest, expression wavering between admiration and bemus.e.m.e.nt, and Kuroh grew a bit worried.

“Does that…mean this won’t work, then…?” If Ichigen himself put down his methods as useless, there was no point in attempting things further.

But Ichigen replied only with, “…I’m sorry,” a soft apology. “It’s just, even I myself don’t know if that will help or not.”

Kuroh blinked in surprise. He would never had thought that the King himself wouldn’t be able to advise him on this matter.

Ichigen continued slowly, “You see, it’s kind of like…trying to explain how to perceive the world we live in. We could be looking at the same color red, but our respective ways of grasping that shade may in fact differ. If I tell you, ‘Use red,’ the red you see for yourself and that I see might not be the same. So I’m afraid I can’t tell you if that’s a worthwhile effort or not. Clothing sizes and taste in foods differ from person to person, after all.”

“I see…” Kuroh murmured to himself after falling silent for a moment. ‘I feel like I both do and don’t quite understand…’ He continued, questioning, “Then, how do you utilize your powers as a King, Ichigen-sama?”

To this, Ichigen replied, “Hmm…I suppose it’s something like…capturing the stars as they fall from the sky…”

“………” Kuroh was at a loss for words to respond.

“I believe another King once described it as ‘releasing the raging inferno that bellows up from within in tiny amounts’.”

“An…inferno?”

“Indeed; like, WHOOM!” This only seemed to confuse Kuroh further, though, and Ichigen continued with a gentle smile, “Kuro–this is, at its core, simply a matter of what you want to do. The same power that I’m able to wield already sleeps within you.”

Kuroh recalled being reminded of this before–“The contract between us has already been made; you have but to bring out that power on your own.”

“Your true essence–how you will face this world, how you’ll confront it. Perhaps that’s…the key to everything?”

Kuroh hung his head at this. He still didn’t quite understand his true nature himself. Ichigen, as if clearly grasping the sensitive nature of Kuroh’s heart, though, placed both hands on Kuroh’s small shoulders. “But it’s probably best to just try with matters you aren’t sure are appropriate or not, at least until you can figure it out for yourself.” He finished with a grin. “That settles it then–you’re to keep tabs on me 24-7 and do exactly as I do for now, Kuro!” Gestures like this spoke volumes of how broad-minded Ichigen was.

“Eh? Y–you mean it?”

“Indeed. You’re only in elementary school, after all; I sometimes find myself forgetting that fact. It would actually be more worrisome if you did understand yourself perfectly at your age.” He c.o.c.ked his head to the side. “I’d hazard that you’re likely the youngest Clansman in any of the Clans right now.”

“I–I am?” Ichigen very rarely spoke of anything regarding the Kings with Kuroh.

“Yup.” He grinned. “So have a bit more confidence in yourself, Kuroh.”

Kuroh straightened his back, cheeks flushed. “Yes, Ichigen-sama!”

His true nature… He’d always thought “revering Ichigen-sama” would be enough, and they pa.s.sed the time after that merrily constructing haiku together.

On receiving official permission from Ichigen, Kuroh dove even more zealously into his attempts at imitation. However, while Ichigen had granted that, “It is true that copying your teacher is a rather common method of study in the field of martial arts, and you seem rather suited to it as well,” the actual results were…not quite so favorable. Try as he might, Kuroh simply could not manage to use his special powers, and he found himself deep in thought on such matters even at school.

“…What’s wrong, Kuro-chan?” the youngest of the daif.u.ku trio, Heita, asked.

“Oh…it’s nothing, really. Sorry.” Kuroh forced a smile. He was using their break period to check over Heita’s work and had just drifted off. Heita’s two elder brothers, Seita and Kouta, were perched over a hand-crafted shougi board, moving their p.a.w.ns about as they played. Kuroh smiled, “Now–you take one from the tens’ place here, and then in the ones’ place…” He was teaching Heita subtraction, and the boy nodded along, eyes glittering.

“Amazing! I totally get it now, Kuro-chan!” Kuroh nodded, pleased, and Heita continued a bit c.o.c.kily, “Way different from my brothers!”

“Well excuse us!”

“Not like we’ve got any hope of ever being as smart as Kuro-chan, after all!” Kuroh c.o.c.ked his head, refuting the protest, and the daif.u.ku trio laughed wryly. “What’re you even saying? You’re the smartest–well, there’s only the four of us in the whole school, but you’re still definitely the smartest one here!”

“We all think you’re amazing!” both the elder brothers continued.

“…I see…” He’d never really thought about it himself, but it seemed the daif.u.ku trio really did feel that way. “…Thank you.”

“Hey hey, Kuro-chan! How’d you get so smart?” Heita asked.

Kuroh tilted his head in thought before responding, “Hm…perhaps because I occasionally have Ichigen-sama look over my work?” His expression brightened here, “Hey! Why don’t you three come over and have Ichigen-sama teach you a bit some free weekend??” Oh that was a fine idea–! But–at this suggestion, the trio’s expressions grew a bit vague as they glanced at one another. “…What’s wrong?” Kuroh asked hesitantly.

“Oh, no, just…”

“We’ll…pa.s.s.”

“Right?”

Kuroh’s expression s.h.i.+fted to one of irritation, which the eldest, Seita, picked up on immediately, waving his hands in protest, “No no, don’t get us wrong. It’s not like we have a problem with Miwa-sensei! We all love him, see?”

“Then–why?”

“Well, it’s just…” Seita spoke up for the group, explaining, “You…do know that Miwa-sensei is…really really bad at teaching others, right?”