17 Change of Perspective (1/2)
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Despite her grandfather being distracted, Tomoyo was clearly watching Kazuya's each and every action. She heard the adults say that he had been a victim of bullying from Hashiyama Lee, a person who didn't even make it to the elite class in their dojo. She wondered how someone as strong as him could be bullied. The moment she stopped glancing towards Kazuya to catch a glimpse of who he had been mocking, her legs trembled.
”Hmm? (Crap she saw)” Kazuya turned towards Tomoyo and found her looking at Lee.
”What's wrong granddaughter?” Jirou who noticed as well asked worriedly.
”She's probably still tired from the exercises I made her do” he moved to block her sight by moving in front of her and explained to Jirou what he asked her to do earlier in the dojo. He told him about how the students all got swept up in her pace and ended up doing only those exercises the whole time they trained.
”Now I'm interested to see what kind of swing you showed her. Come to think of it, I should take you to one of my friends' places to choose a bamboo sword. I figured you'd want to choose one for yourself”
”Oh, I was going to ask you about that” Kazuya was glad to hear the offer.
”Alright I'll make a call then” he turned away and took out his cellphone to call.
Tomoyo's gaze was still looking into Kazuya's eyes. She didn't know why but she seemed to be calming down. What she didn't know was that Kazuya was using a small amount of mana to calm her tensed up nerves. This was usually one of the very basic first aid skills he learned so it's mana consumption was very low.
”Have you calmed down? (I wasn't sure before, but I am now. This girl's weakness… Is that why she lost in the last tournament?)”
*nod*
”You don't need to worry about that guy. I can take care of him with my eyes closed. His enmity isn't with you anyway, so you don't have to worry about anything” he tried to comfort the robot girl.
*nod*
She understood. The boy before her had overcome what she couldn't. This was the reason he was so strong. She wanted to ask him how he did it. People praised her to be a talent that was cut above the rest when it came to swordsmanship, but she didn't think so. It even cost her to lose in the last tournament.
”Do you want to overcome your weakness?”
She was shocked as her small mouth gaped open. This person that hardly even knew her would sometimes understand her and would sometimes not. She was unsure and thought that the times he was correct were coincidences, but this was entirely different.
*nod nod nod* she couldn't help but be excited not because of his offer but by what she had just realized.
”Do you trust me?”
*nod*
”Do you think I would hurt you?”
She hesitated for a moment she remembered the first time they had met. He had said more than once that he did not want to hurt her and despite her persistence, he still didn't.
*shake shake*
”Hey, that hesitation is really not reassuring”
He was intrigued. This robot girl had finally shown him a clear weakness. She didn't seem all that scary now that he had grasped it. The memory of him being beaten to a pulp every time was slowly being overwritten by this interesting version of the robot girl. He preferred this version rather than the violent android that tormented him.
*tug tug* She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention and stared him in the eye.
”Is this you trying to convince me? Well I'll trust you for now and we'll see if you change your mind later” He turned towards Lee who had already left. He wasn't afraid of what that petty-minded guy would do but rather mocked him because he was looking forward to it.
”Sorry for the wait you two. My friend says he'll open his store, so we'll stop by on the way there”
The three of them got in the van and headed for the shop. Much to Kazuya's surprise, it was more of a workshop than an actual store. There were many varieties to choose from so he wasted no time to look through the merchandise.
”You brought an interesting kid Jirou” the shopkeeper said after observing the cheerful boy looking carefully through his works.
”That kid's called Kazuya. He's old Kou's grandchild”
”What!? Kyouko-chan's child? Then he's…”
”Yeah and It's too early to be surprised. He wiped the floor with Tomoyo when they sparred”
”#@^&@!! He beat the young miss!? How!?” he so surprised that he garbled his words.
”He's just that good. With him and Tomoyo, that old racoon will never know what hit him”
The two old men chatted as Kazuya stopped in front of the section that had different kinds of wooden swords. Kendo regulations were strict so he really didn't have much to choose from when it came to bamboo swords but what he really wanted was something that he could practice with. A real sword still wasn't an option he could pick since Kyouko would never allow it so this was the next best thing.
”This should be around the right weight for my current body”
He picked up one of the wooden swords and did a stance using only one arm. It was on the heavy side but he smiled and thought that it was perfect.
”You really are old Kou's grandson. Still a child and still prefer the heavy ones” The shopkeeper commented.
”Grandfather liked heavy swords?”
”Yeah he would always nitpick about the wooden swords I make being too light. I made an especially heavy one just to hear him complain that it was too heavy, but he loved it instead”
”I wonder if we still have it…” he thought about the two storage buildings in the Kouzuki household he had yet to explore.
”You should grow a bit more before even trying to use that one kid. Even that one is a bit too heavy for you but since you're old Kou's grandson I bet you'd like it”