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Outside, the rain fell softly, slowly painting everything the droplets touch a darker shade. Somehow, the sound of the rain seemed to make all other sounds louder, the dark sky only enhancing this sensation, as the night covered the world with a blanket of shadows. The soft grass the pillow and the evening breeze a mother’s soothing voice.
The crunching sound of the pebbles under his feet were drawn out, almost hesitant, as the environment made Munakata Reisi move with caution. As if the sound of his movement across the yard to the dojo would somehow disturb the tranquility nature had managed to settle over the large city. At first, he was unaware of his own caution, the atmosphere somehow seeming to be almost holy.
The Captain smiled, amused at his own caution. No god he knew off spoke of any kind of power, like the one he himself wielded. The closest thing to a god he could bring himself to believe in was the very Slates, that had granted him this power. But that would make him holy. And that, he was most certainly not. He chuckled at his own silliness, yet his movement stayed cautious, even when he reached the steps leading to the wooden patio of the dojo.
Carefully, Munakata stepped out of his shoes and slid the door open. He almost flinched at the sound it made when wood touched wood as he slid it closed behind him. A sound, he usually found oddly satisfying, relaxing, even. It meant he was in the dojo, one of the only places he could relax, could be Reisi and let the burden of being the Blue King, of being the Captain of Scepter 4, stay on the other side of the sliding door.
Barefooted, he walked across the floor to pick out a bokuto – a wooden sword used for sparring and training. Reisi considered for a moment to pick a wakizashi version, but since the wakizashi was mainly a companion sword and he didn’t have much training in carrying daisho – the term for a katakana and wakizashi together – he decided against it and picked a katakana version. The sword was intended for a two-handed grip, unlike his saber.
Reisi didn’t light the room, preffering to practice in the dark where his senses were enhanced and his calmness less likely to escape him.
He worked silently. Thanks to the powers given to him by the Slates, it took an hour for him to break sweat, even longer for his arms to start aching, and another half an hour for his legs to start trembling. But he didn’t stop. He was so consumed by his own concentration that he didn’t notice any of these things, didn’t even notice the other King’s presence before the tip of his wooden sword hovered mere centimeters from Suoh Mikoto’s neck.
“’S a little dark.” The Red King spoke, tone monotonous, speech slurred as if he couldn’t be bothered to put energy into speaking clearly. His hands were in his pockets, posture uninterested, lazy, even, completely ignoring the fact that there was a blade – albeit a wooden one – at his throat. Yet even in the dark, Reisi could see the fire in his eyes. The intelligence, the playfulness. Suoh’s eyes always harbored such intensity, a pure contrast to the rest of the man.
“Suoh.” Reisi softly spoke as he lowered his sword and brought his hand up to fix his glasses. “Resorted to breaking and entering, I see.” Suoh snorted.
“Didn’t break an’thin’.” He slurred. “What’re you doin’?” Reisi raised an eyebrow.
“What does it look like I am doing?” Mikoto shrugged.
“Dunno. Too dark.” It was an obvious lie, and Mikoto knew it. Which meant he was here to satisfy that playful side of his. Reisi chuckled amused and once again fixed his glasses in a fluid, elegant manner, as was the way he carried himself.
“Then let us play, Suoh Mikoto.” He said before raising the bokuto and attacking.
When the two of them fought, it always turned into a beautiful dance of attack upon attack. Neither of them retreating, neither of them backing down. They enjoyed it, looked forward to every clash. This time was no different. Every movement came at the right time, their fighting so fluid, to anyone watching it seemed scripted.
Until Suoh simply grabbed a hold of the wooden blade, letting out a slight grunt of pain as the force behind it sent electricity up his arm. At first, Reisi simply looked confused at him, but before he could pull the sword from Suoh’s grasp, the Red King’s hand flared as red flames engulfed it, traveling up the blade faster than any natural flame would. Reisi let go of the sword to avoid burning himself, as he saw no reason to activate his aura simply to reclaim a half burned bokuto.
Suoh smirked as the sword dissolved into nothing – not even ash was left behind. Reisi just wastched dumbfounded while the flames retreated until they simply disappeared into Suoh as if they were never there. Reisi looked at him.
“I hope you plan to repla-“ He wasn’t allowed to finish the sentence before Suoh grabbed his arm and used his leg to kick away Reisi’s own. Reisi was landed on the floor and before he had time to react, Suoh was on top of him, affectively pinning his arms and with them, his torso.
“I win.” Suoh declared.
“You absolutely do not, you cheated.” Reisi complained. Suoh shrugged.
“Let’s go drinking.” For not the first time, Reisi found himself astounded by the man’s bluntness.
“Drinking?” He asked, trying to decipher the man’s motives.
“Yeah.” Suoh offered and stood. “Let’s get drunk. Like we used to.” Reisi stood as well and fixed his glasses before looking at the other King.
“Not exactly the times we were at out best.” He spoke the words more to try to talk himself out of it than to decline the offer.
“Whatever.” Mikoto shrugged and walked to the door. Reisi sighed, knowing he had already made up his mind.
“Wait... I need to perform the soji.” Mikoto shrugged and sat down against the wall.
The soji ritual is a cleaning of the dojo performed either before or after training, sometimes both.
Reisi was annoyed, though not surprised, to hear Mikoto snoring as he bent over and started the cleaning. He knew Mikoto was only doing it to annoy him. When he actually did sleep, Mikoto made little noise beside some inaudible muttering.
It occurred to Reisi that he was most likely the only one aware of this fact, but he pushed the thought aside. That would suggest he spent too much time in Mikoto’s bed and while it was probably true, considering that they were sworn enemies, it wasn’t something Reisi was prepared to admit.