Chapter Text
Vergil awaits in an abandoned warehouse deep within the warehouse district, awaiting for the boy whom he met weeks prior.
The half-devil is patient, waiting for the child to finish grieving and attending his mother's funeral. He would give it another week, the human heart, something he had long thrown away, was a tricky thing. One's mental and emotional states can dictate how a battle was going to go just as much as the physical condition of the combatants.
While for some, sadness and grief can quickly turn into anger and a thrist for vengeance (Vergil knows this well, he is one of these types of people.), for others, their world just stops entirely and the sadness and grief would threaten to consume them. Either they would attempt at their own life to join the people they had loved or they would become bitter, a shell of their former self.
If Vergil would have any say about it, then the boy he had taken under his wing would use his anger and grief as a weapon. Although the demon that had taken his mother away from him was dead, there are still more demons out there. And as the boy had said, they could come for the rest of his loved ones. They had already taken someone precious to him and he wouldn't give the demons a second chance to do so, not if he could help it.
The boy wouldn't have a thirst for vengeance, but a need to protect what he has left, to keep, to covet for as long as possible. Death awaits no one and is inevitable, but if the boy has proven to be strong, to be motivated, then he would be able to dictate his cherished ones' fates as much as possible. To allow them to die on his terms, most likely due to old age slipping peacefully away to a forever sleep on a hospital bed, surrounded by loved ones.
The sounds of scuffling shoes was picked up by his enhanced senses as the boy walked into the warehouse moments later.
"Okay..." He spoke a voice that is shaky, still affected by his mother's death but was given ample time to cry alongside his family. "I'm ready."
"Good..." Vergil rose up from where he was sitting. "We'll start with some basic assessments, I need to know what I am working with and how can I improve it." He walked around the boy. "Do you have any previous fighting experience?"
"I've been taught some karate... Although I haven't been to the Dojo ever since... We were coming back home..." Ichigo started to fiddle with the hem of his shirt. "I've been thinking to drop it."
"Don't."
"Huh?"
Vergil sighed. "Don't drop out of your karate classes, even if it is painful for you. There are many different types of demons, and in scenarios in which you don't have or your weapon gets knocked out of your grasp, you will be forced to use your fists. And in those cases, you would be glad to have continued going to those lessons rather than berating yourself for stopping." He explained. "So keep going, any form of martial arts skill will only benefit you in your battles against the legions of Hell. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir..." The boy nodded.
The Dark Slayer made a pleased grunt. "Excellent, your experience in karate has already gave you a foundation to work with. Some things I am to teach you would be easier to learn because of it." He looked around the warehouse. "You're going to do the exercises I've told you to do until I tell you to move onto the next one. You will show me the limits of your body, how far you can push it before collapsing."