Work Text:
Be at this address at exactly 1PM today. Dress for physical activity.
Hiruko was the worst texter in the world. It didn't matter how much we trusted each other, or how many years we had been together, she always texted like she was part of some clandestine military operation. Nothing could ever just be straightforward. Every message was some kind of freaky ultimatum, despite the fact that our lives in the TRC were peaceful and pleasant. At this point, I knew better than to get worked up about it, this was just how she operated. In a way, I was kind of glad that living in peacetime hadn't changed her too much. It would be a terrible shame if any of Hiruko's sharpness was dulled.
As instructed, I made my way to the supplied address later that day, dressed in gym clothes. I had no idea what we were actually planning to do here, but usually when Hiruko arranged for something like this, it ended up being fun, so I wasn't worried. I had to look around for a while before I found the right entrance, as there were no obvious markings for the address. But eventually I found a small door tucked on the side of a warehouse building labeled with the right number, and hanging next to it was a sign that read "Chabashira Aikido Dojo". Martial arts? I wasn't sure what Hiruko had us doing here.
I walked in the door and there she was, in running shorts and a tank top. Her eyes darted over to me right away.
"Good, you're on time. A pleasant surprise. Now, come with me."
She wasted no time waiting for my response and turned away. I just followed her, briskly walking through the mostly-empty martial arts gym, until we reached a secluded corner in the back. It had a large, stiff floor mat and a rack of bamboo swords off to one side. Hiruko stopped over by the rack.
"Now then, Takumi. Grab one and let's begin."
"Are you planning on telling me what exactly we're doing here?" I still hadn't had a chance to even say hello, let alone figure out what the plan was.
"What does it look like? We're sparring."
"Sparring? Why?" We hadn't done anything like this since...we were at the Academy. There was no need for us to fight anymore.
She grabbed a sword and strutted over to me, standing just inches away from me. From this angle, she could look down her nose at me. She planted the tip of the sword firmly on the ground, nearly pushing it right into my foot.
"Simple, because I want to. I missed the thrill of fighting, so I got Kyoshika to recommend this dojo. It may not be the same without real weapons and hemoanima, but...I just have an itch I don't think I can scratch any other way. So hurry up and let's begin, I only rented this space out for an hour."
I never got a kick out of our battles quite the way Hiruko did, but I had to admit, there were elements of it that I liked. It made me feel in tune with my body in a way that was almost zen-like. When all my senses and muscles were so focused, it was impossible to feel anxious, or really to think about anything at all. I walked over to the rack and grabbed one of the bamboo swords, and we squared off.
Even though it had been years since I swung a sword, those memories never left my muscles. My technique wasn't as sharp and precise as it had once been, and my senses were dulled. Kyoshika probably would have been appalled. But I was still making familiar moves, getting back into the feel of the sword.
Hiruko was a little more unsteady in her movements, but that didn't surprise me. She was used to wielding a huge, heavy battleaxe, and the feel of the bamboo sword was probably way more unfamiliar. In our first several rounds, I was able to easily parry Hiruko's strikes and counter, landing my hits consistently. At first she chalked it up to rust, but after a few consecutive losses, she was starting to look more serious.
"Your form hasn't diminished, Takumi," she panted. "As dangerous as ever."
"Come on, Hiruko," I retorted. "You better not be going easy on me. I thought you wanted to feel that rush? You're gonna have to get serious if you want to scratch that itch."
"Oh, is that so, then?" She squared off again, a confident smirk on her face. I guess she had been holding back.
As our next round began, I stuck with my tried and true strategy. Her speed was no match for mine, so I could simply wait for her to take the initiative, then parry and counterattack. It had won me six rounds in a row. As expected, she moved in, closing the distance while testing me with her point, until she built up a good position to go in for a heavy horizontal strike. This was the perfect opportunity; a parry here would leave her wide open, with no hope of defending my counter attack.
I brought my sword against hers to parry, but much to my shock, the raw strength behind the strike powered straight through my defense. Her sword crashed into my ribcage, knocking the wind out of me.
"Point for me," she said, smirking to herself as I gasped for air. "What's wrong, little boy? You didn't think the size of that axe was just for show, did you? Now catch your breath and face off again."
After taking a moment to compose myself, we squared off once more. She was holding nothing back now, and I was gonna have to do the same. Her strategy was the same, but my defensive technique wasn't working any more. Each blow had enough strength to shatter my defense, barely leaving me enough time to recover before the next one came down. I could feel the shockwaves of each impact surging through my arms. If this kept up, I wouldn't be able to defend much longer. I had to try to make a move. She came in for an overhand swing as I recovered, but rather than attempting to parry, this time I sidestepped. Her weight went surging forward, and I sensed my opening. Feeling confident I had finally won, I brought my point up for a thrust.
The next thing I knew, I was lying on my back, panting. The tip of Hiruko's sword was planted snugly into my stomach. A sharp pain in my ankle told me exactly what happened: I had taken my eyes off her blade as I went in for the thrust, and before I could fully execute, she had swept her blade to the side, striking my ankles and knocking me off balance. She stood over me, straddling her defeated opponent and reveling in her victory. I thought I saw a hint of that familiar bloodlust in her eyes as she crouched down, her face hovering a few inches from mine. She was panting hard from the effort; I could feel her hot, humid breath on my face.
"That's what I need, Takumi. Fight me with savagery. Fight like we're going to die. Unleash that primal instinct in you."
Her face kept getting closer and closer, her red eyes glistening with the desire to fight to the death. Of course, with only bamboo swords, neither of us would be getting killed today. But she squared up again, and if I was going to stand a chance, I really would have to fight like it was for my life. I tried to remember what it was like on the battlefield, staring down hordes of invaders. I had to let that zen come back over me if I wanted to take her on.
She fought with brutality. There was no subtlety or strategy. With each strike there was fire in her eyes and fury in her voice. Despite her slow strikes, there was so much power behind them that defending would be impossible. It took all my focus to get into her rhythm, dodging each strike only to immediately have to jump out of the way of another. We were locked in a violent dance, burning hotter and hotter. I had to focus on short, quick strikes in order to land them, movements I could sneak in between beats of her sword. We traded rounds back and forth, her powerful blows leaving bruises on my arms and legs, my quick thrusts catching her off guard and sending her to the mat. Time floated away from us as we fought over and over again. It was only when Hiruko's watch alarm went off, alerting us to the end of our hour, that we descended, battered and exhausted, from our martial trance.
I placed my sword back in the rack and slumped against the wall, my body totally spent. Hiruko was doubled over, trying to catch her breath.
"Come on...Takumi..." she panted. "Let's...sheesh...let's head home..."
I sluggishly lifted my head to look at her. "Don't you think...we should...clean up first?"
She chuckled to herself, coughing a bit from the extra exertion of the laughs. "What...don't you...wanna shower with me?" My face was already red from the intensity of the workout, but I thought it was somehow getting even redder. She stumbled over to me and extended a hand, beckoning me to get up. I reached out and let her pull me up. I was surprised she still had the strength to do it after all that.
We shuffled out of the dojo, soaked with sweat and still panting. I was only just barely starting to catch my breath when we walked out the front door, back into the nondescript alleyway that housed Kyoshika's dojo. As soon as we had walked away from the door, Hiruko shoved my back up against the wall and kissed me deeply and aggressively. Her face was so hot, I could feel steam rising off of us. I thought I heard someone else walking out of the dojo, their footsteps slowly moving past us, but Hiruko clearly didn't care at all. I certainly wasn't going to stop the kiss if she wasn't.
"Now that's my Team Leader," she said, panting as she pulled her lips away from mine. "Showing your strength and focus, pushing me to the limit...making me feel alive. I love it when you're like that."
Considering how fired up she was, her words had a surprising tenderness to them. Her eyes were wide with the thrill of battle, but somehow they looked at me lovingly nonetheless.
"And how about the rest of the time?" I couldn't resist quipping back at her. My response caught her off guard. Defend and parry, then counterattack.
Her voice softened. "You know I love you just how you are, Takumi."
I smiled, leaning up to her face and giving her a small, soft kiss. "I love you too, Hiruko."
She grabbed my hand, just as sweaty as hers, and pulled me away from the wall. We walked away into the city, heading home, battle-worn and happy.