Kiyomi froze.
When she came to her senses, Kawaki had already walked away.
That evening, Kiyomi returned to her apartment.
She put the wooden sword on the table, then went to the kitchen to make a bowl of instant noodles.
It was her first time cooking for herself. Though it was only instant noodles, she carefully followed the instructions on the package: boil water, add the noodles, and wait three minutes.
As the aroma of the noodles drifted through the room, Kiyomi suddenly thought of Shennong.
Shennong had cooked for her too, but his meals had always been cold and devoid of warmth.
This bowl of noodles, simple as it was, was hot.
Kiyomi carried the bowl to the window and sat down, looking out at the night scene.
Leaf was lively at night. People still walked along the streets, vendors were packing up their stalls, and children's laughter drifted over from afar.
She suddenly felt that this kind of life wasn't so bad.
The next day, Kiyomi continued practicing with the sword.
Kawaki taught her the basic Kenjutsu moves, breaking each one down in meticulous detail.
"The key to Kenjutsu is judging distance," Kawaki said. "You need to know the range of your own attacks, as well as your opponent's."
"How do I figure that out?"
"Through sparring." Kawaki raised his wooden sword. "Come on, attack me."
Kiyomi charged forward and swung at Kawaki's shoulder.
Kawaki dodged to the side. Kiyomi's wooden sword swept past him, and his stopped beside her neck.
"Do you see?" Kawaki said. "Your attack has a range of 1.2 meters, but I only need to be within eighty centimeters to counter."
Kiyomi nodded.
"Again."
This time, Kiyomi didn't attack directly. She thrust her sword forward tentatively.
Kawaki parried, and Kiyomi immediately pulled back and