Sabito and Giyu

"Mr. Kanzaki, how did you do it? Did you really learn Makomo's technique after seeing it just once?"

Though he was already exhausted from training, Sabito still watched Kanzaki Kumo like a curious child. It was only because he had no strength left; otherwise, Kumo felt he would have crowded right up to him.

"My eyes are special. They can make out every movement a target makes and remember every detail. All I need to do is reproduce those movements and practice them. As Mr. Urokodaki said, this lets me pick things up quickly, but I lack the core. You could say I have the 'form,' but the 'spirit' within the sword techniques requires guidance from others or extra time spent trying to understand it myself."

Since he had nothing else to do, Kumo chatted with Sabito.

"That's still amazing. Just learning the movements of the sword techniques is hard enough for us." Sabito thought back over the month since he and Giyu had become Sakonji Urokodaki's students. They had yet to learn all the movements for Water Breathing's ten forms.

"I noticed your movements while you were practicing earlier. Your talent really isn't bad. You're just getting started a little more slowly than I did, but you're already ahead of most people."

Kumo was only telling the truth. When he arrived, the two had been practicing the movements of Water Breathing's First Form, which happened to be the technique he had learned from Makomo. Naturally, he could judge their foundations. In terms of that technique alone, their mastery was actually no worse than his.

"Besides, I only have these eyes to thank for getting started faster. When it comes to truly learning it, I might not be any faster than you."

After all, the only technique he had truly grasped entirely on his own so far was Thunderclap and Flash, and that had taken quite a lot of time. It was also because he had grasped that technique himself that Kumo had truly become proficient in Thunder Breathing and understood its essence.

"How could that be? I heard Master Urokodaki say earlier that you've already mastered Total Concentration: Constant. I've only just reached the threshold of Water Breathing."

"I started learning more than a year before you, you know." Kumo suddenly understood a little of how Jigoro Kuwajima had felt when he had humblebragged in front of him.

Getting started in a month, even with Water Breathing's comparatively low entry requirements, already demonstrated considerable talent.

Moreover, for someone like Sabito, who understood the essence first and then familiarized himself with the techniques, his progress would only grow faster once he got started. Kumo had only reversed that order thanks to his powerful vision.

Breathing Styles and their corresponding sword techniques required a true understanding of their essence before their full power could be unleashed.

The rules of this world placed intent first, technique second, and pure strength last.

That was why, in the original story, Tanjuro Kamado could still instantly behead a three-meter-tall giant bear even shortly before his death, when his body was already terribly weak.

Of course, basic strength determined the upper limit. If one's strength was too low, no amount of ability in other areas could be brought to bear.

"Speaking of which, how old are you this year, Mr. Kanzaki?" With the subject of training time coming up, Sabito could not resist asking the question that had been on his mind from the start. Even the withdrawn Giyu beside him turned to look. After all, Kumo really did look a little too young.

"I'll turn fourteen in a while. About the same age as you, I suppose?"

"Gasp-"

"That's a little embarrassing for us, since we're already fourteen..." Sabito exchanged a look with Giyu as he spoke.

They had turned fourteen one after the other a few days earlier.

"If you put it that way, should I find a hole to crawl into, since I'm already fifteen?" Makomo walked into the room carrying a dish, just in time to hear their conversation.

"Mm..." Still caught up in his surprise, Sabito instinctively nodded under Giyu's astonished gaze. He immediately realized something was wrong, but it was too late.

Makomo set down the dish and strode over to Sabito. Her small hand caught his ear, forcing him to stop lying flat.

"Ow, ow-Makomo, I was wrong! Let go! It hurts, it hurts!"

"Hmph! Hurry up and wash your hands." Makomo gave a soft huff and let go. She had not really used any force. Although she had only spent twenty-odd days with them before going to Mount Fujikasane for the Final Selection, she still cared deeply for her two junior fellow students.

Seeing that Sabito was on his feet, Makomo called to Giyu as well. "Giyu, get up. It's time to eat."

"Oh."

That was the first thing Giyu had said since Kumo met him.

Only then did Makomo turn her gaze to Kumo. Remembering what she had just done, she wondered whether she had left him with the impression that she was violent.

"Kumo, wash your hands and get ready to eat too."

"Of course, Boss Makomo." Kumo smiled and winked at her as he spoke.

"You-"

Makomo raised a hand as if to hit him, but Kumo had already slipped away toward the washbasin outside. Sabito and Giyu followed close behind, and the former even gave Kumo a thumbs-up.

Watching the three of them leave, Makomo broke into a smile as well.

Dinner was plentiful and tasted very good.

Though it was a little disrespectful to his old man to say so, Kumo felt that Sakonji Urokodaki was a slightly better cook than Jigoro Kuwajima.

Kuwajima: If you know it's disrespectful, don't say it, you brat!

After dinner, everyone got ready for bed. In an age with so little entertainment, and deep in the mountains at that, there was no nightlife to speak of.

But just as Kumo took off his outer garment in the guest room, someone knocked on the door.

He put it back on and opened the door, finding Makomo standing outside.

"Is something wrong?" Kumo was a little puzzled. Ordinarily, a girl knocking on a boy's door in the middle of the night might give rise to certain thoughts, but at their current ages, there was no room for any of that.

"Um... I wanted to ask you for a favor, Kumo." Makomo spoke hesitantly as she looked at him. Kumo simply watched her quietly, waiting for her to continue.

"You've probably noticed that Giyu is a little too quiet. He's been like this ever since Master Urokodaki first brought him back. Sabito and I have tried quite a few things, but none of them have managed to change him..."

"So you want me to help bring that withdrawn kid out of his shell?"

"Um... yes!" Although this was Makomo's first time hearing the term "withdrawn," she quickly understood what it meant and nodded at once.

"Because I noticed you seem really good at making friends. You've barely been here, and you're already chatting and laughing with Sabito..."

Makomo's voice grew softer and softer. She knew she was grasping at straws, but she had to try. There was something special about Kumo, she felt. If it was him, perhaps he really could do something, or change something.

"I'll try, but I can't promise it'll work." Looking into Makomo's large, limpid eyes, Kumo ultimately could not bring himself to refuse.

"But before that, could you tell me about Giyu's past? At least let me know why he became like this."

"Yes. As far as I know..."