Chapter 38 - Going Out

Three months has passed and May arrives, so does spring time.

"Ohh… This is the first time I'm seeing you in nice clothes outside work." Fumio who is sitting at the guest area, greets Kotone who just entered the reception area of Muscle Masters.

He cannot help but appreciate Kotone's look in her yellow green flower-patterned kimono, bright colors which he never saw Kotone in.

"Oh. Now that you say it." Kotone nods in realization as she joins Fumio on the same couch.

"But… Why'd Kichirou-san have to make the shop the meeting place? I feel like I'm here to work." Kotone complains as she cannot wait to show off her new clothes to strangers in the streets.

"What, you never went out of the neighborhood in uniform before?" Fumio asks in surprise.

Kotone simply shakes her head. "I would have if I'm as close to Kichirou-san as you are." She says.

"Uhuh… Well. Doesn't matter now." Fumio shrugs.

"It seems like boss gave you a lot of nice clothes too?" He asks instead, knowing that Kotone, who does not wear branded clothes even with her salary, would be the type of person to buy herself such luxurious kimono.

"He did." Kotone says as she appreciates her appearance in the mirrored wall in front of her and Fumio.

"Boss gave me 8 new sets for this spring. How about you?" Fumio brags.

"8 too. But unlike you who represents Kichirou-san in his music and manga in meetings, I don't get many chances to wear them." Kotone compares while looking at Fumio who is wearing a formal kimono.

"Ah. Such a waste." Fumio playfully laments, making Kotone roll her eyes.

"How's your training gi, by the way? How many holes does it have now?" Fumio asks.

"I don't know really. It seems like Kichirou-san replaces mine every other day." Kotone recalls.

"What… the hell?" Fumio does a double take at the information.

"I only had one for three months and it's full of holes." He complains.

"Well. I'm a lady. Am I supposed to wear training gi full of holes?" Kotone rolls her eyes.

"Oh…" Fumio is reminded that Kotone is indeed still a lady.

"So… Outing huh. It's unusual of him." Kotone changes the subject, wanting to take a break from the subject of training.

"Uhuh…" Fumio nods, but internally, he is suspicious of the seemingly impulsive actions of Red.

"Do you know where we're going?" Kotone asks, knowing that Fumio knows more of Red than her.

"I don't know. He says we're going out for fun. But I fear what the boss means by fun." Fumio shudders.

Kotone, seeing Fumio's expression, gets infected by his mood. "Don't jinx it." She says in self-consolation.

"Am I that bad a guy?" The two are startled as they suddenly hear Red's voice beside them.

"Ohh.. my heart." "Good grief." The two apprentices hold their chests as they try to recover the breath they lost.

"I almost forgot how that feels." Fumio recovers first.

"Same." Kotone follows.

"Anyways. Addressing you two's concern. On why I asked for you two today…" Red pauses for dramatic purposes, which makes his two apprentices lean towards him a bit.

"Well, today's that day for Kotone, Fumio." Red says to Fumio.

Fumio immediately gets what Red is saying.

"What day?" Kotone meanwhile, is confused.

"Why don't we start with the special features of the clothes I've given you?" Red smiles.

"Fumio. Do the honors?" He orders Fumio.

Fumio's face immediately wears a shit eating grin.

"Hey Kotone. Wanna see something cool? Stand up. Let's stand up." He asks and he stands up.

"Uhhh. Sure." Kotone feels like she is once again out of the loop, but already used to it whenever she is in the presence of the two men conversing, she can only follow Fumio's lead and she stands up.

"Okay… Look at this." Fumio then presses something in the hem of his haori before, "TADA!" transforming into a 40 something year old handsome man.

"Wha-" Before Kotone can express her shock, "Hey Kotone…" Red calls out to her too and snaps his fingers before casting an illusion on himself to wear his Old Phantom disguise.

The in-disguise Fumio then reaches out to Kotone's kimono, caresses its hem to find the seal, and after finding it, he presses it.

Kotone's head at this point is spinning and it does not help when Fumio "Look, look.", points her to her reflection on the mirrored wall.

"This is… This is." Kotone looks and finds that instead of her real self, her reflection now looks like a male version of her in formal kimono.

"I-I need a minute…" Her legs slowly losing their strength out of shock, she plops herself back down

…

A few minutes later, "So… that explains everything! The perpetually clean shop. The always clean uniform… The background music… They're all your magic?" Kotone is now up to speed with Red's sealing and formation skills.

"Yes. Magic that only I have the knowledge to use." Red nods.

"You wanna learn how to do them?" Red asks.

"We can learn it?" Fumio this time, is excited. While he had the knowledge of the seals and formations for months, he never imagined that he can learn to make them.

"C-can I?" Kotone values the utility of such magic.

"It takes years… You two are not geniuses so it'll probably take you two at least a few months' straight practice to make the simplest spiritual energy gathering seal." Red says.

"What's that?" Kotone asks on behalf of her and Fumio.

"Just like any electronic device, seals and formations require energy. That energy is what I would call spiritual energy, something that is all around us." Red explains.

"So that uhh… spiritual energy gathering seal… like its name suggests, it gathers spiritual energy." Fumio says.

"Precisely." Red nods.

Seeing that the two are following his words quite well, he continues to explain.

"Yes. And that seal is the foundation of all seals. The autocleaning seal for example, it will not work by itself without being connected to an energy source." Red explains.

"So… the most basic seal is the battery." Kotone says.

"Not a battery, but a generator. A battery would be the spiritual energy storing seal." Red starts.

"Here's the basic set-up of the seals I put on your clothes. I set up a spiritual energy gathering seal and I connected it to the auto-cleaning seal. Follow so far?"

The two nods at his question.

Fumio then raises a question. "What about the illusion seal?"

"As for the illusion seal, well, it takes more energy to make it work, and a less passive utilization than the cleaning seal. So, I connected the gathering seal to an energy storing seal, and from the storing seal, I connected an activation seal that acts like a faucet and a switch. And that switch is controlled by you pinching it, to release the illusion seal." Red explains in one breath.

The two students then caress the seal on the hem of their clothes as they process the lecture.

"So… in my robe, there are at least five seals not counting that seal that makes it wrinkle free." Kotone counts.

"How about the resistance seals, boss?" Fumio raises another question.

"Same with the set-up of the illusion seal, only the energy gathering and energy storing seals are much much bigger and much more complicated." Red says.

"And it takes months to practice to make just the most basic spiritual energy gathering seal…" Kotone sighs in defeat.

"And a lot of money." Fumio suddenly realizes something.

"Boss… These seals on my clothes are stitched with what looks like gold thread. And the security seals on the storage room is carved on valuable wood -… That means materials matter, right?" He asks.

"Yes. Spiritual seals require spiritual conductive materials to work. Gold and platinum threads work well on seals for clothes. The hard Ipe wood work good on seals for doors and windows. And that floor tile of pure silver…" Red points at the metallic tile at the corner of the room's floor, "is good enough for seals for floors and walls.", he concludes.

"Whoah…" Kotone who is now just finding out about the seals in the shop, is more mystified even though the mysteries she that were keeping her up at night in her first few months of working in the shop, are answered.

Fumio on the other hand, gets to pondering.

A moment later, "Boss. You're still not telling her?" He asks Red as he caresses the resistance seals on his neck.

"Why does this remind me of something?" Fumio's question makes Kotone suspicious of the two once again.

"Why don't we go somewhere fun?" Red instead ignores the question and claps his palms together.

…

An hour later.

Chofu City, located in the eastern part of Tokyo Metropolitan area, is a humble city.

Although some streets are almost dilapidated and has remained unchanged since its better days in the 60s, it offers peace to the tourists and locals with nostalgic tendencies. In addition to its nostalgic scene, it also possesses some beautiful spots for tourists and locals alike.

Some of the oldest shrines where superiori maidens and priests once trained during the great war are located in it. Those shrines are also located amidst well preserved and kept botanical gardens that one cannot help but be respected and treated with care by visitors.

Out of all the beautiful places Red would bring his two students however, he chose a place that raises suspicions in Fumio, and confusion in Kotone.

"Chofu Combat Gym. Why are we here, Kichirou-san?" Kotone asks as she looks at huge signs displaying the name of the wide building.

"I reserved a combat room. Just follow me." Red continues to lead his students inside.

Combat gyms and combat rooms are places that are frequented by superiori whose abilities have destructive tendencies for practice, or by superiori who simply want a place to spar without caring for property damage.

"Boss. Don't tell me it's a training day?" Fumio asks.

"No. It's a graduation ceremony for Kotone." Red smirks mysteriously.

Fumio can only look at Kotone who is clueless and excited, in pity.

*SLAM*

A minute later, Red locks the doors of the basketball sized combat room, locking him and his two students inside the room.

Red then slowly turns around and looks at Kotone with a mysterious smile.

"Uh oh…" Kotone has seen that smile from Red too many times during her combat training with him.

After blinking, her heart jumps in surprise as Red is now just a step away from her.

Red then touches her in the forehead and the next moment, as if a mountain is taken off of her shoulders, she suddenly feels light, the lightest she has ever felt in her life.

"Fumio… Haven't you been curious of Kotone's progress?" Red then turns his attention to Fumio.

"Err… Yes." Fumio admits.

Red then pulls out a wooden sword from his storage space and hands it to Kotone.

Kotone, seeing the wooden sword that have countlessly swiped lipstick on her gi, now in her hands, she strangely feels that she has accomplished something big.

"You want to know why I put you through hell for three months, Kotone? …" Red pulls Kotone out of her sentimental state. "Have a go at Fumio." He finishes his order.

"What?"

"Huh?"

Kotone and Fumio both want to deny that they heard what they just heard.

"Fumio. It's been a while since we last sparred. But I think Kotone is good enough for you as a measuring stick, no?" Red says.

"Her?" Fumio gets offended.

"Yes… Or would you want me to?" Red raises his brows.

"Uhhh…" Fumio gets scared of the alternative.

"I've noticed that you're using the breathing technique almost subconsciously. Why don't we test if you can maintain it under pressure?" Red asks.

Fumio nods, now understanding that this is also a test for him, not just Kotone's.

"Well then… Miss Kotone…" He turns his attention to Kotone.

"Come at me."