Chapter 52 - CH 39: DISCUSSION

"Momo, what's happening?"

Hearing his question, she blushed. Her head was swimming in a fog of confusion. She wanted to speak but

"I…"

Somehow, the words wouldn't come out. She didn't know what to say? Should she confess? But she already did two years ago. Should she flee? What's the use? Kuroha's mark was on her body, so no matter how far away she went, he would always be only one thought away from her.

Her head began to feel faint, her breath hurried, her chest constricted, her vision fuzzy. She was suffering from a panic attack. Her legs wobbled and she began to fall, but then, she felt like she was surrounded by warmth.

(Kuroha is taking me in his arms!! He is hugging me!!)

If she was simply red at first, now she was a deep crimson. Finally, she couldn't take in any more and fainted.

-----

Momo slowly opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling. She recognized this. It was her room. She looked around and focused on the maid that was sitting on a chair in the corner with a cup of tea in her hands.

"Why am I in my room?"

"Hayate-sama carried you."

Those words brought back memories of what happened earlier. She put her pillow against her face and screamed her frustration

"KYAA!!! WHY? WHY DID I FAINT? He must think that I'm weird. No, he definitely thinks that I'm weird."

The maid looked at her mistress with a dumbfounded expression. She looked suspiciously at the tea in her hand. Did someone put some kind of drugs in it? This was the sole explanation she could find.

Momo still in turmoil didn't care about how she looked. After calming herself she asked,

"Did he go back?"

The maid stopped looking at her tea and said,

"Hayate-sama is in the training room."

"Go and tell him that I will join him soon."

"Yes!"

Momo looked at the maid leaving her room before she nodded and got up. She was still wearing the black dress she wore this morning.

She entered her very very very large dressing room and began to search for a sports uniform. As she disrobed herself, she took the full vision of her nude body reflected by the large mirror.

She wasn't narcissistic, but she knew that she was beautiful. She was rather tall for a girl and stood at about 173cm.

She pinched her ass a little before lifting her b.r.e.a.s.ts. Despite her young age, her curves were also extremely attractive. At least from what she knew of boy liking. She lacked nothing, be it on the butt or the b.r.e.a.s.t department.

In short, she was tall, beautiful and s.e.xy. A super legendary triple combo as Minagata would have said. Sadly, this combo seemed useless against the SSS class boss Kuroha.

She shook her head. She really should stop thinking about games. Those were one of the sore pot of Kuroha. After the years, he still didn't become better at it. It was frankly a little funny to see the usually perfect Kuroha show a crack in his armor. Personally she found his frustrated look as he pouted because of a loss rather cute.

Finally, after much thought, she decided to wear a two-piece black wrestling outfit.

(AN: This outfit is the same Rin wore in the final episode of Fate UBW when she fought against Luvia. For those who don't know UBW just search RIN vs LUVIA on youtube.)

----

She begins to walk slower and slower as she neared the training room until she completely comes to a stop once she reached the door. Finally, she took a deep breath and opened the door.

The training room was different from the gym room. It was large. Very large. It was divided into different sections. Each section held a ring for different fighting styles. Wrestling, sumo, fencing, kendo, martial art, boxes. What's more, each of those rings followed the standard size. So you could imagine how large the room was.

"5608"

"5609"

"5610"

The moment she opened the door, she could hear his voice counting and see him sweating as he swung a wooden sword on the ring reserved for kendo and sword fighting. Even though the sword he was swinging looked like a katana and had the length of a katana, it wasn't a katana.

Japan had a dozen types of swords. She never understood why it was only katanas who always appeared in the stories. The worst were those stories where a character used a double sword style with two long katana. How could two katana be used in such a style? At least one of the two should be a short sword.

The sword kuroha was holding was a bokken. A training type sword that was used to train samurai in feudal Japan. Still, they shouldn't be underestimated. These kinds of swords, even though made out of wood could be as lethal as metal one if correctly used.

As she observed him, she began to think about his fighting style. She didn't know why, but Kuroha had an abnormal passion for cutting weapons.

Even though he tried to diversify his arsenal by adding some blunt and piercing weapons such as hammer and spear, he always prioritized his mastery over sharp cutting weapons.

Right now, she was sure that he had basic mastery over five different sword styles and even created two personalized styles for himself.

She shuddered when she thought about it. His first created sword style was good but it was still comprehensible. The second one though…

"Oh… You're awake?"

This voice brought her back from her thoughts. Kuroha took a bottle of water, opened it, and slowly let the water flow on his head. He only wore a sweatpant. Looking at the water sliding on his muscles, Momo had the impression to see the world in slow motion. She never regretted so much not having her phone on her.

Those stray thoughts made her blush heavily. Why did she act like Himiko? She discarded those thoughts and began to walk toward kuroha and entered the rings.

She touched her belly. The moments she did, light began to shine on it. Then, slowly a weapon began to form. It was a staff. A bo staff. She also trained in various taijutsu and bukijutsu. But out of all the bukijutsu she trained in, the staff was the one she liked the most. She could be considered to have a rather good mastery of the Bojutsu.

(AN : Taijutsu: martial arts, Bukijutsu: weapon arts.)

She twirled her staff for a while before gripping it with two hands and pointing it towards Kuroha.

The pressure grew instantly. The silence was heavy. Kuroha silently walked until he stood in front of her and then, he slowly raised his hand

Momo gulped a little. He was so close. What did he want to do? She didn't have time to think before,

Bang!!

"Ouch!!"

She crouched down in pain. He karate chopped her. Kuroha smiled a little before saying,

"Before any strenuous activities. One should always stretch a little and warm up."

She pouted. This sentence completely destroyed the solemn atmosphere she created. She sulked as she began her kata.

----

Kuroha looked silently as Momo moved. She was really graceful and skillful. Frankly, he was nervous. He could easily give pretty scathing remarks if he wished, but he wasn't really good at recomforting and facing people head-on. If he had a system, his Talk-No-Jutsu skill level would be 0.

Still, sometimes one had to act even if they're out of their depth. What's more, he more or less understood what troubled her. Since it was partially his fault, he really couldn't find it in himself to run away. It seemed like he would have to be a little more open with Momo.

----

After she finished her warm-up she properly faced kuroha. She saw that he discarded his previous bokken for another one. This one was created following the style of a nodachi. It a great sword with a length of about 95 cm. This sword was the predecessor of the katana.

Momo squinted a little as he put one foot in front and found his balance. The advantage of the nodachi was the greater range it gave to its user. Still, as a great sword, it was rather difficult and couldn't be easily manipulated. Sadly… This only holds true for normal people.

The moment she blinked, she saw the sword already a few centimeters from her face. Despite that, she didn't flinch.

She was used to it. She took a step back, twirled her Staff before deflecting the sword. Then she thrust with all her might while holding her weapon with one hand.

Kuroha, with infuriating ease, made use of the sword and blocked the thrust, before kicking her legs.

This was like this. In their training session. Apart from using their quirks, everything else was fair game.

The pain from that kick made her flinch a little. Just a few milliseconds. Sadly it was nearly fatal. If she didn't hurriedly sweep his leg with her staff she would have been done for.

The few minutes that followed were a pure clash of skill. No one tried to overpower the other one but rather to outsmart him. It was like a game of chess. Each move was carefully planned three, four or even six-step in advance. The one who failed to keep up would lose.

Finally, just as she found an opening and was about to thrust her staff in, she found the sword close to her neck.

"*huff* *huff* *huff* *fu*", Kuroha and Momo were breathing hard. Well it was mostly Momo, Kuroha's stamina wasn't infinite, but he could recover pretty fast if he simply stopped moving

She sighed before laying down and closing her eyes. She lost once again.

Usually, it was very normal for her to lose against him. But now…

She covered her face with her arm as tears silently feel down. She didn't know why she began to cry. It didn't make sense.

She could feel Kuroha sit next to her but she didn't bring down her arm. She didn't want him to see her messed up face and puffy eyes.

"*Sniff*I really love you you know."

"... I know."

"It has been so long since I fell in love with you."

"..."

"I tried everything. I really tried."

"..."

"You know, a few days ago I talked with Himiko-san. She told me that all I did make you feel more guilt than love for me. Is it true?"

"... Yes."

Momo chuckled a little. It was a self-mocking laugh. Now, even though she knew the answer, she decided to ask

"Do you… Do you love me?"

Her heart began to palpitate. She was scared. She didn't want to hear this answer, but she needed it,

"...No…. I only see you as a close friend. What more… You don't really know me."

Her lips trembled as she choked out a sob, after gathering all her remaining strength, she asked,

"What about Himiko-san?"

"I…"

-----

Momo was now alone in her room. Her head buried in her tear-soaked pillow. She had to give her all to not scream out her pain. It hurt, it hurt so much.

So this was what it feels like to have a broken heart? If it was so painful, why even fall in love?

She began to think about all the memories they shared. All the time they passed together. Now, everything was meaningless. She would always be a simple friend to him.

The last thought she had as she feels asleep was,

(Himiko told the same thing, what did he mean by not really knowing him?)

(AN: Before any of you send me a letter to threaten me, please calm yourself. Momo will be part of the harem. It's just that it's too soon, and she still doesn't know his dark side. The romance and harem formation will be a little slow. But I would do my best to not frustrate you too much.)