The three of us make our way back, my mind still on the whole "abilities" thing. When we get back to the main lobby, Ms. Asami is training in one of the sparring rooms alone.
"Does she always train there alone?" I say while tilting my head. Shiro chuckles, and he places a hand on my shoulder, "Yeah, usually. Sometimes I always wanted to spar with her, but she can't touch me due to my ability."
I can hear a bit of boasting in his words. That's when Ms. Asami spotted us, and we all took cover.
"Chief is definitely gonna chew us out for watching her train…" Daki whispered. When we looked up, we saw Ms. Asami staring down at us with a neutral gaze, which made us all jump out from the hiding place.
"Were you three watching me? If you want, you are more than welcome to join me." Shiro was about to speak, however she cuts him off.
"Except Shiro."
Shiro rolled his eyes and sat down on the mat on the floor. When I looked away from him and back at Ms. Asami, she was staring into my soul with a very unfamiliar expression.
"How about you, Namo? Do you want to have a sparring session with me?"
My eyes widen slightly as I look around before pointing at myself, "M-Me? Are you sure? I'm still new!" Ms. Asami sighs and, without anymore talking, she grabs my hand and takes me to the training room before closing the door behind us.
"Gee… Chief might have a thing for Namo-Kun, don't you think, Shir-" As Daki was in the middle of talking, the whole room quakes, and that made Shiro burn his tongue from the piping hot tea he was drinking, causing him to yelp loudly.
"GAHHHHH!!!! WHAT THE HELL WAS THATTTT!?" The quake occurs again, and the two of them glance at the training room.
On the other side of the room, Ms. Asami is striking a training dummy with fast precision, followed by a loud sonic boom, completely blowing away the dummy. I stare at her in awe, and she sets down the wooden katana.
"Alright, Namo, I know you technically just joined the defense league yesterday, but I want to test your current fighting capabilities. Try to strike the training dummy with all of your strength!" Ms. Asami says while tossing a wooden katana from the stand.
I nod and walk up to the blown-over dummy, picking it up and getting ready to strike it. "Okay, all I have to do is strike the dummy, that's easy enough!"
I rushed at the dummy and threw a diagonal overhead sword swing with all my strength. I completely underestimated how strong the dummy was, and all it did was make it wobble slightly.
"What the hell… that was the strongest swing I've ever done! How come it barely moved!?" Ms. Asami sighed and shook her head, clearly looking quite disappointed, "You're as weak as I thought. When was the last time you did any workouts?"
She looked at me with an irritated expression. I rub the back of my neck with a sheepish expression, "I… I can't remember. It's been so long since I did even just one push-up!" This made Ms. Asami groan in annoyance and face-palm.
It's like every second, I make her more and more upset as the days go by. "Can you at least try to land one blow on me? I want to see if you can at least manage that." She says while getting into a sparring stance.
I suddenly get a shiver down my spine as I also get into a… what I hope to be a sparring stance. "Uhm… are you sure about this, Ms. Asami? I wouldn't want to hurt you…"
Ms. Asami rolls her eyes and huffs, "Of course I'm sure! I know you are probably not going to land any hits anyways so give me your best-"
Before she could finish talking, I rushed towards her with a fierce strike, which caught her off guard. Before I could land the strike, she counters with her wooden sword.
"Tch… What a dirty move. I should beat you for that."
She kicks me, and I get sent flying into the training dummy. "What the hell… is your problem!? WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE TO YOU TO MAKE YOU HATE ME, MS. ASAMI!?" I yell out with anger and sadness.
Ms. Asami just stares at me with an emotionless expression.
"I don't hate you, Namo. When you're in the defense league, sometimes you have to push others to their limits for them to actually try their best." Ms. Asami says while pointing her wooden katana at me.
"You have to ask yourself… 'What's your purpose in the defense league?' This isn't a game; we're fighting for our people, our village, and ourselves. Let this be a lesson for next time."
Ms. Asami puts her wooden katana on the stand and walks out of the sparring room. As soon as she was out of sight, Daki and Shiro slowly peered into the sparring room, and they both wince at my current state.
"Namo-Kun… are you alright? I'm sorry about what the chief did… I didn't think she'd…" Daki's words die out as I slowly raise my hand.
"D-Don't worry about me… I'll just lie down for… maybe forever?" Shiro walks over to me and helps me up, "Oh come on, man! Don't think like that! Think of it as… tough love!" He says while patting my back.
I don't listen to anything they're saying. All that was on my mind… was Ms. Asami's words. What is my purpose? I would answer instantly…. If I knew what my purpose was.