the man known as Sagara Kosuke (last)

Shinoe's eyes widened more so when she saw the way Sagara's blue eyes shine with an unfamiliar cold fury as he turned to the last man standing

"um…" said person muttered un surely staring at his eyes backing away a growing fear in his eyes

Sagara spun his quarterstaff fast twice in a quick arc beside him before using the momentum gained to hit the man's left leg

"AH!!!" he screamed in agony as the crunch of bone was heard

Sagara never losing momentum spun with his quarterstaff to preserve boost momentum before hitting the man's arm before using the remaining momentum to send him to the ground

"they're over there!!!" a voice shouted and a bullet almost hit Sagara as a crowed started t chase them

"Lets go!!!" Sagara said urgently to Shinoe folding his quarterstaff and grabbed her hand practically dragging her to an alley

She tried her best to keep up with Sagara's pace but she soon found herself unable to as she almost fell face-first into the asphalt

Luckily for her Sagara gave up all the pretense of her running then and there as he carried her in his in a fireman's carry

Shinoe didn't know how long he carried her but he finally stopped and turned a sharp right into an abandoned building where he sat her down on the floor before collapsing next to her

"are you okay?" she asked a bit of her usual stoicism coming back

"I got a knife stuck in my back and the yakuza chasing after me, do you think I'm alright?" he retorted sharply before taking in a deep breath

"sorry"

It was the only thing that made it to her mouth, as she truly felt it. She started blaming herself again when they finally have room to breath

"no, it's fine," he said. after a long silence,

"I'm a terrible person," he laughed self deprecatingly at himself "what was I thinking losing control like that," he said looking downwards

"your not a bad person" Shinoe tried to comfort the person that had saved her twice that day. If she wasn���t helping in fighting she could at the very least comfort him

"you don't understand," he whispered

"I could have killed them. when that last person tried to attack you, I snapped, I was about to split his head open with the amount of force I put into the attack" he said still looking down with a face filled with self-disgust

Silence

"it's better than being useless like me," Shinoe said finally her voice cracking a bit at the end "I was useless during the entire thing"

"you're not" she looked up to the face who said those words so sternly she would have he was her mother scolding her

"I saw what you did there," he said meeting her eyes "thank you for saving me" he stood back up

"Is anyone expecting you at your place?" he asked his voice softening once more

"my mom and dad are away on a business trip for a week" she supplied

"We should go. I'll drop you off at your place" he stood offering her a hand

"what about the knife in your back?" Shinoe asked taking the offered hand

"I'll deal with it later, for now, we should get to a safer spot," he said leading her up the abandoned building to the rooftops

"the rooftops here are the fastest means of travel I usually go by their easy jumps from here on out," he said conversationally

Shinoe stared at the back of Sagara a torrent of thoughts assaulted her.

She was actually useful for once, she'd saved him from a knife that would have struck his head and would have ensured both her and his deaths

She stared at the knife embedded in Sagara's back. Blood dripped around his green shirt causing it to turn a shade of brown

He looked like he was always in control of his emotions, never faltering, never missing a beat.

"how do you do it?" she found herself asking "how do you fight like you're not afraid?"

Sagara stoped. He looked at the darkening sky and gave a deep sigh

"I don't. Fear is good, it is an innate sense all beings have. It keeps us alive" he said before resuming his steady pace with Shinoe following

"But when there are things you must fight for, you learn to cast aside fear you can learn to control it," he said jumping on a railing

"there was an old saying that stated: If you want to live a peaceful life then you must prepare for war so you could defend it from any threats," he said balancing on the railing before jumping onto another building

She looked at the boy named Sagara Kosuke in wonder. He had the courage to fight real battles of life and death, the sheer will to carry on after getting stabbed, and the wisdom to give her when she was in doubt

"can you train me?" shinoe blurted out quickly

FLASHBACK END

"Nice try! You almost actually hit me" Sebastian mocked

"how barbaric, using dirty tricks to win a fight! i will put you in your place!" Takiko shouted charging the grinning man

"oh, Shinoe aren't you gonna join?" the student council president asked Shinoe who was seated next to Sagara who was sipping tea silently

"no, I'm fine I don't like meaningless violence" she responded sipping from her own cup

Sagara nudged her a little and showed her his open palm

"will you attend the usual training tomorrow at my place?" the characters written on his hand read

She nodded.