Exchanging Pointers 1

Ayaka was astounded by the straightforwardness of Itto, while Ayato seemed familiar with it already as he sat there with an unchanging smile. The shinobi, though, Kuki, was it? Only sighed deeply.

"Nice to meetcha too, Itto." I replied casually, then shook his hand. My eyes darted to the shinobi beside him, curious on what she would do.

"A pleasure to meet you too, your majesty." Kuki greeted me with a nod. I can't really tell her expression since she had a mask...

(Not a fan of handshakes huh? Or is my reputation that bad already?!!!)

"Ayato and Ayaka, the Kamisato siblings. Please do not mind us, I just need to get some things done." Ayato said as he laid down a pile of documents on the table out of nowhere.

Ayaka too was helping him on his work, but was clearly paying attention to us. I noticed her sneaking some glances, and our eyes even met once, in which she hurriedly looked away with a mixed expression.

(Workaholic much? Those paperwork won't run away, you know?!)

"Ahem! Shuten already told me a bit about you two. Can I assume that Itto here will be the new face of the onis, while Kuki will mostly do the work." The two nodded in agreement, although reluctantly.

"You can also dump a big part of the responsibilies on Shuten though, I won't mind..." I suggested with a smirk. Just a little revenge for her pranks so far.

"I do mind though hon~. You should already know about my slothful nature, so why force such a task on me?" She questioned with a bit of anger.

"Can you refuse?" I said seriously, before hinting at my right arm, which contains the unblockable command spells. She clicked her tongue in annoyance, before giving in.

(I hate to sour our relationship... but we are currently not equals. I have power over her, so why not use it?)

"What happened anyway? ...Why did you both accept her unreasonable demand?" I went straight to the point, curious about the situation.

(Sure, she probably threatened them. But that should not be enough on its own...)

"Lady boss said that your majesty was also a teacher. So I suggested to our new chief here, to accept the terms. In the condition that your majesty would exchange pointers with us occasionally." The vice deputy of the onis answered.

"...Can you elaborate?" I asked, since I have no idea about what the hell is going on.

"In Lady Boss words, "Don't worry~, I am sure he would gratefully accept it~, Fufufu~." She replied in a monotone narration.

(I am lacking sparring partners to test my current abilities. Which improved from C to B in Strength, and C to B+ in Endurance, respectively, a few days prior to this meeting. My fights with Ei would mostly happen in bed...)

"In that case, I do gratefully accept." I said with my usual smile.

"Shuten... You have not been pardoned from your comes, But! You can give it to me sometimes if it is too much..." I conveyed my thanks to the troublesome oni through telepathy.

"You are welcome hon~. How about a kiss on my lips as thanks~?" She suggested with a more seductive tone.

"Don't push your luck too far, lady." I admit I was tempted by her inviting look, but I refused nonetheless.

"Fufufu~, Too bad~." She said with a hint of disappointment, not through telepathy. Needless to say, the others were curious about what had happened.

"We can start the first lesson now, as I still had free timw for today." I stated, in order to catch their attention back to me.

"Yahoo! You better watch out since I am strong, boss!" Itto said in his usual cheerful attitude.

"I won't deny that. At the least, you do not lack in the muscle department chief." Kuki added, and I still cannot make out of her expressions.

Ayato appears like he was too busy to join us, while the Kamisato princess was hesitating whether to go or not.

"You should go with them Ayaka. I can handle this much myself." Ayato reassured her sister with a polite smile.

"Sigh* Follow me, I'll lead you to the dojo. I will see you later brother." The brocon finally decided. And the four of us stood up, to find our next destination.

*****

I stood steadfast, both hands behind my back, as I waited for the two in front of me. Shuten and Ayaka were sitting comfortably on the sidelines. Those two are our only spectators for this spar.

The rules are simple. They go all out, and leave the rest to me. Shuten is allowed to intervene in case of an emergency, of course, but it wouldn't be needed.

(I can control myself easily, thank you very much!)

"Let's do this, Gang!" Itto exclaimed, while brandishing a giant mace made from his geo vision.

"Go wild chief, I will support you from behind." Kuki added as she wielded her sword, and then created a ring of electro for the both of them.

"Come!" I said, while wearing something in my hands sneakily.

Itto dashed towards me, aiming for a giant downward attack with his mace. In which I easily dodged, and it smashed the floor with a loud sound.

The floor of the dojo was clearly damaged as an outcome. Ayaka was about to talk, when Shuten whispered something to her and she reluctantly backed down.

The oni seemed to be not done yet, as he twirled his body in the air, grabbing the mace once more for another downward smash. I was able to dodge it, but with a bit more difficulty this time, since I was surprised at how he used that giant weapon with ease.

l was about to attack when I noticed two electro-charged daggers aiming at me from Itto's back. I successfully evaded it knowing it's a bait, and immediately focused on the shadow coming at me from behind.

A sword charged with lightning aimed at my open back, which is pretty much impossible to dodge in this situation.

But the blade didn't connect. To be more specific, it was deflected with ease. I responded in kind with an attack using my two fists at both of them. In which they blocked it with their weapons, but were still knocked a few steps away.

"Is that an armament Lady Shuten?" Ayaka asked the oni next to her.

"It shouldn't be~, I don't sense anything special about it~." She replied with her usual tone.

My two opponents also stared at me for an answer. My hands were currently wearing a pair of gloves, with metal plates at the back of the fist that allowed me to parry Kuki's sneak attack.

"It is nothing but an ordinary glove with a bit of protection, so there's no need to stare at it. With some enchantments though, it can be quite useful..." I casually answered, before gesturing the two to continue the fight.