Chapter 4- Surrender.

It was 10 in the morning when Akashi led me into the doorknob-less room-uh, I mean, the training room. We sat opposite each other, cross-legged and relaxed. It was a long time before he broke the creepy silence.

"Let's teach you the basics first." He said and stood, gesturing me to stand as well. I stood nervously. In the training room, there is a huge rack of weapons; katana, spear, lance, hanbo, bokken, bo (wooden sword), kusarigama, kusarifundo, ninjatou and the best part is, those are really real. (A/N: You can search for the pictures of these weapons at google images, my beloved uncle). The walls are painted plain white and the rubber mats are black in color, sprawled, covering the whole floor. Opposite the weapon rack, the wall is covered with huge mirror.

There ain't any fans or aircons in the room but the temperature is surprisingly normal; not so cold, not so hot. Akashi moved to my side and inhaled sharply. He moved his left leg 45 degree to his back, spreading it, forming a horse stance; 50-50 stance like those martial artists out there.

"Copy." He ordered.

Somehow, I know what to do, it's like my body moved on its own. I copied his actions and he eyed me carefully. After that, he started to move his hand, leg, kicked and guarded.

"Repeat." He said. I nodded and started copying him.

"Now, this is called 'Sanshin no Kata'," He said and started a different stance. I followed him. "There are 5 elements in it, Chi (earth), Sui (water), Ka (fire), Fu (Wind) and Ku (void). Each one of them holds a different techniques and abilities. You may even become one with it when you've mastered it enough." He continued.

"Sound fun."

* * * *

"Well, you're learning fast, I'm impressed." Akashi commented as we sat on the mat in unison. A glass of water appeared in front of me.

"Drink it. We'll start weapon training in 30 minutes." He said.

"Thanks."

I drank it all in one gulp and leaned against the wall, joining Akashi. Suddenly, a figure saluting him on one knee materialized. I flinched but Akashi seemed as relaxed as the figure- a man, in front of him right now.

"My Lord," the man spoke, voice so beautiful it's addicting.

"About the sword?" Akashi questioned.

"Yes, my Lord. I've found the seventh slayer. But yet to be trained."

Akashi glanced at me and turned back to the man. He concentrated and the man nodded.

"True, my Lord. But please don't tell her, it will create chaos. The Demon King targets her," the man added. "He knew."

Akashi nodded once. "I understand. Don't worry," he turned to me. "Seiryuu, this is Oracion. He is a weapon master. Pay respect."

I looked at Oracion and saluted him one knee on the mat, head down. "Greetings, Oracion."

I heard Oracion chuckled. "Nice to meet you too, Seiryuu."

I looked up at him, bewildered. "How do you-"

"Everyone in the Celestial knows about you." Akashi cut me off. I shut my mouth. Oracion saluted Akashi and disappeared.

"Whoa," I said. "You can do that too?"

"Not gonna waste my energy." He replied.

My face brightened. "Aw! Show me! Show me!"

"Stand up, We'll start training now." He stood and went to the weapon rack. I went to him.

"It haven't even been 15 minutes! Come on, Akashi!"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

"Akashi!" I said and reached for his arm but my hand got through, he became barely visible and eventually disappeared completely. I gaped. He appeared behind me, pulled my right arm to my back, kicked the back of my knee and I was kneeling on the floor.

"Release yourself." He demanded.

I pushed my body to the floor; making him following me. Twisted my arm and held his hand, twisted my body, kicked his chest and pinned him to the floor.

"You should do the finishing blow." He said.

I giggled. "I'm a beginner. What did I do wrong?"

He slightly smiled, obviously satisfied. "No one is a beginner, Seiryuu. However, you were late."

I laid on my back beside him. "Can I do that disappear-appear stuffs?" I asked.

"No you're human. Humans can't do that."

I glanced at him. "Then what are you?"

"Doesn't matter. Let's start the training." He said and stood. I followed him.

"Yes, My Lord!" I saluted him and giggled. He gestured at the weapon rack.

"Choose one." He said.

I examined each one of them. I'm interested in the kusarigama, the rope with the wooden handle and sickle and-wait, how the hell do I know its name? Well anyway, my eyes caught a sword with white blade and golden lining. The handle is gold in color and it's really beautiful. I went to take it.

"Thought so." Akashi said.

"Don't read my thoughts!"

"I'm not. You're too obvious."

"Humph!"

* * * *

I stood in front of Akashi, controlling my breathing after the hard training.

"Alright, put away the weapon-just on the floor, yes, okay now stand back, defensive stance." He ordered and I carried out the tasks perfectly. He did the same, facing me.

I think I know what he wants to do. "Wait," I frowned. "Are you gonna- are we gonna spar!?"

He just stared at me but his eyes was smiling; he's obviously amused and excited. "First to admit defeat, loses." He said.

I smirked, tilting my head sideways. "Deal."

We started to charge at each other at the same time. I ducked underneath his arms and attempted to grab his legs but he jumped and landed behind me, kicking my back. I knew better than to gladly let myself lay flat on the mat, so I rolled forward and stood with a long defensive stance. He eyed the surroundings, moved to the left; I went to him but he was actually distracting me; he moved to the right. I should've known! He's a basketball player! I turned to face him but he was faster, he attempted a punch, I dodged and twisted his hand to his back.

I kicked his leg but he did a backflip, bringing me with him as he held my wrist. I grimaced in pain as my elbow fell first on the mat. I quickly broke free from his grab and rolled sideways, doing a defensive stance again. His stare pierced through me, as if he's reading what's on my mind right now. I did a roundhouse kick and he dodged it perfectly. I jumped and did a Sanshin no Kata number 5; Ku (void).

He obviously knew what I'm going to do, and given that I'm slow compared to him, he grabbed hold of my wrist when I punched him. Then kicked my ribs. I blocked his attack and kicked his gut instead. It wasn't so hard but he was grimacing in pain. Even so, he continued to attack me. I focused on him and saw that pain in his eyes. Just as he was cornering me, I decided to stop him.

"I surrender." I spoke.

He frowned.

"You're bleeding, young man," I pointed at his shirt. "Were you injured?"

He turned away. "You surrendered on purpose."

"You're injured, I can see it. Call Reo." I said.

"None of your business." He replied.

I grabbed his arm so hard I could tear it off. He looked pissed as much as I was. "Call Reo now." I ordered.

How dare I ordered him like that?

Gulps.

For a moment there, I felt an uneasiness but I wished Eclipse is here to help me. Just then, a figure materialized before us. I turned to it.

"Eclipse!" I gasped.

"You called me, Seiryuu?" he tilted his head.

Since when? But, "Akashi's injured. He won't admit it. Please look it up." I said.

Eclipse frowned. "Akashi? If you're injured, it should've been healed by now, what happened?"

Akashi walked to the door. "It's nothing."

"Surely it wasn't! You're bleeding!" I said.

"Bleeding?" Eclipse frowned. He walked to him. "Akashi, let me see."

"It's nothing, dammit!" Akashi turned around and glared at me and Eclipse. Suddenly the room turned damn cold. I backed away and looked around. On every corner of the room, there were frost growing and it started to spread. I shivered.

"Stop it, Akashi. You're freezing the room, admit it, you're injured." Eclipse said then he and Akashi disappeared. I gaped.

"Hey, why do you leave me here?" I questioned out loud and silence was the reply. I sighed and pouted. What do I do now? I went to the door and checked.

YES! A DOORKNOB!

I went out of the place and headed towards Akashi's room which is not far from mine. Looking around, I saw his phone on the bed, grinned and called Reo, lucky that his number was saved in Akashi's phone.

A few beeps went on before Reo answered, "Sei-chan?"

I cleared my throat. "Uh, Reo. It's me, Seiryuu."

He went silent then, "Ryuu-chan!? What happened to Sei-chan?! Oh no, don't tell me he-"

"Eclipse brought him to the Celestial Plane. Come here and bring me there."

"What happened to him?"

"When I was sparring with him, I noticed that he was bleeding. So I kinda called for Eclipse and they disappeared together."

"Right, wait a moment."

Then he cut off the call and a figure appeared beside me. I flinched. Reo looked around and held out his hand. "Are you sure you wanna go there? You'll get knocked out. I can just tell you what's his condition." Reo said.

I shook my head and took his hand. "I'll come with you."

* * * *

I came around and sat up, looking around. I was sitting on a soft couch. A bed on one side with Akashi sleeping on it. I stood and went to him. He was breathing calmly, his red hair looked so soft, his sleeping face as cute as a baby, so pretty you feel like pinching his cheeks continuously.

Without conscious, my hand moved on its own, reaching for his face, the urge to stroke it. And then I snapped back to reality when a hand grabbed my wrist so hard I felt like it's going to tear off. I blinked and stared straight into the glaring heterochromatic eyes owned by this redhead, Akashi.

"What were you doing?" he spoke.

My cheeks flushed red as I remembered I tried to stroke his face. "I-I was going to remove the dust from you hair, um-" he released my hand and sat up, rubbing the back of his neck, looking around.

Eclipse, Ayame and Reo materialized in front of the bed, saluting him on one knee. Akashi nodded and they shared a look. "Tell me." He demanded.

"You were poisoned, my Lord. Those demons you fought with, they burned you as well. It's some sort of burning deadly attacks. Usually you'd have recovered from it but we're still working on why you ain't healing. But even so, I've treated the injury and of course, you're safe to go now." Ayame explained.

"Thanks to this little thief for informing me." Eclipse gestured at me with his head.

Akashi glanced at me. "Who brought her here?" he asked.

"Me," Reo answered. "She insisted, my Lord."

He exhaled sharply then turned to me. "Next time, there won't be any surrenders on purpose, you get that?"

I smiled, nodded and saluted him Western-style. "Sir!"