In the Dojo

Clack, clack!

The sound of wooden swords clashing again and again rang out, complimented by the soft shuffling sound of feet against the floor of the dojo.

Junichi idly sat with his back propped against the wall behind him, a bokken resting in the crook of his elbow. His eyes tracked the fight in front of him, flicking back and forth, analysing the spar as it unfolded.

“Hey. Focus on your footwork more!” He called out, a slight grin tugging on the corners of his mouth.

Chihiro briefly glanced over at him, but refrained from saying anything. Her sparring partner and student, Nyoro Hoge, deigned not to acknowledge Junichi’s comment at all.

‘Is this a form of sabotage? ‘Cause it’s kinda fun.’ Junichi thought.

“Adjust your stance! C’mon, I thought you were supposed to be more diligent than this.” He advised once more. Of course, he was jumping in before Chihiro could correct her. He wasn’t misleading her, exactly, but he was trying to annoy her, and he couldn’t quite tell if it annoyed Chihiro as well or not. He never really could tell what that girl was thinking.

“Oi! Invisible bitch! Oi! Invisibitch-” Junichi heckled, causing Hoge to finally take a step back and turn her head to glare viciously at him.

Junichi smiled, showing teeth. “Hey. You’re doing pretty good!”

“I’d appreciate it if you’d stop trying to distract me while I’m learning.” Hoge responded, her voice cold and sharp. Junichi shrugged with one shoulder.

“Just tryin’ to help.” he lied. He glanced over at Chihiro, who looked between the two of them.

“While your advice is correct, Junichi, I am the teacher here. Let me teach in the future.” Chihiro said, not accusatory but matter-of-factly. “Let’s continue, Hoge.”

Junichi settled back, and closed his eyes, content to listen to the two of them as they sparred.

‘What the hell am I even doing here?’ He wondered, the sounds of the fight falling to the back of his mind. ‘Hanging out with a friend of one of the bosses of Legion? Who happens to be a Shiketsu student. Do heroes make habits of befriending condemned villains…? Not like Nebulous Storm believes it. Kinda naïve of her, but people are biased. God, I’m not different. First Inigo, now Mitsurugi.’

He thought about recent events, one in particular standing out to him, causing a grimace to form on his face.

‘Even that incident the other day where I ended up helping Takeda rescue those girls… ugh. I thought I’d resolved myself to take the hard road, damn myself to hell for the betterment of everything. But here I am, playing fucking vigilante and making friends with heroes. So damned stupid…’

A change in cadence and a new voice interrupted Junichi’s thoughts, bringing him out of his reverie.

“Yo, Chihiro! Hoge!”

Junichi started up, and levelled a surprised stare from his spot against the wall. That was the voice of-

“Don’t get so caught up you forget that we’re going shopping later tonight!”

Takeda and one of the Korean bitches.

‘What the fuck kind of wacky crossover is this?’ He thought, bemused, as he shifted, sitting up against the wall. The movement must have alerted the two newcomers to the scene, as they both glanced over.

“Wait, Takagi…?” “It’s the convenience store boy?” They spoke in unison, over-top of each other.

Junichi felt like sinking back down against the wall, but instead, jerked his chin upwards in the bare minimum of a greeting, trying his best not to clench his teeth already.

“Hey.”

There was an awkward pause.

“You two know Junichi?” Chihiro asked, tilting her head to the left slightly in query.

Hifumi glanced at Hailey, who raised an eyebrow back at him. Then Hailey shrugged.

“Yes? Kinda. I guess you’re the mutual friend he mentioned, then.” Hifumi responded, while Hailey seemed disinclined to say anything for now.

Hoge moved off to the side of the dojo, replacing her bokken on a rack, then walking over to her belongings to retrieve a water bottle.

“Mutual friend? I wouldn't say that- We’ve never talked about you...” Chihiro said, stepping forward so the conversational distance was a bit more comfortable. Hifumi glanced over to Junichi, more confused now than before.

“Then how…?”

“He’s friends with Myouga, Babo.” Hailey cut in as she broke off from Hifumi to place her bag down somewhere off to the side of the dojo.

“You’re friends with Inigo!” Hifumi said as his face split into a smile.

“... Yeah. Not of my own volition, he’s kinda pushy.”

Hifumi chuckled quietly at that statement. He looked back to Chihiro, now that the confusion had passed.

“I was hoping to get some practice in, Chihiro. Care to spar? Or are you still booked with Hoge?”

“I think I’m done for today. I have other things to do today.” Hoge spoke up, loud in a deliberate way.

As Hoge collected her stuff, Junichi prepared to watch the new spar in front of him, glancing only once or twice over at the Korean - Hailey - who seemed completely disinterested in his existence.

It turns out that Hifumi and Chihiro ‘sparring’ didn’t play around. Their back and forth dance was much different than that of Chihiro and Hoge, a full-speed, seemingly no-holds barred fight, intense and ferocious to watch. Junichi had to admit that they were beyond his level. In terms of technical skill, Chihiro was on a completely other level, and Hifumi wasn’t half bad in that sense either, but he also had a more wild edge that pushed him forward, similar in ways to Junichi’s own fighting style, but different in many aspects as well. Combined with what Junichi had managed to grasp of his quirk, though he wasn’t using it in this spar…

‘This is what heroes from Shiketsu look like, huh?’ Junichi smiled bitterly, even as his nails dug into his palm in envy.

The duel ended in Chihiro’s victory, of course, with both participants breathing heavier, the exertion having taken its toll. Junichi clapped twice, slowly, but said nothing.

“My loss this time! Hay, how much time do we have?” Hifumi looked over his shoulder towards his girlfriend, who looked up from her phone.

“Just over an hour. Plenty of time for you to take a shower.”

Hifumi nodded at that, and walked over to where Junichi was sitting, squatting down before him, arms resting on his thighs.

“We should spar some time, Takagi, when you come around here.”

The genuine offer caught Junichi flat-footed. He blinked once, processing the sentence.

“You wanna spar?”

“Yup.”

“Ain’t no fucking way.” Junichi flatly denied him.

“Why not?” Hifumi countered, not missing a beat with his genuine forwardness.

“‘Cause I don’t fuckin’ wanna!” Junichi retorted, his pronunciation worsening.

“We could learn a lot from each other.”

Junichi stared him down with a scowl on his face, but Hifumi matched his gaze. Junichi wouldn’t give ground, and neither would Hifumi. The moment went on, until Hailey cut the tension.

“Oh, come on Babo. He has no interest in bettering himself. All he’s good at is insulting and looking down on others despite his own lack of standing. Even Suzuki or Sagara are better than him.”

Junichi felt his lip begin to curl as a wrathful retort built in his throat. Hifumi beat him to it, standing up and turning around to face Hailey.

“That’s not true, Hay. He has a courageous heart, just like any of us.”

“A courageous heart.” Hailey responded, flatly, obviously wanting to dismiss the statement. “How would you even know? Where did you two meet, anyway?”

“I- uh… C’mon, Hay, he’s friends with Inigo. Inigo’s a good judge of character.”

‘I’m really not sure what to make of this. Why has this entire day been so strange?’ Junichi pondered, uncomfortable as he was.

Thankfully, the atmosphere was once again interrupted, as the door slid open once again.

Well, it would be thankful if it wasn’t the number 10 top hero in Japan, Rosethorn, who had just entered the dojo.

Junichi made a strangled noise as he started up, and then silenced himself.

“Oh. Hello, Hifumi-kun. Hailey-chan.” The top hero greeted the two of them, either oblivious or ignoring the awkward and tense atmosphere as she entered the dojo.

“Chihiro-chan, I’m just stopping by briefly. How is everything?”

Chihiro paused her clean-up of the dojo that had been happening in the background.

“Just fine, Rosethorn-sensei. Should I go make tea?” she asked, inclining her body towards the back room of the dojo.

“No, that’s fine. I was actually looking for Hoge-san, she’s usually here at this time. Where is she?” she glanced around, looking for Hoge, but in doing so, her gaze fell past Hifumi - and onto Junichi.

“Hoge left early today.” Chihiro responded, following Rosethorn’s gaze to Junichi, and then looking between them.

“Sorry, I didn’t realise there was someone else here. Have… we met? You’re not a student of mine.” Rosethorn spoke slowly, stepping forward and around Hifumi to directly address Junichi.

Who, for what it was worth, was frozen like a deer caught in the headlights. Memories of being planted through concrete by the head like a tree came back, briefly.

“I-” Junichi barely stammered out, as his heart started to pound. ‘What the fuck do I say?’

His eyes flickered between Hailey, Hifumi, Chihiro, and then Rosethorn. If she fully recognised him, he’d have to fight. One on one, he didn’t like his odds, but four on one? He stood no chance, unless-

“Junichi is a student here at the dojo, Rosethorn-sensei.” Chihiro said, metaphorically sweeping in like the cavalry.

“Oh. Congratulations, Chihiro-chan.” Rosethorn smiled warmly at the swordswoman, but Junichi could still see that glint of hazy recognition in the pro hero’s eye. That sneaking suspicion.

“Y-yeah. I’m just… yknow… a big, uh… fan?” Junichi tried to continue on, to allay that suspicion and play it off.

“I see.” Rosethorn waited for a moment, scrutinising Junichi, before finally her gaze fell off him, and she looked back to her students. “I’ll take my leave then. Take care, students.”

As soon as she left, Junichi heaved a sigh of relief, only to realise that Hifumi was now looking at him with a questioning look.

Junichi finally stood up, and pushed off the wall, taking his bokken with him, walking away towards the middle of the dojo floor to avoid a conversation or any questions.

“Babo, we should go too. You really need a shower.”

“... Right. Yeah. Thanks for the spar, Chihiro! And… catch you around, Takagi!” Hifumi raised a hand in a wave at the two of them, then headed for the door with his girlfriend.

“Thank you for coming, Hifumi, Hailey.” Chihiro bowed politely at the two of them as they left.

Leaving only Chihiro herself, and Junichi, paused at the start of a kendo kata in the middle of the room.

“Thanks, Mitsurugi.” Junichi quietly thanked Chihiro, surprised that she had lied for him to her own teacher, as small of a lie as it was.

“Would you like some tea?”

"... No, not really."

"That's good. I don't have much left."