Seraphim is a Bystander

Training Together – Part 3
From the Master’s perspective.

 
It started out as just a casual spar.
Now, I find myself breathless in front of others for the first time in a long while, wondering how the hell it came to this.
Aoi suddenly shows up saying there's someone else inside him, and then introduces me to this girl named Seras.
From the way she walked and stood, she looked like a total amateur—but the moment I laid eyes on her, my instincts screamed at me.

“This kid’s freakin’ strong…!”
And my instincts were dead-on.
Here we are, sparring, and she’s calmly deflecting my full-strength attacks barehanded, without even breaking a sweat, without so much as twitching her expression.
“Damn it…! What the hell {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} kind of guts does she have?!”

“……”
I am going all out right now—no question about it.
I’m swinging my real scythe, the kind I’d only use against enemies, without the edges dulled. I'm not pulling a single punch.
And yet, this brat named Seras is just taking it all, effortlessly, with that dainty-looking little fist of hers.
Damn it…! My head’s a mess!
I can’t think straight like I usually do! It’s just like…
…it’s just like when I was training under Sensei—under Futaba-san.

“…Your power?”
“—?!”
The moment her voice hit my ears, I felt a sudden lightness—like I was floating.

…Huh? I took a hit? Clean?
“Oh~ so you can manage it when you try.”
What’s she talking abou—
No, wait.
I just realized something. Despite being knocked back, I wasn’t hurt that badly.
I adjusted my posture midair and landed, then checked myself—and I was stunned.
Somehow, my own chains—my ability—had wrapped around my waist.

“What the…?”
I muttered it without thinking, and the brat just gave me a faint smirk and walked toward me.
“Yeah, I thought so.”

“Hah? Thought what—?”
“You’re overthinking everything. That style doesn’t suit you.”
She kept talking as she slowly walked closer—not really answering my questions, more like just talking to herself.
“Scheming, tactical thinking—that only works when your opponent is equal to or weaker than you. But Morimiya Renka, the one you’re up against is stronger.
Use everything you’ve got. Bite back like your life depends on it.”

“…!”
She’s right. She’s absolutely right.
What the hell am I doing?
The first time, I underestimated her and got my training weapon snapped in half.
The second time, I barely managed to defend after she warned me—yet still took a solid hit to the gut.
And compared to my frazzled state, this brat—Seras—is completely composed.
If this were a real fight, I’d have been killed who knows how many times already.

“Huuuuh…”
I exhaled deeply, clearing my head.
Just do what I want, how I want. Go all out—like back then.
I let all the tension drain from my shoulders, then looked back at Seras once more.
“…Heh. That’s the face I was hoping to see.”

She laughed, clearly seeing the change in me with sharper clarity than before.
And I noticed my own mouth curving into a grin, naturally.
“We’ve come this far. I’ll go all in with you. So come on…”
This might be the one and only chance I’ll ever have to spar with someone of this level again.
For me… this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

So…
“Let’s enjoy this!!”
—We shouted it together.