Chapter 18 - Chapter 18 - Weighted Bracelets

(Bonus chapter due to recieving 50 power stones, thank you all 🥰)

…

Multiple people were watching with strange expressions as a pale young boy with pinkish hair looked like it was his first time ever walking.

The boy's movements were extremely sluggish and his feet were basically being dragged, he was flushed and already sweating although the day had just begun.

Suddenly, a voice called out to the boy. "Hey, you. Aren't you Sora's friend?" A deep feminine voice suddenly came from behind him and the silhouette of a tall woman suddenly became visible to everyone observing.

Confused murmurs came from the people due to the fact none of them had noticed her beforehand, but once they looked at her. They had to admit she was quite beautiful.

Turning around, Yukio looked at Sora's older sister Fuko, who was standing there with her arms crossed and a curious look in her eye. "Hmm… you got weighted bracelets and anklets on?" She leaned down to look at the thick magenta coloured cuff bracelets on both of his arms and his ankles.

Yukio turned a shade pinker at seeing Fuko while he was in this state. "Y-yes… my father got them for me." He said awkwardly.

Fuko reached out to grab at one of Yukio's dangling arms just to see how much they weigh, her eyebrows raising in surprise. "Oh wow, not too shabby kid." She said, easily lifting the weighted hand up and down, like she was shaking Yukio's hand.

Yukio's eyes widened slightly at her suddenly holding his hand and then widened even more when he saw how easily she had just lifted the weight. 

"Usually you're supposed to start at a low weight and then build up, why are you starting at such a difficult weight for you?" She asked, letting the kid's arm drop heavily, making him wince.

Yukio just smiled slightly and said. "Yeah… but it's okay, once I get used to these I will be strong… like big bro!" He said unconsciously, immediately blushing in embarrassment after realising that he was talking to his 'big bro''s big sis.

The woman burst out laughing suddenly, making the bystanders lean closer in hopes of getting in on the joke.

Fuko wiped a tear from her eye and finally asked. "So, where are you going with all that weight on?" 

Yukio remembered where he needed to go and started walking again, Fuko following by his side. "I… I am going to meet with big bro so we can train." He said, a little strained.

Fuko nodded in thought before replying. "You and that brat train?" She asked incredulously.

Yukio gave her a strange look. "You saw us when we were training with our sense alteration technique and asked me to use it on you… ah, I forgot to do that! I'm so sorry…" he tried to shake his hands in apology but struggled to lift them up, let alone shake them.

Fuko's eyes widened slightly. 'Sense alteration? What the hell have they been doing while I was gone? It's only been six months…' she thought to herself before laughing awkwardly. "Yeahh… right I totally remember that… go ahead and show me right now." She said, the first part was quite obviously a lie but Yukio did as she said.

He focused chakra into his throat and onto his tongue as he spoke the words. "Flames" 

Fuko's eyes widened as she felt the young boy's chakra enter through her ears before he suddenly burst into flames.

It felt real, the boy screamed and she could feel the heat. Her eyes suddenly sharpened as the illusion was dispersed, making Yukio's eyes widen slightly.

"Genjutsu? Where the hell did you guys learn that? Did you leave the village?" Fuko suddenly asked, holding Yukio's shoulders as she got up in his personal space.

The young boy suddenly flinched in fear. "G-genjutsu? I… we don't know what that is, I swear! A-and we haven't left the village!" He said with his eyes closed.

Fuko raised one eyebrow in suspicion but backed off. "So you learned that all by yourselves? And you don't even know the right term? If that's true then it is certainly impressive." She suddenly made eye contact with Yukio, which made him flinch again.

*BOOM!*

The world around Yukio suddenly erupted, the houses all crumbled down to the ground and people started running all over the place while screaming. The smell of blood and smoke invaded his nostrils as the heat of the fires made his skin crawl.

And just as fast as it had all started, it all disappeared. All that was left in his sight was a smirking Fuko. "I think my trick is a little better." She said with a grin before she waved and disappeared into the crowd.

Yukio's heart was beating twice as fast, that was truly terrifying. There wasn't a singular imperfection or any indication that it was an illusion, he didn't even feel Fuko's chakra enter his body.

The poor boy fell on his backside, which was sure to be a pain to get up from.

…

…

About half an hour later, Sora was sitting on the tree in the old training area that he and Yukio had learned all of their techniques.

"Yo!" A voice came from the distance and Sora squinted to get a better look, focusing on Fuko who was getting closer.

His eyes sharpened slightly, this didn't look like the same Fuko he knew, her hair was way longer and her chakra was different. 

He leaped down from the tree and suspiciously raised his guard.

"The hell is your problem you brat, why are you raising your guard against me?" Fuko asked before suddenly appearing in front of Sora and flicking his forehead.

Sora tumbled backward onto his backside and rubbed his forehead. "You seem way different then the last time I saw you, even your chakra is different." He said a little hurtfully.

His sister raised an eyebrow and said. "Wow, you've gotten a lot better since the last time I was here. Oh well, I have a gift." Fuko then raised two beige and golden cuff bracelets in each hand.

Sora's guard was still up thanks to 'Fuko' not answering his questions and whatever 'last time I was here' meant. 

But despite that, he reached out to grab the bracelets, his eyes widening as his entire bodyweight shifted and he fell on his knees. "What the hell are these things? Why are they so heavy?" He said with a strained voice, struggling to hold all four at once.

Fuko grinned. "That little albino friend of yours got the same ones, they help you out in training. Don't want my little brother falling behind so I got you some too." She said as she lifted her pants slightly to reveal the exact same ones on her ankles, except she had 3 on each leg and arm. "That kid's father is a genius! This is great training." 

Sora hummed in thought as he put one on each wrist and each ankle before looking up at Fuko, more sure that this was actually his sister now due to her mannerisms, but still quite suspicious at the sudden changes. "How much do these weigh? And how do you know that Little Yuki has them too?" He asked.

Fuko just smiled softly as she started to walk away. "They weigh 100 kilograms each and I know the kid has them too because I saw him struggling to walk here. You should go and walk to meet him, maybe you can support eachother." She said with a chuckle before suddenly vanishing.

This only made Sora even more confused as he sighed dramatically, absolutely not going to lose his dignity by going to meet Yukio.

Instead, he decided on trying to do a few laps around the training area quickly. 

Well… kind of. 

Sora was running about the same pace as an elderly person and just trying to sprint made his body nearly shut down. Getting used to a sudden addition of 400 Kilograms to his body was not very easy.

Slowly easing more and more chakra into his body to assist him with the weight, Sora felt his movements getting easier and easier.

At the moment he was starting to get used to it with the help of chakra, he slowly started to use less chakra so that his natural body could get stronger without the help of it.

After repeating this process of turning off and on his chakra to adjust his body and get used to the feel of all this extra weight, he was finally able to run properly again…. Albeit nowhere near the speed he is usually able to run at, he was still running.

It was about this time that Sora saw Yukio approaching the training ground, dripping in sweat and basically dragging his legs.

Sora walked over, making Yukio glance at his wrists and ankles. "…y-you have… them… t-too?" He asked with bated breath, almost like all of the air in his lungs had been sucked out of him.

"Yukio, are you not using any chakra?" Sora asked, looking at Yukio's chakra network and not seeing anything assisting his body.

Yukio finally sat down next to a drilled water well, the sun making the sweat on his face glisten as he took deep breaths. "No… I want to get better without using any chakra at all." He said, taking a huge gulp of water from the well.

"Well damn I didn't know you had it in you!" Sora said as he grinned, very impressed by Yukio's vigor. "So… about the Kagamihana style, did you remember anything?" Sora asked a bit awkwardly, having not done any kind of studying about the style.

Yukio mirrored Sora's grin as he pulled out a notebook labeled "Swordsmanship" and handed it to Sora with a page already open.

Sora took the book and skimmed through the page. "Well damn, what would I do without you." He said before ruffling Yukio's hair and walking off to read the page in more detail.

…

…

"So? What did you bring me here for, old man?" Takeo asked as he and Takumi sat down at the bar that Sora had nearly destroyed, the old place having finally been cleaned up.

Takumi signalled the bartender to bring the usual, the two having come here quite often back in the day. "Well, I just wanted to catch up is all. I had noticed that you had taken an interest in the two most unique characters in the village ,except for that monster of a girl." He said.

Takeo raised an eyebrow. "Monster? You mean Fuko Hino, that brat's older sister?" He asked as the bartender delivered their sake.

The other old man just nodded. "She gets more and more terrifying every time I see her. It's that bloodline… I'm telling you." He sighed.

The swordsman just shook his head as he took a swig. "Well, one of them is a powerhouse and the other is a well of untapped potential. It's an interesting dynamic between them and I'm interested in seeing how it develops."

"So you're teaching them your swordsmanship? How's that going? And potential how?" Takumi fired multiple questions at once, making Takeo feel a bit strange but he answered anyway.

"Yeah, I'm teaching both of them my swordsmanship. It's going pretty well, they both embody different aspects of it so that is fun to see how they develop. Sora is incredibly elusive and has the potential to deliver the most devastating sneak attacks if only he wasn't so direct. His physicality is also incredible for his age and his battle senses are on par with my younger brothers… not to mention those eyes of his." He began, Takumi nodding along.

"Then the other one, Yukio. The boy is weak physically but makes up for it with his incredible chakra control and amazing talent when it comes to learning. The kid's brain is beyond anything I've seen before, he's one hell of a genius both in overall intelligence and strategy, not to mention his great work ethic and a burning desire to get stronger." Takeo continued, talking almost too much and nearly got lost in the heat of passion.

Takumi's eyes glinted for a moment before his face softened. "I see… I'm glad you have finally been able to find some good students to pass on your family's swordsmanship. Takeo."