The rest of the weekend was extremely uneventful for Mika. She booted up the old computer in an attempt to research demons, but all she got were the normal Japanese legends that she was already familiar with. Kaito didn’t seem to match any one of them, and after an hour she’d given up on the search. Hopefully she would be able to ask him at some point during the week for more specifics.

At long last, Monday rolled around. As per usual, she met up with Kana and Ayako on the way to school, and they had their typical light conversations on their way. Mika let them do the most of the talking, and when asked about her weekend, she simply said it was boring and that she hadn’t done much.

She was unsure of how to breech the topic with Hattori, the demon boss, and Kaito and ultimately decided all of it would be better left unsaid. She would never be able to forgive herself if she accidentally gave them some sort of hint regarding Kaito. There was no way to explain anything without bringing him into it.

It really is so nice to think that things are back to normal. Mika thought as she sat in her desk. Hopefully nothing crazy will happen from now on…

Homeroom started with the sound of the bell and the teacher began with upcoming events. The baseball team was having their first major tournament this weekend and the soccer team would be playing next weekend; the swimming team would be starting practice in the next couple of weeks and the media lab currently had some computers down for repair. Mika was listening half-heartedly until the teacher called her name. “Oh and Minamoto-san?”

Startled, Mika jerked her head upward and stuttered a reply. “Y-yes sensei?”

“Have you chosen any club to participate in yet?” she continued.

Mika shook her head. “No ma’am. I haven’t thought about it.” With everything that had been going on, joining a club was the last thing on her mind.

“I see. Well I encourage you to look at those we have available. It’ll help you better integrate into the school. When you decide, please let me know your choice.”

Mika nodded and with that, homeroom came to a close.

“So what club are you thinking about joining?” Ayako asked as she walked to Mika’s desk once lunch had rolled around.

“I really have no idea,” Mika replied. “I missed the club demonstrations at the beginning of the year, so I’m not even sure what all this school has, though I bet it’s a lot more than my old school. It’d also be nice if there was one that only met every now and again.” Turning to address Kana as well, she asked, “Are you both in a club?”

“I’m in track,” Ayako said. “But we just finished up the season, so I don’t have to go for a while.”

“I’m a member of the Literature club,” Kana stated. “You’re more than welcome to join if you’d like. We meet once every other week."

“Thanks!” Already the Literature club was high on her list. “What about you Kaito?”

“I’m in no club. Takes too much of my time.”

“He says that,” Ayako said, shooting a sharp glare in his direction, “but the truth is, that just about all the athletic teams want him in them. If he joined one, the rest of the clubs would be in an uproar.”

“I still think you should join the Kendo club Kaito!” a voice chirped from behind them. All four turned to look at Daisuke.

Kaito was the first to respond. “But I really have no desire to. Kendo is far too structured in the movements you can perform while fighting.”

“Aww, come on Kaito! You’d be so good at it. Please?? We haven’t started for the new season so there’s still time to join.”

“Why do you want Kaito to join so badly?” Mika asked.

Kaito was the one who replied. “I think Daisuke just wants someone he knows in the club. It’s hard being the only freshman right?”

Daisuke was silent as he fell into thought. The group of four had all turned away from him when he caught their attention again with a sudden exclamation. “I have an idea! What if you spared with Takashi-senpai, our club leader, and if you win, you can do as you please, and if you lose, you promise to join. Takashi-senpai will be fine with it I’m sure!” A large smile spread across his face.

“But why would I even want to do that?” Kaito responded. “Even without losing a sparring match I can choose not to join.”

“Because you should have pride as a man!” Ayako responded enthusiastically. “You’ve been challenged so you have to do it.”

“I haven’t been challenged at all,” he responded lazily. “Only the competitor could actually issue a proper challenge.”

“Then it’s settled!” Daisuke said happily. “I’ll go get Takashi-senpai, and he can properly issue the challenge and then you two can work out the details together.”

“Daisuke wait. Isn’t this a little much? It’s not like I’ve ever had Kendo lessons. Pitting me up against the club leader is a little extreme don’t you think?”

“Huh? But didn’t you spar with one of the Kendo guys and win during the club demonstrations at the beginning of the year?” Daisuke asked, pausing to turn back to Kaito.

“I did do that didn’t I…” he murmured to himself. He’d all but forgotten that match as it wasn’t at all entertaining for him.

“If nothing else, you should do it to get Daisuke off your back,” Ayako said.

“I think you should do it too Kaito! It’ll be fun,” Mika added.

“A duel would be interesting for us to watch as well.”

“Even Kana’s for it?” Kaito said, suppressing a sigh. It wasn’t just those three either, the students that were still in the classroom had turned their eyes to the conversation as well and were waiting with baited breath for his response.

Daisuke, who also noticed this, addressed the class. “Don’t you guys want to see this guy fight for real?”

A chorus of “yeah!” was shouted in response.

“Even if you say it like that, a Kendo match isn’t fighting ‘for real.’ That kind of fighting –” He stopped there and stared at the students of the class. Scratching the back of his head in annoyance, he turned back toward the window. “Alright fine, go call your club leader then. It doesn’t seem like I have a choice.”

Daisuke’s face lit up immediately and he rushed from the room. The entirety of the classroom was plunged into silence as they all waited for Takashi’s arrival. It didn’t take long for him to appear in the threshold of the sliding door with a slightly winded Daisuke behind him.

“I heard you challenged me to a duel,” he said, looking at Kaito. His eyes, along with his eyebrows, had a naturally upturned shape which made the already hard and sharp features of his face stand out all the more. Takashi was a head taller than Kaito, but weighed at least two times more. All of the extra weight was pure muscle.

The grin that spread across his face sent chills down Mika’s spine. Rather than looking like someone ready to spar for fun, he had an expression that seemed to say he was ready to eat Kaito alive. Worried, Mika turned to Kaito. Instead of being intimidated though, his eyes held a light that told her he was ready to go here and now.

“That is incorrect,” Kaito explained, closing his eyes. When he reopened them, Mika noticed that they had returned to their carefully controlled, emotionless state. “This guy,” he gestured to Daisuke, “and the lot of them,” he moved his hand toward those seated in the classroom, “seemed to have forced a duel upon the two of us.”

“Well however it was arranged,” he said, “the point is, we are having a duel to make you join the Kendo club.”

“I suppose that’s the gist of it.”

“We can have it outside in the open lot right after school. Make sure you’re there on time and ready to be beaten!” With that, Takashi turned and strode from the room.

He seemed so confident that he would win, and that made Mika uneasy. I hope Kaito’s will be alright. I know he’s strong. He can win in a brawl when it’s one against twenty, but Kendo’s different. As he said, it’s a lot more structured. I’ll feel so bad if I pushed him into this and he gets hurt… It took Ayako’s exclamation of ‘lunch is almost over’ to knock Mika out of her thoughts.

Due to the lack of time, the trio sat at their separate desks and scarfed down what they could of their lunch before the period was over. Although Mika wasn’t really focusing on her food.

Kaito of course, picked up on her change in behavior. “You worried about me?” he asked, allowing a light smirk to play across his face.

“Is this really okay? We all forced you into it. If you get hurt…”

Kaito pivoted in his chair, rested his elbow on Mika’s desk and placed his head upon his hand. “Are you really that worried about me? My getting hurt is not at all what you should be concerned about. It’s that other thing that might cause something of a problem.”

Mika froze and turned her attention from her chopsticks to his face.

“I wonder how I should put it…” he mused, turning his attention to the window. “When I fight, I like to be serious. Toning that down to a reasonable level is difficult, especially if they’re going to put a sword in my hands. Ah, but I’ll do my best to be careful of course,” he added, noticing her slight paling.

The bell rang then, preventing Kaito from continuing. From there, the rest of the day passed quickly, a bit too quickly for Mika’s preference. Too soon, the classes were over and they were on their way to the lot behind the school.