Page 27 of Son of Shadows

“Like, really? Honestly?”

Ryuichi couldn’t quite swear to it, but it looked as if the bird might actually be smiling at him.

“Honestly, my lord.”

Ryuichi let out a gleeful shout.

Katsu cleared his throat and returned to being stern. “Now focus. We must make use of every second we have. There’s no time to waste. Take your position.”

For the next two hours, they continued to spar with their swords. Back and forth, with Ryuichi on the receiving end of much humbling pain. Their workout was grueling and exhausting. Unlike when Koichi trained him, there were no breaks.

Worse?

Koichi showed up and joined in on the abuse. At first, he stood on the outskirts of the courtyard, watching with his arms crossed and a look of disapproval on his face. Then he seemed almost amused by Katsu’s unforgiving training style.

“Battle doesn’t stop because you’re tired!” the tengu shouted. “Do you think for one moment your enemies will give you time to rest? I’m not training you to plant a field. This is war, and it has no mercy.”

Ryuichi was definitely learning that.

Soon Ryuichi was sparring in front of a full audience. Keiko, Masaru, and his shadow all wandered over to watch him stumble, sweat, and bleed.

And then came their chatter, which was an unhelpful distraction.

“Did you have a good sleep?” Keiko asked Masaru, seemingly oblivious to the fact that her “precious boy” was being trounced by Katsu and Koichi.

“I did. And you?”

“Wonderful, all things considered.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Ryuichi saw Masaru raise his hands, producing a bowl of rice and chopsticks out of nothing but his desire. He held it toward Keiko. “Breakfast?”

“Thank you,” she said, and sat down on the ground to eat.

Ryuichi-kage looked on as Masaru made another bowl, peering over his shoulder with interest.

“And what do you want?” Masaru asked.

“Shadows get hungry too.”

Masaru sighed. “Fine.” He handed the bowl off before magically summoning a third.

Ryuichi lowered his sword as his stomach growled. “Can we take a break so I can eat too?” he asked both sensei.

Katsu reluctantly agreed. “By all means, eat.”

The sarcasm in his tone was as thick as Ryuichi’s skull.

“It’s fine. I can continue training.”

Koichi clapped him on the back. “Get some food. Five minutes won’t matter.”

Masaru held out another bowl and a set of chopsticks. “Here you go.”

Ryuichi set his sword down and went to join the others for breakfast.

Katsu sheathed his sword.

“You should have kept training.” Ryuichi-kage sighed heavily, then looked at Masaru. “He’ll never survive. What’s going to happen to me when he gets himself killed?”