GuiltyxCreatures
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Guilty x Creatures : Assassin Arc : Chapter 25
🕑 Added 2022-11-01 07:00:11 +0000 UTCChapter 25 : Morning
Mica and the dark elves all stood in stunned silence as the purple sheet slipped away from Mokai and revealed him for what he truly was, a very large tsuchigumo.
With a humanoids upper body mounted atop the cephalothorax of a gigantic spider, a full grown tsuchigumo was, without question, an impressive sight. And even for those who were familiar with the species, to see one in the flesh was still striking.
Although he possessed what seemed to be the upper torso of a human, Mokai was still distinctly inhuman in appearance. His flesh in this portion of his body, wherever it could be seen around the thin bathrobe that he was wearing, or his chitinous carapace, was an ashen white in color and was hairless, save for what was found atop his head. Which, although this was technically hair, it was not human-like in the slightest, but was more akin to sharpened quills or very thin, tightly packed spines which, as they were all pointed backwards, gave his head an almost elongated appearance.
His face was human-like at first glance, and with sharp features, high cheek bones and a strong jaw, he could easily be considered handsome. A second look however would quickly reveal his arachnid qualities, such as the pair of chelicerae that were each kept folded up along his jawline. Like his head, these chelicera were covered in black-colored hair, and tucked away as they were, they could easily be mistaken for some form of stylized facial hair. Though subtle, these appendages were actually quite dangerous, as each was connected to a venom producing gland located deep in Mokai's chest, and was armed with a long venomous fang. Which was generally kept folded away from sight, but could be deployed at a moments notice to deliver a toxic, paralyzing bite.
In contrast to his chelicerae, Mokai's eyes were not quite so easily missed, and this was mostly due to the fact that there were so many of them. Similar in design and placement to a humans, his first set of eyes were complete with lids and eyebrows, though unlike a humans, they were deep black, opal-like orbs that were broken by a single thin, white ring that existed at the point where the pupils would be on a normal human eye. His second pair of eyes existed above the first at his temples. These eyes were much the same as the first set but had no eyelids, instead they were protected by a thin clear shell that kept them from drying out. A third and forth pair of eyes, identical to this second set, existed on the sides of his head just above his human-like ears, and at the back of his head, down near the nape of his neck. Working together, these four pairs of eyes allowed him to see in all directions at once.
Thick plates of black-colored chitin ran up his back and across his shoulders before encasing his arms and hands in living armor and leaving his fingers to end in sharpened, claw-like points. Thin creases existed between these plates, and this allowed his digits and joints to move as well as the large muscles beneath the plates to flex and bulge.
From here the similarities to a humanoid ended, as from the waist downwards, Mokai's body took on the shape of a massive, tarantula-like spider.
The large mass which had originally appeared to be a giant cushion that had been propped up behind him, was actually a part of his body. This somewhat bulbous form was his abdomen, and was where the majority of his body's organs were housed. Here could be found his digestive system, the large tube shaped heart that powered his circulatory system, his silk producing spinnerets and the large accordion-like book lungs that pulled air in from vents along his underside and kept his massive body oxygenated.
The surface of this abdomen was covered in a coat of long, soft hairs that were mainly colored a grayish black, and this was off set by a series of dull yellow-colored patterns that ran across the top of the abdomen, and were faintly reminiscent of a tigers stripes.
Though these portions of Mokai's body were certainly large, it was the eight long legs branching out from the base of his cephalothorax, which truly emphasized how big he really was.
When stretched to their max, and held straight below his body, Mokai's stilted legs could easily lift him a full twelve feet into the air. This was an uncomfortable stance for him to maintain though, so as such, he instead carried himself by bending his long legs at about the midway point and letting his body hang suspended in the air as he moved around. Though technically shorter when standing in this way, he still stood at a looming eight feet tall at this stance.
Due to his large size, it was generally necessary for him to keep at least four of his feet touching the ground at any given time so as to remain balanced upright. This didn't impede his speed in any way though, which was something that Mica was about to discover first hand.
“That's enough stretching...” rumbled Mokai as he eased himself down amongst his bent legs and focused several of his eyes on Mica “Alright then... Let's start by getting a better look at you.”
Mesmerized by the sight of the massive spider-man that had suddenly appeared before her, Mica had no time to react and could only blink in surprise as with what seemed like a single motion, Mokai took a striding step forward and swung two of his outer most legs down to swing low beneath the edge of the porch and scoop her up off the ground.
“Wha! Hey!” cried the kiochi as she was lifted into the air and quickly passed from one set of legs to another. Despite her efforts to fight back, there was little Mica could do as Mokai snagged her attacking tail out of the air and fed it along from foot to foot behind her.
With a nonchalant expression on his face, Mokai expertly handled the squirming kiochi and maneuvered her in such a way that he could use his first two pair of legs to hold her spread eagle out in front of himself.
Balancing himself on his four back legs now, and apparently satisfied with the position he had her in as he held the struggling kiochi up in the air, Mokai used his left hand to take hold of the end of her tail, just before her barbs, and quickly looped a length of it around her neck before lifting his arm upwards and pulling it taunt.
Mica gasped and went stiff as her own tail was tightened around her neck to a point that she could just barely breathe around it.
“Hey! Don't choke her!” cried Kianna as she and Fiona both pointed their ears straight back in anger.
Before the two dark elves could do more than move to take a step forward, Anton raised a hand as a signal for them to stop.
“Girls! It's okay. This is just a test.” he said as he kept his narrowed eyes on Mokai “...He's not going to hurt her.”
“No, I'm not... I just want her to stay still for a moment, so I can get a good look at her...” mumbled Mokai as he focused his human-like eyes at the kiochi, and in particular the collar that she wore.
Their eyes aglow with a red, angry light, both Fiona and Kianna eased back but remained clearly ready to act at a seconds notice.
Seething with rage, Mica made an effort to remain still herself as Mokai leaned forward and gazed at the collar that hung around her neck.
Tapping at the collar with the tip of a single mana infused finger, Mokai slowly nodded and made a low mumbling sound in his throat as he found it to be both legitimate and fully functioning. Easing back a bit, he gave Mica a long look over before lightly letting up his grip on her limbs.
Feeling his hold on her loosen a bit, Mica immediately began to struggle anew and anticipating this, Mokai used her efforts to pull herself free of his limbs as a method to gauge her strength.
“...Let me go! You motherfucker!” growled Mica through her clenched teeth as she struggled to twist herself free of the tsuchigumo's ironclad grip.
Seemingly satisfied with his examination, Mokai silently lowered Mica to the ground before carefully letting her go.
Jumping back the moment she was free, Mica curled her tail back over her head and pointed her spade up at Mokai as she threateningly flexed out her barbs.
Though she couldn't see them come up behind her as she was keeping her eyes on the tsuchigumo, both Fiona and Kianna flanked the kiochi as they too joined her in glaring angrily up at the giant spider-man.
“...Well that was certainly dramatic.” said Anton as he looked from Mica to Mokai “...So, what do you think?”
“She's about as strong as I expected her to be... And I can say I agree with you on that her reactions seem to be mostly instinctual, rather than practiced...” said Mokai as he stared at Mica's collar “And I can also say I'm surprised that she actually is enslaved. And that she really isn't part of any clan...”
“...And what makes you so sure of that all of sudden?” asked Anton as he raised an eyebrow in question.
“Because if she was, she'd be dead.” said Mokai “You can't enslave a shinoccubus that has already activated their loyalty oath ability and joined a clan, as that ability will prevent most forms of binding curses from affecting them. This comes at a big cost though. You see, if a curse strong enough to overpower their oath is used on them, then a fail safe built into that ability will activate and cause their mana pool to literally explode, and the affected shinoccubi will die. Right then and there, with no chance of undeath. This is why you never see captured and enslaved shinoccubi. It's not something you can do without killing them.”
Mica's face took on a sickly expression as she fought to keep from grimacing.
“...Huh, I have heard rumors that demons did have a way to instantly kill a shinoccubus that may be trying to attack them.” mused Anton as he looked at back at Mica “So that must be how they do it...”
“Yep. They don't even bother with fighting them, they just try to bind them, and kill them that way.” said Mokai as he watched Mica work to keep the nervousness out of her eyes “...Anton, how long ago was it that you enslaved Mica?”
“...Just a few days ago.” said Anton “Why do you ask?”
“Just curious...” mumbled Mokai “How much of her mind have you locked back?”
“None. I haven't locked her back at all.” said Anton as he grinned at the kiochi “Aside from the base compulsions from the curse itself, she's at a completely natural state.”
“Huh, okay...” nodded Mokai “So are you planning on forcing her to activate her oath? And making her fully loyal to you?”
“No.” said Anton flatly “I don't even know for sure if I can make her do that or not. And I have no intention of trying to find out.”
Mokai's head remained still as several of his eyes focused themselves on Anton.
“Why not?” he asked.
“...Well, to be honest with you.” said Anton as he looked up at the towering tsuchigumo “I don't think she deserves that.”
Mokai was still for a moment before he slowly nodded his head. Shifting his gaze to the dark elves who were poised and ready to defend the kiochi, he again went still and stared at them for another moment as a thoughtful expression formed across his face.
“It's pretty clear that you three seem to see something in this kiochi...” said Mokai in a soft tone as he raised himself up on his stilt-like legs and eased forward to loom over Mica “Makes me want to see what that is for myself...”
Crossing his arms over his chest, and seemingly ignoring the spade currently being pointed at his head, he grinned down at the scowling little demonoid before raising his eyebrows in a questioning manner.
“Mica.” said Mokai as his grin grew into a knowing smile “Would you like to spar with me for a bit?”
Blinking in surprise, Mica's brow creased in confusion before her eyes went wide in understanding.
“Yes.” she said bluntly “Yes, I would.”
“Excellent.” said Mokai as he rose back upright and waved one of his left legs in the air just over Mica's head.
Her attention locked on the unexpected movement, Mica instinctively ducked down and went to swipe at the offending leg with her spade but having apparently anticipated this, Mokai quickly snagged her tail out of the air with another leg from his opposite side.
“Crap! No, not again!” cried Mica as she tried to pull back on her captured tail but was instantly lifted up into the air and immediately grabbed by multiple legs at once.
Placing his hands on their shoulders, Anton began to chuckle as he startled the dark elves out of going into their dark modes.
“Alright, hold on there, you two.” he said as they both turned their glares on him “This is actually a great opportunity for Mica. It's not everyday that a chance to spar with an expert trainer comes along. She could learn a lot from this.”
“I appreciate the vote of confidence. I'll try to live up to your expectations.” grinned Mokai as he shifted his attention to Anton and the dark elves while beneath him his legs wrapped the raging kiochi up with her own tail “I think it would be more comfortable for us to continue this inside though. So if everyone would please follow me, we can get started.”
Hands still on their shoulders, Anton guided the dark elves up onto the porch as Mokai turned around and led the way to a set of large double doors.
Making their way inside the former hunting lodge turned dojo, the group was greeted with a comforting warmth that was a stark contrast from the chilled mountain air outside.
The buildings interior was made up of wooden paneled walls which stretched upwards to an at least a fifteen foot ceiling. Wooden beams held up a series of wooden rafters that crisscrossed the ceiling above, which unlike the roof outside the building, this ceiling was not pitched, but was instead flat. Strange, thick wooden pillars that were wrapped in nautical rope were dotted throughout the lodge, and these led up to large open holes in the ceiling which seemed to indicate that there was a second story that could only be reached by climbing said pillars.
Following Mokai deeper into the building, the group came to a wide open room that had obviously been built to spar and train in.
Like the rest of the lodge, this room had wooden walls as well, though these walls were decorated with various training weapons and had several large cabinets and armoires spaced out along their lengths.
A long rise of bleacher style seating took up one wall, and gave spectators and students a perfect view of any combatants and or instructors who may be utilizing the space before them.
As they had been making their way through the lodge, Kianna had been noticing faint, quick movements taking place in the shadows just along her peripherals. Though each time she looked in the direction they were coming from, nothing would ever be there.
Still annoyed by Mokai's treatment of Mica and now frustrated by this as well, she inadvertently let the glow in her eyes begin to deepen until she could fully see into the shadows. So when they all entered the training room, and she looked up towards the dimly lit ceiling she was immediately able to spy a diminutive figure hiding in the shadows among the rafters.
“Oh!” cried out the dark elf as she stopped in her tracks and pointed her ears straight upwards “She's so cute!”
“Hm?” mumbled Mokai as he looked back at her and then with everyone else followed her gaze “Oh, yes. My daughter. Isabella. Are you already awake, sweety?”
Moving so fast as to appear as nothing but a blur, the tiny figure darted from rafter to rafter as it traversed across the ceiling, slipped down a wooden beam and then disappeared beneath the bleacher seats.
“Oh no! Come back!” exclaimed Kianna as she raced over to the bleachers and peered into the gloom beneath them “...Where? ...Oh! There you are!”
Lowering herself down onto her haunches, Kianna smiled brightly and clasped her hands together beneath her chin as she took in the sight before her.
Hiding herself in the shadows made by the seats above her, and peeking around a wooden strut that acted as part of the bleachers frame, was a teeny tiny little girl version of Mokai.
Standing no taller than two feet at her max and about a foot and a half with her legs bent, Isabella was in essence a micro copy of her Father in nearly every way. Save for the fact that the yellow coloration at her joints, and of the patterns across her abdomen, were far more vivid in their brightness.
Wearing a frilly purple pajama top on her human-like half and clutching a stuffed teddy bear to her chest, made it pretty clear that this little spider-girl had just recently woken up and left her bed.
With her massive eyes all locked onto the smiling dark elf before her, Isabelle spread her fanged chelicerae out wide and began to sway from side to side as she lifted her front legs into the air and waved them about.
Failing to recognize the little girl's threat display for what it was, Kianna began to giggle and follow along with her by swaying from side to side herself.
“Aw! Are you dancing, sweety?” sang the dark elf as she held her arms up and began to dance to an unheard rhythm.
Blinking in confusion, Isabella went still for a second before suddenly scurrying up the bleachers frame and climbing out onto the very top of the bench seats, where she then planted herself above the dark elf and once again tried to appear as threatening as possible with her unintentionally adorable little show.
Still unfazed by the aggressive display, and now giggling at the sight of the standoffish little girl, Kianna sat down on one of the lower seats and smiled up to her.
“Hi there! You're Isabella, right? It's nice to meet you!” she said as she patted the open space on the bench next to her “My name is Kianna. Would you like to come and sit with me?”
Staying still for a moment, Isabella's eyes shifted from Kianna's face to the space she was patting and back before she suddenly darted to the end of the bleachers and then hopped down one bench after another until she was at the same level as Kianna.
Staring at the smiling dark elf for another second, the spider-girl moved a little closer before stopping and going still again.
“Oh... Are you being shy this morning?” asked Kianna as she continued to smile “That's okay, it's okay to be shy with new people after all.”
Saying nothing, Isabella took a few more tentative steps forward before stopping again. She swayed back and forth a bit as she teetered on taking another step or darting back the way she had come. The claws on her little feet made faint scratching sounds as she gripped the edges of the wooden bench on both sides with all of her eight legs at once.
“Is that your Teddy Bear?” asked Kianna.
Looking down at her bear, Isabella clutched the stuffed animal to her chest and slowly nodded.
“Aw. Does he sleep with you at night?” questioned Kianna.
Again, Isabella remained silent as she merely nodded.
“Well that's nice of him, isn't it?” smiled Kianna “He's a very cute little bear. Would you like to show him to me?”
Isabella swayed back and forth a bit before looking back up at the dark elf. Without a word, she closed the distance between them and slowly held out her bear.
“Wow! Thank you!” said Kianna as she carefully took the offered teddy bear “Oh! He really is a cutie! I just love him!”
Gushing extravagantly, Kianna hugged the teddy bear to herself before giving him a playful kiss on the cheek.
“He's just the bestest Teddy Bear ever!” she exclaimed as she gave the bear another kiss “Right!?”
Turning her smile back on Isabella, Kianna found that the little girl's facial expression was still stoic but now her eyes seemed to be shining with obvious joy. Before Kianna could say anything more though, Isabella suddenly zipped off the bench and scurried across the room to one of the strange thicker pillars.
“Wha. Oh no!” cried Kianna as she held out her hand “Wait! Don't go!”
“Uh oh, you've done it now...” chuckled Mokai as they all watched Isabella effortlessly climb the pillar and disappear into the hole in the ceiling.
“Did I upset her!?” questioned Kianna as a hurt, panicked look spread across her face.
“Hm? Oh, no. Not at all.” chuckled Mokai “No, I'm afraid you've done the opposite actually. You're her new best friend now, and she is going to need to show you every single toy that she owns...”
“...Oh! Oh, okay!” smiled Kianna as Isabella suddenly reappeared and spiraled down the pillar as fast as she could.
Racing over to Kianna, the little girl wordlessly handed her a brightly colored dryad doll before turning around and quickly retracing her path up the pillar.
“Yeah... Sorry about this.” mumbled Mokai “Me and the wife have been going through our molts lately. And so she's been a little starved for attention... If she's bothering you at all just let me know and I'll have her stay upstairs.”
“What! No! No, not at all!” laughed Kianna as Isabella came back carrying both a stuffed giraffe and a plush tiger “She's a sweetheart!”
“She is... She really is.” smiled Mokai as he watched his daughter zip back up the pillar “She's our youngest baby. And our last one... Well, I say that...”
Chuckling to himself, Mokai turned to Anton and Fiona as he indicated the bleachers.
“Have a seat. Get comfortable.” he said as he stepped out into the sparring area and headed towards one of the large cabinets mounted to the far wall “We're about to see what Mica can do...”
Taking his seat next to Kianna, Anton grinned as the dark elf began to shift some of stuffed animals that were beginning to overflow her lap onto his so as to make room for more newcomers.
Grumbling as she was carried along beneath the tsuchigumo, Mica grunted as she was suddenly shifted forward and planted back on her feet.
“This is what happens whenever you let your instincts make you predictable.” said Mokai as he clipped a manabinder around her wrist before letting her go completely.
“Wha, hey!” cried Mica as she immediately unwrapped her tail from around herself and went to try force the manabinder off her wrist.
“We're just going to be testing your basic skills today.” said Mokai as he opened the cabinet and took out two wooden training swords “So you don't need any magic for that.”
“...Maybe not.” growled Mica “But a heads up about a manabinder would have been nice though!”
“You wouldn't have agreed to wear it.” said Mokai in an offhanded tone as he handed her one of the swords “...Would you?”
“Guess we'll never know...” mumbled Mica as she took the sword.
“Guess not.” grinned Mokai as he turned and made his way to one side of the sparring ring.
Making her way to her own side, Mica hefted the wooden sword a bit to get a feel for it before giving it a few light swings.
Mokai couldn't help but to grin again as he glanced over at the bleachers and found his daughter holding up one stuffed animal after another so that Kianna could give each of them a kiss on the cheek.
Focusing back on the task at hand, he shifted his attention to Mica and leveled his sword at her.
“Whenever you're ready...” he said as she mimicked him by readying her own sword.
Eyes tight with determination, Mica's tail did a long slow loop through the air behind her before she suddenly shot forward.
Tucking her sword in close, she raced up to Mokai and leaped into the air. Using her tail as a third limb, she lifted herself up high enough to be at eye level with him and began to attack him over and over with her sword.
Parrying each of her strikes with ease, Mokai stood his ground for a moment before stepping forward and driving Mica back.
Using her tail as a makeshift spring, Mica flung herself backwards towards the center of the room but was both surprised and dismayed to discover what for her was an unexpected fact about Mokai.
Despite his large size, the tsuchigumo was incredibly fast.
Striding with ease across their battlefield, Mokai was able to effortlessly keep pace with his smaller opponent. And although it was clear that he wasn't legitimately out for blood, he still refused to give Mica a moments rest.
Each time the kiochi landed on her feet she was immediately forced to dart backwards again by the quickly advancing spider who could not only attack her from on high, but would also give her feinting strikes with his many legs. Dodging and weaving around each of his attacks, Mica's frustration intensified as she noticed that even as he was in the middle of fighting with her, Mokai's attention was still on Kianna and his daughter.
At the bleachers, little Isabella was busy arranging an armful of her Dragon Force Warriors action figures across Kianna's lap. Her own arms now quite full of stuffed animals, the dark elf could only smile as she bent forward to give each of the warriors a kiss before the tiny spider-girl would carefully set them down and present another.
Even though she herself couldn't help but to find this scene cute, Mica's anger still flared, and as Mokai went to strike at her again with his sword, she planted her feet and put all her weight into blocking the blow.
“Are you going to start taking this seriously, or not!?” she snarled as she held Mokai's sword at bay and locked eyes with the looming spider.
“No.” said Mokai.
Before Mica could even react, Mokai rolled their swords to the side and sent two quick punches into her gut with his front legs.
Hit hard enough to be sent flying backwards, Mica had just enough of her wits left to cushion her landing with her tail. As her feet hit the floor though, she immediately dropped to her knee's and clutched her middle in pain.
With the air knocked from her, she started sucking in gasping breaths through her teeth as she glared up at Mokai with watery eyes.
“If I was taking this seriously, Mica.” said Mokai as he squared his shoulders “You'd already be dead.”
Seething, Mica put her pain out of her mind, brandished her sword and using her tail as a springboard, she launched herself at Mokai.
For the next several minutes Mokai danced around Mica's attacks and as the kiochi's blows became more desperate and predictable, he started to focus more and more on what his daughter was doing.
Having apparently exhausted her supply of dolls, stuffed animals and action figures, Isabella had now moved on to her books.
Though their laps were now hidden beneath a plethora of children's toys, Anton, Kianna and even Fiona all maintained patient, and even amused expressions as they seemed to be completely unfazed by Isabella's antics.
Even now, they were all more focused on the little girl who was proudly holding up her Dragon Force Warriors picture book, so a cooing Kianna could see its cover.
Furious at being disregarded by all sides, Mica let out an angry battle cry and flipped herself over backwards. Using a series of gymnastic flips, the kiochi landed on her feet at the edge of the sparring ring where she stopped to lock eyes with Mokai.
Surprised by her shouting out in the way that she did, Mokai had gone still and merely watched as the kiochi had put on her show of athletics.
With her face hardened in determination, Mica dived into another forward set of flips as she made to close the distance between herself and the tsuchigumo.
Spreading his legs out wide so as to plant himself, Mokai grinned as he readied his sword to block Mica's obvious frontal attack.
Tumbling flip over flip, Mica built her momentum up as high as she could in the space she had available and at the very last second before she reached her target, she arched herself forward and threw her sword straight at Mokai's face with all the strength that she could muster.
Caught off guard by the unexpected tactic, Mokai reacted instinctively and blocked the projectile sword in such a way that it went flying off to his side. Unfortunately he realized too late that he was sending it right at the spectators. Turning towards the sword in an effort to snag it with an outstretched leg, he was just in time to see Anton reach out and safely catch the flying sword before it could hit anyone. Livid now, he turned back to face Mica but was again surprised by her unexpected tactics as he found her sailing feet first straight into his shoulder.
Having used the sword as a distraction, Mica had flung her tail out to the side and wrapped it around a wooden beam which she then used to swing herself up into the air and around the room before launching herself straight at Mokai. Using her own body as a living missile, the kiochi let out another loud cry as she slammed feet first into Mokai's raised shoulder. Looking to drive as much force into her opponent as possible, she then curled in on herself upon landing and kicked off of him as hard as she could.
Shocked by the shear force of Mica's assault, Mokai became stunned as he was sent skidding sideways across the smooth wooden floor. With all his legs still spread out around him, he slid along at a quick pace until finally coming back to his senses.
Acting quickly, he deployed the twin claws from in between each of his toes and dug them into the floor. Coming to a skidding stop just before the bleachers, loud splintering sounds of wood breaking could be heard echoing through the room as the tsuchigumo came to rest by fully sinking his mighty claws into the floor beneath him.
In the silent stillness that followed, Mokai slowly shifted his many eyes to the still seated spectators and sighed in relief as he found them to be safe.
Anton and Fiona both had calm looking faces as they each sat poised and ready to put up their aura fields. Meanwhile, as Mokai's massive form had come bearing down on them, Kianna had reacted without thinking and had reflexively scooped Isabella up and out of harms way. Her expression clearly concerned and full of spent adrenaline, the dark elf held the child clutched against her chest as she stared up at Mokai and blinked in the sudden stillness.
For her part, Isabella seemed completely unfazed by the action taking place around her. Swiveling her head back and forth, she looked from Kianna to her Father and back a few times before settling into the warm spot she suddenly found herself in. Having apparently decided that she was perfectly comfortable with having Kianna's arms locked protectively around her, the little spider-girl made a soft huffing sound as she folded in her legs, curled herself up into a small ball and snuggled herself in against the dark elf.
“I, I'm sorry!” called Mica.
With every head now turned towards her, the kiochi froze for a second before swallowing a lump in her throat.
“...I didn't mean for that to happen like that!” she exclaimed as she looked from one staring face to another “I, I just...”
Breathing hard now, Mica's face was apologetic until her eyes rose up to meet with Mokai's. Fixated on the dark orbs that were his eyes, she went still again before looking down at the floor.
“I'm sorry... I didn't mean...” she said as she balled her hands into fists “I didn't... I just wanted...”
Gaze still on the floor, Mica squared her shoulders and set her jaw as her eyes became filled with a fierce determination.
“I just wanted you to take me seriously.” she said as she looked back up at the tsuchigumo.
Glaring at him now, the kiochi slowly raised her balled fists and planted her feet as she took a fighters stance and made it clear that she was ready to continue.
Staring at her, Mokai stayed still for a moment before turning to Anton and silently holding out his hand to him.
Without a word, Anton handed over the sword he had caught earlier.
Holding both swords now, Mokai gripped their hilts tightly and looked down at the floor beneath him for a moment before slowly nodding.
“You want me to take you seriously...” he whispered softly as he turned to Mica and narrowed all his eyes at her “Alright then... I will...”
Comments
Surge of adrenaline on both their parts really. This was a spur of the moment thing for Mica and it happened so quickly and was so unexpectedly successful that she jumped to the conclusion she had messed up somehow, even though she didn't. And Mokai's frustration is more with himself than Mica, because he wasn't paying enough attention he got caught off guard, that's not Mica's fault though, it's his, and he knows this.
BlueGraine
Mokai was intentionally not paying attention to the fight. As a teacher, if he is not confident in being in control of the situation, he should not continue the fight.
quiscon
I think the implication is she did that on purpose, trying to hit him in such a
