Guilty x Creatures Ch. 58

"Yes!" breathed Mokai to himself as an elated smile spread across his face "Finally!"

Eyes wide, legs a quiver and chest swelling with excitement, Mokai threw himself full force into their dance of blades as he answered Mica's challenge with his own. For if she sought to prove herself here, than he would be sure to give her the opponent she deserved.

"Go Mica!" cried out a cheer from Kianna as she too registered that the tone of this fight had suddenly shifted "You got this!"

"Fucking get him!" roared Fiona as she balled her raised fists in excitement "Show him what you can do, girl!"

Heart racing in her chest, Mica couldn't help but to smile broadly as she registered the cries of support. More determined now than ever, she dived through the air and flew head first right into the swirling whirlwind made up of Mokai's attacking legs. Weaving herself between the bladed appendages, she made a path through them by blocking with her daggers and spade before dropping down to land on her thigh and sliding across the smooth wooden floor until she fully disappeared beneath the giant spider.

"What!?" exclaimed Mokai as he reared up onto his four back legs and moved backwards while looking downwards and searching for Mica.

Whipping her tail upwards, Mica quickly wrapped its length around the thin cylinder-like section that connected Mokai's front and back halves together and, using the spider's own body as leverage, she lifted herself up, over and behind the tsuchigumo.

Rising upwards as she held herself up with her tail, Mica tucked in her arms and legs as she slipped in between Mokai's raised front limbs and sailed through the air as she arched over his back and headed straight for his head.

As she got closer to her target, Mica's own eyes widened as she saw the small white rings within the black orbs located at the base of Mokai's skull shift within their depths and zero in on her. Her stomach instantly tightened as she realized she had already been spotted and her attempt to blindside the spider had clearly failed.

Everything seemed to start moving in slow motion for Mokai as he watched the incoming kiochi bear down on him. Curling a front leg back, he forced her to block with the dagger in her right hand, but before he could do the same with her left, her arm shot forward with said dagger aimed straight between his eyes.

Narrowing said eyes in question, Mokai hesitated in his movements as he noticed that Mica was going to continue her trend of surprising him by twisting her wrist and flipping her dagger to the side so that its tip was safely pointed away from him.

Now with nothing but a closed fist hurtling towards the pair of black orbs, Mica made another unexpected move as she suddenly stopped her attack and left her fist sitting in the air a mere inch away from Mokai's eyes.

Freezing mid-motion, Mica, as well as the rest of the room, went completely still for several long heartbeats, as neither she, her opponent, nor their audience even dared to breathe.

Staring at the white rings within Mokai's eyes as they remained locked onto her frozen fist, a haggard sigh escaped from between Mica's clenched teeth as the rings suddenly shifted upwards and focused their attention on her. Eyes met now, she took a deep breath as she narrowed her own eyes in challenge.

"Y-you!" she croaked as she struggled to find her voice "You don't know me!"

Pulling her arm back to herself, Mica thumped her chest with her fist as she continued.

"You don't know anything about me! Nothing!" she cried as a light sheen of moisture glazed her eyes "I don't care how much you know about my kind! They're not me! None of them are!"

Remaining completely still, Mokai merely stared in silence as the kiochi continued.

"I am me! I am the only me!" declared Mica "And you don't...! You, don't..."

Eyes still locked to Mokai's black orbs, Mica began to waver at the end of her tail as her fatigue suddenly landed on her.

"Don't... Please... I..." breathed the kiochi as her expression softened and became imploring "I did my best! So please, please don't disregard me anymore... Please..."

Though Mica herself couldn't see Mokai's face from her vantage point, Anton and the dark elves could. And as they silently watched, the annoyed grimace the tsuchigumo wore slowly melted away until his expression became stoic.

Blinking as she noticed movement taking place around her, Mica swiveled her head back and forth as Mokai's curled legs began to ease themselves back and away from her. The kiochi's stomach tightened even more at the realization of just how easily she could have been sliced to ribbons by the spider's bladed limbs.

Her path clear now, Mica tucked her own limbs back in as she floated out from over the tsuchigumo and quickly lowered herself to the floor. Once on her feet again, she pulled her tail back to herself and took several steps back before being slammed with an intense adrenaline crash.

Arms hanging limp at her sides and her entire body trembling now, Mica let her daggers fall to clatter against the floor a moment before she too found her way downwards. Dropping down onto her haunches, she tucked her knees in against her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs as she took one quick breath after another and began to lightly rock back and forth.

Turning around to face her, Mokai gazed down at the diminutive looking being and watched as her long sinuous tail quickly wound itself in tightly around her. As he stood there, he lightly flexed all of his limbs and triggered his gauntlets to split open again, so that their blades could disappear back within their depths.

"...Dual wielded weapons are clearly more your forte." he said after a long moment of silence "You did far better with those daggers than you ever did with the sword."

"...Th-thank you." whispered Mica.

"You may keep those daggers as a gift. Practice with them daily." said Mokai as he slowly turned in a circle and faced away from her "They're good enough to train with, but would make for poor primary weapons. Replace them with something better as soon as you can."

Moving tentatively, Mica reached down with both hands and picked up the daggers before clutching them to herself.

"This was a good fight, Mica." said Mokai as he made to move away "...I enjoyed it."

"Train me, please." said Mica.

"No." said Mokai as he stepped away from her.

"Please!...I need your help!" cried Mica.

Stopping in his tracks, Mokai went still as he gave her a chance to speak.

"...You know, how to fight my kind....And that's what I need to learn!" exclaimed Mica as she looked up at him "My family is going to come for me....They've already come for me. They've tried to kill me once already, and they're going to come back!"

Though his head itself never actually moved, several of Mokai's eyes shifted to the bleachers and he frowned thinly when Anton nodded once in confirmation.

"I have to be ready to fight them." continued Mica "I have no choice. And I have to learn how to fight as fast as I can!...So please, please teach me!"

"No." said Mokai.

"Please!" cried Mica.

"No, Mica." said Mokai "This is your battle. And I am not going to involve myself or my school in it... I'm sorry."

"I'll do anything you ask! Anything at all!" said Mica as she fell to her hands and knees and let her head hang low "Please! Please, I need your help... Please..."

"...No. I can't do it, Mica." sighed Mokai as he shook his head "For the reasons I've stated as well as the fact that I'm already at capacity. You're going to need a lot of time and attention focused on you. And even if I was willing to help. Every class I have is already full. I just don't have the room for you. I'm sorry..."

Trembling anew, Mica hunched in on herself and tightened her grips on her daggers as Mokai stepped away.

Pausing at one of the wooden beams, Mokai tapped at a series of charms that once activated, caused a pale purple light to emanate from every surface of the ring. As the light faded, every damaged piece of wood within the ring was suddenly repaired.

Watching the tsuchigumo stride back to the armoire, Anton began to quickly hand the stuffed animals on his lap to the dark elves. Nodding to them, he stood up and made his way over to Mokai.

Coming to a stop right next to the larger being, Anton took on a casual air as he placed his hands in his pockets.

"...So? What do you think of her?" he asked as he looked up at the giant spider.

Shifting his eyes to him, Mokai continued to carefully remove the gauntlets from his limbs as he spoke.

"...She has potential. She's lacking in overall strength, but that can be fixed easily enough." he said as his expression became thoughtful "...She has a strong drive to succeed....More than likely this is due to her situation though."

"Yeah..." mumbled Anton as he turned to watch the dark elves gather Mica up from the floor and guide her back to the bleachers "She does have plenty of motivation..."

"...She is, different. And interesting." said Mokai in a soft tone "...I wonder, if perhaps being raised outside of a clan has affected her. If maybe that has changed her mentality in some way."

"What do you mean?" asked Anton as he focused his attention on Mica and raised an eyebrow "Do you think there's something wrong with her?"

"No. I wouldn't say that." said Mokai as he too watched the kiochi with the eyes on the back of his head "If anything I'd say she is capable of being far more independently minded than her clan-bound kin. Since she doesn't have the level of indoctrination they typically do... This may, or may not actually be a good thing though. As not only does it give her an extra degree of potential, it makes her very unpredictable as well... She surprised me today... More than once even."

Turning back to him, Anton was quiet for a moment before he softly cleared his throat.

"So, bearing all that in mind, do you think that she would make a good student?" he started as he craned his neck back to get a better look at Mokai's face "...For you?"

Taking a deep breath, Mokai slowly shook his head.

"Even if I was willing to involve myself in this, Anton, I can't." he said as he placed the gauntlets from his human-like arms back in the armoire "She's going to need a lot of attention, special attention, and I'm already at my limit with students....I just don't have the room for her."

"There has to be some way though." said Anton "Some opening that she could fit in."

"As I've said, I'm full already." said Mokai as he shook is head "And not only do my other instructors have full schedules already as well, but I have a waiting list a mile long. And I'm not going to break any of those agreements, Anton....I'm sorry."

"No, don't apologize. I understand..." said Anton as he turned back to gaze at Mica and the dark elves "It's just unfortunate is all..."

"It is, it really is." said Mokai "Though, it's probably for the best as well. Especially considering she is, what she is..."

"What do you mean?" asked Anton.

"She's a shinoccubi, Anton. An Infernal. I have classes that are literally dedicated to dealing with her kind." explained Mokai "How do you think it would fair to have someone like her in that kind of class? Hm? Do you think the other students aren't going to notice her, and single her out? Because of course they will... The whole thing would be asking for trouble..."

"...Right....You make a good point there." said Anton.

Contemplating the situation for a moment, Anton blinked as an idea suddenly popped into his head.

"Right, right... Then again... You know, Mokai..." he drawled as he looked back up at the spider "I think you might be failing to realize that there is actually a very unique opportunity staring you straight in the face right now. And it's not one that I think you'll want to miss."

"...Oh really?" said Mokai as he took on an air of light suspicion "And what opportunity is this?"

"Well, you teach a class on how to deal with shinoccubi, correct?" said Anton.

"Yes. I do." said Mokai in a blunt tone.

"And how would you like to add a living element to that class?" asked Anton "A living, demonstration, if you will."

"...What are you going on about?" questioned Mokai as he turned to fully face Anton.

"What I'm saying, is that you have an opportunity to give your students some real world training..." said Anton as a thin grin spread across his face "Against not only a legitimate, real live shinoccubus. But one that can actually be trusted to stay in control, and not kill your students."

Mokai remained still for a moment before suddenly shifting his gaze over to Mica.

"...Of course." continued Anton as his grin grew into a full smile "You wouldn't want to give your students the wrong idea, by letting them face an inexperienced shinoccubi... That didn't know how to fight..."

Mokai kept his eyes on Mica for a moment longer before turning back to the armoire and recommencing to remove his gauntlets.

"...That is certainly an interesting proposition, Anton." he said in a soft tone "Unfortunately though, it doesn't change the fact that I still don't have the room for her."

"Well what if we did some kind of tutelage deal instead? Where she wouldn't be a part of any of your main classes, but you just saw her with whatever time you can spare?" offered Anton "And in exchange, your students will get the chance to face her themselves. Which, we both know, Mokai, that will be a far better experience than any lecture or textbook could ever give them."

His expression thoughtful, Mokai began to calmly crack his knuckles as he absently stared into the armoire.

"Hmph... I don't know about this..." he mumbled.

"...What if I could sweetened the deal?" offered Anton.

"And how would you do that?" asked Mokai.

"Well, Mica isn't the only potential opponent that's available." said Anton as his grin returned "There is always myself, and my dark elves as well."

"...Your dark elves?" questioned Mokai as he looked back at Fiona and Kianna "...Those two aren't just with you? You actually own them?"

"Correct." smiled Anton "And considering their kind can be a rather, confrontational, species. Giving your students an idea of what they can do wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea, now would it?"

"...No....It really wouldn't." mused Mokai as he rubbed his chin.

Shaking his head with a sigh, the tsuchigumo eyed Anton with annoyance as he crossed his arms over his chest. He was still for several long moments before he finally spoke again.

"...If we do this, Mica will follow the training program that I give her to the T." said Mokai as he turned to fully face Anton "And I mean to the T! Every exercise I lay out will be completed on the day it's scheduled for, no exceptions! She needs to get her strength up as quickly as possible. So this is going to be the most import thing for her."

"Alright, I agree." nodded Anton.

"Things won't be consistent schedule wise. I'll have to go over my schedule each month and see where and how I can fit in a few lessons with her..." continued Mokai "It won't only be me that'll be teaching her either, as there's nowhere near enough time for that. So some of my other instructors will help to pick up the slack."

"That's fine, anything and everything will be helpful for her." said Anton "And also, if you're not comfortable with her coming here regularly, we could always find another venue to meet at."

"Mm, no, we have too much available here. I appreciate the offer but it'll be easier to just do things here." said Mokai as he sighed again "You know, this is about to kill what little free time I have..."

"Ah, right..." chuckled Anton "Sorry about that... Though, there is something else we might be able to work out. To give you a little more free time, that is."

"Oh, and what's that?" questioned Mokai.

"Well, and this is only if you're comfortable with the idea of course." grinned Anton as he turned back to the bleachers "But if you and the Ms. are ever interested in having a little time to yourselves... We might be able to work out some kind of babysitting detail for you."

Following Anton's gaze, Mokai couldn't help but to grin himself as he spied his daughter sitting happily in Kianna's lap while the cooing dark elf was reading her the Dragon Force Warriors book she had brought down earlier.

"I'd say Isabella has taken quite the shine to Kianna, and vice versa." said Anton "And while it may be a bit controversial to employ a natural born slave monger as a babysitter, you do have to consider..."

Turning just enough to give Mokai a sideways grin.

"Anybody who might be looking to harm that child..." he said as he looked back at Kianna and Isabella "Will have to get past that dark elf first."

"...Hmph, now don't get me wrong, Anton." said Mokai with his own grin "That's a Hell of a pitch. But I do have to also consider the fact that your people are being targeted by shinoccubi assassins. Do you really think my daughter would be safe in the hands of your dark elf when that's a factor?"

"Oh, yeah, she'll be fine." said Anton as he waved his hand in a dismissive manner "The fact that Mica is even still alive is proof of that."

"...And what's that supposed to mean?" questioned Mokai.

"Who do you think handled those assassins the first time they showed up, Mokai?" asked Anton as he looked up at the spider "Do you really think that Mica fought them off herself?"

Mokai was still for moment before chuckling softly.

"You should have seen it." mumbled Anton as he shook his head "They literally turned the sky black."

"That sounds awful." quipped Mokai.

"It was. But it was also spectacular." said Anton.

"And you think I should trust my little girl to one of these monsters?" mocked Mokai.

"Yes, I do." nodded Anton "I can't imagine you ever making a better decision."

Laughing softly, Mokai shook his head as he shut the armoire and turned towards the group at the bleachers.

"Tell you what, I'll think about it." he said as he made to move towards them "In the meantime, why don't we go give Mica the good news."

"Sounds good to me." smiled Anton as he fell into step beside the giant spider.