Kiss of Vengeance | 復讐のキス

OVA 1 - Training Days

"Eleven Years Ago..."

I swallowed hard, clutching my jacket more tightly around my shivering body. My frail figure would surprise most to be taken into such a place, it confused myself, as I had no idea of what "potential" they claimed I had.

Once the door opened, immediately I was faced with the opposite of what I expected to see. There were many children sitting, laughing and talking to each other in groups which mainly depended on their age.

The moment mine, Ms Rita and the hooded man we had talked to earlier's footsteps echoed through the hall, voices died down. I felt the eyes of people staring at me as if burning into my soul, and immediately I felt out of place as I heard their comments.

"She's the one who killed the best assassin of all time, Silver Sillouhette.."

"Tch, her body's so frail, I doubt she could even pick up a knife let alone kill someone."

"She's so tiny.."

"Why is she here? She wouldn't fit in with any of us."

"Alright that's more than enough comments." A clear voice was heard and the whispers began to die down as people turned their gazes to a boy sharpening a knife while sitting on a stool.

I recognised him as soon as I saw his yellow eyes stare at me and a familiar smirk. He's the one who saved me from drowning in that river...

He looked at everyone. "If Ms Rita trusts that she'll have a great influence on us, then we should too."

Fixating his vision back on his knife, more people began to talk amongst themselves, but this time the topic changed to different things.

"Come child, let's get you something to eat at the bar." Ms Rita placed a hand on my back and guided me towards the direction of where the boy who saved me sat, still sharpening his knife. The handle was green, and his yellow eyes were focused to make it the sharpest it could be.

He seemed to be struggling a bit and I watched the way he began to do it, realising that he was sharpening it incorrectly.

"Akiya! Get the girl some soup." She shouted, the words coming out her mouth more harsher than I imagined her to be like. I looked up and saw the girl she was talking to her, her strikingly bold red hair matched that of her mother's and she turned to us to reveal beautiful blue eyes. Akiya is a wonderful name to go with her looks..

She quickly put the plate she was drying into a cupboard and then checked on the soup that was already cooking on the stove. "Of course, mother! Coming right up!" She smiled warmly and busily continued to prepare the soup.

"I must be going." She turned to Obi. "Look after her for me, please?"

Obi shrugged in agreement and Ms Rita nodded as thanks and then walked back the direction from where we came. Before she stood up on a wooden crate and whistled to grab everyone's attention. "Alright everyone! As you know, we have a new student, Yui. Please treat her kindly everyone okay?" She grinned and everyone nodded. "Now, remember we have the beginning-of-year exams coming up, do your best if you want to be in group A!"

Everyone shouted and jumped except the boy and I, who were calmly sitting while watching everyone. After Ms Rita had left, he gestured to the stools. "Sit, the food's nearly ready." He commanded and I did as he told me to.

"Hey! No need to be so far away. I'm not diseased or anything." He shouted and I realised I was sitting on the other side of the bar table. Akiya giggled and I apologised quietly, shifting closer to him.

"Yui, that's your name?" He asked and I nodded. "I'm Obi, sometimes go by the name Nanaki."

The atmosphere fell silent for a few moments, and I watched him continue to sharpen the knife.

"U-um.. excuse me?" I stuttered nervously and he looked up, his piercing yellow eyes staring questionably at me. "It might be a little easier if you change the angle you sharpen the knife. The smaller the angle, the sharper your knife will be."

"For a ten year old, you're pretty sharp." Obi chuckled and I looked down at my feet.

"Cat, you're the same age as her!" A voice shouted from a distance, and I turned to see a boy a lot taller than us. Although his hair was mostly red when you looked at it, if you actually looked close enough, you could see it was an orangey-red colour. His eyes matched his hair, and his hair was covering his eyes. He was definitely older than us, and was smirking at Obi.

"That's the demon known as Hideki. He thinks he runs the place because he's the oldest here." Obi gestured to Hideki. "Most people prefer the second oldest, who's Akiya over there. She's much nicer."

Hideki growled and Obi laughed. "Sorry, did I make Mr 'All-High-and-Mighty' angry?"

"Well at least I can sharpen a knife!" He chuckled and Obi hissed.

"Hey, you two shouldn't fight. You're comrades right?" I said speaking quietly and immediately regretting what I said. "O-Obi.. I can try to teach you if you like.. but I've never actually done it before.."

"You've never sharpened a knife before?" Hideki laughed and I could almost feel Akiya send a death glare at Hideki.

"Shut up! Don't be so rude." She shouted at him and Hideki edged backwards.

Obi hesitated, looking at the knife and then back at me. "Okay, show me how to do it." He grabbed me by the wrist and then placed the knife and stone in the palm of my hand.. I felt a light pink dust across my cheeks at realising how warm his hands were.

I gulped and then began to use the stone to sharpen the knife, somehow, even though I had never done it before, I found it was moderately difficult. After about thirty or forty strokes, I finished and handed him the stone and knife back. He inspected it and then Hideki snatched the knife from him to see for himself. "Wow! That's really sharp! I can't believe that's your first time sharpening one, you're a natural!" He smiled and then handed the knife back to Obi.

"Thanks." He grinned at me.

"U-um no problem.." I faint smile tugged the tips of my lips upwards. "Thanks for saving me from that river too. I would have died.."

"Oh, no need to thank me." He shook his hands about. "Just did what a person should do."

"Hey, let's be acquaintances." Obi offered my a hand to shake. "We could be partners in crime too, I'm sure we could come up with some great pranks to pull on that stupid cat over there." He chuckled and Hideki growled and ran off.

I smiled and took it, staring at our hands for a few moments. Tons of scars, some fresh and others old covered his hand and I couldn't help wonder what had caused them. His grip was strong, and although my hands were clear of scars unlike his, I could tell that at the time i was really frail compared to someone like him.

At that moment, I felt as if Obi became my role-model, inspiring me that one day I could become just as strong as he was.