The Way

Do you know the way, Hitoshi Inoue?

Oh bloody hell.

Gwyar froze midway through gently smacking a young man in the head, the foam blade inches away from the youth's forehead, who sighed in relief.

Bap!

"Ack!" The youth yelped, more in surprise than pain, Gwyar rolling his eyes at him before turning to fully face Hitoshi.

"Ah, you've returned. How... unexpected, frankly." He admitted, crossing his arms over his chest before throwing a look at all the eavesdroppers around him. "... Oh my, how very curious. I do not remember ever giving anyone a break."

With those words, everyone immediately turned back to what they were doing before, only occasionally throwing wary looks at the mad dog that had given out concussions like candy a couple of months back.

Gwyar waved away the young man he had been helping before, turning his attention back to Hitoshi before approaching the shorter man.

"You're quite shameless, aren't you?" He asked the other wryly, though his smile didn't seem too bothered. "Well. Whatever could you need of me?"

---

"My name's Hitoshi, not Frank, silly." He says, misunderstanding the taller man's meaning by way of language barrier. The words are accompanied by an innocent smile. Smiles give way to a grim frown as his master turns his sharp eyes upon the dog.[break]
"You were in Galar, yeah? I saw you across the battlefield. You were closer to the sword. I got thrown into the shield." There are many ways to read this innocent admission. Maybe he was a vigilante. Maybe he was one of the reckless bunch that jumped League warning signs and threw themselves into danger.[break]
Or he could be Rocket. Hitoshi doesn't consider those sorts of loyalties. Not now, not with everything at stake.[break]
"That cat...I've gotta kill it. If I don't...everyone I love is gonna die." His teeth are gritted. Anguish reigns in his eyes, thinking about the sun around which he revolves growing cold in death.[break]
"Train me! I need to get stronger! I gotta do my part! What good is a sword that can't cut?!"

The Way

Do you know the way, Hitoshi Inoue?

Off to a good start.

"Oh?" He uttered, foregoing any cracks he were about to make as the younger man's words sunk in. "Is that so?"

He was definitely not there as a league member; given his general profile, actions and brief stint as sootopolis casino's security, that about confirmed he was almost definitely rocket.

But had he changed any in the dream?

Well he was talking about killing cats— rarely a good sign, but given the context, he couldn't fault the young man.

Still, that request...

Gwyar crossed his arms over his chest, cocking his head to the side.

"It can protect from an enemy's blade still, for one." He said casually. You didn't need an edge to parry. "A sword, huh?"

Something about the way the youth had phrased that didn't sit quite right with the blonde— he dismissed it for the moment, however. No time to get trapped in semantics.

He had a problem student to deal with.

"... And what kind of training are you seeking, Hitoshi?" Well, he could guess. "Do you intend to challenge the ruinous beast with your sword alone?"

Because that... sounded like a dumb way to die. Though he supposed he couldn't judge him there, given his own 'stellar' record.

"Because in my personal experience— that'll not go well."

The Cloud's uncrowned Zacian whooped his ass so hard he gained martial enlightenment from the match. His victory was little more than a fluke, of which he could only take 30% of the credit.

The idea was his— the killing blow was all his Aegislash's work. Even then— after witnessing the real Hero of many battles at work, he had some serious doubts the real deal would've fallen as easily.

Too long, didn't read:

"You're a human being still, Hitoshi. There are limits to how much strength you can gain. You didn't spend 20 years in Galar sitting on your thumbs, did you?" He asked simply. "Well? Do you believe the you at the end of your journey could've killed the Ruinous beast on his own?"

For twenty years, he labored under a dead sky. Twenty years spent surrounded by people whose faces he can remember no more than their names. Even with all that skill, he still faced death on an open battlefield. A man died for a dog that day. He labored for twenty years to come up with a perfect plan: how to rise from where he fell. How to move, how to strike, how to kill. One reckless strike would be enough, even if he broke his promise to her. One dog's life is a fair trade for a cat's.[break]
That's how he thought back then. Since waking from that dream, his world has been turned upside down again and again.[break]
"I---" Hesitation mingled with pride. Grief at his own limits, anguish at what those limits mean. It takes eyes he did not have before to see a truth plain to all.[break]
"No. I couldn't." His hands ball into soft fists. "Nobody can alone." To think otherwise is to try and live in a fairy tale. His will have no happily ever after if he goes at it alone. He'll break a promise.[break]
"...but...there's gotta be something I can do." He fumbles with words that taste queer on his tongue. Tomorrow hasn't meant much to him for a long time. So long as he has a full belly and her company when he goes home, all's right in the world.[break]
But no more.

The Way

Do you know the way, Hitoshi Inoue?

He really didn't know Hitoshi on any personal level; they had met twice, and both times the young man had been relatively childish in his sarcastic reverence, calling him 'master' while maintaining a generally playful attitude that remained at extreme odds with the circumstances of their first meeting.

The blonde couldn't really maintain too much anger at the youth; there was something charming about it, in a stray puppy kind of way— and he didn't get many chances to exercise the full extent of his abilities while his life wasn't (strictly) in danger, so he appreciated the young man's challenge.

All that was to say— this part of Hitoshi was very alien to what little he knew of the youth, but it certainly garnered him some sympathy.

"Correct." Gwyar sighed, rubbing at the back of his neck before looking around at the students around them. Finally, he gestured for Hitoshi to follow him into his office— a smaller room adjacent to the studio.

Inside, he leaned back onto his desk, arms crossed over his chest.

"You're not without options, no. You... You're a member of Team Rocket, yes?" He said simply, cupping his chin. He didn't give the other man the time to deny it— if that ever was his intention, anyway. "Do you believe Team Rocket will help you in destroying it— the ruinous beast— and its ilk?"

He had worked with a number of rockets back in Galar— trained some into capable warriors, even. But then, they had been pulled away from declan walsh's and the rest of Rocket's culture's toxic influence by then.

"No." He says without hesitation to the man's second question. This dog is not a liar. Lying is as foreign to him as breathing water. It's why he had to be so carefully trained by Yumi, lest he betray her secrets. No, that's not the sort of animal he is.[break]
"But I don't think the League will either." Before giving the older man, his master, a chance to retort, he clarifies his point.[break]
"Humans are weird. They all want somethin'. They want shortcuts. That cat. The weird moose...they're evil, Master. I feel it. All they gotta do is twist the right person around. Everyone wants to be an avytar. Everyone wants to be special. Those things...they're gonna play on that..." He says bitterly.[break]
"...I don't know what to do." He says, defeated. "If you're gonna beat me up for being a Rocket, lemme make one request:" He bows earnestly where he sits.[break]
"Please wait until after the cat's been dealt with."

The Way

Do you know the way, Hitoshi Inoue?

"Honestly, I cannot claim to... well, care. You barely seem like a rocket to me." He said simply, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he considered the other's request.

Just from the way he spoke, the way he approached someone he knew was an enemy of rocket— these were not the actions of a loyal enforcer or pawn.

He saw the Ruinous beasts for what they were, too. Which made him much smarter than many, many members of both league and rocket.

"I would much rather have a talented young man like you simply leave their service."

He was not quite normal by any stretch of the imagination, and his ethics were questionable at best if one considered his views on violence. He was pretty sure he was a killer by profession, too.

But then, from some perspectives, so was Gwyar— he just happened to have the current government's backing.

"In any case— Though I... cannot fully disagree with your assessment of the league, I feel rather confident in saying that... well, your wishes are much more likely to be achieved by working with us than with your current employer."

The league would not punish anyone if they 'accidentally' killed one of these monsters. He imagined rocket would not look so kindly upon those who wasted an opportunity to further grow the organizations' reserve of strength.

"But well, putting the matters of factions aside—" It wasn't a topic that would be solved in a day, after all. "I could train you... but it alone is unlikely to meaningfully increase your chances of success in killing that ruinous beast. Specially singlehandedly. It may increase your chances of surviving an unfortunate encounter, I suppose."

"Wish it were that simple." As with everything else, he speaks no lie. Melancholy clings to the words. His earnest wish is that Yumi Hasegawa could be happy anywhere else. He wishes he could see her carefree smile on the beaches of Alola, far from this region and its troubles. He wishes he could save her from the terrible premonitions of a simulated universe.[break][break]
"My life ain't my own. Swore it to somebody. They wanna be here. They need to be here." Leaning back, he looks off into a far-flung distance beyond the wall his eyes fixate upon.[break][break]
"She likes guys who can talk good. I wish...I wish I could talk like them. Just once. Just for long enough to make her see." But he can't. All he can do is obey. All he can do is kill. A dog who won't bare its fangs is a useless beast.[break][break]
"So the next best thing...is to listen to her other order. I gotta survive. I wanna be stronger. For her. So even if you don't think I can kill that monster, Master, help me. Please. Nobody gets it." And how could they? The world has moved on. Concepts like honor, binding yourself to another, are things from a bygone age. This is an age of individualism. These humans cannot imagine letting someone else go before them in a line, much less swear their whole life to another.[break][break]
The dog looks at the man, praying he will see what he means.

The Way

Do you know the way, Hitoshi Inoue?

"How very knightly." Gwyar said with a laugh. It was a little mocking, but mostly self-deprecatingly. How long had it been since he had left behind his knightly vows...?

The other's words pushed away any amusement he felt however. He lightly cocked his head. "You can, though?"

He stared at the other simply. "Oratory is a learned skill, like any other. Just because you're not good at it now, doesn't mean you can't learn. Specially if you wish to impress this young lady."

Or impress upon her the direness of the circumstances, either or.

Gwyar sighed as they found themselves rounding back to point number one: Get stronger. How does one get through to someone so stubborn?

Still...

Gwyar cupped his chin thoughtfully, tapping at his chin. This wasn't a terrible arrangement for him.

He couldn't spar with Gawain forever. And a human opponent would help in his development of new tactics and philosophies. At any rate, other students of his like Rowan Wrynn would benefit from having a more skilled, yet different type of sparring partner as well.

"Fine." he said after a moment of thought. "I'll train you— Somehow."

Gwyar was well over 6 feet tall, Hitoshi well under under it. They were on the complete opposite ends of any weight classification. And even the blades they wielded required entirely different holds and methods to be properly used.

It would be an interesting, and dare he hope, enlightening experience. Perhaps they would learn from each other.

"Oh, and I'll teach you to speak while we're at it." May as well.

"Ain't no knight." The subject inspires as much passion as anything else they've discussed. Even a dog can enjoy old stories, and know that those stories hold power. Duty is blood-deep for one such as him. "I'm samurai. I ain't got much, but I've got the honor n' faith that person places in me. I'd die before I betray that." And he would. His life is Yumi's, to do with as she pleases. If his death brings her closer to her goals, so be it...[break]
But, he thinks, he would rather live for her. Life splitting watermelons with her, enjoying summer, skating at ice rinks, watching men stumble over each other for her...it's a good life. When he imagines a world frosted over with hate and other ruinous things, it makes him feel human in all the worst ways.[break]
"But thank you, Master." Standing up from where he sits, the dog gets on his knees. There is no begging in his stance, no preening. The dog who calls itself a samurai thanks his chivalric master with a bow. "I promise I'll take any lesson you give me to heart.

The Way

Do you know the way, Hitoshi Inoue?

A knight by another name.

He smiled, shaking his head.

"I can tell you will." He mused, crossing his arms. "But still... You've really put me in a bind."

Though he was sympathetic to the younger man, there was no doubt that they were, practically, enemies.

He could only hope he could teach the younger man to also be a human being.