Ken-Ken-Pa
Alright, time for training again today.
Yesterday I ended up singing and stuff while running, so… my running time got increased by ten minutes.
I’m doing my best here, please forgive the monotone voice, I’m just tired.
See? It’s almost forty minutes already.
Thirty minutes used to be fine. I was starting to get used to it.
But those extra ten minutes… man, they’re rough!
Huff, huff, huff… I’m exhausted!
I can’t move anymore. Captain Luke is a demon captain.
“Young Master Kaito. We tried adding ten minutes, and you seem perfectly fine. Starting tomorrow, we’ll keep it at forty minutes.”
Ueeegh, a demon~ there’s a demon here.
Demons out~ throw beans! …Beans? Wait, there are no beans!
There was still a storehouse I hadn’t checked yet, right? Maybe there are beans there.
Soybeans, adzuki beans, kidney beans~!
Soybeans… tofu, soy sauce, stuff like that?
I’m not a fan of natto, so we’ll leave that aside.
Adzuki beans mean anko, right? Anko is sweet. So sweet it’s delicious. You’d want more… and then people start calling for an encore? …Get it? Anko encore?
Kidney beans… I want to make zenzai.
When Kaasan made zenzai, it was always cold zenzai with kidney beans. I loved that stuff. Extra condensed milk on top. …I want to eat it. Sniff.
I want to eat Mom’s zenzai~
Maybe because I’m tired? I want something sweet.
Yeah… I’m starting to crave sweets a little.
Breathing heavily, I tried to calm my breath.
“Young Master Kaito, are you alright?”
(Hm? Maybe I pushed him a little too hard? He’s still a child. No need to rush things. Did I make him cry? That would be bad. Maybe he needs a bit of playtime too.)
“Young Master Kaito, are you tired?”
“Yeah… it’s a little tough.”
“Then shall we play a little?”
Huh? Really? What are we doing?
I’m excited.
“Yeah! I want to play. What are we playing?”
“Let’s see…”
(Uh oh. I suggested playing, but I can’t think of a single game.)
Captain Luke, are you troubled about something?
We don’t have any tools, and there’s not really any toys to play with.
Isn’t there something?
Wait, Captain Luke’s holding a sword.
Oh! There’s that game!
“Hey, Captain Luke? I have a request. Use your sword and draw a biiig circle on the ground.”
“Hm? Draw a circle? What for?
And how big should the circle be?”
“Umm… about this big. And draw a lot of circles. Like this.”
While explaining, I had Captain Luke draw circle after circle.
“Like this?”
Hmm? He keeps drawing circles, what are we even doing?
Yeah, yeah, that’s the idea~
Though… is it really okay to use a sword like this?
Well, if the captain’s fine with it, I won’t worry about it. I’m not worrying~
“All done! Complete.”
“What is this? Can you really play with it?”
I answered confidently.
“Yep. You play it like this.”
“Ken, pa, ken, pa, kenken, pa.”
(Hm? What’s that? Ken-pappa? What is that? Is it fun?
… Wait, it does look fun.)
“Did you just come up with it?”
Well, it’s actually a game from my previous life, though.
(*a game similar to hopscotch)
“If you space the circles farther apart, it should get harder and require speed. If someone can do that, wouldn’t that be amazing?”
(What? Wait… that’s it. This could be useful. It trains explosive movement, and it helps keep your balance!
On top of that, it stabilizes your center of gravity. How wonderful!)
“May I try it as well?”
Captain… are you thinking about something?
It’s fun! Go ahead and try.
“Yep! Now it’s the captain’s turn.”
Captain Luke was ridiculously fast.
And hey, you don’t have to make such a scary face while doing it.
You’ve been repeating kenpa over and over.
You kind of look like a ninja.
“Phew… this is excellent.”
“May I have my knights use this?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
See? See? It’s fun, right?
I wonder if people usually play this together.
Just imagining a bunch of big musclebound soldiers playing kenpa… that’s hilarious.
“Well then, today’s training ends here.”
“Yes. Captain Luke, thank you again for today.” “See you.”
(Young Master Kaito showed just a little bit of fatigue.
And right now, I am trembling with overwhelming emotion.
That ken-pa Young Master Kaito came up with… was it called that?
This is incredible.
It’s perfect training for dodging swords.
To think he came up with such a brilliant exercise in an instant… that child might be a genius.)
Thinking that, I watched Young Master Kaito’s still-small back as he walked away—until it disappeared from sight.
What do you think about this chapter?
