Kagehara looked at the man surprised.

He definitely hadn't anticipated that reaction.

Went to the pile, as the man stood there, waiting with his sword in front of him.

-So, what are you?- asked the boy as he checked the pile, looking for something that caught his eye.

-Not relevant right now- answered, trying to add monotony to his voice, yet he sounded excited- but let me tell you, I'm definitely not your babysitter, so keep away from Amalgamations- finished, with a reprobatory tone on his voice.

-True- remembered Kagehara, as he discarded a bow- Why did you save me there? And are you following me?

-Your death is not of my interest, and no, actually it was purely a coincidence- responded the man, doing way better than before at sounding more serious- could you please pick a weapon faster?

-Why are you so expectant of killing me? You don't seem to enjoy it- fought back as he measured the weight of a spear before dropping it again.

-I don't like killing poor creatures unable to fight back, just trying to retreat or not even knowing what's going on- explained as he cracked his neck, preparing to fight.

-There's no other option?- wanted to know Kagehara.

-Nope, you kill me or I kill you- said, simply- and if I kill you I come back tomorrow.

The boy finally picked up a quarterstaff. It seemed simple enough to operate yet effective. Also took from the pile a small knife, which he hid on his pocket. If he was lucky enough, the man wouldn't have noticed.

-You ready?- asked now his nightmare.

As a response he just sprinted towards him, holding the staff in front of him to create a distance.

-Damn, that one's simple. I guess you aren't really elegant. That's alright- commented the figure, as the boy got closer.

Kagehara remembered more or less some of the fighting stances and hits with the staff worked, that's why he had chosen it. It was easy to use and really effective.

He had seen the man fight, and he was really fast. The boy had to attack first.

The staff descended, to be met by the shield, with a loud hit that hurt a bit on his hands. He noticed that the cut on his palms had gone away, and so had the one on his pinky, yet the blow still hurt.

The shield went slightly down,and he thrusted forward, trying to hit the face of his opponent.

However he just slipped out of the way, as the sword came from a side of the shield, looking to stab his side.

The boy quickly retired back, trying to keep distance.

-Not bad but you have to make sure your attacks count, if not, you are just tiring yourself- said his voice back to totally serious.

He thrusted into him again, and so he blocked again with his shield, but now he had a slightly more elaborated plan.

As the sword came from the side of the shield, he pushed the staff away, hitting the sword to the side.

Then, he took a blow back into the body, now with the sword out of the way and an opening.

However the shield just moved to the side, blocking the blow.

It was as if the fighter could predict his moves.

Then he went in, taking advantage of he opening now created by him, he went in, making him unable to get the staff back.

Kagehara had a last trick though.

He just dropped the staff, and used one hand to grab the side of the shield to push it to a side, as he took the knife from the pocket.

He drove it with all his strength into the man's neck.

It whistled through the air, as the boy used all of his force and speed on this final blow.

The knife made a loud sound as it hit the ground.

The boy stared at the man confused.

He just looked down.

Half the blade of the arming sword was visible, meanwhile the rest was stuck through his chest.

The adrenaline faded and he fell into the ground, as pain grasped his stomach.

His opponent was looking to a side, disgusted.

-Not a bad try- said.

Kagehara tried to say something, but pain didn't allow it.

-So... Kagehara, see you tomorrow- promised the figure.

With a last breath, as his body slowly turned off, he managed to say a last thing:

-See you.

Maybe he had finally gone completely insane. But he smiled for a second. At least he had finally woken up.

He opened his eyes.

Back on his pijama, he hiperventilated for a few seconds before getting up.

The clock informed him that it was 5:21.

He had slept more than usual.

Kagehara decided to sleep a bit more, and set the alarm to 6:30.

A beeping sound woke him up.

It took him a second to realize it was the alarm.

He turned it off and went on to make breakfast and prepare for school.

Silently he ate and silently he took all the books he needed and put them in the backpack. He then also silently walked out.

His heartbeat was slow and his mind was working at a minimum.

Kagehara got to class.

Hikkari was already there, distractely drawing circles. He walked up to her.

-Hey, how's life?- he asked.

He was feeling way better than he had been doing so in the last days.

The week was ending and finally he had at least something to do, the boy had found a goal. He just had to focus on that and everything would be fine.

-Too long and boring- said the girl, with a tired smile.

Kagehara noticed the dark marks under her eyes. Apparently he wasn't the only one sleeping little.

-Well it gets longer but not more boring- replied the boy.

-And this happiness? Who is her?- she asked, with slightly more happiness under her voice.

-Or him- answered Kagehara.

-Or them- finished Hikkari, with the smile feeling way more genuine now.

-Well um, basically- said, faking shyness- um, they are called Good Sleep.

Before she could answer, people started arriving.

They both sat in silence.

The day passed by real slow. Drawings came one after the last, but this time they weren't a way to fight the PTSD.

He was drawing fighting stances, planning hits and blows, trying to figure out how to use the different weapons he had seen.

A few times classmates stared at him, weirded out when he tried to replicate a pose to see if it would be possible and effective.

It was clear that it was the end of the week.

The students were agitated, excited, shouting from corner to corner of the class, with the teachers trying their best to keep them quiet, yet not putting enough effort to get them engaged into the subject.

After what felt like forever, the bell finally rang.

He quickly said bye to Hikkari, wished her a good weekend and then sprinted out of class.

Kagehara had plans. For the rest of the weekend. And maybe the month. Even the year if things went south.

He ran home, legs burning, lungs hurting.

The boy had to stop multiple times, to stop and catch a breath, but he did the full way running.

It would be a good way of exercising anyways, he probably would have to do so too.

Upon arriving home, he made himslef lunch, and ate while studying his own drawings, carefully thinking about the information he already had. The food disappeared quickly, and he went back to his room.

He exercised way harder than he probably should have.

Push-ups until he couldn't feel his arms anymore, and rest the arms doing some crunches, and then rest all of that with sit-ups.

His parents would arrive around 17:00, so at 16:00 he stopped, on the verge of fainting.

The pain helped him feel better in a messed up way, but the boy just told himself: "better than cutting myself", and ignored it.

He then changed clothes and went on to study more medieval martial arts.

If his memories were right, which he doubted, because of the urgency and stress of the moment, he had not only seen medieval weapons, but also 17th century guns, or even modern day rifles.

Looking back, he didn't even know why he would have chosen a medieval weapon, probably because of the context.

His parents checked on him when they got home, and since they found him "studying", they just left Kagehara alone, which he appreciated immensely.

The afternoon went by, and the night quickly darkened the messy room, and covered the spread drawings and books in shadows.

In the middle of the bed, the boy, bored and tired of such a long week, had fell asleep.

His consciousness was retained by something, as he woke up in the middle of the increasingly familiar green fields. The masked man, still without a name, stood in the middle, sword and shield already drawn.

The boy relaxed himself. His muscles weren't aching anymore, apparently his dream self was healed of all pain and wounds.

-So, want to pick a weapon?- asked the figure, still standing on his place.

-Why don't you recommend me one?- asked Kagehara.

He had planned to continue with his investigation, and now wanted to try and find out how much did the man really want him to end his life.

After a long pause, inspecting the weapons, he pointed at a spear, which looked really light, and the small kite shield by it.

-You really need a shield, though I will admit the knife thing of the other day was smart, but it's not worth sacrificing the safety of a shield. Also, spears have amazing reach, and a light one can also get you some good speed.

-Why not a two-handed sword though?- asked the teen.

As he had read, they were also light, versatile, fast and could provide a good defense against a sword. Kite shields were heavy and covered way more of the body than he needed.

-But a two-handed weapon can't stop projectiles- answered the swordsman quickly.

-And where's your bow?- interrogated then Kagehara.

The man now slowly thought about it. He had definitely been caught offguard, which made the boy feel incredibly proud of himself.

-I'm not the only threat in life- stated the figure, solemnly.

A terrible thought suddenly crossed his mind, as he felt like a shadow had covered him whole.

-I only have to kill you, right?- asked, now being him the one caught offguard.

The man just smiled, a reassuring smile that yet didn't deny the boy's worst nightmares.

-So, what are you going with?- was all he asked, upon seeing the boys obviously concerned expression.

Kagehara gave it some thought, and ended up going with the spear and shield, as he had been adviced.
Then he noticed a handgun.
And a flintlock pistol, next to a musket.

-Hey, why didn't you recommend me a firearm?- he quickly asked in confusion- are you really trying to teach me at all?

The masked man stared at him as someone would stare at a puppy trying to catch a stick.

-I'm feeling nice so I'll give you a free trial of the firearm experience. Shoot me wherever you want with any weapon in there, and I promise I won't take it as an attack and will still give you time to pick your weapon.

Kagehara did as he was told. He grabbed a very heavy pistol, all black and plastic. He felt the power that it emanated.

It wasn't that hard to figure out, as it was already loaded and he just had to take a few seconds to switch the safety off.

Then, with the man staring unfaced, the boy shot, aiming at his chest. Only to hear a metallic noise as the bullet fell into the ground, all flattened by the strength of the impact against the raised shield.

His shoulders and elbows hurt with the recoil.

-You see, this shield is very well made, and I'm very fast, rendering firearms useless unless you have a good technique.

Two more rounds were fired, one aiming for the leg and one for the head.

The shield rose to stop the one going for the head, while the other one just went through the ground, missing by a few centimeters of the thigh.

-Anyways so are you making your choice? You seem to have liked the gun- the boy could hear him smiling while saying this , with irony showing through his voice.

-No, give me a second, this is important- complained the boy- the least nights I spend doing this shit, the better.

-Wow, that hurts- said the man, faking pain- I thought you enjoyed our lessons.

-Well it hurts more to be stabbed- replied the boy, finally picking up that damned spear and shield- What do you mean by lessons though?- he asked.

-You will find out. If you kill me.

Kagehara charged in.

The spear gave him great range he noticed, and the shield an amazing defense. He could feel that the masked man was having a harder time. Blows flew everywhere, the shield making really loud sounds everytime it got hit.

A few times, the teen was close to falling over. The swordsman would give him tips about posture, striking, stances and other aspects on those moments, but wouldn't stop for him to correct it, which forced him to retreat.

The boy was starting to understand what he meant by lessons. He was slowly learning some things.

However after a few minutes, he tried to deliver a thrust into an opening on the man's defenses, over the shield.

The fighter motioned his shield upwards, and swung towards the boy's side.

When he moved the shield to block the attack, his opponent's shield dropped on the ground, revealing the knife that had been hiding there the whole time.

Before Kagehara could react, with a whistling sound because of the speed, the knife cut his throat open, leaving a giant line that split the trachea open, almost beheading the teen with that brutal swing.

He fell on his knees, the world entirely black and red because of the immense pain.

Blood was flowing rapidly out of his open arteries, some entering his lungs.

At least it wasn't really slow, after a few seconds he just passed out.

-I liked your trick, I hope you are not mad I stole it. See you tomorrow, we will work on your blocking some more- said his nightmare, as the boy dropped dead.

Waking up in cold sweat on his room, three in the morning on his alarm clock, the last thing Kagehara wanted to do was working on his blocking. 

And yet he knew he would still do so.