Estimated reading time: ±6 minutes
I arrived at HQ with Ray, he seemed more and more worried. As I enter with Ray, Drake quickly approaches with his power.
Drake: Well, well, look who's here.
Saeko: Drake, this is Ray, he says his power is to control others.
Drake: Not bad, not bad. How do you control them? How long do you control them?
Ray swallows his saliva, he's scared, it's cute.
Ray: I control people by putting my thumbs on their foreheads... I can control them as long as I have physical contact with them...
Drake: You're gonna have to work on that.
Saeko: That's what I was thinking. Also, we're gonna have to show him how to fight, sir is a wimp~
Ray: You caught me by surprise! Doesn't count!
Saeko: Of course it counts, you have to be on your guard at all times!
Drake: All right, Saeko, you train him to fight and I'll train him to master his power.
Saeko: Whatever you say, I'm going to take a shower.
I go to the bathroom and think about it. His power can be powerful, but he's going to have to work on a lot of things before we can exploit his potential. I keep thinking while I'm washing, running my hands through my hair. Eventually I come out of there, fully clothed. Ray was waiting outside the door.
Saeko: What?
Ray: I was wondering about something.
Saeko: Go ahead.
Ray: How did you know I had a power.
Saeko: I don't know, I felt it, I have a lot of powers, you know?
Ray: You said you were a vampire.
Saeko: Well it comes with benefits.
Ray: I can see...
I smile at him.
Saeko: You're so cute, I want to bleed you out~
Ray takes a few steps back, intimidated.
Ray: N-No, I'm fine, thank you...
Saeko: Roh come on, don't be scared~ Drake showed you your room?
Ray: Yes.
Saeko: Good, otherwise in 30 minutes, combat training.
Ray's nodding his head. I'm gonna go set up the room with the punching bag. I see Ray looks at me from the door frame, he dare not enter. I raise my head by sending my hair back.
Saeko: Are you ready?
Ray: I think so, but it hasn't been 30 minutes yet.
Saeko: If you are ready, we will start now. Come on, let's see how you hit.
I point the punching bag at him and stand behind the bag. Ray approaches and puts himself in a classic fighting position, but his feet are not in the right position. He punches the bag. I sigh and lower my head.
Saeko: Oh you are bad, there will be things to work on.
Oh...
Saeko: First of all, are you left or right-handed?
Ray: Right-handed...
Saeko: Okay then your left foot should be forward and point where you want to hit.
Ray's moving into position.
Saeko: A little better, bend your knees a little bit to lower your centre of gravity and stabilize you.
Ray does it.
Saeko: Good, for example if I push your shoulder a bit you will hold better and you can stand.
I push him with my index finger without going too hard, in real life I can throw it against the wall, but I will avoid it. We need his power. Ray stands better on his feet.
Saeko: Okay, now you put your hands like this.
I'm standing and he's doing the same.
Saeko: Because you are right handed your fist is further back than the other one, so when you hit, the force of your punch must come from the ground.
Ray: What do you mean "must come from the ground"? It's a weird thing.
Saeko: Look at my feet, when I hit, the ground gives a little push and as I extend my arm to hit, my right leg stiffens and follows my back to my arm and fist.
I go in front of the punching bag and stand to hit, I give a punch and the punching bag, I control my strength and just swing the bag back and forth.
Ray: You're not going at your best right now, are you?
Saeko: I can't, we don't have a huge amount of punching bags.
Ray: I see.
Saeko: If you want to be scared, I can punch a person from side to side~
Ray makes a disgusted face when he imagines the scene. I smile nonchalantly.
Saeko: You might see me do it occasionally, don't worry.
Ray: I'm not sure I want to see that, it looks disgusting.
Saeko: But it is! But a good disgusting~
Ray: You're weird...
Saeko: Yeah, whatever. Come on, let's hit the bag and see how you do it.
I stand back, he positions himself as I explained and knocks.
Saeko: You see how that is better?
Ray: Yeah.
Saeko: Now you do what I do.
I stand like him and hit the air with my left, give my right a little punch and hit again with my left. Ray tries to do the same, but he hits like shit with his left.
Saeko: Well, for your closest fist, you have to give a little punch forward and quickly bring your fist back to you. If you stretch your arm too much, your opponent can grab it and hit you, otherwise you will just push him and you will have to move towards him, got it?
Ray: I think so.
Saeko: Let's try again.
Ray does it a little better.
Saeko: Okay, make a dozen right turns and slow down if you need to get into a good position. After about ten lefts.
Ray: Alright.
Ray does it and I'm going to sit down and take a sip of water. If he keeps this up, we won't be ready for three months. I keep training him for another hour before I let him go to rest. I go to see Drake, he's at his computer doing whatever he's doing.
Saeko: What are you doing?
Drake: I'm doing some research, have you finished training Ray yet?
Saeko: For today yeah, he's got a long way to go though.
Drake: How soon do you think he'll be ready?
Saeko: I'd say three months.
Drake: That's a long time...
Saeko: We don't know if he will be able to use his power better anyway.
Drake: I know, we'll know in an hour while he recovers.
Saeko: All right, I'm going to go for a walk.
Drake: Whatever you say.
I ran my hand through Drake's hair, knowing he hated it, before I left. I turn my head to watch him replace his hair before I leave.