DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH?

"Tres bien Matsumae! Now why don't get serious and come at me with your kagune?" Shuu said as he beckoned her.

Matsumae was a bit shocked that a full-powered kick from her with all her strength behind it only pushed him back a little. She knew she would gain the upper hand once she uses her kagune but treated the matter as a light spar, not a training session. But Shuu's taunt was breaking her rational wall a little.

"Humph, you barely took my kick head on and now you are asking-" Matsumae decided to taunt back instead but saw Shuu appear in front of her with a smile on his face in front of her, this time she barely followed his movement.

"If you don't, I'll touch somewhere inappropriately in front of the others." Shuu said with a serious expression and struck at her chest but Matsumae blocked just in time.

'Is he faster now? Was he holding back? You dare hold back Shuu?' Thoughts ran through Matsumae's head as her sclera turned black and her iris red. She was now fighting at her full capacity.

Her speed, strength, and durability increased a little and blocked Shuu's quick jabs at her chest. She did not have the luxury to bob and weave as Shuu was faster than before. Shuu saw this but refused to respond in kind by activating his eyes.

The black sclera and red iris of a ghoul are not triggered by concentration in combat only but also by strong emotions, choice, hunger, and even pain. Still, activating it as a ghoul brings one to their full battle prowess. The eye is called kakugan.

Shuu simply imagined how calm and unfazed Arima would be in this situation. The calm part was hard, the unfazed part was almost unbelievable. Whether it is a spar or an actual fight, there is usually tension and one-second decisiveness in the atmosphere, the search for openings here and there, and the ability to also outwit your opponent while thinking ahead in the fight. Someone like Arima who didn't have any special eye power like some anime characters that enabled them to predict their opponent's moves or slow down their opponents, could still fight like those that had that advantage in battle. The man was born to be a battle god indeed. Shuu adored this about Arima as he kept sending jabs to Matsumae in close quarters.

Matsumae was getting irritated and became wary of the barrage of jabs because they were getting heavier and faster. Her body shook wildly while absorbing the impact of Shuu's jabs.

'Shuu asked for heavier bracelets, could it be that his body is now used to 800kg on him? What's going on? His jabs are actually getting faster and heavier, If I keep this up I will only accumulate damage and expend my stamina recovering.' Matsumae thought as she grit her teeth and released her kagune from the ground again to give herself some breathing room. Shuu noticed this and quickly cartwheeled forward with one arm and used the other arm to fetch a pen from his pocket and sent it flying to Matsumaes thigh. Shuu landed just in time in front of her as the tentacle wall behind him erected itself to the ceiling.

Matsumae was still recovering from the fact that Shuu responded quickly not to get split apart from her thorny wall. This means the weights Shuu was wearing were too light for him now. In fact, as Matsumae was still in awe she hadn't noticed Shuu had counterattacked with a pen that pierced her thigh.

Aliza, Yuuma, Kanae, and Mairo were dumbfounded at what just happened. Everything was happening quickly for Kanae and Mairo but Yuuma and Aliza on the other hand, were just seeing blurs moving about, they had it worse.

"…..I think Shuu-sama just jumped over that wall before it reached the ceiling and attacked Matsumae-san with a pen!" Mairo said as he finally found words in his mouth.

"Shuu-kun is growing up fast."

A voice surprised the four spectators as they quickly turned and saw the family head. They hadn't sensed him coming!

"Greetings, Tsukiyama-sama!" The four greeted in unison and bowed slightly. Mirumo simply waved them off as Aliza ran to the nearest sit-out to get a chair for the family head. She came back quickly at amazing speeds in record time since she didn't want to miss a moment.

"You leave me no choice Shuu! Here I come, prepare yourself!" Matsumae said as he activated her kagune. A thorny shield formed around Matsumae's left hand and a sword at her right.

"Phrasing, but give me your best shot." Shuu said as he extended his left arm forward and retracted his right arm back to assume a fighting pose.

Matsumae slashed with her sword made of thorns at Shuu. Her speed had increased but it was nothing that Shuu couldn't dodge. She thrusted forward at Shuu's midsection with her shield but found herself thrusting at the air with her back open. She quickly put a wall behind her in real-time. Shuu then put all his strength into his left arm and threw his left fist at the defensive wall. The wall held on but looked like three more full-powered punches would break it as blood trickled down Shuu's fist.

Matsumae in all her life has never felt like a cornered animal. Today she did, Shuu hardly gave her room to collect her thoughts and attacked relentlessly. If that was all, she had ways of dealing with opponents like that, but Shuu was fast and forced out her best in this supposed 'light spar'. Her brain was working at maximum speed in tune with her Rc cells, so she subconsciously made the wall attack Shuu. She had never thought of using her defensive thorny wall as a means of attack.

Shuu immediately reacted to three thorny tentacles bursting out with speed from the thorny wall he punched. He caught the three tentacles at the cost of injuring himself. Matsumae could only launch that attack since the wall was attached to her underground, the tentacle attack lasted for three seconds after activation of the wall but that was enough time to counterattack Shuu.

The counter surprised everyone watching and even Matsumae herself.

Matsumae however recovered from her shock faster than Shuu who was still basking in his newfound strength and launched myriads of thorn-like kagune from behind Shuu with all she had. The attack was too sudden even for Kanae and Mairo as they saw Shuu's body thrown across the garage.

Dust gathered around Shuu. Everyone was on edge while waiting to confirm how lethal that attack from Shuu's behind was.

Shuu got up quickly and coughed while dusting himself.

"Is that all?" Shuu said as his eyes glowed red in the dust. The truth, however, was far from his bluff. He was in pain. The previous attack would have pierced through his bowels if he didn't slow the momentum of the thorns rushing at him with murderous intent. The thorns hit their intended target, but Shuu had enough time to turn and reduce their momentum and damage with his hands.

Receiving a surprise attack and reacting to save oneself from certain danger is a great feat in and of itself!

'Could Shuu-kun really bring this family to greater heights? It's too early to even think about that, but he just improved Matsumae's mastery over her kagune to some degree with just a spar even if that attack was coincidental!' Mirumo thought as he got up from his seat.

"Good show, good show indeed! Now that's enough! Shuu-kun, freshen up, change your uniform, and leave for school! And good job Matsumae!" Mirumo cheered as he left for the mansion. The spectators also left the empty garage to attend to other matters. They left Matsumae to take care of Shuu if he needed help.

Shuu simply watched and marveled as his left hand healed itself in real-time. The shallow holes at his back closed up slowly. It was a wonder to watch, this was the first time he bled in this world and as a ghoul. His body had gotten stronger as well as his regenerative capabilities.

'If this was a world that valued strength above everything else, Matsumae could be the next family head if I slack off in my training. She's really strong. When I think of other powerful ghouls that make Miss Matsumae's battle prowess look adorable… No, I am at the peak of S rank but still, I don't even feel strong at all. I need to work even harder. If I met Arima right now, can I even escape him?' Shuu thought deeply as he saw his left hand fully recover in seconds.

'Shuu, I never expected that level of strength from you. You fought without using your kagune and with four times more bracelet weights than I. I really have a long way to go if I want to continue serving Shuu at his side.' Matsumae thought as she walked toward him and took his left hand in her hand.

There was still blood on his left hand but his hand was restored back to normal. She looked at Shuu and brought out a napkin from her suit jacket and cleaned his left hand.

"Are you alright, Shuu…Shuu-sama?" Matsumae asked with a look of concern on her face.

"HA HA! You fought me seriously because you didn't want me to touch your boobs. But here you are holding my hand close to your- " Shuu simply turned his head in her direction and teased her.

"Shuu-sama! If you are so insistent on it…You can have a feel…Since you won the match." Matsumae said with a blush on her serious face.

Shuu looked at her and remembered the spar they just had. He simply smiled, patted her head with his right hand, and walked away with a cold aura exuding from him. He apparently took his training and goals a little more seriously than he already thought. There was no way he was going to pass up such an opportunity laid bare before him, but the mention of the spar just made him remember how he lacked the strength he desired. He knows of the impending doom of this family and wants to stop it.

"I did not win. And that was not the point of the spar." Shuu replied as he made for the mansion.

'Did I come off as disrespectful or annoying to him? What did I do? Is there anything I can do for him? Huh, why am I thinking like this about Shuu? I am simply his retainer… I… Ugh!' Matsumae thought as he tried reaching out toward Shuu but stopped herself.

[New trait unlocked= basic heightened senses(29%) and taunt(20%)]

[Traits upgrade= Strength (26.3 %^), Agility [Including reaction speed, reflexes, running speed and movement.](27 % ^), ].

Congratulations everyone, this is the tenth chapter! Thanks for your support so far WorldMigrator and WolfMan. Remember that you can still support this work and others on Patreon. Ohh and check out Miss Ikarus's pic in chapter 7 in one of the paragrah comments. This would normally be in the Authors note box, but it seems not everyone reads the Authors, so from now on read it! Cheers!