How to raise a Russian Girlfriend!

A steel blade gleamed under the flickering lights as it streaked across the air, as if slashing even the air itself.

When it found its mark, a 3rd-grade cursed spirit howled in pain before sizzling into nothingness.

"These little shits are too damn annoying!" Followed by a young female voice full of energy and frustration.

"Maki-san, you've been repeating the same words five times."

With a sickening crunch, the owner of the voice showed no mercy to his opponent, his furred fists came crashing down like a speeding truck.

Boom!

"Tch. Are you saying my voice is annoying, huh Panda?" The girl, revealed as Maki, clicked her tongue and snapped her neck at her furry companion, a panda known as Panda.

A long Naginata rested on Maki's shoulders as she used it to hang both of her hands.

Her appearance consisted of a dark full-body uniform of the Jujutsu High, hugging her curvy but muscular figure underneath; she has black-rimmed glasses, and her long dark green hair is tied up in a ponytail.

Standing beside her was a panda, nothing notable in his appearance aside from the familiar light in his eyes, something that can only be found in intelligent beings.

Last but not least, the final person in the room is a boy with dirty white hair, his lower face covered by a high zipped-up collar. He carries an aura of being aloof and lacking in energy and rarely shows interest in anything.

It's been an hour since they arrived in the Supermarket after receiving a distress call about Cursed Spirits. Although they're not the main force of the operation but the three 1st Grade Jujutsu Sorcerers and a 2nd Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer, they were still brought here to gather experience and learn from the official Jujutsu Sorcerers.

Their task was simple, eliminate the small cursed spirits and survey the entire Supermarket, if possible, rescue the survivors while the Jujutsu Sorcerers would handle the real deal—A Special Grade Cursed Spirit.

"No, I didn't say anything about that." Faced with the piercing glare of Maki which looked like it would penetrate through his skull, Panda was quick to splash the flames with water.

He knows Maki well and how brutal she is when someone or something annoys her. He doesn't want to risk getting mauled by her once they get back.

"And you Inumaki? Do you find me annoying?" Maki turned her gaze from Panda to their silent companion.

"Bonito Flakes." He adjusted his mouth cover and looked away, not daring to meet her eyes.

Maki smiled in satisfaction and brought herself forward; There are still a few storage rooms and aisles they have to clean up. The gurgling and screeching sounds that the Cursed Spirits constantly make are a dead giveaway to their locations.

"Hurry up, I want to eat some Takoyaki after this," Maki said as she hurried her pace to the next aisle.

Just as the two behind her were about to follow, they heard the sound of slicing flesh. They're familiar with the sound of it, of course, courtesy of Maki and her tens of blades kept within her room.

"What's that sound?" Maki's sharp ears immediately caught the sound and went on high alert.

Panda and Inumaki turned to look at each other, their eyes serving as silent communication.

With the three having a plan, Maki slowly approached the front with Panda while Inumaki circled the aisle, intending to serve as a surprise.

When they reached the aisle, the first thing they noticed was the grunts and screeches of the familiar Cursed Spirits, which were silenced when a blade sliced across the air.

Maki's eyebrows furrowed, her breathing hitched when she realized that the perpetrator stopped in his massacre and an eerie silence ensued upon them.

Her grip on her Naginata tightened as she prepared herself for a possible fight, her mind was already formulating plans.

She gestured for Panda to go first, intending to use him as a distraction while she dealt with the final blow.

Panda nodded his head despite not wanting to be used as a meat shield. He couldn't help it, out of the three of them, he's physically the strongest and toughest.

Without further ado, Panda finally showed himself and burst forward, bulldozing through the shipping carts and fallen products.

His target?

A dark figure standing alone while holding a Katana, littered corpses of the Cursed Spirits surrounded him, just about to sizzle away.

Never once did Panda doubt that maybe the person in front of him wasn't an enemy. Just the posture, appearance, and silence alone are enough for Panda to remove these doubts. His animal instincts were screaming at him as dangerous!

Even though it's his first time being out on a mission as big as this, Panda has always trusted his guts that has saved his skin countless times.

Not to mention, there has been some news and rumors of mysterious curse users causing unnecessary destruction.

"Hurraaahh!" His thick and rounded figure charged forward, the air currents sliding across his fur as the air resistance was futile in its job when it came to him.

Finally, the figure reacted. He side-stepped, dodging the speeding truck-like Panda. His speed caused the air to blow the dark figure's dark garb.

However, that was enough for Panda as Maki jumped out of the left shelf, her naginata angled to incapacitate the figure.

"Take this!" She screamed, she could already see the victory in her eyes.

Her plan had worked! And it was all thanks to her!

However, much to her surprise, the figure raised his katana and met the blunt shaft of her naginata.

Fwoosh!

Bam!

Her feet landed on the ground and like an agile feline, she immediately abandoned her Naginata and swept her leg on the ground. Since her first strike failed, there's no time for her to delay and she immediately initiated her next move.

Unfortunately for her, the figure seemed to have seen this despite the short amount of time between the first and the second strike.

The man made a short step back, causing the feet to sweep nothing but dust, some cartons, and plastic junk food.

Behind the mask was Kenshin, his eyes slightly widening in surprise after seeing the familiar lady in front of him.

Tch! She clicked her tongue, realizing that the element of surprise was no longer an advantage, and pulled the Naginata back to her before bringing herself some space between the two.

"…May I ask why you are attacking me?" Kenshin seemed to be glad of the breathing space and asked her in a confused voice.

"I should be the one asking. Who are you and what are you doing in this place?" She raised her Naginata and pointed it at him.

However, before he could reply, the Naginata's upper half fell on the ground.

Clang!

After that was silence. Maki stared at her halved Naginata with wide eyes, her expression turning into various emotions.

She instantly realized what had just happened. It was when the man used his Katana to block her first attack by slicing its shaft.

At first, it doesn't seem like the Katana has managed to slice it in half but only after she swung it to point the Naginata at him that the shaft was actually sliced but not deep enough to cleanly slice it in half.

Whose fault was it then?

"M-My Naginata~" Her mouth quivered and small tears slowly accumulated in her eyes. That Naginata in front of her has been serving her for almost her entire life since she started training. It was one of her favorite weapons.

And now, it's dead. Sliced in half like a certain future Sorcerer.

"Uhh…Maybe I can pay for it. Do you take hold?" The perpetrator noticed the bond between the girl and her weapon and immediately offered to compensate.

When she crouched and grabbed the two halves with both her hands, there was silence at first. It looks like she was weeping but the moment she raised her head, it was the opposite.

The tears earlier looked like it was just for show as Maki was gritting her teeth and her grip on the two halves tightened further, causing her knuckles to turn white.

"How about you pay with your life, hah!" Her speed instantly doubled compared to their earlier confrontation, and she instantly appeared in front of Kenshin.

Her right hand gripped the lower half of the Naginata, being used like a staff while the left hand held the upper part of the Naginata, its sharp blade to be exact.

Kenshin met her flurry of slashes and blows. The air around her strikes causing his black garb to flutter. Even the small products sitting on the shelves were being blown away.

Kenshin could tell how angry Maki currently is. Almost all of her strikes are deadly, precisely targeting all of his body's vital points.

It seems like she no longer wants to incapacitate him but to instill pain.

'How troublesome.' If it weren't for the fact that Kenshin has already confirmed that his parents are safe and sound in one of the storage rooms, Kenshin wouldn't even bother interacting with Maki.

Maki swiped her right hand holding the lower half of the Naginata, the blunt weapon rushing towards the side of his head.

If this hits him, no doubt it would immobilize him, which would give enough time for Maki to deliver the killing blow.

'At such a young age and she's already mastered the art of using weapons. Although her strength holds her back a little, her master use of techniques compensates for what she currently lacks.' Kenshin concluded in his mind. He's currently assessing the martial arts prodigy in front of her and his thousands of years of experience in the art of battle and weapons complement her.

Even though Maki looks like she has her opponent cornered as Kenshin was doing nothing but dodging all of her attacks, that isn't the case.

Kenshin was just studying her, learning her pattern and finally, waiting for an opening.

Sure, he could force an opening but that would be a disrespect to her. He feels like it wouldn't be proper to use his vast superior strength to end the fight. That would be too anticlimactic.

Since she's fighting with battle techniques, he would gladly do the same.

It didn't take long for the battle to slow down as Maki felt her stamina waning. Her constant strikes and attempts to take down her opponent have finally taken toll.

Even though she trains herself every single day, improving her fighting techniques and body. At the end of the day, she still has her limits.

And that became her weakness as the opening that Kenshin had been waiting for finally showed.

Kenshin dodged her next strike and his grip on his katana flipped to the blunt side.

Next came a swift slash to her side in which Maki tried to block with the blade of the Naginata but it was too late.

Bam!

Crack!

The sheer force of the attack cracked the humerus bone on her right arm, causing her to fly to the side and smash against the shelves.

With the opponent gone, Kenshin sheathed his Katana back in its scabbard before approaching the fallen figure of Maki.

However, someone already beat him to it as Panda landed in front of him with his hand stretched forward.

"Hold it right there!"

"Hmm? You must be her companion, right? Along with that guy over there." A simple gesture of pointing to a certain spot revealed the hidden Inumaki who froze in his place.

"You two have many opportunities to strike me and help your friend but you didn't. Why?" Kenshin's curious words made Panda sigh.

"Well, we deduced that you weren't an enemy. Just from the fact that you could've killed Maki-san many times but didn't tells me that you're not a bad guy. Not to mention, Maki would sometimes enjoy fighting alone with someone who uses a weapon. We figured that giving her space to fight alone against you would be appreciated." Hearing his explanation shed some light on Kenshin's curiosity.

"I see…Anyways, can I go see her? My last attack just now probably shattered a bone." His words made Panda's eyes widen and he immediately turned around and gently pulled his friend out of the broken shelf.

Behind him, Inumaki also approached with hesitant steps.

"Maki-san? Maki-san? Are you okay?" Seeing her unconscious, Kenshin quickly stepped forward and crouched in front of her.

"Let me." He gestured for Panda who carefully gave Maki's figure to him and stretched his hand forward, placing it on top of her right arm before casting a healing spell.

The gaps between his fingers glowed in green light before the injuries that Maki sustained in their fight were healed, the flesh around her wounds knitting itself back together.

On the other hand, her shattered bones weren't spared as the effectiveness of his healing spell could also affect bones and organs.

And just like that, five seconds passed and Maki looked as good as new, except for a few torn spots on her clothes that revealed a little skin on her arms filled with lines of muscles underneath.

'Damn.' was the only thing he could utter at this moment.

|-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_|

Stones? Onegai!

.

.

.

[Next Chapter: Ch. 41 - Maki Zenin]