Leon Natò

The voice that Akira heard coming behind him was the one of Leon, Priscilla’s brother, who was looking at him with a serious gaze, like it had something to tell him. During the weeks he passed at the Natò villa he got the occasion to chat a bit with Leon, discovering that the first impression he had of him was totally wrong on the line: he was a pretty easy-going guy, that succeeded in mixing seriousness and congeniality in a natural way, without making it look like he was faking it. Qualities that he would have never imagined only from seeing him, as his figure and face still gave him the impression of a snobbish and arrogant person, a fact that was contradicted by his actual personality. It is really true that books shouldn’t be judged by their cover. Akira also discovered that he had a wife, Hana, who was pregnant with their first child, a female, and because of that she rarely left the family wing, which was why he didn’t even know about her existence. In general, he got to talk a bit with the entire Natò family, except for the mother, who was never at home, which was a relief for him, and he thought also for her family, as he wasn’t really sure that all of them approved her quite snobbish and over the top attitude, and he discovered that he got on really well with Giorgio, Leon and Priscilla’s father. He even drank some drinks with him and that was because, as Giorgio said in those occasion, he was “a normal human, with a head, two hands and a body”, unlike those “witty and shitty guy that seem only to live in their mind and not in the world” and that “wouldn’t even know where to start with accountability, management and all the drags that working brings”. In general, Giorgio fulfilled the first impression that Akira had of him when he first met: a hard worker, a person from the mass that, thanks to his work, elevated his social condition and was still living in order to improve it. Just like Don Gesualdo.

“What do you need, Leon?” asked him Akira, questioning himself about why Leon wanted to talk to him with that serious expression. He never saw him that determined since he got to know him, so he suspected that it got something to do with his job or with something that the family had to ask of him, but, in that case, he wouldn’t have possibly known what they wanted.

“You see… since you have arrived here I never saw you fight with Priscilla: all you did was training her, making her repeat the same actions every time. But she already knows those things: does that mean that you have nothing to teach her anymore?” asked Leon.

He was doubting his skills, he was doubting his work, and also Priscilla’s words: in a few words, he was asking him if that was all he could do. Akira didn’t know if he was insulting him or simply trying to do what was best for Priscilla’s growth: either way, he had to stay calm. Normally, when someone insulted his skills, he would have made them taste them first-hand, but this wasn’t the time for that.

“First” started saying Akira “I was waiting for better trousers, as you surely know, so that I could have moved easily and so give the best for Priscilla’s growth. Second, her style is lacking even in the simplest movements. Just look at how does she puts her foot when she goes en garde: when I first met her, she was putting them too distant from each other to possibly have any offensive and defensive value, but now she has understood the posture and has greatly improved, even though she could still get better. And that is not the only one of her fundamentals that I have to correct and improve: there are many others. Moreover, she needs those in a fight, so fighting in mock battles without her having gained the grasp of them is like sending a farmer with a hoe in a war: useless. If you need to distrust my abilities, then you also have to admit that the previous teachers that she had were totally useless and just stole your money in that week they were there without even teaching her anything useful. In a few words, they were only parasites”.

“I am conscious that my sister lacks in some departments, but still, those “parasites” were some of the most valuable brawlers and fighters that this reign ever had: are you saying that those were simply incapable to do what they did for all of their life?” asked Leon, with the same serious expression that he had before, then adding "Plus, I don't know from where you picked that last-only-a-week information, but that is completely false: they stayed various years from when she was eight".

“I am saying exactly that. If Priscilla is the result of their efforts, then I have to say that they had to really be bad, even though they trained her for years”. Akira didn’t intend to talk bad about Priscilla, but really, her style was lacking in so many ways that he really suspected she hadn’t even partaken in a single lesson during her life: it was like he was teaching to a new-born for how little did she actually know.

“Then, that means that you have something else to teach her?” asked him with a smile. That was the moment when Akira understood what he wanted: he didn’t want to insult him, but to provoke him. He didn’t know why, but his attitude was similar to those persons that try to provoke someone in order for them to start a fight without them being the one to throw the first punch, which meant that he was probably trying to start a fight with him. But why?

“Of course: if you want to test them first-hand, I will be glad to do a battle with Priscilla right now. After all, I was just going to talk to her about that right now”. He wouldn’t have given him the pleasure to win that word battle. If he wanted to fight him, he had to be the one to ask for it.

At that point Leon looked at him right in the eyes, and that was when his smile widened, and then transformed in an uncontrollable laugh. He didn’t know why, but Akira felt a shiver going down his spine: that laugh reminded him of not pleasurable events that had happened to him, and reminded him of people that he would have gladly killed with his own two hands, if they weren’t already dead. Then, as he finished laughing, Leon looked again at Akira, this time with the serious expression that he had before, a significant change from the laugh he had a bit before. “Listen, I know that you are giving your best in this job, but here is the thing: if I don’t think that you are going to be useful for Priscilla, then I might as well send you away right now. However… However… if you fight against me and I see that you can really teach her something, then you will stay here and I will never say something like this ever again. You see, I do this for Priscilla, for her own good, so, please, don’t harbour any negative feelings against me, okay?” What he was proposing him was a literal extortion: if he hadn’t fought him, he would have dismissed him, a thing that he didn’t want right now. Also because he hadn’t thought about the future: he knew that now he wanted to stay there and teach Priscilla, also because he had taken a liking in her, but after that he didn’t know what he would have done. That job wasn’t going to last long, probably two or three years at maximum, until she would have got married, or so he thouhgt, considering that she porbably would have served to her family ambitions, considering their social status, and then he would have been sent away, but he still had a foggy vision of his future: would he have travelled? Would he have opened a business? Would he have joined the army? He didn’t know. But he knew that what he wanted to do right now was teaching Priscilla and make her potential shine, for how little it was. That obviously meant only one possible course of action.

“… I accept.” Akira slowly said, looking at Leon with the most glacial and ferocious eyes he had, eyes that made many gang leaders shiver in fear, but that had no power on Leon, which stayed still, looking at him in the eyes like he was challenging him.

“Fantastic. Then, let’s immediately head for the garden. Oh, and let’s have Priscilla see it, maybe she will learn a thing or two from watching us” said Leon, with a monotone yet somewhat happy voice.

A little after, in the garden.

“What is the meaning of this?!” asked surprised Priscilla when she heard the challenge that Leon had advanced to Akira “You can’t do that, Leon! Plus, you have never seen him in action, while I did, how can you say something so mean like that?!”

“And that is exactly why I made him agree on this. I have to see who is the one teaching my little sister an important thing like self-defence and fighting style. If he doesn’t show me something he can teach you, then how are you going to improve?” replied Leon, assuming a self-apologetic yet still happy tone.

“And you agreed to this?!” asked Priscilla to Akira, well-knowing that he couldn’t have refused anyway.

“He kind of extorted me, so I had no possibility to say no. Trust me, if I could, I would have said that, but, unfortunately, things ended up like this”.

Hearing those words, Priscilla started getting angrier and aggressively verbally attacked his brother, while Samai, the maid that was scared of Akira because he was a stranger, was trying to held her off and to calm her down, unsuccessfully. Then, Akira got near Priscilla and said her, using a gentle tone “Listen, we can do nothing about that. Your brother acted – excuse my swearword – like a bastard, but I am confident enough in my abilities. You don’t have to worry about me, okay? Now calm down and see if you can take something out of this unnecessary match, okay?” Hearing that, Priscilla calmed down a bit and agreed to that. Then, Akira looked at Samai in the eyes and said to her, with the same gentle tone “Keep her company until the match is over, okay? I don’t want to see her hurt because of us or because she tries to stop us.” When Akira looked at her, Samai became red, but still she succeeded in saying a simple “Okay”, even looking at him in the eyes for a second, which made Akira understand that she was trying to accept him as a friendly figure. Then, the two woman moved away a bit and left the scene to the other two, but, in the meanwhile, Leon had gone to a garden shed and took out two wooden swords. Then he threw one to Akira, who took it on the fly. “Why did you take out the swords?” asked Akira, at which Leon answered “Because I am more well versed with swords and weapons in general. I prefer to fight with those rather than with my fists, unlike you. Are you disappointed?” asked he, as if he had done the ultimate pro move and rigged the game in his favour. At that question Akira smiled and replied that he wasn’t: after all, they didn’t know that he practiced fencing in his reality, thanks to one of the guys he knew that had a gym with the material needed, but also because since he was little he had practiced with a branch, following the advices of a kendo master that he got to casually know one day. However, Leon had to know that he could handle a sword, considering that he was hired also as a fencing teacher: maybe he was underestimating him because he never saw him with a sword in his hands. Still, that wasn't the moment to think: it was the time to fight. They got on their position and put themselves en garde, then the match started.

Form the way that Leon was positioned, Akira understood that he knew what he was doing: good posture, good distance between the feet, and he knew how to hold his sword. That also meant that Akira had to apply to the match a bit more seriously, but still, unless he proved to be a far greater foe than he anticipated, he wouldn’t have had any problem defeating him. No... If he had to, he wouldn't only have applied a bit to that match: he would have unleashed his full potential, unconcerned of what could have happened to Leon if he did that. He waited, staying still in a defensive stance, until Leon decide that it was time to attack and went with a simple straight lunge, which Akira easily blocked, but then, instead of counterattacking, he got back a bit. That was because he needed to see his fighting style: would he have had a normal style or a stranger style? From that he could have acted according to the foe he had before him. Looking at him like he was irritated, Leon tried attacking again, and again, he was blocked by a parry that didn’t had a following counterattack. Now Leon was visibly irritated, as he also made evident with these words “What’s up, Akira, too scared to attack?” Words that made Akira understand that what he wanted to do was working. People tend to consider that the best defence is the attack, but the same can be said in certain situation for the contrary: sometimes, the best attack is the defence. In this case, Akira knew that Leon was full of himself and that, if he didn’t consider him, he would have gone mad and started attacking like a bull, which meant that he would have left a lot of uncovered space in his guard that he could have used to beat him. To provoke him even more, he put his blade down a bit and yawned, like he was unhappy with what he was seeing. And, as he expected, Leon took that opportunity to attack him – after all, who is that stupid to not attack his foe when he is in such a defenceless stance? But that doesn’t count for those who do that willingly, because most of the times those mad lads have a plan, which was exactly what Akira had in mind. First, he let Leon get near him and just dodged his attacks, parrying some of them just to give Leon the impression that he wasn't really concerned with what he was doing. Then, he got a bit distant and did the exact same thing he did before, letting his sword down and looking at Leon right in the eyes, like he was challenging him to attack him now that he was defenceless. Then, Leon quikcly leaned towards him, and that was when Akira executed his plan. As Leon was attacking his uncovered front, he quickly rotated his blade, which hit with a violent impact Leon's sword, making it and the arm that held it go to the left, leaving this time Leon defenceless. Then, as quick as a jaguar, Akira moved forward, got under the sword that in the meanwhile Leon had tried repositioning but that was too high to block Akira’s movement and then hit with the edge of the wooden sword the upper torso of Leon’s body and advanced a bit with his body, leaving only one of his legs and the arm that held the sword before Leon’s body, while the rest was behind it. Leon looked at the sword right against his torso and sighed, marking the end of that useless mock match, because Akira could tell a thing from that: as he didn’t give his all in the battle, he understood that so did also Leon. No one would have fallen for his trap, considering that he also did it twice, unless they were really stupid or they had something in mind, which made Akira question whether Leon had understood that or if he was oblivious of that fact. Maybe he set his expectations too high: it happened to him sometimes, why not also this time? Plus, that wasn’t a total victory: on the end, before hitting him with his sword, Leon succeeded in hitting Akira on the leg, which in a battle would have meant a dead enemy and a survivor with a debilitated leg. In other words, another dead. Still, that was evident only to Akira and Leon: when he got up, Priscilla was running towards him and embraced him, as if he had won a world competition or as he saved her from certain death – which, in a certain way, he already did -, and was screaming full voice a single word

“Akiraaaa!”

When she embraced him he was a bit embarrassed, but still happy because of that manifestation of affect that she did and also because he could still teach her: he wasn’t going to waste that opportunity, which reminded him a lot of another occasion he had in his life… but that wasn’t the moment to remember sad events. Then, after a bit, she separated from him, a bit embarrassed because of her actions, then turned towards her brother and started criticizing him for what he previously said about Akira and accusing him of not believing her. While that family scene was developing and the two siblings were coming to an understanding, Akira was approached by Samai, who, after the end of the fight, stand still looking at Akira while Priscilla was embracing him. Akira turned towards her and then she said slowly to him “That battle… was fantastic… I’m glad that you have won”. Then, she turned away, as if to leave, but before she could do that Akira said “Thank you, Samai. I’m also glad to have won this fight: I didn’t really want to leave the villa, at least not before having done something”. At those words Akira could hear a sound coming from her: she was laughing, a laugh that seemed to break her shyness and that, thanks to its crystalline sound, which made it a joy to hear, made her look like a normal girl, not like the shy creature that she was until that moment. Then, she turned around and said him “Then… I hope you succeed in that”. As she said those words Priscilla got back to him, after finishing reprehend her brother, and said “You are really something else, Akira… you are fantastic! Isn’t he fantastic, Samai?” Asked that question, Samai at first blushed, then she replied “Yes… he is indeed”. As she said those words, Priscilla looked at her, then looked at Akira, then looked again at her and asked “Samai, how is it that you are comfortable with Akira? Have you met him before?” “Yes, we have met before, outside of the library” quickly replied Akira, not wanting to make Priscilla have strange ideas about the two of them, and at those words Samai slowly nodded. “Uhh…” started saying Priscilla, dubious about that reaction, but then she shook her head and said “Now, Akira, Samai, we need to go and celebrate this important victory! Out we go!” 

And so, the three of them went out in the city, indulging in Priscilla’s will to celebrate Akira's staying with something to eat and drink.

Meanwhile, in the garden, Leon remained alone, after seeing the three of them off and calling off his extortion, which was only an excuse anyway to just have a fight with Akira: he would have never done that, it wasn’t what he wanted. Or was he? As he was alone, he started humming a song, which he remembered from one of his previous experiences, then said to himself “You are really something, Akira Demoni… Now I understand why she chose you”. Then, after looking at the bright and clean sky that covered the city that day, he started going back to his room: he had things to do.