Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

This time, Isaac looked like he wasn't there to fool around or crack jokes because he was wearing a solemn expression. Furthermore, he changed into slightly formal wear and once we met eyes, he approached me and knelt on the floor before placing his katana in front of me.

At this moment, I didn't know what he was getting at but at the same time, Kaley slowly backed away and went to Quinn's room on the same floor.

Kaley mouthed as she bid me farewell, "I'll leave you two for a bit, I need to lie down…"

I nodded before I turned back to Isaac, "What's this for?"

"..."

"If you're not gonna answer—"

Isaac suddenly slammed his head on the floor, "Sir Ishiyama! I want to formally ask you to be my sensei! I'm still pretty wet behind the ears but I'll do everything you ask of me! I—"

"Didn't I already give you a training program?"

Isaac rose his head slightly, "What?"

"The training program. Didn't I already give you one? Before you answer, stand up. We'll talk at that bar."

"..."

Isaac looked a little disappointed by my reply but he picked up his katana and followed behind me. After that, I stood on the other side of the bar and poured us a shot of whiskey. He was waiting for what I would say next but I motioned him to take the shot with me. As I did, he quickly followed suit but it looked like he didn't like the taste of liquor. He tried his best to hide his grimace but I just nodded before I brought us to our earlier conversation.

"That training program I gave you… You need to follow that for six months while progressively overloading as a start and—"

"But t-that's not swordsmanship—"

"I thought you'd do everything I ask of you?"

"..."

"Well?"

"But still, I wanted to continue my training… not just—"

"Do you think that working on your body is not that important?"

"I mean… it's important but I want to learn what you—"

"What I know? Is that what you're saying?"

"..."

"What I know is that you need to build a better foundation first. Learning swordsmanship from me is something that you want, not something that you need. Only a small percentage of people here use katanas and as hard as it is for me to admit, it's not the ultimate weapon. I can arm myself with just about anything and I'll probably go about and survive without a hitch."

Isaac sighed before he nodded, "I know that it all boils down to who's wielding what but this is the path I want to walk into. And seeing you once wielding your blade cemented my desire even more. I can't learn that from anywhere else and that's why I'm here asking you to be my teacher."

"And we're back to square one."

"Huh?"

"The training program I gave you."

"..."

"Listen to me, Isaac. The place I've learned my stuff might be old school but they won't even take a look at you if you don't have a proper foundation. And we're not even talking about if you have the talent, potential, or even… the discipline to learn what they taught me. I'm pretty sure what you're holding at the tip of your tongue is that you should just need to train the body part required for swordsmanship—and you might be right in some instances, but that's not the way it goes in my book. It's gonna be physically and mentally demanding and you might be better off learning from your old school. I can teach you some stuff but you won't get very far."

Isaac shook his head, "I was just trying to—"

I stared him dead in the eyes, "I told you to listen, didn't I? Listen. I fool around and troll people but I don't half-ass things when it comes to what's on my hip. I even killed someone in cold blood because the fucking dumbass insulted something very precious to me. You were there when it happened, right?"

"..." Isaac just nodded.

"What I'm trying to say is if you really want to study under me, you need to learn to fucking listen. Your training has already started and you don't even fucking know it. The training program I gave you—"

"STOP FUCKING MESSING WITH ME!!!" Isaac was on the verge of tears.

I let out a sliver of killing intent, "Excuse me? Are you that fucking entitled?"

Isaac slammed a piece of paper on the bar, "THIS ISN'T A TRAINING PROGRAM, THIS IS SAITAMA'S BULLSHIT ROUTINE! EVEN I KNOW THAT'S FROM A FUCKING ANIMATION!!! IT'S NOT BALANCED! HOW CAN I BUILD A STRONG FOUNDATION FROM THIS?!"

"Wut?"

"DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT I'D FALL FOR THIS?! I HAVE A KATANA FOR FUCK'S SAKE! I'M A FUCKING WEEB, I KNOW YOU'RE FUCKING MESSING WITH ME!"

"Hold on—"

"I CAME HERE READY TO OFFER YOU MY SWORD AND YOU GIVE ME THIS BULLSHIT GATEKEEPING STORY THAT I'M NOT FUCKING GOOD ENOUGH—"

Isaac was still in mid-sentence when I smacked his face.

"WHY'D YOU FUCKING SMACK ME?!"

"That's not my fucking handwriting."

"Wut?"

"That looked like a fucking chicken having a panic attack wrote whatever the fuck that is. I'm surprised you can even read that. I wrote everyone a tailored program to—"

Isaac had a sudden epiphany as he let out his own sliver of killing intent, "Jose…"

I facepalmed, "Ah…" then I turned back to him chuckling, "He got you fucking good…"

"Nii-chan… I'm gonna commit bloody fucking murder for a bit, I'll come back later…" Isaac slowly stood up while unsheathing his katana.

I grabbed his collar and pulled him back to his seat, "No, you're not doing shit. You take the L and move on…"

"But— You see what he just did, right?! I should—"

"Listen. You take the fucking L. I'm not gonna repeat myself."

"...fine."

Isaac still looked like he wanted to cut Jose a thousand times before pouring a bucket of alcohol over him but I waved him off as I wrote the actual training program I intended for him. Once I handed it over to him, his eyes lit up and his anger completely subsided. He even looked like he wanted to start it right now, even though his whole body was already sore, but he folded it up and made sure he wouldn't lose it.

I chuckled, "Revenge comes later but we don't do anything permanent to our people. You kinda messed with him when you tucked Zyra to bed and—"

Isaac couldn't believe his ears, "She was in shock—from you, no less. I can't just—"

"Do you really think Jose would take advantage of her in that situation?"

"..."

"He wouldn't, trust me. I'd lop off his head if he ever did. But yeah, like what you do by prompting a reaction from calling me 'Nii-chan', we mess with each other from time to time. I know learning from me is a big deal to you, and I'm honored, but we aren't like the six main families you've come to live with these past few months. You might've seen a lot of shit when from the time you've lived with them but we don't kill people on a whim."

"Didn't you just kill someone from insulting—"

"Point. But that was a different matter entirely. In your case, it's just a hazing process everyone goes through when they're new while Mr. Cuervo's guy shat on something I deeply care for."

"That's fair but I really do want to learn from you and it almost didn't happen if I didn't show you that fucking page. I'm pretty glad I kept receipts even though the one I kept was fake."

"Understandable. But yeah, I want you to treat that as a brutal prank for me."

"Already did."

"Good, However, you need to get him back in the same fashion. Not by bloody fucking murder, got me? That's how this works. You don't go over the top, just a little bit more brutal than what he did."

"Yes, sensei!"

"And don't call me sensei or whatever the fuck you're thinking of in your head. I can teach people but I'm still learning myself."

"Alright, alright… one more thing though…"

"Hmm?"

"That tattoo of yours and your katana—even the wakizashi Kaley's using, what's the story behind that? Can you tell me that, at least?"

"Sure, we need to drink though. One paragraph for a shot."

"Oh, fuck."

"And here's the first one!"

With that said, I gave Isaac the same story I told Kaley and the rest—omitting a few important parts in regards to Aoi—but he looked like he already had multiple orgasms by the time I told him I perfectly copied the most basic technique from our school when I was still a kid. To be honest, it do be like that sometimes as Tatiana said before but the guy can't handle his fucking liquor.

Isaac was already woozy from the 5th shot but Quinn and Tatiana came back at the worst possible time. Both of them were just as buzzed as me but I never drew my blade as fast as I could when I heard the first sentence that came out of her mouth.

"Fuck, I really need to fuck a guy tonight."

"Hmm? He's pretty much ready over there—"

"No, not that kind. The other way around. I love you three and all but I gotta have my fix."

"You know I'm gonna fight you if—"

"Hmm? Who's that?"

"Haa? That's Isaiah or something… I can't remember."

Quinn just let out an evil grin, "He'll do."

Isaac sprang up groggily, "What? Are you talking about me?"

Quinn chuckled, "Wanna fuck?"

"Haah?! With me? Sure—"

I stood between the two, "Quinn. He's fucking drunk."

"So am I!"

Isaac interjected, "You go Queen! You don't need a man to tell ya what to do! I'm pretty inexperienced but I'll try my best!"

'Fuck! I'm trying to save his fucking life here and—'

I was still thinking to myself when Quinn dropped her coat and showed Isaac the goods.

"I'm pretty sure you're a virgin but I can help you with that."

Isaac looked offended, "I'M NOT A FUCKING VIRGIN! I'LL PROVE IT TO YOU! HIC! I'LL BEND YOU DOWN AND FUCK YOU SO HARD, YOU'LL CALL ME ONII-CHAN TOMORROW!"

At this point, I was just trying to save my new student but if he wanted to poke the lioness, I wouldn't be responsible for what would happen next. Even Tatiana looked like she was concerned for Isaac's well-being but Isaac just kept digging his grave over and over.

Quinn just shook her head amusedly as she easily pushed me aside and held Isaac by his collar.

"Heh, no you won't."