Kit didn’t remember passing out, but when he woke up he had no clue where he was. The bed that was beneath him was covered with plain white sheets and handled in a way that suggested a hospital, but there was a distinct lack of nurses and medical machinery, not to mention there were only eight beds and nobody else was there at all.
“Good to see you’re awake,” he heard somebody say as the door opened. When he turned it was a wolf dressed in the traditional Shozuka of a ninja. His black fur made it hard to tell flesh from fabric, save for the slanting white sash at his waist. It took Kit a second to realize he was holding the kama end of a kusarigama in one hand, while he used his other hand to twirl the weighted end… he had a rather bored look in his eyes. “For a second there I thought maybe you were going to be interesting,” he said calmly.
Looking at him Kit was somewhat confused, he seemed to be young; maybe 27, but his voice was slightly older, deep baritone, like he was maybe in his thirties; he never even looked where he was spinning the heavy weight at the end of his chain, in fact he seemed to act like he didn’t even know it was moving.
“Uh… sorry to disappoint you?” Kit said in a confused voice. The wolf wasn’t imposing in any way… other than the fact that he was playing rather in attentively with a deadly weapon.
“I feel kinda bad helping you out knowing that you’re just gunna be back in a week. So… how about it… wanna learn some Ninpo? A few lessons with me and you’ll be able to crush any kid that comes near you… nobody bullies a kid who’s a master with a sword, besides… nothing’s more pathetic than a teenager that can’t throw a shuriken properly. Hell… if you want, I could even teach you… to kill,” he said as a strange glow crept into his eyes. Before he knew what was happening the door burst off its hinges and in the doorway stood a female Tibetan fox who couldn’t have been older than 21.
“Now Daisuke, you know the elder said we were supposed to let him see all of us before he chose,” she told him in a soft voice, she seemed to radiate calm, where as the ninja was giving off a very invigorating vibe. Even from this distance and with strange loose fitting clothes, for a boy of Kit’s age the first thing noticeable were her breasts… and then the rest of her. She wore a relatively modest garb that Kit remembered seeing in one of his Kempo movies.
“That’s not fair, Hitomi! He’s a teenage boy… with your huge rack and firm butt… I have absolutely no chance. I just figured if I came in, played with my weapons and let him see how cool I am that he’d have a reason to choose a master other than their curvaceous anatomy,” the ninja-wolf argued.
“Not my fault… blame God,” she said simply as she turned to leave.
“Wait! Hitomi… Don’t move,” the one Kit assumed was called Daisuke told her. She turned back around. In a flash the ninja moved so that he was behind her… after a moment the ninja turned back to look at Kit. His eyes still had this strange gleam when he started talking. “Just remember kid… she might have ‘em, but only I will show ‘em to ya,” the ninja wolf said to him. After a moment her clothes fell away and she was left completely naked. “Are ya with me kid?” the ninja asked him.
“YES MASTER!” Kit shouted in enthusiasm and joy as he jumped from the bed.
Kit almost feinted from the short glimpse that he caught of Hitomi, but before he could see anything he was sent flying as somebody shouted “DON’T LOOK!” At first all he felt was this sharp pain in his jaw… then nothing. After his bounced off the wall Kit was knocked out for a few seconds. “If I’d known that’s how you are I never would have brought you here, PERVERT!” Kisara yelled as she stood beside Kit’s bed with one leg lifted.
Behind her the Kempo master Hitomi had begun to tremble furiously and her eyes had the same wicked gleam that a moment ago he had seen in Daisuke’s. “Damn it Daisuke… now… YOU DIE!!!!!” she screamed as she charged toward him. Before she could get to him, Daisuke tossed something, there was a bang, and he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. “You can’t run forever, you have to stop eventually, and when you do… I’LL KILL YOU!” Hitomi whispered before she just disappeared.
“What… what just happened?” Kit asked Kisara as he put his hand to his head… everything was a dull ache.
“You thought indecent thoughts and I punished you,” Kisara said as she started to blush. It took Kit a moment to notice that she wasn’t wearing their school’s uniform any more. Instead she wore an eastern fashion known as a “yellow crop top” that showed off her midsection (and her thick white bra straps) generously, and then for pants she wore a cut-up pair of pants that were common in the east known as “jeans”… these looked to be somewhat old full-length jeans that had their legs cut off so that they really only covered her butt. It took Kit a moment to take it all in… it was very provocative attire in the east, but it didn’t take him long to like it. “Don’t look at my ass,” she told him as she turned away from him. He noticed then that she was also wearing a Tyrolean hat that had several buttons on it from various cities in the world… he knew that in some places it was popular to collect little badges from the cities you’d visited and fasten them to these hats. Judging by Kisara’s collection it looked as though she had traveled quite a bit in her life. The last thing he saw was the first thing he’d touched… her boots. They were a heavily worn pair of black leather combat boots.
“Whoa… your clothes… they’re very stylish,” Kit answered.
“They were in the east, but for some reason people in this area think I’m a little too… revealing; they’re just comfortable,” Kisara explained.
“You wouldn’t happen to have anything more comfortable for me to wear lying around would you?” Kit asked as he motioned down to the sterile patient’s gown he’d been given when he was being worked on.
Kisara rummaged around for a while until she found the clothes that he’d come in. She didn’t take the hint at first that Kit needed to get dressed, but when he asked if he could change she turned a funny color of red before she left. After Kit dressed, he stepped out of the room and into the hallway where Kisara rejoined him. Once they left the small building he’d been in, Kit noticed that it was called Daisuke’s clinic. They were on a small compound that was surrounded on all sides by a concrete wall ten feet tall.
It was a rather peaceful place, he noticed that a small stream when through the center… all in all it looked to be a scenic flower garden in the back yard. There was a second building near the small clinic, then once they crossed the bridge to the other side of the back yard Kit found several training areas, in one there were perhaps thirty wooden pegs driven into the ground at various heights, then he saw a striking post, and several other individual training areas, all of them were abandoned for the moment, but with the scenic surroundings he imagined it had to be relatively peaceful to train here on a regular basis.
“It’s not going to be like you think, you know,” Kisara told him as she saw the wonder when he was looking around.
“What?” Kit asked her.
“It might look pretty now, but it’ll be hard. I didn’t want to bring you here because this training really is dangerous. You would have been safer if you’d just let me protect you like I was going to. Why do you want to learn how to fight anyway? It’s not like you’re the type to go out and brawl for no reason,” Kisara mentioned to him.
“Its part of my philosophy, and it might sound silly or strange to you, but here it is: If you stand still; nothing changes… but if you take even a single step forward, things will change… and I have a feeling something good will happen,” Kit answered her simply. His face lit up when he shared with her his philosophy, and he was right, to her it did seem strange, but when she saw the way his face lit up, something inside her began to tell her that he could do it.
“This first step won’t be a small one… you have to understand what you’re getting yourself into here. This dojo isn’t like any other… the training here will be intense, and even deadly at times. Those gathered here are some of the strongest masters of the arts that history has ever known… they will push you until you tire, and exhaust you even to the point of death in training. I’m not telling you this to scare you. I just want you to understand what you’re in for,” Kisara warned him.
“You don’t have to say anything to scare me… I’ve been scared my whole life. They won’t have to do anything to tire me… I’ve been tired my whole life. Today… seeing you in action; it made me realize something; I’m tired of being tired, and more importantly, I’m scared of being scared. I can’t change anything as I am, but if I work real hard, someday I’ll be able to protect the people I care for. Who knows… maybe someday I’ll even be able to protect you,” Kit told her with a shrug, he was a step ahead of her now, so Kisara looked at the ground and blushed; using what she called her ‘girly face’. “That and if I backed out now you’d think I was a coward,” Kit said in an embarrassed tone as he turned to see her. Before he could see her girly face, Kisara shook her head and returned to her usual tomboyish self.
“As if!” Kisara told him. “No matter how hard you work you’ll never have to protect me… I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up protecting you for the rest of your life. I should have chosen a stronger friend,” she told him as she inclined her head as she retook the lead.
“Yeah, you’re probably right, but I at least want the chance to say that I tried… after all… you’re the one who said that anybody can become strong if they try… I thought it was pretty cool of you to say that,” Kit laughed.
“I guess I forgot to tack on the ‘if they don’t die first’ at the end,” Kisara replied as they finally made it to the main building. By this point Kisara’s words had completely displaced the part of him that had managed to remain outwardly calm and cool… he was frightened of his own shadow.
As the door opened he saw seven masters gathered around the room, he recognized two of them as Daisuke and Hitomi, the masters he had witnessed earlier, now they were completely unlike they had been earlier. They were completely at ease; all seven of them; smiling, laughing, talking… as if they were just regular people.
“Sensei, master,” she greeted them. When she had said master she had turned specifically to the large, rather muscular fennec that sat among them. The moment they noticed the two teenagers, everything about them changed, they suddenly became almost deadly serious and stood as imposing figures. The change was so fast and so completely absolute that it frightened Kit.
“Come in Kisara, and your friend, please sit down. I apologize for what you had to witness from Daisuke and Hitomi earlier. They’re masters of their art, but when they get excited they tend to forget their social graces. My name is Perrin Kazumi, and I’m the elder of this dojo; we here belong to Ryouzanpaku, a group of masters who have reached the pinnacle of their abilities, we here offer aid to all who enter; and I hear you are best friends with Kisara. I am so proud to see that one such as her can fit in and make friends so quickly,” the great fennec said to him kindly. He had to be almost 6’5”, and judging by his massive biceps, barrel chest, and broad shoulders he must have been a VERY strong man. He looked to be perhaps fifty years old, and in superb health for his age.
Kisara gritted her teeth and growled irritably. “I said we were FRIENDS, I never said best friends,” Kisara corrected her uncle.
“Now Kisara, if you have only one friend, be they a good friend or a poor one, they’re still your best friend,” her uncle responded obliviously. “It’s so good to see that you finally have a friend after all these years, and to think I was starting to worry about you,” he said with a facial expression closer to that of a doting mother than an uncle and a Martial arts master.
“You make it sound like I’ve never had a friend before,” Kisara said as she started to become noticeably worked up.
“You’ve never brought any friends home to see your dear old uncle,” the giant responded to her.
“Maybe that’s because I knew you’d embarrass me like this,” Kisara said through gritted teeth as a vein in her forehead began to throb violently; in a flash she was at his side and her leg was hurtling toward his face. He changed in an instant; her foot was head for his face one instant and in his hand the next, his eyes began to glow the same way the others’ had before.
“Calm yourself, Kisara,” her uncle warned her calmly as his eyes slowly returned to normal. Kisara seemed to remember herself in that instant and her cheeks grew rosy as she bowed to him humbly.
“I apologize master, I forget myself,” she told him solemnly.
“All is forgiven Kisara, perhaps I should apologize as well; I didn’t realize you felt so strongly about what I was saying. I’m sorry Kisara; sometimes I forget myself as well,” he told her with a proud grin. “And now on to your young friend here, I must confess, young man, that you have me at something of a disadvantage… you know my name but I have not had the pleasure of being given yours,” Perrin told him kindly.
“M-my n-n-name is Kit-kitachi Sunahama,” he said as he began to tremble and cry. On the outside it might seem that he was simply afraid, but for once it was more than that… he was afraid, and yet very happy. This was Kit’s first time meeting a friend’s family… then again, this is the first person he considered a true friend.
“What the hell is he cryin’ for… we haven’t even done anything?” one of the masters he didn’t know complained loudly.
“I-I’m sorry; it’s just… I’ve never really met a friend’s family before,” Kit told them after a moment.
“Kitachi… quite a mouthful; if you ever have the time I’d like to hear the origin behind your name… it’s quite unique,” the elder offered him.
“It’s not a long story. You see in an ancient language the word ‘kitsune’ means fox, and ‘Itachi’ means weasel… I-I’m a hybrid, my mother was a polecat, a type of weasel, and my father was a red fox, so when they named me they decided that I shouldn’t hide my heritage; thus they combined the words Kitsune and Itachi at the only common integer, and thus I became Kitachi,” Kit explained calmly.
“Interesting, knowing its story, it occurs to me that your name seems to be suddenly very personal. A respectable name and a respectable history, but perhaps as it is so personal to you… might we call you by another name?” Perrin asked him after a moment’s thought.
“You’re very kind, though perhaps you think too much, but if you wanna call me something else, my little sister and my landlord call me Kit,” Kit responded with a shrug; and then something occurred to him… Ayano didn’t know where he was. “If you’ll excuse me I need to call my younger sister, she starts to worry if I don’t get home shortly after school, because in the past it has meant that something serious happened,” Kit told him as he stood up, whipped out his cell phone, and pressed the speed dial. The home phone rang several times before Ayano answered in a hysterical tone.
“GIVE ME MY BROTHER BACK YOU BIG MEANIE!” she shouted at him.
“Ayano, it’s me. I’m alright; I’m at a friend’s house and I’ll be home just as soon as I can. Tell the servants to go ahead and serve dinner without me; it looks like I could be gone a while,” Kit told her congenially.
“KIT! Did they kidnap you, are you ok, are they ransoming, are they doing mean or nasty things to you? Are they listening to you right now? If they’re listening just say ‘tomato’ and I’ll send people to where you are,” Ayano said suspiciously.
“I’m fine Ayano; nobody kidnapped me, and nobody’s listening to us. I got hurt during Karate club and a friend of mine took me to a doctor to be looked at. I’m alright I’m not hurt and I’ll be home as soon as I can. I love you Ayano, bye,” Kit told her in a tone so she’d understand.
“Wait- Kit…” she started to protest but Kit closed his cell phone before she could say anymore.
“I’m very sorry about that, as I said when I don’t get home immediately it usually means something is wrong,” Kit apologized as he returned his attention to the elder and sat back down.
“Think nothing of it! I hope your sister wasn’t too worried because of our actions,” Perrin Kazami answered him cordially.
“Ayano would have a coronary every day of the week if she worried any more, but she’s used to the stress anymore,” Kit laughed as he sat back down on the floor.
“You have a sister? Ah man… I’d kill to have a sibling,” Kisara said in a jealous tone.
“So young Kit; I am to understand that you wish to learn martial arts? Kisara gave me the impression that you would do, as she said, ‘whatever it takes’. I must admit that I’m curious as to why,” the elder of the dojo stated in a concerned tone. Kit wasn’t a master of debate or even a skilled negotiator, but he knew that this was the turning point in their conversation. What he said next would influence what happened afterward.
“A bully in my Karate Club told me that the strong get stronger and the weak stay the same. I refuse to believe this. Others say that it is the duty of the strong to keep the weak down. I refuse to believe this as well. I believe that the strong should protect the weak, not use their power to oppress those that can’t defend themselves,” Kit answered.
“So… with this bully… do you seek to become stronger out of revenge? If given the power would you do to him as he has done to others?” the elder asked softly.
“I wouldn’t say that I’m out for vengeance… I just want to be able to stand up for the people around me and for what I believe,” Kit answered him. The elder of the dojo just leaned back and let out a hysterical laugh. Kit began to grow angry, but before he could say anything the elder held up a hand to quiet his rage. He was still struggling to control his laughter when he started speaking.
“I apologize Kit. I meant no offense. I wasn’t laughing at your beliefs so much as your words. To be honest I was thinking back to when I first spoke to the elder of my first dojo… I was thinking of how extraordinarily different I was from you. When I came to a dojo for the first time I was already an accomplished street fighter, but I lacked the discipline of a trained fighter. You see, I had just been defeated by a martial artist who had been trained by a master, and was just seeing the benefit of teaching myself. I laugh because while at first glance we might have appeared different... I once spoke those same words, or very similar, to my master. Perhaps you and I aren’t so different after all,” the elder mused aloud.
“Does that mean you’ll teach me?” Kit asked as he stood up eagerly.
“I personally will not instruct you. I am the elder of this dojo and I already have a disciple of my own. However, there are six other masters that would be willing to teach you their craft, so tell us Kit, what do you wish to learn?” Perrin enquired of him.
“Well… I… uh… I don’t really have a preferred style or anything… which one’s the strongest?” Kit asked him as he began to look around at the group. The question he posed seemed perhaps to be the wrong one; as their eyes all began to get that eerie glow.
“A good question Kit, one that they often feel inclined to debate; BUT ARE FORBIDDEN TO TEST!” the elder stated loudly. His words seemed to extinguish the glow in their eyes once again.
“With a grouping of several masters, I just assumed it would be commonplace for them to test each other?” Kit said simply.
“In most cases you would be correct; however, with those of us from Ryouzanpaku such duels could very easily turn fatal… for anybody unfortunate enough to be around at the time. The simple fact is that in battle here, even we sometimes forget our own abilities, and the innocent around us would be badly affected. To a master of our degree, the world around us is a very… fragile… place to live. The danger is that before we regained our senses the death toll could be in the thousands,” the elder explained shortly.
“Then… how should I decide?” Kit asked him curiously.
“Perhaps I should introduce you to the masters one by one, and let them give a little demonstration,” the master suggested; when Kit nodded kindly, he began walking around behind the six.
His first stop was a rather tall, well muscled badger that looked about as dangerous as a chainsaw in the hands of an infant. “This is Brock Makari; he’s our resident Karate master… a 75 dan black belt,” the elder said as he stood behind the first man. The business suit he wore was very different from the aura he seemed to give off… it didn’t seem to suit him at all. He looked scary as it was, but when he stepped forward to a pillar, he held his hand out so that his middle finger was touching a pillar.
“Not that one!” another master said in an animated tone. He was a male Parentie in a black tank top and green gym shorts, his hands and feet were taped up. Brock simply continued to walk forward until he stood next to a section of the stone building wall. He placed his middle finger to the wall; closed his eyes, and when he opened them a moment later they had the same fierce glow as the others, he turned his hand into a fist and the wall he’d been touching just... imploded on itself. He took a deep breath… let it out, and smiled kindly.
“You should learn from me… now you know why,” he said simply before returning to his place in line… he seemed extremely nervous for some reason or another.
“H-he… he barely even touch it!” Kit stuttered out.
“Why do more structural damage than he had to? Don’t let the suit fool you… he doesn’t wear it all the time, but he REALLY wants to make a good impression it seems,” the elder said with a chuckle. The giant badger’s face turned a deep shade of red as he returned to his place in line.
“Daisuke, how would you like to go next?” Perrin suggested.
“With all due respect elder… I’m a little offended. How does it look if you go and ask me to present second… I mean… you’re supposed to work from your worst to your best… save the best for last,” Daisuke replied confidently.
“It’s true!” Brock shouted in the background as he broke out crying. The other masters all looked at Daisuke disapprovingly.
“Don’t look at me like that… if it weren’t true I wouldn’t say it. I’m fuckin’ the man, and everybody knows it. If you try to fuck with me; I will fuck you up… because it’s what I do… I HURT PEOPLE!” Daisuke defended himself proudly.
“It seems Daisuke has his panties in something of a twist… we’ll get back to him later,” the elder said as he moved on calmly. “Denali, would you like to go next?” he asked as he turned to the master that had stopped Brock a moment ago.
“Yes elder,” she answered as she stepped forward. “My name is Denali Hothlepoya. I come from a distant region of the world known as the badlands, because the nations there are always in some form of political unrest and upheaval. Throughout numerous civil wars I have killed over 300 enemies without any weapons, using the art of Muay Boran, but… I don’t attack people… I only kill the ones that come after me,” the young lizard informed him as she stepped toward the same pillar the karate master had earlier. He too was fit and of course he was taller than Brock had been, but he had a slightly leaner build to him, though by no means was he scrawny.
Denali stood there for a moment and let out a deep breath, before he began to take in many shallower breaths in quick succession. When he was good and worked up he drove his left elbow into the pillar, a section about three feet tall and probably two feet in diameter slid out like it had been loose the whole time. Denali used a flurry of blows to turn the thick concrete pillar into a trail of dust from where he started to where he finally finished when nothing was left bigger than a fingernail. The first thought in Kit’s mind was about how quickly he’d flipped the switch between being kind to becoming a monster.
Kit was still stunned into silence when the elder went on to the next master. “Katrina… I thought you were still on a sabbatical, but I suppose its good news you’re here. Would you like to show young Kit the benefits of studying Taekwondo?” the elder asked her. To say that the leopard was stacked was a generic way to explain her… physique; Kit had a hard time focusing on what she was saying because of the way her hips swung as she sauntered over to the elder. She looked to be about 26 if Kit’s understanding of felines aged was anywhere near the mark.
“Ugh… I’m not really the ‘disciple’ type of master, but… anything to fight off the boredom… maybe this kid can help… what demonstration should I use?” Katrina asked the elder… her tone was completely disinterested.
“How about kicking the bag?” the elder suggested.
“Nah… I did that one at that one tournament… I know… Daisuke… wanna spar with me?” Katrina responded.
“You kiddin’? Why would somebody as awesome as me wanna surrender my position at the end of the line to help some scrub like you?” Daisuke called from his position.
“Master… allow me to aid Katrina-sensei with her display, I may not be as skilled as Daisuke, but perhaps I could intrigue him enough,” Kisara suggested as she stepped forward.
“Sounds like a fair idea… Katrina you don’t mind do you?” Perrin asked her.
“Hmmm… I haven’t had a chance to stretch my legs lately; I suppose I could use Kisara for a demonstration,” Katrina said with a slight grin.
“Whoa whoa whoa, now this is interesting. Before we get started how ‘bout we make sure we’ve got all challengers, set some stipulations ya know. Hitomi, do you want in on this… how about you Natasha? Elder, I’m gunna need you and Brock to go find one of those kiddy swimming pools, and Denali… you go find us enough mud or jell-o to fill it with,” Daisuke began ordering people around mockingly.
The one he called Natasha was a red panda, and her muscle tone appeared to be her life, she kept herself in shape as well as all the other masters, but surprisingly enough her bust wasn’t overly noticeable… to an adult, she was curvy enough to still excite Kit though she was at the oldest 29… she dressed in a simple t-shirt and sweatpants and stood straight as a board as she stood there quietly. Everybody in the room gave Daisuke this disapproving look so after a moment he just shook his head and chuckled.
“Or not,” he said calmly.
“Kisara, are you sure you’re willing to spar with Katrina?” her uncle asked her.
“Katrina… what exactly do you want to do to me?” Kisara asked her. Daisuke chortled real quick but managed to keep from saying anything.
“One kick… it’ll be painless… at first,” the leopard promised dryly.
“At first?” the elder asked her.
“Well… when she wakes up she’ll be in a bit of pain, but if I do it right that won’t be for a few days… then again it’s pretty difficult; I’ve only ever pulled it off once,” Katrina answered with a shrug and a shake of her head.
“What happens if you do it wrong?” Kisara asked.
“Well… the tricky part is the part where I DON’T kill you,” Katrina replied indifferently.
“Wait… how many times have you tried?” Daisuke asked her with a grin.
“Um… three,” Katrina said coldly.
“You failed twice before you got it right?” Daisuke laughed.
“Well thank you Daisuke, I think you’ll make an excellent volunteer for this demonstration,” the elder thanked him kindly.
“You deaf old man or just stupid? Don’t tell me you’re going senile on me. I suppose your age had to catch up with you eventually. Must be really hitting hard now, you wanna waste your most talented all-star on a bench-rider like her,” Daisuke laughed.
“Well Daisuke; if I didn’t know any better I’d say that you’re scared. I mean… couldn’t somebody as talented as you do a basic dodge if you thought she was going to fail?” Denali taunted him from his place in line.
“Or block… I mean… that’s the second move my master taught me,” Hitomi added to Denali’s statement.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re afraid,” Brock added as he returned to his original demeanor.
“Yeah well… good thing ya know better… cuz… I’d have to crack you upside the head or something,” Daisuke said a little insecurely.
“Funny that you should mention that… now that I think of it… the only thing that I ever remember seeing you do like a master is run away,” Natasha added calmly.
“It won’t work… I see what you’re tryin’ to do here, and I’m not gunna volunteer just to get you off my back,” Daisuke responded.
“That’s ok… we’ll all just have to wonder if you really are worthy of being here,” Katrina shrugged.
Daisuke started to fume for a few moments as they stood there, but from the expression on his face it was only a matter of time… and so it was.
“If you kill me… I’ll haunt you; trust me, I’ve got nothin better to do with my free time,” Daisuke said irritably as he stepped forward.
“Crap… so it’s either put up with you for the rest of your life, or deal with you for the rest of mine. Here and I was so looking forward to killing you,” Katrina sighed as she approached him.
What happened next was a flash, one minute Daisuke was standing there bright as day one moment and the next he was gone.
“You… vaporized him… with one kick?” Kit asked as he looked around.
“Nah she just proved to me how much of second-stringer she really is. I’m not gunna just let you kill my fellas with a straight kick. Sweetheart, a word of advice; when you go up against somebody whose obviously your superior like me… don’t make it so obvious where you’re aiming… we’ll see it coming a mile away,” Daisuke explained to her as he sat up on one of the buildings rafters.
“Hmmm… here and I thought hid my target much better than that,” Katrina said as she turned with a short smirk. A moment later a large chunk of the rafter fell out from beneath him.
The ninja master was agile enough to change the situation though. He landed on both feet and his left hand. “Baby girl… you just picked a fight you can’t win,” Daisuke yelled as something darted out of his hand. It all happened so fast that Kit couldn’t keep up with it. The elder stood there with the kama end of kusarigama.
“Nice throw Daisuke, but next time perhaps you should keep control of your temper,” the elder suggested.
“I did… follow the trajectory… it was going right over her shoulder, and I kept my hand on the chain in case the situation changed,” Daisuke replied.
“Thank you for your assistance Daisuke, well done,” the elder commented as he stepped forward.
“Me next,” the red panda announced as she stepped forward.
“I suppose that’s acceptable Natasha… how exactly would you like to demonstrate your art for us?” the elder asked her.
“So far everybody has focused on the brutal side of what it is we do… I would like to show young Kit that there is in fact a point to what we do outside of causing pain… that and he needs to be thoroughly examined,” Natasha answered.
“Ah… you’re going to use some of your medical skills?” the elder clarified. Natasha just nodded.
“You need a check up. Right now; you’re in a relatively weakened state, but at the same time you are still strong and whole. Jujutsu focuses on throwing and joint locks, thus my mastery of Jujutsu has allowed me to do this,” she explained as she tugged on his right elbow quickly. In a moment of racking pain Kit fell to his knees and screamed… his left shoulder was three inches higher than his right. He kept screaming for a few moments as Natasha explained further. “While in combat that particular skill might be useful… it can also be applied in the reverse,” Natasha shouted over his agonized cries. She grabbed him by the elbow again and relocated his shoulder in a quick, and very painful motion. “While relocating the joint is useful, by applying pressure to a few points in your arm and neck I can save you weeks in a splint and months of physical rehabilitation,” she continued as Kit’s screams had died down to whimpers. She was very quick in her motions and a moment later Kit’s shoulder still throbbed like a bruise, but he didn’t feel much pain and he still had a full range of motion. Natasha bowed and returned to her place in line.
“I thought you said he needed a check up?” Elder asked her after a moment.
“He did… for his dislocated shoulder,” she answered with a stoic face. Daisuke burst out in an uncontrollable fit of laughter.
“Four down, and Daisuke’s being a prima donna… I suppose that just leaves you Hitomi. Kit, Hitomi is a master of all arts that are known as Kempo or Wushu. She specializes in what are known as the Neijia, or internal arts, that focus more on awareness and chi than on physical strength or agility, but rest assured that she will teach you everything there is to know about her art; you won’t get to slack off on physical training,” the Elder explained to him.
“Even the Neijia… require a certain amount of… physical capability,” she explained shyly.
“I need to get stronger to defend the ones I care for,” Kit explained as he tried to push past her demonstration.
“I can teach you strength of a different sort. Those who practice the more external forms of training and gain their strength of body disproportionately to their strength of mind easily lose their path,” Hitomi replied in the same quiet voice. “Kisara… approach me with the intent to strike,” Hitomi commanded.
“Yes Sensei,” Kisara replied. Kisara came at Hitomi quickly, but the Kempo master redirected the force of her blows and moved around in a circle, always keeping Kisara’s blows away from striking her; after a few moments she waved and the elder stepped forward… he seemed to be mimicking Kisara, a few minutes later she waved again and this time Natasha stepped in. At the end of the demonstration Kisara and all of the masters save Daisuke were throwing hits and kicks and somehow Hitomi was unfettered.
“That was amazing, but… if she can do that against all of you… why do you say that you can’t determine who the best is?” Kit asked.
“Because in this case she brought Kisara in ahead of time, as we watched Kisara we became accustomed to moving at her speed and using her level of techniques… the assumption being that if you’re under attack by multiple opponents, then odds are that you’re more skilled than each as an individual,” Perrin Kazumi explained to him. He was badly winded, as were all of the others, except Hitomi. The Kempo master simply nodded her head as she walked the length of the line and rejoined it at the end.
“That just leaves you Daisuke; show our young friend here the benefits of Ninpo,” Perrin said as he turned to Daisuke.
“You call that an introduction… where’s your sense of grandiosity? Go back and start again, and this time make it as lavish as you can... but before we get there… we wouldn’t happen to have a snare drum or anything would we… I’d really appreciate a drum roll for the sheer awesomeness of what I’m about to do,” Daisuke instructed him.
“You’re starting to try my patience Daisuke,” the elder responded irritably.
“Alright, Alright… no need to get testy; I guess I’ll just have to make do with what I’ve got. For those of you that can’t keep up, what I’m about to do is place a single cut of wood on top of young Kit’s head; then I’m going to throw four different shuriken in four different arcs and hit the opposite side of the stump,” Daisuke explained as he placed the stump down on Kit’s head. As he was adjusting it so that it would stand up on its own he gave Kit a quick wink.
He took twenty paces, and in one move turned, and whipped both of his hands out so that he took a low stance with his arms behind his back. Kit felt four distinct thumps in the wood on his head, from the opposite side of the ninja master.
“Let’s here it ladies and gentlemen… this killing machine runs on props,” Daisuke said as he took the stance of a triumphant champion. The others seemed to give into his demands grudgingly if only to humor him. Daisuke himself took a pose that Kit had seen in may sculptures of great heroes and gods… with his chest puffed up, head upturned to the right and his arms at his hips. “And now for the grand finale… sorry I can’t stick around kid, but this was so that you’d remember what we talked about earlier,” Daisuke said as he suddenly just took off… a moment later Kit felt a fabric brush at his elbow and turned to see what was happening.
“DON’T LOOK DAMN YOU!” Kisara screamed at him as he fist met his chin. As he as falling he noticed that something had happened to all the women in the room… their tops had fallen to the ground… he didn’t get a chance to appreciate it because Natasha moved quickly to incapacitate him.
Kit woke up a few minutes later with people all around him.
“Are you ok Kit?” the elder asked him. Kit could remember all of their names, but for some reason he couldn’t remember anything else that happened in the last few minutes… none of their demonstrations, or really ANYTHING.
“Then it seems there is only one choice… you’ll just have to study under all of them. This way you get the best balance,” Perrin told him.
“But what if I don’t want to learn from all of them?” Kit asked him.
“TOO LATE, you’re my disciple now,” Denali announced as he put Kit in a head lock and lifted him up off the ground. For a few moments it looked like there was going to be a fight… and Kit got the sense that he wouldn’t survive an encounter like that.
“Or I could just learn from everybody,” Kit offered. They had a few papers to sign and a contract to work out… Kit had to dig into his bank accounts so that he pay their monthly tuition, but in the end the account was settled and Kit was told to go home for the night and return the next day.
He wouldn’t find out how much he’d regret his decision until the next day.