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the character foxie is based on and owned by \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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", "writing": "After all the paperwork was signed and the arrangements were made, Kisara agreed to see Kit home safely being as it was after dark. Things were kinda awkward in the beginning, Kisara kept mostly to herself and they’d gone almost four blocks before either of them said anything.\n\n“I wish I hadn’t gotten so worked up back at school. I’m really sorry I caused all these problems for you. I wish I hadn’t gotten involved; I haven’t quite learned how to stay out of things yet,” Kisara said after a while.\n\n“Don’t worry about it. You stood up for me, but you also realized that eventually I have to stand up for myself. I’m glad you got involved, because you finally made me take the step I’ve been too afraid to take on my own,” Kit laughed as he brushed her apologies aside.\n\n“It’s not JUST for you that I’m sorry… you don’t understand the world you’ve just stepped into Kit. What do you think is going to happen if you manage to beat Tommy next week?” Kisara asked him.\n\n“He’ll leave me alone, and maybe I’ll garner a little of the other students respect,” Kit answered simply.\n\n“That’s not how it works… you got part of it right. He WILL leave you alone, and you WILL get some body's respect, but that’s not how it ends. After winning a fight; you enter a new world… you will bounce from one fight to the next always trying to stay one step ahead of the dogs that wish to tear you apart. The world of martial arts is very competitive… you have to either get strong or learn to make friends, both if you can. There are rules to it, and yet more often than not it’s the fights on the street that will worry you the most,” Kisara explained.\n\n“You’ll back me up though right? And the masters?” Kit asked.\n\n“Kit… a master doesn’t get involved in his disciples fights, it’s one of the first rules to being a master, because if a master was always there to come and save you, you wouldn’t need to learn how to fight until he died,” Kisara explained.\n\n“What about you… will you help me?” Kit repeated the question.\n\n“I’ll want to. Whether I do or not will be based on the situation… it doesn’t do you any good if you know that I’ll always be there to bail you out. It’s a hard world you’re entering Kit,” Kisara replied after a moment… she was getting glummer and glummer with each passing second.\n\n“I’ll just have to be tougher then,” Kit told her with that same sure smile he had when he’d said he’d do anything. “After all; you’ve lived in this world for so long… what’s your secret?” Kit asked her.\n\n“Oh that’s easy; it’s all I’ve ever known. I’ve been training and traveling with my uncle for as long as I can remember. This is the first time in years that we’ve actually stayed in one place long enough to call it home. Which is kinda why I’m lacking in the friends department,” Kisara confided in him.\n\n“All you’ve ever known… you mean; you’ve been fighting your whole life?” Kit asked her to clarify.\n\n“I guess so, I never really thought about it like that,” Kisara said as if she hadn’t considered it before.     \n\nThe movement caught Kit’s attention out of the corner of his eye; it was just a slight twitch, but Kisara insisted that she had been sent as a protective escort, so of course she decided to check it out... she couldn’t let her only friend be hurt by her carelessness.\n\nIt was down a dark alleyway, but they took a short detour to check it out. Kisara seemed to be on edge the deeper they went in. Then suddenly they were at a dead end, and sitting there, in a little cardboard box was a beagle. Kit almost laughed, but when he looked over at Kisara, something was definitely up with her. Her eyes had grown all big and watery, her face was red, and most eerily... she was smiling. She seemed to be having some sort of internal dilemma. ~\n\nThe two sides of Kisara’s mind were at war; on the one hand she had her duty to her master and her only friend on the other side... PUPPY! It was her weakness, her Achiles heel. She couldn't possibly show that face to Kit... or anybody else for that matter.\n\nSuck it up Kisara, get your head on straight, can’t show weakness now she told herself, but her inner child had an answer that even she couldn’t argue with... PUPPY! PUPPY! PUPPY!PUPPY!PUPPY!PUPPY!PUPPY!PUPPY!PUPPY!PUPPY!PUPPY!PUPPY!PUPPY!PUPPY!PUPPY!\n\nIt took a few moments for the laughter to pierce through the mental armor the puppy had erected around her consciousness. Kit was laughing. “I’m-I’m sorry, it’s just- it’s just you’re like the toughest person I’ve ever met, but I can tell that inside your head right now you’re trying very hard not to break out into squeals and cuddles like a child, and all over a puppy!” Kit said through the laughter.\n\nIt only took a moment for Kisara to compose herself outwardly. She might still be on the verge of breaking out in a girlie display on the inside, but on the outside... she was frightening.\n\n“That- that’s not true,” she said as her eyes narrowed on him. ~\n\nA moment ago Kisara had been a half a heartbeat away from running out and grabbing the puppy in the fiercest hug that ever existed, but now... she had that strange glow to her eyes that Kit had witnessed in his masters.\n\n“It- it’s ok... if you like puppies,” Kit told her nervously... he was in a VERY dangerous place right now.\n\n“If you tell anybody... I’LL KILL YOU!” she told him fiercely.\n\n“Puppies? Who likes puppies?” Kit asked fearfully.\n\n“Good. Now... I think you’re good to see yourself home now, don’t you?” she asked him tensely.\n\n“I think I can see myself home now,” Kit answered as his spine turned to jelly. He took a step back and the killer aura Kisara emitted was gone, instead there was only the playful little girl with the puppy.\n\nWonder what her problem is? Kit asked himself as he patiently walked home... the stars were bright this evening and with nobody else on the street it was a rather peaceful trip. Then he sensed something else, a presence he hadn’t noticed before, but one that he’d recognize anywhere. Not him! He’s supposed to be in the western continent right now... he CAN’T be here now... my life was just getting good!\n\nThen he heard the voice, coming from behind him... right at his ear. “Hello Kit,” he whispered in his softest, most sensual voice in Kit’s ear, and all of Kit’s fears were confirmed in that one moment. At first he didn’t notice the soft hand cupping his “secret place” gently, and then they gave a slight squeeze.\n\nIt was in a fit of near terror that Kit managed to reply. “He-hello Foxie,” he replied weakly... he wanted nothing more than to run, but he knew it’d do him no good. This guy was like a bad penny... Kit just couldn’t get rid of him.\n\n“It’s been... such a long time Kit. You almost lost me last year when you changed your route home... it took a lot of research for me to get this time alone with you... Why don’t you love me Kit?” the other whispered back gently.\n\n“I’m- I’m not into that sort of thing,” Kit resisted weakly.\n\n“You just don’t see it do you Kit. You and I... it’s fate. You’ll never get rid of me, so you might as well accept it. I had to really dig for information on that tramp back there; I almost wasn’t sure I was right. I mean, how can a barbaric monster like her have a soft-side, I thought my informant had given me faulty info, but in the end I suppose we all have our weaknesses though,” the furry dragon responded... like Kit, Foxie was a hybrid but Foxie was half-dragon/half-fox.\n\n“What-what’s yours?” Kit asked hopefully. No such luck... somebody had to stumble across them just then. This was going to be weird... Foxie had himself draped over Kit’s shoulders, he held both of Kit’s smaller hands in his larger... whoever saw this was going to mistake it for an intimate embrace.\n\n“You there... who are you?” she asked. Kit’s blood went cold... not her... not now... not like this. He’d definitely made a mistake thinking things were as bad as they get.\n\n“Dammit tramp... don’t you know when you’re intruding on an special moment?” Foxie answered before he turned to her... his eyes were icy cold as he glared at her.\n\n“I- I’m sorry... I’ll come back,” Kisara said as she turned and started to blush.\n\nNUUUUUUUUUU! DON’T LEAVE ME! Kit screamed out inside his mind, but Foxie was using his secret power... no matter how much he wanted to say something he couldn’t even move.\n\n“Don’t bother... Kit’s mine, and I won’t let you take him from me... no matter if you’re a girl or not,” Foxie told her... he said it as a declaration of war.\n\n“He doesn’t look like he’s yours... he looks like he’s terrified,” Kisara mentioned as she turned back around.\n\n“You think you can take him from me? JUST TRY IT SKANK!” Foxie said as his eyes grew dark and vengeful.\n\n“I... really have no intention of taking him from you... I mean... it’s not like that between us... I don’t think he’s anything more than a little brother really,” she said nervously as she stood there.\n\nAll Kit heard was ‘a brother’. All his fighting spirit seemed to evaporate at that. “Wow... he’s right here... you could at least TRY to spare his feelings I mean... you just totally rejected him to his face. WAIT... WHAT’RE YOU TRYING TO SAY? THAT YOU’RE TOO GOOD FOR MY KIT?” Foxie asked irritably as his attention returned to the topic at hand.\n\n“Uh... something like that,” Kisara answered. Kit’s mind was a wreck,  just a brother, too good, the words just kept playing over and over in his head. Foxie just started to laugh maniacally.\n\n“Here and I was worried about you... you’re too much of an ape to pose any threat to me... I mean... you just verbally beat him down right in front of him. I’ll leave him to you this time Bimbo, but don’t think you have any chance of taking him away from me... Kit’s heart is mine,” Foxie said as he just took off.\n\nKit was still stunned by what Kisara had said. He didn’t really have any feelings for her, but it was still tough to hear that there was absolutely no chance that it would ever happen in the future. “Hey, we gotta get home before your sister starts to worry,” Kisara reminded him.\n\nKit shook out of it pretty quick... Ayano was likely to pitch a fit if he delayed any longer, she didn’t handle waiting very well. When they got to the house Kisara seemed to do a double take. “You live HERE?” she asked him.\n\n“Well, we board here really; I mean the owner of this place was a friend of our parents when we were younger so he took us on as a sort of favor to them,” Kit explained to her. “I hope you don’t mind if I leave you here, but the master of the house isn’t in and I don’t like to invite guests in without his permission... that and Ayano is already freaked enough, she might not respond positively to visitors tonight,” Kit explained shyly to her.\n\n“Ah, that’s fine, night Kit. See you tomorrow,” Kisara said from behind him. When Kit turned to say good night she was already gone... probably back to see the puppy Kit figured. The house was dark from the outside; Ayano had probably gone to bed by this time, it was awfully dark out; the traffic had died down by this time of night. Kit opened the door to the mansion quickly to get out of the night... he’d always been afraid of the dark. He turned the light on before he stepped in; and had just shut the door when a little orangish-red streak bolted up and attached itself to his waist.\n\n“BROTHER! Are you hurt, are you hungry, are you tired?” she began to rattle of the questions in rapid succession as she buried her head in his abdomen. She embraced him so tightly that for a moment Kit was embarrassed by the fuss she’d created over him.\n\n“Ayano, calm down; I’m fine, and you have class in the morning so try to go to sleep; I’ll just get something light from the fridge and then I’ll head up to tuck you in,” Kit promised her, it was their nightly ritual; Ayano couldn’t sleep unless Kit tucked her in for the night.\n\nWhile Kit was preparing something in the microwave; Ayano ran up stairs to change, and brush her teeth, and do all the other little thing kids do before they go to bed for the night. In the fridge he found leftovers from the pasta earlier in the night, he quickly took out what he thought was enough and heated it up before he shot up the stairs to Ayano’s room.\n\n“Kit... you’re not going to be gone like today a lot are you? I don’t know what to do when you’re not here,” Ayano asked him.\n\n“I’ll probably gone like that most days Ayano, but it’s very important to me that I do this,” He explained to her. At first he thought she was going to throw a fit, her eyes got huge and teary, but in the end she just shook it off and went to bed quietly. The look she gave him made Kit worry, he’d seen it before, when he asked her to do something that she really didn’t like... she was going to buck him on this one, she might act like a good girl now, but she was going to be tough to handle in the future.\n\nKit didn’t have long to think about it, he grabbed his books, his supper, and went to the kitchen where he flipped on the radio as he sat down to dinner. He began to go through his homework as he ate, the music on the radio kept him focused while he worked through problem after problem and page after page. After a few hours he stoop up, stretched, and decided that he’d call it a night. He shut off the lights to each room as he left. He checked to be sure his nightlight was plugged in properly and functioning before shutting off the lamp on his end table. It took him a long time to get to sleep that night as he considered what he was in for tomorrow.\n\nThe next day was a whirlwind; Kisara was waiting for him at the corner where he’d found her notebook the morning before. Once again she was dressed in the blouse and skirt of the school uniform... after seeing her in her casual clothes it was pretty strange to see her dressed for school like this. They were running late for class; so Kisara showed him a short cut that included using roof tops and trees to get around traffic on the ground. Of course Kit had to have Kisara pretty much drag him whenever she took to the sky because he was just an average person.... for now he told himself.\n\nAll through the day, Kisara followed Kit around everywhere. When he asked her about it, she just said that she had to make sure that nobody tried to interfere with her bet. Instead of going to Karate club that day, Kisara insisted that he instead join her for her clubs. First she went to writing club, since it was a rare occurrence for them to meet, and then she had gardening club. Kit wasn’t very good at either, but he gave his best to work in the writing club... they sort of deputised him into it at the meeting. Then in the gardening club he was lucky enough that the art club was using the green house to draw still-life portraits of the scenery. The professor that sponsored the club graciously allowed Kit to sit in on their meeting. She seemed genuinely surprised by his sketches when he turned them in at the end of the day.\n\n“I especially like this one with Ms. Kazumi, you really shaded her well; and the Lillies in the background, absolutely wonderful... why is it that you haven’t been to my drawing classes or the club before?” she asked him.\n\n“Oh... um... I’m not usually very good at taking criticism, and I never really considered my sketches all that good, could-could I have that one back?” Kit asked her nervously. CRAP! I didn’t even notice that I drew her... she must have been standing there when I was drawing that spot. Kit thought when he saw it. The teacher was right though; he had done a rather excellent job with that picture.\n\n“Well, if you ever change your mind... the art club door will always be open,” she told him before they all packed up for the day and headed home.\n\nAfter the art club finished for the day Kit had to help Kisara and the president of the gardening club with their work... it seemed the gardening club only had 2 members and so taking care of the entire greenhouse was a little difficult. Kit knew the other member was Pablo Juarez, his father owned a greenhouse in town... he lived a few blocks down from Kit in the gated community known as ‘the Estates’.\n\nAfter about half an hour of gardening, the club finally called things to a close. Kit and Kisara walked back to Ryouzanpaku together in relative silence; Kit’s mind was racing with what came next. It seemed like an eternity before the door to the dojo came into sight. Kit headed to the door to the wall surrounding the compound, but Kisara stopped him by placing her hand on his shoulder. “That’s the guest entrance... today you’re a pupil, so you have to use the pupil entrance on the side,” Kisara explained to him as she took him around to the side. As it turned out the “disciple entrance” consisted of two rows of wooden pegs driven into the side of the 20 foot tall wall. Kisara lacked patience however and had found a more effective way to climb; there was a small tree growing at the edge of the sidewalk so she ran at an angle to the wall, used it as a stepping stone, and then used the top of the tree as a catapult to propel her over the top of the wall. It took Kit a half an hour to scale the wall, and half as long again to climb back down the other side... it would have been longer but half-way down he fell.\n\n“Get back up there and start again,” somebody told Kit as he was standing up. He looked up and it was Denali.\n\n“Ok,” Kit said with a shrug.\n\n“Not ‘ok’. ‘Yes, master’,” Denali responded.\n\n“Yes master,” Kit answered as he returned to row of pegs inside the wall.\n\nHe’d just put his hands on the first row of pegs when Denali yelled at him. “FASTER!”\n\n“Yes, master,” Kit said as he started to scramble up the side of the wall.\n\n“FASTER! FASTER! FASTER!”  he kept shouting for the next fifteen minutes as Kit struggled up the wall. All of the pegs on the inside seemed harder to get a hold of. The faster Kit went the more trouble he had climbing. He spent two hours just climbing up and down before he finally made it all the way up and all the way down without falling. When he was done he used one of the pegs to help himself stand... his hand slipped, and this time there was no mistaking it. The pegs inside the wall were greased. “From now on you’ll have twenty minutes to make it to the dojo; if you take any longer you will experience a penalty with each of your masters,” Denali explained to him as he accompanied Kit to the main hall. It’s been decided that Daisuke will be handling your strength training... not so much because he’s the best decision but as a means to shut him up. He seems to be of the opinion that only he can reform your body in the appropriate way before you begin technique training,” Denali explained in a frustrated tone.\n\n“Hey, I wouldn’t a said it if it wasn’t true,” Daisuke mused from one of the rooftops nearby, he seemed to be lounging around waiting for something. “‘Bout time you quit messin’ around on that wall, we’ve lost a lot of time thanks to your playing around,” Daisuke chastised him as he rolled of the rooftop and fell to the ground. He landed on his feet with a bored sort of look.\n\n“Master... how shall we begin training?” Kit asked him nervously.\n\n“We’re gunna go for a little walk; we’ll use the front door so you don’t get tempted to play around on the wall again; you ready kid?” Daisuke explained. At the front door there was what appeared to be a sled waiting for them.\n\n“What’s that about?” Kit asked.\n\n“Sorry I should have been more specific... YOU are gunna walk... I’m gunna ride,” Daisuke answered. It took them a minute or two to hook up a harness for Kit, it was rather heavy... this was going to be hard, but the harness should have made sure that the weight was distributed evenly and he didn’t hurt himself... then Daisuke ran a rope around his waste.\n\n“What’s the harness for?” Kit asked, clearly confused.\n\n“Weight... what did you think it’s for... she only weighs 25 pounds. I figured since it’s your first day I’d take it easy on you,” Daisuke explained. Once the door opened Kit started to move forward; it was like trying to pull a chariot with all this weight. “MUSH!” Daisuke shouted, and a second later there was a loud crack as a whip nearly hit his ear. Kit began to run as hard as he could until finally they were at a decent pace. “FASTER!” Daisuke shouted as the whip snapped again... and again... and again. Kit was already sprinting at this point and Daisuke was still yelling. “Hurry it up kid, at this rate we’ll never make a full lap of the city before tomorrow!” Daisuke yelled. The city was 9.8 miles around.\n\n“You gotta be kidding me!” Kit screamed as he kept running. “THIS IS INSANE!” he said at about one mile.\n\n“Kid... you’da never survived training with my master. I carried twenty times as much as you are now through wind, snow, sleet, hail, rain... across ice and mud while dodging crossbow bolts my master fired at my ass and I was still faster than this!” Daisuke told him.\n\nBy the time they finished their “little walk” Kit was drenched in sweat from head to foot, so much that he looked like he’d fallen in a pool. “‘Bout time... I got blisters on my ass it took you so long. Now that we’re all good and warmed up let’s get to the tough stuff,” Daisuke laughed. Kit just looked at him.\n\n“I can’t feel my legs,” he answered meekly. Daisuke put him in a leg lock and Kit began to yell.\n\n“Well... ya can feel ‘em now,” Daisuke shrugged as he let Kit go. “Quit lyin’ around... we gotta get back ta trainin’!” Daisuke shouted.\n\n“Really? There’s..... more?” Kit asked.\n\n“Are you kiddin’... that was just to get the old heart a-pumpin’,” Daisuke laughed as he stepped over Kit.\n\nSomehow Kit managed to stand up for his next training. “What do I do here?” Kit asked impatiently.\n\n“This one is kinda tricky, so I’ll have to explain it to you properly. I’m going to attach you legs to this stick using the belt, and you’re gunna walk on your hands, got it?” Daisuke asked him. They hadn’t taken the weighted harness off, so Kit assumed it wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Once Kit was strapped in securely, Daisuke picked up the thing holding his legs. It wasn’t so bad... at first. Kit moved at his own pace for about three steps, but after that Daisuke began pushing him. “Gotta move faster than that kid... your legs are three times stronger than your arms, know why that is? That’s right, way I see it; you walk on your legs,” Daisuke explained. After about four steps Kit was plowing dirt with his teeth. Daisuke scolded him that he was doing it wrong and steered him toward a low, strong looking rock. “Better get back up on your hands soon kid or you’ll be stuck gummin’ your food for the rest of your life,” Daisuke told him as the rock came closer.\n\nKit managed to just get his hands under him again before they got to the rock, once he was on the other side he lost his footing again. Daisuke started to turn him around and Kit got back on his arms, after that no matter how much his arms burned he decided not fall again.\n\nAfter about an hour of walking his arms, and one of using his face to trim the grass; Daisuke called their training to a stop for the day, mostly because a bell went off which Kit assumed meant dinner time. “You’re lucky it’s dinner time, hurry up and get to the kitchen,” Daisuke told him.\n\nKit took a few minutes to catch his breath before he hurried to the kitchen, expecting to find plates and platters filled with food. Instead he found a bunch of ingredients laying out on the counter and everybody working at a different classroom like workstation. “What the hell?” Kit asked Daisuke.\n\n“Pretty simple really... we all have different tastes, so we all cook for ourselves here; this way nobody can complain... and if the food sucks it’s your own fault,” Daisuke explained.\n\n“So, after I’ve nearly killed myself twice trying to train I have to cook my own food?” Kit asked in a worried voice.... Kit didn’t know how to cook.\n\n“There’s really nothin’ to it kid, just grab a buncha crap and get to work; you’ve only got 60 minutes to prepare and eat it,” Daisuke told him as he pushed Kit out of his station and began to work on his own food.\n\nHalf an hour later they were sitting at the table and Kit was surveying the other’s dishes. Daisuke had prepared what looked like perfectly sliced sushi, Hitomi had some sort of chicken casserole, the elder had a beauitfully prepared fillet Mignon, Brock had a variety of burgers, hotdogs, and brats grilled to perfection with french fries, Denali had a shrimp and crab gumbo, Katrina had nearly finished her fried chicken breast and penne pasta, Tasha was working on her shrimp scampi, and finally Kisara had a salmon steak. Kit brought a half-burnt chicken and charcoal stir-fry to the table. “Ok so maybe I was wrong kid... you gotta learn to cook for your own survival,” Daisuke laughed as he looked at the black and grey lump in front of Kit.\n\nKit had been looking at his teacher, so he hadn’t been paying attention to his plate. “I don’t know Daisuke... it tastes about as good as when you started here,” the elder commented. He turned and almost half of what he’d prepared was missing. After that it was a barrage forks, spoons, fingers, and chopsticks sliding what little food remained away from him. In the end he only had a single square of chicken left to eat himself, he grasped it with his chop sticks, but when he lifted it to take a bite a kama came out of nowhere and snatched it away. Kit tried not to cry... and failed miserably.\n\n“Too bitter to be mine,” Daisuke commented as he chomped down on it. “Dinner’s over kid, back to training, I hope you had your fill,” Daisuke smiled as he stood up and they returned to the training yard. “All right, I’m feelin’ good... let’s do this. This exercise is pretty simple, you’re going to do push-ups, I’m gunna sit there with a stick, whenever the stick gets close to your arms you have to jump over it, got it? I’ll do it so you should be at the bottom and the top of the arc when the stick hits,” Daisuke explained\n\n“Sounds pretty simple,” Kit answered with a nod. Inside he was trying not to let his exhaustion and hunger show. Kit got down into position to begin and Daisuke started him off at a decent pace, of one every two seconds. After about a minute Kit was starting to tire of the exercise, but he knew better than to tell Daisuke. He was just getting ready to mention something when Daisuke picked up the stick and instead started using his Ninjato. The pace continued but now if Kit slowed Daisuke would surely cleave a limb. “WARM UP TIME IS DONE!” Daisuke announced as he began to swing the sword back and forth at an inhuman rate... Kit did his best to just clear the blade, and after about another two minutes he was thoroughly exhausted. “ALL RIGHT! FULL SPEED NOW,” Daisuke shouted as he began swinging the blade like a savage, Kit began to stand up, but somebody put their foot on his back and held him down, then he felt the pressure from the foot pressing him back down, it only relinquished when he was down. Kit looked over his shoulder to see Brock standing there holding him down.\n\n“What are you trying to do? Get me killed?” Kit asked irritably.\n\n“I’M HELPING!!!!” Brock answered in an overly excited tone. The pressure on Kit’s back was heavier when he made it back up. The continued for another twenty minutes after Brock began to “help”.\n\n“It’s your first day, so that’s it for me today kid; we took it easy today, but tomorrow we’ll get to the real training. Hitomi wanted to work with you a bit today on the Neijia since it doesn’t require as much strength and you have that fight next week,” Daisuke said as he walked away.\n\nHitomi met him in one of the circular dirt patches back behind the building, as opposed to the front where Kit did his training with Daisuke. It was an area about six feet in diameter. The reclusive master was waiting for him patiently, she was sitting in the center of the circle with her legs crossed. “Master Hitomi, I am here to train,” Kit told her with a polite bow.\n\n“I know... sit... relax... clear your mind,” Hitomi told him as she opened one eye to look at him and then closed it again. Kit sat down and waited for a while, it was maybe five minutes later he opened his mouth to say something but Hitomi answered first. “Listen to the world around you... feel the ebb and flow of the earth’s energy.... Sit... and listen quietly,” Hitomi instructed him.\n\nKit sat there for thirty minutes and almost fell asleep at one point, but managed to keep himself awake. “Patience and diligence are the back bone of all martial arts; one doesn’t become a great martial artist overnight, and so you must be patient in your growth and diligent in your training to ensure that you reach your ultimate goal,” Hitomi explained as she stood up.\n\n“That’s deep,” Kit replied as he stood up.\n\n“Was it? Seems to me that you cheapened the worth with that comment,” Hitomi answered serenely. “Neijia are referred to as the ‘internal arts’. They differ from the external arts in one fundamental way. To stop force, instead of using direct and opposite force as with other arts; Neijia instead focus on diverting the force away from your body. I have asked Brock to help me demonstrate the difference,” Hitomi explained as Brock began advancing toward them.\n\n“I’M HELPING!” Brock said happily as he advanced.\n\n“Brock... don’t hold back,” Hitomi instructed the other master. It took a moment, but when he did, Kit could feel the tension in the air, he opened his eyes and they were glowing. Hitomi stood their patiently, her own eyes were closed, but she was radiating calm. “First we’ll demonstrate traditional arts,” Hitomi said calmly. All Kit could see was how relatively lean and petite Hitomi appeared next to Brock who was a menacing giant of muscle. What happened next was too fast for Kit to fully appreciate, but the way he figured it, the Karate master charged at her and sent one punch right at her face, Hitomi threw one hand up and caught him. It was amazing, she opened her eyes and held him at bay without even budging. “As you can see, I’m exerting a lot of energy to keep him from hitting me,” Hitomi instructed him; the effort showing in her voice. “Now, Brock, let’s try this again,” Hitomi suggested as the Karate master started over. He came at her and in a flash she shot out a hand and held his arm at arms length at a different angle. “Do you understand?” Hitomi asked him.\n\n“I understand the theory, but master... I didn’t even see it,” Kit replied.\n\n“You and I will practice it slower, but first you have to learn to ‘turn the circle’,” Hitomi told him. She spent a few minutes explaining the concept. ‘Turning the circle’ was the process of moving in a circle to help divert oncoming enemy attacks. The first thing she taught Kit was how to turn the circle as a form of stance and movement. “Plant you feet firmly, but not so firmly that you can’t move without hindrance. The stance has to be lower... squat more. Yes, like that, now, when you move shift your weight onto the same foot as the direction you want to go and rotate your chest, before taking your other foot behind the one you’re balanced on, then shift your balance to the back foot and reposition  your feet in the same manor as you began,” she explained as she demonstrated it. She was intentionally moving slow enough that Kit could see it, and when he did he understood, the idea was that he would slide around an enemy’s blow. “When used properly this technique can create an opening so that you may strike,” she explained as she had Kit try to hit her. She rotated around his punch and pressed her knuckles softly against his ribs. “You may not always expose a weakness, however, it will keep you from getting killed, next week,” Hitomi explained. She took three hours to help him and demonstrate each and every minute; sometimes he’d get it right, but then his next effort would be wrong. At the end of training with Hitomi he was sweating, just not as heavily as he had with all of Daisuke’s training methods.\n\n“Master Hitomi; I can continue,” he said when she called a close to their training.\n\n“I’m sure you can, Kit, but this training is different from the training Daisuke has in store for you... Neijia don’t require you to have so much strength, speed, or stamina as the other arts do, but moderation is the key in all things... even training,” Hitomi explained before she dismissed him.\n\nWhen Kit made it back to the main building his 25 pound harness was wearing his haggard body down, and he was starving, but he felt better than he had in a long time. “Hey, kid... let me help you with that harness real quick,” Daisuke offered as Kit approached. It took a few minutes to get it off without getting tangled, but Kit could really feel the difference when he did.\n\nHe was just getting used to standing up straight when he felt and even greater weight... he found it tough to move, with this much on him. “I told ya we were takin’ it easy today... 100 pounds ought to help you bulk up faster,” Daisuke explained to Kit’s devastated face. “Tomorrow, we’ll vary the training a bit, but you’ll still have to run... how about 2 laps tomorrow... sounds like a good start,” Daisuke said as the master made his way to his own room. Kit started to reach up to take the harness off when Daisuke turned around. “Oops... almost forgot,” Daisuke laughed as he leaned over... in a flash all the loose ends that undid the harness had pad-locks holding them firmly in place. Daisuke was gone before Kit could protest.\n\nKit sat there for a moment as he contemplated what he could have done in such a short period of time to make all his masters hate him... except Hitomi of course... she’d been very delicate with him. “They do it because they like you, ya know,” Kisara called to him from on top of the awning, her head dangling over the edge.\n\n“Come again?” Kit said blankly.\n\n“You were talking just then about why they hate you... they don’t... they’re hard on you because they like you,” Kisara explained as she gracefully rolled off the edge of the awning, she used one hand to swing in under. She landed with only a soft puff of dirt. “Oh yeah, before we go... I almost forgot... my uncle had me make you something since you didn’t get to eat very much earlier. I don’t know what you like, so i just made a chicken and shrimp stir-fry like you tried to,” she told him as she handed him a small wooden box with food inside. Kit thought he was going to cry... he’d never been so happy in all his life to see food.\n\nHe opened it like it was a treasure chest and examined it’s contents like it was gold before he dug in. He was stunned at first, a symphony of flavors and textures collided and exploded in his mouth. His face must have confounded Kisara because she got somewhat irritable. “If you don’t like it then don’t eat it,” she said angrily.\n\n“NO!” Kit shouted excitedly. “I- I mean... no; it’s- it’s just that it’s so good I was surprised. My house has a chef on the tab, but other than his it’s the best I’ve ever tasted. You’re my age; how did you get so good?” Kit asked.\n\n“Training and practice; just like martial arts. If... if you want me to I could help you learn,” Kisara offered.\n\nKit was momentarily overcome with emotion... he was going to get to eat tomorrow. “Yes, yes, please please please please please please,” Kit begged her quickly between bites.\n\n“Alright! Stop begging; it’s just too embarrassing,” Kisara commanded him. Kisara walked Kit home that night as well, and once again he ended up eating and doing his homework after he tucked his sister in for the night.\n\nThe next day after school he returned to the dojo where he went through the same ordeals as the day before, only more difficult, Daisuke also threw in some new forms of training, like Kit had to lift a fifty pound rock from ground to a chest high, put it on top, and then pull it back down and set it down slowly. Another method used to develop his stomach and back muscles, was invented by Daisuke obviously, He tied Kit’s feet to a pull-up bar, Daisuke stood on top, and rhythmically dropped his Kusarigama, Kama end first, on each side. Kit had to go from using his stomach to hold himself up to using his back to keep from being decapitated. He also began to develop Kit’s other attributes such as his agility and balance.\n\nHe used a strange looking set of boards on the ground, when Kit was strapped in he understood, it would loosen his tendons and ligaments in his legs; that was chained to another part that ran all the way up his front side, and down both his arms. Kit asked him what it was and he answered quickly. “Shut up and trust me,” Daisuke explained vaguely. It looked to Kit like he was strapped into some sort of torture device, but he assumed that this was going to be part of his training. “This can be done one of two ways; we can do it fast or we can do it slow... If I had to make a recommendation I’d say go slow, but if you want to do it quick that’ll work,” Daisuke cautioned him.\n\n“Let’s do it the slow way,” Kit said after a moments thought. Daisuke took two chains, one in each hand and placed his back to Kit.\n\n“DAISUKE!!! PHONE CALL... IT SOUNDS LIKE SOMEBODY HAS A JOB FOR YOU!” Kisara called out from down the hall.\n\n“FAST WAY IT IS!” Daisuke announced as he jerked on the chains and linked them to a third ring in the ground. In a flash Kit’s legs were straight... one to either side of his body. He screamed in agony as every part of his legs cried out in pain at the same time, but by far the greatest pain came from his groin; his stomach was facing the ground, though his but was still his base, and his fingers were touching the corresponding toes. The only thought in Kit’s mind was that he was doing the splits... and it hurt just as much as he thought it would, more actually. It was an hour before anybody remembered that he was there... and even then it was only because Daisuke had left the light on when he’d left. He’d just adjusted to the pain when Natasha undid the chains holding him in place, instantly the apparatus snapped back to the original position; which hurt his body equally after having finally adjusted to the prior situation.\n\nNext session they worked on was his sense of balance; Daisuke weighed him down even more than before and took him to yet another creation of his... this time the rooms floor had been rigged with several holes, through each came a roughly two inch metal stepping post. The posts were set up so that when they felt pressure for a certain amount of time they would start to heat up, and to discourage him from stepping down, the floor was basically a giant frying pan, heated to 400 degrees. It was the first time in his life that Kit had ever experienced the pain of singed fur on his face when he fell for the first time, needless to say he didn’t dally long on the floor.\n\nAfter all of this and his training from the day before he trained with Hitomi again, she worked on improving his skill with the basics from the day before... and such it went every day for a week; until finally the day came.\n\nKit was nervous as the final bell of the school day rang and he headed toward the locker room for the karate club. His limbs felt like lead, his mind was focused on what was about to happen. Kisara dropped by the locker room door as he was coming out. She had gardening club to attend to; Kit had been helping her with it since everything had happened in his own club, so he understood, but she took a few moments to speak to him.\n\n“Don’t worry about the fight... he can’t possibly kill you, after all; Daisuke hits way harder than some punk kid,” Kisara shrugged as she passed by.\n\nFoxie was there too. “REMEMBER TO PROTECT YOUR PRECIOUS CROTCH... he can break whatever else, just as long as that remains intact,” Foxie begged him. Kit put his hand to his head. After that it was time, and he didn’t have any more room in his head for encouraging words (not that anybody else had any).\n\nIt was surprising to Kit just how clear his mind was in that last moment; he wasn’t thinking about what was going to happen... all he could think of was the various forms of training he’d been through. He wasn’t anxious like he thought he might be, he felt... relaxed.\n\nThat’s why we trained like that, Hitomi called out in his head, her voice as calm as it ever was in the vastness of his conscience. When at last he stood face to face with Tommy, he felt ready, even if his enemy was twice his size.\n\n“I’m gunna kill you today Sunahama... prepare to die,” Tommy told him as he shook himself.\n\n“Ready?” the judge asked both of them. Kit nodded and Tommy took a step forward. \n\n“WAIT!” somebody yelled as they entered the room. “I’m glad I caught you before the fight... since it’s your first time; I’m gunna take the harness off,” Daisuke said as he walked over to Kit; opened his shirt to reveal the one hundred pound training harness that Daisuke had given him at the end of his first day; Kit had completely forgotten about it. The harness fell to the floor with a loud thud, and Kit felt the weight just melt away... was he always this light. Before he could thank his master, Daisuke was gone.\n\nKit looked around; people had started to gather... there was quite a crowd screaming for his death at that moment. It was then that the dread he had expected hit him... along with the first punch. His face screamed out in pain, but he managed to keep his composure as he went to the mat... he didn’t have to worry about falling; this was match was set up until one person either submitted or was unable to fight. As his mind came racing back to the present, he couldn’t help but remember a conversation he’d had with Katrina in the past, about how to deal with an aggressive enemy.\n\nI have a theory on this, you might not know it, but statistically speaking, in a match between disciple-class fighters; whoever lands the first punch usually wins the fight. The reason is because disciples are still unused to fighting, so their own confidence is lost when they are hit. My theory is a simple one... let the enemy hit first; show them that you’re not afraid of their punches, even if you’re terrified. After that... make them work for each one, his Taekwondo master had instructed him. He stood up, dusted himself off, and gave Tommy a confident smile. “Oops, guess I should be paying attention, I was so busy worrying about what I’ll have for dinner tonight,” Kit told him. His head might hurt, but Kisara was right... Daisuke DID hit much harder.\n\nKit then followed the instructions Hitomi had given him to teach him the Neijia; for now it was his only weapon. He stood their patiently and waited for Tommy to come at him again. This time, Kit was paying attention, after all this time with Hitomi, his senses had gotten accustomed to her higher speeds... it was like watching him in slow motion. He followed her instructions to the letter, Tommy was shocked at the result; who wasn’t. One moment Kit looked like he was going to have his head knocked off, and the next he was beside Tommy, with his fist in Tommy’s ribs.\n\nHe heard the massive bull let out a slight grunt, and then a crazy laugh. “Not bad, but that was nothing,” Tommy boasted. Kit remained impassive. He took a step back and waited patiently for the inevitable. This time, instead of rotating his body, he waited for the strike, this time a kick, and instead deflected it away from him. Tommy fell down hard when his balance was disrupted. ~\n\n“What’re you doing here Kisara? I figured you’d be at the big fight cheering for Kit,” the club president asked her.\n\n“Oh; well... I might stop by later to see if he’s ok, but I really can’t watch two people without getting the urge to jump in and help one of them,” Kisara explained after a moment. He seemed to accept that answer and so they went back to work. Kisara kept thinking about Kit’s fight and wondering if it was over yet. She was worried, as he was, she didn’t think Kit’s fragile ego could stand it if he lost his fight today. He had a lot of conviction, but sometimes that wasn’t enough; today he wasn’t training with his masters, he wasn’t pulling a sled as he ran, he was in a fight and it was his first one.\n\n“Kisara... what’re you doing? You can’t plant flowers so close to the vegetables... they’ll have a tough time competing with each other for nutrients, you’ve been distracted since you got here. You nearly drowned the daisies when you watered them, you didn’t offer enough fertilizer to the carrots, and you forgot to turn the lights on over the bed of roses when you were done watering them,” the president chastised to her. “We’ve been here for over an hour and your focus has been someplace else the whole time,” he told her.\n\n“Sorry; I guess I’m just too caught up in the fight to work in the greenhouse right now,” she apologized glumly.\n\n“Don’t worry about it; you’re worried about your friend... how about you take off and see if you can help Kit. I’ll finish up here,” he offered.\n\n“Ah... thanks Pablo; I owe you for this,” she said as she took off her gloves and left her apron at the entrance. I’ll give him an hour before I head home, Kisara thought as she waited at their usual after-school meeting place. Odds were the fight had ended a long time ago and Kit had already left for the day. Half an hour later she saw a few kids leaving the building, at first she didn’t think anything of it, but then he heard one of them say something that sounded like “never thought he’d last this long.”\n\nKisara’s heart leapt in her chest; it’s been almost an hour and a half, surely they aren’t still fighting, she thought. She broke out in a run as she took off for the Karate club’s meeting room. Sure enough, Kit and Tommy both stood there; both looking about to drop.\n\n“DAMMIT! QUIT RUNNING!” Tommy yelled, Kit was quiet, save for the heavy panting.\n\n“No way! If I stand still; you’ll kill me!” Kit answered him.\n\nIt looked like either one of them could win at this point; Kisara had to hand it to the big oaf, for only having power; he was still in it, but he looked to be the more exhausted of the two. ~\n\nEven Kit didn’t understand how he’d lasted so long... all he could do was dodge; early on he’d tried hitting Tommy, but it didn’t seem to have any effect on his opponent. Since then he’d just dodged, and deflected, now his arms were too tired to even deflect. Tommy seemed about to collapse too though as he began his next charge. That’s when Kit was hit with an extreme case of deja vu. He’d rushed at Hitomi and tried to hit her, when she’d turned her circle on him she’d grabbed him by his leading wrist, planted one foot in front of his and thus forced him to the ground where she pulled his arm behind his back until he’d surrendered.\n\nIt was a snap decision, but he did his best to imitate Hitomi’s movements. He wasn’t near as fast as she had been, but when he pushed, Tommy was off balance, and so he went down hard. Kit wrenched his arm up and used his other arm to hold Tommy’s face to the mat.\n\n“YIELD!” he shouted.\n\n“I-I surrender!” Tommy began to shout as the helplessness of his situation began to hit him.\n\nAfterwards Kit just kinda... blacked out, he kept his consciousness, but only barely. Somebody caught him as he was falling and whispered into his ear. “Those who have the ABILITY to change things, have the RESPONSIBILITY to change them,” the stranger whispered into his ear before Kisara arrived.\n\n“Thank you, I can take him from here,” she thanked the stranger. She lowered him to the floor delicately. It took almost half an hour for everybody to leave and for Kit to recharge.\n\nHe stood up ponderously and swayed dangerously before he found his balance. “Kisara... can you pick up my harness and strap it on? I can make it to Ryouzanpaku by myself, but I can’t really feel my arms right now,” Kit asked her. She hurried to put it on securely before she threw one of his arms over he shoulders. He tried to protest.\n\n“You really think I want somebody as smelly and sweaty as you are this close to me... You need my help!” she said bluntly.\n\n“Thanks,” he told her softly. They were on their way out of the door when somebody stopped them.\n\n“Well done today; Sunahama. I’m glad you joined the karate club; I can’t wait to train with you,” the club president told him. He was an intimidating looking person, but at that moment Kit was feeling ten feet tall.\n\n“About that... you wouldn’t help me when you thought I was weak... why should you help me when I’m strong... I quit,” Kit panted to him. The other boys face grew dark, as if he were considering attacking Kit, but Kisara shot him a glance that suggested he better not, and the other boy seemed to think better of it.\n\nWhen they finally arrived at the dojo all of his masters were waiting eagerly for a report. Kisara explained the outcome, but it didn’t have the effect he had hoped it would.\n\n“He won? I see... well... this changes everything,” Hitomi remarked in a puzzled tone. Daisuke seemed ecstatic.\n\n“PAY UP DENALI! YOU OWE ME YOUR DESERT!” he shouted enthusiastically.\n\n“What does this change?” Kit asked Hitomi.\n\n“Well... we had expected you to lose today... by winning, you’ve forced us to move you to the technique part of our training quicker than we’d expected... it’s gunna be a hell of a lot worse than it has already,” Denali explained... his face seemed to light up at the prospect; as if he blamed Kit for his lost dessert.\n\n\t\n\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "After all the paperwork was signed and the arrangements were made, Kisara agreed to see Kit home safely being as it was after dark. Things were kinda awkward in the beginning, Kisara kept mostly to herself and they’d gone almost four blocks before either of them said anything.

“I wish I hadn’t gotten so worked up back at school. I’m really sorry I caused all these problems for you. I wish I hadn’t gotten involved; I haven’t quite learned how to stay out of things yet,” Kisara said after a while.

“Don’t worry about it. You stood up for me, but you also realized that eventually I have to stand up for myself. I’m glad you got involved, because you finally made me take the step I’ve been too afraid to take on my own,” Kit laughed as he brushed her apologies aside.

“It’s not JUST for you that I’m sorry… you don’t understand the world you’ve just stepped into Kit. What do you think is going to happen if you manage to beat Tommy next week?” Kisara asked him.

“He’ll leave me alone, and maybe I’ll garner a little of the other students respect,” Kit answered simply.

“That’s not how it works… you got part of it right. He WILL leave you alone, and you WILL get some body's respect, but that’s not how it ends. After winning a fight; you enter a new world… you will bounce from one fight to the next always trying to stay one step ahead of the dogs that wish to tear you apart. The world of martial arts is very competitive… you have to either get strong or learn to make friends, both if you can. There are rules to it, and yet more often than not it’s the fights on the street that will worry you the most,” Kisara explained.

“You’ll back me up though right? And the masters?” Kit asked.

“Kit… a master doesn’t get involved in his disciples fights, it’s one of the first rules to being a master, because if a master was always there to come and save you, you wouldn’t need to learn how to fight until he died,” Kisara explained.

“What about you… will you help me?” Kit repeated the question.

“I’ll want to. Whether I do or not will be based on the situation… it doesn’t do you any good if you know that I’ll always be there to bail you out. It’s a hard world you’re entering Kit,” Kisara replied after a moment… she was getting glummer and glummer with each passing second.

“I’ll just have to be tougher then,” Kit told her with that same sure smile he had when he’d said he’d do anything. “After all; you’ve lived in this world for so long… what’s your secret?” Kit asked her.

“Oh that’s easy; it’s all I’ve ever known. I’ve been training and traveling with my uncle for as long as I can remember. This is the first time in years that we’ve actually stayed in one place long enough to call it home. Which is kinda why I’m lacking in the friends department,” Kisara confided in him.

“All you’ve ever known… you mean; you’ve been fighting your whole life?” Kit asked her to clarify.

“I guess so, I never really thought about it like that,” Kisara said as if she hadn’t considered it before.    

The movement caught Kit’s attention out of the corner of his eye; it was just a slight twitch, but Kisara insisted that she had been sent as a protective escort, so of course she decided to check it out... she couldn’t let her only friend be hurt by her carelessness.

It was down a dark alleyway, but they took a short detour to check it out. Kisara seemed to be on edge the deeper they went in. Then suddenly they were at a dead end, and sitting there, in a little cardboard box was a beagle. Kit almost laughed, but when he looked over at Kisara, something was definitely up with her. Her eyes had grown all big and watery, her face was red, and most eerily... she was smiling. She seemed to be having some sort of internal dilemma. ~

The two sides of Kisara’s mind were at war; on the one hand she had her duty to her master and her only friend on the other side... PUPPY! It was her weakness, her Achiles heel. She couldn't possibly show that face to Kit... or anybody else for that matter.

Suck it up Kisara, get your head on straight, can’t show weakness now she told herself, but her inner child had an answer that even she couldn’t argue with... PUPPY! PUPPY! PUPPY!PUPPY!PUPPY!PUPPY!PUPPY!PUPPY!PUPPY!PUPPY!PUPPY!PUPPY!PUPPY!PUPPY!PUPPY!

It took a few moments for the laughter to pierce through the mental armor the puppy had erected around her consciousness. Kit was laughing. “I’m-I’m sorry, it’s just- it’s just you’re like the toughest person I’ve ever met, but I can tell that inside your head right now you’re trying very hard not to break out into squeals and cuddles like a child, and all over a puppy!” Kit said through the laughter.

It only took a moment for Kisara to compose herself outwardly. She might still be on the verge of breaking out in a girlie display on the inside, but on the outside... she was frightening.

“That- that’s not true,” she said as her eyes narrowed on him. ~

A moment ago Kisara had been a half a heartbeat away from running out and grabbing the puppy in the fiercest hug that ever existed, but now... she had that strange glow to her eyes that Kit had witnessed in his masters.

“It- it’s ok... if you like puppies,” Kit told her nervously... he was in a VERY dangerous place right now.

“If you tell anybody... I’LL KILL YOU!” she told him fiercely.

“Puppies? Who likes puppies?” Kit asked fearfully.

“Good. Now... I think you’re good to see yourself home now, don’t you?” she asked him tensely.

“I think I can see myself home now,” Kit answered as his spine turned to jelly. He took a step back and the killer aura Kisara emitted was gone, instead there was only the playful little girl with the puppy.

Wonder what her problem is? Kit asked himself as he patiently walked home... the stars were bright this evening and with nobody else on the street it was a rather peaceful trip. Then he sensed something else, a presence he hadn’t noticed before, but one that he’d recognize anywhere. Not him! He’s supposed to be in the western continent right now... he CAN’T be here now... my life was just getting good!

Then he heard the voice, coming from behind him... right at his ear. “Hello Kit,” he whispered in his softest, most sensual voice in Kit’s ear, and all of Kit’s fears were confirmed in that one moment. At first he didn’t notice the soft hand cupping his “secret place” gently, and then they gave a slight squeeze.

It was in a fit of near terror that Kit managed to reply. “He-hello Foxie,” he replied weakly... he wanted nothing more than to run, but he knew it’d do him no good. This guy was like a bad penny... Kit just couldn’t get rid of him.

“It’s been... such a long time Kit. You almost lost me last year when you changed your route home... it took a lot of research for me to get this time alone with you... Why don’t you love me Kit?” the other whispered back gently.

“I’m- I’m not into that sort of thing,” Kit resisted weakly.

“You just don’t see it do you Kit. You and I... it’s fate. You’ll never get rid of me, so you might as well accept it. I had to really dig for information on that tramp back there; I almost wasn’t sure I was right. I mean, how can a barbaric monster like her have a soft-side, I thought my informant had given me faulty info, but in the end I suppose we all have our weaknesses though,” the furry dragon responded... like Kit, Foxie was a hybrid but Foxie was half-dragon/half-fox.

“What-what’s yours?” Kit asked hopefully. No such luck... somebody had to stumble across them just then. This was going to be weird... Foxie had himself draped over Kit’s shoulders, he held both of Kit’s smaller hands in his larger... whoever saw this was going to mistake it for an intimate embrace.

“You there... who are you?” she asked. Kit’s blood went cold... not her... not now... not like this. He’d definitely made a mistake thinking things were as bad as they get.

“Dammit tramp... don’t you know when you’re intruding on an special moment?” Foxie answered before he turned to her... his eyes were icy cold as he glared at her.

“I- I’m sorry... I’ll come back,” Kisara said as she turned and started to blush.

NUUUUUUUUUU! DON’T LEAVE ME! Kit screamed out inside his mind, but Foxie was using his secret power... no matter how much he wanted to say something he couldn’t even move.

“Don’t bother... Kit’s mine, and I won’t let you take him from me... no matter if you’re a girl or not,” Foxie told her... he said it as a declaration of war.

“He doesn’t look like he’s yours... he looks like he’s terrified,” Kisara mentioned as she turned back around.

“You think you can take him from me? JUST TRY IT SKANK!” Foxie said as his eyes grew dark and vengeful.

“I... really have no intention of taking him from you... I mean... it’s not like that between us... I don’t think he’s anything more than a little brother really,” she said nervously as she stood there.

All Kit heard was ‘a brother’. All his fighting spirit seemed to evaporate at that. “Wow... he’s right here... you could at least TRY to spare his feelings I mean... you just totally rejected him to his face. WAIT... WHAT’RE YOU TRYING TO SAY? THAT YOU’RE TOO GOOD FOR MY KIT?” Foxie asked irritably as his attention returned to the topic at hand.

“Uh... something like that,” Kisara answered. Kit’s mind was a wreck,  just a brother, too good, the words just kept playing over and over in his head. Foxie just started to laugh maniacally.

“Here and I was worried about you... you’re too much of an ape to pose any threat to me... I mean... you just verbally beat him down right in front of him. I’ll leave him to you this time Bimbo, but don’t think you have any chance of taking him away from me... Kit’s heart is mine,” Foxie said as he just took off.

Kit was still stunned by what Kisara had said. He didn’t really have any feelings for her, but it was still tough to hear that there was absolutely no chance that it would ever happen in the future. “Hey, we gotta get home before your sister starts to worry,” Kisara reminded him.

Kit shook out of it pretty quick... Ayano was likely to pitch a fit if he delayed any longer, she didn’t handle waiting very well. When they got to the house Kisara seemed to do a double take. “You live HERE?” she asked him.

“Well, we board here really; I mean the owner of this place was a friend of our parents when we were younger so he took us on as a sort of favor to them,” Kit explained to her. “I hope you don’t mind if I leave you here, but the master of the house isn’t in and I don’t like to invite guests in without his permission... that and Ayano is already freaked enough, she might not respond positively to visitors tonight,” Kit explained shyly to her.

“Ah, that’s fine, night Kit. See you tomorrow,” Kisara said from behind him. When Kit turned to say good night she was already gone... probably back to see the puppy Kit figured. The house was dark from the outside; Ayano had probably gone to bed by this time, it was awfully dark out; the traffic had died down by this time of night. Kit opened the door to the mansion quickly to get out of the night... he’d always been afraid of the dark. He turned the light on before he stepped in; and had just shut the door when a little orangish-red streak bolted up and attached itself to his waist.

“BROTHER! Are you hurt, are you hungry, are you tired?” she began to rattle of the questions in rapid succession as she buried her head in his abdomen. She embraced him so tightly that for a moment Kit was embarrassed by the fuss she’d created over him.

“Ayano, calm down; I’m fine, and you have class in the morning so try to go to sleep; I’ll just get something light from the fridge and then I’ll head up to tuck you in,” Kit promised her, it was their nightly ritual; Ayano couldn’t sleep unless Kit tucked her in for the night.

While Kit was preparing something in the microwave; Ayano ran up stairs to change, and brush her teeth, and do all the other little thing kids do before they go to bed for the night. In the fridge he found leftovers from the pasta earlier in the night, he quickly took out what he thought was enough and heated it up before he shot up the stairs to Ayano’s room.

“Kit... you’re not going to be gone like today a lot are you? I don’t know what to do when you’re not here,” Ayano asked him.

“I’ll probably gone like that most days Ayano, but it’s very important to me that I do this,” He explained to her. At first he thought she was going to throw a fit, her eyes got huge and teary, but in the end she just shook it off and went to bed quietly. The look she gave him made Kit worry, he’d seen it before, when he asked her to do something that she really didn’t like... she was going to buck him on this one, she might act like a good girl now, but she was going to be tough to handle in the future.

Kit didn’t have long to think about it, he grabbed his books, his supper, and went to the kitchen where he flipped on the radio as he sat down to dinner. He began to go through his homework as he ate, the music on the radio kept him focused while he worked through problem after problem and page after page. After a few hours he stoop up, stretched, and decided that he’d call it a night. He shut off the lights to each room as he left. He checked to be sure his nightlight was plugged in properly and functioning before shutting off the lamp on his end table. It took him a long time to get to sleep that night as he considered what he was in for tomorrow.

The next day was a whirlwind; Kisara was waiting for him at the corner where he’d found her notebook the morning before. Once again she was dressed in the blouse and skirt of the school uniform... after seeing her in her casual clothes it was pretty strange to see her dressed for school like this. They were running late for class; so Kisara showed him a short cut that included using roof tops and trees to get around traffic on the ground. Of course Kit had to have Kisara pretty much drag him whenever she took to the sky because he was just an average person.... for now he told himself.

All through the day, Kisara followed Kit around everywhere. When he asked her about it, she just said that she had to make sure that nobody tried to interfere with her bet. Instead of going to Karate club that day, Kisara insisted that he instead join her for her clubs. First she went to writing club, since it was a rare occurrence for them to meet, and then she had gardening club. Kit wasn’t very good at either, but he gave his best to work in the writing club... they sort of deputised him into it at the meeting. Then in the gardening club he was lucky enough that the art club was using the green house to draw still-life portraits of the scenery. The professor that sponsored the club graciously allowed Kit to sit in on their meeting. She seemed genuinely surprised by his sketches when he turned them in at the end of the day.

“I especially like this one with Ms. Kazumi, you really shaded her well; and the Lillies in the background, absolutely wonderful... why is it that you haven’t been to my drawing classes or the club before?” she asked him.

“Oh... um... I’m not usually very good at taking criticism, and I never really considered my sketches all that good, could-could I have that one back?” Kit asked her nervously. CRAP! I didn’t even notice that I drew her... she must have been standing there when I was drawing that spot. Kit thought when he saw it. The teacher was right though; he had done a rather excellent job with that picture.

“Well, if you ever change your mind... the art club door will always be open,” she told him before they all packed up for the day and headed home.

After the art club finished for the day Kit had to help Kisara and the president of the gardening club with their work... it seemed the gardening club only had 2 members and so taking care of the entire greenhouse was a little difficult. Kit knew the other member was Pablo Juarez, his father owned a greenhouse in town... he lived a few blocks down from Kit in the gated community known as ‘the Estates’.

After about half an hour of gardening, the club finally called things to a close. Kit and Kisara walked back to Ryouzanpaku together in relative silence; Kit’s mind was racing with what came next. It seemed like an eternity before the door to the dojo came into sight. Kit headed to the door to the wall surrounding the compound, but Kisara stopped him by placing her hand on his shoulder. “That’s the guest entrance... today you’re a pupil, so you have to use the pupil entrance on the side,” Kisara explained to him as she took him around to the side. As it turned out the “disciple entrance” consisted of two rows of wooden pegs driven into the side of the 20 foot tall wall. Kisara lacked patience however and had found a more effective way to climb; there was a small tree growing at the edge of the sidewalk so she ran at an angle to the wall, used it as a stepping stone, and then used the top of the tree as a catapult to propel her over the top of the wall. It took Kit a half an hour to scale the wall, and half as long again to climb back down the other side... it would have been longer but half-way down he fell.

“Get back up there and start again,” somebody told Kit as he was standing up. He looked up and it was Denali.

“Ok,” Kit said with a shrug.

“Not ‘ok’. ‘Yes, master’,” Denali responded.

“Yes master,” Kit answered as he returned to row of pegs inside the wall.

He’d just put his hands on the first row of pegs when Denali yelled at him. “FASTER!”

“Yes, master,” Kit said as he started to scramble up the side of the wall.

“FASTER! FASTER! FASTER!”  he kept shouting for the next fifteen minutes as Kit struggled up the wall. All of the pegs on the inside seemed harder to get a hold of. The faster Kit went the more trouble he had climbing. He spent two hours just climbing up and down before he finally made it all the way up and all the way down without falling. When he was done he used one of the pegs to help himself stand... his hand slipped, and this time there was no mistaking it. The pegs inside the wall were greased. “From now on you’ll have twenty minutes to make it to the dojo; if you take any longer you will experience a penalty with each of your masters,” Denali explained to him as he accompanied Kit to the main hall. It’s been decided that Daisuke will be handling your strength training... not so much because he’s the best decision but as a means to shut him up. He seems to be of the opinion that only he can reform your body in the appropriate way before you begin technique training,” Denali explained in a frustrated tone.

“Hey, I wouldn’t a said it if it wasn’t true,” Daisuke mused from one of the rooftops nearby, he seemed to be lounging around waiting for something. “‘Bout time you quit messin’ around on that wall, we’ve lost a lot of time thanks to your playing around,” Daisuke chastised him as he rolled of the rooftop and fell to the ground. He landed on his feet with a bored sort of look.

“Master... how shall we begin training?” Kit asked him nervously.

“We’re gunna go for a little walk; we’ll use the front door so you don’t get tempted to play around on the wall again; you ready kid?” Daisuke explained. At the front door there was what appeared to be a sled waiting for them.

“What’s that about?” Kit asked.

“Sorry I should have been more specific... YOU are gunna walk... I’m gunna ride,” Daisuke answered. It took them a minute or two to hook up a harness for Kit, it was rather heavy... this was going to be hard, but the harness should have made sure that the weight was distributed evenly and he didn’t hurt himself... then Daisuke ran a rope around his waste.

“What’s the harness for?” Kit asked, clearly confused.

“Weight... what did you think it’s for... she only weighs 25 pounds. I figured since it’s your first day I’d take it easy on you,” Daisuke explained. Once the door opened Kit started to move forward; it was like trying to pull a chariot with all this weight. “MUSH!” Daisuke shouted, and a second later there was a loud crack as a whip nearly hit his ear. Kit began to run as hard as he could until finally they were at a decent pace. “FASTER!” Daisuke shouted as the whip snapped again... and again... and again. Kit was already sprinting at this point and Daisuke was still yelling. “Hurry it up kid, at this rate we’ll never make a full lap of the city before tomorrow!” Daisuke yelled. The city was 9.8 miles around.

“You gotta be kidding me!” Kit screamed as he kept running. “THIS IS INSANE!” he said at about one mile.

“Kid... you’da never survived training with my master. I carried twenty times as much as you are now through wind, snow, sleet, hail, rain... across ice and mud while dodging crossbow bolts my master fired at my ass and I was still faster than this!” Daisuke told him.

By the time they finished their “little walk” Kit was drenched in sweat from head to foot, so much that he looked like he’d fallen in a pool. “‘Bout time... I got blisters on my ass it took you so long. Now that we’re all good and warmed up let’s get to the tough stuff,” Daisuke laughed. Kit just looked at him.

“I can’t feel my legs,” he answered meekly. Daisuke put him in a leg lock and Kit began to yell.

“Well... ya can feel ‘em now,” Daisuke shrugged as he let Kit go. “Quit lyin’ around... we gotta get back ta trainin’!” Daisuke shouted.

“Really? There’s..... more?” Kit asked.

“Are you kiddin’... that was just to get the old heart a-pumpin’,” Daisuke laughed as he stepped over Kit.

Somehow Kit managed to stand up for his next training. “What do I do here?” Kit asked impatiently.

“This one is kinda tricky, so I’ll have to explain it to you properly. I’m going to attach you legs to this stick using the belt, and you’re gunna walk on your hands, got it?” Daisuke asked him. They hadn’t taken the weighted harness off, so Kit assumed it wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Once Kit was strapped in securely, Daisuke picked up the thing holding his legs. It wasn’t so bad... at first. Kit moved at his own pace for about three steps, but after that Daisuke began pushing him. “Gotta move faster than that kid... your legs are three times stronger than your arms, know why that is? That’s right, way I see it; you walk on your legs,” Daisuke explained. After about four steps Kit was plowing dirt with his teeth. Daisuke scolded him that he was doing it wrong and steered him toward a low, strong looking rock. “Better get back up on your hands soon kid or you’ll be stuck gummin’ your food for the rest of your life,” Daisuke told him as the rock came closer.

Kit managed to just get his hands under him again before they got to the rock, once he was on the other side he lost his footing again. Daisuke started to turn him around and Kit got back on his arms, after that no matter how much his arms burned he decided not fall again.

After about an hour of walking his arms, and one of using his face to trim the grass; Daisuke called their training to a stop for the day, mostly because a bell went off which Kit assumed meant dinner time. “You’re lucky it’s dinner time, hurry up and get to the kitchen,” Daisuke told him.

Kit took a few minutes to catch his breath before he hurried to the kitchen, expecting to find plates and platters filled with food. Instead he found a bunch of ingredients laying out on the counter and everybody working at a different classroom like workstation. “What the hell?” Kit asked Daisuke.

“Pretty simple really... we all have different tastes, so we all cook for ourselves here; this way nobody can complain... and if the food sucks it’s your own fault,” Daisuke explained.

“So, after I’ve nearly killed myself twice trying to train I have to cook my own food?” Kit asked in a worried voice.... Kit didn’t know how to cook.

“There’s really nothin’ to it kid, just grab a buncha crap and get to work; you’ve only got 60 minutes to prepare and eat it,” Daisuke told him as he pushed Kit out of his station and began to work on his own food.

Half an hour later they were sitting at the table and Kit was surveying the other’s dishes. Daisuke had prepared what looked like perfectly sliced sushi, Hitomi had some sort of chicken casserole, the elder had a beauitfully prepared fillet Mignon, Brock had a variety of burgers, hotdogs, and brats grilled to perfection with french fries, Denali had a shrimp and crab gumbo, Katrina had nearly finished her fried chicken breast and penne pasta, Tasha was working on her shrimp scampi, and finally Kisara had a salmon steak. Kit brought a half-burnt chicken and charcoal stir-fry to the table. “Ok so maybe I was wrong kid... you gotta learn to cook for your own survival,” Daisuke laughed as he looked at the black and grey lump in front of Kit.

Kit had been looking at his teacher, so he hadn’t been paying attention to his plate. “I don’t know Daisuke... it tastes about as good as when you started here,” the elder commented. He turned and almost half of what he’d prepared was missing. After that it was a barrage forks, spoons, fingers, and chopsticks sliding what little food remained away from him. In the end he only had a single square of chicken left to eat himself, he grasped it with his chop sticks, but when he lifted it to take a bite a kama came out of nowhere and snatched it away. Kit tried not to cry... and failed miserably.

“Too bitter to be mine,” Daisuke commented as he chomped down on it. “Dinner’s over kid, back to training, I hope you had your fill,” Daisuke smiled as he stood up and they returned to the training yard. “All right, I’m feelin’ good... let’s do this. This exercise is pretty simple, you’re going to do push-ups, I’m gunna sit there with a stick, whenever the stick gets close to your arms you have to jump over it, got it? I’ll do it so you should be at the bottom and the top of the arc when the stick hits,” Daisuke explained

“Sounds pretty simple,” Kit answered with a nod. Inside he was trying not to let his exhaustion and hunger show. Kit got down into position to begin and Daisuke started him off at a decent pace, of one every two seconds. After about a minute Kit was starting to tire of the exercise, but he knew better than to tell Daisuke. He was just getting ready to mention something when Daisuke picked up the stick and instead started using his Ninjato. The pace continued but now if Kit slowed Daisuke would surely cleave a limb. “WARM UP TIME IS DONE!” Daisuke announced as he began to swing the sword back and forth at an inhuman rate... Kit did his best to just clear the blade, and after about another two minutes he was thoroughly exhausted. “ALL RIGHT! FULL SPEED NOW,” Daisuke shouted as he began swinging the blade like a savage, Kit began to stand up, but somebody put their foot on his back and held him down, then he felt the pressure from the foot pressing him back down, it only relinquished when he was down. Kit looked over his shoulder to see Brock standing there holding him down.

“What are you trying to do? Get me killed?” Kit asked irritably.

“I’M HELPING!!!!” Brock answered in an overly excited tone. The pressure on Kit’s back was heavier when he made it back up. The continued for another twenty minutes after Brock began to “help”.

“It’s your first day, so that’s it for me today kid; we took it easy today, but tomorrow we’ll get to the real training. Hitomi wanted to work with you a bit today on the Neijia since it doesn’t require as much strength and you have that fight next week,” Daisuke said as he walked away.

Hitomi met him in one of the circular dirt patches back behind the building, as opposed to the front where Kit did his training with Daisuke. It was an area about six feet in diameter. The reclusive master was waiting for him patiently, she was sitting in the center of the circle with her legs crossed. “Master Hitomi, I am here to train,” Kit told her with a polite bow.

“I know... sit... relax... clear your mind,” Hitomi told him as she opened one eye to look at him and then closed it again. Kit sat down and waited for a while, it was maybe five minutes later he opened his mouth to say something but Hitomi answered first. “Listen to the world around you... feel the ebb and flow of the earth’s energy.... Sit... and listen quietly,” Hitomi instructed him.

Kit sat there for thirty minutes and almost fell asleep at one point, but managed to keep himself awake. “Patience and diligence are the back bone of all martial arts; one doesn’t become a great martial artist overnight, and so you must be patient in your growth and diligent in your training to ensure that you reach your ultimate goal,” Hitomi explained as she stood up.

“That’s deep,” Kit replied as he stood up.

“Was it? Seems to me that you cheapened the worth with that comment,” Hitomi answered serenely. “Neijia are referred to as the ‘internal arts’. They differ from the external arts in one fundamental way. To stop force, instead of using direct and opposite force as with other arts; Neijia instead focus on diverting the force away from your body. I have asked Brock to help me demonstrate the difference,” Hitomi explained as Brock began advancing toward them.

“I’M HELPING!” Brock said happily as he advanced.

“Brock... don’t hold back,” Hitomi instructed the other master. It took a moment, but when he did, Kit could feel the tension in the air, he opened his eyes and they were glowing. Hitomi stood their patiently, her own eyes were closed, but she was radiating calm. “First we’ll demonstrate traditional arts,” Hitomi said calmly. All Kit could see was how relatively lean and petite Hitomi appeared next to Brock who was a menacing giant of muscle. What happened next was too fast for Kit to fully appreciate, but the way he figured it, the Karate master charged at her and sent one punch right at her face, Hitomi threw one hand up and caught him. It was amazing, she opened her eyes and held him at bay without even budging. “As you can see, I’m exerting a lot of energy to keep him from hitting me,” Hitomi instructed him; the effort showing in her voice. “Now, Brock, let’s try this again,” Hitomi suggested as the Karate master started over. He came at her and in a flash she shot out a hand and held his arm at arms length at a different angle. “Do you understand?” Hitomi asked him.

“I understand the theory, but master... I didn’t even see it,” Kit replied.

“You and I will practice it slower, but first you have to learn to ‘turn the circle’,” Hitomi told him. She spent a few minutes explaining the concept. ‘Turning the circle’ was the process of moving in a circle to help divert oncoming enemy attacks. The first thing she taught Kit was how to turn the circle as a form of stance and movement. “Plant you feet firmly, but not so firmly that you can’t move without hindrance. The stance has to be lower... squat more. Yes, like that, now, when you move shift your weight onto the same foot as the direction you want to go and rotate your chest, before taking your other foot behind the one you’re balanced on, then shift your balance to the back foot and reposition  your feet in the same manor as you began,” she explained as she demonstrated it. She was intentionally moving slow enough that Kit could see it, and when he did he understood, the idea was that he would slide around an enemy’s blow. “When used properly this technique can create an opening so that you may strike,” she explained as she had Kit try to hit her. She rotated around his punch and pressed her knuckles softly against his ribs. “You may not always expose a weakness, however, it will keep you from getting killed, next week,” Hitomi explained. She took three hours to help him and demonstrate each and every minute; sometimes he’d get it right, but then his next effort would be wrong. At the end of training with Hitomi he was sweating, just not as heavily as he had with all of Daisuke’s training methods.

“Master Hitomi; I can continue,” he said when she called a close to their training.

“I’m sure you can, Kit, but this training is different from the training Daisuke has in store for you... Neijia don’t require you to have so much strength, speed, or stamina as the other arts do, but moderation is the key in all things... even training,” Hitomi explained before she dismissed him.

When Kit made it back to the main building his 25 pound harness was wearing his haggard body down, and he was starving, but he felt better than he had in a long time. “Hey, kid... let me help you with that harness real quick,” Daisuke offered as Kit approached. It took a few minutes to get it off without getting tangled, but Kit could really feel the difference when he did.

He was just getting used to standing up straight when he felt and even greater weight... he found it tough to move, with this much on him. “I told ya we were takin’ it easy today... 100 pounds ought to help you bulk up faster,” Daisuke explained to Kit’s devastated face. “Tomorrow, we’ll vary the training a bit, but you’ll still have to run... how about 2 laps tomorrow... sounds like a good start,” Daisuke said as the master made his way to his own room. Kit started to reach up to take the harness off when Daisuke turned around. “Oops... almost forgot,” Daisuke laughed as he leaned over... in a flash all the loose ends that undid the harness had pad-locks holding them firmly in place. Daisuke was gone before Kit could protest.

Kit sat there for a moment as he contemplated what he could have done in such a short period of time to make all his masters hate him... except Hitomi of course... she’d been very delicate with him. “They do it because they like you, ya know,” Kisara called to him from on top of the awning, her head dangling over the edge.

“Come again?” Kit said blankly.

“You were talking just then about why they hate you... they don’t... they’re hard on you because they like you,” Kisara explained as she gracefully rolled off the edge of the awning, she used one hand to swing in under. She landed with only a soft puff of dirt. “Oh yeah, before we go... I almost forgot... my uncle had me make you something since you didn’t get to eat very much earlier. I don’t know what you like, so i just made a chicken and shrimp stir-fry like you tried to,” she told him as she handed him a small wooden box with food inside. Kit thought he was going to cry... he’d never been so happy in all his life to see food.

He opened it like it was a treasure chest and examined it’s contents like it was gold before he dug in. He was stunned at first, a symphony of flavors and textures collided and exploded in his mouth. His face must have confounded Kisara because she got somewhat irritable. “If you don’t like it then don’t eat it,” she said angrily.

“NO!” Kit shouted excitedly. “I- I mean... no; it’s- it’s just that it’s so good I was surprised. My house has a chef on the tab, but other than his it’s the best I’ve ever tasted. You’re my age; how did you get so good?” Kit asked.

“Training and practice; just like martial arts. If... if you want me to I could help you learn,” Kisara offered.

Kit was momentarily overcome with emotion... he was going to get to eat tomorrow. “Yes, yes, please please please please please please,” Kit begged her quickly between bites.

“Alright! Stop begging; it’s just too embarrassing,” Kisara commanded him. Kisara walked Kit home that night as well, and once again he ended up eating and doing his homework after he tucked his sister in for the night.

The next day after school he returned to the dojo where he went through the same ordeals as the day before, only more difficult, Daisuke also threw in some new forms of training, like Kit had to lift a fifty pound rock from ground to a chest high, put it on top, and then pull it back down and set it down slowly. Another method used to develop his stomach and back muscles, was invented by Daisuke obviously, He tied Kit’s feet to a pull-up bar, Daisuke stood on top, and rhythmically dropped his Kusarigama, Kama end first, on each side. Kit had to go from using his stomach to hold himself up to using his back to keep from being decapitated. He also began to develop Kit’s other attributes such as his agility and balance.

He used a strange looking set of boards on the ground, when Kit was strapped in he understood, it would loosen his tendons and ligaments in his legs; that was chained to another part that ran all the way up his front side, and down both his arms. Kit asked him what it was and he answered quickly. “Shut up and trust me,” Daisuke explained vaguely. It looked to Kit like he was strapped into some sort of torture device, but he assumed that this was going to be part of his training. “This can be done one of two ways; we can do it fast or we can do it slow... If I had to make a recommendation I’d say go slow, but if you want to do it quick that’ll work,” Daisuke cautioned him.

“Let’s do it the slow way,” Kit said after a moments thought. Daisuke took two chains, one in each hand and placed his back to Kit.

“DAISUKE!!! PHONE CALL... IT SOUNDS LIKE SOMEBODY HAS A JOB FOR YOU!” Kisara called out from down the hall.

“FAST WAY IT IS!” Daisuke announced as he jerked on the chains and linked them to a third ring in the ground. In a flash Kit’s legs were straight... one to either side of his body. He screamed in agony as every part of his legs cried out in pain at the same time, but by far the greatest pain came from his groin; his stomach was facing the ground, though his but was still his base, and his fingers were touching the corresponding toes. The only thought in Kit’s mind was that he was doing the splits... and it hurt just as much as he thought it would, more actually. It was an hour before anybody remembered that he was there... and even then it was only because Daisuke had left the light on when he’d left. He’d just adjusted to the pain when Natasha undid the chains holding him in place, instantly the apparatus snapped back to the original position; which hurt his body equally after having finally adjusted to the prior situation.

Next session they worked on was his sense of balance; Daisuke weighed him down even more than before and took him to yet another creation of his... this time the rooms floor had been rigged with several holes, through each came a roughly two inch metal stepping post. The posts were set up so that when they felt pressure for a certain amount of time they would start to heat up, and to discourage him from stepping down, the floor was basically a giant frying pan, heated to 400 degrees. It was the first time in his life that Kit had ever experienced the pain of singed fur on his face when he fell for the first time, needless to say he didn’t dally long on the floor.

After all of this and his training from the day before he trained with Hitomi again, she worked on improving his skill with the basics from the day before... and such it went every day for a week; until finally the day came.

Kit was nervous as the final bell of the school day rang and he headed toward the locker room for the karate club. His limbs felt like lead, his mind was focused on what was about to happen. Kisara dropped by the locker room door as he was coming out. She had gardening club to attend to; Kit had been helping her with it since everything had happened in his own club, so he understood, but she took a few moments to speak to him.

“Don’t worry about the fight... he can’t possibly kill you, after all; Daisuke hits way harder than some punk kid,” Kisara shrugged as she passed by.

Foxie was there too. “REMEMBER TO PROTECT YOUR PRECIOUS CROTCH... he can break whatever else, just as long as that remains intact,” Foxie begged him. Kit put his hand to his head. After that it was time, and he didn’t have any more room in his head for encouraging words (not that anybody else had any).

It was surprising to Kit just how clear his mind was in that last moment; he wasn’t thinking about what was going to happen... all he could think of was the various forms of training he’d been through. He wasn’t anxious like he thought he might be, he felt... relaxed.

That’s why we trained like that, Hitomi called out in his head, her voice as calm as it ever was in the vastness of his conscience. When at last he stood face to face with Tommy, he felt ready, even if his enemy was twice his size.

“I’m gunna kill you today Sunahama... prepare to die,” Tommy told him as he shook himself.

“Ready?” the judge asked both of them. Kit nodded and Tommy took a step forward.

“WAIT!” somebody yelled as they entered the room. “I’m glad I caught you before the fight... since it’s your first time; I’m gunna take the harness off,” Daisuke said as he walked over to Kit; opened his shirt to reveal the one hundred pound training harness that Daisuke had given him at the end of his first day; Kit had completely forgotten about it. The harness fell to the floor with a loud thud, and Kit felt the weight just melt away... was he always this light. Before he could thank his master, Daisuke was gone.

Kit looked around; people had started to gather... there was quite a crowd screaming for his death at that moment. It was then that the dread he had expected hit him... along with the first punch. His face screamed out in pain, but he managed to keep his composure as he went to the mat... he didn’t have to worry about falling; this was match was set up until one person either submitted or was unable to fight. As his mind came racing back to the present, he couldn’t help but remember a conversation he’d had with Katrina in the past, about how to deal with an aggressive enemy.

I have a theory on this, you might not know it, but statistically speaking, in a match between disciple-class fighters; whoever lands the first punch usually wins the fight. The reason is because disciples are still unused to fighting, so their own confidence is lost when they are hit. My theory is a simple one... let the enemy hit first; show them that you’re not afraid of their punches, even if you’re terrified. After that... make them work for each one, his Taekwondo master had instructed him. He stood up, dusted himself off, and gave Tommy a confident smile. “Oops, guess I should be paying attention, I was so busy worrying about what I’ll have for dinner tonight,” Kit told him. His head might hurt, but Kisara was right... Daisuke DID hit much harder.

Kit then followed the instructions Hitomi had given him to teach him the Neijia; for now it was his only weapon. He stood their patiently and waited for Tommy to come at him again. This time, Kit was paying attention, after all this time with Hitomi, his senses had gotten accustomed to her higher speeds... it was like watching him in slow motion. He followed her instructions to the letter, Tommy was shocked at the result; who wasn’t. One moment Kit looked like he was going to have his head knocked off, and the next he was beside Tommy, with his fist in Tommy’s ribs.

He heard the massive bull let out a slight grunt, and then a crazy laugh. “Not bad, but that was nothing,” Tommy boasted. Kit remained impassive. He took a step back and waited patiently for the inevitable. This time, instead of rotating his body, he waited for the strike, this time a kick, and instead deflected it away from him. Tommy fell down hard when his balance was disrupted. ~

“What’re you doing here Kisara? I figured you’d be at the big fight cheering for Kit,” the club president asked her.

“Oh; well... I might stop by later to see if he’s ok, but I really can’t watch two people without getting the urge to jump in and help one of them,” Kisara explained after a moment. He seemed to accept that answer and so they went back to work. Kisara kept thinking about Kit’s fight and wondering if it was over yet. She was worried, as he was, she didn’t think Kit’s fragile ego could stand it if he lost his fight today. He had a lot of conviction, but sometimes that wasn’t enough; today he wasn’t training with his masters, he wasn’t pulling a sled as he ran, he was in a fight and it was his first one.

“Kisara... what’re you doing? You can’t plant flowers so close to the vegetables... they’ll have a tough time competing with each other for nutrients, you’ve been distracted since you got here. You nearly drowned the daisies when you watered them, you didn’t offer enough fertilizer to the carrots, and you forgot to turn the lights on over the bed of roses when you were done watering them,” the president chastised to her. “We’ve been here for over an hour and your focus has been someplace else the whole time,” he told her.

“Sorry; I guess I’m just too caught up in the fight to work in the greenhouse right now,” she apologized glumly.

“Don’t worry about it; you’re worried about your friend... how about you take off and see if you can help Kit. I’ll finish up here,” he offered.

“Ah... thanks Pablo; I owe you for this,” she said as she took off her gloves and left her apron at the entrance. I’ll give him an hour before I head home, Kisara thought as she waited at their usual after-school meeting place. Odds were the fight had ended a long time ago and Kit had already left for the day. Half an hour later she saw a few kids leaving the building, at first she didn’t think anything of it, but then he heard one of them say something that sounded like “never thought he’d last this long.”

Kisara’s heart leapt in her chest; it’s been almost an hour and a half, surely they aren’t still fighting, she thought. She broke out in a run as she took off for the Karate club’s meeting room. Sure enough, Kit and Tommy both stood there; both looking about to drop.

“DAMMIT! QUIT RUNNING!” Tommy yelled, Kit was quiet, save for the heavy panting.

“No way! If I stand still; you’ll kill me!” Kit answered him.

It looked like either one of them could win at this point; Kisara had to hand it to the big oaf, for only having power; he was still in it, but he looked to be the more exhausted of the two. ~

Even Kit didn’t understand how he’d lasted so long... all he could do was dodge; early on he’d tried hitting Tommy, but it didn’t seem to have any effect on his opponent. Since then he’d just dodged, and deflected, now his arms were too tired to even deflect. Tommy seemed about to collapse too though as he began his next charge. That’s when Kit was hit with an extreme case of deja vu. He’d rushed at Hitomi and tried to hit her, when she’d turned her circle on him she’d grabbed him by his leading wrist, planted one foot in front of his and thus forced him to the ground where she pulled his arm behind his back until he’d surrendered.

It was a snap decision, but he did his best to imitate Hitomi’s movements. He wasn’t near as fast as she had been, but when he pushed, Tommy was off balance, and so he went down hard. Kit wrenched his arm up and used his other arm to hold Tommy’s face to the mat.

“YIELD!” he shouted.

“I-I surrender!” Tommy began to shout as the helplessness of his situation began to hit him.

Afterwards Kit just kinda... blacked out, he kept his consciousness, but only barely. Somebody caught him as he was falling and whispered into his ear. “Those who have the ABILITY to change things, have the RESPONSIBILITY to change them,” the stranger whispered into his ear before Kisara arrived.

“Thank you, I can take him from here,” she thanked the stranger. She lowered him to the floor delicately. It took almost half an hour for everybody to leave and for Kit to recharge.

He stood up ponderously and swayed dangerously before he found his balance. “Kisara... can you pick up my harness and strap it on? I can make it to Ryouzanpaku by myself, but I can’t really feel my arms right now,” Kit asked her. She hurried to put it on securely before she threw one of his arms over he shoulders. He tried to protest.

“You really think I want somebody as smelly and sweaty as you are this close to me... You need my help!” she said bluntly.

“Thanks,” he told her softly. They were on their way out of the door when somebody stopped them.

“Well done today; Sunahama. I’m glad you joined the karate club; I can’t wait to train with you,” the club president told him. He was an intimidating looking person, but at that moment Kit was feeling ten feet tall.

“About that... you wouldn’t help me when you thought I was weak... why should you help me when I’m strong... I quit,” Kit panted to him. The other boys face grew dark, as if he were considering attacking Kit, but Kisara shot him a glance that suggested he better not, and the other boy seemed to think better of it.

When they finally arrived at the dojo all of his masters were waiting eagerly for a report. Kisara explained the outcome, but it didn’t have the effect he had hoped it would.

“He won? I see... well... this changes everything,” Hitomi remarked in a puzzled tone. Daisuke seemed ecstatic.

“PAY UP DENALI! YOU OWE ME YOUR DESERT!” he shouted enthusiastically.

“What does this change?” Kit asked Hitomi.

“Well... we had expected you to lose today... by winning, you’ve forced us to move you to the technique part of our training quicker than we’d expected... it’s gunna be a hell of a lot worse than it has already,” Denali explained... his face seemed to light up at the prospect; as if he blamed Kit for his lost dessert.

\t

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