p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Summary: Everything starts somewhere, their stories started with this.../p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As Tommy Oliver took a look around the playground, he was overcome by a strange sort of sinking in his stomach. The six year frowned and despite himself found himself inching closer to his mother, trying not to hide per say behind her but not particularly being very adventurous either in the new place./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Oliver family had only recently moved to Angel Grove, an event caused mostly by a new job; the two older members were settling in well enough, neither finding issue with socializing and getting used to the new town. The problem ultimately was in their only son. Tommy was by nature a friendly child, outgoing, kind; being adopted his time with other kids was not always easy or fun but he was not really the type to let that get to him. He was clever, he enjoyed karate which he practiced with a fervor that though he was still young and learning pointed towards him one day being one of the best there was, and unfortunately was not quite willing today to finally try to get assimilated. Personally he wanted to go back to practicing, he was pretty sure he almost had the tornado kick down, but his mother had told him that today they were going to the park. Which truthfully was exactly where they were at: a park, in front of a playground full of kids, screaming, running, laughing,being kids. Tommy would be lying if he said he wasn't interested just a bit, he hadn't played with others since moving and they did all look to be having fun; he glanced up at his mother and she gave a gentle sweet smile, the sort mothers always give when trying to reassure a child they thought was acting silly. She leaned down to his level and he watched her carefully, "It's okay Tommy, go on and play I'll be right over there."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She indicated a bench a few feet away, another mother already sitting there tending to her own child, setting a band aid on the child's knee then kissing them in the forehead. It wasn't terribly far from the lay equipment, easy sight for them both, and though still he didn't like this he found himself nodding an affirmation, as if to agree to this. He even smiled at her and she patted his hair, messing up his slightly long brown hair; Tommy liked his hair longer rather than short and was vaguely aware of his luckiness in having parents who allowed that. He made a face and with that his mother walked off, leaving the young would-be martial artist to the new environment and the fate before him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Tommy looked around once more before deciding to try making his way forward; a few kids almost ran into him as they played what seemed to be tag. He sidestepped out of the way, blinking as they, completely oblivious, ran by laughing. He was glad at least that they hadn't succeeded./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was in that moment when he had stopped and watched the kids run by that he first heard it. At first it just sounded like more laughter, just another bunch of kids having fun in a sea of them on this nice summer day. To anyone else it might have sounded like just happy fun, but Tommy knew this laughter; he'd heard it back in his old town, when he'd get pushed to the ground, soon before he'd had to have his hair cut short because of gum that had been "accidentally" stuck in it, when he'd have been ganged up on and could only remember that he was capable of fighting but couldn't because karate is not meant to be used on weaker opponents. Even if those weaker opponents are older and bigger than you. Tommy was well aware of what that laughter meant and like a shot the child ran towards where it seemed to be coming from, something in him just not liking it, just not tolerating it continuing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Under some trees a few minutes run from the playground, away from the prying eyes of adults, a group of kids were huddled around, laughing and kicking at something on the ground. Words were being shouted, insults, names; "freak" seemed to feature quite prominently. Tommy slowed a few steps from the group and found that yes, they were mostly boys bigger than him. And the rest were girls bigger than him. Pursing his lips though and clenching his fists the six year old called out, "Hey, stop that!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"At first the group didn't seem to hear him, or the very least did not care; a part of his brain told him he shouldn't, that the smart thing would be to run now, find someone to play with, that part was drowned out by the voice telling him it's not fair to let them just gang up on another kid, that helping the helpless was a good use of his skills. He yelled again louder, "Hey! I said stop it!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"This time seemed to get their attention; the bullies stopped and turned to look at him, sneers and glares and other nasty looks now focused on him. Tommy stood his ground, speaking once more, "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The kids were notably older than him and bigger, yet as they looked at one another then advanced upon him it seemed they decided he was close enough. Tommy frowned and took up a fighting stance, trying to swallow what fear started to bellow up from inside him; from behind the bullies there seemed to be movement but Tommy's attention soon had to return to the issue before him as the first few jumped./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They were not trained fighters; they were kids, picking on other kids on the playground. The extent of their abilities extended to punches and kicks and hair pulling, and unfortunately Tommy had enough hair to be worth pulling./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Whatcha say girly boy?" One voice taunted as he quickly dodged one punch, trying not to jump into another as he did./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Look at him, looking like his mama's never cut his hair. You look like a girl," said another and Tommy felt someone grab his hair./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He tried to get free but whoever it was had quite the grip. He frowned. "Let go!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You interrupted our freak hunt; you better be prepared to take the little weirdo's place," said a third voice and his hair was pulled./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Tommy tried to fight back, use what he knew but even as he made contact all that happened was more laughter and he got hit in the stomach harshly. He was used to pain to a good degree, all the times he practiced, how good he'd actually gotten, it wasn't without injury and falls, failure and pain. But it wasn't that that bothered him so much; rather he couldn't quite believe that with all his training he couldn't do more than make the gang laugh as he struck out at them. He had tried to help whoever it was being picked on before but now it seemed he needed the help./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Aaaaaaah-ouch!" One of the bullies yelped and pulled away, mostly by confusion it seemed. Honestly Tommy was confused too, glancing up as the rest paused to see what was going on./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Another yelped and all Tommy could see from behind the bullies was what looked to be the glance of blue plastic before another bully yelped. Tommy saw his chance, with his hair released and attention away from him, to sneak away; he ducked under one as they tried to get away from whatever it was swatting them. It seemed no serious harm was being done but it was bothersome and did seem to sting; the group scattered and ran, appearing to decide beating up on Tommy was not worth this. He blinked, watching this and wondered if he should be insulted by this or not but decided that really it didn't matter. He instead took the chance to see if he could find out more about what had been bothering the bullies./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It seemed to be a girl. She was the only other one left, standing there with a toy sword clenched in her hands; the "blade" was blue. She looked no older than Tommy though smaller than the karate student; the long green sundress she wore looked like it had seen better days, coveted in dirt and leaves, a few tears here and there. The girl herself looked no less scruffed up, scratched up, dirty, bruised and cut, her long black hair littered with twigs and leaves; something told him she was the one they'd been picking on. It was probably her eyes; they were not green or blue or hazel or even brown like his. Crimson, they were red and at first he thought he could understand why they called her a freak but he dismissed that. It wasn't nice to call people freaks and as her own look of confusion and shock turned to a bright smile, he thought for a second that she was weird to attack bullies and sort of cute./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He smiled back at her as she slipped her sword under a piece of cloth wrapped around her waist then spoke, "Are you okay?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I should be asking you that," he said and pulled a twig out of her hair./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She pouted, "I'm fine, they always do that. Daddy says they just are jealous but he's my daddy, that's what he's supposed to think. Didn't hurt you much did they?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Tommy shook his head and the smile returned before she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him. He blinked, not really used to such things from other kids but heard her speak again, "Thank you for helping me, it was very kind and nice and I thought you looked really cool when you challenged them, all ninja like and awesome!~"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Tommy blushed some, not sure what to say to that. She let go and beamed up at him; he rubbed his head. "No problem?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He paused a moment before continuing, "Thank you for scaring them off with your sword."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Daddy says a swordsman should protect people with their blade," she said nodding, head held high, "I'm not too good yet but one day I'm gonna protect everyone with my sword."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He smiled, unable to help it; it was like him. He had no sword but he wanted to learn martial arts to protect himself but also the people he cared for. He wanted to be strong enough to do that much and seeing another with the same wish, in this strange new town, it was nice to tell the truth./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You seemed pretty good with it already."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She shook her head. "That was just swinging. I can do much better and Daddy can do much MUCH better. Wanna see?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"An excited gleam was in her eyes and he nodded enthusiastically; she drew her sword again and he spoke, "My name's Tommy, and you?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She looked at him and beamed, "It's..."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Nine years later/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alright as it's the start of a new year and new classmates how about we introduce ourselves?" The teacher said smiling at her students. It was par the course, the usual minigame of standing up and saying hello, your name, some "fun" fact about you. Nevermind that many of the students already knew each other, they may be newly high school students but they had for the most part come from the same junior highs; there were only two in Angel Grove./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A collective groan blew over the whole first period English class but begrudgingly students stood and did exactly that: said hello, said their name and said something fun about them. Tommy Oliver watched each stand up and speak, smiling some as some of his friends did so; though he'd known almost everyone in the room since moving to the town almost a decade before, he still enjoyed hearing some of the things they had to say about themselves. Bulk and Skull, two somewhat ineffective troublemakers rarely found apart, were usually good for a few laughs./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As the boy next to him finished his introduction, sitting back down and nudging Tommy, he realized it was his turn. He got up quickly, almost knocking over his desk, and spoke, "Oh hey, my name's Tommy Oliver, though of course most of you already know that. A fun fact about me? Hm well I'm a black belt in karate, I've been practicing most of my life. Actually me and Jason plan on teaching some classes at the youth center if anyone are interested in learning."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah come join us," the boy next to him piped up and the other students started to murmur and laugh a bit./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The teacher chuckled. "Alright boys, you can advertise for your class later. You may sit down Tommy."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Tommy smiled and did just that; to his other side another person stood up. It was slow and careful, and he looked up at them as they spoke, "Hi. I'm Tsukkuyomi Kokuryuu though you can call me Tsuki. I prefer Tsuki. But like Tommy, you should all already know that. My fun fact?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A smile graced their face and Tommy smiled as well as they looked at him, crimson meeting brown again, "Well I'm no ninja like my bestie here but I'm a kenjutsu student, that's Japanese swords art to you all. I also can bake some mean cookies."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"There was laughter and she sat back down, still smiling some and reached over to pat Tommy's head, "A ninja and a samurai, that's us."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm not a ninja, how many times do I have to say that?" He said though he did laugh some. After all, after nine years of it, one gets used to such things./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As Tommy Oliver took a look around the playground, he was overcome by a strange sort of sinking in his stomach. The six year frowned and despite himself found himself inching closer to his mother, trying not to hide per say behind her but not particularly being very adventurous either in the new place./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The Oliver family had only recently moved to Angel Grove, an event caused mostly by a new job; the two older members were settling in well enough, neither finding issue with socializing and getting used to the new town. The problem ultimately was in their only son. Tommy was by nature a friendly child, outgoing, kind; being adopted his time with other kids was not always easy or fun but he was not really the type to let that get to him. He was clever, he enjoyed karate which he practiced with a fervor that though he was still young and learning pointed towards him one day being one of the best there was, and unfortunately was not quite willing today to finally try to get assimilated. Personally he wanted to go back to practicing, he was pretty sure he almost had the tornado kick down, but his mother had told him that today they were going to the park. Which truthfully was exactly where they were at: a park, in front of a playground full of kids, screaming, running, laughing,being kids. Tommy would be lying if he said he wasn't interested just a bit, he hadn't played with others since moving and they did all look to be having fun; he glanced up at his mother and she gave a gentle sweet smile, the sort mothers always give when trying to reassure a child they thought was acting silly. She leaned down to his level and he watched her carefully, "It's okay Tommy, go on and play I'll be right over there."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She indicated a bench a few feet away, another mother already sitting there tending to her own child, setting a band aid on the child's knee then kissing them in the forehead. It wasn't terribly far from the lay equipment, easy sight for them both, and though still he didn't like this he found himself nodding an affirmation, as if to agree to this. He even smiled at her and she patted his hair, messing up his slightly long brown hair; Tommy liked his hair longer rather than short and was vaguely aware of his luckiness in having parents who allowed that. He made a face and with that his mother walked off, leaving the young would-be martial artist to the new environment and the fate before him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Tommy looked around once more before deciding to try making his way forward; a few kids almost ran into him as they played what seemed to be tag. He sidestepped out of the way, blinking as they, completely oblivious, ran by laughing. He was glad at least that they hadn't succeeded./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was in that moment when he had stopped and watched the kids run by that he first heard it. At first it just sounded like more laughter, just another bunch of kids having fun in a sea of them on this nice summer day. To anyone else it might have sounded like just happy fun, but Tommy knew this laughter; he'd heard it back in his old town, when he'd get pushed to the ground, soon before he'd had to have his hair cut short because of gum that had been "accidentally" stuck in it, when he'd have been ganged up on and could only remember that he was capable of fighting but couldn't because karate is not meant to be used on weaker opponents. Even if those weaker opponents are older and bigger than you. Tommy was well aware of what that laughter meant and like a shot the child ran towards where it seemed to be coming from, something in him just not liking it, just not tolerating it continuing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Under some trees a few minutes run from the playground, away from the prying eyes of adults, a group of kids were huddled around, laughing and kicking at something on the ground. Words were being shouted, insults, names; "freak" seemed to feature quite prominently. Tommy slowed a few steps from the group and found that yes, they were mostly boys bigger than him. And the rest were girls bigger than him. Pursing his lips though and clenching his fists the six year old called out, "Hey, stop that!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"At first the group didn't seem to hear him, or the very least did not care; a part of his brain told him he shouldn't, that the smart thing would be to run now, find someone to play with, that part was drowned out by the voice telling him it's not fair to let them just gang up on another kid, that helping the helpless was a good use of his skills. He yelled again louder, "Hey! I said stop it!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"This time seemed to get their attention; the bullies stopped and turned to look at him, sneers and glares and other nasty looks now focused on him. Tommy stood his ground, speaking once more, "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The kids were notably older than him and bigger, yet as they looked at one another then advanced upon him it seemed they decided he was close enough. Tommy frowned and took up a fighting stance, trying to swallow what fear started to bellow up from inside him; from behind the bullies there seemed to be movement but Tommy's attention soon had to return to the issue before him as the first few jumped./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They were not trained fighters; they were kids, picking on other kids on the playground. The extent of their abilities extended to punches and kicks and hair pulling, and unfortunately Tommy had enough hair to be worth pulling./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Whatcha say girly boy?" One voice taunted as he quickly dodged one punch, trying not to jump into another as he did./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Look at him, looking like his mama's never cut his hair. You look like a girl," said another and Tommy felt someone grab his hair./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He tried to get free but whoever it was had quite the grip. He frowned. "Let go!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You interrupted our freak hunt; you better be prepared to take the little weirdo's place," said a third voice and his hair was pulled./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Tommy tried to fight back, use what he knew but even as he made contact all that happened was more laughter and he got hit in the stomach harshly. He was used to pain to a good degree, all the times he practiced, how good he'd actually gotten, it wasn't without injury and falls, failure and pain. But it wasn't that that bothered him so much; rather he couldn't quite believe that with all his training he couldn't do more than make the gang laugh as he struck out at them. He had tried to help whoever it was being picked on before but now it seemed he needed the help./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Aaaaaaah-ouch!" One of the bullies yelped and pulled away, mostly by confusion it seemed. Honestly Tommy was confused too, glancing up as the rest paused to see what was going on./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Another yelped and all Tommy could see from behind the bullies was what looked to be the glance of blue plastic before another bully yelped. Tommy saw his chance, with his hair released and attention away from him, to sneak away; he ducked under one as they tried to get away from whatever it was swatting them. It seemed no serious harm was being done but it was bothersome and did seem to sting; the group scattered and ran, appearing to decide beating up on Tommy was not worth this. He blinked, watching this and wondered if he should be insulted by this or not but decided that really it didn't matter. He instead took the chance to see if he could find out more about what had been bothering the bullies./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It seemed to be a girl. She was the only other one left, standing there with a toy sword clenched in her hands; the "blade" was blue. She looked no older than Tommy though smaller than the karate student; the long green sundress she wore looked like it had seen better days, coveted in dirt and leaves, a few tears here and there. The girl herself looked no less scruffed up, scratched up, dirty, bruised and cut, her long black hair littered with twigs and leaves; something told him she was the one they'd been picking on. It was probably her eyes; they were not green or blue or hazel or even brown like his. Crimson, they were red and at first he thought he could understand why they called her a freak but he dismissed that. It wasn't nice to call people freaks and as her own look of confusion and shock turned to a bright smile, he thought for a second that she was weird to attack bullies and sort of cute./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He smiled back at her as she slipped her sword under a piece of cloth wrapped around her waist then spoke, "Are you okay?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I should be asking you that," he said and pulled a twig out of her hair./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She pouted, "I'm fine, they always do that. Daddy says they just are jealous but he's my daddy, that's what he's supposed to think. Didn't hurt you much did they?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Tommy shook his head and the smile returned before she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him. He blinked, not really used to such things from other kids but heard her speak again, "Thank you for helping me, it was very kind and nice and I thought you looked really cool when you challenged them, all ninja like and awesome!~"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Tommy blushed some, not sure what to say to that. She let go and beamed up at him; he rubbed his head. "No problem?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He paused a moment before continuing, "Thank you for scaring them off with your sword."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Daddy says a swordsman should protect people with their blade," she said nodding, head held high, "I'm not too good yet but one day I'm gonna protect everyone with my sword."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He smiled, unable to help it; it was like him. He had no sword but he wanted to learn martial arts to protect himself but also the people he cared for. He wanted to be strong enough to do that much and seeing another with the same wish, in this strange new town, it was nice to tell the truth./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You seemed pretty good with it already."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She shook her head. "That was just swinging. I can do much better and Daddy can do much MUCH better. Wanna see?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"An excited gleam was in her eyes and he nodded enthusiastically; she drew her sword again and he spoke, "My name's Tommy, and you?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"She looked at him and beamed, "It's..."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Nine years later/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alright as it's the start of a new year and new classmates how about we introduce ourselves?" The teacher said smiling at her students. It was par the course, the usual minigame of standing up and saying hello, your name, some "fun" fact about you. Nevermind that many of the students already knew each other, they may be newly high school students but they had for the most part come from the same junior highs; there were only two in Angel Grove./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A collective groan blew over the whole first period English class but begrudgingly students stood and did exactly that: said hello, said their name and said something fun about them. Tommy Oliver watched each stand up and speak, smiling some as some of his friends did so; though he'd known almost everyone in the room since moving to the town almost a decade before, he still enjoyed hearing some of the things they had to say about themselves. Bulk and Skull, two somewhat ineffective troublemakers rarely found apart, were usually good for a few laughs./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As the boy next to him finished his introduction, sitting back down and nudging Tommy, he realized it was his turn. He got up quickly, almost knocking over his desk, and spoke, "Oh hey, my name's Tommy Oliver, though of course most of you already know that. A fun fact about me? Hm well I'm a black belt in karate, I've been practicing most of my life. Actually me and Jason plan on teaching some classes at the youth center if anyone are interested in learning."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah come join us," the boy next to him piped up and the other students started to murmur and laugh a bit./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The teacher chuckled. "Alright boys, you can advertise for your class later. You may sit down Tommy."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Tommy smiled and did just that; to his other side another person stood up. It was slow and careful, and he looked up at them as they spoke, "Hi. I'm Tsukkuyomi Kokuryuu though you can call me Tsuki. I prefer Tsuki. But like Tommy, you should all already know that. My fun fact?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A smile graced their face and Tommy smiled as well as they looked at him, crimson meeting brown again, "Well I'm no ninja like my bestie here but I'm a kenjutsu student, that's Japanese swords art to you all. I also can bake some mean cookies."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"There was laughter and she sat back down, still smiling some and reached over to pat Tommy's head, "A ninja and a samurai, that's us."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm not a ninja, how many times do I have to say that?" He said though he did laugh some. After all, after nine years of it, one gets used to such things./p