Ku Fei glanced down the street. He skilled senses told her that someone was following her, but whoever it was, was doing a good job of staying hidden. Oh well, if they attacked then she was sure she could handle them. Anyway, she had shopping to do, it was Negi sensei's birthday. She should probably stop calling him sensei, it had been seven years since she had graduated from his class. Still, it was kind of a habbit.
She spotted a tea shop nearby and headed for it. It had several rows near the front window full of antique tea pots, several in the classic european style. She began browsing but something out the window caught her eye. A tree on the opposite side of the street stood in front of a recycling bin. There was no one vissable on either side of the tree, but there was clearly a person reflected in the recycling bin. The next moment they dissappeared, but it had been long enough for Ku to get a look at the color of their hair and skin. Was it even possible, or was it just her imagination? She shook her head and continued browsing.
After she had baught a tea pot, one with a long, swan-head handle, she headed down the street to pick up a few groceries. Just as she was about to reach the store, she heard a footstep behind her. That was it, she was tired of this person following her. Also, she secretly admitted to herself, she desperately wanted to believe what she had thought she'd seen. She turned to face her stalker.
"Ku Fei, we have come to challange you to a match," said the cosest person in a group of heavily muscled men. She sighed, not who she had thought but not exactly unexpected. She was always getting challanged to fights, ever since she had first arrived at Mahora. She put down the bag with the tea pot in it and took her stance. "Fine," she said, and waited for them to make their move.
They all came at her at once, which was the smartest thing to do, but it still wouldn't work. The first one to reach her recieved a roundhouse kick to the side and went tumbling into another of his comrades. Two more attempted to get behind her and were rewarded with an elbow to their respective stomachs. Without even pausing she brought her right knee into the torso of a particularly large thug, and he colapsed on two of the other unlucky attackers. She had taken about half of them out and hadn't even broken a sweat yet.
Another man launched a punch aimed at her head, clearly they weren't playing around. However, Ku ducked and moved in close to her opponent, with a sharp poke to his abdomen he went down. She lept over his unconscious form and kicked another two men, taking them both out. Finaly there were only two left, and they both moved to either side of her. Knowing she couldn't take them both out at once, she went after the guy on her right. She hit him in the chest, then kicked around the guys neck and sent him flying at the guy to her left, who was coming at her head first at that point. The flew backwards into a building and slid to the ground.
Ku brushed the dust from her outfit and headed back toward where she had layed the bag down. As she knelt down to pick it up, she could hear one of her fallen opponents rise to their feet right behind her. She turned to take him out again, but knew she wouldn't be able to turn around in time. All of a sudden, she heard a loud thud and knew the man had been knocked down again. She couldn't see the face of the person standing over the thug, but the hair was familiar and she would've recognized the sword anywhere.
"It really you," she said, a smile spreading across her face. "How is it possible?" "It's the future, anything's possible," said the other woman as she turned to face Ku. Chao had changed a lot, but not so much that she could be mistaken for someone else. "Chao!" Ku said, and thrust her arms around her former classmate. "Why you were following me?" she asked, looking up at the taller woman. "I guess it was just old habbits kicking in," said Chao, that familiar grin gracing the features of her face.
"So, why did you come to see me?" Ku asked, trying to hide the blush. Chao thought for a moment. "I guess, of all of the people at the school you were the one I missed the most," she said. A moment passed between them before Ku finally knelt back down and picked up the bag with the tea pot. "How long are you staying this time?" "I can stay as long as I want," Chao said. "How about helping me shopping?" Ku asked. "Ok," Chao said, taking the other woman's arms in her own. Ku smiled. "And you can come with me to Negi sensei's birthday, and then..., and then..." Chao smiled too, and took a deep breath. It was good to be back.
Together, arm in arm, they walked down the street.