Authors Note:
Hello :) It's a miracle! I'm actually uploading something on this thing! This is the first time I've written something creative (other than coursework) for years. I quite like how it's turned out but i'm not sure...
Loosely based of the fact that Chris Colfer is practically a ninja.
Disclaimer: As much as i'd like, i do not in fact, own Glee. (if i did it would be nothing but Klaine...)
Kurt sighed dramatically (even by his standards) "For the love of Gaga, not another Katy Perry number?" He was currently sitting at their regular table in the dining hall, situated opposite Blaine and Wes, and next to David.
"Aw come on Kurt" Blaine practically whined "'Fireworks' would be perfect for regionals."
Kurt rolled his eyes "I'm only suggesting that if we get a bit more variety in our song choices, we could-"He was abruptly cut off by the buzz of his phone. He recognised the ringtone, strange- she doesn't call often…
"Kurt…is that the monkey magic theme tune…?" Wes asked incredulously.
Kurt raised his hand in reply, gesturing for Wes to be quiet as he answered his phone.
"Monkey magic…?" Blaine enquired.
"Cult 80's TV show. Martial arts." David explained.
Kurt shushed his friends. "Hey Sensei. What's up?"
"Sensei?" The Dalton trio exclaimed in unison.
Kurt glared at the boys. "Sorry about that, my friends" He explained to the mysterious 'sensei' "What was it you wanted….yeah…sure….this Saturday? Great, I'll see you then"
Kurt replaced the phone in his pocket, and looked up to find the three boys staring at him, expectantly. Kurt suddenly felt rather uncomfortable. "…what?"
"Care to explain?" Wes asked.
"My Karate instructor needs a hand with the class this Saturday, so I said I'd help her out."
Blaine rose an eyebrow "….you do Karate?"
"I did for a few years, nothing major" Kurt answered dismissively.
Wes and David shared a grin which would put the Cheshire cat to shame.
"I hope you realise…" Wes began.
"...that were coming with you." David finished.
Kurt groaned slightly ….oh Gaga!
The ride to Lima went surprisingly quickly. Possible because the majority of the trip was spent listening to Wes' "Warbler playlist". He'd recently filled his iPod with potential song choices for the Warblers to perform, and the ride was spent either approving or vetoing Wes's sometimes questionable selection of music.
Kurt pulled up to a large gym complex. Blaine had past it a few times on his many travels to Lima, but had never thought much of the place. Only now did he realise just how large and intimidating the place actually seemed. Kurt calmly led the boys inside the gym and into a small dojo on the east side of the building.
"Kurt!" The boys were met by a tall woman with an olive complexion. She was dressed in a black karate suit, complete with a black belt, "Thanks for coming"
"No problem Sensei" Kurt grinned "These are my friends: Blaine, Wes and David."
"Hello gentlemen. I'm Tracey Burns, you guys here to train?"
"I guess so." Blaine answered, he wasn't sure why he felt so nervous….probably because he had the sneaking suspicion the woman could snap him in half, just like a twig, if she wanted…
Kurt rested his hand on Blaine's shoulder reassuringly "Don't worry" He whispered into Blaine's ear "She's a big softy really." Kurt then excused himself, saying he needed to get changed into his uniform. Blaine watched him leave, a faint smile touching his lips.
"So-" Blaine's attention was quickly snapped back to Tracey "I take it you guys are from Kurt's new school?"
"Yes ma'am" Blaine realised that David must be scared of the woman too, usually he wasn't so formal.
"I hope you're taking care of my boy over there. I know he had to move because of all of the problems at his school, and I understand that he had to leave, but I can't help but feel like I've lost one of my best students."
"Speaking of which-" Wes interjected, clearly not as fazed as David or Blaine "What belt is Kurt? Me and Dave were trying to guess most of yesterday, and I wanted to know who won the bet."
Tracey's answer was cut short as a small girl ran past them yelling "Sensei Hummel! Sensei Hummel!"
Blaine turned back towards the entrance to find Kurt dressed in a black suit; identical to the one Tracey was wearing, with a black belt tied around his waist.
"Wow…" Blaine whispered.
"Hey Hannah" Kurt grinned as he picked up the small girl "Oh! You got your blue belt!" He tugged playfully at the girls belt "I'm so proud of you!"
The girl giggled as she was put down, and she skipped off to join a small group of children, running around the hall.
Kurt pulled at the collar of the suit. "Feels weird to be wearing this again" He remarked. "Blaine?...Wes?... David? You guys okay?"
"I think you've knocked them speechless." Tracey commented.
"Yeah, that seems to be happening a lot lately."
Blaine, shell shocked as he was, couldn't help but notice how the smile slipped from Kurt's face, as the younger boy looked around the room. "Kurt? What's wrong?"
Kurt just shook his head "Nothing, just that guy over there….Aizmo."
Tracey raised an eyebrow. "Aizmo Adams? Yeah, he started a few months ago."
Blaine took a good look at the boy in question….oh. "A jock, from McKinley." He stated; his eyes narrowing as he glared at the footballer.
"This one of the guys whose been giving you hassle?" Tracey folded her arms over her chest defensively, clearly pissed off. Kurt was one of her first students; she'd taught him since he was eight years old. As a result, she got rather defensive when someone threatened 'her boy'. Kurt always said she had a bit of a maternal streak.
Kurt simply shook his head again. "It's fine Sensei. Look, it's almost five; you should really start the class now."
Tracey frowned for a moment, then relented. "Alright."
She raised her voice so the rest of the class could hear: "Okay guys. Form a circle!"
The class of around thirty students made a large circle around the room. Blaine stood, feeling rather lost, between Kurt and Wes. He spent the majority of the warm up sneaking glances at Aizmo, who appeared to be staring wide-eyed Kurt, as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Blaine could relate; he still couldn't get over the sight of Kurt in his black suit. It was rather…distracting, actually.
Tracey finished the warm-up, and walked down a line of black belts. "Now gentlemen. I've invited Mr Hummel here today, as your last sparring session was frankly…pathetic." Blaine would swear he just heard Kurt giggle to himself. "And so, I decided to ask for Mr Hummel's assistance in showing you what sparring actually looks like. Kurt?"
She motioned for him to join her in the centre of the circle. He bowed and rather gracefully took his place opposite her.
Tracey motioned for the rest of the class to sit down. "Now. Watch how it's done."
The pair bowed to each other, and each took up a fighting stance. Kurt kept his stance low, bending his legs, whilst keeping his hands in tight fists, close to his face. The two were still for a moment, just watching each other. The room suddenly became very tense.
Suddenly, Tracey leapt forward with a straight jab, aimed at Kurt's ribs. A split second before she made contact, Kurt dropped to the floor, spinning as he extended his right leg out, knocking both Tracey's legs from under her. Tracey fell flat on her back, but swiftly rolled onto the palms of her hands, flipping herself onto her feet. She came towards Kurt again. Kurt stepped backwards, ducking to avoid a quick succession of punches and kicks. He almost lost his balance, but regained his footing by executing a quick cartwheel backwards, followed by a backflip, getting him safely out of Tracey's range. He bent his knees low, and leapt forwards with a jumping kick, which Tracey blocked with her forearms. As he landed, Kurt followed with a high kick, reaching Tracey's head. Tracey grabbed his leg before it made contact, and swept his other leg from under him. Kurt crashed to the floor, and pushed himself out of the way, before he received a kick to the stomach. He rolled back onto his feet. He was starting to breathe a little heavier now. He caught one of Tracey's punches, stepping forwards; he twisted her arm and flipped her. She recovered quickly, and retaliated with a quick jab, aimed at Kurt's head-
She noticed something waiver in Kurt's resolve; he wasn't looking at her anymore. Instead he was frozen in place, staring at the doorway. Tracey had to pull her punch before she broke Kurt's nose.
"Oh look!" Came a voice from the entrance. "I didn't know the little fag could fight so well."
Blaine jumped up to his feet as he recognised Karofsky among a group of jocks entering the dojo. Wes and David quickly followed suit, and the trio were about to confront the jocks. But Tracey interjected before Blaine could speak.
"Excuse me gentlemen, and trust me I use the term 'gentlemen' lightly, but what are you doing in my dojo?" Her voice was dripping with venom with every word.
Aizmo stood up from his position, uncharacteristically nervous, "They're my friends miss. They were supposed to meet me after class…guess they came early…"
"Well." She turned to face the offending group. "I would appreciate it if you would all get the hell out of my gym." When the group didn't move she furrowed her brow and growled. "Now!"
The group sneered but reluctantly left. Karofsky was the last to leave, taking one last look at Kurt, who was still frozen in place, before he left.
Tracey turned to face Aizmo. "And you? Are you staying? Or are you leaving with your 'friends'?"
Aizmo thought about it for a moment. "….staying…Sensei."
"Good." Tracey sighed, and took a moment to compose herself. "Class! Partner off and practise sparring like you've just been shown."
As the rest of the class obeyed their teachers' instructions, Blaine (followed by Wes and David) ran up to Kurt. Blaine rested his hands on the boy's shoulders, for the first time he noticed that Kurt was shaking.
"Kurt…?"
Kurt looked up, looking Blaine in the eye, then shook his head. "I'm fine." Blaine just sighed, one day Kurt would tell him how he really felt…
Once she saw that the class was settled, Tracey walked over to the boys. "You alright Kurt?"
"Fine." Kurt repeated. "If you'll excuse me. I don't think I'll stay for the whole class. I'll go get changed."
Tracey nodded her head in response and gave a reassuring smile as he walked past her towards the changing rooms.
"Odd…" Wes remarked, once Kurt was out of earshot. "He's a black belt, a good fighter from what we just saw, but those guys leave him terrified."
Tracey shrugged her shoulders. "It's a different kind of courage. Kurt would tell you this himself. It's one thing to be confident in your own dojo. Somewhere you feel safe, comfortable, somewhere you're respected. It's a completely different feeling when you're out of your depths. You can be the best fighter in the world, but if someone scares you enough. I mean real, crippling fear. Then you don't stand a chance."
Blaine suddenly felt a great deal of fondness for the woman. She obviously cared a lot about Kurt, and he understood exactly what she meant; in a way Wes or David, who had never been bullied, never could.
Kurt returned in record time, dressed in tight black jeans and a simple white shirt. He'd let all of his accessorise in his bag, definitely in a hurry to leave thought Blaine.
Tracey called to one of the black belts, telling him to watch the class as she accompanied Kurt and his friends to the car. Kurt protested that this wasn't necessary, but she merely waved her hands in dismissal. As they walked out of the dojo, Tracey grabbed a sword which resting against the wall, and placed it in her belt. Blaine raised an eyebrow at the woman's behaviour, but she simply winked at him in response.
Blaine quickly understood, as the group left the building, and saw the group of jocks standing in the car park, blocking the path to Kurt's car.
Tracey took the lead as they walked towards the car. Casually pulling the sword out of its sheath. Only a fraction. But enough to send a warning.
Tracey kissed Kurt on the cheek, and shook Wes and David's hands before they leapt into the car. As she reached for Blaine's hand, she pulled him in close.
"Take care of my boy okay?"
"Of course." Blaine meant it.
As Kurt pulled away from the car park, the four boys sat I'm an awkward silence, until Blaine finally broke the tension.
"Kurt….you are amazing back there… remind me never to piss you off."
Kurt smiled for the first time in what felt like an age. "Thank you…"