Flight

He stood alone, the light of northern Japan filtering through the dense canopy of tree cover as he worked on his forms, pensive expression broken only by the tears that streamed from his eyes. He knew that he had run away, left everything and everyone. He had to. How could he face them, his masters, his friends, his classmates. He had failed, in the worst way, and now his anger had turned into a dark, evil aura that glowed with a nascent green hue as his punches continued to accelerate until, in a crescendo of explosive power, he turned the trees 50 meters or more into so much kindling. His anger abated for the evening, he went to collect his pack from the small grove nearby before he continued on his way.

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Black flashed before his eyes for a moment before resolving itself into the dojo. She worked with him on a particularly difficult maneuver, one involving a complex block and grab that positioned her below him. He felt again, not for the first or second, or even millionth time, the tension between them as he began to attempt to force her into ceding his victory. She always had a look, not of expectation, but happiness whenever they worked together, worked this closely. His love for her had only grown, these many months sparring together. Mixed respect, love, adoration and friendship were warring inside him, trying to make sense of these emotions that she could convey. As their grappling continued, he began to hunker down, his shoulders becoming tight and making his muscles begin to weaken. They had been grappling for this more than an hour, and as his face and hers strained together to make the forms work, they approched, closer and closer, until without warning, his back gave, and his head rocked forward just as hers moved to the next position. For one, brief fleeting moment, he felt a warm, sweet taste on his lips, before blackness enveloped him completeley...

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He felt a presense, the distinct tickling at the back of his neck that indicated someone with a great power was nearby. There was no killing intent, but even so he moved more cautiously through the crowed streets of Sapporo. He was still running, he knew, still trying to understand the darkness that was eating at him, making him try to avoid his desires. He would not face them, could not face them. Ducking into an alley, he quickly bounded up some trash cans to get a better view of whoever he had felt.

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He opened his eyes carefully, the pain in his back and neck making even that much effort a chore. He was in his room, laying down on his bed. He must have lost consiousness during training. Who had he been practicing with again? Sudden recent memories flooded back, reminding him of what had happened during their spar. Bright flashes exploded behind his eye as he realized that they had kissed, touched lips together. Looking around, he found her in the corner, curled up with her face in her knees. What had happened after he lost consiousness?

"Miu-san, are you okay?" He called weakly. How long had he been unconsious? Her head flew up, eyes wide with tears as she gazed upon him.

"Kenichi! You woke up!" She moved over to his bedside, her eyes scanning his features for any sign of pain.

"What happened, when did I get moved here?" He asked, noticing the bloodshot look and signs of crying on her face.

Miu looked pale for a moment, then averted her eyes. "How much do you remember after you lost consiousness, Kenichi?" She had asked this tenatively, almost fearfully. What had happened?

"Uhh, I don't remember much of anything..." his words were cut off as Kensei walked in. His face was grave, seeming to be cast under the shadow of his ever present hat.

"You attacked her Kenichi, you raped Miu..." His features were wooden, although behind his eyes Kenichi saw the sad truth of his.

"WHAT?!" were the only words Kenichi was able to get out before Miu burst into tears, fleeing from the room...

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He ran through the sparely wooded corpse of trees, moving as quickly and silently as he could, moving for all his life, running for all his life. His persuer was close behind, he knew. He also knew the consequences of being caught be them. He silently cursed himself for wanting to see who had been following him. No sooner had he reached the top of the building, that he felt the distinctive rush of a sword as his neck.

"Don't... move" Shigure's command had been like iron, even spoken by such a diminutive figure. "You... need to come... back."

Shigure was suddenly buffets back by blows, which while not damaging her, had nonetheless given Kenichi the time to get away.

"Damn" Shigure swore, in a moment of weakness before calling out to her companion "Go after him!"

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The clearing was bright with the midday sun, the trees were just reaching their autum peak before they would lose their summer luster and move into the winter cycle. Kenichi had stopped to rest for just a moment, when suddenly the pressure in the clearing became unbearable. Moving out of the shade of one of the large cypress trees, Miu, in full battle garb, face grim and set, began running at Kenichi, an unidentifiable look crossing her fair features as the battle was joined...

To Be Continued.