I sighed and hunched my shoulders to try and stay warm. It wasn't actually that cold outside, but it was dark and winter was a few weeks away, so it wasn't exactly warm either. I glared at anyone and everyone, the cold making me irritated. I wasn't particularly paying attention to where I was going, so I wound up bumping into someone.

"Watch where you're walking," I growled, glaring up at the older male. I began to go around him and muttered 'dumbass' under my breath. I guess that wasn't the smartest move, since I soon found myself shoved up against an ally wall, five angry teenagers glaring at me.

They all looked to be second or third years in high school, at least two years older than I was. I knew I wouldn't get anywhere with them when I smelled the alcohol on their breath. 'Great,' I thought, 'drunken morons just itching for someone to beat up. This just isn't my night.'

I struggled and tried to get myself free, clawing at the arm holding me up and kicking wildly. I felt my foot connect and smirked when one of them cursed, but grunted in pain when I was slammed back against the wall. "Let me go you bastards!" I yelled, struggling again. This time I kicked up and hit the arm that was holding me.

The grip loosened as the teen cursed but it still wasn't enough to get me free. I started struggling harder but froze when a knife was pointed at me. "You're gonna pay for that ya little bastard," The teen holding me growled.

"Burn?" My head turned along with the teens' to the newcomer. 'Fuck,' I thought, 'what the hell's Reize doing here?'

"What's it look like?" I asked, struggling again. I stopped when the knife was put inches from my face.

Reize tilted his head to the side and said, "It looks like you're about to get hurt." Had I not had a knife right in front of my face I would have slammed my palm into my forehead.

"Get out of here Reize," I said, my voice hitching a little when the knife came closer. I wanted to add a glare, but I was too focused on the knife. I glanced out of the corner of my eye and frowned when Reize move toward me. "Damn it Reize," I growled, turning to him, "I said get the fuck out of here!"

One of the teens turned toward Reize and smirked. "You heard 'im," he said, "leave." He grinned and punched me so hard my head smacked into the wall and I saw stars for a moment. "Unless you wanna end up like your little friend here." He and the other teens laughed.

My breath hitched and I nearly stopped breathing when the knife was place by my neck. I was so focused on the knife I didn't see what happened next, but I was suddenly released and the teens were cursing and swinging at Reize.

I gasped and rubbed my neck as I looked up. I think my jaw dropped as I watched Reize easily avoid their punches and deliver a few of his own, knocking the teens down or even unconscious. 'What the hell?' I thought as I watched. My eyes widened when I saw the teen with the knife remember that he had a knife. I opened my mouth to warn Reize but no sound came out. I watched with an open mouth and wide eyes as the knife came down. Just when I thought Reize was going to get stabbed, he whirled around, caught the wrist of the hand holding the knife, twisted it back so the teens arm bent backwards and up and forced him into dropping the knife before moving the teen to block a punch from one of his friends, successfully having it knock him out.

He dropped the unconscious teen and twisted to the right while grabbing hold of the closest teens shirt. As he turned he bent forward and used his momentum to flip the teen over his shoulder and ram head first into the wall. I watched in shock as all of this happened within seconds.

The remaining teens seemed to realize they were outmatched and grabbed their fallen friends before running, cursing me and Reize as they left. Reize sighed and straightened his clothes before kneeling down in front of me. He gently grabbed my chin in one hand and lifted my face up, winching at what he saw. I came to my senses when he gently touched my left eye and pain coursed through my body.

"Fuck," I cried, batting his hand away and closing my good eye. I bent my head back, only to bring it up with a hiss when it hit the wall behind me. Cursing, I bent forward and held the back of my head with my hands.

I stayed like that until the pain subsided a little. When I looked back up with the only eye that I could open, I found Reize coming back toward me with something in his hands. "Hold still," He said, placing one hand on my chin and having me look up. He took whatever was in his other hand and gently placed it on my throbbing eye. It was cold and helped numb the pain a bit. "Here," He said, moving one of my hands to hold whatever was on my eye. "Now let me see your head."

I grumbled, but let him do as he pleased. I tilted my head down and felt him brush apart my hair so he could see better. I heard him hiss and knew I was bleeding. "This may sting," He said quietly and I heard the rustle of plastic and then silence for a few seconds. The next thing I felt was pain. I let out a string of curse words and tried to move but Reize was pretty strong when he wanted to be hand kept my head still, avoiding touching my eye or the cut on my head.

I gave one last jerk before the pain subsided and I slumped, grumbling under my breath. I closed my good eye with a sigh when I felt something cool against where the pain had been. Reize took his hands away and came back around to my front, holding out a hand to help me up. I glared at him the best I could but took his hand anyway.

He grabbed my arm when my knees buckled and I nearly fell after standing. I leaned against him as the spots began clearing from my vision. When he was sure I was able to stand again, Reize went to pick up his bags and we headed for Sun Garden in silence.

I followed Reize inside and we took off our shoes before heading inside. Hitomiko-san called us into the kitchen where dinner was going on and I sighed, prepared for the worst. I glared as best I could at the others when they stared at me and growled when some started laughing.

"What happened?" Hitomiko-san asked and I looked away.

"He protected me," Reize said easily and I whipped my head around to stare at him is disbelief. 'Why the hell is he lying?' I thought. Reize ignored my stare and continued on. "I accidently bumped into some people and spilled their drinks on them. They got mad at me and Burn stopped them from hurting me."

'He's just making himself sound like a pathetic weakling!' I thought as I listened. 'And he's turning me into some hero when I froze up the second they pulled a knife. I couldn't even make a fucking sound when they were about to stab him!'

Hitomiko-san looked at me and I found myself nodding without thinking. She raised an eyebrow but didn't anything. Instead, she told Reize to join the others at the table while she took a look at my eye. She took off whatever Reize had put on it and set it aside before lifting my head up and turning it left and right.

"It'll be swollen for a while," She said, "But since you put the meat on it right away it shouldn't puff up as much as it would have. I'll give you some pain medication before you go to bed, so go and join the others."

I nodded and went to the table, stabbing a piece of meat on my fork. 'No wonder they were laughing,' I thought bitterly, 'I was walking around with a fucking piece of meat on my face.'

I nearly snorted when I saw Gran checking Reize over for any 'injuries'. I smirked to myself when Reize smacked his hand away, telling him he was fine and to eat.

"So," Gazelle said after dinner. He was leaning against my desk, smirk on his face. The bastard. "I thought you hated Reize. What made you help him?" I mentally snorted, was everyone an idiot or did they all seriously believe Reize's story?

I shrugged and said, "I was pissed off and they were in my way. I didn't give a damn if Reize was there or not." Gazelle snorted but didn't say anything. I couldn't believe it. He seriously believed Reize's bull shit story. I narrowed my good eye and wondered where Reize learned to kick ass like that. I resolved to ask him next time I caught him alone.

It took a week for me to finally find Reize alone. He seemed to ALWAYS be around someone, especially Gran or Desarm. When I finally got him alone he was in his room and the others were either out or watching something downstairs.

"What the hell?" Was the first thing out of my mouth after I shut and locked his door. Reize blinked and turned to me confused. "Why the hell did you make up that story?" I asked, glaring down at him.

"Because you looked like you didn't want anyone to know," He said. "And I didn't want you to get in trouble."

"I don't give a damn what others think," I growled, "And it's not like I've never been in trouble before."

He blinked and said, "Oh." That was it? That was all he had to say?

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Getting mad now wouldn't help things. That wasn't why I was here. When I was sure I wouldn't yell at him I asked, "How the hell did you do all that back there?"

"Do what?" Reize asked with a tilt of his head. I resisted the urge to smack him.

"Kick those guys asses," I clarified.

Realization dawned and he smiled while saying, "I've been practicing martial arts since I was little."

"Don't fuck with me."

"It's true! I attend the dojo up the street! Ask Hitomiko-san!"

"So why the hell didn't you tell anyone?! Everyone thinks you're some fucking pansy who always needs protected!"

Ryuuji looked at me with sad eyes. "I didn't want anyone to take it away from me," He said. Before I could question it, he pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. "None of you ever wanted to play with me, so I would go and find something else to do. When I went shopping with Hitomiko-san we passed by the dojo and I asked her to let me go in. I thought it looked scary at first, but the people were really nice to me.

"Hitomiko-san let me stay while she finished shopping and they started teaching me some simple things. I had fun and asked Hitomiko-san if I could go back again later and she agreed. I was happy because people were finally letting me join something. I told Hitomiko-san not to tell anyone because I thought that if you all knew then you'd start teasing me or want to join too and I'd be left out again or it wouldn't be fun anymore."

I put my hand over my mouth and looked away. 'Fuck,' I thought, 'so it's basically my fault he hasn't told anyone. I guess it's also my fault he makes himself out to be such a fucking pansy all the time. Shit.'

It was quiet for a while before I mumbled, "Sorry." Rei-ah-Ryuuji's head popped up and stared at me in shock. "I guess…it's kind of my fault, huh?" I could feel my face heat up as I turned away. "I wasn't…the nicest person to you…still aren't, actually."

"No, it's-"

"I was a fucking bastard to you," I nearly yelled. "I know that. I know I'm a jerk and an ass at times, but that's just how I am. I just…I'm sorry, alright? You saved my ass back there then came back and made me out to be a hero when I was a fucking coward. All I did was sit and watch as that guy nearly stabbed you. I couldn't move! You were awesome the way you kicked their asses and sent them packing. Then you help me and cover for me so I didn't look like a pansy in front of the others even if it meant taking on that part for yourself.

"I'm just a dick and you're…you're…crying. Why the fuck are you crying?!" My face was probably as red as my hair.

Ryuuji smiled and said, "I'm just really happy." I was stunned. What the hell did I do or say to make him happy? "You complimented me," He said, rubbing his eyes, "You never compliment anyone. It's the first time you said something nice about me."

I thought back. 'I've said nice things to him before…haven't I?' The more I thought back, the more I saw how much of a dick I'd been to him. God, how had he put up with me? Had I been in his place, I'd have punched myself.

"And you know," I looked up as he started talking again, "Most people freeze up when they're faced with a knife or sharp object."

"You didn't," I grumbled.

"That's because I've faced them before," He said and I gaped at him. "We practice with wooden weapons at the dojo when you advance far enough to help train you to overcome your body's natural reaction to tense up or freeze when faced with a dangerous weapon." He grimaced and said, "I've also stopped a few muggings before where the attacker had a knife or gun to the victim."

"Fuck," I said, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"I couldn't just do nothing!" Ryuuji protested. "We're taught at the dojo to protect ourselves and others around us. Everyone there is taught over and over to only use our knowledge to protect, never to harm. So when I saw them being threatened I couldn't just sit back and do nothing."

I raised an eyebrow. "Does Hitomiko-san know?" Ryuuji flushed and looked down. I took that as a no. "Tell ya what," I said, "I won't tell Hitomiko-san about you nearly killing yourself to protect strangers if you teach me what you did the other night."

"You want me to teach you?" He asked and I nodded. "Well, I can, but only if you join the dojo." When I raised an eyebrow he quickly explained, "What I did was a high level technique, and if you want to learn it you have to start from the basics or you may wind up hurting yourself or the one you're trying to protect on accident."

I sighed but nodded. "Fine," I said, "But if you tell anyone, I'll kill you." He nodded quickly. "Good. So when's the first practice?"

"Tomorrow at ten," He told me. I nodded and left the room, silently vowing to try and be a little nicer and less of a dick to Ryuuji from now on. He honestly didn't deserve it.

I grumbled under my breath as I followed Ryuuji. That fucking bastard Gazelle wouldn't leave me alone when I said I had something to do. I'd finally ditched him by locking myself in my room and climbing out the window.

Our walk was silent but didn't take very long. He led me into a normal looking building that didn't really stand out and into the back. "You can borrow one of the extra uniforms," He told me, handing me a white bundle. "You can leave your things back here with mine so nobody takes them on accident." I nodded, kicked off my shoes and shed my jacket. The bundle he gave me consisted of pants, a weird short sleeved jacket thing and a white cloth belt.

The pants were easy enough, but I was lost after I put on the jacket thing. I looked to Ryuuji who had finished changing and was waiting on me. Before I could say anything, he came over and quickly put one end of the jacket over the other and took the belt, tying it around my waist to keep it closed.

"I'll teach you later," He said with a smile, "But we're going to be late if we don't hurry." He grabbed my wrist and dragged to an open space with mats on the ground and others in the same thing as me talking and laughing with each other.

As I looked around, I noticed that everyone had a different color belt on. Some were white like me, while others were yellow, green, orange or others. I looked at Ryuuji who had gone over to a few older men and noticed they all had black belts. I had no idea what they meant, but I figured I'd find out soon.

I stood awkwardly near the entrance for a while before one of the older men with a black belt yelled for everyone to line up. I was about to go to the back when Ryuuji waved for me to come forward. I ignored the stares as I went and stood up next to him.

"This is Nagumo Haruya," Ryuuji said when everyone was quiet, "He's going to be joining us starting today!" I bowed when Ryuuji looked at me and mumbled out a greeting. Ryuuji pointed to a spot in the front and I went and stood there.

The old guy from before shouted something and all the other students responded with a yell and sat on the ground. I quickly mimicked the people next to me. The old guy went on to say a bunch of random crap about using what we were taught to help and keep our minds and bodies strong or something like that. I stared forward and tuned him out.

When his little speech was over, he said, "Begin your stretches." Everyone paired up and started while I looked around. Everyone seemed to already have a partner.

"You can be my partner for today," Ryuuji said as he came over to me. "We'll find you a partner later." I nodded and mumbled out a thanks.

I sat down and mimicked what he was doing the best I could. I realized for the first time how inflexible I really was. "You'll get better," Ryuuji assured me, "You're body's just not used to bending like that yet."

"Get in your groups!" The old guy yelled before I could reply. I looked blankly at Ryuuji.

"Everyone separates into groups based on their rank," He explained. When I still didn't understand, he fingered his belt, "The color of your belt represents your rank." I nodded and looked around for the others who had a white belt. "This way," Ryuuji said, dragging me over to a group of others.

I shifted awkwardly as the others stared at me. Most of them were kids, but there were a few older than I was. Ryuuji clapped his hands and we all looked at him. "Let's get started!" He said with a smile. 'The hell?' I thought.

"Let's see your punching stances," Ryuuji continued and the others lined up and spread their feet apart, bent their knees a bit and put their hands to their hips in fists with a yell. I didn't know what was happening, but I did my best to copy the others. Ryuuji went down the line and corrected any mistakes he found.

"Keep your knees bent," Ryuuji said to the first boy, bending his knees to demonstrate, "And make sure your weight is on both legs and not just one." When the boy fixed his stance, Ryuuji moved on. "Keep your back straight," He told the next one.

"Your toes should be pointed forward," He told another, "And your feet should be shoulder length apart." He kept going until he got to me. I'd been correcting my stance as he'd gone down the line. "Widen your feet a little," He told me, watching as I did so. "Keep your hands up a little more and make sure your back is straight." Once I was done, he stepped back and looked at us all with a smile. "Very good, now show me a punch."

I watched as the others threw their right arm forward with a yell and I copied them, without the yell. Once again, he went forward and corrected everyone's forms. When he was done, he demonstrated a punch and said, "Keep your arm straight and twist your torso a bit when you punch to get more power out of it. Your fingers should be pointed down at the end of your punch, when means you twist your wrist as you punch." He slowly went through the punch, showing how he twisted his torso and how his wrist twisted as he punched.

"Now show me another punch, this time with your left." This time I punched at the same time as the others and my eyes widened a little when I felt how different it was than my first one. "Did you feel the difference?" My head snapped to him, but Ryuuji was talking to all of us. I found myself nodding a little bit. He went down the line and made sure everyone's arm was straight and pointing forward.

When he was satisfied with everyone's form, he got into his own punching stance facing us. "We're going to practice your punching. Follow me." He punched with his right arm and let out a short, sharp yell. We all copied him.

I don't know how many punches we did, but when we finally stopped my arms felt like lead. "Take a short break," Ryuuji told us, "We'll go onto blocking next." I watched as everyone went to either grab their water bottles or headed to the water fountain out in the hall. Ryuuji came over to me and asked, "Are you having fun?"

Instead of answering his question I asked one of my own. "Why the hell are you teaching us?"

Ryuuji tilted his head in confusion and said, "I'm one of the teachers here." At my disbelieving look he sighed and explained, "I'm a certified teacher just like the rest of the black belts here." He gestured around and I watched as the other black belts continued teaching the other groups. "We teach the lower belts and then have our own practice afterwards." Before I could say anything he said, "You should get a drink before we start again. It'll be bad if you get dehydrated."

I sighed and went to the water fountain for a quick drink. "Nagumo-kun, right?" I turned and found one of the older students come over to me. He was taller than I was with shaggy brown hair and brown eyes. If I had to guess I'd say he was about two years older than me. I nodded to his question and wiped the water from around my mouth. "I'm Nishita Sora, nice to meet you."

I nodded to him and raised an eyebrow. "Nice to meet you."

"So," He said casually, draping an arm around my shoulder. I shrugged it off and glared at him. He held up his hands and smiled. "How do you know Midorikawa-sensei?" He asked.

"We're at the same orphanage," I said with a shrug.

He nodded and asked, "How come you suddenly decided to join?" I looked away and muttered that he'd saved me. "What?" Nishita asked.

"How about you?" I shot back.

"Me?" He asked, raising his eyebrows, "My girlfriend was almost mugged and raped while I was held at gunpoint. Midorikawa-sensei stepped in and stopped them. I couldn't stand not being able to do anything, so I joined as a way to protect her from anything like that. I'd never seen her so scared before and I never want to see her like that again."

I looked away and asked, "How many people are here because of Re-Ryuuji?"

Nishita looked at me in surprise and then understanding. "Well," He said, "Technically, nobody's here because of Midorikawa-sensei. I'm here so I can both defend myself and protect my girlfriend. Of course, I probably would be dead if it weren't for him, but even if I hadn't died from that, I'd probably have still wound up here. Midorikawa-sensei just helped us and showed me how strong I could be, but I'm not here because of him."

I didn't have a chance to answer as Ryuuji called us back into our line. As I went through learning how to block, I thought about what Nishita had said. While Ryuuji did save me, I didn't think about learning how to do what he did until I actually talked with him.

I was brought out of my thoughts when Ryuuji poked me in the head. "You're not paying attention," He said. I looked around and flushed when I found I was the only one still practicing the blocks. The others were standing in a loose circle around us. I quickly went to the open space between Nishita and one of the younger boys.

"Alright," Ryuuji said, looking around at us. "I want you to get into pairs. One of you will practice punching while the other practices blocking. You'll switch on my signal." I was about to look around for a partner when Nishita put an arm around my neck.

"Got my partner sensei!" He called with a grin. I glared at him and shoved his arm off me. Ryuuji simply smiled at us and made sure everyone else was paired up. I faced Nishita and got into the punching stance. He did the same and I threw a punch in his direction. He was a little slow with his block and I caught his arm, making him wince a little. I smirked but frowned when something hit my head.

I turned and glared at Ryuuji who was frowning at me. "This is practice," he said, "so you're supposed to go slowly to practice your forms. Stand a little further back," He told Nishita who nodded and did as told. "The goal is not to injure each other, but to make sure you have the forms correct and know how to use them. Now do it again, but slowly." I sighed and threw a slow punch at Nishita who brought up a block.

I turned to Ryuuji who nodded. "That's better," He said. "Nishita-san, you need to keep your arm up higher when you block." He moved the older teens arm up a few inches. "Nagumo-kun," He turned to me, "Don't forget to twist as you punch." He demonstrated once more and had us do it again. "Better, now do it again with your other hand." He watched as we went through it a few more times before moving onto the other pairs.

After a while, he called for us to switch and I took my turn blocking Nishita's punches. We didn't talk as we practiced, but instead fell into a rhythm of punching and blocking. When Ryuuji felt that everyone had it down, we took another break before going on to high blocks and then low blocks. Once we'd finished with low blocks, Ryuuji told us that practice was over for the day.

I was surprised, since it didn't feel like that long. "So what'd you think?" Nishita asked me as he started gathering his things.

"It was fine," I said with a shrug. He laughed and clapped my on the back.

"I'll see you next time then!" He called as he left. I glared at him and resisted the urge to flip him off, since there were kids around.

"I'm glad you and Nishita-san are getting along," Ryuuji said as he came up behind me. I rolled my eyes but didn't say anything. "You can go now, if you want. I still have my own practice to do so I'll be home later."

I turned and looked at him but didn't make a move to leave. I saw some of the others sit along the wall and start talking. Ryuuji followed my gaze and said, "They're going to stay and watch. You're welcome to stay if you want, but it'll probably be a few hours until we're done."

"I'll stay," I muttered, going to sit along the wall. I sat along the same wall as the others, but kept a space between us so I wouldn't have to listen to them or talk with them. I watched as more people entered, all with a black belt tied around their waist. Most of them were adults, but a few looked to be in high school or university. Ryuuji was the only middle scholar.

I watched them go through their own stretching before warming up with some pushups, sit-ups and some jogging across the room. It was a little boring, but I sat up a little when they all paired off. Ryuuji was with one of the newcomers who looked to be around twenty years old or so. He was average height and built well with black hair cut short and dark brown eyes.

Ryuuji started a series of punches and kicks while his partner blocked. Neither seemed to want to hurt the other as they continued and eventually swapped. I slumped a bit as I watched this go on for about half an hour.

Just when I was thinking about leaving, they all stopped and bowed to their partners before sitting along the opposite wall as the rest of us. Two of them who I didn't know stood up and walked to the center of the room. They bowed to each other and got into their stances. My eyes widened when I saw one of them charge at the other with a yell and throw a fake punch before swinging around and aiming a kick to his opponents ribs. It was blocked and the opponent kicked toward the attackers chin, making him bend backwards into a bridge and send a kick of his own that missed.

It almost seemed like the two were dancing as they continued on with their spar. Some punches and kicks landed, but none were meant to seriously hurt the other and would probably only bruise. When they finished they bowed to each other and sat back along the wall, panting and sweating.

Another pair stood up and began their own spar. I watched as each pair took their turn to spar with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth. When it was Ryuuji's turn, he glanced at me and put his hand under his chin and pushed up slightly before turning his attention to his opponent and bowing. I put my hand to my chin and flushed when I realized I'd had my mouth open the entire time. I quickly shut it and watched as Ryuuji and his opponent started circling each other slowly.

My mouth probably dropped open again when they actually started sparing. It was faster than any of the others and I could barely follow what was happening. Part way in, Ryuuji flipped over his opponent and spun on one foot once he touched the ground while using his other to aim a kick up towards his opponents head. The other man ducked and rolled under the kick, jumping up and sending a flurry of punches back at Ryuuji who crouched and swiped his feet to try and knock his opponent off balance.

The man jumped and did his own flip over Ryuuji before sending his own spinning kick that Ryuuji blocked and grabbed, using the man's momentum to actually throw him across the mats. The man had to roll out of the way as Ryuuji ran and jumped, aiming a punch at the man's face but hitting the mat instead.

I don't know what happened next, but Ryuuji suddenly had his opponent on the ground and was twisting his arm in a painful looking way until the man used his free hand to hit the mat. Ryuuji let go and he stood up. The two bowed to each other and went to sit back along the wall.

The remaining pairs sparred but I didn't find them as cool as Ryuuji's had been. Once they had all sparred, they all stretched out again and then started gathering their things to leave, some staying and talking with each other. Ryuuji's partner went over to said greenette and asked something I couldn't hear. Ryuuji nodded and began demonstrating a move he'd done slowly, catching the attention of the others.

I watched as they all went over to see what he was doing and then started practicing it on their own, occasionally asking for help to make sure they were doing it right.

They all stayed and practiced moves others had done during their spars for about an hour before Ryuuji split from them while calling out his goodbyes. He held out a hand to me which I took and helped me up before asking, "Ready to go?" I nodded, still not quite over the fact that I had just seen some amazing ass-kicking from the younger boy.

We went back and changed into our regular clothes before heading out. Ryuuji had told me that I could keep the uniform until I got my own and had put it in his bag along with his own. "I'll teach you how to tie the belt at some other point. It's not that hard once you know how to do it. The next practice is after school on Monday if you want to come. You don't have to come to every practice, but it generally helps you improve faster if you do. It's also good to practice on your own so you don't forget anything."

"Where do you practice?" I asked after a few moments of silence.

"Me?" He asked and I nodded. "I generally go to the park in the evenings since there aren't many people, but if it's cold or there are a lot of people, then I go to the dojo." At my questioning look he said, "All the teachers have a key so they can practice there." He was quiet for a while before he said quietly, "You can join me if you want." When I looked at him he flushed and said, "That way I can make sure you're doing it right and you don't have to worry about finding somewhere else to practice."

I nodded. "Alright," I said, looking at him out of the corner of my eye, "So when are practices?"

He smiled and said, "Main practices are held from late afternoon to evening Monday, Wednesday and Friday and in the mornings on Saturday. I usually practice Tuesday and Thursday as well, and Sunday is used to rest."

I thought about it and nodded. "Since it's getting colder we're not playing soccer so I should be able to make it." Ryuuji smiled and started talking about how the belts worked, how you moved up and what the colors meant. "Ryuuji," I said, stopping his ramblings and making him look to me, "Do you like soccer?"

Ryuuji blinked and looked down. I'd thought so. "Why did you participate then? You always played when Gran asked you and even got hurt." I narrowed my eyes when Ryuuji looked guilty. "Ryuuji…don't you dare tell me that you got hurt on purpose just so you didn't have to play."

"I didn't!" Ryuuji said. "I just…pretended to…" He trailed off, looking away from me. "But it wasn't so I didn't have to play!" He said quickly, whirling to face me.

"Then why?" I asked, stopping and crossing my arms.

He flushed and looked at the ground. "I had a tournament…" he mumbled just loud enough for me to hear. I opened my mouth but he cut me off as he lifted his head and exclaimed, "It was the finals! I couldn't just skip it! I'd worked hard to get there!"

I stared at him and he flushed a darker red, looking down. I sighed and started walking again. "Come on," I called, glancing back at him, "I'm hungry and dinner's probably almost ready." I didn't stop or turn around, but I heard him run to catch up and smirked when I saw him smiling happily. "So did you at least win?" I asked when we were near Sun Garden.

"First place," He whispered back happily before he skipped inside. I shook my head and snorted, casually walking inside. I went to the kitchen, ignoring Gazelle who was glaring at me and grabbed a bag of chips and a soda before heading upstairs. "God damn it!" I yelled when I slammed into my door. I frowned and tried the knob. Right, I'd locked it and snuck out the window to avoid Gazelle. With a sigh I headed back downstairs. I'd deal with it tomorrow.

When Monday rolled around, I told Ryuuji I'd meet up with him at the dojo after school. I'm glad I did, since I had trouble getting away from everyone. I cursed as I sprinted to the dojo. I was going to be late at this point!

When I finally got there, I ran to the back where Ryuuji had taken my before and found he'd placed my uniform out for me. I shed my school uniform, shoes and socks and put on the white uniform, cursing again when I realized I didn't know how to tie the belt. "Screw it," I muttered and just tied it in a knot before rushing out to the training room. I was lucky since right as I entered the old man from before called everyone to line up.

Ryuuji giggled when he saw me and I glared at him before facing the front again. The geezer went through the same crap he did last time before he told us to split up and stretch. I was about to turn to Ryuuji when I was pulled back by an arm around my neck. I growled and pushed Nishita's arm off while turning to glare at him.

He just smiled and started laughing when he took in my appearance. "Here," I turned and found Ryuuji next to me, reaching for my belt. He swiftly untied it and put in on correctly. "I'll teach you tomorrow," He said with a smile and nodded to Nishita before went to stand with the other black belts again. With a sigh, I got started with the stretching, glaring at Nishita all the while.

When we split up into our groups, Ryuuji had us practice punching and the different blocks again for a while to make sure we remembered the correct form before he told us to go into a kicking stance. We essentially did the same thing we'd done Saturday, only with kicks. When I brought it up to Nishita, he laughed.

"Of course," He told we as we took our second break, "We do this anytime we get someone new so that they aren't lost. Besides, when you're a white belt all you really learn and go through are the basic stances, punches and kicks."

"Why?" I asked. I'd been hoping to learn a lot of the cool moves I'd seen Ryuuji and the others use.

"It's just how it is," Nishita shrugged. I frowned but didn't get to say anything as we were called back to continue. I guess I'd just ask Ryuuji later. After we finished, I pulled Ryuuji aside before he could go to the other black belts.

When I asked him, he looked thoughtful before saying, "I could tell you…but I think I'll wait and show you first."

"Show me?" I asked. He nodded and called Nishita over.

"I want you both to stay and watch. You can leave after the first match." I looked at Nishita who shrugged and brought his things over and sat along the wall with me. Ryuuji looked at us before he went and began stretching with the others.

When it was time for the sparring to start, Ryuuji stood in the middle with the same man he'd faced off with Saturday. They bowed and I stared as Ryuuji settled into the punching position we'd been learning. His opponent seemed wary because of this and waited for a while. When Ryuuji didn't move, he ran forward and threw a punch. "Block," Ryuuji said, bring his arm up in the first block we'd learned.

His opponent kicked up and Ryuuji said, "Low block," While doing just that. He continued calling out the basic blocks they'd use while using them himself as he defended himself from his opponent. Finally, the other man tried a roundhouse kick which Ryuuji blocked and at the same time he sent his first punch which connected with his opponents stomach. "Block and punch," he said, followed by "kick" as he sent the snap kick we'd been learning and caught the mans' jaw as he began doubling over from the pain of the punch, causing his head to snap back. Ryuuji returned to the punching position before standing up and bowing, his opponent out cold on the floor. He bowed to his fallen opponent before some of the others came and helped him over to a corner.

Ryuuji motioned for me and Nishita to follow him and we did, both wide eyed and slack jawed at how he'd knocked the other man out with two hits. He led us to the back while the other black belts continued on with their sparring matches.

"To answer your question," Ryuuji said as he looked at me, "That is why you're only learning the basics. While all the flipping around and complex moves look cool, you don't need them to protect yourself or others. Sometimes they become a hindrance to you instead. The basics are the most important part of martial arts; without them, you'll just flounder around and not do any damage.

"What you are learning now will be built upon later, but if you don't have a sound knowledge of the forms, you'll more than likely hurt yourself or others. We drill these forms into you so your body will react instantly when in a fight. Once you're able to do these perfectly without thinking about it, you'll advance and begin learning more complex moves."

"You're telling me I can knock someone out with just a punch like you just did?" I asked.

"No," Ryuuji said and both Nishita and I frowned. "While you'll probably land a hit, it won't be enough to knock them out or even potentially injure them. As you continue training, it will be possible, but the reason we begin with formations and not strength is so that you do not injure your partner and so that when your strength does build, you will not give a sloppy punch that wouldn't do any damage."

"So when do we start building our strength?" Nishita asked.

"When you advance to the next belt," Ryuuji explained. "White belts learn formations, while white belts with yellow work on gaining strength. Yellow belts work on combining the two while also training speed, reflexes and added a few new formations to learn. Many people progress to yellow within two months of training or less. After that it will take longer and be harder to obtain the next rank. For each new belt you acquire, you can expect harsher training and a longer wait for the next one. The grading also gets stricter so it becomes more difficult to pass. Some take the tests for higher belts multiple times before finally getting it."

He was quiet as he let us digest this new information before he asked, "Do you both understand the importance of what you're learning?"

Nishita bowed and yes, "Hai, Midorikawa-sensei. I'm sorry for ever having doubted what you were teaching me."

"I guess," I said when he looked at me. He seemed to realize that was all I was going to say and he let out a sigh but smiled at us both.

"So long as you understand," He said. "You may go if you wish." Nishita bowed again and left the room to go and collect his things. Ryuuji and I began changing back into our school uniforms, his for middle school and mine for high school.

"It's not like I was doubting you or anything," I muttered as we were leaving the building.

"I know," Ryuuji said as he looked up at the sky, "But Nishita-san hasn't been as enthusiastic lately since we were only repeating what he already knew. You asking the question was a good chance for me to show him why it was so important. I wanted to show you as well so that way you wouldn't end up like him and get bored and not want to practice anymore." I was quiet as I realized that he'd been worried about me.

'Fuck,' I thought, 'now I really feel like a jackass with how I treated him before. I always thought he hated me after the whole alien thing seeing as how I treated him and the others like shit.' I glanced at Ryuuji from the corner of my eye. 'Guess I don't know him as well as I thought.'

When we got back to Sun Garden, Ryuuji skipped inside and yelled out that he was home. I shuffled in and kicked off my shoes before heading upstairs. I avoided everyone and locked myself in my room. I had a lot to think about now.

So this is just a random thing I wrote a while ago. I don't remember what I was planning on doing with it, and this seemed like a good place to stop, so I ended it here. Let me know what you thought.