Many years before, more than he would care to admit, a young Ji rode his motorcycle through the city, blasting through crossings and red lights alike at speeds that would easily have earned him a trip in the back of a police car.
He looked around as he powered around another corner, before spinning the bike around, screeching to a complete stop. While the city was prosperous, and generally most areas were good, this district had seen a lot of hardship, and had become somewhat of a no-go area. Crime had gone up drastically in the last few years, and now very few people came anywhere near here for any good reason.
It didn't take Ji long to find what he came for. A large group of people had all gathered, half of them with shaven heads and leather jackets, the other half wearing white green hoodies. Most of them were carrying an assortment of baseball bats or blades of some description. Ji had come here knowing that another battle in the local gang turf war had broken out.
Stepping off his bike, he reached into a bag strapped to the back of it and pulled out an aluminium baseball bat. He watched for a good second or so, picking his spot, before he ploughed into the crowd, entering the fray by taking two down at once with a dropkick, kipping back up to his feet.
The next man took a swing for him, catching nothing but air, and being caught in return with a hard kick to the abdomen, before his leg was broken with a hard swing of the bat.
Ji continued to attack both sides, annihilating the comparatively unskilled thugs with seemingly no effort at all, taking only a couple of superficial shots in return.
Eventually, a shot rang out, and everyone stopped, looking around to see a couple of cops standing nearby. Sirens filled the air, as more patrol cars started to enter the street. The thugs all started to scatter as they arrived. Ji realised he had stayed too long this time.
"Freeze!" One of the cops called out, bringing a gun to bear on him. "Put the bat down!"
As Ji dropped the bat, kicking it away, he stood stock still, not wanting to risk anything. As good as he was, even he wasn't quicker than a bullet, and he knew that one thing he wasn't was bullet proof. He allowed something that looked a little like a paintbrush slip out of the sleeve of his jacket into his hand. As the cop approached him, he traced a little symbol low enough that the cop couldn't see it.
"So you're the punk that's been running around here causing all kinds of hell." The cop sneered as he kept the gun trained on him, reaching for some handcuffs.
"Doing your jobs more like." Ji snorted in response. "You're pointing the gun at the wrong person. You should be pointing it at those punks that sell shit to children and send so many bullets flying around here that decent people are scared to leave their homes."
"You want to help kid, get a badge and a uniform." The cop replied. "We don't like vigilantes in this town."
Ji cast a symbol forward, at which the man's gun fell apart in his hand. As he just stared at it in disbelief, Ji ran forward, slamming his hands into his chest and sending the cop flying to the ground. He knew that they were on the right side, so he didn't really want to risk hurting him. He made a run for his bike, leaping onto it and kick-starting it into life in one swift motion as a warning shot rang out.
"Stop him!" One of the cops screamed, but it was already too late as he ran to the end of the street, watching Ji flip onto the on ramp of the freeway. Even if they could follow him, the bike was so fast, he would easily dust them. He was gone.
A little while later, Ji pulled into the front yard of the Shiba House, seeing her in the yard, practicing a drill with a bokken against a training dummy. Miko was simply the most breathtakingly beautiful woman he had ever met. His heart always raced whenever he was near her. Of the recent inhabitants of the house, she was the one he was closest to. Just like him, she was not from one of the families destined to be Rangers. She was training just like him to serve the noble families. Unlike him though, this matter never bothered her.
She heard a movement behind her, and swung around, stopping the bokken only inches from Ji's face. He didn't even flinch as she did though. Such was her skill; he knew she would be able to stop before she struck him. She just sighed as she saw him.
"Ji." She said in a slightly exasperated tone.
"That's my name." He said with a little smile. She reached forward, touching the side of his head. He had the starts of a black eye, and his brow had been split open in the scuffle, though he didn't really seem to care much. She gave him a disapproving look that indicated to him that she was far from pleased with what she had seen. His shirt had blood stains on it too, but she was sure that it wasn't all his.
"Ji, you've been fighting again." She said in a tone that always hurt whenever he heard it from her. He cared deeply for Miko, and would give anything he had to be with her, to have her return the feelings he had for her, but she seemed oblivious to how he felt.
"You should see the other guys." He said with a little laugh, trying to make it sound a lot less serious and ease her worries.
"I'm not concerned." She told him. "They hit you in the head, and clearly there's nothing up there to damage!"
"Hey!" He protested.
"You know we're not allowed to start fights!" She told him. "We're only meant to..."
"We're only meant to stay and serve the Shiba Clan." He said in a little sing-song tone that showed his lack of reverence for what she was saying. He had heard this lecture all his life, and knew that it was the sworn duty of his family to serve the Samurai. It was not an oath he made, it had been taken centuries before he was even born, but that didn't mean he wasn't bound to it. "Do you not see what's happening out there? The punks and the gangs are ruining this city! The police can't do anything about it, but we can! We have the skills to make a real difference in this city and all we do is sit around on our asses studying books and cooking meals for a bunch of people..."
"It's our duty!" Miko told him. She couldn't look him in the eye as she protested. Just like Ji, she had read the papers and knew that crime in the city was getting worse as a result of recent economic difficulties. There was a part of her that agreed with his stance, but unlike him, she didn't question her duty.
"Then why can't you look at me when you say that?" Ji asked her. "It's because you know I'm right isn't it?"
"It's because of the position you put me in." She told him. He could hear the difference in the tone of her voice. "Your father asked me where you were."
"And you told him?" He asked her. She shook her head.
"I said I didn't know." She told him, looking to him. The look in her eyes hurt him more deeply than any blow ever could. "I lied to his face Ji; I lied to Mentor's face. You've made a liar of me."
"I never asked you to do that." Ji sighed. "I'm sorry Miko."
"I'm sorry too." She answered him. "I'm leaving tomorrow."
"Leaving?" He asked, a little stunned by what she had said. "Where are you going?"
"You have a gift Ji, one I never will." She told him. "Symbol power runs in your family, it doesn't in mine. So I'm expanding my skills the only way I can. Your father has asked me to go to the Wind Ninja Academy. I'm going to expand my skills with the sword."
"You don't need to go." Ji told her. "Miko, please I promise I won't..."
"And now you are the liar." She interrupted him. "You're frustrated, I get it, really. Don't you think I'd give anything to be a Ranger?"
"You'd be an amazing Ranger." He assured her. "Louise is good and everything, but she's so clumsy! You'd be far better..."
"We'll never know, because she has the Earth Powers, not me." Miko told him. "I can accept my place Ji, why can't you?"
"Because I know I'm better than everyone in that house!" He put down flatly. "There is not one of them I haven't beaten in training! I have symbol Power..."
"But that is not your duty." A stern voice stated. Ji turned to see his father standing on the porch behind him. He knew that he had heard every word of his rant, and the expression on his face said that he was far from happy with his wayward son. Ji was still too angry and frustrated to back down though. Instead of even trying to apologise, he just glared at his father angrily.
He was a little shorter than his son, and a little hunched over, the effects of years of injuries earned in service to the Shiba Clan starting to catch up to him. He was dressed in a simple grey kimono, bearing the Samurai emblem on the breast. He was completely bald, and a few wrinkles were starting to form on his face. His eyes were as cold and hard as steel as he looked disapprovingly at his son.
"Miko, go into the house and pack." Mentor Quan instructed her. "You will be leaving early tomorrow morning."
Miko looked between Ji and Quan, not really wanting to leave them alone together. She knew that things had become decidedly sour between them as they clashed regularly in their views on their responsibilities. Giving Ji one last glance, she reluctantly left, her sense of duty taking precedence over her desire to prevent father and son having yet another blazing row.
"Whose blood is that?" Quan asked him.
"No one important." Ji told him.
"Every drop of blood spilled in battle is important!" Quan roared angrily, slamming the end of his cane into the floor.
"They were punks!" Mentor Ji snapped back. "Parasites that prey on the weak! Those gangs are infecting this city, causing misery on a nightly basis..."
"And that is NONE of our concern!" Quan stated sternly. "Your place is here..."
"What? Polishing training equipment and tending to bonsai?" He asked him incredulously. "Samurai are meant to protect the weak and innocent. The people of this city are afraid to go out at night! Forgive me if I'm actually willing to do something about that!"
"Do you really think what you do makes a difference?" Quan asked him. "How long do you really think those men you fought tonight are going to be off the streets? Perhaps a couple of months while they recover? Then what do you think will happen? They'll be back out there just like they always were and your contribution will mean nothing."
"It's better than doing nothing." Ji muttered, turning his back on his father to walk away.
"Do not DARE to turn your back on me!" Quan yelled angrily. Mentor Ji just stopped in his tracks, and his fists tightened as his anger started to build. "I checked my safe..."
"You were doing nothing important with it." Ji said sarcastically, turning back to his father.
"It is not yours to take." Quan told him. He held out his hand. "Give it back."
"So it can gather dust for another generation?" Ji asked him.
"I said, give it back." Quan said a little more sternly. "I will not ask again!"
Ji didn't respond, instead turning to leave. By now his father had taken more than his fill of his son's disobedience. He grabbed Ji, spinning him around, upon which he connected with a hard roundhouse kick to his jaw. Ji fell to the ground, blood starting to well up in his mouth as he looked up at his father.
"You want to fight so badly, then fine!" Quan snapped, picking up a pair of bokken, tossing one onto the ground by his son as he stepped onto the mat.
His anger overtook his good sense, and Ji snatched up the wooden sword, running at his father with a savage yell, but his first swing went wild as the older man dodged aside, before flipping his son over onto the mat.
Ji snapped up again, swinging a few times, each one with evil intent, but his father was a skilled opponent, able to dodge or parry each of the swings, until he managed to smash aside the sword, and strike his son in the face with his elbow, sending him to the ground once more.
Wiping some blood from his broken nose, Ji got up once more, but this time he didn't even get to swing, his father slamming his bokken into his stomach, before grabbing his arm and twisting it, forcing Ji to his knees.
Ji knew that it was pointless to struggle. His father could, and would willingly break every bone in his arm with one twist. His father took the sword from Ji's hand and threw it across the yard, before reaching into his pocket and taking the paint brush. He shoved Ji unceremoniously to the floor, leaving him face down on the mat.
"You are a disgrace!" He hissed angrily. "Our family has its place, it is time you learned it. Pack your bags."
"You're kicking me out?" Ji asked him.
"It is clear this city is not the place for you at this time." Quan said dismissively. As Ji sat up, Quan threw a letter into his son's lap. "You will go to the Wind Ninja Academy with Miko. Perhaps some time in the mountains will cool that hot head of yours."
He threw his own bokken on the ground aggressively.
"Clean this up, get yourself cleaned up, and pack your bags." Quan stated. "Until you grow up a little, there is no place for you here."
Back in the present day, Mike's mouth hung open as he heard Mentor Ji's story. He knew that Ji had been a lot more vicious and aggressive in his youth, but he had no idea why.
"So you were pissed at your dad?" Mike asked him.
"I was resentful of my whole family." Mentor Ji corrected him. "I was trained for my whole life for a war I was never going to fight. Because of an oath I was never asked if I accepted, I was pledged to serve the noble families. I believed I was better than them, and I resented them for taking what I believed was rightfully mine."
"But...I thought you were friends with our parents." Mike commented.
"That came much later." Ji told him. "Before I went to the Wind Ninja Academy, I believed your parents to be lacking, and they believed me to be arrogant and excessively aggressive. Jayden's father in particular told me in no uncertain terms many times that he believed me to be unsuitable for my place in the house."
"I thought Jayden's dad was your best friend." Mike said. Mentor Ji just smiled.
"Again, that took time." Ji explained. "He didn't like or trust me. Over time though, once I returned, I earned that trust. In time, he came to trust me with the most precious thing in the world to him."
"Jayden." Mike replied. Ji just nodded. "So, I know something went down at the Wind Ninja Academy..."
"So you want to hear more?" Mentor Ji asked. Mike just nodded in response.