Disclaimer - Punch that shit!

Author's Note - Another quick one, really quick author's note and GO GO GADGET CHAPTER!

"So, what are you in for?"

Lili scowled angrily. Sebastian may not have been pleased about the fighting, but she felt it unnecessary to tell the teachers that she had attacked Asuka. She felt that she could be doing a lot more productive things than be punished for something that happened both outside school grounds, and before school actually started, but Sebastian wouldn't back down. Now, here she sat, outside of the principal's office, and for what benefit or purpose to anyone? It was certainly not as if Asuka was completely in the right either; after all, if she was innocent, then why was Lili's nose still bleeding? Not broken, miraculously, but pain still numbed it completely.

"Fighting." She answered the boy who sat beside her. He raised an eyebrow.

"And this is your first day?" He asked. She snorted irritably.

"Barely my first hour, and it is none of your concern." He raised his hands in a peaceful gesture.

"Just being friendly, is all." He moaned slightly. "You're new here, right?"

"Did you hear me?" Lili's gaze shot to him and pierced him angrily. He grimaced nervously.

"Sorry." He said. "I didn't mean to annoy you."

"You always mean to annoy people." Came another, lower voice. Both Lili and the young boy turned in the direction of the smoker. Lili immediately began to analyse him. The noun 'boy' certainly didn't seem to fit him, or 'man', or even 'teenager'. He seemed to be an amalgam of all of them. He stood like a teenager, and his clothes; a sleeveless vest, jeans and chaps and large leather boots, but something in his chestnut eyes seemed to suggest that he had seen far more than anyone his young age had need or right to. He scratched his red hair, the hand blowing some cigarette smoke through the air by accident.

"This is why I should stop letting school-kids join my gang. I've got enough on my plate with preparing with Baek; the last thing I need is to have to run over here and represent you as a guardian every other fucking day." He scowled. The younger boy blushed.

"… sorry, Blood Talon." He murmured. Lili scowled; true, he was annoying her, but even she felt that was extreme. The red-head spotted the scowl.

"What's your problem?" He asked. Lili huffed irritably.

"I don't remember telling you that I had a problem." The red-head, to her surprise, smirked slightly.

"A smart-ass, eh?" He asked. "I'll bet my bike that mouth's what got you that bloodied nose."

"And what if it was?"

"... are you asking for a fight?"

Lili's eyes suddenly widened, then thinned as a smirk crept along her face. The Blood Talon, despite not living here or even coming from the same country, was adored in this area for his fighting prowess. The school kids had seen him fight before; anybody dumb enough to hassle him, threaten him, or touch his bike, all of them got a boot-print in their face. A challenge was considered the first sign of madness. So he certainly didn't expect this young blonde, clearly from even further away than him, some six or seven years younger than him, in such a neat frilly uniform and with such a smug sophistication, to out of nowhere smirk and sneer.

"May I ask where?" She said. The Blood Talon blinked, a blank expression on his face, then he burst out into fits of laughter. Lili didn't react. She knew that she could wipe that smile clean off his face.

"You aren't for real." He sighed, then his eyes hardened. "I'll be waiting outside those gates at nine." He nodded to the window. Lili saw the main entrance. "I'll neither be disappointed or surprised if you don't show." Lili opened her mouth to reply.

"No."

All three of them simultaneously turned to the principal; a fat, balding man in a tweed jacket, as comical and stereotypical a headmaster as you may ever find. Lili smiled sweetly.

"I'm guessing that you'll be calling for me." She said. The principal glared at her.

"I see that fights are going to be a big problem with you. Inside my office, now." He said. "And you, Hwoarang;" This he directed to the red-head. "- fight with any of my students and you'll find yourself in a prison cell before you can even raise your fists!" The red-head's snort was the last Lili heard of him as the door to the office closed behind her.

The office was not unlike any other office; a poky room with a central desk, a clear view of the playground so that trouble can be spotted instantly, the whirr of air-conditioning, but Lili was astounded by the mess. It was if the room was a scrapheap exclusive to office equipment; thousands of rubber bands, pencils, pencil sharpeners, enough paper to make a whole tree, anything you could think of was on the floor to this office, which she carefully navigated until she got to the closest chair. She sat down, and the principal followed suit. He sighed.

"Is that the kind of behaviour that goes on in the schools in Monaco?" He asked. "Because I'd be surprised if it was." Lili rolled her eyes.

"Tensou-san…"

"Sensei Tensou, as far as you are concerned." He bitterly spat.

"- quite. There's a lot of variables you haven't considered, first and foremost that the fight that happened this morning wasn't in school or within school hours. You can't punish me for that, and you know this, so why am I here?" Tensou scowled for a second. His brain dug for an answer. He didn't want to not have the last word in this matter. He leant forward on his desk, sighing heavily.

"I don't think you've considered all the variables either, Rochefort-san." He said. "I know why you're here. In relation to the tournament and your father, I mean. However, I am sticking my neck out for you." His nostrils flared slightly, in small frustration. "I shouldn't be having this conversation at all. You shouldn't be here. I could be destroyed for taking you on. Your butler paid me well, but do you know how many people I have had to lie to get you here? And this is how you repay me?"

"Sensei, I understand, but…"

"No, no you don't." He interrupted her immediately. "If you did, you wouldn't be arranging fights." He shrugged his shoulders irritably. "I won't say that I care what you do outside of school, but I want to be sure that you're not kicking off within these walls. So here's the deal;" He pointed an accusing finger. "I'll be watching you. All day. Every day. And if you raise a fist, if you give me trouble, if you so much as sneeze in anyone's direction, I'm telling your father exactly why you're here." Lili gasped slightly.

"You can't!" She barked. "This business is far too important for you to simply throw away! I'm after Jin Kazama! He's ruining lives, killing people, starting wars; I need to stop him, and you're not…"

"I can see that's a priority with you, and I'm sure picking fights with a schoolgirl in Osaka is a great comfort to those poor souls." Tensou's sarcastic snipe made Lili's blood boil. It was as if he didn't know about the outside world, and the impact Jin had upon it. She thought about hitting him square in that fat face of his, but refrained; it would probably be a delight for him to have an excuse to send her away. Instead, she seethed slightly. He looked to the clock on the wall. "I've kept you too long already." He waved a hand. "Leave. Ask Kenichi and Hwoarang to come in as you leave."


It didn't really matter what she was whistling. It sounded pleasant, a soothing blues tune she was sure she had heard at one stage or another, so that was all that mattered.

Asuka lips pursed as she read the paperback, lying across the bench lazily. She didn't have a great deal else to do before class started, and it wasn't as if she'd be allowed to relax then, so on she read. She shifted her weight to the left as a slight ache overcame her. Her back was still sore from the fight earlier. Her philosophy was that she never ever threw the first punch, but she was desperate for an excuse to give that blonde a sore with the same pain as hers tenfold.

"… I mean, what a complete dork…"

Asuka quickly glanced up from her book. She recognised Kenichi as a kid from the year below her; a mischievous little blighter she had thrice tangled with; twice beating up bullies for him, and once beating him up for the same reason. However, it was the red-head her eyes were immediately drawn to. For the second time that day, she recognised a stranger; the last one had attacked her, so she immediately became suspicious. Especially seeing as she was sure he was from the same place; the tournament. She kept a wary eye on him as he pondered.

"That blonde, though…" He murmured to Kenichi. The boy laughed.

"Oh yeah!" He suddenly shifted tones, desperate to make sure his opinion coincided with the red-head's. "Out of her mind, right? Challenging you? Completely insane."

"… I'm sure I recognise her…"

"So do I." Came Kenichi's voice, before he actually worked out what he had said or even what he was agreeing to. The red-head could've announced that he liked to punch himself and he might've started to knock his own teeth out with glee.

"Lil, I think." Asuka didn't even realise she had said it out loud, but she soon had the two turning towards her. She looked up. You just can't shut up when you need to, can you, Asuka?

"… do I know you?" Came the red-head's voice. Asuka shrugged her shoulders. She decided not to say that she knew him; partially because she couldn't remember his name and it'd be awkward, but mostly because he could be another Lili.

"Might do." She said, momentarily glancing at Kenichi, hoping that he'd simply play dumb, or not remember her face.

"… you're Asuka Kazama." He blurted out.

Crap.

The red-head's eyes lit slightly, and Asuka sighed.

"Yeah… I do know you all right." He smirked. Asuka looked back at him.

"Look, if you're after a fight, forget it; I want to get to the end of this chapter before class starts." She raised an eyebrow. "… Hwoa-something, isn't it?" The red-head laughed cockily.

"The one and only Hwoarang." That smirk immediately riled Asuka. It was a smirk that was just begging for a broken tooth. "That Lil a friend of yours?"

"No." The answer was so fast it was only after she said it she realised that she said it at all. Hwoarang smiled.

"Fine, fine." He said. "You give her that nosebleed."

"If you don't let me carry on reading my book, you'll get one just like it." More laughter.

"Cocky, are we?" He asked. He nudged Kenichi. "All the ladies seem to be queuing up for a fight today, eh Kenichi?" Asuka rolled her eyes, putting her book down.

"Alright, fuck finishing that chapter!" She stamped the ground, raising two fists. "Bring it!" Hwoarang smirked.

"Woah woah woah…" He raised his hands. "I've got other places to be."

"So do I, so let's make this quick!" Asuka barked. Hwoarang shook his head.

"No no no no no… the place to be is outside those front gates." He smiled. "Tonight. Already got one opponent, so let's make this really special." Asuka gritted her teeth, but lowered her fists.

"After annoying me so much, it better be!" She looked to the school clock. Class time. She glared back at the red-head, then the two simultaneously turned around and walked their own ways.


Chapter 2 - Challenges