Chapter 1: Over-worked, Under-thought

"AAAHHHHHHHH! KOARU!"

Serena's words cut through Koaru's dream like a knife as he woke up with a start. Moaning, he sat up, stretching and cracking his back. He checked his alarm clock. 7:30 am

"God damn it Serena." He thought as he got out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt. He then made his way out of his room and to the living room, the source of his sister's beckoning.

Koaru hopped the last eight stairs, landing a low crouch, then straightened up to find himself face-to-face with his annoying fifteen-year-old sister, who was wearing a grin which made him know he should have taken more sleeping pills the previous night.

"You screamed?" he asked groggily, wanting to go back to bed as fast as he could.

"You need to phone Amy, big bro." She said, still grinning devilishly. Koaru sighed, remembering the previous year how she had tried to hook him up with her best friend for almost a month. He looked at her, trying to have an annoyed expression.

"Serena, Amy and I have been going out for six months. You can stop being a go-between, trying to hook us up. We are together." Serena cut him off by placing her hand on his mouth.

"Koaru, you two study together and eat lunch together. You have yet to ask her out to a movie, or a walk in the park." Koaru thought a moment, then realized that, for the first time in his memory, Serena had a point. Koaru looked around for the phone.

"It's in my room. Darien and I had a nice long chat last night." Serena said in a tone that made it sound like Koaru actually cared about her love life.

"Thanks. I'll get it myself." Serena watched her adopted brother climb the stairs, a slight bounce in his step. She smiled in satisfaction.

"Oh yeah, I'm that good."

Koaru left the house an hour later, carrying his gym bag over his shoulder and jumping onto his motorcycle. Serena ran to the door, looking excited.

"Where you taking her to?" she called as Koaru started his bikes engine and revved the motor.

"I'm meeting her at the new Training Center." He called back before backing out of the driveway and popping a wheelie all the way down the street.

"Training Center?" Serena asked herself, feeling confused, "What kinda date is that?"

Amy Mizuno leaned against the blue hand railing on the stairs of the Training Center, the sun warming her face and the slight breeze causing her hair wave around her head. She sighed and leaned back a bit farther, watching some birds fly by overhead, twittering in the spring sky. A second later, she heard the unmistakable sound of her boyfriend's motorcycle in the parking lot. She sat up as he hopped off the bike and stowed the keys in his pocket.

"Hey handsome." She said as he walked up to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close.

"Wait long?" he asked as he continued to hold her, savoring the warmth of her body against his own. She shook her head and pulled away, indicating that she wanted to go inside. He released her and they walked, hand in hand, up the stairs and into the gym.

"No no no no no noooooo!" Lita shouted as smoke billowed from the oven in which had been her first attempt at baking bread (the key-word in that sentence is 'attempt'). She slipped on some oven mitts and pulled open the oven door, receiving a face-full of black smoke which set off the smoke detector in the hallway.

"Damn, damn damn damn!" she swore as she ran around, opening windows, pulling out the detector's batteries and returning to her charcoal bread. Just as she got the kitchen under control, there was a knock on her door. Wiping sweat from her brow and wiping her hands on the apron she was wearing around her waist, she made her way over to the door and opened.

"Morning…bad timing?" her blonde friend Mina asked as she looked at Lita's condition.

"Actually, perfect timing." Lita said, pulling her friend into the porch and leading her to the kitchen. "You can help me clean up and try this bread again."

Mina looked at the gray smoke that remained in the air of the kitchen and knew that it was a bad idea to come visit Mina that day. Nonetheless, she grabbed an apron and started to help clean out the oven, which was filled with ashes.

"Better, again!" Koaru said to Amy as she panted, hands on her knees and sweating, yet wearing a self satisfied smile as she raised her arms once again, then charged Koaru as fast as she could. Koaru lashed out with a kick, which Amy blocked with both hands, then grabbed his ankle, spun around and swept his left leg out from under him, sending him onto his back. Amy then leapt forward and sat on his chest, pinning him to the ground.

"Gotcha at last." She said, sweat dripping off her face and onto Koaru's chest. He smiled and her grip on his wrists tightened as she leaned closer, panting slightly.

"You have me…" Koaru said with a smile, "in a way." He then bent his knees all the way to her butt and kicked, the force of it sliding him right out from under Amy. Koaru then turned and grabbed her from behind, his left arm around her waist and right around her neck. She sighed in disappointment.

"I give, you win…again." Koaru smiled and released her, then turned his attention to the free weights.

"Lets see just how strong I am." He said, and Amy rolled her eyes.

"Men…" she sighed.

"Get the fire extinguisher, quick!" Lita shouted as fire billowed from the open oven door, threatening to burn down the kitchen. Mina ran to the closet and pulled out the red tank of CO2 and began to spray the fire with a little to much excitement. Lita sighed in disappointment.

"So much for the cookies." She said as she looked at the ashes on the trays. Mina knelt next to her, sharing the upset.

"Yeah, I doubt that even Serena would eat them now." The two girls looked at each other, then burst out laughing.

"Leave me alone, Grandpa! I'm not a little girl anymore!" Raye shouted at her grandfather as he walked into her room as she was changing into her robes from her pajamas.

"Oops, I'm sorry Raye." Her Grandfather said as he quickly covered his eyes and rushed back out. "I thought you were still asleep." Raye sighed, then put on the white robe she had been covering herself with. As she finished tying the belt her grandfather shouted to her.

"Raye! Come here, quickly!" Raye rushed outside to find her grandfather looking up at the sky. She followed his gaze and saw a small streak of light shooting down towards Mt. Fuji.

"It's a meteor!" she gasped as she watched it crash into the side of the mountain. As she watched the smoke from the point of impact, she suddenly felt a chill run up her spine; a sure sign of trouble.

"Grandpa, I'm going to meditate. Please don't disturb me." Her grandfather nodded his understanding and shuffled off to the garden of the Temple, leaving Raye with a sick feeling in her stomach.

"ARRRRRRRRRRGH!" Koaru grunted as he finally reached his limit for the bench press, 275 pounds. Two other guys helped him to place the bar back on its stand and started unloading the weights. Amy walked over to Koaru with a water bottle, which he took with a quick thanks and took a deep drink, panting afterwards.

"How can you handle that much weight?" she asked as Koaru caught his breath. He shrugged his shoulders, took another swig of water, then passed the bottle back.

"Living in the orphanage was no picnic. I guess I got some fair training there before I got out." Amy smiled, knowing Koaru liked to call his adoption his "Great Escape". She looked over at him as he walked to the training bag and started to strike it with lightning fast punches. She took in his bodily features, his strong upper body, solid legs, determined eyes, and the mark on his left shoulder, the curse that had almost killed them all so many times already.

"How does he live with that burden?" she wondered as she continued to watch, Koaru now kicking the bag so hard it was swinging up to the ceiling.