EPISODE 3: IMPROVING.
"One, two… three!" The martial arts teacher said teaching us the movements we had to perform. "Ok, understood?"
"Can you repeat it for a third time?" I asked him.
"Sure." He said before repeating it once again. "Ok now?"
"Water clear." We said.
"Ok, ready, steady… go!" He said.
We then began practising the movements, once and again while the teacher corrected our positions and movements.
It's now about three months since we made the agreement about the lessons and not only we've improved in Japanese and English that we are beginning to go better on the fighting acting parts.
"Good work, five minutes of rest and we try again." He said holding a bottle of fresh tea. "Well done missy."
"Arigato." I said bowing respectfully according to that discipline.
"Look what we have here." Ethan said. "The teacher's pet."
"The what?" I asked. "Teacher's pet." He told me still in Japanese to then translate it into English for me making me laugh.
"What I can't understand is how is you are so good at it." Goku said trying to do the combo the teacher just taught us. "I'm just unable to do it."
"It's all in your feet." I said. "Just try getting first fists, then legs, and the whole."
"Impossible." He said.
"Ok, look…" I said getting ready. "First, low defence to his punch. Second, you kick at his knee and then straight punch to his face chained with a left and then back right punches all chained while you fall over your risen feet to the ground. Sorry, I'm afraid I can't stand so long on one foot moving the other. Orion, please?"
"I'm your holder." He said coming to my back.
I repeated again slowly repeating the instructions.
"Try again?" I asked him to observe how he did and correcting him twice. "Hummm… let's try doing it other way now you seem to have clear what you must do." I said situating in front of him ready to practise. "Ok, I attack you and you try to defend."
"What?! I can't fight you." He said.
"Fight or I'll hit you." I said bouncing a bit to reheat my legs and ankles. "Ready?"
He then raised his guard a bit getting into position.
"I'm doing it more or less slow so you can mark your movements, right?" I said before throwing the hit slowly to give him time to play the movements.
He then tried doing them but didn't even touch me; once, twice, three times…
"Goku, you must touch me." I told him. "You don't hit too strong but at least touch me."
"I'm afraid of hurting you." He said.
"Do you prefer me hitting you?" I asked. "C'mon, move."
He repeated but again it was not worth of being called actor-worth effort.
"Goku, forget I'm me." I told him. "For a moment imagine I'm not me, imagine I'm your enemy. I'm a youkai that want to kill you, aye?"
"But our enemies are men." He said.
"Yaone and Lirin are girls." I said. "Imagine I'm Lirin then."
"I… can't promise you a thing, but…" He said.
"C'mon… try." I said.
This time he did better, much better.
"Better." I said. "What about trying once again?"
"I also want to try." Ethan said.
"First once again Goku and then you, Ethan."
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"You are not going to believe it, sir." Our sword instructor said. "They made three sword fights perfectly today."
"Yeah, and their aikido and wingtsun level has improved a lot." The martial arts instructor told. "All of them! Oh, you should have seen how the littler one performed a combo with six out of seven steps by the end of the session!"
"And I've heard they can read their roles better now." The co-director said. "Maybe it would be time for doing something else."
"Something else?" Asked the sword instructor.
"Excuse me!" I said while Orion and I arrived. "Didn't know there was a meeting!"
"We found out about this when we went to ask Mr. Yuan and Mr. Hoûyin to lend us some materials." Orion said.
"What do you need from us?" Mr. Yuan the driver instructor told us.
"We were thinking on going to have some lessons outdoors." I explained. "I heard there was a beautiful tracking path near Tokyo so… well, we thought that as we have no lessons until tomorrow afternoon we could go there so as to do some sport as we learn." I said. "So we thought we could also need a pair of climbing equipments."
"Oh, ho, oh." Mr. Hoûyin, the risky-sport instructor said. "It can be dangerous going on your own."
"C'mon, we are not going to do so much risk." Orion said. "In any case you will get a hurt English teacher."
"We don't want anyone hurt." The director said.
"Ok, maybe this is also a good chance to see you guys putting into action what you learn from me. I'll go with you."
"Ok, you get the equipment." He said. "Anything else?"
"Yeah." Orion said. "I take this change to expose the weekend's plan."
"Other than the films' marathon?" I asked him in irony as he didn't tell me a thing before then.
"Aye." I said. "I think it would be a great idea for all the actors to see if they grew up a bit."
"We were just commenting on that." The co-director said. "It seems that despite of that strong study program you've put them into and that takes most of their day together with the rest of our trainings… well, that they have improved their other lessons skills, a notably lot."
"That's good news!" I said happy. "Wait until they know, they will be so thrilled!!"
"I suppose it should be them who tell them." Orion told me. "Remember you and I are just their English teachers."
"Well, apart than that it seems you, especially her, have gone friends with them." The director said. "And that's good."
"See?" I told Orion. "Someone that supports me."
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"Ok." Our risky sports instructor told us stopping at the end of the path. "Rest, we will later keep on climbing when I've managed to mark the path so you can begin climbing."
"Great…" The guys said out of strength.
"Wow, that was…" I began saying. "It's taken us a bit to reach here."
"Do you want some ice-tea?" Futawa asked me holding out a bottle for me.
"Ah, no, thanks." I said. "I've still not got used to drinking that all the time."
"Here." Orion said handing me his water canteen to share it. "I've brought you one; I knew you would forget yours."
"Thank you." I said smiling mildly at him as I held the recipient and had a long gulp of it before handing it back to him. "What would I do without you, Orion?"
Lupus was now lying obediently at my feet resting a bit while we also rested there.
"It seems you are not too tired." Ivvan said.
"Ka-sama is really strong girl!" Goku said clinging from my back smiling.
"I'm not!" I said about laughing. "But Orion, Lupus and I have gone hiking on weekends for years."
"And so you keep on getting tired after long walks." Orion said pulling my leg.
"What can I say?" I said. "Lupus and you walk too fast and agile, I can't follow that track so long as you."
"Well, those two look stronger than you, anyway." Ethan said.
"Oh, oh!" Goku said chipping. "I forgot telling you! I had an idea!"
"Please, no more singing while we walk or I'll shoot you." Ivvan said.
Certainly this time he was a bit more polite and calmed than Sanzo, yet he kept on being a bit short tempered.
"No!" Goku said laughing while Lupus pulled him away from me by biting his trousers. "I just thought on calling us by our roles!"
"Your what?" I asked.
"They mean calling them Goku, Sanzo, Gojyo and Hakkai." Orion said. "That would be a good idea of Isa and I had also nick names."
"What about wolf-guy and princess?" Ethan said joking.
"What about calling you red roach?" Orion asked.
No, certainly nothing seemed to have changed.
"Stop it kids." I said joking too. "I think the names idea is a good one, yet maybe you should call us by our real names."
"So, Goku, Sanzo, Hakkai, Gojyo, Orion and Isa." Futawa said summarising it.
"And Lupus." I said when he made a noise. "Do not forget about him, he is part of the team."
"Aye, and that gigantic pooch." Ethan said.
"OK, guys, time to keep on." The instructor said. "C'mon… move those butts… the camp is not going to be coming here for us."
"Man, I'm willing to get there." Ethan said. "This is certainly exhausting."
"Will we have to build the tents?" Orion asked. "I love doing that."
"Well, we can build them, but there's also a little hut so…"
"I ask for the tent!" Orion, Goku and I said to then laugh.
"Man, they are crazy." Ethan said. "Why would you sleep on such things when you can sleep on a hut?"
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"Orion… I'm out of nails!!" I moaned.
"Yeah, it seems someone put them all at my tent." He said handing me some more nails.
"Oh, can you give me a hand?" Goku asked pointing to his attempt of tent.
"Wait a second and I'll do." I said.
"I still can't understand how is you are so fast mounting tents." Orion told me.
"Training on summer camps." I said winking at him in fun.
"Man… I think I love that girl." Ethan said to Futawa and Ivvan. "She is strong, great personality, beauty… and it seems she can do anything."
"Don't forget she is the only one standing Goku that much." Futawa said smiling mild. "He is beginning to look at her as if she was his mother."
"Sure, also that." Ethan said smiling in fun. "I think we could bet on who gets her heart first."
"All yours." Ivvan said. "She is just a silly girl to my point of view."
"My, my." Futawa said. "I don't think it's ok to bet on that… she is not going to like it."
"Hey, shouldn't you be ordering your things at the wardrobes?" The instructor told them. "Hum, watching the most dare ones mount their tents??"
"Watching how a girl apparently defenceless mount a tent faster than a wild guy and the monkey together." Ivvan said. "Ah, again the one of the kid fell down. Silly…"
"To speak the truth… I think she is the most skilled on this from all you." The teacher said. "She follows the indications by heart, chooses well the land to settle the tent… and obviously knows what is the use for all the parts of the tent." He added while I ended fastening the waterproof cape over the tent and under it to prevent rain pooling them if it began raining after asking Orion about what Lupus and he thought about the possibility of raining that night.
"Ok men, shall we begin cooking the dinner for all?" He asked then.
"Wasn't it supposed to be a barbecue?" Ethan asked.
"Aye, but it has to be cooked too." Futawa said. "It's going to be fun!" He said cheerfully. "I've never done one before!"
"Really?" The teacher said. "Oh, oh. Ivvan?"
"Ah, ah." He said shaking his head. "The closes I've been from one was when I had to do some photo shoots."
"Ethan?" The teacher said.
"I have seen how they are done." He said. "But I've never done one."
"Great." The teacher said. "What are we supposed to do now?"
"Well, we have a woman too." Ivvan said. "She must know how to do it."
"Pray for it." The teacher said. "C'mon, let's offer them a hand."
"I don't think they need too much help." Futawa said smiling and pointing out of the window. "But they are going to need someone to stop the kid from playing with one of the covers."
They went fast out and stopped at the door to see Goku running with his waterproof cape over him as if he was a ghost while Lupus chased him while Orion shouted at him not to play with that and…
"Hey, stop it." I said holding him and removing the 'cloak' from him. "If you damage this and it rains today you will end up swimming inside your tent."
"But…" He said.
"No buts." I said walking to keep on mounting the tent to fasten that cape. "Especially when Orion and I are mounting your tent too."
"C'mon kid." The teacher said. "She is right, if you don't put that over the tent you will go soaked if it rains tonight."
"Ok." He said. "Sorry…"
"By the way, do you guys know how to do a barbeque?" The teacher said.
"No." Both Orion and I said.
"Perfect." The teacher said. "We have the meat but not the skills…"
"Well, I know how to roast steaks on a bonfire." I said raising a hand.
"Yeah, me too." Orion said. "Anyway… we could also eat raw meat. Lupus would love it." He said smiling impishly.
"Aye, like wild animals." I said answering to his joke. "Oh, oh! I know! We could also look for some wild fruits and eat them."
"Er… this was supposed to be a little trip." The teacher said. "Not… survival race."
"We were just kidding." I said smiling and throwing away the stone I used as hammer.
"Yeah, we like joking." Orion said. "So… as the teacher said, we could do it like a survival experience."
"Please, not such thing…" The teacher said.
"No, no, don't worry." Orion said. "It would be fun but maybe you city-guys would die before reaching back home. Just a soft one, like Isa and I."
"I still can't understand what's up between both." Ethan said.
"Team work." I said smiling.
"What she is lack of I have it, what I'm lack of she has it." Orion said. "Cooperation and teamwork. The basics for survival."
"So this translated to now means something too easy to understand." Orion said. "Everyone gives a hand, everyone has dinner; someone tries to sneak out, nobody has dinner."
"Man, this two make a great team." The teacher said. "OK, keep on talking. What do we have to do?"
Then Orion and I looked at each other and smiled in fun.
"Ok, stand still!" Orion said. "Arms to your sides! Hum… what do you think, captain?"
"I think Mr. Goku and Mr. Ethan will make a perfect team for looking for water while Mr. Ivvan, Mr. Futawa and Mr. Adventure will do perfect collecting wood for the fire."
"I want to go picking up wood." Goku said.
"No cooperation, no dinner. Remember?" I asked them. "We need water to put out the fire. Orion?"
"Ok, I go with the water party and then you do the bonfire." He said. "Lupus, take care of her."
"Orion, can you lend me your toy, please?" I asked him.
"Sure." He said looking into his pockets and handing me a jack-knife. "Take good care of it, please."
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"This is just… silly." Ivvan said picking another branch from the ground. "We are not here for picking up branches."
"Heya!" I said waving at them from under a tree. "I think I've found something."
"What's it?" Futawa asked me.
"Something that could be useful for fire." I said smiling. "I'll pick it up."
It was a moment and I was trying to climb up the tree without success.
"Er... mind giving me a little help?" I asked a bit embarrassed. "I'm afraid I'm a bit short for… well, reaching the first branch."
"Then why don't you stop playing being a monkey and keep taking whatever you were picking up?" Ivvan asked.
"Ok, let me see…" The teacher said coming to my side. "I will make you a step so you step at my hands and I push you up a bit."
"Sure." I said. "Ready?"
As he said, he joined both hands to make a step where I put my feet and then I jumped up to stand up and he pushed me a bit upper so I got hold to the branch and hung from there to then begin climbing up.
"Are you ok?" The teacher asked me when I got lost at the branches.
"Aye, don't worry." I said. "Lupus, ready, I'm going to throw you something."
It was a surprise for the rest when they saw the wolfish dog hold the apples one by one to drop them at the ground as I let them fall down for him to pick them up.
"Man, this is really terrifying…" Ivvan said.
"My, my… what a well trained dog." Futawa said smiling while I shouted Lupus because he barked at the tree. "It seems those three work along really well."
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"Watch out with the step ahead." Orion advised Ethan and Goku back him while they carried the buckets full of water.
"Pick that dog!" They heard the instructor shouting. "He's gotten all our dinner!!"
"Lupus!" Isa shouted at him. "Stop playing and bring that back before I end lighting the fire!"
"Er… are you sure your dog is well trained?" Ethan asked when they saw Lupus with the bag where the meat was kept at his jaws.
"Lupus!" Orion shouted at him. "Return that immediately you rude moron!!"
"Ahhh!" Goku shouted when he realised. "Our dinner!!"
"Stop shouting." I said bowing over the wooden pile we made out of the branches and leaves we managed to pick up. "Fire will clean any slobber he left. Dude… this is a bit wet…"
"Have you tried putting some papers inside so they light and the wood dries a bit before burning?" Orion then said.
"Ah, yeah." I said. "Thanks for the tip."
"Sure." He said. "You always forget about it."
"Hey, need my lighter?" Ethan asked.
"Ah, no thanks." I said. "Ivvan already lent me his." I added lifting it to show him it.
It took us little time to have the fire lighted and the water ready in case anything happened so they all sat around the fire while we waited for it to turn into ambers so we could begin roasting the food.
"Didn't know you guys could work so well into real survival situations." The teacher said.
"Survival this?" Orion asked. "Nah, this is not survival. We have tents, food, mobiles, lighters…"
"What Orion means is this is just a hard camping." I said. "All the problems were you didn't knew how to make a barbecue so we had to look for wood and water to light a fire and roast the meat for dinner."
"Luckily we have you two." Goku said so Lupus barked. "Three, you three."
"C'mon big boy…" I said rubbing his big head while he was between Orion and I. "He didn't knew you were the one helping me picking up the fruits while I passed them to you."
"Er… I think I'll pass from the fruit." Ethan said putting the apple half bitten down.
"Hey, do not throw away the food." Orion said. "Pass it."
"Sure." He said handing it to him.
"Ok, let's put the meat already so it roasts." I said. "Orion, if you please?"
"Aye, juice." He said. "I need more hands."
"What do we have to do now?" Futawa said.
"Making juice out of the fruits and berries we've picked up." He said.
"Hum… just the red things and the wild apples." I said. "And the rest you know." I added looking at him after placing the first row of steaks at the grill.
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"Yum!" Goku said giving the first bite to the meat as we took it off. "Tastes wonderful!!"
"See?" Orion said. "It's the only person I know able to do that flavour."
"Tastes great." Ivvan said nodding.
"Hum!" Futawa said smiling. "The wild berries just make it better!"
"I'm happy you like them." I said smiling. "Ok, my turn."
It was funny, but I never got so much fun by something as simple as cooking for so many people. Anyway, that full of noises place was apparently all I needed for feeling alive again.
"Fu… Hakkai." Ethan called him. "Can I make you a question?"
"Sure." He said. "Anything wrong?"
"No, don't worry." Ethan said. "It was just… Don't you think Isa-chan is hyper-cute when she smiles like this?"
Sure, I was smiling in fun while we joked and I kept on roasting the last part of the steaks.
"Well, she is pretty." Futawa said. "But well… no doubt she is great when she smiles like that but do not make too much illusions about her, I'm afraid that despite on what they said, Orion and her are something else than friends."
"Well, that makes all funnier." Ethan said smiling. "I will have competence to get her heart, that makes it all more valuable."
"Ethan… I'm nobody to tell you off but… I must remember you she is a person and not a prize." Futawa told him serious. "Watch out on what you do and do not hurt her."
"Excuse me?" Ethan said appearing to be offended. "I'm a perfect lover, I will not hurt her."
Then I looked at them because I caught they were looking at me and they did a hand greeting smiling so I smiled back.
"If it's against that guy then the competition will be great." Ethan said. "Furthermore, this will be a perfect way to get into my role as Sha Gojyo."
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It was night when I felt a bit tired while we were around the bonfire telling stories and singing.
I was wrapped with a blanket and Lupus was at my back for me to use him as a kind of furry pillow and protecting me.
"Hey, maybe you should go sleep." Orion said.
"All of us should go to bed." The instructor said. "C'mon… tomorrow we are going climbing up and down a vertical wall."
"Great, someone is going to have to pull me up." I said moving and hearing my knees creaking softly. "I'm afraid I can't still climb too well."
"Well, don't worry." Orion said. "As always I'll pull you up a bit. Do you keep on your line?"
"Aye, same weight as always." I assured. "Ufff… maybe a pound or two less than the previous time… Well, sorry but… I'm going to bed. Good night!"
"Night." All of them said.
"Don't forget watering the fire to put it out, please." I said rubbing my eyes. "Ah, Lupus, want to come with me?" I asked when he rubbed his head against my side and walked next to me.
"Go, go, dude." Orion told him joking apparently bothered. "I see who you are loyal to, traitor."
"Isn't him her dog?" Ivvan said.
"Ah, no." Orion said. "It's mine, but it seems he likes her very much."
"Your girlfriend." Ethan said.
"My friend, just 'friend', right?" Orion said. "We were neighbours and since… well, since our friends left us alone we went better friends."
"Lupus!" They heard me shouting. "That was my blanket!"
"Lupus, behave or I'll make you out of there!" Orion told him without moving but for turning a bit his face.
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"Man… you look like the dog's parents." The teacher said after a while when they didn't saw him.
"By the way, where's Goku?" The teacher said.
"Goku!" They called him.
"Shhh…" Orion said to then listen at something.
Then he stood up and walked towards my tent to open it slightly and tell off Lupus that was snarling softly at him.
"Mystery solved." He whispered. "It seems our lash is having a huge tick at her tent today."
"Oh, no." Ethan said. "I'm taking him out of there."
"Hands out." Orion told him. "She is his mother so he is not going to do anything on her. Furthermore, if he even tries anything I will hear him and I can assure you that you will also notice because Lupus will rip his shoulder apart."
"He can't." The teacher said.
"Really?" Orion said to the unbutton his shirt and show them the bite mark at his shoulder. "I can assure you it was not a shark. Nah, try getting Lupus his food not being her and you will get one of this precious marks."
"Man, you three are crazy." Ivvan said. "A wild dog, the wild guy and the crazy lash."
"Yeah, what a funny gang." The teacher muttered smiling.