Ryu's nose twitched. He sat up and sniffed the air. What was that smell? It smelled like something cooking…He jolted out of bed and trotted across the hall to the kitchen. Fate had her back to him at the stove. She was concentrating on whatever was in front of her.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Cooking breakfast." she said without turning to him. He peered over her shoulder. She had a stack of waffles next to the stove along with a plate full of eggs and some bacon. She turned off the burner. "Go ahead and eat as much as you can."

"Thanks. Aren't you going to eat?"

"I ate while I was cooking."

"Okay, then go open the store."

"But I wanted to go to the gym and train!" she whined.

"Store first."

Fate growled and stomped out of the kitchen. She marched down the stairs and flipped the open sign on. She took her place behind the counter. "I should have taken that damn food with me."

The door opened. Fate looked at up. A small, blonde teenager walked in. He glanced around. Then, he spotted Fate at the counter.

"Where is Hayabusa?" the boy asked.

"He's upstairs eating breakfast. May I help you?"

"Who are you?"

"My name is Fate. I'm Master Ryu's student. Who are you?"

"I'm Elliot. I'm here to fight Hayabusa, but since you're his student you'll do." He bowed then, took his stance.

Fate frowned. She ripped off a strip of material from the bottom of her shirt and used it to tie up her hair. She took her stance, ready to fight. Elliot ran at her. Fate hurled herself over the counter, kicking her feet out. They slammed into his chest throwing him back. He landed on his back, in the middle of the store. He wasted no time jumping back up. Fate waited in her stance.

"Why do you want to fight?" Fate asked Elliot.

"My Master has said I needed to take on a challenge."

"How do you know this will be a challenge?"

"There's only one way to find out." He ran at Fate.

"It sounds to me like your Master just wanted to get rid of you."

Elliot froze. His fist was inches from Fate's face. "No way. My Master loves having me as his student."

"Then, why would he send you away? That sounds stupid."

"Shut up! You don't know anything about him!"

"I already know my Master is better."

"He is not!" Elliot pounced on Fate. She shrieked. The two fell to the floor. They began rolling around the store, grabbing each other's throats and glaring at one another.

"What's going on down here?" Ryu asked as he appeared from the stairs. He saw Fate sitting on Elliot's stomach, glaring daggers at him. Her fist was above her head, ready to smash into Elliot's face. She was covered in scratches and bruises. Elliot was glaring up at her, his arms crossed in front of his torso, ready to cover any vulnerable spot.

"You stupid kid! I'm going to pound you!" she shouted. Ryu snatched her off of Elliot and tossed her onto his shoulder. She kicked her arms and legs. One of her legs came extremely close to Ryu's face.

"Stop moving and shut up." Ryu ordered, but it was ignored. Elliot sat up, smirking. "I wouldn't be happy if I were you." He grabbed the back of Elliot's shirt. He forced the two upstairs and into his bedroom. He tossed Fate onto the bed, then Elliot. "Sit here and if either of you start a fight I'll throw you both out." He left the two alone and headed for his bathroom to get his first aid kit.

Fate and Elliot refused to look at each other. "If he wouldn't throw me out I'd totally kick your ass right now." Fate said.

"This just shows that your Master is stupid." Elliot said.

Fate snapped her head around. "No, your Master is stupid!" Elliot faced her. Both glared and growled at each other.

"Stop it." Ryu barked. He sat his kit on the bed and opened it. Fate stared at the floor while Ryu bandaged her. He quickly did up Elliot and shut the kit. "Stay here, Fate. Elliot, follow me."

Fate remained silent. Ryu led Elliot out and shut the door behind them. Fate sighed. 'It's only been a day and a half and he already thinks I'm an idiot.' she thought. 'It's that kid's fault. What nerve! What's the point in coming here to fight? It's not like there's a prize or a goal achievement. I wonder how he knows Master Ryu…'

The door opened. Ryu walked in and sat beside Fate. She could feel the tension between them. "Master Ryu, he chose to fight me! I--"

Ryu held up his hand. "I know what happened. You could have refused to fight."

Fate stared at him. "You know that's not true. You wouldn't have refused it."

"That's me though. I'm an expert fighter. You're not."

"You don't know that! You haven't fought me yet."

"You're right. Let's go out back then."

"Huh?"

"I want to fight you." He stood up, casually.

"But, I-" Fate couldn't think of a reason to escape the fight. "I don't want to fight."

"You have no choice. Let's go."

Fate followed behind Ryu as he led her out the back. She shook from being so nervous. He was going to grind her into the dirt. She could picture it in her head. She stopped, feeling dizzy and light headed. Ryu turned around. Fate was swaying and she looked pale.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Fate nodded, slowly. He sighed. "I'm not going to fight back." he assured her. That calmed her down a bit. "Just show me what you're made of."

Fate balled her fists. She gulped back her fear and relaxed into her fighting stance. Ryu watched her. She ran straight for her Master, ready to prove herself to him. Just as she was going to strike at him a girl popped up in front of Ryu. Fate froze.

"Hi, Ryu!" the girl said, happily.

"Hitomi?" Ryu said, surprised.

"That's right and I bought some friends with me!"

Four more girls walked over. Hitomi stood in front of the group of girls. "Remember these girls, Ryu? Lei Fang, Helena, Kokoro, and Tina?"

"Vaguely. What are you all doing here?"

"Well," started Tina. "Hitomi wanted to come see Hayate, but she didn't want to come alone, so she invited us."

"And being the nice girls we are, we couldn't say no." finished Lei Fang. The girls pestered Ryu with questions.

Fate watched the scene, getting angrier by the moment. Who the hell did these girls think they were? She pivoted on her heel and walked inside. Everyone heard the back door open and slam shut and turned to look.

"What was that?" Hitomi asked.

"My new pupil."

"You took on a student?" Tina asked. "What's his name?"

"Her name is Fate."

"You took on a girl student?!" Lei Fang gasped. "That's incredible!"

"Why'd you do it?" Hitomi asked. "She holding something against you?"

"If she is we can take her out." said Tina. Helena shook her head.

"Don't you think he would have done that by now?" she questioned her friends.

"It's nothing like that." Ryu said. "It's a long story."

"Well, we're here for a while." said Hitomi. "Let us in and tell us the story!"