That rainy night, Koji stood by Ibuki's side as she rested in bed. Koji worried about her condition, but at the same time was surprised about the fact she was a ninja. He then took the damp rag off of Ibuki's forehead and replaced it with another one to cool her temperature. "Ibuki, I… I don't know what to say." Koji said. He then remembered the time he first met her as a ninja, but didn't know who she was at the time.
"What happened to you?" Koji still wondered. "I better go make her something in case she wakes up." He suggested as he left Ibuki side.
While sleeping Ibuki remembered the time when she was abandoned as a child and left at the hands of the Geki. She was then given to another ninja clan, and she practiced tirelessly to become a ninja. The ninja masters watched over her to make sure she would become nothing like the Geki.
"The Geki bloodline flows deep within you Ibuki, you cannot deny it. You are one of us." The Geki ninja approached her from behind. The Geki ninja slashed Ibuki, which caused her to wake up in fear.
As Ibuki sat wide awake, she began to wonder where she was and what had happened. "So you're finally awake! Thank goodness." Koji was relieved as he approached Ibuki with a plate of soup and snacks.
"Koji, what happened, where am I?" Ibuki wondered.
"You're in my house; you collapsed here, and were badly injured. I took care of you. I also called your friend over, so she'll be here eventually." Koji answered. Koji was happy to see Ibuki wide awake. "I see…thank you." Ibuki replied. Ibuki smiled back at Koji. "You must have been in a pretty heavy street fight to get injured like that." Koji joked.
"I'm afraid I haven't been fully honest with you Koji." Ibuki admitted. "It's all right. I figured you had your reasons for keeping such a secret, but then again it's pretty cool that I now know a ninja after what my friend has been telling me over and over again. He thinks that ninjas don't exist." Koji explained. "Well I feel that I need to tell you anyway, because I like you so much." Ibuki said.
"For generations our ninja clan had always lived under great secrecy; I was adopted by a clan of ninjas. When I grew up I started to attend regular school, but I still worked hard as a ninja as well. My work became too much for me, and wanted to be like a normal girl for a change. But now my village has been enslaved by the Geki ninjas, who had been enemies of my clan for a very long time, and it's my fault." Ibuki wept. "No, it isn't. You couldn't have known this was coming." Koji shot back. A tear rolled down Ibuki's eye. Koji caught her tear with his finger, he then placed his hand over hers, trying to ease Ibuki's pain.
The two of them were frozen in place as they looked at each other with deep affection. Koji drew close to Ibuki, their lips connecting into a kiss. The kiss lasted for a second, until Koji broke away. "Tell me Ibuki," Koji asked, "Do you regret meeting me?"
Ibuki blushed with deep affection after Koji's surprise kiss. "No… not at all." She replied. They were about to kiss for the second time until an interruption came; a knocking at the door. Koji answered the door, revealing Sarai, who rushed upstairs in tears to Ibuki, worried about her condition.
"Sarai I'm fine, you don't have to worry so much!" Ibuki cheered. "You call this fine, look how hurt you are." Sarai criticized.
"Ibuki, I want to help." Koji offered. Ibuki looked at him confused.
"I want to help fend off these invaders of your clan. I don't care how strong they are, I want to help you." Koji offered. Ibuki looked at Koji's face filled with determination. "Okay…and thank you." Ibuki smiled. "We should wait until you get better so you can be in top shape. With the way you are now, we won't stand a change." Koji suggested.
"Until then, you two feel free to stay here for the night. I have some extra clothes you girls can use." Koji offered. Koji got a t shirt and shorts for both girls.
The next morning Koji was in the kitchen cooking breakfast. Ibuki came down doing her usual morning stretches. "Hey good morning…" Koji greeted with a smile. "Oh good morning…" Ibuki continued to do her stretches. "You really think you should be doing that, after all you are still injured?" Koji reminded.
"Well I can't just sit by and do nothing." Ibuki replied. Ibuki continued to stretch to try to ease the pain in her body. Sarai yawned behind Ibuki and poked her in a bandage area, subduing Ibuki as she fell to the floor feeling pain.
"Stop pushing yourself already! I know you're a ninja, but you still need to give take some time to heal." Sarai lectured. "Sarai, that's mean." Ibuki whined. "She does have a point you know; now come on you can start by regaining your strength by eating." Koji ordered.
"Itadakimasu…!" the three prayed and then started eating. The three of them had a peaceful meal. Everyone was trying not to worry about Ibuki's situation at hand. Koji looked at Ibuki; her concern for her clan was clearly in her thought according to her face. "Relax Ibuki." Koji tried to cheer her up. Ibuki was surprised by his words. "Don't worry about them, they are ninjas. I'm sure they can take care of themselves," Koji smiled, "After all, you were raised by them. They would want you to be safe either way. Nobody is going anywhere I promise." Koji's smile grew. "And besides there is no way those Geki ninja would ever think about attacking in broad daylight and in a residential area at that." Koji had successfully cheered Ibuki up.
"All right Koji…" Ibuki believed in him. She giggled a bit.
The three of them took a walk across town for a while, until they found two street fighters going against each other. "I'll show you how strong I am; after all Muay Thai is the strongest there is." Adon shouted. The three of them watched, annoyed by his cockiness. Dee Jay sighed; he was tired of fighting Adon.
"Are you done already baby? Let me know because I have record deal to get to." Dee Jay taunted. "You seem too happy for your own good. Do you know who I am?" Adon insulted. "Yes…your Sagat's little boy, you claim to be a champ, but instead you're a chump." Dee Jay stated. "Don't underestimate the power of Muay Thai…you FOOL." Adon charged at Dee Jay for his final attack. Dee Jay then countered his attack, knocking Adon out for the count.
"The problem is you got no rhythm mon. That's why you lost." Dee Jay criticized. "Mark my words I will have my revenge after I become the King of Muay Thai." Adon swore. "The king, you're right," Dee Jay chuckled. "That is… the king of losing." Dee Jay joked. The whole crowd laughed at Dee Jay's joke and at Adon's defeat. The trio of them laughed at Adon as well.
"Finally, someone shut him up…" Koji said. "I'll say. He was getting so annoying." Ibuki agreed.
Dee Jay walked towards his fans, which were surrounding him, wanting his autograph. "Mr. Dee Jay, I'm a fan of your music, could I have your autograph?" A fan asked. "Sure, baby, anything for a fan." Dee Jay grinned. He signed a couple of posters for fans. "Be sure to pick up or download my new album. It's dedicated to my dance rival." Dee Jay suggested to the fans.
"His dance rival huh, I wonder who that could be." Ibuki wondered as she pretended to be dense.
"It's you stupid…" Koji replied, playing along with Ibuki.
Ibuki, Koji and Sarai watched a sumo match in the ring between Hakan and E. Honda. "Give it up Hakan; sumo is the best technique of strength." E. Honda said. "Can't say I agree with you there friend. The best strength technique is Turkish oil wrestling." Hakan shot back. "Maybe we will put that to the test." E. Honda challenged.
"Sounds good," Hakan accepted the challenge.
The two charged at each with a full frontal assault; matching each other's strength blow for blow. E. Honda released a barrage of punches, however, his attacks bounced right off of Hakan oily skin. "As I told you before your sumo techniques can't match my oil wrestling!" Hakan taunted. "We'll see about that." E. Honda shot as he put some distance between himself and his opponent. He then unleashed his signature attack, launching himself head first at Hakan. Hakan tried to block his attack, but E. Honda's power overwhelmed him, causing him to lose his balance. Hakan fell out of the ring and victory belonged to E. Honda.
The crowd cheered for his victory as Hakan got back up. The two of them shook hands as it was a friendly fight. "You have fought well Mr. Honda, but rest assured I will not lose again." Hakan warned. "And I'll be ready for you next time." E. Honda spoke proudly.
Ibuki, Koji and Sarai went to visit the Rindo-kan dojo where Makoto trained at. "Hey, Makoto!" Ibuki greeted. Makoto quickly turned around and saw the three of them approaching from behind her. "What happened to you?" Makoto wondered, noticing Ibuki's injuries. Koji explained the situation to Makoto.
"Disgraceful…. Strength in numbers; what coward's way to win!" Makoto barked as she drunk her green tea. "Yep, that's pretty much how it all happened." Koji replied. "I never knew ninjas would be so dishonorable in battle." Makoto insulted.
"I'm insulted…" Ibuki replied offended.
Makoto then realized her comment, knowing that Ibuki was a ninja. "Ahem, please forgive me. I didn't mean to…" Makoto apologized. "It's all right you don't have to apologize." Ibuki replied.
"It just gets to me so much that they would do this to you." Makoto grieved. "Have you thought about launching a counter attack?" Makoto suggested. "For now we're trying to heal up, and besides it may be a trap if we rush in now." Koji replied.
"I'll be able to train myself greatly by fighting against these opponents you call Geki." Makoto said. "You mean you're going to help us?" Ibuki asked. "Of course I will you are my rival after all. I'll make these amateurs pay." Makoto said. Makoto threw a powerful jab filled with determination into the air, ready to fight.
Ibuki worked on her jabs in the back yard when they returned to Koji's home, hoping to improve her skills, just like Makoto. No matter what Sarai and Koji told her she was dead set on her goal to stop the Geki and save her clan. "Still trying to heal quickly I see?" Koji watched. Ibuki turned her back quickly thinking that an enemy was behind her.
Ibuki shook her head. "You can't stop me Koji, I have to do this! I can't sit around on the sidelines anymore while my clan is in the hands of the Geki." Ibuki said. "Who says I'm trying to stop you? I said I wanted to help you and I will. Why don't we do a little sparing just like last time?" Koji suggested, going into his fighting stance.
Ibuki then got into her fighting stance. "Get ready for this because I won't hold back even if you're injured." Koji roared. "Good, I won't forgive you if you do." Ibuki shot back, fired burning in her eyes. The two were matched evenly, neither holding back their fierce strength. They were both ruthless on the battlefield, disregarding their friendship for the moment of battle.
Ibuki then caught Koji's right jab and countered his attack by launching a close range projectile without giving a second thought. Koji was sent flying to the wall after Ibuki's special projectile attack. Ibuki rushed to Koji's aid, as she feared that she may have accidental hurt Koji badly. Koji had passed and lay sprawled on the ground.
"Koji are you all right…?" Ibuki feared.
Koji could not help but laugh at Ibuki's surprise attack. He pulled Ibuki down to lie by his side. "You surprised me so much… it's funny." Koji laughed. "Oh, you dummy." Ibuki mocked giving Koji a soft jab on his shoulder. Ibuki then laughed along with Koji at their match.
"Thanks Koji. I needed that." Ibuki thanked him. The two once again stared at each other with deep affection, blushing to their hearts content. Out of nowhere, Sarai and Elena appeared as they continued to stare at each other in admiration. "What are you two doing?" Sarai asked. "Oh…that's just sweet." Elena complimented.
Ibuki and Koji noticed the two of them and they broke away from each other. "Hey don't mind us, continue what you were doing." Sarai smiled.
Ibuki stood up."Um…I'm going to jump in the shower for a bit." Ibuki quickly changed the subject. Koji watched her leave with embarrassment. "And… I'm going to prepare dinner." Koji also changed the subject. Elena and Sarai giggled at the sudden change of atmosphere as they were aware that they caught those two in an awkward moment.
The three girls and Koji sat down and ate dinner together. "Who knew you'd find yourself a boyfriend so easily…I'm so jealous." Elena complemented admiring Koji and Ibuki. Ibuki and Koji blushed over her comment. "Come Elena, it's really not that big of a deal." Koji defended. "What do you mean by that?" Ibuki questioned, bothered by his words.
"Uh…I…well…never mind." Koji struggled. "Tell what you meant by that." Ibuki demanded. "Look I said never mind, could we just drop it already?" he pleaded. "No way," Ibuki shot back. Ibuki fought Koji over his response. "Tell me what you meant by that." Ibuki demanded fighting Koji. "I told you it's nothing." Koji replied. Koji defended himself as Ibuki continued to fight him over what he said. The next morning… Ibuki had taken off her bandages as she was fully healed. She had begun to stretch out a bit. Next, she trained in the backyard making sure her ninja techniques didn't get rusty while recuperating. Finally, she put on her ninja outfit once more to prepare for battle against the Geki ninjas.
Koji, Sarai and Elena were kicking back in the house until Ibuki walked in dressed in her traditional ninja outfit. "Hey guys, it's time we head to my village and stop the Geki once and for all." Ibuki announced ready to fight. "We're with you all the way." Koji replied also ready to fight along with the others.
Battle begins next chapter.