Chapter 11: FIGHT!

Training room, Ryozanpaku. Afternoon

His round, black eyes narrowed in determination as he slowly picked himself from the ground. His body was groaning slightly from all the abuse he was recieving, something Kenichi was used to ignoring since he entered Ryozanpaku. He lowered his body into his fighting stance as he watched his opponent closely. Her usually cheery round sky blue eyes had darkened into a solid navy blue as she concertrated. She was regulating her breathing as she watched him warily. With a loud shout, she dashed forward into his personal space and attacked his abdominal. Kenichi was ready for this attack, he ducked to her side by sliding to her right when she had moved forward but she had anticipated the move and took a step to dodge his blow and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to his cheek.

The impact caused him to slide across the training room. Kenichi was momentarily distracted by his need to steady himself after the blow as he had seen stars. Miu took this opportunity and had tripped him then threw him to the floor.

Kenichi did not want to give up, so he did a flip in mid-air and landed gracefully on his feet. He could see a flicker of shock in her navy blue eyes and he took the opportunity to do a Yamazaki. It did get very close to hitting her but she had swiftly parried both blows away and took a step back. Kenichi then took this opportunity to step into her personal space and used a set from Wing Chun fist, a powerful Chinese close combat martial art that released a lot of power despite the close distance. Kenichi was opening up her space by pushing her arm with one arm and attacking with the other at the same time. It was successful to a certain extent since Miu could only dodged by stepping to the back. Her lips curved upwards a little as she parried the second blow. Kenichi seem to grow a bit confident since he had forced Miu to take a defensive approach.

Her eyes had darkened even more in concentration. Miu had been giving in for the past few spars and she was getting a bit more serious to push his limits. She leapt gracefully and aimed a heel strike at Kenichi's head when Kenichi tried to block the move with both arms; she landed and flipped him over with her legs like a scissors, causing him to fell onto the ground like a tree as she stood up gracefully.

The wooden beams of the roof came sharply into his view once more as he crashed painfully on the ground. Kenichi winced in pain as his head hit the ground with a 'thud' sound since he did not break his fall by gi was completely wet from his sparring with Miu and he was panting hard from his groaned loudly as he picked himself from the ground and stood up. Miu gave him a brief encouraging smile as she lowered into her fighting stance again.

"Kenichi, pay more attention to your opponent. It was not so bad as your previous spar at least you lasted longer." Sakaki commented as he took a swig from his jar of sake.

The vivid image of a fearful Takeda filled his mind when he talked about the punishment. He had to grow stronger to be able to protect his friends. He must try to get one attack through!

This time round, Kenichi took the offensive. He dashed right into her personal space as he parried all her blows effectively. The image of Takeda being beaten up the rogues as the rest laughed on in his head spurred him on. Sounds of scenes of mocking filled his head and he felt a strange dark personality consuming him.

His mind had turned frighteningly calm and he only had one overwhelming desire to win his opponent. He no longer saw Miu, the girl he was sparring to put his skills in practical use but a faceless bully that had once bullied him mercilessly since he was young and wanted to hurt him again. Fear and rage consumed him and Kenichi's eyes became glassy as he attacked Miu. His blows had become finer, more precise and more ruthless as he rained blows after blows of potent attack on Miu.

The sudden metamorphsis had caught Miu by surprise. This was not the Kenichi that she knew as she watched rage contorted his face.

Miu realised that she could not afford to give in to Kenichi as she was now trying to parry the heavy and perfect blows that rained perfectly one after another. She counter attack with all her strength found herself gaining abit of footing back.

The battle was raging furiously as the Kenichi and Miu were now exchanging fast and powerful blows with each other. They dodged and attacked with a speed that Sakaki had never seen them using before. The scene was very captivating yet highly lethal.

The image of watching the people he cared for hurt made him flared up even more. Kenichi was now seeping a slightly darker aura and Sakaki immediately stood up. Before Sakaki could react, his aura turned back to his normal friendly blue. He remembered the pain he had suffered. He did not want to inflict them on others unless it was for protecting others. With that thought, Kenichi's eyes had return to his normal round shape. Miu, who did not managed to get any hits on him when his aura had changed finally managed to knock him flat to the ground with a blow at the same moment Kenichi managed to overwhelm the demon that reside in him.

He blinked in surprised as he stared at Miu. She was perspiring hard and panting from the exertion, something that she had never done before when she had spar with.

"Miu?" He asked as he scratched the back of his head and stared at Miu with surprise.

Miu was smiling as she extended her hand towards him. Kenichi took her hand and stood up. He was also panting hard from the exertion.

"You should never let down your guard, Kenichi." Sakaki added with a brief smile."That was pretty good."

"Yes, thank you." He answered with a sigh as he stood up and straightened his Gi. Akisame walked into the room at this moment, signalling that the sparring time was over. Miu shot a quick smile at Kenichi before excusing herself to prepare dinner.

"You seen everything didn't you? What do you think?" Sakaki asked as he watched his comrade sit beside him. Akisame was stroking his moustache thoughtfully, with a brief smile on his lips. Sakaki knew that he was happy that Kenichi had unconsciously chosen their way of life, martial arts as an art to defend rather to hurt and needed to be continued to train in this field. Kenichi had automatically sat in front of his masters.

"I think it is time that he lives a martial artist life." Akisame answered simply as he stroked his moustache thoughtfully. "It is the only way that he can grow stronger."

"Live a martial artist life?" Kenichi asked hesitantly as he stared at his two masters. "I spend almost all my time here."

"But you don't spend all your time here. You need live the marital artist way of life to grow instead of coming only after school. In other words, we want you to be a formal disciple of Ryozanpaku. The elder and all the other masters have agreed it is time that you join us."

Kenichi trusted his masters' decision since they were all trying to prevent him from getting killed by others however, he had to bring the issue up with his parents and he knew that he might need to persuade them. He wanted to be stronger to hold on to his beliefs. The fight with Takeda had shown that he needed more strength. The match ended with no conclusion since Takeda had fallen off the roof. He needed to be strong enough to have a conclusive win.

Kenichi lowered his head as he considered the proposition carefully.

"Is it alright that you give me tomorrow to persuade my parents? I know that there is no training after school because you are not in the dojo. I would want to persuade my parents and I will be coming back tomorrow night to become a formal disciple."Kenichi asked as he frowned in deep consideration of the issue. It was a big move. He was going to be officially being induced into the marital art world.

Sakaki arched his eyebrows in disbelief as his eyes widened a little. Was this the disciple they took in? Kenichi would have screamed and ran away in the past. He was growing to be more matured with each day.

"I think it would be fine. I will inform your other masters and draw up new plans for you." Akisame answered with a bright gleam in his eyes. Kenichi knew that gleam all too well; he was going to create newer machines to train him.

"Akisame-sensei, is it normal to feel a surge of energy when you are angry?" He asked as he recalled the incident in the earlier afternoon and the spar he had with Miu. "People who belong to the 'do' will experience that." He added as he stroked his moustache thoughtfully. "Appachai and Sakaki belong to this group. There is also the 'sei' people who gets their strength from being calm."

Kenichi processed his master's words. "Would it not be dangerous to be overcome by rage? I really wanted to hurt the person badly but I resisted because it makes me like the Ragnarok. Can you be trained to be 'sei'?" He asked worriedly.

Akisame chuckled lightly. "I'm not the one who was going to introduce you to it, besides we have to wait until we finish with the foundations before we can train you in that. Keep in mind that you have chosen to be a 'sei'. It would make things easier in the future."

"Yes ,Akisame-sensei. Can I be excused to be cleaned up?" He asked politely.

"You may. Takeda is here for the therapy. You could see him off later if you wish. I know that gangs always have their ideas of punishing betrayer when they default from the team. Bring Miu with you. You and Takeda would not be enough to win them." He answered with a soft smile. It would be a great way to train him. One could only grow stronger after each battle.

Kenichi smiled as he bowed. He was glad that his master had allowed him to accompany him back together with Miu. "I'll go and inform Miu too." Kenichi face lit up as he hurriedly left the room to look for Miu.

"Do you think there is something going on with Miu and Kenichi?" Sakaki asked as he watched their disciple trooped off happily.

"I think so since he said he wanted to be strong enough to protect Miu" Akisame answered nonchalantly as he stood up. "I need to attend to my was correct when he said that Kenichi was ready for it."

It was late in the evening as Miu, Kenichi and Takeda were walking towards Takeda's district. Takeda had finished his therapy and it was quite successful. He could now use his left arm and he needed just another session with the Bone setter.

Takeda never felt so much like an outsider when he was with Miu and Kenichi. Even though Kenichi was very absorbed in the conversation with him and Miu was merely walking quietly beside him, Takeda could see that they were indeed together.

Their bodies had subconsciously turned to each other even when Kenichi was happily telling him about school. Miu and Kenichi seemed to know what each other were thinking about. Everything about them were pointing that they were simply drawn to each other and it was disconcerting for Takeda since he was very attracted to Miu since the day he saw her fight.

Takeda was glad that they decided to accompany him but it was unnerving for him to spend time with them and be indifferent to their evident feelings for each other.

They looked really good together, should I do something to make them more aware of their feelings for each other?

Suddenly, Miu stopped as they approached a rather dark and narrow alley. She was listening attentively to their surrounding. It was eerily quiet as if something was going to happened. The dark and narrow alley was a perfect place for an ambush since there was no way out except by running backwards or going forward. Kenichi looked at Miu and he nodded as he became more alert of his surroundings. Her azure eyes had darkened in concentration as she lowered herself into a fighting posture.

Kenicho understood her look."We are surrounded." Kenichi answered flatly as he followed Miu's lead and covered her nodded and lifted his fists in his fighting stance as he covered their blind spots.

Tension was increasing with each second. True to Kenichi' s words, a large group of thugs appeared at both end of the exit, trapping them. On the low walls in front of them, a spiky red hair girl with blue hat on her head appeared with her followers. Koga, the kicker was beside her, together with Ukita, the thrower. They were staring menacingly at Takeda.

"I am Kisara, eighth fist of a surprise to see you again with your good friend, betrayer." Kisara smiled threateningly as she looked at the trio. "Shirahama Kenichi, it is great to finally meet you. Today, I'm going to punish you ,Takeda and force Shirahama to join us."

"I will never join Ragnorak." Kenichi growled as his onyx eyes narrowed.

"Very well, get rid of them." Kisara added as she relaxed and watched the battles unfolding.

Koga leapt down onto the ground, planning to take Kenichi out for the humiliation as he watched Kenichi battling with a rather large group of people effectively. He had improved tremendously since the previous ambush. He could now effectively deal with the entire group without hurting himself. Takeda was having a fun time getting rid of them with both of his hands. His imaginary left fist was as strong and fast as it was rumoured to be and he began to fear. They had about 50 people with them excluding the higher level members. Surely, they weren't going to lose?

Kenichi had taken out several thugs when he finally saw Koga. Seeing that Kenichi had finished them off easily reminded of his own defeat and his face had contorted into a mask of hatred as he attacked Kenichi furiously in desperate desire to make him pay for the embarrassment he had suffered under their hands.

Kenichi had dodged his kicks as if they were too slow for him and that had infuriated the small guy even more. Koga's blows became harsher and more uncontrollable as he unleashed his fury on Kenichi and he parried them easily. Kenichi shot a glance at Miu and realised that she was surrounded so he decided to end the battle the opportunity came, he grabbed the irate guy and tossed him hard on the group of people that were surrounding him and they fell onto the floor. He hurried over to help Miu. Miu had already cleared a lot of people since they were all lying on the ground in pain. Kenichi took the opportunity to admire the way she fought since she could handle it better than him.

Takeda ,on the other hand, was having a slight problem initially since he was more at advantage in duelling one on one than street fighting. No matter how fast his blows were, he did not seem to be able to clear them. He was shocked when a guy was thrown to one side he was having trouble with and the thugs all crashed on the floor by the weight of the missile. Takeda whipped his head to face the person who helped him. It was Ukita and was smiling as he grabbed another thug and threw him towards the leaders. Kisara had dodged and her eyes had narrowed in fury.

"Kisara,I'm leaving Ragnarok as of today too. I've been partners with Takeda too long that I miss his silly jokes." He grinned rakishly. Takeda laughed. "Welcome aboard, partner." Now there were four against them.

Kisara was already bordering on simmering anger when she saw her gang being thrashed by only three people. When Ukita had announced his intentions to leave and turned his back on her team, she was hopping mad.

"I'm going to make them pay!" She growled as she leapt into battle. She was tired of watching and wanted to get her hands dirty."I'll punished the betrayers first!" She had attacked Takeda. Takeda, tired from all the skirmishes with the minions, was too slow for Kisara. She had taken him out after exchanging several blows with each other. Takeda, did not see her heel strike and had took the full impact of the blow on his body and had passed out from the impact. Ukita had not much luck with Kisara since she could dodged his grabs nimbly. Ukita soon joined Takeda, as one of her kicks got him on his stomach and he had crashed painfully on the ground. He too had fainted. Kisara now turned her attention to Kenichi. He was busy fighting several of her henchmen at one go and he did not notice her presence. It was a great opportunity to take him out.

Before she could reach him, she was stopped by a high forehead, blonde hair girl who had attacked her. Kisara had managed to dodged her high kick at the last second and she frowned as she took in the appearance of her opponent. She was as tall as her and she had long blonde hair. The thing that frustrated her the most was her figure. The new opponent was curvy at the right places while she was flat and she growled in irritation.

Kisara tried to attack but the girl was too good. Despite the shape of her body, she was even more graceful and more agile than her and it infuriated her. Kisara tried changing directions during her kick but the girl had effectively dodged and slide under her to trip her. Kisara managed to avoid it only at the last minute.

Stupid cow, she growled as she tried to attack again. They exchanged their blows in a lethal yet captivating dance for domination of was obvious that the blonde girl had the upper hand but Kisara did not want to relent.

Kenichi had finished the last of the thugs and was rushing over to help his new friends when he saw a hooded guy falling gracefully on the ground a distance away from him. He had gracefully stood up and faced Kenichi. Kenichi knew that he had to deal with him. The dark hooded cloak he was wearing had covered his face, give him an aura of mystery and power as he blended into the night. The white light from the lamp several metres had caught the shiny golden glove that he was wearing as he brought his arms to his side after he had landed. It flashed the roman numerals for six. The mysterious intruder was seeping a killing intent so strong that Kenichi had shivered in fear due to it.

Kenichi knew he was in trouble. He was meeting a person whose level of skill and power far exceeded his.

"Hi, Shirahama, I am Hermit, the sixth fist of Ragnarok." The hooded figure said softly in his baritone voice. Kenichi could hear the threat that was laced in his tone. Hermit was approaching him menacinglyand Kenichi had instinctively back away. The power and the killing intent he was seeping was paralysing him slightly. Kenichi had no will to fight such a strong opponent. Miu was still involved in her battle and he was slightly glad that she had the upper hand. At least he did not have to worry about her. He only had to deal with new opponent.

"I'm only interested in you, Shirahama. I won't want to fight your girl or your friends." The hooded figure added as he watched Kenichi cast a side glance at Miu. Kenichi nodded and exhale a breath to calm himself. Fear would only hinder him. They needed to get out of here.

"Very well. I'll fight. Let's change our location first." Kenichi growled as he lifted his fist. Without a warning, Hermit run straight onto him , grabbed him and threw him across the wall onto a glassy field near the road as he jumped along with him.

"Kenichi!"

Kenichi had broken his fall as he landed gracefully on his feet a distance from him. Kenichi sank straight into his fighting stance.

"Let's fight." Hermit said as a brief insane smile touched his lips.

A/N: Hi Everyone. Sorry for the late chapter. I hope you enjoy it.