"No, no Miu-chan you stay here! You've been frantically overprotective of me since I started healing. I'm okay enough to go grocery shopping." Megu assured her, making Miu sit back down next to Shigure who watched Tochumaru dancing with a palm fan at her ankles.
"Besides I'm not going to be carrying anything, this chump is." She added pointing to Kenichi.
Miu still looked worried. Megu kneeled and hugged her which made Miu relax a little. "We'll be back in an hour or so for dinner. Don't worry." She reminded and caressed her cheek.
Outside of the gate Akisame clipped the chains to Kenichi's ankles. Megu looked down at the metal balls fondly. "Ah love and pride, I remember those well. Where's honor? The one that goes around the waist?" she asked. Kenichi stared at her in horror. Akisame cleared his throat. "We don't make Kenichi wear that one." He explained.
"Yet! You mean yet! You've both been hiding things from me!" he blurted out, stunning Megu and Akisame.
"Whoa, calm down kiddo! Are you hungry or something? Let's get moving before you go off the deep end." She answered smiling at him in confusion. They walked for a while in silence before Megu finally sighed.
"What is going on? You've been blurting out random accusations at people and you've been especially quiet when around me for the last few days. Talk to me baby chick."
Kenichi frowned. "Well…are you having an affair with Tanimoto? Or teaching him that dragon technique? I don't know what to think anymore!"
"So you and that Niijima was following and spying on me."
Kenichi waved his arms in defense. "I wasn't following you exactly! I was just worried about you. I want to protect you just like Miu and the rest of the Masters do. I wanted to make sure no one was trying to hurt you again like Kensei." He admitted slouching under his backpack.
She gave him a hard smile. "That's sweet of both you and Miu. But I don't want you to protect me, no matter how much you burn with the desire to do so. My mother died protecting me when I was five and I made it my life's purpose to never have that happen again. I don't need protecting Kenichi. I know you don't fight girls and because I am a woman you see me as weaker especially after what witnessing what happened with Kensei, but I'm more resilient than I lead people to believe. I've forged my own well-worn path just like you've begun to forge your own."
Kenichi gazed up at the calm reserve of her facial expression. "I don't think you're weak Master…"
"Besides me and Tanimoto are having a love affair!" she interrupted suddenly, grinning from ear to ear. Kenichi fell over.
"Hey are you alright? What's wrong?" she asked smacking his cheek. "You just told me you were having an illegal affair with my classmate!" he grouched as she helped him off the ground.
She waved him off. "Do you even know Tanimoto's age? Besides it's really tame. We've only kissed. He asked me to teach him meditation techniques to control his rage when he found out I knew his master." Kenichi tensed upon hearing that.
"So you did train with Ma Sougetsu. Why doesn't Master Ma Kensei know?" Kenichi asked.
She fluffed her hair nonchalantly. "Why is it any of his business?"
Kenichi stopped in his tracks. "You trained with Ma Kensei's brother. Who practices the killing fist. Why would you train with someone with opposite principles of your own?"
The look of seriousness on Kenichi's face made her stand still as well. "Because he taught me things I couldn't learn from Katsujinken masters. Not just ways to kill. I became stronger because of employing what I learned from him. Too many masters of the life giving fist held back from teaching me certain techniques simply because I was female when I left Ryonzanpaku. Like I was a delicate flower in their care. Master Sougetsu did no such thing. I owe him a debt I'll never be able to repay." She started to walk again and Kenichi dragged the weights along to keep up.
"How did you convince him to train you? He doesn't seem like the type that would."
She smiled fondly. "I offered him 20 cases of homebrew soju and sake I'd been saving up for a year while freelancing. Like Sakaki, the man can't turn down alcohol. He deemed me determined enough to train."
"Help! HELP! Stop, please stop! Please don't hurt me!" a young girl called out in distress as they walked around the corner leading to the market.
Kenichi and Megu stopped and watched as a crowd of four hulking thugs circled around a young girl in a white frilly dress and a red ribbon pigtail sat on the ground hugging herself and her matching purse in fear. One of the thugs jabbed the air around her with a short knife.
"Shush little girl, we'll treat you right! All you have to do is give us all your money and we may even let you go unharmed." The obvious ringleader and biggest goon cooed at her. The girl trembled. "But I need the money! It's for my rent I can't give it away, I'll have no place to live!" she pleaded. The goon dropped the faux nice tone of voice. "I said give it here!" he boomed at her impatiently.
"She said she needs it. What part of that don't you overgrown gorillas understand?" Megu asked with her hands on her hips.
The goons turned around and stared at her. "Um Master they are really big and there are a lot of them. You should unclip my chains so I can help you." Kenichi stammered his suggestion.
She glanced at him over her shoulder, pure rage dancing in her eyes. He shrunk back. "Shut up and stay there." She instructed in a voice not meant to be argued with. "But wait!" he called out to deaf ears.
"Who the hell are you?" the ringleader asked twirling the tip of his blade under his stubble chin.
"The one that's going to set you in your place if you don't leave that defenseless person alone."
The thugs laughed heartily. "Another little doll getting in our way. We're from the Mochizuki dojo, disciples of the art of judo. You have no hope of winning against all four of us."
She grunted and smiled. "I find it hard to believe you boneheads are martial artists. Ganging up on person and trying to steal their money, I'm sure that's not taught to you at your dojo. Or maybe it is. Maybe your master is incompetent and can't get through to you." She added mischievously. The ringleader glared at her.
"How dare you insult Master Mochizuki-sensei! You're gonna die for that! It's a shame to have to beat something so fine to look at but you have a dirty mouth!" he roared at her and lunged.
"Master!" Kenichi shouted and shut up when the incapacitated thug fell at his feet unconscious. "I didn't…even see her counter his attack…" he muttered, twitching and looked up.
The next thug dove at her and she slide to the side, leaving a faint outline of her body. Kenichi's eyes bulged from his head. "I've seen that before…what was it called...Yanagi Hayurashi! That's one of Akisame's techniques!"
She yanked the confused spiky haired thug by his collar and slammed him backward into the ground, catching his head with her hand before it made impact. He lay unconscious as well and the other two glanced at each other nervously, wondering if it was worth to fight her.
"Screw this!" the shorter of the two sputtered and ran away. His partner shouted angrily at him. "You wimp! I can't believe you're running! Scared of being beaten by a girl!" he turned and leered at her while assuming his fight stance.
"Oh well at least I can stop pretending to be the least strong in my gang right now. Maybe I'll even get my hands on those big bouncy boobs of yours."
Kenichi grit his teeth in anger at hearing that. "Master please let me handle it!" he shouted, bending down and trying to remove the ball and chain with his hands. She ignored him.
"You want to feel me up? Come at me then." She encouraged and the thug did just that. He was faster than she assumed. He flipped behind her and held up her torn shirt. "I have your shirt and now you're bare boobs are showing. You can run away little girl before anyone sees you half naked."
She laughed. "I dropped modesty a long time ago. I'd fight you or anyone fully naked if I had to." She growled and the girl sitting on the floor watching blushed and clamped her hands over her mouth.
The thug lunged for her again trying to put her in a joint lock. She ducked and upper cut him, twisting her body to the right like a professional boxer, a technique Kenichi had never seen her use. The thug flew up a few feet in the air from the sheer force of her blow.
"Nou Ten Jigoku Keri!"
Kenichi watched in awe at the move that had been used on him by Kano Sho, her foot connected at incredible speed with the thug's lower back, propelling him into air and slamming him against a nearby tree. He slid down silently.
"Master don't you think that technique was a bit much for a small time thug?" Kenichi asked in a tiny voice. He'd vastly underestimated her power outside of their training sessions and seeing her dragon ki. He wondered the true extent of her abilities and how much more it she kept hidden.
She raised an eyebrow. "That small time goon underestimated me. So I had to decimate him. He should have never tried to hurt an innocent person." She dismissed and extended her hand to the girl who sat frozen on the sidewalk. She took it shyly and stood. "Th-thank you miss. That was kind of you to take care of those mean guys and save me." She stammered and bowed, her glossy black ponytail bobbing up and down. Kenichi dragged over to the thug and checked to make sure he was still breathing.
"Relax he's still alive. I only hit him with 20% of my strength." She said without turning around. Kenichi recoiled. "Only 20%? I'd hate to see hundred." He shivered.
"Now you, what is your name?" Megu asked gazing at the pretty teenage girl. She appeared to be the sweet Lolita type from her head down to her custom white and crimson lace Mary Jane platform shoes. She stared up at Megu impressed for a moment before covering her eyes. "Ri-I mean Kimi, Fujiwara Kimi." Kenichi came over and stood next to the girl.
"Why are you covering your eyes?" Megu asked in confusion. Kenichi's own eyes fell on her breasts and he grabbed his nose just in time. Megu looked down at her own anatomy. "I should probably fix that." She walked over to the nearest passed out thug and took off his jacket and put it on.
"Are you alright Kimi-chan? They didn't touch you, did they?" she asked in concern. Rimi shook her head no. "Thanks to you. Please, let me treat you and your boyfriend to dinner at my friend's restaurant right down this way." She pointed behind her.
Megu laughed, holding her belly from the strain. "BOYFRIEND? This little scrawny piece of work next to you? Not even in a million years!"
"You said my muscles were well developed! What happened to that?" he shouted back at her. He turned to Rimi with a sneaky grin. "Besides she's way too old to be my girlfriend." He whispered to her earning a slap across the head.
"My disciple and I would love dinner, thank you."
"But what about Miu?" Kenichi protested as Megu dragged him along. "Shush, we'll call her at the restaurant and let her know what happened."