All characters and places in this story belong
to the Disney Corporation,
just like Lucasfilm Ltd., Buena Vista Music Co., ESPN,
Pixar Animation Studios, Touchstone Pictures,
Touchstone Pictures Music & Songs, Inc.,
Marvel Productions, Marvel Comics,
Hulu, The Muppets Studio and ABC.
Even though they own all that,
I receive nothing for the writing of this story.
The original creators were Mark McCorkle and Robert Schooley.
This is a continuation of the story "Past and Present," by Zaratan, continued with his permission. It's still sounds good to say that.
I'd like to thank CajunBear73, without whom this story wouldn't read nearly as well as it does.
All characters and places in this story belong to the Disney Corporation,
just like Lucasfilm Ltd.,
Buena Vista Music Co.,
ESPN,
Pixar Animation Studios,
Touchstone Pictures,
Touchstone Pictures Music & Songs, Inc.,
Marvel Productions,
Marvel Comics,
Hulu,
The Muppets Studio and ABC.
Yeah, even though they own all that I receive nothing for the writing of this story.
The original creators were Mark McCorkle and Robert Schooley.
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Previously:
As Ron looked at her, he didn't see his friend for over twenty-five years or the woman that he felt was more like another sister to him.
He saw his Sensei.
…And she was not a happy camper.
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A Sensei's Duty
Her face a blank mask, "It appears that you have again taken up a course of study that I, at least, had hoped…you had abandoned years ago." Yori said, showing nothing in her accusation. It was only the tone of her voice that let Ron know her true feelings. Subtle to any who didn't know her well. Loud as a thunderclap to those who did.
He remained silent as he waited for her to continue.
Her eyes fixed on him, "The art of being stupid. One of the more advanced classes."
Ron started to reply, but stopped when he saw her eyes darting from one person to the next. Not as if she were looking for one person in particular but more like she was. "Taking a headcount." thought Ron as he did his own count. One blood relative, Michelle. Two other masters, Hana and Hirotaka, willing witnesses, the one who is accused, and their Sensei. Just the right combination, he realized, to hold…
Ron released Michelle, bowed to Yori, "Master Sensei. A moment please before we begin the Kachinoaru shiren?"
Her expression didn't change but after a short pause, she gave him a slight nod.
Ron took his daughter's arm and lead her back a few steps where the others were gathering. The others were curious and confused about what was happening…All but Hana.
"Daddy? What is going on?" from Michelle.
"Ron What's happening? came from both Kim and Bonnie almost in unison. From Hana, "Is Yori going to do that now?"
A tone of confusion, "What's a 'catch in your shirka?' from Michael. The questions came all at once before he had time to do anything.
"Shush. Now listen to me. Kachinoaru shiren basically means a hearing of worthiness or a test of commitment." Turning to Michelle he said, "What I did last night, or what I was going to do last night, went against several tenants of the school of Yamanouchi. I have to answer to my actions and intents."
Turning to his sister he said, "Yes. She has to do it now…and you should know why. "
Apologetically, "Michelle. I'm sorry but you have to stay for this. You are my daughter and therefore a blood relative. "As she started to interrupt while pointing to her aunt, Ron stopped her, "Hana is my sister and I'll never think of her as anything else. But no matter how much I love her, she isn't my blood sister. That's why you have to stay and witness."
Turning his attention now to the other three people, Michael, Bonnie and Kim, he said, "Alright, two of you can leave but one of you needs to stay as a witness."
"Sir." said Michael causing Ron to frown at him. "Dad." He corrected himself. And in that one-word Ron knew that what had happened between them last night had been put aside. Maybe not forgotten, maybe not forgiven, but for now, inconsequential. "If I'm to become a part of your family...then I want to become a part of 'your' family. Good or bad." Now resolute, "I'm staying."
Michelle leaned into him to give him a hug as Ron thought to himself, once again, that she'd picked a good man.
Turning to both Kim and Bonnie, they answered his unspoken question in unison. "I'm staying."
Bonnie spoke up first, "When I left you all those years ago, I thought I was doing you a favor. Whether 'it' was the right thing to do or not, doesn't matter now. I want to be here for you now."
Overwhelmed from previous events through now, there was so much Kim wanted to say, but now wasn't the time or the place. With a slightly frustrated pause, "Ditto?"
Maybe the years of misunderstandings had been worth it. He had much to say to them, all of them, but right now was not the time. Instead, after taking a breath, he gave them all a smile and a nod before continuing.
Resigned as to how this is to go, "Okay then. Yori will ask you if you are willing to remain. Give her your answers, but after that don't say anything." He paused, "Just watch.", he stressed. An unyielding look on his face, "And for God's sake, don't 'do' anything." Then he slowly looked each of them in the eyes before continuing, "If you have a question, look to Hana and follow her lead." Now desperately "Please."
Hana lined them up against the wall while Ron went to the center of the room. After they were in place, he turned back to Yori who was still standing near the doorway, having moved only enough to allow Hirotaka to enter the house to stand to her right. Their children remained outside as their Mother, and their Sensei, had asked them to do before the adults entered the house. They had no part to play in this.
Once everyone was in their place, Ron took a deep breath and slowly released it. He then looked at Yori, "Thank you Master Sensei. I am ready."
Though her posture had always been impeccable, when she also took a deep breath, she seemed to grow several inches in height, making it seem that she was much bigger.
Her face and voice set in firm decorum, "Michelle Stoppable. The daughter" She said, sounding more like she was making a formal announcement. "You are here to bear witness to any dishonor that may be passed down to you from your father's actions. Do you agree to bear what may be the shame of your father?"
Michelle visibly stifled the response she wanted to give Yori, a woman she had always considered family, about such a ridiculous notion of her father being dishonorable or her being ashamed of him. Instead she stoically replied, "I agree."
Yori then turned to the others, making eye contact with each of them in turn. First Michael, then Bonnie, and then Kim. If she paused while looking at Bonnie for an extra heartbeat, then she held that same look with Kim just a little bit longer.
"You are also to bear witness to the decisions of the Master Sensei of Yamanouchi. Do you willingly agree? There is no dishonor should you wish to leave."
"I agree." said all three as they stood there, with a hint of pride.
Yori then slowly advanced towards Ron, approaching and stopped where she could have rested her hand on his shoulder.
"It is my understanding that last night you felt you had lost everything you hold dear to you…", her eyes narrowing, "and that in a moment of despair you thought to end your pain by ending your own life." A scowl affixed to her face, "Is this true…Ron Stoppable?", avoiding using the honorific, 'san,' she normally added to his name.
It sounded so stupid now, especially the way she had phrased it. But the only answer he could give was, "It was so, Master Sensei.", his voice struggling to not drift into a whisper.
"I see.", she paused for a long moment, "Did you seek the guidance of at least one other Masters concerning this?", her eyes bore into his, "Master Hana. Your adopted sister, for one." Her voice growing cold, "And follow her advice as per the requirements of committing this act." Her eyes now hard, "One of the rules…you helped create to limit this from happening to anyone in our order."
Suppressing a flinch, "No Master Sensei. I did not."
For the briefest of moments, a fleeting look of sympathy twitched across Yori's face. Almost. Suddenly, her hand shot out, and struck, with what appeared to be a light blow to Ron's right shoulder. So swift, if her hand had been a cobra snake, she would have certainly caught a mongoose flatfooted. The effect of what seemed to have been a light blow was instantaneous. Where he'd been holding his hands closed and at his sides his right was now open and shaking, as if it was in intense pain.
Michelle started to move towards them but Hana's hand came out to stop her. Michelle shot an angry glance to her aunt who shook her head as she silently mouthed her brother's instructions, "Do nothing."
Slowly, Yori walked around Ron as if in inspection, before she returned to the same spot as before. "Did you seek your Sensei's guidance concerning this before attempting to take matters into your own hands?", she again demanded of him.
A pause, then, his voice shaking with pain, "No Master Sensei. I did not.", a tremor at the end.
Her hand shot out again. This time to his left shoulder. As before, the blow appeared to be light, but Ron's neck stretched as he silently tried to ignore the now doubled pain and remain standing straight before her.
In subdued alarm, Michelle, Bonnie and Kim also looked to Hana hoping for a different answer, but all they saw was Hana shaking her head telling them to do nothing.
Once again Yori slowly walked around him, inspecting his stance and perhaps give him a few seconds of time to regain his composure.
When she again returned to her spot directly in front of him, "And did you take it upon yourself to decide whether you are or are not worthy to carry the honored Lotus Blade? A decision that is the for the Blade,", she quietly, yet in weighted meaning, said, "and the Blade itself, to make?"
Barely able to answer through the pain he was in, he answered, "Yes, Master Sensei. I did. I believed myself to be unworthy to carry Toshimiru's gift."
Yori continued to look at him, her expression still blank. She then closed her eyes, took a short breath, then released it slowly before opening them again. If someone had blinked at the next instant, they would have never thought she'd moved a muscle. With her arms folded in front of her, she gave a spinning leap, aimed a kick, the tip of her shoe connecting behind Ron's right hip, before she landed. Her face showed no signs of emotion or exertion.
Ron, on the other hand, was a different story. It may have taken a second for the strike to take effect, but he now shook like a tall tree ready to fall at the hands of a lumberjack. His right leg was now numb and not willing to support his weight. It was only because he was able to hop/skip and get his left centered under him that he did not succumb to gravity's desire for him to pucker up and kiss the floor with his face. Where most people would have been crying out in pain, the only sounds from him were him slowing his breathing to try and push the pain out of his mind and overcome it.
After waiting to see if he would succumb to the pain…or conquer it, Yori then asked in that same emotionless voice which still expressed her disappointment, "Is this how a Master of our Art is supposed to act and inspire others less skilled than he?"
Hissing in pain, "No Master Sensei. It is not."
Coming right back, "And did the Masters, yourself included…", she let linger, "not set down specific rules and guidelines that were to be followed in the event that one of our students or another Master questioned their worthiness or honor?"
"Yes, Master Sensei. We did. Just to…avoid what I almost did, from…happening to them.", he struggled to say.
Yori's eyes narrowing, "Yet, that did not stop you from attempting to do…what you should not have." Now sounding more to Bonnie like a Prosecutor or a Judge preparing to wrap up their case and move on to pronouncing their Summation or Verdict/Sentence.
Her face giving nothing away, "Do you now feel yourself worthy of the title Monkey Master?"
"I...", struggling to speak, "do not Master Sensei.", the pain now quite intense.
Of the five people standing against the wall, only Hana knew the true pain that admission had cost Ron.
Calmly, "Do you think you will ever be worthy enough again to regain it?", his Sensei asked the man now writhing in pain for reasons, physical, mental and emotional.
Lightly trembling, "I do not know.", he answered. "That is not for me to say,", and locking his posture up, gaining some measure of control over the pain, "only to try. To try and regain what I myself have lost."
Her demeanor giving nothing away, and after what seemed like an eternity to all in the room, Yori replied, "Then it will be our duty…and honor to watch and observe you in your efforts,"
Her pause broken by, "…Stoppable-san."
And at her adding the proper honorific, the stone façade that was the woman who entered the house, broke. Emotions, not previously displayed since the confrontation's beginning, blossomed through Ron's Sensei as she dashed to him, pulled him into a hug. Eyes closed, she softly said, "Oh Stoppable-san. I was so worried about you.", her voice laced with warm emotion.
Stunned at the ending to the dramatic display they just witnessed, Michele, Kim and Bonnie now stared in shock at the couple in the center of the room. Her years of training and conditioning kicking in, Kim recovered first, looked to Hana, "Ah…what just happened?" Hands flapping toward the scene, "I mean, she was...", Kim grasped for words, "but now…."
Choosing her words carefully, Hana began to explain a very complicated matter. Looking first to Kim, then Michelle and Bonnie, "When the man you all knew as Sensei appointed Yori to be his successor, the idea of a female Sensei did not set well with some of the older teachers." All three frowned women, "Especially the Weapons Maker." After a pause, "Their way of doing things were passed down from one generation to the next, so they believed that the old ways were the only way to do something…Especially the old traditions."
Hana let this sink in before continuing. "But, even though the prophecy of a powerful and mystical weapon turned out to a little girl,", she put a hand to her chest, "they believed a woman wouldn't be strong enough when it came to being a leader and maintaining discipline at the school.", left unsaid just who the woman just happened to be. Once three glares faded she continued her explanation, "In order to appease them, Yori had to swear that she would handle herself in such matters as had all previous Male Senseis and be as strict and hard as anyone one could or she would have to renounce her position."
Turning to Michelle, "How do you think your father would have felt if he thought that he was responsible for Yori resigning as Sensei because she went soft on him.", Hana inquired.
Incredulous, "But no one would have known." was her reply.
Hana stayed quiet for a few moments, "Everyone here would have. Hiro, myself and your father. But more especially she would have known."
At this, Michelle paused, becoming silent as she thought for a moment, her memory jogged from what her Aunt said to them. Then, to Hana, "Did Grandpa Sensei ever have to do something like this to anyone?"
Pausing to think, "Only once that I know of and it was before my time.", Hana replied. "And…that was for a student named…Fukushima." Gathering her thoughts further, "He cried out after the first blow and begged for no more, stopping the trial." Frowning, "He did not want a second chance to prove himself so he was asked to leave. No one knows what happened to him after that."
Looking more confused than anything else, Michelle began to move towards her father and appointed godmother (or the Japanese equivalent). Michael started to follow but Hana's hand came up before he could go further. Quietly, "Give them a minute.", she paused him from approaching the three just then.
As Hana had explained the 'why things had had to happen the way they did, Yori held on to her dear friend. Even though she didn't cry, anybody that knew her knew she was, on the inside.
"Yori.", said Ron in a soft voice, "You did what needed to be done and Master Sensei would have been proud… Then his voice changed to one with more than a little hint of strain. "But I could really use a little help here."
Realizing her oversight, her eyes popped open. Each blow she'd hit him with was to certain nerve clusters or acupressure points. Points that, when hit exactly right, can incapacitate a limb making it useless to the person who was struck. Similar to when you hit your funny bone and your arm goes numb and you can't really use it. But the points Yori hit not only caused his arms and one leg to become incapacitated, yet not to numbness. Instead they caused intense and ongoing pain. That is, until someone massaged the cluster in a very specific manner to counteract the effect.
Something that she hadn't done yet.
Reacting in a way Hirotaka hadn't seen from Yori since she was a 'Rookie-Shinobi-in-Training' from their childhood when caught in a rare prank, "Shimatta!", her eyes popped open in embarrassment, "A thousand apologies Stoppable-san!" she said as she cringed away from the hug and started to rub the spots she contacted to relieve the constant pain and to restore normal feeling for him.
As she did so, one bundle at a time, it didn't take long to get Ron's nerve bundles relaxed and free of pain. When her Sensei finished the last one, Michelle, standing beside them looking apprehensive, wanted to say something but wasn't sure how to say it.
Finally, she looked at Yori, "I think I understand.", as she looked on in with a sense of understanding from Ron to Yori. "Why you did what you had to do.", as she tensed slightly in protective irritation," That doesn't mean I liked it, but I think I understand. If it was what my father wanted...then...", Michelle smiled, "It's okay.
Yori, with a smile on her face pulled her Kari-oya into a brief hug. Also seeing, once again, that the young woman was so much like her father in some respects. Once one understood the 'why,' of something, forgiveness was but a short step away.
Something Yori herself would have to remember today as she looked back at the three people she hadn't spoken with today. Master Hana, Bonnie-sama, whom Michele had already talked about...
And Kim Possible.
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To Be Continued...
As always, if you have a question about something or you find an error, drop me a note or put it in a comment. I may not answer your question directly, but I'll try.
To answer your question CB, No. Kim's day isn't over yet. It's still morning. She's still got a long afternoon with a group oral history session, both ancient and recent, and an early evening with a little one on one with Yori to get through.
Where have I been? It's been a while with a lot of not nice things going on.
Details? Not on your life.
Am I back? Well, I still can't stop thinking about the future chapters so we'll see how things go.
Thank you all for reading and especially those that share your thoughts.
Now to see if I remember how to post a new chapter.