Chapter Four: Under Attack, Once Again
Author's note: I've decided that from this point on, Chun Li will keep her maiden name. Bah.
-Tamagawa-Minawi High School-
The final bell rang and Sakura's English class filed out of the classroom, Sakura picking out erasers from her hair, the result of getting another 'A' on her English test.
A few minutes later, the teenage Shotokan trainee walked out of the door and into the school's courtyard, lost in thought. She was thinking about the missing students and the attack on Honda and Mika's school. She was so caught up in her thoughs that upon reaching the gates of her school, she bumped into Ryu, who was on his way into the school, ignoring the gazes of the female students he passed. He was dressed in a gray T-shirt and a pair of black denim jeans. Rather than his usual leather sandals, he was wearing a pair of white tennis shoes.
Sakura looked up. "Huh? Sempai? What are you doing here?"
"I came to see you," was his reply. "Walk with me."
***
En route to the train station, the teacher and his student/ward walked along the street.
"Did Chun Li find anything on the student's disappearrances?" Sakura asked.
Ryu shugged his shoulders. "Dunno. I haven't talked to her as of late. She should tell us something when she gets home."
"So...why did you come to pick me up, Ryu?" she asked, dropping 'Sempai' and calling him by his first name.
"Well, I was in the area. And you can say that I was worried about you," he added, smiling sheepishly.
Sakura was surprised. "You were worried about me?"
The Shotokan master nodded. "Of course. It would really be a shame if something happened to you, and all of the time and effort I had put in your training would have gone to waste."
"I can take care of myself," Sakura replied, "but I thank you for looking out for me." She paused for a moment. "Um, Ryu. I never told you this, but I consider you and Chun Li both role models."
Ryu looked at his pupil and stopped. "Sakura, I beat up people for a living. That's not considered role model material."
Sakura stepped in front of him, causing him to stop. "Maybe, but you fight for what you believe in, and you defend people that are weaker than you. That's what I admire about you, and it was also the reason why I wanted you to take me on as your apprentice in Shotokan Karate."
Ryu was surprized to her Sakura speak so passionately about himself and of martial arts. He shrugged his broad shoulders. "Call me what you want, but I still disagree."
The two fighters continued down the street. Then Ryu's Dark Hadou-enhanced senses kicked in as he felt the presence of several persons nearby.
Sakura saw her teacher tense up. "What is it?"
"We're not alone," Ryu replied.
Ryu was right.
The clattering sound of wooden sandals were heard as the Shotokan master and his trainee were suddenly surrounded by a group of teenagers about Sakura's age, some older, all of them clad in grey and blue hakamas and toting shinais (pratice swords) and bokkens (wooden swords).
"Friends of yours?" Ryu asked.
"No," Sakura replied, going into her own stance.
One of the kendoists stepped forward. "We came for Sakura Kasugano," he said.
"Sorry," Ryu replied. "She already has plans."
The head Kendoist whipped out his bokken. "And who the hell are you?"
Ryu looked at the head kendoist's eyes. They were red, similar to his when he was using Dark Hadou. "Who I am is of no concern to you. Leave now and we will not harm you."
The head kendoist took that as a insult. He leapt into the air, and brought his bokken down on Ryu's head. However, before he could reach his target, Ryu's hands came up and caught the wooded blade in a bare-handed sword block. He then knocked the bokken into the air and planted his foot into the kendoist's chest, knocking him back.
The bokken flipped into the air, until Ryu caught it with one hand. He then shifted into a classic defensive stance.
The head kendoist then gave the order to attack. "Get em'!"
The other kendo club members threw themselves in a frenzy, weapons swing, hoping in incapacitate the Japanese master. Ryu shifted his stance so that he was shielding Sakura and began to defend, deflect, and parry the kendo team's onslaught of attacks.
Ryu managed to block the blows, but some got through. He simply shrugged them off and continued to attack. One by one, he managed to knock the majority of the kendoists down. When Ryu got through, there were about three (kendo leader included) that were left standing.
Sakura stepped from behind her instructor and raised her fists. Ryu had no objections. "Ready?" he asked.
"Yep!" his apprentice replied.
The head kendoist retrieved one of his member's discarded weapons and faced Ryu. The other two--now weaponless--set their sights on Sakura.
"Attack!" Ryu yelled.
The two fighters charged the remaining kendoists. The two kendoists fighting Sakura were having a hard time pinning the female Shotokan trainee down. Thankfully, Sakura was taking Ryu's training and words to heart. She disabled one of the kendoists for the time being and concentrated on the other one. She caught the kendoist with a short uppercut, followed by...
"Shououken!"
Sakura charged at the kendoist punching him in the gut. The punch changed into a powerful uppercut than sent both of them into the air, Sakura lending gracefully on her feet, the kendoist flat on his back.
The second kendoist, now recovered, advanced on Sakura, throwing punches and kicks.
"Hey!" Sakura shouted as she dodged the blows. "Didn't your mother taught you not to hit girls?"
Thinking fast Sakura executed her favorite technique--the Haru Ichiban, or First Storm of Spring. She ducked low and began to spin, leg extended, catching the kendoist with several sweeps. Once, twice, three times, four times, until she spun to her feet, and knocked him into a nearby wall with a roundhouse kick.
Her opponents down for the count, Sakura turned to Ryu and his match.
With a calm demeanor, Ryu was just defending, not attacking, making the kendoist more and more angry. Sakura was more surprised to know that her mentor knew Kendo. She thought that he only knew Shotokan Karate.
Ryu, on the other hand, had learned how to use weapons in Shotokan Karate, and had kept in pratice over the years. He was a bit rusty, but was holding his own against the teenage kendoist. Seeing that the impromptu kendo match has went on long enough, Ryu went in for the kill. He leapt into the air in order to avoid a low swipe from his opponent.
Sakura recognised Ryu's trademark move--The Hurricane Gale Kick.
"Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!"
With the force of a hurricane Ryu's feet lashed out at his opponent. Three times the attack hit, and fortunately for the head kendoist, Ryu wasn't using his full potential, otherwise his neck would have been broken in several places.
His hakama shredded in several places, the head kendoist joined his cohorts in night-night land. Ryu scanned the mayhem that surrounded him and Sakura. All of the kendoists were down and out.
"You all right?" Ryu asked.
Sakura nodded. "I'm okay." She looked at her sempai closely. "Ryu, your arm."
Ryu looked at his left arm. There was a nasty-looking bruise on his bicep. "Oh. That. It's nothing, Sakura. In my line of work, I've had worse."
Sakura picked up her knapsack. "I'll bet. Fighting Bison is not an easy thing, even for you."
"Come on. Let's get out of here before anymore of those kendoists show up," Ryu said. As they left the scene, Ryu added, "You did well, kid. Keep it up, and you may rival Ken and myself in the art."
***
Watching from the shadows, was Justice High's senior teacher, Hideo Shimazu, the same teacher that was watching Chun Li from Pacific High School earlier that day with his female companion. He stepped from the shadows and surveyed the fallen kendoists.
'Lord Imawano will not be pleased with this,' he thought as he adjusted his glasses. 'However...that move...so much similar to my own...can he be the next heir to Shotokan? This could be interesting...'
***
-Shotokan School/Ryu and Chun Li's Home, later...-
Ryu, now shirtless, was sitting on the edge of the bed, getting his injuries tended by Chun Li. A first-aid kit was resting nearby and Chun Li was applying ointment on Ryu's bruises and bandaged them. Sakura was in the dojo, praticing by herself. Ryu was finishing telling her the day's events.
"Lucky for you that you were there at the school to pick up Sakura," Chun Li said. "Otherwise..."
"Don't say it," Ryu flatly stated.
Chun Li didn't finish that sentence. Instead, she finished bandaging up her Japanese husband. "There. All done."
Ryu stood up and flexed his arms. The bandages held tight, but still allowed him movement of his arms. HIs torso was also bandaged. "Hmm...not bad," he said.
"I hope this doesn't turn into a habit," Chun Li said of tending to her husband.
Ryu looked at the Chinese agent. "Funny. I thought you like to take care of me. You showed than when I was recovering from the last tournament."
Chun Li made a face. "True, but I want to have you around for a long time. Remember that."
Ryu slipped on a fresh T-shirt and walked out of the room. Upon reaching the dojo, he heard Sakura hard at work praticing. As he approached the open shoji door, he sidestepped in order to avoid a training dummy that was sent flying in his direction, and stepped inside.
Sakura was dressed in her navy blue karate gi, rather than her usual sailor fuku (Ryu had forbid her to pratice in her school uniform in the dojo) and was going through her training regimen, or one of them, which was her favorite: fireball training.
She was into her training session that she didn't see her sempai enter the dojo. "Shinkuu...HADOU-KEN!" She shouted, launching a huge bolt of ki energy. The ball of energy began to lose power halfway across the dojo, and completely vanished before it was able to strike another conviently placed training dummy.
"You're improving, Kasugano," Ryu noted, "but you still have a long way to go to reaching your full potential with your ki."
Sakura turned around. "Oh, it's you, Ryu. I didn't hear you come in."
Ryu frowned. "That's 'Sempai' to you."
"Sorry."
Ryu stepped forward and ushered Sakura to the side. "Watch the master," he said with a smirk.
Closing his eyes, he spread his legs and placed his hands to his side. Blue bolts of energy began to gather into his hands as Ryu concentrated, gathering his energy into his hands. Sakura backed away, since the intensity was so great.
Then Ryu let it loose.
"Shotokan School of Karate Final Techinique...SHINKUU HADOUKEN!"
The devestating ball of energy sailed across the dojo with blinding speed, and crashed with devestating force into the pratice dummy, sending it sailing out of the dojo where it landed on the stone pavement with a thud.
Sakura shook her head. "Showoff."
Ryu smiled. "That's Ken. I just enjoy fighting. One more thing, try ant not to destroy my dojo when you pratice, okay?"
Sakura grinned. "Okay. Sorry about that."
"In the meantime," Ryu continued, "I don't want you to walk alone. Stay in a group, and if you're being followed, then head for a crowded area and call eith me or Chun Li, understand?"
Sakura nodded.
Author's note: I've decided that from this point on, Chun Li will keep her maiden name. Bah.
-Tamagawa-Minawi High School-
The final bell rang and Sakura's English class filed out of the classroom, Sakura picking out erasers from her hair, the result of getting another 'A' on her English test.
A few minutes later, the teenage Shotokan trainee walked out of the door and into the school's courtyard, lost in thought. She was thinking about the missing students and the attack on Honda and Mika's school. She was so caught up in her thoughs that upon reaching the gates of her school, she bumped into Ryu, who was on his way into the school, ignoring the gazes of the female students he passed. He was dressed in a gray T-shirt and a pair of black denim jeans. Rather than his usual leather sandals, he was wearing a pair of white tennis shoes.
Sakura looked up. "Huh? Sempai? What are you doing here?"
"I came to see you," was his reply. "Walk with me."
***
En route to the train station, the teacher and his student/ward walked along the street.
"Did Chun Li find anything on the student's disappearrances?" Sakura asked.
Ryu shugged his shoulders. "Dunno. I haven't talked to her as of late. She should tell us something when she gets home."
"So...why did you come to pick me up, Ryu?" she asked, dropping 'Sempai' and calling him by his first name.
"Well, I was in the area. And you can say that I was worried about you," he added, smiling sheepishly.
Sakura was surprised. "You were worried about me?"
The Shotokan master nodded. "Of course. It would really be a shame if something happened to you, and all of the time and effort I had put in your training would have gone to waste."
"I can take care of myself," Sakura replied, "but I thank you for looking out for me." She paused for a moment. "Um, Ryu. I never told you this, but I consider you and Chun Li both role models."
Ryu looked at his pupil and stopped. "Sakura, I beat up people for a living. That's not considered role model material."
Sakura stepped in front of him, causing him to stop. "Maybe, but you fight for what you believe in, and you defend people that are weaker than you. That's what I admire about you, and it was also the reason why I wanted you to take me on as your apprentice in Shotokan Karate."
Ryu was surprized to her Sakura speak so passionately about himself and of martial arts. He shrugged his broad shoulders. "Call me what you want, but I still disagree."
The two fighters continued down the street. Then Ryu's Dark Hadou-enhanced senses kicked in as he felt the presence of several persons nearby.
Sakura saw her teacher tense up. "What is it?"
"We're not alone," Ryu replied.
Ryu was right.
The clattering sound of wooden sandals were heard as the Shotokan master and his trainee were suddenly surrounded by a group of teenagers about Sakura's age, some older, all of them clad in grey and blue hakamas and toting shinais (pratice swords) and bokkens (wooden swords).
"Friends of yours?" Ryu asked.
"No," Sakura replied, going into her own stance.
One of the kendoists stepped forward. "We came for Sakura Kasugano," he said.
"Sorry," Ryu replied. "She already has plans."
The head Kendoist whipped out his bokken. "And who the hell are you?"
Ryu looked at the head kendoist's eyes. They were red, similar to his when he was using Dark Hadou. "Who I am is of no concern to you. Leave now and we will not harm you."
The head kendoist took that as a insult. He leapt into the air, and brought his bokken down on Ryu's head. However, before he could reach his target, Ryu's hands came up and caught the wooded blade in a bare-handed sword block. He then knocked the bokken into the air and planted his foot into the kendoist's chest, knocking him back.
The bokken flipped into the air, until Ryu caught it with one hand. He then shifted into a classic defensive stance.
The head kendoist then gave the order to attack. "Get em'!"
The other kendo club members threw themselves in a frenzy, weapons swing, hoping in incapacitate the Japanese master. Ryu shifted his stance so that he was shielding Sakura and began to defend, deflect, and parry the kendo team's onslaught of attacks.
Ryu managed to block the blows, but some got through. He simply shrugged them off and continued to attack. One by one, he managed to knock the majority of the kendoists down. When Ryu got through, there were about three (kendo leader included) that were left standing.
Sakura stepped from behind her instructor and raised her fists. Ryu had no objections. "Ready?" he asked.
"Yep!" his apprentice replied.
The head kendoist retrieved one of his member's discarded weapons and faced Ryu. The other two--now weaponless--set their sights on Sakura.
"Attack!" Ryu yelled.
The two fighters charged the remaining kendoists. The two kendoists fighting Sakura were having a hard time pinning the female Shotokan trainee down. Thankfully, Sakura was taking Ryu's training and words to heart. She disabled one of the kendoists for the time being and concentrated on the other one. She caught the kendoist with a short uppercut, followed by...
"Shououken!"
Sakura charged at the kendoist punching him in the gut. The punch changed into a powerful uppercut than sent both of them into the air, Sakura lending gracefully on her feet, the kendoist flat on his back.
The second kendoist, now recovered, advanced on Sakura, throwing punches and kicks.
"Hey!" Sakura shouted as she dodged the blows. "Didn't your mother taught you not to hit girls?"
Thinking fast Sakura executed her favorite technique--the Haru Ichiban, or First Storm of Spring. She ducked low and began to spin, leg extended, catching the kendoist with several sweeps. Once, twice, three times, four times, until she spun to her feet, and knocked him into a nearby wall with a roundhouse kick.
Her opponents down for the count, Sakura turned to Ryu and his match.
With a calm demeanor, Ryu was just defending, not attacking, making the kendoist more and more angry. Sakura was more surprised to know that her mentor knew Kendo. She thought that he only knew Shotokan Karate.
Ryu, on the other hand, had learned how to use weapons in Shotokan Karate, and had kept in pratice over the years. He was a bit rusty, but was holding his own against the teenage kendoist. Seeing that the impromptu kendo match has went on long enough, Ryu went in for the kill. He leapt into the air in order to avoid a low swipe from his opponent.
Sakura recognised Ryu's trademark move--The Hurricane Gale Kick.
"Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!"
With the force of a hurricane Ryu's feet lashed out at his opponent. Three times the attack hit, and fortunately for the head kendoist, Ryu wasn't using his full potential, otherwise his neck would have been broken in several places.
His hakama shredded in several places, the head kendoist joined his cohorts in night-night land. Ryu scanned the mayhem that surrounded him and Sakura. All of the kendoists were down and out.
"You all right?" Ryu asked.
Sakura nodded. "I'm okay." She looked at her sempai closely. "Ryu, your arm."
Ryu looked at his left arm. There was a nasty-looking bruise on his bicep. "Oh. That. It's nothing, Sakura. In my line of work, I've had worse."
Sakura picked up her knapsack. "I'll bet. Fighting Bison is not an easy thing, even for you."
"Come on. Let's get out of here before anymore of those kendoists show up," Ryu said. As they left the scene, Ryu added, "You did well, kid. Keep it up, and you may rival Ken and myself in the art."
***
Watching from the shadows, was Justice High's senior teacher, Hideo Shimazu, the same teacher that was watching Chun Li from Pacific High School earlier that day with his female companion. He stepped from the shadows and surveyed the fallen kendoists.
'Lord Imawano will not be pleased with this,' he thought as he adjusted his glasses. 'However...that move...so much similar to my own...can he be the next heir to Shotokan? This could be interesting...'
***
-Shotokan School/Ryu and Chun Li's Home, later...-
Ryu, now shirtless, was sitting on the edge of the bed, getting his injuries tended by Chun Li. A first-aid kit was resting nearby and Chun Li was applying ointment on Ryu's bruises and bandaged them. Sakura was in the dojo, praticing by herself. Ryu was finishing telling her the day's events.
"Lucky for you that you were there at the school to pick up Sakura," Chun Li said. "Otherwise..."
"Don't say it," Ryu flatly stated.
Chun Li didn't finish that sentence. Instead, she finished bandaging up her Japanese husband. "There. All done."
Ryu stood up and flexed his arms. The bandages held tight, but still allowed him movement of his arms. HIs torso was also bandaged. "Hmm...not bad," he said.
"I hope this doesn't turn into a habit," Chun Li said of tending to her husband.
Ryu looked at the Chinese agent. "Funny. I thought you like to take care of me. You showed than when I was recovering from the last tournament."
Chun Li made a face. "True, but I want to have you around for a long time. Remember that."
Ryu slipped on a fresh T-shirt and walked out of the room. Upon reaching the dojo, he heard Sakura hard at work praticing. As he approached the open shoji door, he sidestepped in order to avoid a training dummy that was sent flying in his direction, and stepped inside.
Sakura was dressed in her navy blue karate gi, rather than her usual sailor fuku (Ryu had forbid her to pratice in her school uniform in the dojo) and was going through her training regimen, or one of them, which was her favorite: fireball training.
She was into her training session that she didn't see her sempai enter the dojo. "Shinkuu...HADOU-KEN!" She shouted, launching a huge bolt of ki energy. The ball of energy began to lose power halfway across the dojo, and completely vanished before it was able to strike another conviently placed training dummy.
"You're improving, Kasugano," Ryu noted, "but you still have a long way to go to reaching your full potential with your ki."
Sakura turned around. "Oh, it's you, Ryu. I didn't hear you come in."
Ryu frowned. "That's 'Sempai' to you."
"Sorry."
Ryu stepped forward and ushered Sakura to the side. "Watch the master," he said with a smirk.
Closing his eyes, he spread his legs and placed his hands to his side. Blue bolts of energy began to gather into his hands as Ryu concentrated, gathering his energy into his hands. Sakura backed away, since the intensity was so great.
Then Ryu let it loose.
"Shotokan School of Karate Final Techinique...SHINKUU HADOUKEN!"
The devestating ball of energy sailed across the dojo with blinding speed, and crashed with devestating force into the pratice dummy, sending it sailing out of the dojo where it landed on the stone pavement with a thud.
Sakura shook her head. "Showoff."
Ryu smiled. "That's Ken. I just enjoy fighting. One more thing, try ant not to destroy my dojo when you pratice, okay?"
Sakura grinned. "Okay. Sorry about that."
"In the meantime," Ryu continued, "I don't want you to walk alone. Stay in a group, and if you're being followed, then head for a crowded area and call eith me or Chun Li, understand?"
Sakura nodded.