"It's in a pleasant enough location, isn't?" Two said sarcastically to his brother. "This place is a waste of our time, we will not want to live here." The dojo was smack in the middle of the city, sort of off to the side of downtown in a slightly dilapidated building. Baking hot, no doubt, there didn't seem to be any indication of air conditioning in either the dojo itself, or the flat upstairs. Only two kinds of people would work out here-serious martial artists, if the sensei was any good, or people too poor to afford anything else, or a combination of the two.
"Shall we see for ourselves before we make snap judgments?" One said. "Perhaps it will meet our needs, we can modify the programming of the place to make it more comfortable. It won't hurt to look."
Two's silence was as good as a yes, so One parked the car in front. They walked into the building and looked around. It was bare and plain, but not as baking hot as they'd expected. Most of the dojo was hardwood, but at the back there was a section of the floor that was padded. A portion of the white wall on both sides of the blue padded area held a variety of weapons. Functional, clean, simple, well-maintained, the twins began to reassess their impression. Maybe they would enjoy this place.
Next to the entrance was a small office, they looked inside and saw an ancient appearing program typing on a computer, a middle-aged man looking over his shoulder while a beautiful young woman filed paperwork. The middle-aged man had some anomalous readings about him, ah, there it was, he was half program, half human. The program must be his father. The girl was Killa's quiet friend from the night before. Two looked at her carefully, yes, there it was as well. She was mostly human, but still had some qualities of a program. The old man must be her grandfather, the middle-aged one her father. Fascinating. Two had heard of programs breeding and living with humans, but had never met a family of that kind before before. A few of the Mero's men had liaisons with human females, and some had resulted in offspring, but they attempted to keep it secret. The Merovingian did not care for on-going associations with humans.
Kadoya heard Kiko's gasp and looked up from the computer. The Merovingian's henchman, he recognized the rings. Fluidly he rose and faced them, then smiled a greeting.
"What may I do for you gentlemen?"
"We are here to inquire about the flat and the job. We are well-qualified to teach any martial arts you choose." One stated flatly.
Kadoya looked at the two. Perhaps. What did they want with this place? It appeared they intended to play human, he would go along for the sake of his granddaughter. She still had no awareness of the Matrix, which suited him just fine. "A class is about to start. You may teach it. Let us see how you do."
One and Two nodded, then walked to the dressing room to change. They phased into white jackets edged with gray, and white pants. When they emerged, they saw Killa warming up. One looked at Two and both programs felt interested. "This girl is full of surprises," they thought.
Kadoya could tell Killa was excited about today's class. He had told her there were going to be two new teachers and that she would find them a challenge. He thought she unconsciously held back because she was afraid of hurting him in his guise as an old man. It would be interesting to see what she could do. He remembered her first coming in here with that boyfriend of hers; she had been the better student. More flexible, more disciplined, more fearless. She quickly overtook him. Kolby was his name, a boy named after a cheese. Repulsive.
Then the boy got unplugged. Instead of following the rules and disappearing from his life, he kept seeing Killa at the dojo. Using his rebel training unfairly, the boy punished her after he was unplugged. Disgusting, unfair and, for Killa, puzzling. How had he made such progress so quickly? Killa refused to give up; she pushed herself even harder. Kadoya took her under his wing and began to train her in the mind-body techniques she needed, but he had little hope of them working with an unplugged human. One day Killa finally had enough and punished back. He never saw the boy again after that, and he never saw Killa perform at that level again either. Today should be interesting. Those two had little pity from what he could see, they'd push her, he'd make certain of it.
Kadoya intercepted One and Two, motioning them over to the side.
"This class is the advanced class. Today we are sparring. You will each take turns partnering the students, pointing out areas for improvement and growth. I expect you to push the students, especially that girl." Kadoya pointed to Killa. "She does not perform to the limit of her abilities. Your job is dependent on your ability to bring out each student's potential. If I see you bring out hers, the job is yours. This is a traditional dojo; pain is to be managed, not avoided. Minor injuries are expected, major ones are unacceptable." He didn't want them to hurt Killa.
"Of course." One replied. Did the old program think they were fools? More likely he wanted to make sure they did not kill any of his students.
"Do you want to take her Two?" One thought.
Two looked at his brother and grinned. "We'll let her pick." They watched Killa stretch. "At least she is flexible. That should prove pleasant." Two put more than one meaning into that statement. Killa was obviously in her own world preparing for sparring both mentally and physically. She still hadn't noticed them.
Killa looked up from the mat and recognized her new teachers. "Oh, god" she thought, "not them." Embarrassment rolled over her. Kiko, stretching next to her, gave her a look, then whispered "Grandfather told them to push you. I heard him talking to uncle; they are here for the apartment and the job. If they get you to perform to your level, they get the job, otherwise they get nothing." Killa thought about that for a second. If they were her teachers she could satisfy her curiosity about them easily.
Her limits though, God. She remembered what happened last time. It still showed up in her dreams. She started hallucinating that last time she fought Kolby. Later that evening he showed up at her house and tried to force her to take drugs. She managed to fight him off, then he disappeared for good. "Get a grip Killa, they were just dreams" she told herself. She began her centering exercises and greeted the new teachers along with the rest of the students. "How can they both be so good-looking? Arrgh. Center Killa!" She told herself sternly, then got down to business. If she wanted to see them anywhere else besides the IHOP, she'd better do her best.
"Today we will spar with you. Warm-up well." the slightly stockier one said. What were their names? Doh! Did they expect people to read their minds? Killa thought.
"My name is One and this is Two." No way. These guys were so weird. Or they had parents with a weird sense of humor.
"Enough, concentrate Killa," she whispered to herself, "plenty of time for that later." In her mind she began to both eliminate the distractions of the outside world and enhance her sensitivity to external stimuli.
"I am ready," she told them flatly.
"Which one do you wish to spar with?" One inquired politely.
"You."
He looked slightly irritated that she did not acknowledge him as sensei. Oh well. They both stepped onto the mat and assumed a fighting stance.
"Begin." Two said.
As soon as he said the word, Killa attacked. She was fast, for a human. One easily blocked her kick and followed it with a strike to her abdomen. He was surprised when she managed to block it and dodge out of the way to come back with another kick, this time to the back of his leg. He stepped out of the way, expecting her to fall but she turned and followed with a punch to his back, which he blocked a little less easily. She had him on the defensive; that was new, usually he was on the offensive.
He spun away from her and she followed him across the mat aiming another blow at his abdomen, this time it connected. It didn't hurt, but it surprised the program.
Killa stepped back and waited to see what he would do, giving him some room. So far, no big deal. She knew he could do better than that. Maybe he was holding back because she was a girl, God, she hated when guys did that. Disappointing when they seemed otherwise so great. "Here he comes, focus," she thought.
One attacked first this time using more of his strength, but not all of it, and most of his speed. It had been a long time since he'd fought without phasing and he realized that he'd gotten lazy at blocking. Why block when you can just phase? He feinted a blow to her face, then followed it up with a kick that barely caught the front of her face splitting her lip. Blood trickled down her chin, but if anything she looked more determined. One started to really like her; she had guts.
"Is that a smile on his face?" Killa thought, then suddenly became pissed. She licked her lips and tasted blood. Great, just in time for her finals. A split lip. She took a fighting stance, waited for him to come to her.
One attacked again, but this time she moved as fast as a rebel, blocked his blow, spun and kicked him hard enough in the abdomen to send him flying across the mat. She ran after him, leaped in the air and would have stomped him if he hadn't moved. He grabbed at her legs, tripped her, then threw her down on the mat and straddled her. She looked absolutely furious.
He took the edge of his jacket and cleaned the blood off her chin. As her breathing slowed she calmed. Rubbing his abdomen, he said, "I'll have a foot sized bruise there tomorrow. Thanks." She laughed, then replied, "And all my friends will think I've been in a fight, and lost." One touched her lip and phased the tip of his finger slightly to close the wound. "Sorry, didn't mean to hurt you. We don't think it's as bad as you think, it's mostly just a bit swollen. You're a good fighter."
Killa looked up at him and felt pleased. He'd fought her like an equal; beat her fair and square. Suddenly she became aware of his weight on top of her, remembered kissing his cheek and then started to blush. He was still stroking her bottom lip with his finger, a curiously intent look on his face. It didn't hurt anymore at all now, in fact his touch felt really good. He saw her blush and instead of getting off her, smiled and leaned in to whisper in her ear, "We'd hate to damage those lips," then brushed his own lips against the edge of her ear and slid off her. Killa was now bright red with embarrassment.
Slam. Slam. Slam. Two kept underestimating just how fast Kiko could move, and as a result kept barreling into walls, the mat, and once, almost took out most of the class. He couldn't get to Kiko, and Kiko wasn't strong enough to take him out so they were basically chasing each other around the mat. Kiko wasn't helping by grinning at the guy every time he missed her. He was obviously getting ticked off, which Killa knew was part of Kiko's plan. As soon as he got mad enough to get sloppy, Kiko'd nail him with a hit to the throat or some other area that would disable him, but not require much strength.
Killa looked over at One and caught him watching her. He smirked at her and she smirked right back. "I'll get you next time my pretty, you and you're little dog too. Ahhahaha!" she thought, then realized her chances of ever beating him were pretty damn slim. She wondered what it would be like to fight both of them. When Kiko and her fought as a team, they were simply deadly, maybe she could talk them into fighting her and her friend as a pair. Killa knew she had a powerful hit, and Kiko was faster than anybody she'd ever seen except her grandfather. That guy could move; she couldn't imagine what he was like when he was young. The mat must've smoked.
She kept thinking about One's lips against her ear, and what he said. Probably he was teasing her. "Killa, he's too old for you," she told herself; but up close, out of that weird uniform, he didn't look so old. "Maybe 26, 27, not THAT much older than 21, I guess," she thought, then "He's probably gay or has a girlfriend. And since when do you have time?"
If that guy actually managed to hit Kiko, she'd be in trouble. She looked like she was getting tired, but that could be a trick. A lot of Kiko's fighting style was mental: intimidation, apparent weakness or some other illusion. Two was tough, but he didn't seem to have much emotional control, which was unusual since he clearly had received extensive martial arts training. Who would continue to train someone so apparently lacking in self- control? The guy looked like he was going to explode, and he was punching with way more force than you would use in a practice bout. Killa looked over her shoulder to see if Kiko's grandfather or uncle were watching this little display of temper, and when she didn't see them, got worried for her friend.
Right then, Kiko struck at Two's throat. It hit, made him blink for a second, then he knocked her arm away hard enough it smacked. Kiko cried out in pain and tried to step off the mat, but Two caught her, spun her back into the center of the sparring area, and then attacked again.
"What the f?" Killa shouted. "Let her off the mat! Can't you see she's hurt?" Killa looked at One to see of he was going to stop his brother, but he shrugged his shoulders and stepped away from the mat as if to say "take your best shot." Where were Kiko's grandfather and uncle? She saw them standing at the front of the dojo watching impassively. What was this? Right as Killa was about to step onto the mat, Kiko spun and kicked Two in the side of the head. A loud crack echoed through the dojo as Two's head snapped over to the side. She followed it up with a kick to his right knee and down he went. Kiko quickly ran off the mat and over to Killa. Her arm looked, Jesus, it looked broken.
Two jumped to his feet and walked over to them. Killa grabbed a bo staff off the rack and stood in front of her friend. This guy scared the shit out of her.
"Back off." Killa snarled.
"Let us see her arm." Two said politely. Blood was trickling down his neck from where Kiko had hit him. He looked worse off than her.
"Don't you know when someone steps off the mat, or TRIES to step off the mat it means they want to stop? What are you, an idiot?" Killa snapped.
Two gritted his teeth, then replied "We were instructed to push her. She is not seriously injured and now she knows she can hit much harder than she thought. She will be a better fighter for this. That is your goal, isn't it? Or is this a substitute for aerobics for you two?"
Killa lowered the bo staff, then replaced it on the rack. Two walked over to Kiko and held out his hands. She let him take her arm, grimaced as he felt along the forearm to see of it was broken.
"It is merely bruised. It will be a painful reminder to not underestimate your opponent's ability to see through your trickery. We feigned our anger and anticipated the strike to the throat. This is an old trick. We will teach you some new ones." He paused and smirked at her "We did not anticipate the next two hits. Good job."
Killa felt most of her anger fade away when she saw how pleased Kiko was with her hits and Two's compliment. Their style of teaching was certainly different, but neither of the girls had learned this much in a single class in a while, and this was just sparring.
"As for you" Two looked at her, "you may help us with our wounds since you seem to need to help someone." He touched the blood on his neck and smiled a half-smile that still looked remarkable close to a smirk. "We are in far worse shape that your friend." There was a cut and a knot on his head where Kiko kicked him; it looked pretty painful
"Shall we see for ourselves before we make snap judgments?" One said. "Perhaps it will meet our needs, we can modify the programming of the place to make it more comfortable. It won't hurt to look."
Two's silence was as good as a yes, so One parked the car in front. They walked into the building and looked around. It was bare and plain, but not as baking hot as they'd expected. Most of the dojo was hardwood, but at the back there was a section of the floor that was padded. A portion of the white wall on both sides of the blue padded area held a variety of weapons. Functional, clean, simple, well-maintained, the twins began to reassess their impression. Maybe they would enjoy this place.
Next to the entrance was a small office, they looked inside and saw an ancient appearing program typing on a computer, a middle-aged man looking over his shoulder while a beautiful young woman filed paperwork. The middle-aged man had some anomalous readings about him, ah, there it was, he was half program, half human. The program must be his father. The girl was Killa's quiet friend from the night before. Two looked at her carefully, yes, there it was as well. She was mostly human, but still had some qualities of a program. The old man must be her grandfather, the middle-aged one her father. Fascinating. Two had heard of programs breeding and living with humans, but had never met a family of that kind before before. A few of the Mero's men had liaisons with human females, and some had resulted in offspring, but they attempted to keep it secret. The Merovingian did not care for on-going associations with humans.
Kadoya heard Kiko's gasp and looked up from the computer. The Merovingian's henchman, he recognized the rings. Fluidly he rose and faced them, then smiled a greeting.
"What may I do for you gentlemen?"
"We are here to inquire about the flat and the job. We are well-qualified to teach any martial arts you choose." One stated flatly.
Kadoya looked at the two. Perhaps. What did they want with this place? It appeared they intended to play human, he would go along for the sake of his granddaughter. She still had no awareness of the Matrix, which suited him just fine. "A class is about to start. You may teach it. Let us see how you do."
One and Two nodded, then walked to the dressing room to change. They phased into white jackets edged with gray, and white pants. When they emerged, they saw Killa warming up. One looked at Two and both programs felt interested. "This girl is full of surprises," they thought.
Kadoya could tell Killa was excited about today's class. He had told her there were going to be two new teachers and that she would find them a challenge. He thought she unconsciously held back because she was afraid of hurting him in his guise as an old man. It would be interesting to see what she could do. He remembered her first coming in here with that boyfriend of hers; she had been the better student. More flexible, more disciplined, more fearless. She quickly overtook him. Kolby was his name, a boy named after a cheese. Repulsive.
Then the boy got unplugged. Instead of following the rules and disappearing from his life, he kept seeing Killa at the dojo. Using his rebel training unfairly, the boy punished her after he was unplugged. Disgusting, unfair and, for Killa, puzzling. How had he made such progress so quickly? Killa refused to give up; she pushed herself even harder. Kadoya took her under his wing and began to train her in the mind-body techniques she needed, but he had little hope of them working with an unplugged human. One day Killa finally had enough and punished back. He never saw the boy again after that, and he never saw Killa perform at that level again either. Today should be interesting. Those two had little pity from what he could see, they'd push her, he'd make certain of it.
Kadoya intercepted One and Two, motioning them over to the side.
"This class is the advanced class. Today we are sparring. You will each take turns partnering the students, pointing out areas for improvement and growth. I expect you to push the students, especially that girl." Kadoya pointed to Killa. "She does not perform to the limit of her abilities. Your job is dependent on your ability to bring out each student's potential. If I see you bring out hers, the job is yours. This is a traditional dojo; pain is to be managed, not avoided. Minor injuries are expected, major ones are unacceptable." He didn't want them to hurt Killa.
"Of course." One replied. Did the old program think they were fools? More likely he wanted to make sure they did not kill any of his students.
"Do you want to take her Two?" One thought.
Two looked at his brother and grinned. "We'll let her pick." They watched Killa stretch. "At least she is flexible. That should prove pleasant." Two put more than one meaning into that statement. Killa was obviously in her own world preparing for sparring both mentally and physically. She still hadn't noticed them.
Killa looked up from the mat and recognized her new teachers. "Oh, god" she thought, "not them." Embarrassment rolled over her. Kiko, stretching next to her, gave her a look, then whispered "Grandfather told them to push you. I heard him talking to uncle; they are here for the apartment and the job. If they get you to perform to your level, they get the job, otherwise they get nothing." Killa thought about that for a second. If they were her teachers she could satisfy her curiosity about them easily.
Her limits though, God. She remembered what happened last time. It still showed up in her dreams. She started hallucinating that last time she fought Kolby. Later that evening he showed up at her house and tried to force her to take drugs. She managed to fight him off, then he disappeared for good. "Get a grip Killa, they were just dreams" she told herself. She began her centering exercises and greeted the new teachers along with the rest of the students. "How can they both be so good-looking? Arrgh. Center Killa!" She told herself sternly, then got down to business. If she wanted to see them anywhere else besides the IHOP, she'd better do her best.
"Today we will spar with you. Warm-up well." the slightly stockier one said. What were their names? Doh! Did they expect people to read their minds? Killa thought.
"My name is One and this is Two." No way. These guys were so weird. Or they had parents with a weird sense of humor.
"Enough, concentrate Killa," she whispered to herself, "plenty of time for that later." In her mind she began to both eliminate the distractions of the outside world and enhance her sensitivity to external stimuli.
"I am ready," she told them flatly.
"Which one do you wish to spar with?" One inquired politely.
"You."
He looked slightly irritated that she did not acknowledge him as sensei. Oh well. They both stepped onto the mat and assumed a fighting stance.
"Begin." Two said.
As soon as he said the word, Killa attacked. She was fast, for a human. One easily blocked her kick and followed it with a strike to her abdomen. He was surprised when she managed to block it and dodge out of the way to come back with another kick, this time to the back of his leg. He stepped out of the way, expecting her to fall but she turned and followed with a punch to his back, which he blocked a little less easily. She had him on the defensive; that was new, usually he was on the offensive.
He spun away from her and she followed him across the mat aiming another blow at his abdomen, this time it connected. It didn't hurt, but it surprised the program.
Killa stepped back and waited to see what he would do, giving him some room. So far, no big deal. She knew he could do better than that. Maybe he was holding back because she was a girl, God, she hated when guys did that. Disappointing when they seemed otherwise so great. "Here he comes, focus," she thought.
One attacked first this time using more of his strength, but not all of it, and most of his speed. It had been a long time since he'd fought without phasing and he realized that he'd gotten lazy at blocking. Why block when you can just phase? He feinted a blow to her face, then followed it up with a kick that barely caught the front of her face splitting her lip. Blood trickled down her chin, but if anything she looked more determined. One started to really like her; she had guts.
"Is that a smile on his face?" Killa thought, then suddenly became pissed. She licked her lips and tasted blood. Great, just in time for her finals. A split lip. She took a fighting stance, waited for him to come to her.
One attacked again, but this time she moved as fast as a rebel, blocked his blow, spun and kicked him hard enough in the abdomen to send him flying across the mat. She ran after him, leaped in the air and would have stomped him if he hadn't moved. He grabbed at her legs, tripped her, then threw her down on the mat and straddled her. She looked absolutely furious.
He took the edge of his jacket and cleaned the blood off her chin. As her breathing slowed she calmed. Rubbing his abdomen, he said, "I'll have a foot sized bruise there tomorrow. Thanks." She laughed, then replied, "And all my friends will think I've been in a fight, and lost." One touched her lip and phased the tip of his finger slightly to close the wound. "Sorry, didn't mean to hurt you. We don't think it's as bad as you think, it's mostly just a bit swollen. You're a good fighter."
Killa looked up at him and felt pleased. He'd fought her like an equal; beat her fair and square. Suddenly she became aware of his weight on top of her, remembered kissing his cheek and then started to blush. He was still stroking her bottom lip with his finger, a curiously intent look on his face. It didn't hurt anymore at all now, in fact his touch felt really good. He saw her blush and instead of getting off her, smiled and leaned in to whisper in her ear, "We'd hate to damage those lips," then brushed his own lips against the edge of her ear and slid off her. Killa was now bright red with embarrassment.
Slam. Slam. Slam. Two kept underestimating just how fast Kiko could move, and as a result kept barreling into walls, the mat, and once, almost took out most of the class. He couldn't get to Kiko, and Kiko wasn't strong enough to take him out so they were basically chasing each other around the mat. Kiko wasn't helping by grinning at the guy every time he missed her. He was obviously getting ticked off, which Killa knew was part of Kiko's plan. As soon as he got mad enough to get sloppy, Kiko'd nail him with a hit to the throat or some other area that would disable him, but not require much strength.
Killa looked over at One and caught him watching her. He smirked at her and she smirked right back. "I'll get you next time my pretty, you and you're little dog too. Ahhahaha!" she thought, then realized her chances of ever beating him were pretty damn slim. She wondered what it would be like to fight both of them. When Kiko and her fought as a team, they were simply deadly, maybe she could talk them into fighting her and her friend as a pair. Killa knew she had a powerful hit, and Kiko was faster than anybody she'd ever seen except her grandfather. That guy could move; she couldn't imagine what he was like when he was young. The mat must've smoked.
She kept thinking about One's lips against her ear, and what he said. Probably he was teasing her. "Killa, he's too old for you," she told herself; but up close, out of that weird uniform, he didn't look so old. "Maybe 26, 27, not THAT much older than 21, I guess," she thought, then "He's probably gay or has a girlfriend. And since when do you have time?"
If that guy actually managed to hit Kiko, she'd be in trouble. She looked like she was getting tired, but that could be a trick. A lot of Kiko's fighting style was mental: intimidation, apparent weakness or some other illusion. Two was tough, but he didn't seem to have much emotional control, which was unusual since he clearly had received extensive martial arts training. Who would continue to train someone so apparently lacking in self- control? The guy looked like he was going to explode, and he was punching with way more force than you would use in a practice bout. Killa looked over her shoulder to see if Kiko's grandfather or uncle were watching this little display of temper, and when she didn't see them, got worried for her friend.
Right then, Kiko struck at Two's throat. It hit, made him blink for a second, then he knocked her arm away hard enough it smacked. Kiko cried out in pain and tried to step off the mat, but Two caught her, spun her back into the center of the sparring area, and then attacked again.
"What the f?" Killa shouted. "Let her off the mat! Can't you see she's hurt?" Killa looked at One to see of he was going to stop his brother, but he shrugged his shoulders and stepped away from the mat as if to say "take your best shot." Where were Kiko's grandfather and uncle? She saw them standing at the front of the dojo watching impassively. What was this? Right as Killa was about to step onto the mat, Kiko spun and kicked Two in the side of the head. A loud crack echoed through the dojo as Two's head snapped over to the side. She followed it up with a kick to his right knee and down he went. Kiko quickly ran off the mat and over to Killa. Her arm looked, Jesus, it looked broken.
Two jumped to his feet and walked over to them. Killa grabbed a bo staff off the rack and stood in front of her friend. This guy scared the shit out of her.
"Back off." Killa snarled.
"Let us see her arm." Two said politely. Blood was trickling down his neck from where Kiko had hit him. He looked worse off than her.
"Don't you know when someone steps off the mat, or TRIES to step off the mat it means they want to stop? What are you, an idiot?" Killa snapped.
Two gritted his teeth, then replied "We were instructed to push her. She is not seriously injured and now she knows she can hit much harder than she thought. She will be a better fighter for this. That is your goal, isn't it? Or is this a substitute for aerobics for you two?"
Killa lowered the bo staff, then replaced it on the rack. Two walked over to Kiko and held out his hands. She let him take her arm, grimaced as he felt along the forearm to see of it was broken.
"It is merely bruised. It will be a painful reminder to not underestimate your opponent's ability to see through your trickery. We feigned our anger and anticipated the strike to the throat. This is an old trick. We will teach you some new ones." He paused and smirked at her "We did not anticipate the next two hits. Good job."
Killa felt most of her anger fade away when she saw how pleased Kiko was with her hits and Two's compliment. Their style of teaching was certainly different, but neither of the girls had learned this much in a single class in a while, and this was just sparring.
"As for you" Two looked at her, "you may help us with our wounds since you seem to need to help someone." He touched the blood on his neck and smiled a half-smile that still looked remarkable close to a smirk. "We are in far worse shape that your friend." There was a cut and a knot on his head where Kiko kicked him; it looked pretty painful