Pink and White Snow: Yes, I had fourteen chapters. Ff.n deleted it. I'm starting over, but not really. 6.6

DreamingChild: OOOH PLUSHIES!!! *hugs DreamingChild* ^-^

LUNAR DRAGON: *MaJoR FrEaKoUt* WHERE DID MY SPELLING GO WRONG?! IT WAS PERFECT!!! o.O

Dobz: No she's not, actually. Yah, I thought about it, and it doesn't go together too well... o.

Rabidmoose: Er... I should think I ain't stupid enough not to know that it was taken down because of the voting. How so was it based PURELY on voting? I think not. 9_6

Yeah, and thanks to everyone else who reviewed. I'm not telling you guys if it's Yugi, Yami, Malik, or YMalik. But I will tell you if it's Ryou or Bakura.

IT'S NOT!!! MWAHA!

IwuvImonoyama-sama!IwuvImonoyama-sama!IwuvImonoyama-sama!IwuvImonoyama-sama!IwuvImonoyama-sama!

AND YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM!

Chapter Six: Learning

Anzu checked the clock. A bit past nine.

The sun had set a few hours ago, and Mokuba was asleep. Father wouldn't notice, no matter what time he came home.

She left the house, and headed towards the alley.

*
Ryou was there when she arrived. Bakura, Yami, and Marik had 'wandered off' somewhere, he said. Malik was at home, for some reason that Marik wouldn't say.

"We can't do anything in this place," Ryou said, indicating the fact that there was junk and crates, and boxes, and STUFF all around them. "So I got permission from one of my previous instructors to use the center."

The center was a place where the classes were held, usually in the daytime. But at this hour, there were still quite a few people. "Those are the advanced classes," was the explanation.

Ryou found an empty room. They removed their socks and shoes first, before entering.

The walls were white, and had some posters taped here and there. The floor was white tile. The room itself was of a rectangular shape. The longer end, with the door they had entered from, had a large mirror attached to the wall. The side across from it had a bar, which looked more like a banister from a stairway.

What Anzu assumed was the back of the room had a few stacks of fold-up chairs, and in the front were the doors to a closet, maybe.

*
After they did a few stretches and warm-ups, Ryou said. "We'll start with the basics first. Maybe tae-kwon-do, as that is probably the easiest. Today, I'll just teach you the beginning punch, kick, and block. Show me a punch."

Feeling a bit stupid, Anzu curled her hand into a fist and punched the air before her. Ryou walked a circle around her, making little adjustments here and there— "Square your shoulders." "Feet parallel to each other." "Other hand back at hip."

They went through that quite a few times, until Anzu got it right. Blocking next.

"Fist back to back. near your ear—that's it." Ryou said. "Now move them—a bit faster next time—right fist to hip, left arm slightly bent—no, not a ninety degree angle—good—" He punched the air in front of her face.

Anzu flinched.

"Block?" Ryou reminded her. "It's okay, you weren't prepared. But you'll have to be ready for 'surprise' attacks."

Kicking. "The front snap kick. Easiest." Ryou showed her. "You try. In slow motion."

"Knee up. That one of the most important parts. Then snap that leg out right in front of you. Good balance." He smiled. "I used to fall over all the time, when I was just starting."

"I think dance helped me." Anzu admitted.

"You take dance?"

She sighed. "I used to."

"Used to?"

"I had to quit because of an accident. I really don't want to talk about it." Anzu said. "Let's get back to the lesson."

Ryou nodded.

*
He rummaged around in the walk in closet, then came out carrying a large foam pad. "This is to practice with." He held it in front of himself. "Kick this as hard as you can. It won't hurt me."

Anzu stepped into position. Fists up in defense. Kick straight out. Oops. Leg back—"Ryou? Is something the matter?"

"No," Ryou groaned, dropping the foam pad. "The kick was fine. Stance, balance... Except you hit too low..."

Anzu apologized quickly.

"It's all right. Let's try that again..."

***

"Same time tomorrow," Ryou told her, "But meet me at the alley, okay?"

"Okay." She said. "Thanks, Ryou."

Then Anzu headed home.

*** *** *** ***

I'm pretty sure I covered the lesson accurately... I shortened it a bit, cuz I didn't want to go through every little detail. It's been quite a while since I was learning from the beginning.

And there's a few problems here, with the fact that you shouldn't fight with tae-kwon-do. You use it in defense. I think it's the same with karate? Does anyone know? [What should I do?! Problem: Solved. Don't do anything.]

IwuvNokoru!!!IwuvNokoru!!!IwuvNokoru!!!IwuvNokoru!!!IwuvNokoru!!!IwuvNokoru!!!IwuvNokoru!!!IwuvNokoru!!!

AND YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM! (Well, I can't either, for that matter...)

Last thing, if you like FF7 and online RPGs, go here: