First off- thank you all for checking out my fic. I've been obsessed with KP for a few months now and I finally ran out of fan-fictions to read… So I figured I'd give my own a try. I hope you enjoy- and feedback is much appreciated.
It had been a month since summer vacation had ended. To Ron Stoppable, it had been the weirdest end to a summer vacation he had ever experienced. It was the beginning of another school year and he wasn't trudging through the familiar halls of Middleton High School. Despite some of his experience of High School, Ron found himself missing the familiarity of home. He missed his friends, family, and above all else- his girlfriend, and best friend. But Ron was now in a different country, with different customs, and different cuisine.
The mere thought of the cheesy goodness of a Naco was enough to set his stomach gurgling, distracting the teen from his thoughts of her. Sensing his friend's thoughts of all things Tex-Mex, Rufus poked his wrinkly head out from Ron's cargo pants. "Hng- Naco" the little rodent sighed, his garbled speech easy enough for Ron to understand.
"I know little buddy." Ron rubbed a consoling finger over Rufus's head. It was a comfort to have the little guy by his side, and Ron was always grateful that the little rodent stuck around through thick and thin. "But we gotta stay within the school grounds- and I don't think there's any Bueno Nacho anywhere near here."
'Here' happened to be a super-secret, elite training school for world-class ninjas. No big. It was much more of a big that there was no Tex-Mex food nearby for miles. In fact, there was not much of anything around the school. It was purposefully isolated from prying eyes. That kind of came with the whole 'super-secret' part of an elite ninja training school.
"Oh Stoppable-san, it's not THAT bad." A voice came from behind Ron, breaking him from his musings. Yori, a young ninja-in-training much like he, came to stand beside him. He had been standing outside the walls of the school, staring out into the vast mountain-scape. She looked past the blond teen, peering out as if trying to figure out what he had been staring at. Which was nothing. Ron hadn't even realized he'd zoned out and had been standing there staring into empty space. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck- she wouldn't find anything interesting out there.
"I mean, if you miss your… food from home that bad, we can always try to make it here." She offered. She didn't seem particularly enthused by the prospect, but it was the thought that counted. "Either way, it's getting dark. We would not want to catch a cold out here- Sensei is waiting."
Cheered a little by her offer, Ron turned and followed his friend back within the walls of the school. As he did, a slight uneasiness ran up his back as he remembered why he had gone outside the walls in the first place. So much had changed in such a short period of time, but the thing that hurt the most was being away from Kim. His mood dampened again, without the thought of Nacos to distract him anymore.
They had both agreed that he was too far to be a full-time member of Team Possible. Kim had chosen to go to school in London, and here he was, on the other side of the world. That would make missions difficult to say the least. They had tried it the first week- and when he wasn't hours late, he missed some missions entirely. While it had taken a lot of convincing for Ron to drop the matter, they reached an understanding. It was the smarter thing to let Kim handle most missions on her own for as long as they were so far apart. It would only hold her back if she was to plan around him showing up, and then have to work without him there. He'd grudgingly agreed that it was better for her to plan for him NOT being there, then rely on his back-up when he'd be a no-show when needed. The thought still made him feel squeamish- he did not like Kim going out on her own. They were a team; they were supposed to be together. Trudging along-side Yori, his thoughts of Kim swirled in his mind like a storm. He had no doubts that Kim could handle herself- that wasn't the issue. He had promised her he'd always have her back, and this felt like going back on that promise. And above else, nothing bothered him more than to feel helpless while your best friend and girlfriend was putting herself in danger daily. Sure, he'd never been the strongest or the smartest or even the toughest guy on the block, but they were a team. They stuck together, no matter what. That's how it always had worked, that's how it shou-
Ron was so focused on these thoughts that he didn't notice the tree until it met him straight in the face.
"Ow..." Sitting up, Ron rubbed his smarting face, feeling a little foolish. Yori stood over him, looking surprised, while trying -and failing- to hide a smile from her face.
"Stoppable-san, you have to look where you're going." She said, offering him a hand. "I don't know if there are trees in America that move out of your way, but here in Japan, you have to walk around them." The mirth in Yori's eyes was infectious, and Ron felt himself grinning back. There was Yori at least. She made the distance from everything familiar a little more bearable. She helped pull him up onto his feet and the two made the rest of the way to Sensei without any further tree attacks.
The rest of the students were already heading off to the dining hall by the time Yori and Ron reached Sensei. Both students bowed in respect to their teacher and elder. Sensei returned the gesture before addressing them. "Stoppable-san, I trust you are adjusting to attending our school full-time now?" Sensei asked. The wizened man had noticed Ron's concentration had been declining since he had arrived a month ago. While the old man had his suspicions over what was plaguing the young adult, he'd preferred to hear it from Ron.
"Yeah, Sensei- it's fine. You all have been great" Ron responded. "I guess- I guess it's a lot to get used to. It's the longest I've been away from… from home." He shrugged. Like a light-switch, his demeanor changed as he swept his nagging feelings under the rug. He forced his foul mood to change to some good old-fashioned Ronness. "It's nothing I can't handle," He shrugged. "No need to worry about me Sensei- I will get the hang of this ol' Yamanouchi training ninja skills in no time." Ron flashed his winning smile at the older man, who returned it. Rufus popped his head out of Ron's cargo pants and gave a tiny squeak and salute, echoing Ron's sentiment.
"Very well, Stoppable-san, Rufus-san. Please, make sure you have something to eat before sleep. Training will begin at 4 AM sharp-"
"And if I'm late it would be my honour to do laps around the school" Ron finished for him with a sigh. He could swear his legs still felt like jelly after that first day. Sensei only smiled as the young American made his way to the dining hall where the rest of the students had already started eating.
When he was sure Ron was out of earshot, Sensei turned to Yori, his face growing serious. "I have been in contact with Load-san." Sensei said, and his words caused Yori's focus to snap back to her teacher. "It seems my fears are confirmed. There is physical footage of Stoppable-san's defeat of the space invaders from the summer. And it shows the might of the Mystical Monkey Powers in full use."
Yori's face paled a little at this news. Power was always such a volatile thing. If one person wasn't trying to get it, there was another person trying to steal it. The powers of Tai Shing Pek Kwar had remained under the radar of global powers for centuries. Yamanouchi was determined to keep it that way. This sort of power falling into the wrong hands was asking for disaster. This had already been seen by the likes of Monkey Fist. If a more competent, capable person got their hands on that power...
"We need to keep Stoppable-san within the school, for his own safety." Sensei concluded, breaking Yori from her thoughts. "And for the safety of the world. Load-san will continue to try to remove the records from online, but the damage may already be done. For now, the best we can do is prepare him here, and keep the outside-world out."
Yori bowed, accepting his words, but she couldn't keep a frown from playing across her face. Sensei noticed this and urged her to speak her mind. "Sensei, forgive me for asking but, is it wise to not inform Stoppable-san about this?" Yori knew the boy did not react well to being kept in the dark. To keep the powers of Tai Shing Pek Kwar safe from nefarious forces, it would be wise to have a cooperative Stoppable rather than an angry one.
The older man sighed, sharing her thoughts on his pupil's headstrong nature. "I agree, it is not my first choice to keep young Stoppable-san in the dark on this matter. I will tell him in time, but he is not ready. If he did learn of this, I am as worried that he would drop everything to be back on Team Possible. And we need this time to enhance his training so that he CAN face what is coming." One of the more difficult roles that the old man had to play was that of an experienced teacher with insight brought to him by age. He had to make choices that were not black and white. While it pained him to keep something this important from his pupil, he felt it was in Stoppable's best interest to.
The silence that followed told him that Yori did not share his opinion on this matter. While she would not openly admit to it, her unhappiness with the plan was clear. She would not bring this up to Sensei however, as she grudgingly admitted that he had the experience and wisdom beyond her own years. This was why he was her Sensei, so she had to respect his decisions, even if she did not always agree with them in the moment.
To lighten her mood, the old man cast her a small, conspiratorial grin. "In the meantime, he will be very… preoccupied with training. I doubt there will be much time to think on anything else." The old master had no intentions on going easy on the school's newest student. In fact, he was sure that this was the time to hammer in anything and everything he could into the young man. They did not know how much time they had- and Sensei was not going to waste a second of it.
"Yes Sensei." Yori bowed as he dismissed her, not feeling entirely re-assured of the plan. Still, she could see the wisdom in the master's words. Stoppable-san had been distracted enough already. If more training was what Stoppable-san needed to stand up to this potential threat, it would make sense to keep his worrying to a minimum. They did not need any more Stoppable-shaped indents in the trees on campus.
She mused over these thoughts as she made her way to join Stoppable, who had piled his plate up as much as he could get away with and was waving to her to join him. She felt herself relax and found a genuine smile growing on her face. Despite all his complaining about missing food from back home, he seemed content with what was available here. At the very least, his goofy nature had returned. She had some semblance of reassurance in this as she joined him and his little friend Rufus. Perhaps Sensei was worried for nothing. Perhaps no one had seen the footage of Stoppable-san taking down the alien invaders. But there was no point in dwelling on what she wanted. Instead, she took a seat next to an enthusiastic Ron and joined in on his levity, pushing her worries away to a corner of her mind. She could worry tomorrow. Right now, she let herself enjoy a meal with one of her closest friends.
EDIT: A big thank-you to Mindless Violence Fan for their feedback on this story! I re-worked some parts of it to better fit some characterizations and to display more intent from Sensei. There you have it! A short introduction to some of the main characters- I hope I did them justice. What will happen if information about Ron's powers fall into the wrong hands? How is Kim handling missions on her own now? And will Ron ever stop walking into trees? Find out in the next chapter!