CHAPTER 7
Workout

I was up before any of them, doing a build workout on the treadmill. The speed of it was still pretty moderate when Jax stepped in, sporting athletic clothing and a yawn. He gave me a groggy glance and shook his head slowly. "What time did you get up?"

"Uh, probably around 6:15."

Jax shook his head harder. "You are such a nut case."

I smiled. "At least you beat Beck."

"Well, he was up late yesterday."

My smile dissolved. "Yeah, I know."

Jax wasn't awake enough to catch my dark tone. He just nodded slightly and went into the dim room with the mats for sparring. I heard him yawn loudly again before I heard his feet pad onto the mat. Then I heard his feet making regular thuds. Jumping jacks, I guessed.

A couple minutes later, Jax was out of the mat room and back into the weight room where he turned on the treadmill next to me, programming it to the same build workout. Mine was already on a small jog when he started walking on his.

"Man, that race yesterday between Satomi and Sledge Mamma was brutal," he commented.

"Yeah, I know."

"I don't know what possessed Sledge Mamma to suck so bad."

"Especially considering they are such big rivals."

"Yeah," Jax agreed, his voice trailing off as his treadmill increased its speed a little. "Do me a favor, Lotus, and hit me if I ever race like that, all right?"

"Will do," I said with a small laugh. "But you have to do the same for me."

"All right, it's a deal," Jax said.

We exercised in silence for a while. My treadmill had advanced to a solid run when Beckem stepped into the room, blinking. I looked down immediately at my treadmill's digital screen, telling me that I had one more level before I was on a sprint. Jax greeted Beckem from beside me.

"Hey, dude. Glad to see you. Get enough sleep?"

"Yeah, I guess," he said, his voice quiet and unsure. After a while of silence, I looked up and saw that Beckem hadn't moved. He was just standing there, looking at me. I gave him a small smile and then turned back to my treadmill.

Jax seemed to notice something was wrong. He piped up with, "Well, aren't you going to go and do some stretches before you start?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going." Beckem's footsteps receded as he walked away.

"Are you being your regular self or did something happen when I was asleep?" Jax asked me the minute Beckem was out of earshot.

"Both," I said simply. I could see Jax frown at me out of the corner of my eye.

We didn't really talk throughout our whole workout session. This wasn't unusual though. We liked to zone off into our own worlds when we were exercising. It also helped us concentrate. I focused more on my own body when we were quiet. The only break in the silence was when Addy stuck her head into the gym area, nodding at us when she spotted all three of us in here. Then she walked away and silence came back.

I was in the room with the mats and the walls that were mirrors when Jax announced that he'd finished his exercise for today. Both Beckem and I called out goodbye to him before returning back to our training. I dropped down onto the blue mats to do a little stretching before I went over to the rack holding a variety of bokuto and shinai swords. I picked up my regular bokuto sword, a wooden one, and traveled back to the center of the mirrored wall in front of me. The mat's plastic felt cool on my bare feet. I took a few deep breaths before I stepped forward and delivered a precise strike downward, so starting the basic first kata learned in kendo.

All three of us, Jax, Beckem, and I, had taken a kendo class while we were training to be pilots in the lower leagues of the IGPX. Jax had dropped out after the first few session, claiming that "it was boring". But Beckem and I had stayed resolutely, intrigued by the idea. And so we had moved up in the levels, becoming quite good before we stopped and focused all our energy on perfecting our racing. Now it was just an exercise tool, to keep our fighting instincts and technique sharp off the track. Because that, claimed Addy, was the key to keeping our fighting instincts and technique sharp on the track.

And after all this time, I still remembered. I drilled through all the katas I had learned every time I stepped foot in our mini-gym. It was routine for me.

I was in the middle of my third when Beckem stepped into the room. I stopped for a second, watching as he went over to the rack without looking at me. Then I continued, watching my form closely in the mirror. Well, that was my excuse. I was actually watching as Beckem selected his bokuto and hefted it in his hand before he started to walk toward me. I stepped to the side, turning to face front again. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Beckem watching me as I finished my third kata. When I started the fourth, he joined in, both of us moving in perfect unison and not talking.

All the while, I was thinking, well, this isn't awkward. NOT.

I had the fleeting wish that Jax was still in here with us. Sometimes he'd still pick up his wooden sword and do the most basic kata with us. Or he'd pick up his bamboo one and spar with us for a little while, just pretty much flailing around and trying to stay in the game before the other knocked his sword out of his grip. In any case, he made the atmosphere lighter.

Lighter than now.

We were in the middle of whatever number kata, I forgot, when Beckem just stopped. I continued, watching from the mirror as he went back to the rack and slid his bokuto in before taking his shinai sword out. "Lotus," he called. I turned and watched him slide out my shinai sword with his other hand. I transferred my bokuto sword into my left hand, knowing instinctively that he was going to throw the shinai to me.

I stepped forward and caught my shinai sword, gently throwing him back my bokuto. He caught it with ease, slipped it into the rack and then came forward onto the mat. I backed up to give him space, immediately settling down into a fighter's stance.

"Ready?" he asked me, one eyebrow cocked in question. I nodded.

"Let's go."

Even though we had just given each other the go ahead, we still just stood there for a moment, calculating the other. Then we both stepped forward and our swords clashed with a loud clack.

We moved all around the mat, trying not to step out onto the hardwood floor, always pushing the other back when we got too close. Our spars were always intense and quiet, the only sounds coming from our breathing, our feet sliding on the mat, and our swords coming together. We were always totally focused into the fight, not paying attention to anything else that might have been going on.

Finally, at one point, he struck out at me and I bent over, ducking from his blow. I swung my sword at his sword powerfully, only to find him able to meet it stiffly, not giving way. Then we continued on, dancing around each other.

Finally, his opening came. He managed to get behind me and reached out to grab the arm that held my sword with his hand. I spun away from his sword arm as far as I could but he wouldn't let go. Beckem was good at that, suddenly getting behind you when you weren't paying attention…even if you thought you had been paying attention.

We both were sweating and breathing pretty hard. Finally, I built up enough courage to look him in the face. He was frowning as he stared at my sword's point. Then he finally said, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" I asked quietly.

"Everything," he responded, meeting my gaze. "I don't know what's happening to me."

I let my sword drop, a sign that I was giving up. It made a dull thud on the mat, interrupting the silence. Beckem was still holding onto me.

"Don't worry about it," I finally told him. "Fame and glory changes everyone."

"You know it's not that," he said, killing my attempt at being lighthearted about it. "Although I can pretend that's it if you want." He dropped my arm and I bent to pick up my shaft of bamboo. Both of us went over to the rack to slide them back into their places.

"Then what is it?" I asked him.

"I can't tell you. Sorry," he said, before he walked out of the room, leaving me standing and watching the dust particles swirl in the air by myself.

---------------------------------------------------------

A/N: This is a more important filler chapter.