Lesson 4: Teamwork

It's been three weeks since my fight with Q. A lot has changed since then. Fei Long has moved in with us. He's been a great edition to the family. He taught me everything I needed to know. I'm finally able to fully control that dark energy of mine.

"It seems like I can teach you two a new lesson eventually, but for now we will kick back." Juri stated.

"My journey to becoming a master fighter is on the line. I can't just kick back." Makoto responded. She violently pointed her finger at Juri.

"Calm down, Makoto. Relaxing is reasonable with your condition. When was the last time you relaxed?" Fei asked.

"Besides, it's what Ibuki would have said." Juri stated again.

That's right. Ibuki never returned since then. It's not a surprise that she left after I decided to take on this quest.

"Fine. What do you say we get some of that tea you made the other night?" Makoto asked with excitement.

Juri's blend of tea always had the taste on point; never too bitter and never to sweet.

"Sure, whatever." Juri said as she walked off into the house. I decided to use this chance to talk to Fei Long.

"Do you really think my training is futile, Long?" Makoto asked with all seriousness.

"It depends on if you really believe that my life is all a big act or not." He responded in the same tone.

Unlike three weeks ago, Fei Long and I haven't been getting along well. He believes that my skills will never grow. I've trained with him day and night, but he still has no faith in my abilities. Sometimes I wonder why I can't just kick him out of our house.

"In that case, I'll challenge you to see how real your fighting skills are!" Makoto shouted and she pointed her index finger in his direction.

"All you'd do is go into that demonic form and rage and lose like always. Don't kid yourself." Fei stated. He began to walk away from her, but she grabs his wrist.

"You can't walk away from a challenge! In this house, it's considered the loser's way out!" Makoto told him. She attempted to pull him back, but Fei elbowed her in the mouth, knocking her down. She wiped the blood that was dripping from her mouth as she looked up at Fei. He was angry.

"Are you two having any fun yet?" They both looked towards the door and saw that it was Juri. She was angered by their actions and decided to address them. "This type of behavior was expected." She added.

"What do you mean 'Expected?!'" Makoto shouted with anger.

"Do you two even remember how you were put into this predicament?" She asked. Both Makoto and Fei stared into the ground. After a quick 17 seconds, they finally realized what happened.

"I feel foolish. Falling to something I've tried to bring you out of." Fei responded.

"Now that you mention it, weren't we supposed to be having a training lesson on working together the same week the feud started?" Makoto asked. They both looked directly towards Juri.

"Before that little 'incident' that occurred weeks ago, you were tasked with completing one training exercise per week. When was the last time we had a new training exercise?" Juri questioned. "You trained with Fei for so long that you've forgotten to even request the next exercise."

"You never did have any intention of helping her. You were trying to destroy our trust." Fei stated.

"I wanted you both to come to an agreement. Either you two were going to settle your differences or one of you was leaving. I estimated that the training would be over in a week." Juri stated.

"You did a horrible job at that." Makoto responded.

"It's not like you two were going to kill each other." Juri responded in defense. At that moment, Makoto stood up with an angered expression on her face.

"I would've done it!" Makoto roared. Juri had a rather shocked expression on her face.

"Are you serious child? So my theory was correct." Juri pointed her index finger violently at Makoto. "You lost sight of your training because you were busy trying to kill Fei Long." She deduced.

"I covered this up by using that demonic form. If you never would've told me you lied, I would've…" Makoto was lost for words. Suddenly, she began to hear laughter.

"Is that really what you think of me? A liar? Hahahahahaha!" Juri's laugh disgusted Fei Long. "I never lied to you. Everything I said to you came straight from the horse's mouth. It's the things I told him that were a lie. I would never lie to you Makoto. Hahahahahaha!"

"Enough!" Fei shouted.

"Is there anything you want to share with me, Mr. Long?"

"You say you never lied to Makoto, but I have proof of this." Fei stated. He began to slightly smile as he pointed to his mind. "Be ready, because this will be one long sob story Makoto." Fei then sat next to Makoto as he focused his attention to Juri.

"This should be interesting." Juri slightly grinned as she focused on Fei Long.

"The first lie you told was that you were a nurse." Fei stated. "As a matter of fact, you are one of the most wanted criminals in the Interpol database." He added. Makoto looked at Juri in shock.

"Don't act like you didn't know about my criminal record. We fought once before. This is nothing new." Juri said.

"I fought you, but I didn't know you were a criminal." Makoto stated. "That's besides the point, I want to know about this false doctor business."

"I am a doctor, so to speak. I found you half-dead after your battle with Akuma. I brought you back to full recovery." She responded.

"Did you mention that you did this by installing a newer model of the Feng Shui engine inside her?" Fei detailed. Makoto began to touch both of her eyeballs, but painfully realized they were hers.

"Don't worry. It's not inside you anymore. Your heart was connected to it, but it shut off the day you woke up." Juri said regretfully.

"It shut off, but it can still be activated at any time, which is part of the reason for Makoto's demonic energy." Fei discovered.

"So it's your doing after all huh Juri?" Makoto said in short breathes.

"Another lie is that you were just watching her defeat that guy Q. Yeah, I know his name. He's a major fugitive just like you." Fei pointed out. "I was tasked on finding you, but I was attacked by him instead. I see that him fighting me wasn't your intention seeing that you didn't know about this."

"You were just an Interpol agent living under my nose this whole time?!" Juri asked furiously.

"You have no room to talk, fugitive." Makoto responded.

"There is one and only one lie to reveal left. This is the hardest of all truths." Fei Explained.

"I'm prepared to hear it." Makoto stated.

I don't know what happened to me. Between then and when I just woke up, I forgot everything that happened.

"What time is it?" Makoto asked herself. She looked around the house to find Juri and Fei. However, she discovered no one was there. Suddenly, Fei entered the front door holding a 'ying-yang' style medallion.

"This is all she left last night. I should've known she'd do something like this." Fei stated.

"What happened to her?" Makoto asked.

"Are you serious? We exposed her and told her she lost our trust in her. You were especially harsh on her." Fei explained.

"I don't know why, but I can't remember any of that." Makoto explained.

"Regardless, let's just forget about it." He requested. Fei began to walk pass Makoto. However, he seen her tears.

"I knew it wasn't a dream. I can't believe her." She cried.

"It's no time to become depressed about the situation. We must leave here before she does something drastic." Fei began to prepare packing his clothers. Makoto, however, rose to her feet and rushed to the door.

"Don't leave before I come back, Fei!" Makoto shouted on her way to the door. Fei chased after her.

"Where are you going?!" he asked.

As I opened the door, an unexpected scene appeared before my eyes. Standing 20 yards from my front door was a large man with a thick mustache and boxing gloves. Beside him, there was a woman dressed in Kunoichi attire restrained by a thick rope. After some focus, I recognized that it was Ibuki.

End of Chapter 4

(Upcoming-Lesson 5: Mentorship)