Akari

The next time I saw Dre was at lunch. He was struggling to collect food into his bowl with chopsticks.

"Hi!" I said as he looked up at me, relieved.

"Hey," he responded. He looked a lot happier to see me than when he did earlier.

"You know," I said as I went around him to be next to him, "you only wear uniforms on Uniform Day."

"Oh yeah, I still got that one," I laughed.

I smiled as I used my chopsticks to get him the noodles he couldn't get, "Thanks."

"So," I started as I handed my tray to the lunch woman, "I guess it was you in that fight, huh?"

"Yeah," he said as he put his tray next to mine, earning him his serving of food.

"If I had known it was you, I would have come to help," I said as I took my tray back, now with food filling the spaces.

"Thanks."

I nodded as I headed towards my usual table, where Cheng was saving me a seat, "I have to go."

"See ya around," he said as he made his way around tables, searching for a seat.

I sat down with my tray and surprised Cheng with a kiss on the cheek. He smiled, "Nǐi zài zhèlǐi. Nǐi láide zhèng shì shíhou." There you are. You're just in time.

I looked at him oddly as Liang spoke, "Běn cì bǐisài." The tournament.

I nodded, "Wǒmen yīzhí zài xùnliàn tài xīnkǔu shīqù." We've trained too hard to lose.

"Wǒmen bù dǎasuàn shīqù." We don't plan on losing.

I smirked as I started to eat my noodles.

Next Day

Cheng

Akari had come over to my house this time so we could go to the dojo together after school.

"Do you think we'll discuss the tournament today?" she asked me as we walked past the lower class practicing their kung fu.

"I don't know, maybe."

She turned my face and kissed me briefly before we walked into the dojo. I smiled as she went to go change into her robes. I went to change too and Master Li had us in our usual rows to practice.

We did the usual stances when Master Li yelled for us to stop and we had to say the motto, "Méiyǒu ruòdiǎn, méiyǒu tòngkǔ, méiyǒn liánmǐn!"

We bowed, but I looked up at the sound of the door opening slightly. I smirked at what I saw.

Dre

This is so cool! A master dojo for Kung Fu!

I looked around the class, seeing boys with black robes with white stripes and black belts. Among them I saw one of them had red highlights.

Akari. She was the only girl there.

I kept looking and my eyes made contact with none other than...

Cheng.

Akari

After an hour and a half of training, we finally took the last few minutes of class to discuss the tournament.

(A/N: I'll skip this part of Chinese and use English, 'cause it's long) "Now, I must choose only a few of you to represent the Fighting Dragons in the tournament this year."

Liang and I smirked at each other, "These students have shown me that there are no better here. Those people are Cheng, Liang, Zhuang, Akari-"

I zoned out for the rest of the names. I had been chosen!

Me

The only girl in this entire dojo was picked to go against other boys our age for the trophy. Cheng and I smiled at each other, "Bóhuí!" Dismissed!

We went to go change back into our clothes and Cheng met me outside, "Congrats."

"I couldn't have done it without you," I said as we walked towards my house.

"No, that was all you. You have the spirit to fight in you. That's what got you into your place."

I smiled and hugged him from behind, "Thank you." I looked into his face, "Let's win a trophy."

Next Day

We were at a palace on Uniform Day, so everyone could see that we were in a group.

I saw Dre standing by the golden wall of knobs. I walked over to him as he studied them.

"We touch them for good luck," I said as he looked at me. I placed his hand on one of them, but he began to touch every one of them that was in his reach.

I laughed as he looked at me again, but this time he looked behind me. I followed his eyes to Cheng, who was narrowing his eyes at him.

"You know Cheng?" I asked.

He looked at me in shock, "Yeah."

"Are you good friends?"

"Not really. Look, I gotta go," he said as he quickly followed behind the group of students.

I looked after him as I walked towards the class as well. Cheng put his arm around my shoulders as he and Dre glared at each other.

"You know Dre?" I asked.

Cheng's eyes snapped to mine, "Yeah, I met him at the park."

I smiled, "Cool. You two are friends?"

"Not exactly," I looked at him suspiciously, "we don't talk to each other much."

I nodded understandingly as we continued to follow the guide through the palace. I looked at the different arts around the place while Cheng's eyes stayed alert.

We walked throughout the palace with the guide, who continued to talk...and talk...and talk.

"The floors of the palace were reinforced to.."

I continued to walk without listening, barely catching what Cheng said, "...on free time?"

I looked at him confused, "Huh?"

He laughed, "Do you guys want to go somewhere else on free time?"

All of his friends nodded in agreement and I shrugged, "Sure, anything to get me away from this tourist."

When our teacher released us for free wandering, Cheng led us towards the large pond with small, flat rocks.

Ms. Po watched us in delight, "Those are the balance stones."

"What do they do?"

"They lead you through the water. How far you go without falling in will decide your future with the one you love."

Cheng and I smiled at each other, "If you can make it there and back without slipping, your future will be very bright."

"Can you get back on the stones?" Cheng asked.

"Of course," Ms. Po said as she studied them, "when you fall in, it means that you have done something wrong; same for the person you love."

I grabbed Cheng's hand and smiled, "Let's try it!"

"It's probably just a myth," he said it so nonchalantly, it kind of hurt. I guess it showed because he quickly changed his answer, "but if you want to, we can."

Cheng stood on one of the stones and struggled to stand up while I stood perfectly still on my path. The entire class' attention turned to us as we walked down the path, side-by-side.

"Cheng? Are you okay?" I asked, he was close to falling of one of the stones, so I grabbed his hand quickly and pulled him back up.

"Perfect," he mumbled.

I continued to glide my way through the path when I heard a large splash.

thanks for reading chapter 2! plz review