Waking early, Kazuya roused Jun and the two headed for the training center that had been reserved for the fighters to practice in. Joking that she was getting good at karate, Kazuya suggested that Jun practice as well, and she had come dressed accordingly. Entering the large gymnasium, despite the fact that they had made it a point to come early, there were already many fighters practicing. Some exercised with partners, others warmed up alone. "Come on, Jun. Let's see if you can beat me," Kazuya challenged playfully.

Shooting him a dubious look, Jun replied, "I can tell you right now what the result of this match is going to be."

"Yeah, yeah," he grinned, but in truth, Jun was actually quite good. Though it was atypical for people to become proficient at martial arts in adulthood, Jun appeared to have a natural aptitude for karate. If she continued at this rate, in five or ten years she might be able to compete herself, but not wanting to give her a big head, he kept this knowledge to himself.

"Oi, ohaiyo!" a cheery voice called.

Both turned to see Lei walking towards them, wearing Kung Fu training gear. Immediately, Kazuya's good humor vanished and Jun could already see the clouds gathering above his brows as Lei neared them. "Kazuya, please be civil," she pleaded out of the corner of her mouth.

Strolling up to them he smiled in greeting. "Have both of you entered the competition?

This one again. You see? He came to see her, and she tells you to be civil.

"No, she has not," Kazuya replied gruffly.

Somewhat taken aback by his curt manner, Lei's smile disappeared. Sounding apologetic, he asked, "Have I done something to offend you, my friend?"

Look at him, trying to ingratiate himself with you in order to prevent suspicion. Do not fall for it. He obviously has ulterior motives.

"I am not your friend, and you'll do me the favor of staying away from my girlfriend." He was about to walk away with Jun when Lei put his hand on his arm.

"Listen, I didn't – "

Will you let him put his hands on you? Put him in his place before he takes the initiative first.

Lei never got a chance to finish his sentence as Kazuya snapped around and felled him to the ground with a sharp hip throw. "Keep your hands off me unless we happen to meet in the ring," he warned him.

"Kazuya! Stop it!" Jun shouted.

Some of the gym staff members ran to Lei's side. "Hey man, no aggressive fighting in here, you understand? This is for practice only. One more stunt like that and we'll have you disqualified before you even start the competition." They helped Lei to his feet.

Still glowering at Lei, Kazuya acidly said, "I apologize," and grabbing Jun, walked to the opposite side of the gym.

"Kazuya, really!" She glared at him in exasperation.

Wrapping tape around his knuckles, Kazuya didn't look up. "He had no business touching me," he rationalized.

Throwing her hands up in the air, she told him, "This is becoming ridiculous!" Pausing with his tape, he looked at her suspiciously.

You see? She sides with that other man. You say she cares about you, yet she plainly doesn't care about your feelings. She is on that stranger's side because she wants him. She thinks you're a fool.

"You think I'm ridiculous?" he accused.

"Your behavior is a little ridiculous, yes." She was facing him with her hands on her hips, wearing an annoyed expression.

She is angry with you! And she just confirmed that you are embarrassing her with your behavior.

"Do I embarrass you, Jun?" he asked in a flat tone.

The ominous look that scared her began to spread across his face and she realized that right now was not the best time to be honest with him. "No, of course not," she said hastily.

Liar.

"You're lying to me!" He angrily threw his tape down and clenched his fists. His voice was so loud that everyone stopped what they were doing in order to look in his direction.

"Yo, is there a problem?" One of the employees looked at him warily.

"No, no problem," he said, forcing himself to calm down.

Send her away. Be apart from her for a while. Save yourself the aggravation.

Kazuya set his jaw. "Jun, why don't you go back to the hotel? I'll meet you there in a few hours."

Not wanting to start another incident, Jun simply nodded and made her way to the exit. As inconspicuously as she could, she shot an apologetic look at Lei whose eyes told her that he understood. She could only hope that once the competition was over that Kazuya would return to his usual self.

A week later, the stands of Madison Square Garden were packed with spectators who were looking forward to a martial arts frenzy. Some were obvious fans, sporting costumes or makeup in cosplay of their idols. Others who had no idea who was competing appeared just as enthusiastic. Not wanting him to be distracted by her, Jun had made it a point to be somewhat reserved around strangers all week, not speaking to anyone. Even when Lei approached her before the tournament, she avoided making contact with him. "Come on, Kazuya," she encouraged under her breath.

The tournament was done in a round-robin style, and fighters of all sizes and martial arts disciplines began the climb to the title and cash prize. The first few rounds flew by and Kazuya was fast becoming an obvious favorite. The other leading contender was none other than Lei. As each round progressed, it became more and more evident that it would be Kazuya and Lei who would face off in the final fight.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention please!" the announcer's voice declared "We're now down to the semi-final rounds and it's anyone's guess which of these four amazing finalists will earn this title. The first fight will be Lei Wu Long versus Hong Fu and the second will be Mitsuhara Kazuya and Marshall Law." The first match was close, but apparently being younger and possessing more stamina gave Lei the edge over the Hong Kong cop and he finally knocked him out with a spinning kick. Kazuya's opponent was a younger Chinese man who bore a striking resemblance to Bruce Lee and even mimicked his fighting style.

As they prepared to begin, Marshall leaned in and snidely said, "So I heard you weren't able to beat my friend Paul." Kazuya's face barely registered any emotion but inwardly, he was preparing to destroy the arrogant man. "Cat got your tongue? No matter. Looks like it's going to be two Chinese fighters in the end anyway. Whattah!" He began posturing to goad Kazuya even further. At the sound of the bell, the two men hurled themselves at each other. Marshall got in a few backflip kicks in but upon landing, Kazuya slammed his fist down on his shoulder, knocking him down. Stunned, he got back on his feet and put his hands up. Letting out a kung fu howl, he charged Kazuya again and was about to deliver a series of punches when Kazuya grabbed him by the shoulder and smashed his forehead into Marshall's skull.

When he collapsed unconscious to the ground, the referee motioned for a time out while the tournament doctors examined him for concussion. Alternately opening each eye and shining a flashlight into his pupils, the performed a cursory neurological evaluation and spoke into the referee's ear. Walking out of a the ring, a moment later the emcee's voice blared over the sound system, "Ladies and gentlemen! Due to medical necessity, Marshall Law will not be allowed to continue this fight, therefore the winner of this round by TKO is Mitsuhara Kazuya!"

Law fans booed in disgust, but the rest of the crowd went wild, cheering on the teenage ingenue. As they entered the ring for the last round, Kazuya smiled at Lei, who felt a chill cut through him. The smile was devoid of any sort of sportsmanship and it gave him the distinct impression that Kazuya was looking forward to causing him pain. The two bowed to each other and waited for the bell to signal the start of the fight. Not sure what would happen, Jun had to remind herself to breathe as she waited to see who would be the victor.

"Fight!"

Snarling, Kazuya lunged at Lei who missed getting a vicious punch to the face by about a half centimeter. Without stopping, he continued to fire punches and kicks at the beleaguered Lei who was trying his best to deflect his attacks. There's no way that he can keep up this pace, Lei thought as he blocked the seemingly endless barrage of blows. Incredibly, Kazuya seemed to gather more and more momentum as he fought. Unable to take any offensive action, Lei finally lapsed in maintaining his guard and seeing the opening, Kazuya jumped at the opportunity and delivered a double-sided face kick to Lei, knocking him to the ground. About to finish him off, he was stopped by the referee, who again waved over the doctors to assess Lei. Though his face was somewhat bruised, there was no serious damage done and he apparently was only dazed by the blow.

"The winner and champion of this mixed martial arts tournament by TKO is Mitsuhara Kazuya!" The referee held Kazuya's arm in the air as the onlookers cheered.

Jumping to her feet, Jun joined the audience in their exuberant applause, but halted when she saw that something seemed to be wrong with Kazuya. As the announcer continued to speak, he grabbed his head and fell to his knees.

It felt like two spikes were being driven into his brain and holding his head, he screamed in pain.

It is time. Behold the new form that I bequeath to you.

"What's happening to me?" he cried in Japanese. Falling down on all fours, he saw that the skin on his forearms was turning a dusky shade of purple. "What the – ". Before he could finish, black claws sprang from his nail beds sending electric shards of pain down his fingers. A sudden tearing pain in his back caused him to arch backwards and he felt something ripping through his skin as a set of enormous black wings grew out of his shoulder blades. Now panicking in earnest, he thought there was no way for the situation to become any more alarming when the same searing pain he felt when the episode first began tore across his temples. Clamping his hands to the sides of his head, he was horrified to feel horns underneath his fingers. The sound of the crowd murmuring in amazement did little to drown out the sounds of his agony and when the doctors attempted to approach him, he savagely threw them off to the side. Running down the stands to see what was wrong, Jun dropped to his side and looked into his eyes. "Jun," he begged. "Tasukete!"

"Somebody call an ambulance!" a voice barked.


oi: hey

ohaiyo: good morning

tasukete: help me