CHERUB

CHERUB

Fitting in.

Chapter 3

We walked towards a Japanese-style building.

"Do you know what this is Allyssia?"

"It's a dojo." I said, slightly bored. Mac frowned slightly, but lead the way inside. We passed next to a room full of kids practising, supervised by a scrict looking Japanese woman who was shouting at them in a mixture of Japanese and English. I managed to understand some of it, but most was too fast for me to comprehend.

Mac continued through the room towards a smaller one, that I guessed was used for one on one sparring. There was a rather skinny boy there, testing out some high kicks. He looked up as we entered the room, and nodded to me.

"Hey!" He said, walking over.

"Bruce, this is Allyssia, the assassin's daughter. Allyssia, this is Bruce. Your first task is to fight him. There will be five bouts, but you may submit and try again." I nodded and took off my cloak and sword harness, glaring slightly at Mac. I hated being associated to the Assassin Lord that happened to be my father.

We both squared up to each other, observing each other. Don't get over-confident. I though to myself, He may be really skinny, but so are you, and you hide a lot of strength.

"Begin." Said Mac, and Bruce leapt forwards faster than I had anticipated, and only just had time to back flip out of the way before his fist collided with my head. Dropping into a low fighting position, I watched the boy carefully. He darted forwards afain, managing to get behind me again before I realised what was going on. I felt his fist collide with the back of my head, and I fell to the ground. I leapt back to my feet again, only to be sent sprawling on the ground once again. I felt him take hold of my arm, and tried to twist out of the way. There was a sharp crack, and I bit back a scream as a bolt of pain shot up my arm.

"Submit!" I said, rolling away and standing up again, slightly shakily.

"Do you want to continue?" Asked Mac. I nodded my head, squaring up to Bruce for a second time.

"Begin."

Bruce darted forwards again, and this time, I was ready. I leapt up into the air, and flipped over the boy's head. Landing lightly, I turned sharply to face him once more. He reacted quickly, aiming a flying kick for my head. I ducked, before grabbing his foot, making him fall flat on his face. He sprang up again as if nothing had happened. A quick glance upwards gave me a slight hope. There were rafters there! I ran towards the wall, building up enough momentum to be able to use the wall to flip onto the rafters. I crouched there, watching Bruce as he glared up at me. Giving a small smile, I dropped down to the floor again, before aiming my own punch at him. He boredly batted my fist aside, and launched his own, hitting my left temple. I fell to the side, white lights popping before my eyes. What would an assassin do? I thought desperately, trying to ignore the pain that had taken up residence in my head, before the answer came to me. I stood up again, and aimed a kick for his head. He, predictable, grabbed my foot. I smiled again, and used his grip to bring my own foot round, kicking him in the head, sending him sprawling onto the floor. He, yet again, sprang back up. I growled slightly. Won't this guy ever give up?! I thought to myself. He aimed a kick at my head, and I didn't see this coming. I brought one arm up, in an attempt to stop his foot from making contact with my head. It glanced off my block, but hit my shoulder hard. There was a sickening snap and I felt my collarbone break.

"Submit!" I said, backing away, holding my shoulder protectively.

"Do you want to continue?" Asked Mac. I shook my head. Bruce walked over to me.

"Here, I'll put your elbow back in place." He said gently, taking my arm. I stepped back quickly.

"It's ok, I can do it." I replied, rotating the dislocated bone until I heard the crunch, and felt the bolt of pain that told me that the joint was back where it was supposed to be.

"Well, em… Good fight," Bruce said, holding out his hand. I gingerly shook his hand, bowing my head. I turned away, picking up my cloak and the harness. After a few modifications, I managed to strap my arm up behind my back, immobilising it, and clipped the cloak around my shoulders again.

Mac nodded to me, and left the dojo, with me following. He walked to a low stone building, and then into a room full of desks and chairs. Indicating for me to sit down, he gave me a small stack of papers and a pen.

"Mathematics and English papers," He explained. "Do as much as you can. You have forty-five minutes, starting now." I sighed, picking up the pen and thinking about the first question.