As time passed the Snake gang started to get bold once more, since they got new members and grew in size since them. Now it wasn't that rare to see the people on the streets being harassed or the gang having meetings on the front of convenience stores, even a single instance of oyaji-gari being reported on the local news, though nothing to indicate that it was actually the Snake gang itself. There were genuine reasons for Honoka's hometown to have a gang problem, but since the matter went back to economics she didn't take much interest into it.

That meant Kenichi would be in trouble soon, if the previous trend of his continues. With that in mind Honoka dragged him into more Southern Yard Play training. If anything, he will learn how to dodge.

~~O~~

Kanten Wu finished to tie the rope a little bit above his knees, high enough to provide a challenge, not high enough to cause injuries. Since there were mats on the ground the risk of injury was also lower.

"The key to this is balance", said the teacher, "in order to remain upright you need to pay close attention to your footing and your midsection which will provide with stability. If the rope swings from left to right it means your footing isn't firm enough."

Honoka, Sakura and later Hinata took to this exercise like a fish to the water, learning how to slowly walk on the rope on the first day and learning how to walk quickly on it as the days passed. It didn't help that the three of them trained more on this skill outside the allowed meeting time, but even so Kenichi managed to slowly walk the full length of the rope eventually.

"Honoka! I did it!"

"You did it oniichan!" Said his sister happy for her older brother.

"It was quite quick too", remarked Kanten Wu at the younger boy, "usually it takes months to walk all the way of the rope if you train only so much like you do."

Kenichi blushed at the praise, scratching his head and laughing, before he turned his face to the side and saw Sakura doing flips on the rope, then Hinata walking graciously from one end to another as if she was on solid ground and finally his little sister even taking a run from one end to another, even if she fell down from time to time.

He looked back at the older man. "They're... special", Kanten Wu tried, "and I bet they train more on this than you do."

"I guess..." He said in a dejected tone, having lost some of his sense of accomplishment once he remembered the other three little girls got this exercise earlier than himself.

"Cheer up", said the teacher, "the other kids are still trying to get halfway there. You did good."

"Thanks Wu-san, I will keep training hard to become as good as my sister."

"That's all I ask for you to do. You might want to try it on your own home. Just tie the rope on two posts and walk it's lenght."

"Hmm, we do have a small backyards where he can try that. I will see if my father will allow me to set it up."

"Good, now join in back with your sister on the fun."

"Hai!"

~~O~~

"You know", Honoka said out of the blue, "it's strange. I mean, while both me and my friends got the hang of it first, Kenichi was the next one that managed to do it himself, but he was always bad at physical stuff since he was little. I wonder how that happened?"

"Bad? How so?" Asked her sunsengnim.

"Well, he never showed much talent with physical activities, like sports or anything like that, and he always got tired fast. I thought that it ran in the family having low stamina or dexterity, but as much as he complained at first he now keeps up with the training really easy. I wonder why that is."

"Oh, that's because he have a Yang-type body. I checked it the other day when he scrapped the knee on the ground."

"He has a what now?"

"Basically the Yang-type body is an inversion of what you had. Basically his body is geared to produce more ki than normal, but just having the high potential doesn't mean he can use it well or have the mental fortitude to keep at it. When untrained he can get tired as fast as any other person, but if pressed he can last for much longer than he have any right to last, standing strong when others would literally pass out from physical exhaustion."

"I didn't knew that", who knew that Honoka's brother could be so amazing? "I thought he also had physical problems."

"Not really, a Yang-body means he's the epitome of physical health, at least compared with others in similar situation as him. He's probably just lazy, and as someone without the proper training discipline he have certain mental blocks around his way of thinking."

Honoka nodded for a moment, taking it in. "By the way, your friend also have it, a stupidly rare 6-Yang body type, meaning she produces a lot of ki and will increase her physical abilities with minimal effort."

"Woah! She's amazing! I didn't knew that either! I'm a bit jealous that she have so much talent."

"You shouldn't. A cured Yin-type body is a very strong gift, even if yours was a mild case, and you also have the spirit medicine effects still chaging your body and making it stronger, something your friend doesn't have."

"Hmm, I guess you're right."

"Of course I am, now get back to work on your breathing techniques."

~~O~~

One day Honoka, Sakura and Hinata were eating her lunch when suddenly Sakura looked up from her food. "We're leaving the city", she said in an uncharacteristic somber tone, "at the end of the year. Father got a large promotion and will be reassigned to Tokyo."

"I-I'm l-leaving too", continued Hinata from her own side of the table, "w-we will b-be moving t-to the M-m-mie region."

They both looked at Honoka expecting her reaction, and she only blinked. "Huh, guess that's a thing." She said a little shaken by what she heard before shaking her head. "Well, we will need to have a send off party when the time comes! Don't worry though, I will organize everything! There will be your favorite food and games and stuff!"

Her two friends looked at each other, and Hinata was ready to say it wasn't needed, but at the look of determination on her friend's face she faltered, and just nodded. Sakura gave an even present grin, though this one didn't quite reach her eyes.

The mood worsened, Honoka didn't knew how her week could get worse, however she did forgot about one last departure that was quickly approaching, and her sunsengnim would quickly remind her of that fact.

Violently.