Ashley

Ashley kicked Allie for the 3rd time in a row. Since they were training outside and at their own dojo, she barely held back and sent Allie flying into the wall that outlined the dojo grounds. Smoke came up from the place where she landed.

"That's the end of round 3! Sorry Allie, but Ashley wins this sparring match again," their karate master said, raising Ashley's hand in victory. Allie stumbled up and spit out some blood. She glared up at Ashley in a friendly way.

"I'll get you next time," she whispered. Ashley smirked.

"Don't you say that every time?" Ashley asked, laughing. Allie joined in too, clutching her side. It was only when Allie coughed did Ashley realized she went a little too rough on her. "Oops, sorry Al. Let's get you healed up." Allie nodded and Ashley helped Allie get to their jujitsu master's room. They knocked on the door and he answered. He took one look at the both of them.

"Sparring?" It was more of a statement than a question, but they nodded anyway. He sighed and helped Allie get into the infirmary that was his room. They hoisted her onto the chair and he examined her. After a minute he sighed and sat down on his knees, shaking his head.

"What? Why are you shaking your head?" Ashley asked.

"I know how to heal most of her injuries; however I do not know how to fix a broken bone. We'll fix most of you up right now, then I'll have to take you to a colleague of mine. I'm pretty sure you've met him," he said. Ashley and Allie nodded.

"Let me guess, Akisame?" Ashley guessed. He nodded.

"Yeah." So he fixed Allie up like he said he would. Then he and Ashley put Allie on his back and carried her all the way to Akisame's clinic. When they got there Akisame was already at his clinic so he dropped her off there.

"I'm going to leave you here with her. While you're at it, why don't you check and see how Haley is doing?" their master suggested. Ashley nodded.

"Yeah, I'll do that. I just hope he hasn't beaten her to a pulp yet," Ashley said. They both laughed and then parted ways. Ashley went into the dojo and saw Haley punching mitts that Sakaki was wearing. She also noticed that Haley's shins were covered with blood. She also had a few bruises on her face. Ashley guessed that she fell on her face a few times. At least, that better be the reason she has those bruises. Ashley sighed.

"Hey! Ashley! What are you doing here?" Kenichi yelled. Ashley turned to see Kenichi sitting on the edge of the walkway, watching Haley and Sakaki. She walked over to him and sat down beside him. For some reason, she just felt comfortable with him.

"Well, Allie and I were having a sparring match and things got out of hand," she said. Kenichi's eyebrows shot up.

"What? What happened? Are you two okay?" he asked, concern flooding his voice. Ashley laughed.

"Yes, yes. Well, I'm fine at least. Allie could barely hit me. She however, has a broken bone or two," Ashley said, laughing nervously and rubbing the back of her neck.

"Really? Wow, that must have been some sparring session!" he said. They both laughed.

"What's so funny?" a voice from behind asked. They turned around to see Takeda standing there, smiling down at them. Ashley felt his smile was more directed at her for some reason, and it caused a small blush to form on her cheeks. However, she quickly hid it by looking back at Haley's training.

"Um, just how bad Allie is at sparring with me," Ashley said. Takeda laughed and he sat next to her.

"Is that so? So, um… what do you like to do?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"What-what do you like to do?" Takeda repeated.

"Oh, um, I like to dance, sing, practice martial arts, stuff like that," Ashley said. Takeda nodded.

"That's cool. So, do you go to a school for dancing or something?" Ashley nodded.

"Yeah, it's supposed to be a boarding school but somehow I'm able to live at the dojo and get a ride to the school every morning," Ashley said.

"Wow. So, what kind of dance do you like to do?"

"Mainly hip hop," she said. He nodded. "What about you?" He looked at her puzzled.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you dance?" she asked. Kenichi started to laugh beside her and Ashley looked at him with a puzzled look. Takeda glared at Kenichi while Ashley wasn't looking.

"Um, no. I don't really dance. I'm more into boxing and fighting," Takeda said. Ashley looked back at him and nodded.

"I see. So, how is your arm doing?" she asked. Takeda held out his left arm and looked at it.

"It's doing pretty good. Doc Akisame said that it should be good as new in about a week," he said. Ashley nodded.

"That's awesome!" she said.

"Yeah. So um, do you guys do concerts or something?" Takeda asked. Ashley blinked twice, completely forgetting that she mentioned she danced and sang.

"Huh?"

"You know, for your dancing stuff," Takeda said. Ashley mouthed 'oh'.

"Yeah, we do. In fact, we have a concert coming up next week. If you guys wanna come I can give you the time and place," Ashley said. Takeda nodded.

"That'd be really cool!" Takeda said.

"Don't forget me too! Oh, and I'll ask the masters to see if they would like to come!" Kenichi said. He stood up and ran inside the dojo, leaving Ashley and Takeda alone. "So, um…what's new?" Ashley asked, trying to think of something to say to fill the silence.

"Um, not much. You?"

"Not much," she replied. They both sighed and watched Haley train again. She missed the mitt several times and wound up on her face every time.

"Um, your friend isn't too good at this stuff, is she?" Takeda asked, wincing as Haley fell down on her face again. Ashley sighed.

"No, no she isn't. "