Hey guys! This chapter was pretty tough to write, but I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Beelzebub belongs to Ryuuhei Tamura, not me.

Chapter 6- The Kalari

I arrive at the Ishiyama Train Station this morning at 6:30 am, rolling my purple duffel bag and carrying my blue Hello Kitty messenger bag. Today, Furuichi and I are leaving for India. I see Furuichi, waiting by the entrance, holding a green duffel bag and a black backpack with him. "Good morning, Furuichi!" I greet.

He waves back at me. "Good morning, Mizushima-senpai," he greets. "You ready for this?"

I nod. "You bet I'm ready," I say. However, before we can enter the train station, we suddenly hear a familiar voice.

"Oi!" We turn and see Oga-san, Hilda-san, and Berubo. Oga has an annoyed look on his face. "What the hell are we supposed to do while you two are training in India?" he asks.

Furuichi thinks for a moment. "Got it!" he says. "Oga, both you and Hilda-san tell the others about the Asura attack, and try and convince them to fight alongside you guys. That's what Lamia and I did when you had gone to do some training with Kunieda's grandpa, right?"

"Right," Hilda-san says. "I remember Lamia telling me about how her and Furuichi had convinced the others to play some online game to try and find Lord En. I guess we'll have to find a way to train everyone for two and a half weeks as well."

I smile at them. "That's great," I say. "Good luck, and see you!"

"Have a safe flight, you guys," Oga says.

"Adabah!" Berubo babbles.

After getting our train tickets, we board the train that's waiting at the platform. As the train starts leaving the station, Furuichi lets out a sigh. "It's gonna be a long day today," he says. "A two-hour train ride from Ishiyama to Tokyo, followed by a four-hour flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong, a seven-hour layover at the Hong Kong airport, and then finally a five-hour flight from Hong Kong to Chennai."

I nod. "Yep," I say. "And don't forget, we're going to be spending one night in Chennai, before taking a nine-hour train ride from Chennai to Cochin, and then finally, the drive to the abandoned temple and ashram all the way in rural Kerala."

Furuichi chuckles wryly. "I'd better use wi-fi and internet while I still have it before I enter an area without any wi-fi or internet at all," he jokes.

I chuckle. "Well, there will be a nearby village with an internet cafe to keep in touch with family," I say. "Anyways, let's try and get some rest for now. It's going to be a long day."

"Hey, Mizushima-senpai," Furuichi says, getting up from the chair in the terminal. "I'm going to get us something to eat before our flight. Is that okay?"

I nod. "Sure," I say. I glance down at my watch. "We still have another two hours before we board the flight, though."

"I know, but I'm getting kind of hungry." He starts walking to one of the restaurants in the terminal.

We are now in the Hong Kong airport, waiting for our next flight to Chennai. We had flown here through Cathay Pacific, and we are going to be flying Cathay Pacific again. During the layover, we take turns using Furuichi's laptop to email our family and friends about where we are so far.

Right then, I see a Skype call on the laptop just as Furuichi comes back. "Who is it?" he asks me.

"It's Oga," I say. He answers it and we see Oga in his room.

"Hey, Oga!" Furuichi greets. "How's it going?"

"Fine," he replies. "Anyways, Hilda and I were wondering who we should gather for training."

Furuichi thinks for a moment. "The Tohoshinki, the Red Tail girls, and if possible, try and get Izuma-senpai, Nanami-senpai, and Miki from the Six Holy Knights to help out," he replies.

Oga nods. "Sure," he says.

"Hold on, what kind of training do you have planned?" I ask.

"We have a lot planned out," Hilda suddenly answers. "We're going to do a lot of physical training, such as aerobics, swimming, and fighting."

I nod. "I see," I say. "What time is it over there right now?" I ask casually.

"Huh? Oh, it's around nine," she replies.

"It's eight pm over here," I say. "Around an hour more of waiting before our next flight."

"Speaking of which," Furuichi interjects. "When we go into rural Kerala, we won't be able to keep in touch with you for a while. When I get a chance, I'll go to the nearest internet cafe in the closest village to the temple, and I'll try and contact you."

"Sure," Oga says. Suddenly, we hear the sound of someone calling him. "Sorry, gotta go. My sister's calling me for something."

The Skype conversation ends and Furuichi puts his laptop away. "Looks like it's time to board the flight."

As the plane starts to taxi down the runway, I turn to Furuichi. "How did you and Oga-san become such close friends?" I ask as I turn away from the window.

Furuichi smiles slightly. "We met in elementary school, actually," he begins. "Oga and I were in the same class in our fifth year. I wanted to walk home with him one day, but he simply brushed me off. I still followed him, even though he didn't like that. Eventually, he let me follow him, but told me not to stand behind him. At one point, during a delinquent brawl, he protected me, and after the fight, his older sister came to me and asked if I could be his friend. Since then, we've been friends."

I smile at that. "That's kind of cute," I say. "Do you have any siblings?"

He nods. "I have one younger sister named Honoka," he tells me. "From the time she was born, I've been trying to be the best older brother I can be."

"That must be nice," I comment. "I'm an only child, and I kind of wish that I have a sister or a brother to take care of." I lean back into my seat. "Well, we have a long flight ahead of us, so I'm going to get some sleep."

"Good idea," he replies. "Hold on, before I forget, I want to know something. What's your grandfather like?"

I turn to him. "His name's Mohan Sundaram, and he's a priest. He may be old, but he's very fit and healthy, as well as very strong. He can be strict sometimes, but he's very friendly. He also believes that women are equal to men, and that I shouldn't not do things just because I'm a girl. He has limits on those beliefs, however."

"How does he train his disciples?"

"He trains them hard," I say. "I remember seeing him training some people, and he was pretty strict. Almost like he was beating the basics into them. Don't underestimate him in a fight, though."

Furuichi nods. "Can he speak Japanese?"

"He can speak it fairly well, since he had taught himself some Japanese when my mom and dad had started dating. However, it's kind of broken most of the time," I tell him. "He can speak Tamil and English pretty well. I'm pretty sure that he's going to speak to you in English."

"Don't worry, I can understand English pretty well," he tells me. "Now, I think we should get some rest."

"Grandpa!" I greet in Tamil when I get off the train. Grandpa smiles warmly at me.

"Long time no see, Ayaka," he says as he hugs me. I hug him back, and I can smell the incense and other aromas from the temple. It's always been a favourite fragrance since it gives me a sense of comfort. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine," I say. He turns to Furuichi.

"You're Ayaka's friend?" he asks hesitantly in Japanese.

Furuichi nods. "My name is Furuichi Takayuki," he introduces, giving a slight bow as he touches his feet, a sign of respect for elders in India. "Nice to meet you, Bapuji." At this, I can't help but smile at his effort to try and show respect for elders.

Grandpa laughs at that. "Takayuki's your first name, hm? Well, I'll just call you Takayuki for now," he says. "You're a very respectful boy. Ayaka must've taught you how to respect elders before you came here, right? Well, we'll talk about that later on the drive to the kalari. Come."

During the drive to the kalari, Grandpa and I talk a bit, with me telling him about my new life in Japan while he tells me about his life. He also asks Furuichi some questions about how much experience he's had in fighting and other kinds of questions. Soon, we arrive at the kalari building, which is far away from the main cities, and the building looks like a traditional nalukettu house. Grandpa starts showing us around the building, including the main kalari floor, the weapons room, and the small temple inside.

"Here is the sleeping hall, where my other disciples will be sleeping. Takayuki, you'll be sleeping in here," he says, showing the sleeping hall. "Ayaka, you'll have a separate room to sleep in."

After the tour around the kalari, he turns to us. "Every morning, you have to wake up at the first light of dawn, so you can have a bath and do some prayers before we get started. First, I will train you individually. When you are ready, you two will advance into partner training. We will work on those two a lot. Next, you will advance into using weapons. You'll start off with the short stick, and then advance into fighting with the long stick. Then, you two will learn how to use knives and swords, as well as the pressure points. At the end of each day, you will have to bathe again before eating dinner. After dinner, you have some free time to yourself before you will be called back here for bed. The training I'll be giving is is a condensed version, though, so by the end of two weeks, you'll have mastered it well."

Furuichi looks shocked. "How can I master all that?" he asks.

Grandpa smirks slightly. "I'll train with you individually," he says. "With one-on-one training, I'll train you, while Ayaka trains with one of my senior disciples. However, you two will also train together with sparring sessions when you start learning how to use weapons. Oh, and by the way, if you ever want to contact any family or friends, then one of my disciples will take you to the nearby village, where there is an internet cafe. Now, go get some sleep. We have a busy day ahead of us. Good night, Ayaka. Good night, Takayuki."

"Good night," we say at the same time. I turn to Furuichi. "You nervous?"

He nods. "And a bit scared as well," he tells me. "What if I come across as weak?"

"Hey, don't worry about that," I say. "We should get some sleep now. We wake up at the first sign of dawn, remember?" I yawn slightly. "Well, goodnight Furuichi."

"Goodnight, Mizushima-senpai," he says. I turn to face him.

"You know, you can just call me Ayaka from now on," I tell him.

He gives a slight smile. "Well then, goodnight Ayaka."

A little note. Throughout the training chapters, I'm thinking of writing from both Ayaka's and Furuichi's perspectives, and I might also include moments when Oga and Hilda are training the others in third person perspective. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this!

Reviews and feedback are encouraged as well! ^_^