Disclaimer: See previous chapters

Chap. 38

San Francisco, USA

"There you go, Mr. Masters. She must be a very lucky lady."

With a flashy smile, Ken took hold of the flowers and thanked the woman storekeeper as he left the flower shop. It has been a couple of weeks since he returned home with his family and as far as he was concerned, it was business as usual. If he could put it in a word, it would be quiet. Perhaps a little too quiet. Not that he had any complaints. But Ken wasn't one to tolerate quiet for long. Luckily, he had a hot and sexy wife with whom he could cast away his boredom. And flowers would be just the things to set the mood.

And then he felt it... An immortal...

A frown was almost immediate on his face as his eyes began to search around. While it was true that not every immortal was looking for his head, it was also true that there were plenty of immortals that were. 'I probably asked for this' he mused gloomily as he continued looking. Looking toward the street, he soon saw the source, currently exiting a taxicab and looking around in search as well. Their eyes met and Ken shook his head somewhat with a smile.

'Heh. Well, look at what we have here.'

The person gave a smile as well and crossed over the street to meet with the blond immortal. Ken simply stood there and let the person approach until they completely crossed the street. Still grinning, the person bowed slightly to Ken and lifted their head.

"Ken Masters... It's been a while."

"So it has...Sakura."

Japan, 1810

"Sakura. This is Ken Masters. Ken, Sakura Kusanguo."

After some years of travelling in the west, Ken returned to the ancient dojo to visit his friend, should he be there. As luck would have it, Ryu was indeed there. What more, there was another occupant within the training grounds. A young woman immortal no less.

"A student, eh?" Ken noted, glancing at Sakura. "She looks young."

Ryu nodded. "Perhaps. But she's quite talented."

"Oh, really." Ken grinned slightly. "I didn't think you went for them at that age."

"Huh?"

'Dense as always' Out loud. "Never mind. Forget it. So let's see what the kid can do."

"Excuse me, Masters-san." Sakura spoke softly, yet firmly. "But I am not a kid."

"Oh, really?" he replied, placing his hands on his hips as he regarded her.

"Really."

"Sakura..." Ryu began to reprimand. But Ken held up his hand to his friend.

"It's okay, Ryu. I would like to hear what this little girl has to say." he smiled.

At this, Sakura frowned. "I am not a little girl either!"

"Well, well." Ken's smile continued to hold on his face. "The child has a pair of lungs there too."

"Ken, don't..." If it was one thing Ryu recognized is when Ken taunted someone, with him being a foremost target in the past. The good news was that he did it because he liked you. The bad news was that it outright got on your nerves. Case in point, Sakura's next outburst...

"I have more than that, old man."

"What?" Being called an old man (despite the truth of it) wasn't something Ken had dealt with before.

"You heard me, you old man!"

That made twice. Now it was on. "Alright kid, you asked for it. Let's see what you got."

What came about from this was a brief sword duel in which Ken easily defeated the young immortal and with Ryu watch with apprehension as he did. Although Sakura did manage one or two descent moves, she was sorely outclassed, both in skill, knowledge, and experience in comparison to Ken. In the end, after a spoken lesson from her master, Sakura vowed to get even with Ken one day in a rematch.

Claaaannngggg!

The loud ringing of swords echoed within the dojo as Ken and Sakura sparred against each other. After meeting on the streets, Sakura immediately asked for her rematch. Not that Ken was surprised by this. In truth, he was expecting it from the moment he saw her. Returning to his home and backyard dojo, the two had a short meal and followed that up with their match. What started as a martial arts match quickly escalated into a duel of blades...

"Not bad for a child."

Despite his blatant taunt, Ken was truly impressed with Sakura's skills. Though her strikes in themselves lacked power, the way she used it made them quite effective. It was similar to Ryu's style, but with Sakura's own flair and energy, making up for her lack of physical strength with agility and use of unorthodox techniques. Vastly improved from when he first met her.

"Ha!"

His thoughts were soon broken into by Sakura's next attack, a high slash to the body. Ken easily met the attack with a clash of his own, only for Sakura to press on with another attack. And another. And another. Ken couldn't hide the surprise in the fact that he was fighting defensively now. After another speedy attack from Sakura, Ken locked blades with her and pushed back for room. Sakura skipped back to prevent from falling and grinned at the elder immortal.

"Not bad for an old man."

Ken raised an eyebrow at her taunt and chuckled a bit. Though not as challenging as fighting Ryu, sparring with his student was probably more fun. She was a good fighter and she knew how to match wits with him. And if it was one thing Ken could enjoy in a fight is if his opponent could engage him in verbal wordplay as well. Ryu often took such sparring seriously.

"Careful, little girl. You don't want to bite off more than you can chew."

"Then this will be a really boring duel, won't it?"

At this, he gave her a curious look. That came dangerously close to sounding like a flirt. He sometimes forgot that she was more of an adult that she physically appeared. Returning to the match, Ken decided that to go for one final pass before calling it a day. Bringing his sword to his side, Ken settled in stance. Sakura immediately recognized this stance.

'The Hadojinken...'

Wisps of ki lightly whipped around the sword. But as he lifted it slightly in readiness, Sakura suddenly dashed off to the side, breaking into a full-on run. Running around and toward his side, Sakura reversed her blade and bent low.

"Sho-o-sen!"

Her sword nearly ripped the wooded floor as she soared in toward an exposed Ken. Or so it seemed. Seeing her rapid approach, Ken suddenly broke out of his stance and whirled around, just as her sword came near to him. Sakura's eyes widened in surprise as she flew off into the air, coming down with a short spin. Upon touching the ground, she found Ken's blade tip upon back of her neck.

"That move... A feint?"

Ken nodded, knowing that she was speaking about the stance he took earlier. By taking his ki and getting into stance, but not actually calling upon the power of the Hado, it would trick an opponent aware of such attacks into moving sooner and giving him a chance to counter.

Like now...

"Learned it from Ryu a while back." He pulled his sword away and sheathed it. "Sneaky move too."

"He never showed me that one." Sakura frowned, a little upset at her loss, but more on how she lost; by a technique from Ryu that she had never seen before until now.

Ken shrugged. "Well you can't expect him to show you every move he has."

"He showed you."

"That was during sparring. Geez, you're starting to sound like a jealous child."

Despite his jovial voice, Ken noted the slight edge in her voice. Unlike his travelling friend, Ken had long noticed Sakura's attraction to Ryu without having her speak it. Then Ryu confirmed it when he told him about that incident when she tried to seduce him years ago. It wasn't surprising really. There were many accounts of student immortals falling in love with their teachers and vice versa (himself included). Knowing this and judging by her reaction, he could tell that she still had strong feelings for Ryu.

Unfortunately...

"Sorry. Force of habit." she shrugged, unaware of his thoughts. "You know, I look the part, so I sometimes have to act it."

Ken raised an eyebrow humorously. "You have to act jealous?"

The younger immortal gave him a half frown-half smile. "You can be such a jerk sometimes, you know that?"

"Yep."

Sahara Desert, Africa

'There.'

Ryu had been wandering through the desert sands for nearly a week and a half now. He walked almost continuously, stopping only at oases that he had mapped out for rest and training. Amazingly, he made it halfway across the desert with little difficulty. Reaching the next target point, he found a settlement near the oasis. But when he ventured closer, he was surprised to find a familiar face waiting for him.

"It took you long enough. Don't you know how hot it is out here?"

"Dan." Ryu exclaimed upon seeing the Watcher under the shade of one of the trees. "What are you...?"

"Doing here?" Dan finished, tipping the brim of his hat to see Ryu better. "Watching, duh. I still can't believe that you would actually trek across the Sahara desert. Immortal or not, that's just crazy."

"It's good for training." the immortal answered simply.

"And for frying brain cells too. Geez."

Wiping a bit of sweat away from off his face, Ryu looked out onto the horizon of desert. "I still have quite a way to go."

"You're not going to make my job easy, are you?" Dan sighed. "At least take a break. The desert's not going anywhere after all. And I think you owe me a break."

"Owe you...a break?"

Dan remained firm in this belief. "No kidding. You know how long it took me just to catch up to you. And when I get close, I find out you're walking across the FREAKING desert!" Dan paused to relax and then continued. "As I said, you owe me a break."

Ryu shook his head, somewhat amused by the Watcher's discomfort, even if he blame him for it (which made it even more amusing). "Well, since I was planning the rest here anyway, I will give you...your break."

"That's all I ask." Looking out at the hot sands, Dan shook his head in mild disbelief. "The Sahara...Geez... Why don't you walk across Antarctica while you're at it?"

"I have yet to try that."

The Watcher's eyes bulged to twice their size. "You're joking, right? Right?!

Ryu gave no reply...