(One year later)
"Alright everyone, it is time that we test your abilities," Kenshin starts. "Clara, you will be the first to test your skills on a few of my students."
She stretches her barefeet on the foam floor and prepares for the test. A student approaches her and gets into a fighting stance. He waits for a moment before charging at her with a fist. She quickly reacts by moving her head to one side, causing his arm to go past her shoulder. She grabs a firm hold on his arm and twists it. The boy cries out before she stomps on his calf, nearly crushing it. He falls to the floor while holding onto his leg. Things like this would happen a few times in the school since Kenshin taught his students about the most sensitive areas to hit in the body. He let this one pass because it was what he taught her.
Realizing what she had just done to the poor boy's leg, Clara mutters, "Sorry."
Other students help him up. He hopped on one foot and scurries away from the battlefield. She couldn't help but feel a little bad.
"No worries, Clara. It's all part of what I taught you. He'll be fine." Kenshin reassures her, "Now, let us continue."
Two more students approach her. She took them out one by one. Two turned into three and soon it reached four. She manages to take out all of them. She was making progress and she seemed to have mastered everything Kenshin taught her. She felt proud of herself.
After that, class was finished. Clara puts her regular clothes back on and exits through the front door. When she goes outside, she spots a man leaning against the school wall. His dirty blonde hair was shaped like a faux hawk and he was wearing sunglasses. He was clapping with a smirk on his face. Clara raises an eyebrow.
"What?" She said.
"I saw what you did in there and you put on quite a show."
"You watched?"
"Of course, I'm one of the students," he explains, "So, I want to challenge you to a fight."
After saying that, Clara realized that he was the guy that kept challenging people to fight him. The know-it-all.
"You're that guy who keeps challenging everybody. I wonder why you haven't been kicked out of the school after a year of trying to start fights."
His smirk turns into a grin.
"I got a few people in, but Keshin didn't know about it, or at least he thought it was for practice."
"So you want to fight?"
"Only if you accept my challenge."
She thought that one more fight wouldn't hurt.
"Alright, but there is one thing I want to know."
"What's that?"
"What is your name?"
"Shaun," he answers casually. "Follow me."
He leads her to a nearby alley, so they wouldn't get caught by the teacher himself. Before Clara could react, Shaun swings a leg towards her face. She ducks down, dodging the kick. After that, they started to fight. Shaun was a bit over competitive and he knocked her down within a minute. She was left on the ground while he left the alley. That asshole. She stumbles to her feet and clutches her hand to her aching head. She searched for him, but he was nowhere to be found. She wanted to get back at him, but she didn't want to get too carried away. She wanted to get some advice from her father.
She goes back to her car and heads towards the Pawn Shop. She should really be calling it a hideout since people didn't know about the underground room of the shop. Once she got there, she goes inside and approaches a muscular, intimidating looking man behind the counter. She raises her eyebrows, expecting him to let her behind the counter, but he only gives her a skeptical look.
"What's this?" he asks in suspicion.
"Aren't you going to let me in?" She nods to the boxes behind the counter.
"Says who?"
She really wasn't in the mood for this.
"My name is Clara and I need to speak to Alex. I'm his daughter."
The man crosses his arms and still doesn't move.
"Really? You look nothing like him."
Clara's eyes widen in anger, but she tries to keep her temper under control.
"Yeah? Well aren't you a little too short to be working as a 'Bodyguard?'"
He was about as tall as her.
"Watch your mouth!" he snaps.
"Quite the temper too I see."
She smirks at him mockingly. This pissed him off even more.
"Listen here, smartass," He steps away from the counter, "If you're looking for a fight, you've come to the wrong guy. I suggest that you leave now."
"I'm staying right here until you let me speak to Alex."
He strides towards her in an attempt to grab her and throw her out of the pawn shop. Clara reacts quickly once he grabbed a hold of her shirt. Using what she was taught to do, she grabs his hand which he placed on her shirt and uses her other hand to push his arm to the side with force. The 'bodyguard' stumbles over. As he leaned over, she kicks him forward and onto the floor. She held onto his arm while twisting it. She stomps onto his head, holding him down. This helped relieve some of the memories from earlier. She couldn't help but smile a little.
"I honestly thought you'd be more of a challenge," she taunts while pressing the bottom of her shoe on his head even further, "I've already dealt with one asshole today, so why not another?"
"Clara!" A familiar voice shouts from behind the counter.
She looks up and sees that it's her father. He scowls at her.
"Stop this right now!"
She let's go of the bulky man and he struggles to stand. Alex helps him up.
"I apologize. I should have told you that she was one of us."
Clara gives him an apologetic look, but he only glares at her and storms out.
"What happened?" He asked demandingly.
"I asked him if he could let me in, and I told him I was your daughter, but he had to be rude and say I look nothing like you."
"And?"
"He tried to kick me out and you saw what followed."
Alex sighs.
"You need to be more careful. You're lucky no one was here to see it. What if that man could have hurt you?"
His father-like worry was causing him to ramble on and on. Clara gives him a reassuring smile.
"Papa, it's fine. I'll be okay."
He stops and calms himself.
"Alright, I'll call someone else to work behind the counter. How was class today?"
Clara flushed at the thought.
"Started off well, but some guy beat me during a test," she lied.
She didn't want her father to worry again, and her head still felt sore.
"What was his name?"
"Shaun," she answers after a few seconds.
"Do I need to knock some sense into this boy?"
She laughs a little.
"No, I need your advice."
Alex gestures her towards the underground hideout.
"Come, we'll discuss this in the hideout."
Once they step inside, Alex closes the door above them.
"What kind of advice were you hoping for?" Ha asked eagerly. He loved giving her advice.
"I want to find a way to beat him. It seemed like the way he fought, he's been in that school for years."
"Alright Clara, if you're willing to be a Black Dragon you'll need to learn how to work through an angle."
She sits down on the stairway and tilts her head to one side.
"What do you mean?"
"If you ever step into a problem, always find a way through it."
He sits down next to her.
"Maybe settle the problem. Perhaps you can challenge the man once you feel as if you've mastered your training. I'm not saying you have to, but he sounds like a real challenge and challenges show another side of you that you never knew."
Clara had always known that he was a man with stars in his eyes. The way he said the last sentence about challenges filled his voice with wonder and Clara remembers that he would speak to her like that ever since she was a little girl.
She thought about his advice before saying, "OK, I'll give it a try."
Alex smiles.
"Good, but be careful."
Clara rolls her eyes at her father's worry.
"Don't worry about me," she says, "Okay?"
He nods, still smiling.
"I'm headed back to my apartment."
She gives him a warm hug before leaving the hideout. She leaves the pawn shop and heads home, hoping that her papa's advice would be useful.
Journal #4
I'm writing this journal while sitting on top of my apartment building. Strange I know, but it helps me think. Gazing down at the busy streets of Chicago at night, taking in the breeze, and surrounded by the stars in the night sky. I could also see the Willis Tower from up here. It's beautiful. I was never really afraid of heights. Most people are because of falling or just scared of being this high, but I usually see it for its lovely view. I'm not even sure if I'm allowed up here.
Since I have some free time, I've decided to write my next journal up here. It has been awhile since I've written my last journal because I've been busy with my Kung Fu class. I got my ass beat by the guy I was talking about in my previous journal. Turns out, his name is Shaun and he's very good with his moves. He challenged me to a fight and after he beat me, he just left me at the alley. That's one bastard today. I came to my Papa to get advice about getting back at him, but at the pawn shop, the man behind the counter decided to be rude to me by saying I look nothing like Papa. Then, he tries kicking me out, but he didn't know about my training. I got him on the ground and my father catches me. That's another bastard today. As you can see, I've been having a bit of a stressful day, but Papa managed to calm down and give me advice about challenging Shaun when I feel that I'm ready. I'm going to step up on my training and at least try to take him down.
I still think about the incident with the man behind the counter today. I felt something I never did before. Like a calm type of anger. I was pissed, but at the same time, I kept myself under control. Maybe I'm so used to being calm and collected that I was able to control myself in that situation. Anyway, I'm starting some more training tomorrow, but right now, I feel tired. I had a headache earlier, but it stopped. I'm headed to bed. Now I'm going to try to sneak off this roof without getting caught.
Took me a whole day to finish this, but I got it done. *Wipes sweat off of forehead* Reviews are welcome :)