Legend Of The Strongest Delinquent

by streetlife34

The City of Koryuu is full of Thugs and Delinquents to many to even count them all, whether they act by themselves or with gangs. But among them there's one certain Delinquent who isn't apart of any gang and always fights alone, yet is hated or feared by other thugs. He is Shirou Tsukiharu and he has one goal to be the Strongest and use his fists to beat down anyone along the way

12. Living At The Dojo

Hey everyone, and welcome to this chapter. This chapter will be more about training and world-building, considering we just finished a big fight, that's necessary for the pacing of the story.

Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan-based parody. History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi is owned by Funimation and Syun Matsuena. Please support the official release.

---

"Shirou" Regular speech.

"Shirou" Thoughts.

SEIKUKEN Attack names.

(Shirou) Words said previously.

[Shirou] Words said in unison.

---

Living At The Dojo

---

—…

It was another day at Ryozanpoaku, everyone was doing their own thing throughout the Dojo, and in the training hall, Kenichi was hard at work like always. He and Miu were currently sparring while Kensei and Shirou watched from the sidelines.

"Haah!" Kenichi charged again.

He threw a punch which Miu dodged. She then circled around him and kicked at him, which he blocked. She then backed up and threw a palm trike that hit Kenichi square in the face. Kensei got comfortable as he watched.

"Having problems, are we, Kenichi?" Kensei asked jokingly. "You haven't even landed a single punch yet."

"Hey!" Kenichi complained while attacking. "It's not from a lack of trying! I just haven't been able to find any openings!"

"Can't find any openings?" Kensei repeated teasingly. "Are you even looking at your opponent?"

"Of course!" Kenichi tried to Judo throw Miu, but she escaped from his hold.

Kensei then got up and moved into a kata. "It's almost impossible to attack and defend at the same time, even for the greatest Martial Arts Masters."

Miu charged in to attack. "Well, don't just stand there, do something! If you don't attack, you'll never score a point!"

Miu tried to knee-kick him in the jaw, but he caught her knee before it hit. "I can't! You block everything!"

"In a prolonged fight, your opponent will eventually tire, let their guard, and reveal an opening." Kensei informed him.

Kenichi then aimed a clawing strike at her head, but Miu batted it away. He momentarily lost his footing but regained it and noticed her arm was still extended.

"And opening, finally!" Kenichi thought, noticing an unguarded spot beneath her right arm. "If I strike her now, I'll score a point." Despite thinking that, however, Kenichi made no move to attack the opening. "But… Should I? What if I miss?"

POW!

Before Kenichi could make up his mind, Miu looked at him like she was about to counterattack. But, before she could, a heavy kick hammered her in the face and knocked her off her feet as she hit the floor.

To her surprise, it wasn't Kenichi who hit her—Rather, Kenichi stood there, surprised as well at the suddenness of it all.

Standing there while lowering the leg he just kicked with was Shirou. He was the one who struck Miu with a sneer on his face.

"Ow, that hurts…." Miu complained as she picked herself back up.

"Shirou, why'd you jump in like that?" Kenichi asked with confusion.

"Why don't you ask her?" He pointed at Miu with annoyance.

Before either of them could ask, Kensei got up and stepped in between them. "He's right, you know? For one thing, Kenichi shouldn't have hesitated back there." He then pointed at him. "And a real opponent would never make an opening for you like Miu just did!"

His words caused Kenichi to gasp in disbelief and Miu to freeze like a child who had just been caught lying.

"Waaaaahhh!" Kenichi shrieked in realization as he gripped the sides of his head. "WAIT! SHE DID IT ON PURPOSE?!"

He was then mumbling to himself in disbelief while curled into a ball as an aura of self-deprivation was hanging over his head.

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to…" Miu regretfully offered an apology but quickly noticed he wasn't listening. "…Help?"

Kenichi then robotically got up and gazed forward before—

"Waaaaaaaa!" He Kenichi out loudly as he ran out the door. "This is the worst stinking day of my life!"

Shirou just watched him leave with an annoyed expression. "Man, I've seen five-year-old girls who cry less than that guy."

Miu became upset with Kensei. "Hey! Why'd you tell him I did that?"

"Don't even try it." Shirou reprimanded her before Kensei could answer. "What were you thinking pulling that shit?"

"Well, I…" Miu nervously tapped her fingers. "I thought I could help him feel better if he landed a hit on me."

"You may have good intentions, but for a Martial Artist, there's nothing more dangerous than being overconfident with their ability." Kensei wisely informed her. "Thanks to you, he would have thought he was stronger than he really was."

Miu knew that he was right completely and felt upset with herself, knowing she had made the wrong choice.

"And, not just that." Shirou followed up. "Kenichi might not be anywhere near your level yet, but he's still been training hard every day to get better. Instead of thinking he's starting to improve, what you just did will now give him the idea that he isn't getting better at all—Damaging his already brittle self-esteem."

Miu realized he was right and now fully understood that she shouldn't have done that as she looked down at the floor. "Ah, I hope I didn't hurt Kenichi's feelings too badly. I'm so stupid."

"Yes, you are." Shirou agreed, not being delicate. "You still don't know a thing about guys."

"Well, since Kenichi is gone, why don't you try sparring?" Kensei suggested.

"Not my thing." Shirou rejected. "I'm not interested in sparring that's just about scoring points."

"I see. Then let's move on to technique training." Kensei decided.

"Then, that just leaves one more question—" Shirou turned to the side of the room. "Why is she here?"

"I let her in—Why, was that not cool?"

The one who answered his question was Haruto. Right now, at the side of the room, Honoka and Apachai were there, playing the board game—Othello.

Between the two of them, Haruto was sitting there as he watched them play, and sitting against the wall was Hideki, who was reading a small book.

"I'm here because I wanted to play with Apachai some more." Honoka answered naturally.

At one point a few days ago, while almost everyone was out, Honoka came to the Dojo again and tried to sneak in. Unfortunately, Apachai and Shigure were still around and found her entering. While originally afraid of the tanned giant, she quickly realized he was friendly and got along well with him, as most children do. She also found herself getting along with the weapons Master as well. Now she visits the Dojo to hang out with them, despite Kenichi asking her not to.

"Okay, then why are you here?" Shirou asked his Brother this time.

"I'm here because I was bored at home." Haruto answered before focusing on the game again. "It's my turn next game; I wanna go next."

"And why are you here?" Finally, Shirou questioned his Father.

Hideki shrugged, not looking away from his book. "I'm an adult. I can go wherever I want."

Shirou shrugged back and turned away. "All right, fair enough."

---

Later that day, Kenichi made his way to the living quarters of the Masters, hoping to get some advice. When he entered and went inside, though, he saw that there were no stairs connecting the first floor with the second floor, and the only way up was by climbing a rope.

Kenichi slumped before he started climbing. "Man, it's not enough I get exhausted every training session but also when trying to get upstairs!" He complained while struggling to climb. Soon he stepped onto the second floor. "Why aren't there any stairs on this part of the Dojo?"

"I'll tell you."

Kenichi turned to see Akisame. The Jujitsu Master was leaning against the wall as though he was waiting for him. "Oh, Master Koetsuji?"

"One night, a few years ago, Sakaki and Kensei got drunk."

Akisame started his story and thought back to the drunken state the Karate Master and Kung-Fu Master was in.

(What are these things, stairs? A Master doesn't need stairs, do they, Kensei?)

(No way! Only a weakling would need stairs!)

The two of them proceeded to unleash a violent barrage of punches and kicks all over the stairs. Reducing them to rubble.

(Do we look like weaklings?! Say goodbye, dumb stairs!)

(You'll never block this part of the Dojo again! Ya! Ya!Ya! Ya! Ya!)

"For some reason, they took out their aggression on a defenseless flight of stairs and demolished them." Akisame finished his story.

"You don't say?" Kenichi cringed at that story.

"I thought about rebuilding them." Akisame admitted before jumping down to the first floor. "But then I decided that putting a rope here provides a much better workout."

After saying that, he walked to the floor door.

"Ah, Master!" Kenichi tried calling out to him but was ignored. "Wait, I need to talk to you about something!"

With that, the door closed, and Akisame was gone, causing Kenichi to groan as he walked down the hallway.

"What am I gonna do?" He asked himself in dismay. "I really need to talk to someone."

He then stopped when he was in front of a door that had a sign saying that it was Sakaki's room and knocked on it.

"It's open!" Sakaki said from the other side of the door. "Come on in!"

"I will, thanks—" Kenichi moved to open the door but quickly realized he couldn't even move it as he struggled to pull the wooden door aside. "Hey, what gives?! This thing is so heavy! Aaahhhhhhh!"

At that moment, Sakaki opened the door himself, as easily as opening a regular door, and the backward momentum made Kenichi fall back and away.

"What's with all the racket out here?" Sakaki asked before he noticed Kenichi on the floor. "Is there something I can help you with?"

---

Soon after that, they both entered the room. Sakaki sat on a chair while Kenichi kneeled on the floor. Kenichi then got through, explaining what had happened earlier that day during training.

"—And then?" Kenichi asked for his thoughts.

"Wait, let me get this straight: She gave you an opening, but you still couldn't hit her?" Sakaki questioned him.

"Yeah, do you have any idea why?" Kenichi asked, hoping he did.

"Ah, nope." Sakaki responded while bringing out a bottle of alcohol.

"Could you at least give it some thought?" Kenichi insisted.

"Geez, kid, what do I look like, a shrink or something?" Sakaki asked with irritation. "Why don't you go annoy Akisame and see if he can tell you."

"He's gone." Kenichi answered regrettably. "I'd ask Kensei, but he's not here either."

Sakaki then smirked as he held up his bottle. "Well, since I'm the sole voice of wisdom, I guess I'll give it a stab. You see, there's people out there—"

With a chop, Sakaki cut off the top part of the bottle.

"Scared people, sometimes they can't attack because they're afraid of their opponent's counterattack. Say they're lined up to deliver a finishing blow, right? They start to wonder, "What's gonna happen to me if I miss?" This causes them to hesitate and instantly puts them at a disadvantage." Kenichi gasped when he heard that while Sakaki chugged some of the drink before continuing. "That's never been a problem for me because I don't hesitate. The first opening I get, I take it."

Kenichi thought about his words deeply. "He's right. Now that I think about it, I was afraid of her counterattack."

"Kenichi." Sakaki got his attention. "A man's worth is determined by whether or not he can strike a blow at the critical moment. If he doesn't strike, he's gonna get crushed." To emphasize, Sakaki used his grip to shatter the glass bottle into pieces.

Kenichi only stared as he processed all that, then became enthusiastic. "Right!"

---

After that conversation ended, Kenichi went back to the courtyard and was practically punching while he thought about what Sakaki had told him. He then stopped and reached up toward the sun.

"A man's worth is determined by whether or not he can strike a blow at the critical moment. If he doesn't strike, he's crushed."

Kenichi recited the advice as he thought back to earlier.

"Since I didn't strike because I was afraid of Miu's counterattack, I must be totally worthless!" Kenichi was inwardly dismayed before outwardly letting out a wail of sadness. "Uwaaaa! Why do I have to be such a loser?!"

"Maybe it's because you can't stop whining?"

Shirou walked up to him as he answered Kenichi's rhetorical question.

Kenichi turned around and saw his friend approaching him. "Shirou, you heard me?"

"I'm pretty sure everybody outside could hear you. What's the problem now?" Shirou asked like he was about to do a chore.

---

Meanwhile, back inside the training hall, both Honoka, as well as Haruto, and Hideki were no longer there, and thus, the Masters had all gathered for a meeting.

"Attention!" Akisame said loudly. "I would like to begin the Ryozanpaku Summit meeting at once!" He proclaimed. "It would be nothing short of a disgrace to the Martial Arts to allow Kenichi to carry on this way. We've been far too easy on the boy, and I am recommending that this change at once. I'd like to propose a new approach that would take his training to the next level of intensity. I call it—Phase 2! Transform into a real fighter or die trying!"

All the other Masters cheered after hearing that idea as Akisame wrote it down on a blackboard. Hayato stroked his beard curiously.

"So, how do we go about executing this new initiative?" The Elder questioned.

"It's simple. First, we start by having him live here at Ryozanpaku." Akisame pointed out. "After that, we infuse Martial Arts into each aspect of his life. Once he's reached the point of exhaustion, Martial Arts will be his only Salish. We make him realize that he is nothing but a product of Martial Arts. He will live Martial Arts and breathe Martial Arts until he comes to the fork in the road where he has only two options before him—Martial Arts or death!"

Hayato nodded approvingly at that objective. "It's genius. We'll force Kenichi to become a resident of Ryozanpaku and bend him to our will."

"That is correct." Akisame said before his eyes started glowing. "Finally, we can stop playing games and begin the real training."

All of them had dangerous smiles on their faces and a glow in their eyes as they greatly looked forward to it. That was until Apachai raised his hand to ask a question.

"Apa! What about Shirou?" The tanned giant asked. "Do we train him to death too?"

"Hmm, at this point, that would be gratuitous." Hayato noted. "With the high rate his training is already going in, there isn't any reason to hastily increase it."

"True, we've already been giving the punk the toughest training we've got, but he's always coming back for more." Sakaki pointed out.

"And it wouldn't be wrong to say that Shirou already lives and breathes Martial Arts. I doubt he needs our help infusing it into his life." Kensei added.

"Very well then, we'll omit Shirou from this plan." Akisame decided. "On the contrary, this might be a good thing. Kenichi is always low on morale whenever he and Shirou train together. Training apart every now and then might help him be more focused."

"You have a point. Every time he sees Shirou do so much better than him during training, he always gets depressed." Kensei agreed with his statement.

"One often can't see the worth of their own abilities when all they look at is someone else's. This is something else we do for our Disciple." Hayato proclaimed.

They all agreed on that as well. Though, at that moment, after their decision was made, Kenichi felt a bad chill for reasons he didn't know.

---

The next day, during lunch break at school. Shirou, Kenichi, and Miu were eating while sitting at a table until Niijima stepped up to speak with them.

"I see you're all relaxed as usual."

"Hi, Niijima." Miu happily greeted him.

On the other hand, Kenichi looked both annoyed and disgusted by his approach. "Ugh, what do you want?"

"Well…" Instead of answering, he walked up to Shirou and patted him on the shoulder. "First off, let me congratulate you on your win against Tsuji the other day."

Shirou shrugged. "No worries, it was the most fun I had in a while."

"Well, I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, but things haven't exactly quieted down since then." Niijima began typing on his PDA. "Delinquents with powerful reputations like Tsuji are useful in the fact that they keep the smaller Delinquents in line. But, after word got out that he lost, those small-timers have decided to act up."

"You wouldn't be telling me about this unless there was someone specific you had in mind." Shirou said knowingly. "So, who's the guy?"

"I'm glad you catch on quick." Niijima showed him his PDA screen. On it was a rough-looking Delinquent with long, wavy hair and sunglasses. "Mu Ben Chen, a Third-Year. Now that Tsukuba is gone, he is rapidly adding people to his ranks."

"If he's only at Tsukuba's level, then he's nothing to worry about." Shirou didn't look impressed.

"Wait a minute. You're not actually thinking of fighting him, are you?" Kenichi asked with grievances.

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I?" Shirou seemed genuinely confused as to why Kenichi would even ask. "He may be a scrub, but it'll be a pain if another Tsukuba starts running around acting like he owns the place."

"That's not what I meant!" Kenichi responded loudly as he got up from his seat. "Why are you going on with Niijima's plans? You know that alien freak is up to no good."

"I'm insulted. The truth is that I actually found this information for you, Kenichi." Niijima admitted with an evil smile.

"What, me?" Kenichi was dumbfounded.

"While Shirou's strength and notoriety are rising, you haven't been doing much lately." Niijima informed him. "I thought setting up a fight for you would help you from stagnation."

"That's so nice of you." Miu said cheerfully, completely unaware.

"He does make a fair point. You haven't really fought anyone in a while." Shirou noticed as he turned to Kenichi. "Maybe a jump-start fight is what you need."

"Are you guys kidding me?!" Kenichi snapped at all of them before calming himself and sitting back down. "Don't you all get it? I'm not interested in fighting just for the sake of it, I don't want to fight, and so I won't."

"If you don't fight, you're skills will get rusty." Shirou pointed out. "What are you going to do when you have no choice but to fight when that happens?"

"Sensei told me that my training is what I can really count on." Kenichi reasoned. "As long as I keep training, I'll always be ready even if I don't do these pointless fights."

For some reason, hearing him say that annoyed Shirou. He then got up and headed for the door. "Fine, I'll take them myself."

As Niijima watched him go, a glint sparked in his eyes. "While I don't doubt Shirou could beat them on his own, that wouldn't be fun at all. Sorry, Kenichi, but you don't decide when you'll fight. I do."

---

It was now the end of the day, and Kenichi was helping with cleaning up the classroom. He was still irritated with having to deal with Niijima earlier but stopped when he noticed something on his desk.

"Hmm, a letter?" Kenichi picked up the note and read it.

I have something important to tell you. Come to the Gym storage shed alone

—Miu.

Sparks of electricity zapped through Kenichi's brain as he zoned in on the contents of the letter.

"Something important?!" Then, with a burst of uncontrollable emotions, he dashed off at breakneck speed. "I'm coming! Miu!"

---

Meanwhile, inside the storage shed behind the Gymnasium. The Delinquent Niijima talked about—Mu Ben Chen was currently in the middle of his usual actions—Meaning he was bullying someone.

Right now, he was there, along with four other grunts in the storage shed, and they were mugging a weak-looking First-Year student. He was tall, an inch taller than Niijima, wore glasses and the standard school uniform, and had slick back black hair.

"P-please, I don't want any trouble…" The student pleaded fearfully.

"Neither do we." Chen replied with a smug expression. "Just hand over your wallet, and we'll be on our way."

"Y-yeah, okay…" He complied as he reached into his pocket.

Right now, he was so afraid that his eyes were wet with tears, and the Delinquents seemed just to enjoy the power they had over him. It seemed clear in the looks in their eyes that even after taking his wallet, they'd still just beat him up for fun.

After he took his wallet out of his pocket and prepared to hand it to them, the door to the shed opened loudly—

"Hey, don't even think about it."

They all turned to look at the door when they heard an abrasive voice speak out and saw Shirou standing there. His hands were in his pockets, and his expression showed that he wasn't messing around.

"Hm, who are you?" One of the grunts asked.

"I'm the guy that drove Tsukuba's face into the concrete." Shirou proclaimed as he stepped inside. "You want to be next?"

"Huh?" Chen angrily shoved away the student he was mugging and walked up to Shirou, angered by his threat. "So, you're the First-Year who's been walking around like he owns the place."

"Nah, you mostly described yourself." Shirou shot back. "Seriously, dragging someone to a dark, quiet place just to steal wallets? Talk about lame?"

"Oh yeah?! Well, how about I—"

"Miu! Were you looking for me!?"

.

.

.

Everyone stopped when the tension in the atmosphere was suddenly deflated by the surprising arrival of Kenichi. He just rushed in through the door and shouted out with an oddly gleeful expression and tone.

Shirou, the thugs, and the victim were surprised. Soon enough, one of them asked. "And what do you want?"

Kenichi opened his eyes and realized what exactly he was in the middle of. Seeing the Delinquents in the middle of a shakedown made him yell in horror and dismay. "Aaaaahhh! It's mop-hair!"

"Who're you calling mop-hair?!" Chen snapped, feeling insulted again.

"You wanna die?!" One of his grunts yelled.

"Kenichi, why are you here?" Shirou asked, honestly confused. "I thought you didn't want to fight this guy?"

"I didn't, but I got this letter that—" Kenichi started but was cut off.

"Enough!" Chen snapped and pointed at them. "Just kill both of them!"

Upon his order, three of the Delinquents charged at the two of them, ready to attack. Kenichi made the first move and reached up to hold onto the upper rim of the front door.

He then pulled his legs up, and as the Delinquents closed in, he kicked out his legs, kicked two of them in the face, and knocked them out. Shirou followed up and high-kicked the third remaining one, knocking him out like the other two.

Mu Ben Chen and one of his grunts remained. They were both shocked by that display of skill. But Shirou and Kenichi didn't wait for them to collect their thoughts as they moved in.

Kenichi feinted high but attacked low and struck the last grunt standing.

YAMAZUKI!

Shirou aimed for Chen and aimed to strike him in the face.

SEIKEN!

Both their hits landed perfectly, and both of their targets were shaken before they both collapsed to the ground like a sack of potatoes. It was settled.

"That takes care of that." Shirou dusted off his hands.

Once everything had calmed down, Kenichi looked around while feeling perplexed. "Hold on, where's Miu?"

While he was wandering, the student who was brought here to be mugged picked up his wallet and walked up to the two of them.

"Ah… This…?" He held it out towards them as though he was offering his wallet.

"Eh? Is that yours?" Kenichi wondered. "Put it away?"

"Huh? You aren't going to take it?" He looked very surprised.

"Look, man, what's your name?" Shirou questioned him.

"Uh, Mizunuma." He answered.

"Mizunuma, you don't want your wallet or anything else." Shirou told him while gesturing to the door. "It's over, so you can go."

"Ah, thank you!" Mizunuma bowed with gratitude before looking up and suddenly gave them both a look of recognition. "Wait, aren't you Tsukiharu and Shirahama, the two First Years that everyone has been talking about?"

Kenichi sheepishly rubbed his head. "Yeah, that's us."

"Well, thank you so much. I swear I won't forget this." Mizunuma assured them before running off, out the door and far away.

"I'm glad he made it out of that okay." Kenichi said, happy that he was able to help a bullied victim.

"Yeah, but…" Shirou turned back to Kenichi. "You still haven't told me. Why are you here again?"

"Oh, well, I was looking—"

"Ah, looks like I didn't make it in time."

Once again, Kenichi was interrupted. This time it was by a voice they both recognized as they turned towards the door. Stepping inside was Takeda, looking relaxed.

"Takeda?" Kenichi didn't expect to see him.

"What brings you here?" Shirou asked curiously.

"Not much, really. I heard you were heading to start a fight with these losers and figured I'd lend a hand." Takeda looked around at the thugs lying beaten on the floor. "But by the looks of things, you handled it before I got here."

"My bad. If I knew you were coming, I'd of saved you one." Shirou added humorously.

"You were planning to help him fight them even though it didn't involve you?" Kenichi asked, somewhat surprised.

Takeda nodded with certainty. "'Course, Shirou and me are friends, and that means I've got his back in a fight. I owe him big time, I could stick up for him for the rest of my life, and I'd still be in his debt."

"I really wish you'd stop thinking of it like that." Shirou told him, holding out his fist. "Like you said—We're friends, and friends don't owe."

Takeda fist-bumped his fist. "I know, but that's how I feel. They say my hand's gonna be fine. I'm okay to get back into the Gym first thing next month."

"Are you serious?!" Kenichi asked excitedly. "Congratulations, man, that's awesome."

"It sure is." Shirou nodded, also pleased. "That also means you can start working on mastering your left."

"I've got you to thank. My career would have been over if it weren't for you and your Sensei." Takeda reiterated with gratitude.

The three of them walked out of the shed while they continued their conversation. Shirou followed up. "Yeah, well, don't tell him that. Akisame loves it when someone bloats his ego."

"Hold it!"

Yet another person arrived and confronted them. Kenichi put his guard up, thinking another fight would break out.

"Ah, man, this is not good!" Kenichi gasped.

Takeda just calmly spoke. "What's up, Ukita."

Just as he said, the new arrival standing in front of their path was Ukita Kozo, the one who was always with Takeda back when he was still with Ragnarok.

"Hey, Takeda, I just heard, so you decided to quit Ragnarok and become a Boxer?" Ukita began with a threatening smile.

"Yeah." That was his only response.

"Come on." Kenichi reached out to him. "You guys are friends. It's not worth fighting."

Shirou pushed his arm away. "Just step back. Let them deal with this on their own."

"To tell you the truth, I never really thought you belonged with us." Ukita confessed openly. "You always seemed kinda different from the other guys and me." He then pointed at him. "And now I finally figured out why you felt so out of place—Deep down, you've never been a Delinquent. You're a Boxer.

Takeda was slightly taken aback by his statement. Ukita didn't stop, though, as he went on.

"A true sportsman belongs in the ring." He then lowered his hand. "I'm glad to hear that your left arm is working for ya again. I'll try to buy ya as much time as I can with Ragnarok. But if I were you, I'd start training." He turned to leave with one last wave. "See ya, Takeda the Puncher."

Takeda smiled softly and waved back. "See ya around, Ukita the Thrower."

Kenichi was tearing up as he looked down emotionally. "You're lucky to have a friend like him. He's nothing like my no-good alien friend."

"In the world of Delinquents, your enemies are sworn enemies that you can't overlook, but friends are true friends that you'd be willing to give an arm for." Shirou informed him. "You're not a Delinquent, so you'd never know that."

"Yeah, I guess you've got a point." Kenichi wiped away his tears and then looked as though he suddenly remembered something. "Wait, I still haven't found Miu?"

"What?" Shirou raised a brow in confusion. "Why did Miu suddenly come up in conversation?"

Kenichi reached into his pocket and took out the letter that was on his desk. "I got this letter from her telling me to meet her here. She said she had something important she wanted to tell me."

Both Shirou and Takeda looked at the note to see for themselves.

"Huh, this is the place it says to meet her." Takeda noticed.

"But it's out of character for Miu to write letters and leave them on a desk." Shirou thought as he took the letter himself and noticed something. "Ah, Kenichi, you might wanna see this."

"What is it?" Kenichi wondered as he took back the letter and saw for himself.

The letter looked fine on the surface, but when he looked at what Shirou was pointing at, he realized. Printed on the bottom of the other side of the paper was a logo that had Niijima's face on it.

Knowing exactly what this meant, Kenichi snapped and yelled at the top of his lungs toward the sky. "NIIJIMMMMMAAAAAAAA!"

---

Meanwhile, away from the school, Niijima was currently at a cafe, sitting at a table, and sitting across from him was Miu, just as he had planned.

"Hmm, Kenichi sure is taking a while to get here." Miu noted before drinking more of her drink.

"Now, now, let's not worry about that." Niijima brushed off her concerns. "For now, let's just relax and enjoy each other's company."

"Each other?" Miu tilted her head slightly. "But didn't you tell Kenichi to wait here?"

Instead of answering her, Niijima wore an evil grin as he thought to himself. "Kenichi, unlike Shirou, I'm not just going to let you quit. I need to know just how useful trash like you can be to me."

A dark, mischievous expression appeared on his face.

"Can the bullied weakling become strong? Can he rise like a Phoenix from the ashes and be triumphant over the evildoers?!" His expression to one that almost looked crazed. "In all honesty, I don't care what happens to anyone else as long as I stay entertained~ God's, if you hear me, rain down Hell, fire, brimstone, and suffering upon him!"

Then out loud, Niijima let out a laugh filled with madness and villainous intent.

"YAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Miu just watched him while innocently drinking more of her drink. "I wonder what's so funny? Maybe he's remembering a good joke."

---

Later that day, they went back to the Dojo. Kenichi was in the middle of training with Akisame. Right now, he is doing push-ups on loges.

Both feet were balanced on one loge while his body was held up by one arm as his hand was pushing up against another log. His other arm was held behind his back as he continued the one-armed push-ups.

"47…! 48….…! 49…!"

Kenichi grits his teeth as he struggled to hold on. Akisame stood over him, and when Kenichi stopped, he swung a short whip at the hand that was holding him up. But Kenichi reacted to that, pulling his hand up in midair for a moment to dodge the whip before bringing it back down to grip the log.

He continued with his push-ups. "….50…!"

Nearby, Shirou was also in the middle of training. Today, he was training with Shigure and was holding a Kodachi while he practiced different katas that Shigure told him to work on.

While they were doing that, Shigure and Apachai were sitting on the porch. Apachai was holding a children's book while Shigure was polishing her Sword, and Tochumaru was sitting on her head.

"That Kenichi is amazing! He can count all the way up to 50!" Apachai noted with amazement before looking at Shigure. "Oh, ah… Shigure, what comes after 10?"

Shigure kept her attention on her Sword as she answered. "…11."

Kenichi pushed up again. "12…! …Huh?"

Kenichi suddenly stopped when he realized he had just miscounted, and with that lapse in concentration, he lost his balance and fell off the logs—Falling to the ground.

Shirou stopped swinging his blade when he noticed that and rolled his eyes. "How did he mess that up?"

On the other hand, Akisame gave him a well-meaning smile. "Right, we'll just knock off here for today. Don't want to push hard."

Both Kenichi and Shirou stopped when they heard him say that, considering it was completely out of character. As Kenichi was picking himself off of the ground, he questioned him. "Okay, what's going on all of a sudden? Normally, when I'd fall, I'd end up dragging you around the city on a tire. So why are you being so nice to me now?"

Akisame merely laughed at that question. "Ahahaha! What do you mean? You know we always treat you as gently as possible around here."

Kenichi obviously didn't buy it, and neither did Shirou. He went up to Shigure and whispered. "Hey, what the heck is he up to?"

"It's not… Something you need… To worry about…" She just gave him a normal stoic response.

"What is going on?" Shirou became more suspicious.

---

After training with Akisame, Kenichi was now inside and currently sparring with Miu while Shirou leaned against the wall and watched. Kenichi tried going on the offensive and charged at him.

But Miu was faster and got behind as she raised her leg and locked her left tricep around his neck before bringing him down and slamming his head on the floor. Giving him a mild concussion.

At that point, Sakaki approached them, also having a good-natured smile. "Hey, hey, ease up there, Miu." He then looked down at him. "You doing okay there, Kenichi?" He then lifted Miu in the air—Playfully, by the back collar of her gi. "Take a break, tiger."

"Ah, yeah?" Miu slowly responded, not used to this unusual situation after a sparring session.

Kenichi coughed before he sat up. "Okay, what's going on here? Why'd you turn into Mr. Compassion all of a sudden? Normally, you'd be yelling something like 'Go on, Miu, kill him'."

"Who me? That's silly." Sakaki said with understanding as he patted Kenichi on the shoulders. "Come on, this Dojo is famous for its gentle training, hahaha." He then walked away as he turned to Shirou. "Your turn with Miu."

"…Yeah?" Shirou replied, also thrown off by his strange attitude. He then went up to Miu and asked. "Hey, what's up, everyone today?"

"Ah, w-well, you see…" Miu nervously stuttered while avoiding eye contact. "It's just… Master stuff."

Shirou and Kenichi just stared at her with a look of skepticism.

"These people are terrible liars." Shirou thought with deprecation.

"What the Hell's going on? Something's up?" Kenichi thought with unease. "It must be a trick. I bet they're setting me up for something dangerous."

---

While Shirou and Miu started sparring, Kenichi kept thinking about what might be going on as he stepped outside and walked along the porch. That was when he heard a loud voice.

"Apachai! Apachai Apachai! Apachai! Apachai!" Apachai ran by while shouting his name like it was a song.

"Hey, Apachai!" Kenichi called out to him.

"Aaahhhh!" Apachai screamed while raising his arms as though something scary had happened. "Apachai doesn't know anything about a plan!"

Kenichi then immediately got in his face. "But I didn't say anything about a plan. What's going on here? What are you guys hiding from me?!"

"Apachai knows nothing! Apachai knows nothing!" He repeated like it was a mantra. "That is the only thing that I am allowed to say to you!"

Kenichi then felt a chill go down his spine as he turned around a saw Shigure staring at him from around the corner. "Oh, Shigure, it's you. Wait, what?" He then noticed she was silently breathing out words to convey a message while Tochumaru held up small word signs, each had a word she was saying. "Run. A. Way?"

Before Kenichi could fully understand her message, a hand reached out from around the corner and grabbed Shigure by the mouth before pulling her away. Seeing that made Kenichi pale as he ran to the corner.

"Hey! What the Hell's going on!?" Unfortunately, as Kenichi looked around the corner, there was no sign of anyone being there, and he just gulped. "But… That hand looked like the Elder."

---

Later that day, all the Masters were gathered in the training hall, and Kenichi finally confronted them. All of the Masters were sitting in a row while Kenichi stood before them.

"Okay! What's the big secret?!" Kenichi snapped at them. "You guys have been acting weird since this morning! Just what are you up to?!"

In response to his questioning, Akisame gave him a question. "Tell me, Kenichi. You do like it here at Ryozanpaku, don't you?"

Kenichi was caught off guard by that question but thought of an answer. "Well, yeah. I mean, it has been pretty tough, but it's important to me."

Hayato smiled with satisfaction. "Well, that answers it." He then turned to Akisame. "This is great. Sounds like Kenichi has agreed."

"Then it's all settled, am I right, men?" Akisame happily turned to Sakaki, Apachai, and Kensei.

Sakaki laughed heartily. "I told you that he'd go for it!"

"Yeah! Hooray!" Apachai threw his arms up in celebration. "We win! Now, let's go eat!"

Now Kenichi was concerned and confused. "Whoa, what do you mean by "all settled"?"

Akisame stared intently at him. "Your status as student, understand?"

Kenichi still looked confused, so, Akisame gave him a full explanation.

"In the old days, a Disciple lived with his Master so that the Master could guide him and pass on all his Martial Arts knowledge. In this way, it was possible to train 24 hours a day. Simply put, the Martial Arts ceased to be a part of life and instead become life itself." He then pointed at Kenichi. "And now we have all decided that this glorious destiny will be yours! Are you lucky or what?!"

"Yaaaaahhhhhhhh!" Kenichi's only answer was to run away as fast as his legs could possibly move, and even faster than that if necessary.

"Good grief." Akisame sighed before shouting angrily. "COME BACK!"

"Catch me if you can, old man!" Kenichi screeched as he ran.

"FINE!" Akisame roared as he slammed his hand on the floor. "TATAMI STRIKE!"

With that, he sent an impact through the floor that sent a powerful wave of tatami mats flying at Kenichi. This took away Kenichi's footing and knocked him into the air. But Kenichi responded by using one of the tatami mats as a spring and jumped forward. He flew like a bullet towards the wooden wall and kicked through it to escape.

Some of the Masters were impressed by this display of skill, as Kensei commented. "Wow."

"This was an excellent idea." Sakaki added, also impressed. "His moves are improving already."

---

Walking along the porch was Miu, and beside her was Shirou. He was still trying to get answers out of her.

"Look, those guys are weird but never like this. Just tell me what it is they're hiding." Shirou asked her again.

"Nothing bad, I promise." Miu attempted to reassure him.

SMASH!

At that exact moment, Sakaki and Hayato smashed their way through the sliding door that was right next to them while chasing Kenichi.

"Hey, Miu!" Sakaki shouted as they blitzed past them.

"Would you two please try NOT to destroy the house!?" Miu snapped at them.

"Now, what's going on?" Shirou wondered as he went after them.

"Aaaaahhh!" Kenichi kept running in a bid to escape as he ran across the courtyard.

Jumping through the air, Sakaki cut off his escape route by going over his head and landing in front of him. Kenichi turned to turn around and run the other way, but then Hayato landed in front of him, and now, he was blocked off at both sides. Before he could try to run again, Hayato grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Hold on." Hayato told him as Kenichi went pale.

---

After getting caught, Kenichi was back in the training hall and tied up by rope. He struggled to break free while the Masters surrounded him.

"Please just let me go! I don't wanna dieeee!" Kenichi begged and pleaded. "It was already hard enough, but if we do this 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, I haven't got a prayerrrrr!"

Akisame tried to placate him. "Think about it, Kenichi—Everybody who's born dies eventually."

Sakaki followed up. "That's right. A long life isn't necessarily a good one."

Kenichi only became more frantic after that. "You guys are murderers! Lunatics! Maniacs! Killers! Assassins! Somebody helppppppp!"

"SHUT UP ALREADY!"

Shirou burst in and immediately went to Kenichi before bringing down his and immediately tearing off the knot around the rope—Causing it to come undone and, thus, setting Kenichi free.

"Shirou?!" Kenichi looked up at him, both surprised and relieved, despite the look of irritation Shirou was giving him.

"I swear if I have to hear that god-forsaken shrieking one more time today, I'm gonna go insane!" Shirou snapped at him.

"Well, you didn't have to break the rope. It wasn't easy tying him up while he was struggling so much." Akisame complained.

"Do you even hear yourself?" Shirou asked while his eye twitched. He then pointed at them. "You people—Stop tying him up every time he tries to run. You're not savages!"

"He has a point." Kensei noted with agreement. "You'll give people the wrong impression about us by doing things like that."

"Yeah, but it works." Sakaki defended their actions.

"And you!" This time, Shirou pointed at Kenichi. "Stop trying to run away all the time when you know they're going to catch you!"

"I can't help it. It's a conditioned reflex at this point." Kenichi lamented.

"Now, someone tell me what's going on here." Shirou demanded of them.

Soon enough, Apachai and Shigure explained to him what they were planning on doing with Kenichi. When he heard it all, Shirou just facepalmed.

"Of all the ideas you have come up with, this is by far one of the dumbest." Shirou bluntly told them.

"What's wrong with it? Personally, I think this is just what Kenichi needs." Hayato reasoned.

"Even if he does need more training, you already push him to the limit as is." Shirou pointed out. "If you're only solution is to work him to death, you'll just break him before anything else."

"Yeah, he's right!" Kenichi insisted in agreement, hoping to convince them. "Besides, why are you making me do this and not Shirou? He'd be a better fit for it."

Akisame sighed before answering. "Kenichi, you won't like what we have to say—" He started as he looked straight before saying. "Does Shirou look like he needs our help to train 24 hours a day?!"

"Aaaaahhhhh!" Kenichi despaired before falling to his knees. "…You're right. He probably already does that right now."

Shirou raised a brow. "And…? How's that a problem."

Kensei then stepped up. "Just step back, gentlemen. Who'd want to become a resident Disciple after those demonstrations? You've got to emphasize the positive aspects of the deal."

"Like what?" Akisame asked curiously.

As Kensei approached, Shirou leaned over to Kenichi and whispered to him. "He's gonna try to trick you. Whatever he says, don't fall for it."

"Right." Kenichi whispered back with determination.

"Listen, Kenichi." Kensei began. "I think you're overlooking some of the fringe benefits you might get by staying with us." He informed him.

"Fringe benefits?" Kenichi repeated nervously.

"To start, you'll be living under the same roof as Miu." Kensei informed him with a sparkle in his eye.

Kenichi froze like a statue upon hearing that. "For the next hour, Kensei explained to me, in detail, all the benefits of living and sleeping at Ryozanpaku, haaaa~" With a flushed and perverted smile, Kenichi gave his final answer. "Right! You guys can count me in! I'll just have to run home real quick and get my parents' permissionnnnnn~" He cheered as he left.

Shirou just stared blankly as he watched him go. "He got railroaded…" Realizing his warning was pointless, he groaned. "Whelp, if he won't even try, then whatever happens from here is his own fault."

Sakaki looked at Kensei with newfound respect. "Kensei, you could sell ice to the Eskimos."

"He is going to be all right with this, isn't he?" Akisame wondered.

"Haha, don't worry, he'll be fine." Hayato assured them, unconcerned. "He's young."

"Woohoo! Yeah!" Kenichi happily danced out the door.

Apachai looked worried as he watched him leave. "Kenichi won't jump up and down for joy when he finds out his new training… Oh, it's too scary for Apachai to think about. Poor guy."

Shigure just looked at him. "…You do know… You're training is the… Scariest, right?"

---

After day turned to night and Shirou returned to his house, he was at the dinner table with his Father and Brother as he informed them of the lasted development that took place at the Dojo.

"Well, it sounds to me that he got railroaded." Haruto noted. "I can't believe they would be so underhanded as to mess around with Kenichi's head like that."

"True, but on some level, he also shares part of the blame for falling for it." Shirou pointed out.

Haruto slumped as he saw his point. "I guess that's true. Every time Miu is involved, rationality goes out the window."

"That's the bloom of youth." Hideki added, not surprised. "For a young, hormonal teenager with no experience with the fairer sex, it's easy to give him the runaround by dangling bait in the form of the girl in his face."

"I know, it was like watching a crooked promoter promising the world to a naive young up-and-comer who couldn't tell he was being scammed." Shirou thought back on how Kensei convinced Kenichi. "He's so focused on living with Miu that he forgot about the fact that they plan on training him to the grave."

"And doesn't Miu live under a different roof than the rest of the Masters?" Haruto remembered. "In which case, they technically won't be living together."

"Something they conveniently forgot to remind him about." Hideki figured with a sigh. "At this point, I'm really starting to feel bad for the guy."

"In any case, the damage has already been done. Let's just hope that they don't get too carried away by this and accidentally break him." Shirou said decidedly.

"Well, even if they tend to go overboard, they're all still highly trained Martial Arts Masters." Hideki pointed out, not as pessimistic. "I'm sure they're capable of training their Disciple while keeping within boundaries."

That's what he thought at the time. Unfortunately, he was giving Ryozanpaku FAR too much credit.

---

The morning, Kenichi stood tall outside the front gates of Ryozanpaku with some luggage he brought from home as he steeled his resolve. Today would be the first day of him being a resident of the Dojo.

"I've finally become a true Disciple of Ryozanpaku." Kenichi thought to himself with a gulp. "From now on, I'll be living here and getting constant training. It's gonna be tough." He slumped his head down. Then he looked up with a flustered and goofy grin. "But! Looking on the bright side, I'll be living under the same roof as Miu~."

He then let his imagination run wide as he pictured himself and Miu being involved in all sorts of inappropriate situations. That only made his grin grow wider.

"That would be—Wonderful~" He said that last part out loud.

"How long are you going to stand outside?"

Kenichi was taken out of his thoughts when he heard Shirou's voice and saw the person in question approaching him from the side.

"Oh, hey, Shirou." Kenichi collected himself. "How's it going?"

"Normal enough, until I saw from a distance, standing there and staring at the gate like a statue for what I'm guessing was a long time." Shirou informed him.

Kenichi sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "My bad, I was just a little excited."

"With you, it's never "a little"." Shirou told him with half-lidded eyes as the gate opened.

Akisame stepped out from the gate and appeared right in front of Kenichi. "I don't like that look."

Only then did Kenichi notice the presence of the philosophical Master and jumped. "Ah! Where did you come from?!"

"Something tells me your thoughts have drifted from training." Akisame noticed.

"Yeah, but that's normal." Shirou thought as he held back the urge just to leave him.

Akisame continued as he took out a training schedule. "Well, we'll just have to get you back on track with an even tougher training schedule."

Kenichi immediately became horrified when he heard that. "I was kidding! I'm not ready to die yet!"

Akisame just laughed out loud after that. "Relax, I was joking."

His reassurance only made Kenichi scowl at him. "This guy's as funny as an open grave."

After that, Miu came out of the gate to greet him with a bright, welcoming smile. "Okay, Kenichi, from this day forward, you're going to be living and working with us. Promise you'll do your best."

Right then, Kenichi brightened up and smiled like a puppy that was reunited with its owner after being apart for a day.

"Yeah, you bet I will!" He replied as he imagined another lewd thought about living with Miu. "If you don't mind, next time, I'll be glad to help you scrub your back~" He offered giddily while slowly waving his open palms up and down.

Right after that, Shirou finally lost his patience and slammed his fist on Kenichi's head to snap him out of his fantasy. It also knocked him to the ground.

"Ow!" Kenichi slowly picked himself back up. "Why'd you do?" He complained.

"A bit of advice. I don't know what you were daydreaming about, but try to keep your imagination in check." Shirou reprimanded him. "Unless you want to go around with the face and hands of a sex offender."

Kenichi instantly realized what kind of face he was making in front of Miu as well as what it looked like he was doing with his hands and became disgruntled. "Aaahhh! That could have ended horribly for meeeeee!"

"Ah, earth to Kenichi? Hello?" Miu waved a hand at him, nervously trying to get his attention. "Everyone's waiting for you inside, you know?"

---

Now, after changing into his training gi and walking towards the training hall, Kenichi prepared to present himself before the Masters of Ryozanpaku.

However, as he opened the door, the Masters were all gathered together and stared down at him while giving off an intense amount of pressure.

Unable to bear all that pressure, Kenichi fell to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut off and lost consciousness as his ghost started to fly out of his body.

.

.

.

.

.

The Masters clearly didn't know what to make of this.

It was at that point that Shirou walked in. The moment he saw Kenichi on the floor in that state, he looked up at the Masters with a look of accusation. "Alright, what did you guys do?"

"Hey, we aren't responsible for this." Kensei defended himself.

Apachai went up to Kenichi and lifted his body upside down like a rag doll. "Hey! Kenichi?!" He then started waving his limp body around. "You okay?! Hello!"

"He's completely lost consciousness." Kensei realized.

"This doesn't look too promising, we haven't even started the training yet, and he passes out." Sakaki complained with annoyance.

"How did this happen anyways?" Shirou asked with confusion.

"We're not sure?" Akisame confessed. "He just walked in and then fainted."

Shirou blinked before he groaned after he heard that. "Geez, it's like he's trying to make himself look bad."

At that moment, Kenichi finally woke up in surprise as Hayato stood before his upside-down head.

"Are you awake now?" Hayato questioned him seriously. "From this day forward, you're officially a Disciple of Ryozanpaku."

Kenichi released himself from Apachai's grasp and stood up straight to show his respect. "Right!"

"To formalize and honor this new relationship, from this moment on, you will address each of us as Master." Sakaki instructed him, also serious.

"They're all acting so different than usual. This must be serious." Kenichi thought with a hint of nervousness. Then he spoke out loud. "Yes! Master Sakaki!"

"I can't hear you." Sakaki responded.

"You clearly could." Shirou told him blankly.

"Yeah, well…" Sakaki stuttered before saying. "He could still say it louder. You know, to show his seriousness."

"And let me guess: You're going to keep making him say it louder by constantly saying "I can't hear you" just to see how many times you can get him to say it?" Shirou accurately deduced, almost fed up with them.

Akisame crossed his arms with disappointment. "Well, that's no fun. You ruined it by telling him."

"I should have known that these guys would try to set me up." Kenichi commented deadpan.

"Well, it's time to get down to business." Akisame announced, now being serious again.

"Oh, yes, Sen-I mean Master!" Kenichi corrected himself as he responded.

"Before we do, I have a single request, okay?" Akisame leaned closer and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Kenichi sweated a little. "Oh, sure."

Akisame then placed both hands on his shoulder and emotionally requested. "Don't die on me."

"What kind of crazy training schedule have you guys planned for meeee!?" Kenichi snapped, very afraid of that implication.

Akisame stepped back and told him. "Try to picture the toughest, most terrifying training you can possibly imagine."

Kenichi did so and thought back to mainly all the training that Akisame put him through. Just remembering it, all caused him to cringe.

"So, did you imagine it?" Akisame asked him with a quiet tone. "Now, imagine that was Heaven."

.

.

.

Kenichi responded in the only way he knew how—By trying to run away, but he never made it out the door as Hayato grabbed him by the back of his Gi.

"Come back here!" Hayato dragged him back in.

"SOMEONE SAVE ME!" Kenichi cried out.

"Oh yeah, you can tell that this'll be constructive." Shirou commented sarcastically.

---

The first one to train him was Akisame. They went outside to a tall, wooden, pull-up bar where Kenichi's ankles were tied to the top of the bar, and he was hanging upside down while Akisame was fanning an open fire beneath him that was inches away from touching his stomach.

"Aaaaahhhhh!" Kenichi cried out in pain as he swung his upside-down back and forth to avoid the flames. "You maniaaaaac!"

"I call this—The squid dance." Akisame said lightly while fanning the flames.

"Giving it a cute name isn't gonna make it any less deadly!" Kenichi snapped furiously at him while he kept swinging. "You know this is attempted murder! If I don't flip over to my back in time, my stomach is gonna get totally fried! Is this supposed to strengthen my back muscles and my abdominals!?"

"When a person's life is in danger, they push themselves beyond the limits of their normal abilities. However, someone like you—Who has absolutely no natural ability whatsoever will never advance beyond novice level unless you aren't pushed to life-threatening extremes during training." Akisame explained, still unfazed by all this. "It requires a delicate touch to control the flame. This technique is similar to that of grilling a fish."

"But I'm not a squid or a fish! I'm a Disciple!" Kenichi shouted while fearing for his life.

---

Next, he was being trained by Shigure. Her training started with having Kenichi stand perfectly still, having assumed a position where he bends his knees and spreads his legs apart, also holding out his arms to his sides widely.

Shigure then placed apples on top of his femurs, wrists, and biceps.

"Don't move…" Shigure warned him while placing a final apple on top of his head. "…Don't even twitch."

"Maybe I'm just overreacting, but I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this…" Kenichi thought unnervingly before asking. "And, what is this training method supposed to teach me?"

Shigure then reached for her Sword. "It's supposed to… Help you overcome your fear… That's my guess."

"Uh, you guess?" Kenichi went pale.

Shigure drew her weapon and slashed at blindingly speed. Kenichi screamed with fear as Shigure sliced all the apples cleanly in half and didn't put a scratch on Kenichi. The shock of it all made Kenichi's breathing become shallow.

Of course, Shigure didn't plan to let him catch his breath as she brought out another weapon. "Next up is… Throwing Stars."

Kenichi didn't respond at first, then noticed Akisame hiding behind a nearby tree and writing something down in a book.

The Judo Master then came out of hiding and proclaimed loudly. "There is only one thing that matters in a fight—And that's courage!"

Kenichi stared at him while Shigure began placing apples on him again as he thought. "I bet this was your idea."

---

They moved on to Sakaki's turn. His training was simple and straightforward. Kenichi's lower body was tied up so his posture would stay as straight as a board. Sakaki then held him by the rope and ran forward.

The idea was Kenichi had to run with his arms at the same place that Sakaki ran with his legs. If Kenichi slowed down or got outpaced by Sakaki, who was holding him up, his face would collide with the ground.

"Come on! You need to go a lot faster than that! Slowpoke!" Sakaki shouted as he ran. "Your legs are 3x stronger than your arms! Why's that?! Because you walk with your legs! That's how I figure it! Hahaha!"

"Stop pushing! I can't take it anymore!" Kenichi pleaded as he could barely keep up.

"Go faster, and I'll stop!" Sakaki told him with a laugh.

Kenichi couldn't keep up anymore, and his face hit the ground. But Sakaki didn't stop running, and so Kenichi's face was forcefully dragged across the dirt ground as he ran.

"This guy's gonna kill me!" Kenichi thought with a grimace. While this was happening, he noticed Akisame was still writing something down. He shouted through the pain. "What are you writing?!"

Sakaki kept running back and forth around the courtyard as he laughed. "This is fun, Donkey!"

Akisame proclaimed once again. "If you want to increase the effectiveness of your attacks quickly, then you've got to make your punches as powerful as your kicks and your kicks as accurate as your punches—Signed Akisame."

Shirou just watched them with complete abhorred look on his face. "How big of idiots are these guys?! Did they just scrape the training idea and decide just to crush him or something?!"

Atop one of the walls around the courtyard nearby, Hideki and Haruto were there. They came to watch what kind of training Kenichi would be going through today, and needless to say, this was not what they were expecting.

Haruto was jaw dropped as he watched. "Why is it that every time I assume they can't get any worse, they end up showing me otherwise? Have they lost it?"

"This isn't even training anyone." Hideki looked like he couldn't bear to watch something he thought was completely idiotic. "This is basically like telling someone who just removed the training wheels from his bike to ride a motorcycle. Telling him to finish a course while not caring how many times he crashes."

---

Now it was sunset, and they moved back inside the training hall. The last one to train him for today was Apachai—Who was already wearing his gloves.

"Finally! It's Apachai's turn now!" He cheered with excitement.

Kenichi shrieked in fear of him as he backed away into the corner of the room. Apachai merely gave him a warm smile.

"Hey, it's okay! Akisame said Kenichi needs a break! So Apachai should go easy on the dangerous stuff!" Apachai reassured him.

"Huh? So what exactly are we gonna do?" Kenichi asked, still afraid.

"Just regular free punching!" Apachai exclamation while pounding his fists together.

"That's the most dangerous thing of allll!" Kenichi cried out as Apachai prepared to begin. "AAAAAHHHHHHH!"

---

Once again, Miu was walking by the porch. She suddenly sensed something coming towards her and moved back. Though, that something turned out to be Kenichi, who was blasted through the wall.

"Kenichi?!" Miu voiced her concern and ran over to him as Kenichi lay on the ground in an unresponsive daze. "Are you okay?! Speak to me! Kenichiiiii!"

---

The day had finally come to an end as Kenichi was laid out flat on the floor of his new room. He now had his own room in the same dormitory that the Masters lived in. Right now, Shirou sat beside him.

Kenichi let out a grief-filled cry. "Those guys are gonna kill me~! I just know it!"

"For once, I agree." Shirou added, not being sarcastic this time.

Kenichi then sat up with a horrifying realization. "If I'm dead, my lovey-dovey will never succeed!"

Shirou resisted the urge to facepalm. "Because I know you've had a really rough day today. I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear that."

Kenichi thought back to the whispers of persuasion that Kensei had given him the day before.

(Hey, this is the best situation you could hope for, you never know what could happen if you leave two young people alone together and let the old hormones work. I wish this had happened to me when I was your age.)

After saying those words, both he and Kenichi shared a vulgar and perverted laugh. But, of course, now, Kenichi was forced to see the truth was nothing like he had imagined.

"Yeah, right. Instead, they're making me stay at a separate dormitory with all the Masters." Kenichi lamented. "Miu's in the main house."

"Yeah, it's too bad that no one tried to warn you that he was going to trick you." Shirou reminded him, now being sarcastic. "If only you had some way of knowing."

"All right, I get it. You told me so." Kenichi admitted with regret. "I just couldn't help myself. It all just sounded too tempting to turn down."

"And that's a good way to know that it's never the truth." Shirou advised him.

"That's it!" Kenichi went over to his large backpack. "I'm not going to stay here and die in this Hell hole! I hope I remembered to bring that book with me!" After fishing through his bag, Kenichi found what he was looking for and brought out a How-To book. "Found it! The How To Break Out Of Prison manual!"

Shirou just looked at him like he was an idiot. "You can't be serious."

Kenichi started scrolling through the pages. "Okay, what am I supposed to do at a time like this? Maybe dig a hole? No, I'm on the second floor—"

"Stop, stop, let me stop you right there." Shirou interrupted him. "Before you go any further, try to think logically about what I'm about to tell you—If breaking out of prison was so simple that anyone could do it just by reading that book, wouldn't Japan be swarming with escaped convicts by now?"

"….…" Kenichi just paused as it took a moment for him to process that perfectly reasonable argument. "Aaaaaahhhhhh?!" He cried out in realization.

"If I told you once, I've told you 100 times: Nothing in those books actually works. Get a clue already." Shirou reprimanded him with annoyance.

"Then what am I supposed to do?!" Kenichi cried out as he threw the book to the floor.

Just then, as the book spread open, a piece of paper fell out of one of the pages. Kenichi noticed that and picked it up to see that it was a folded note.

"Huh, what's this?" Kenichi opened it up and saw a message written on the paper. "A letter from my Dad?"

"What's it say?" Shirou asked as he looked at it as well.

Kenichi sat down the read through it.

Dear son. Though I don't know how many days it's been since you left, if you're reading this, it means you're thinking about quitting. Just remember that your Mother and I believe in you. I know you can triumph over any obstacle. Don't run away, son.

—Signed Dad

Reading all that and now understanding the faith his Father had in him, Kenichi started to cry softly, this time from joy. He then wore a more upbeat smile.

"Well, he's right. It is only the first day." Kenichi proclaimed, much more positive than before. "Thanks, Dad, you've reminded me that I can't run away! I will not be defeated!"

Despite his declaration, Shirou stared at the letter for a moment. "While your Dad had the right idea about jumpstarting your motivation, I'm pretty sure he didn't expect you to need this after only a day."

Kenichi stopped and sheepishly tried to avert his eyes. He then decided to ask. "By the way, I've been wondering, how come you're still here? I thought you would have gone home already."

"I'm getting in some late-night training." Shirou explained to him. "Since everyone spent most of the day on you, I had to wait a while until my turn." He then stood up. "Hopefully, I can work more on Shigure's Kodachi training."

Kenichi shivered a bit after hearing that. "Is that really necessary? I'd personally like to avoid weapons."

"Well, we're fundamentally different, also…" Shirou went up to the door and knocked on it. "If you're so interested in what's going on in here, quit eavesdropping and come in!"

Disgruntled noises came from the other side of the door, and Kenichi gasped before he ran up to the door and quickly opened it. There, he saw Kensei and Akisame sitting in the hallway, playing Shogi, right outside of his room, whilst Sakaki was leaning against the wall. All of them looked caught.

"What do you think you're doing eavesdropping around my room!?" Kenichi snapped angrily at them.

"It's not how it looks. We were just checking to see that you weren't too put out after all that training." Akisame hoped to defend their actions. "After all, staying in the right frame of mind is also important for a Martial Artist."

Kenichi didn't look like he believed him at all, but then Kensei went up to him. "Still, though, you did train pretty hard today. So, I thought it's time I give you some encouragement."

"Eh?" Kenichi only looked confused at him.

"I feel like I should warn him not to listen to him, but I doubt he'd listen." Shirou thought after hearing Kensei.

---

A few minutes later, Kenichi and Kensei were outside the Dojo, and Kenichi just looked around in confusion.

"Okay, what are we doing out here now?" Kenichi asked, somewhat reluctant to find out. "Is this some kind of "night combat" training?"

"Well, I suppose that's one way you could look at it." Kensei told him with a bit of anticipation.

Kenichi's eyes widened as a thought entered his head. "I think I've heard about this before. in Chinese Martial Arts, the Master will sometimes select a special Disciple and then teach them their ultimate secret technique when no one else is around."

Kensei turned away and instructed him. "Follow me."

With that single instruction, he started walking forward while Kenichi obeyed and walked close behind him. As they walked, they entered the large forest area that was outside of the Dojo and yet, still within the walls. After walking for a while, Kenichi started looking around and marveled at how much forest land there was.

"Wow, this place is huge. It just goes on and on." Kenichi noticed with wonder. "Amazing."

And walking even deeper into the woods, they finally arrived at the spot Kensei was searching for. As he came to a halt and made Kenichi do the same.

"Get down…" Kensei whispered as he quickly pulled Kenichi and himself behind a bush.

Beyond the bushes, Kenichi could scarcely make out steam rising not too far away. "Huh? What's that? It looks like steam rising over there?"

"Shussssh!" Kensei quickly shushed him from being too loud before he whispered again. "Idiot, it's a natural hot spring."

"Whaaaa?!" Kenichi gasped in disbelief. "You mean like for bathing—"

"Shush!" Kensei rushed to cover his mouth to keep him quiet as they both kept their heads down. "Shut up—A couple of years ago, Apachai started digging at that spot for no apparent reason. He struck the spring after three days."

"Hold on." Kenichi quietly escaped his grasp. "Uh, but I thought this was gonna be another dangerous training session?"

"Hmm?" Kensei merely gestured towards the spring.

"Gah?!" It was then that Kenichi finally understood what his intentions were. "Do you mean that, bathing in that hot spring right now—?"

"Haha, took you long enough, kid." Kensei sneakily confirmed his suspension.

The truth was that Kensei had brought him to this location with the intention of attempting to peek at Miu and or Shigure, who he had predicted would be bathing in the hot spring right now.

"Come on, Master, I don't think this is the way a gentleman like yourself should behave." Kenichi scolded him with disapproval. "We should probably head back to the Dojo."

It was worth noticing that Kenichi's words didn't match his actions at all, as while Kensei was crawling on the ground to move in to get a closer look stealthily, Kenichi was doing the exact same thing.

"Oh, is that so? Then why did you come along?" Kensei asked with a perverted look on his face.

"Well, I… I'm just trying to stop you, is all." Kenichi lied, also having a perverted look on his face. "Master~ Please don't do this~."

"You're sneakier than I thought~" Kensei complimented him with amusement.

They both laughed quietly with anticipation as they pressed on, slowly and silently crawling against the ground. Before going too far, though, Kensei stopped again.

"Okay, hold it…" Kensei warned him as he picked up a small stick and pushed it against a hidden tripwire in front of them.

Of cutting the tripwire, a trap was activated, and a bamboo spear was fired as it pierced a spot on the ground, only inches away from their heads.

Kenichi silently shrieked while Kensei remained calm. "A little surprise left by Shigure. They'll be more of them as we get closer to the hot spring."

"No matter what the danger, I will never desert my Master." Kenichi promised him. "Let's go."

With that, the two of them began their long journey through the field of traps that separated them from the hot spring. They avoided more spears that were hanging on top of trees, escaped pitfalls with spikes at the bottom, and dodged arrows that were fired from both sides. During this time of hardship, the two men began to form a special bond, one that surpassed the normal tie of a Master and his Disciple. The two became friends. After finally reaching their destination, their eyes lit up.

[Jackpot!] Both of them grinned as they raced forward.

As they rushed forward while crawling, they now began fighting each other off so that they could get their first.

"Hey, Master, no fair, you're cutting!" Kenichi complained as he tried to pull him back.

"A Disciple follows the Master!" Kensei complained back as he tried to push him away. "It's a 4000-year-old tradition!"

However, not long after becoming friends, the two were back at each other's throats because of their libido. As they kept fighting through the bushes, they soon had their heads right in front of the hot spring and were able to see the person who was currently bathing rise up from the water.

SPLASH!

"What are you two idiots doing?! If you're going to come in, then hurry up?!"

Unfortunately, for the two perverts, the one who appeared from the hot spring and stood before them was neither Shigure nor Miu. Instead, it was the Elder—Hayato Fuurinji.

Kensei was so shocked that his jaw dropped while his body shook. Kenichi was even worse as his body lost all of its colors, and his ghost flew out of his body.

Before they could even try to run, Hayato grabbed them both by their collars and lifted them up in the air, right above the hot spring.

"Uh, sorry about that." Kensei said awkwardly. "I thought you took your bath earlier in the night."

Hayato just laughed heartily. "Kensei! After all these years, do you really think I can't figure out what you're up to?! Now then, why don't you two perverts relax with a nice bath?!"

With a mighty push, Hayato dunked Kenichi and Kensei headfirst into the water and kept them there. While underwater, Kenichi and Kensei were somehow able to communicate their thoughts to each other.

"Master! I'm so sorry!" Kenichi apologized with lamentation.

"Don't worry. It'll happen someday!" Kensei promised him.

Hayato then lifted them out of the water and still held them up as he let out a relaxed sigh. "You know, this is training too. And, so you know, you should never ever surrender just because you failed one or two times—Whether it's fighting or peeking at a hot spring! Hahahahaha!"

While he laughed, Kenichi just wore a sad, tired smile. "I'll do my best… At both."

---

Later that night, after that whole mess was behind them, they returned to the Dojo for the night. Now, there were only two people who were still outside.

CLASH!

The sounds of metal colliding against metal echoed throughout the night as two people battled each other with weapons.

Though, battling may not be the most accurate description as this was just another training session—A session between Shirou and Shigure. Right now, they were in the middle of sparring as both of them were wielding Kodachis. Currently, Shirou was breathing heavier, but not too much, and his shirt had several small cuts around it, and so did his face. Shigure, on the other hand, seemed perfectly fine and didn't have a scratch.

"Ha!" Shirou swung his weapon with ferocity.

Shigure used her's to block his blade. They kept this up with Shigure defending against his strikes, as Shirou's objective for this training was to find a way to overcome her defense and land a clean hit.

"Sharper…" Shigure instructed him while still deflecting his attacks. "…Don't be too… Straightforward when… You attack."

Shirou was nothing if not a fast learner as he stepped in to attack again. Their weapons clashed, but it was only a momentary one this time as he then used the Stepping Method to dash into her blind spot and thrust his Kodachi towards the back of her neck.

CLANG!

"…Good, use your… Location to your advantage…" Shigure told him as she easily blocked his attack again with her blade. "It's… Easier to execute… A sneak attack under… The cover of night."

"Sounds pretty sarcastic coming from you, considering you blocked it without looking." Shirou replied as he backed away.

"You let out… Too much intent when… You attack…" Shigure informed him. "Keep your mind… Clear and your… Nerves serene."

Shirou twirled his Kodachi about before he prepared to go again. Shigure, however, her stance was open, as if she wasn't worried about defense anymore. Then, she stepped forward.

"Now then…" Shigure started. "How do you… Deal with an attack… Like this?"

That was all she said as she immediately closed the distance between them, and this time, Shigure was the one who attacked. Her arm flashed like a Cobra as she swung her Kodachi at Shirou's, and the result was—It was knocked into the air and out of his hands.

Now that was suddenly disarmed, Shirou only had a fraction of a second to respond before being cut down. But Shirou already knew what to do at a time like this and moved.

Instead of moving back, he moved forward and reached out his arms. He grabbed Shigure by the front of her kimono and pulled, preparing to lift her off of the ground. While doing so, he reached out again, this time towards her arm, attempting to steal her Kodachi from her.

But before his hand could even touch her weapon. She aimed her free arm at him, and a chain shot out from her sleeve. The chain wrapped around his body and tied him up. With that, it was settled.

"You made… The correct choice…" Shigure told him as she approached. "When you… Lose your weapon, the first… Option should be to… Steal your opponent's one… But, always be aware of… The potential weapon they… Have hidden."

Shirou rolled his eyes. "Being aware wasn't going to help when facing you. I'm pretty sure you've got at least a dozen weapons hidden up your sleeve right now."

Shigure didn't respond and released him from the chain. She then put it and both the Kodachi away. After that, she looked at her as if she was inspecting her body after training.

"What?" Shirou wondered what she was doing.

"Follow me…" Shigure merely instructed.

She walked off towards the forest area without another, and Shirou decided to follow after her to see where she would lead him.

---

After walking through the woods for a while, Shirou wondered where exactly she was taking him. She didn't speak at all. She just walked.

Before long, Shirou noticed something in the distance and squinted his eyes to try to make it out. "Wait, is that steam?"

"Not much further…"

Shigure finally spoke as she walked through a patch of bushes. Shirou walked through them after her and saw where they had arrived—A large, steamy, natural hot spring.

"Wow, there's a hot spring here?" Shirou clearly didn't expect that this was where they were going.

Shigure started to untie her kimono while she explained. "A few… Years ago, Apachai… Made it, accidentally."

"Accidentally?" Shirou repeated, not knowing how that even made sense. "Anyways, what are we doing here?"

"Obviously… We're going to… Take a bath?" Shigure answered like it was no problem.

"Okay…" Shirou responded, still sounding more confused than shocked or flustered. "But why are we going to do that?"

"You got really… Torn up during training… So, this'll… Help you recover…" Shigure explained while she was undressing. "And… The Elder said… He needed it alone… Earlier, so I haven't… Had a chance to… Take one yet."

"So, you think the most productive solution is to take one together?" Shirou figured out her train of thought.

"…Yes."

Shirou felt that a bath did sound like a good idea right now, and while sharing it with Shigure was a bit unusual, it wasn't to the point where he'd really worry about it. Thus, he decided to just go with it and started to undress as well.

After they both left their clothes in two neat piles near a tree, both the Master and Disciple entered the hot spring. They both relaxed. Neither one of them seemed to mind the fact that they were bathing with someone of the opposite sex as they let the hot spring refresh their bodies.

While sitting there, Shigure took a closer look at his upper body and moved in closer as she brushed her hand against his torso.

"What's wrong?" Shirou asked, not upset but just confused.

"Your muscles are… Rough but developed…" Shigure noticed as she looked up at him. "And… You have wounds that have… Been treated and healed… All over your body."

"How can you tell?" Shirou questioned. She was right, but he didn't know how she knew.

"I'm… Good at noticing… Details…" Shigure answered him. "You must… Have gotten injured… A lot throughout training… All those years."

"Well, it looks like you're the opposite." Shirou pointed out, looking over Shigure's bare skin. "Despite being a weapons Master, you don't have a single scar or visible, lasting wound anywhere. What's up with that?"

"That's because… Of how my… Master trained me…" Shigure merely responded.

"Her Master?" Shirou's eyes widened when he heard that. "Now that I think about it, up until now, I had just assumed that all the Masters were self-taught like Akisame, but does this mean that some of them had Masters of their own?" He wondered deeply about this before deciding it would just be easier to ask. "Hey, Shigure—"

Before he could say anything else, there was a sound that entered their ears. It was the sound of the bushes ruffling, meaning someone else was heading for the hot spring.

"Hey, Shigure, are you there already?" Miu's voice called out through the bushes.

"Miu?" Shirou thought, recognizing her voice.

"Yes…" Shigure said out loud.

The sound of Miu removing whatever clothes she was wearing could be heard as she continued talking. "Okay, give me a second. I'll be right in."

It only took a few seconds for Miu to completely undress before she stepped through the bushes and stood at the edge of the hot spring.

"Grandpa said he was done for tonight, so—"

Miu stopped. She froze when she saw that right next to Shigure was Shirou, sitting there in the hot spring.

.

.

.

Whether Miu was just surprised or frozen with shock, it didn't take long for her mind to fully process the fact that she was standing in front of Shirou with her Naked body in clear view without even so much as a towel.

"Kyaaaaa!" Miu shrieked as she moved faster than even Kenichi when he was running away and hid behind a nearby tree.

Although she was only partially concealed, as some of her body could still be seen—The tree wasn't that wide.

"Could you not yell so loud? It's the middle of the night." Shirou complained nonchalantly.

"You'll… Disturb the neighborhood…" Shigure added stoically.

Miu peeked her head out from the tree. Her whole face was red. "W-why are you here, Shirou?"

He pointed to Shigure. "She brought me here."

"I figured we… Could both use a… Bath." Shigure explained.

"That doesn't mean it's okay to bathe together!" Miu snapped with embarrassment. "Why can't you be more modest?!"

"You know we can still see you?" Shirou informed her, causing her to yip and crouch down while turning away. "Nope, I can still see you, especially your ass."

"…If you don't want… To be seen… The best place… To hide is in… The water…" Shigure advised her.

"Umm!" Miu groaned as she stood up and covered herself as best as she could. "Fine, but Shirou! Stop looking at me!"

"Don't feel like." Shirou brushed aside her discomfort.

Deciding that she didn't want this to last longer than necessary, Miu bit her lip and dashed at top speed—Resembling a blur, before landing in the hot spring with a splash. She then sat there, letting the water submerge everything beneath her neck.

"This is so embarrassing…" Miu grumbled while blushing.

"Oh, calm down. You think you're the first pair of tits I've seen?" Shirou told her, not being delicate. "I've seen plenty."

"That doesn't make me feel better at all!" Miu shouted with dismay. "I'm not supposed to show my bare skin to anyone right now!"

Shigure leaned over to inform. "…It's traditional for… A Japanese girl only… Show her bare skin… After marriage."

Shirou's eyes lids were half-open as he responded. "Oh yeah, her dream was to be "a beautiful bride" wasn't it?"

Miu only became more embarrassed when that topic was brought up. "I wish you guys wouldn't talk about that." She then turned to Shigure. "Shigure, why are you even okay with this? You always get mad when Kensei tries dirty stuff, so why isn't this bothering you?"

"Because he's… Not Kensei…" Shigure answered like it wasn't even a question.

"Maybe, but…" Miu submerged deeper, not liking how little control she had over the situation.

Shirou looked up at the sky and thought. "Well, it was an odd end to a strange day. Still, I'm not looking forward to seeing how Kenichi will react when he eventually finds out I bathed with Miu—An action that was the whole reason he moved in here in the first place."

—…

---

And that's the chapter.

This was the chapter where Kenichi finally became a resident of Ryozanpaku. Something he decided on without thinking and instantly regretted—But hey, we've all been there.

At first, I thought maybe it might not be necessary for my story, but when I thought about it again, I realized that as long as Shirou is around, Kenichi will have fewer chances to shine, so he needs more training.

Plus, I added that fight scene in the earlier parts of the chapter to point out the fact that Kenichi doesn't get many fights, and that was something Niijima wanted to fix—For selfish reasons. I also added that scene because it was something that originally happened in the Manga but was cut from the Anime, but I felt like I could use it, so I kept it.

Anyways thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed. If you want more, leave a review. If you liked the story, click the follow/favorite. If you want an earlier release, feel free to become a patron, and as always, have an awesome day.