"Only a coward beats a man when he's already out!" Ally said, setting Shaz behind her and Kiro. She got into an aggressive stance and was going to counter any attack this man threw. She wasn't doing this for Shaz, she was doing this for Kiro. Kiro was in no condition to fight, any fight against Kiro or Shaz would be unfair. She figured all she would have to do would be a hard counter and the man might back off. When she heard Niijima's cries to Kiro she shook her head, "Don't think I forgot that you're the reason Kiro has to go against either of these men!" She clenched her fists and got ready to defend Kiro.

"Suit yourself, you idiots!" Taro exclaimed, as he rose his bat up in the air. Simultaneously, all of his lackeys charged into action. He had no intentions of a fair fight for anyone, just as long as the job got done.

Too many came at once, as several people came swinging at Ally with bats and knives. "So, you think you're tough, huh!?" One yelled out as he attacked.

There were too many for Ally to stop at once, as a man swung his steel baton over Kiro's head.

Kiro quickly moved into a high block, as his forearm took all of the damage. He winced, taking a step back, as while he had prevented a very fatal injury, it was still something heavy to take no matter where you were hit. Kiro ignored the pain in his left arm, as the man came swinging back for another try. Kiro used the move Shin taught him, as he hit away the hand with his own before bringing the back of his loose palm straight up to the attacker's chin.

The thug flinched, as the swift hand came towards him, but smirked once he assumed he had narrowly dodged the attack. "Ha, you missed, kid!" He laughed, as he charged for another attack. He froze just before his baton could hit Kiro, as his legs started to wobble. "What the-!? What the heck did you do to me!?" He frantically demanded an answer, as he suddenly collapsed to the ground, his baton rolling off on the ground.

Kiro sighed in relief, as he whispered a silent thank you to his karate master, Shin. The ability to be able to take out an opponent with a single hand was a very useful, and sometimes crucial thing to learn.

"Forget them, guys! If we take out Shaz, then Zangief might let us take over his position!" One reasoned, as three people went in to attack the wounded man at once while his two allies were distracted.

Kiro quickly jumped in front of Shaz, as took all three attacks at once. He took a hard punch, and two bats at either side of his ribs. He grunted, as the pain of the bats were beyond measurable for Kiro. The man felt the taste of blood in mouth, as he started to lose his form. He quickly regained his position, as he stood strong to face the bullies. "I won't let you lay a finger on him while he's out!" He angrily exclaimed, sticking by his principles and morals.

"W-What's this dude made out of!?" One attacker stuttered.

"How can someone stand after being hit like that!? I didn't even hold back!" Another one questioned, as he took a step back.

"Look, his crazy karate girlfriend, too!" The third exclaimed, as he pointed over to the other fight going on.

Niijima chuckled. "That's right, you big oafs! These guys are stronger than you could ever imagine! This guy?" He pointed over to Kiro. "Jiu Jitsu, karate, he even knows some weird Chinese stuff you ain't even heard of!" Niijima bragged to villains, as he continued to laugh, as if they had already won the battle.

"He's bluffing, guys!" One of Kiro's three attackers assured the other two, as he raised his bat high in the air for another swing.

Kiro took him out in two swift punches this time, as the bully's swing was fairly slow in comparison to any of his masters' own fists. His breathing became rapid, as he turned to face the other two. Kiro suddenly collapsed to his knees, as he completely let down his guard. His body ached, as it pleaded for him to rest.

Ally's heart began to beat fast as the men charged forward, right at her. She got into a more defensive stance since there were too many. Two swung bats, so she swiftly dropped down and sweep kicked them, but before she could regain her stance, a baton came right for her head! She sprung away right into the blow of a bat, it smashing right into her ribs. It hurt, but she had been through worse.

Despite the blow, she got up into her stance again, but as soon as she was up, a knife sliced right across her arm. This shocked her, as she let out a small yelp and faced the attacker. He had an awkward grip on the knife, so she grabbed his hand and twisted it hard, even hearing a small pop! He let out a cry and dropped the knife right into her hand. She pushed the man down and tossed the knife across the room, away from the fight, only to be faced with another two men, one with a bat and one with a knife.

The batter swung level with her chest while the knifeman thrusted his weapon. The knife was faster than the bat, so she disarmed the knifeman. Once the wooden bat was close enough, she hopped up over it and slammed it to the ground using her body weight and gravity. The bat splintered and broke and the man was disarmed. She sent a swift tornado kick, something Shin taught her years ago, to the man's head. "What the-?!" he stammered before being knocked out. She didn't know if it was a "seventh sense" or something, but she instinctively slammed her elbow down behind her, hitting the disarmed knifeman in the back of the head.

Ally turned around to make sure Kiro was okay, but he was being ganged up on by two men and he was down. She didn't hear any of their previous comments as she was busy taking on her own attackers.

The batter held his bat up high, prepared to take the final blow on Kiro, but Ally rushed him from behind, wrapping her legs around his lower stomach and choking him while making him release his grip on the bat. He stumbled a bit as he tried to breath, but this move restricted breathing in the trachea and diaphragm. This was a ground move, a Jiu Jitsu move, not a standing move, so when his buddy slammed the dropped bat into her kidneys, her grip loosened and she dropped off the man. The first man was gasping, still purple in the face, but the second man was going for another strike. Ally stepped forward just when the bat was about to swing and slammed her elbow right into the man's nose. She quickly chopped him in the neck and he was down.

For the final, gasping man, Ally uppercut him in the face while he was bent over and he toppled down, still catching his breath and now trying to ease the bleeding.

Ally returned to Kiro, but gave him space. He needed whatever oxygen he could get and she wasn't going to crowd him. "That was awesome, Kiro," she told the man as he continued to recover. She was going to give him all the time in the world since he had been through so much in less than an hour. Heck, even she didn't go through many group fights like this.

Her mind went to Asuka. The woman taught her Jiu Jitsu all her life in hopes to keep her safe and yet somehow that was her disadvantage in this fight. Jiu Jitsu didn't work well in group fights, nor did it work well in standing fights unless you could perform a takedown. In this fight She called upon the teachings of the other masters. When performing the choke she knew well that she would be at the disadvantage, but what else could she do? The pain in her back was gone now and she had no regrets protecting Kiro.

Ally looked at the bats, batons, and knives scattered across the floor and shuddered. Any of these weapons could've spelled their last breath.

"Clearly," Kiro's breath was rapid, as he stared across the floor as well, taking in the view of the various weapons and bodies. "Your definition of awesome must be a lot different than mine." He didn't laugh like he would normally; Kiro simply stared off in the distance. He felt lightheaded, and almost off in his own, far off world.

Niijima kicked Taro hard in the gut, as he laughed maniacally. "Next time, perhaps you will remember the true rulers of the school; Niijima and his two loyal underlings!" He continued to laugh, as he rested a single foot on the bully's face. He coughed awkwardly, as he casted a glance back at Ally and Kiro. He pulled his PDA out just enough so he could see half of the screen. "My, my, will you look at the time?" He commented calmly, as he shoved it back in his pocket. "My class is already halfway over; I didn't even hear the warning bell." He commented openly, as he stepped over the various bodies to make it to the door. "Well, see you kids around, I can't be tarnishing my reputation too badly by missing classes. Bravo on the fight, and all that, Kiro. The people loved you out there, the underdog." Niijima yawned boredly, as he exited the room. He really was a cold and heartless young teen.

(sorry for the horrible post. XDD)

"Next time you'll be the underdog!" Ally yelled after Niijima. "Come on, Kiro, let's get out of here."

~~~Mini Skip to the Dojo~~~

Ally helped Kiro as much as she could, but he was pretty stubborn. She pushed open the gates to the dojo and let Kiro come in. Asuka was the first one to see the two. "What happened to Kiro?" she rushed over.

"It was that guy Shaz, the Judo guy," Ally said, "Niijima tricked us into following him. It was a set up fight and Kiro fought Shaz. Kiro won, but this guy- Did his name start with a T?- his gang ambushed us. Kiro got the worse of it."

"That's terrible. Kiro, come on, I'm gonna get you cleaned up," Asuka said, waving for him to follow her. She wasn't sure if they were okay to train today or not. Then she considered what happened. "Wait, Kiro did you really beat Shaz? That's amazing! I knew Jiu Jitsu would pay off!" She picked up the boy in a tight hug, but then remembered his injuries. "Oh, sorry, sorry. I'm just so proud!" For a moment, the fear of Kiro being attacked by bigger and badder foes was erased from her mind.

"You're fine, you're fine!" Kiro laughed, as he rubbed his right shoulder gently, the spot where Asuka had really agitated. "Really, I can't seem to thank you guys enough for all you've been doing for me." He awkwardly explained, as he continued to laugh.

"Really now, Asuka, you think it was those silly Jiu Jitsu moves that helped the kid out?" Bakusa laughed mockingly (it wasn't a very convincing one, really.), as he leaned against the doorframe. "Why don't you tell her, Kiro? It wasn't nothing but the Science of the Eight Limbs that helped you defeat that Judo-freak." He proceeded to demonstrate how Kiro had PROBABLY taken the bully out, showing a series of swift elbow and knee combinations.

Nervous, Kiro started to sweat profusely. "Well, you see-..." Kiro shifted his eyes to every corner of the room, as he desperately looked for a quick exit. Now not only did he feel the eyes of Asuka and Bakusa, but he knew the other masters were watching, and listening to every word he said! No matter what he said, he'd at least get beat up by one of the masters for not handling the fight as they showed him to handle it.
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(Some unspecified time later, probably the next morning.)

Mr. Yamamura slammed both of his fists down on the table, as he looked his son in the eye, a stern, angry look on his face. "Why is it, ever since you started going to that stupid dojo, you've been coming home with nothing but bruises, bandages, and broken bones!?" Kiro's father screamed at him.

Kiro was seated at the other side of the dining room table, his book bag sitting on his lap, as gritted his teeth, avoiding his dad's eye contact. "I told you, it's just been a coincidence. I'm pretty clumsy, you know, I just fe-" Kiro started to laugh it off, but his dad cut his sentence off before he could manage to finish.

"Yesterday one of your teachers called and said you ditched school, missed half your classes! But I know you didn't come home, because your mother was here!" He gave a gesture to Mrs. Yamamura, who stood behind him, tears in her eyes. "So where did you go, son? You went to the dojo! You're nothing but a little liar! You're too young to understand, Kiro, those people are only using you for your money, and on top of that, they're abusing you for the giggles!" His father explained.

Kiro stood up from his seat, tossing the backpack over his shoulder (wincing slightly in pain, because his shoulder's bruised), as he stared at his father right back. "The dojo, my masters, they've done nothing but help me in ways you couldn't even imagine! You guys just don't understand!" Kiro expressed angrily, as he scooted his chair back slightly, so he could get out from the table area. "I better get going, I'll see you guys later." Kiro muttered, as he left out the door.

"Kiro, wait! Help us understand, then!" His father called out for him, but it was too late, he was already gone. He hugged his wife tightly.

(I'll continue this later, yo.)

"It was pretty scary," Ally said after recapping the fight for Asuka for about the one hundredth time.

"Yeah, fighting a group like that can definitely be scary, especially if they're armed and if you don't have proper training," Asuka said. The two women were seated in the middle of the dojo sipping camomile tea. This was almost like a nightly ritual to the two since it kept the mind and body relaxed. "Good thing you did have the proper training."

Ally picked up her tea and took a long sip, trying to avoid Asuka's eyes. "What's wrong?" the older woman asked. "If you're worried about the gang coming back, don't. They might, but you're prepared for them."

"That's the thing," Ally replied, slowly putting down the tea, "I didn't feel prepared."

"What do you mean?"

"Jiu Jitsu got me hurt," she admitted, shaking her head, "I tried to do a collar lock on one of the men. It stopped him from crushing Kiro, but his friend hit my back with a bat." She lifted up her pajama shirt in the back to reveal the purple bruise. It had fused with another bruise from a hit to the ribs and left most of her waist black and blue.

"But you know not to do that move unless you're on the ground, it's dangerous. Why did you do it?" Asuka asked, looking the bruise over. She knew it would heal relatively quickly, but it still worried her.

"What else could I do? I mainly know Jiu Jitsu and this wasn't a ground fight."

"Then make it a ground fight. Fight on your own terms."

"How can I make it a ground fight when there are groups of men surrounding me? The moment I get on the ground is the moment I get smashed by a baseball bat or fall onto a knife!" The girl realized her voice raised so much she was almost yelling. She lowered her voice and apologized.

"I understand your frustration," Asuka responded calmly, though on the inside she was aching. What she spent over a decade teaching her niece was going to be no use in some situations and that pained her. All she wanted to do was protect her and it was her teachings that left her kin vulnerable. "What would you like me to do?"

"I don't know, teach me something I can use in a fight," Ally replied, though it came out wrong. The look on Asuka's face went from calm and collected to hurt and crushed. "Wait, Auntie, that's not what I-"

"You already said it. I know we teach you how to fight with your fists, but sometimes words can hurt more."

"No, no, that's not what I meant!"

"Then what did you mean?"

"I mean..." Ally began but struggled to find the right words.

"Exactly. You said what you meant."

"No, no! Jiu Jitsu is great one-on-one!" Ally said, trying her best to recover the words she said without thinking. "I need to learn something I can use in a group fight! Something I can use against weapons!"

Asuka looked down at her tea and pondered silently. She swirled the golden liquid around in the cup and drained it until only the dregs remained. "I do understand. Jiu Jitsu isn't ideal in a group fight or a fight with weapons because it's a very close combat martial art. You didn't use anything you learned from the other masters?"

"I did, and that's what saved my life."

This stung, but Asuka didn't let it show. She understood why Jiu Jitsu didn't help her niece in this instance. "Then maybe that's something us masters need to focus a bit more on- group fighting and defending against weapons. People have forgotten how to honor martial arts and the skills of the human body. Cowards bring their friends to fights and cowards bring weapons that aren't their bodies to fights."

Something about Asuka's words struck Ally. "But does that make Kiro a coward? He brings me to fights."

"Do you intervene with his fights?"

Ally thought on this for a moment. The only fight she ever stepped in on was the first time she met Kiro, but even so she didn't fight the leader of the Karate Club. Earlier in the day she came to Kiro's aid when a group was going to unfairly attack him, but that was defending, not intervening. "No."

"So then does that make Kiro a coward?"

"No."

"Good. Tomorrow I'm going to talk to the other masters. We'll see what we can do about group fighting and maybe we'll teach you and Kiro how to perform certain moves together, but that's much much later on. There are some very powerful, but very complicated techniques that can be performed by two highly skilled people. Shin and I have mastered a couple together," Asuka added, wiggling her eyebrows in a silly manner.

"Oh gross Auntie, can I go to bed now?"

"No, finish your tea, give me a hug, then go to bed."

Down one of the narrow streets of Kiro's usual route to school, a group of about six thugs stood, waiting for him. Having already defeated two big names in Ragnarok already, Shaz and Taro, the gang was no longer looking to recruit Kiro, but to teach him a lesson (to save the gang's name).

"Look, here comes someone now!" One of the guys exclaimed to his buddies, as he slowly picked himself up off the ground.

"Do you think that's him? He looks kind of weak." A man who leaned on the wall questioned, as he looked off in the distance at the approaching freshman.

Kiro was so distracted with his thoughts, he hadn't even noticed the suspicious looking group ahead of him. He simply walked along the street, fists gripped tightly, as he thought. 'I won't let them make me quit the dojo! I've come too far in my training now just to leave!' His mind wondered off to all the times he shared in laughter with his masters, or all the times they were there to give him advice when he really needed it, or all the times they patched him up when he came back from a fight. 'Not only that, but if I leave them, it would be like leaving a second family of mine.' He sighed, as he continued to roll everything over in his head. 'I can't tell them I've been getting into fights at school, or that the masters have been helping me win them...'

"Hey, kid! Are you Kiro Yamamura!?" One of the goons finally shouted out to the boy, just as Kiro had began to blindly walk past the entire gang.

Kiro's eyes suddenly flashed up, as his jaw dropped down to the ground. He hadn't even noticed these scary-looking guys! How could he have been so stupid!? He quickly surveyed his surroundings, as in an instant, he was surrounded, without any hope of escape. He gulped, as his legs began to wobble nervously. "Y-Yeah, I am. Why? W-what's up, you guys?" He awkwardly laughed to try to ease the tension, as he rubbed the back. 'No good. I couldn't take on six guys even if I was at my full strength!'

Once Kiro answered their question, all the bullies began to snicker aloud.

"That's all I needed to know! Lights out for you, punk!" The bully exclaimed menacingly, as he, without warning, shot down a straight right towards Kiro's face.

Kiro simply winced, as he awaited the punch to impact. Perhaps if he had remembered his training he could've dodged it, instead, Kiro was much like a deer in headlights.



The punch stopped just centimeters from Kiro's face, as someone's hand had caught the bully's wrist just in time.

Kiro slowly opened his eyes, as he was shocked to see the last person he would have ever expected! Shaz! Except, this was the first time Kiro had seen him without his signature shades. The ones Kiro had shattered must've been his only pair.

"Why don't you and your punk friends leave Yamamura alone?" Shaz calmly spoke, as he stared coldly at the attacker.

"Hey, hey! Let go, man, that hurts!" The bully yelled, as he tried to pull Shaz's hand off of his arm, but to no avail. He cried out in pain, as he dropped down to his knees.

"It's Iron Grip Shaz!" One of the other goons exclaimed, as they all took one giant step backwards, away from the monster. He had bandages here and there, but the man didn't act like a wounded one.

"Shaz, listen to me! Zangief himself told us-" the man on his knees began to explain, as Shaz kept his grip on his arm, an occasional grunt of pain here and there.

"I don't care what Zangief told you to do, I'm telling you now, to leave Yamamura alone for your own good." Shaz repeated himself, as he tightened his grip on the man's wrist.

"What do you mean!? To go against Zangief would be to go against all of Ragnarok! Are you saying you're quitting or something!?"

Shaz chuckled. "I suppose that is what that means, isn't it? Then yes, consider this my resignation. Ragnarok, taking orders, never really suited me too much, anyway." The faintest grin appeared on his face, as he, easily, threw the man by the arm, straight into his group of thugs.

They all scrambled to their feet, as they quickly took off. There was no way they could take both Kiro, and Iron Grip Shaz!

"Remember, from now on, when you mess with Kiro Yamamura, you mess with me!" He yelled out to the fleeing group.

"Man, I-" Kiro couldn't even think of the right words to say to Shaz, and so many questions were running through his mind. "Thank you so much, Shaz! You saved me, but, why?" Kiro got straight to the point.

Shaz looked off in the distance, as he didn't want to face Kiro's pathetic look of appreciation. "That alien friend of yours told me that when I was knocked unconscious, Taro came and tried to finish me off, and you didn't let him. I wouldn't have believed him if I hadn't woken up where I did, the nurse's station. She told me my nice 'friends' had brought me in. That was you and your girlfriend, wasn't it?"

Kiro looked almost shocked, as he found himself at a loss for words. Why would Niijima even tell Shaz that?

"Well, anyway, I don't know why you were so stupidly nice, but I'm just returning the favor. Don't think this changes anything, I still hate you with a passion. And I promise you, we'll have a rematch soon, and I'll be sure to crush you then." Shaz turned away from Kiro, and began to walk in the direction Kiro had came from.

"Wait! That Zangief guy! He's going to be after you, right? Along with the rest of Ragnarok!" Kiro called out after for him. If he and Shaz didn't stick together, they were going to end up dead!

Shaz chuckled silently. 'Zangief.' He thought, Shaz would never admit it, but that name scared even him. Shaz didn't even bother responding to the dweeb, but continued walking. The less he talked to Kiro, the better. Right now, Kiro was the winner, and Shaz was the loser. And until he was able to change that, Shaz didn't want to look the freshman in the face. It was hard to face anyone after losing a fight, let alone the person you lost too. Shaz felt so much shame.

Kiro ate his lunch in what had now become his usual spot, the school's roof, as he explained to both Ally, and sadly, Niijima (who had followed them up there), what had happened earlier that day. "And then Shaz just took off without a word." Kiro finished his explanation, speaking with about an entire mouthful of a hoagie to make him almost barely audible half of the time. He took a large chug of water, as he swallowed everything whole. He exhaled with relief, setting the bottle of water back down to his side, as he took another bite from the meatball hoagie in his hands.

Ally tore apart an orange, setting the pieces aside, and ate each slice one by one, trying to understand Kiro's recount of the events with Shaz. "So, Shaz is on our side?" Ally questioned, picking out a seed from a slice. "Wait a second, why would you tell him anything?!" Ally angrily asked Niijima. Anytime he was involved there seemed to be trouble, especially since he was the one to set up the original fight between Shaz and Kiro. "What do you have to gain from telling Shaz what happened?" Her fists noticeably clenched in anger.

Niijima laughed maniacally. "What do you mean!? I was just making sure Shaz had the story straight on what happened! Everyone in the whole school needs to know just how great my friend, Kiro, is!" He struggled to contain his sinister laughter, as he covered his mouth with both of his hands, and avoided eye contact with Ally.

Kiro sighed. "Whatever your intentions were, thanks, Niijima." The teen put on a big smile, as he looked across the table at the alien. "I might have ended up dead in an alleyway somewhere if you didn't do what you did." Kiro explained, as he tried looking at things in a different, but very realistic, lense.

"You know me, buddy. I'm always looking out for you! Speaking of which-" Niijima slipped under the table, and came out the other side, PDA in hand, as he scooted close to Kiro. "This Zangief guy," he already had a profile created for the thug, including things like: his name, height, weight, age, tragic backstory, and other such things. "he seems like he's a pretty tough dude, a boxer. He was one match away from making it to the pros before deciding to hang it all up for a life of crime. If you want my advice, I say that we change it up, and ambush him before he-"

Kiro slammed his fists down on the table, as he shouted: "Niijima!" Kiro stood up. "If you really were my friend, as you claim to be, you'd already know that I don't seek out fights! If I go around and start beating up anyone I don't like, then I'm no better than the thugs I've been dealing with!" He stared down at Niijima quite seriously.

"But, Kiro, if we just-" Niijima tried to butt in.

"I don't want to hear it. Those are my principles, and I'll stick by them no matter what." Kiro interrupted. Just as he started to cut Niijima a break, the alien does this.

Ally didn't like anything about Niijima. Everything from his ears, hair, hands, heck, even his laugh was evil! She hated him trying to gain the trust of Kiro, and she knew Kiro would accept Niijima's friendship to. She was surprised however, by Kiro's outburst. "You tell him, Kiro! That's not what the masters teach him or teach anybody for," Ally said, clearly angry that Niijima was proposing they break their discipline and the morals taught by their masters, "The martial arts are beautiful, only for self defense and the defense of others. They are a lifestyle, and if you propose we break that lifestyle, you can go." Her arms were crossed over her chest, keeping her temper even even though she was angry with the alien.

"...defense of others."

Ally's words rang through Kiro's head. "Shaz..." He mumbled, as he clenched both of his fists. "He's only in danger now because he chose to protect me. I do need to get stronger. I need to get stronger so that if the time comes, I can protect him just like he did for me!" Kiro exclaimed with determination, as he stood up from the table.
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(some undetermined amount of time later)

Shaz, fearlessly, jogged his usual route. His eyes suddenly flashed upward, as he noticed a figure blocking his path up ahead. However, this figure was not a fighter, but a scrawny, alien-like creature.

Niijima chuckled mischievously, as he threw out a hand to signal Shaz to come to a stop.

"You..." Shaz growled, as he came to a halt, stopping about ten feet away from Niijima. "What do you want? I'm done with Yamamura."

"I know you are, and I also know that Ragnarok's done with you." Niijima snickered evilly.

"So what?"

"So," Niijima had a more angered tone now, as the connection was clear, "you know that Zangief, that Ragnarok, is going to be out to get you! They don't let their members off so easy, you know!" He exclaimed angrily.

"Get to the point, long ears!" Shaz tightened both his fists, as he was beginning to get impatient.

Niijima pulled out a business card from his pocket, and handed it to Shaz.

The card read: "Shinpaku Alliance", with a phone number, and a snazzy logo planted on it.

"I have 546 trained fighters on stand by, ready to be deployed for battle whenever I require them." Niijima suddenly appeared at Shaz's side, as he wrapped an arm around the man. "Come on Shazzy-Boy, let's make a partnership. Join my gang. With you as a general, and so many men under our control, we'll squash those Ragnarok dweebs!" Niijima began to drool, as he imagined all of the wealth, fame, and power he could achieve from having such a powerful figure under his thumb.

"Thanks, but no thanks." Shaz growled, as he crumpled up the card, and shoved Niijima out of his way. "I can handle myself."

As Shaz walked away, Niijima managed to sneakily slip five more cards into the thug's jacket pocket before he got out of range. "Alright, pal," Niijima called after him, "you just go ahead and think about my offer, okay!?"

(A few days after the fight/last post...)

Ally sat in the dojo, wrapping her heels and the balls of her feet in clothe. Usually she didn't do this, but recently the mat had rubbed up too much on her feet and left them blistered and irritated. While waiting for her lessons to start, she sat with her legs crossed, meditating. Many students of martial arts did this before each lesson to clear their mind and focus purely on the art. The problem was, Ally was struggling to clear her mind. All of Kiro's recent fights bothered her, not because she disapproved of fighting, but because his enemies were growing stronger, faster, and tougher. She couldn't help but wonder what was next, especially with all of Niijima's interference. Ally took a deep breath in and out, trying to focus on her soon to begin lesson.

Asuka waited in her office before she started any lessons. She sat back in the wooden chair and thought about everything that happened so far. Once Kiro stepped into the dojo, everything seemed to be off balance. Before she only had one pupil to worry about. Now she had another, and this one seemed to attract trouble. It seemed every week Kiro came back with more bruises and cuts. Then again, every week he came back with new speed, strength, and knowledge. Asuka wanted to keep Kiro out of trouble, but she wondered if the best way to keep him safe was to never have accepted him into their dojo in the first place.

Asuka clicked her teeth and shook her head, "Aww, come on, Asuka. You know this was the only way." And though she wanted to believe her words, she wasn't sure how much validity they held. If they never taught Kiro all he would have to face would be school bullies, not full fledged gang members. That had to be easier than this, right? Asuka took a deep breath, trying to clear her worried mind and focus on her lesson planned for today.

Two fighters, both bloody and bruised, were in the midst of an all out brawl between each other. It was a cage match, with a roaring crowd demanding more blood be shed.

"Knock his head off!" Someone in the crowd yelled out. A clean hit was delivered to one of the fighters, and the crowd went wild with cheers and praise over the brutal violence.

From a bay window that overlooked the arena perfectly, a red-haired man watched boredly from a ratty, old throne chair. He sat in a rather spacious room, with a few couches and tables placed here and there, a fridge, and a number of posters on the wall (featuring a variety of different famous fighters, coming from all sorts of different martial arts). The room looked very unloved, as all of the furniture appeared as if it was taken from the local dumpster, everything being covered in mold and dust. The red-head was not the only one present in the room, as two goons ( a rather huge, stocky man, and a beautiful, slender woman) sat on a nearby couch, facing away from the action. Directly behind the throne, a thug was kneeling down out of respect, and fear, for his commanding officer.

"Taro and Shaz, both of them..." The red-haired man trailed off, as his eyes stayed glued to the action (of the cagematch) in front of him.

"That's right, sir! Defeated! But that's not all!" The thug began to shake in anger, "Shaz, after losing the fight, left Ragnarok, and now he's become buddy-buddy with Yamamura!" The man slammed his fist down into the floor, "it's unacceptable! A disgrace to the gang!" He yelled.

"And you killed him, I assume?"

"Why don't you and your punk friends leave Yamamura alone?" Shaz calmly spoke, as he stared coldly at the attacker.

"Hey, hey! Let go, man, that hurts!" The bully yelled, as he tried to pull Shaz's hand off of his arm, but to no avail. He cried out in pain, as he dropped down to his knees.

"Uh, well," the thug sat up, as he scratched the back of his head, "you see, boss, Shaz was a lot stronger than me, and-"

The red-haired man stood up abruptly, as the throne chair fell backwards onto the floor. He walked over to the thug, and grabbed tightly onto his shirt collar, forcefully pulling him in close. "I'm on the verge of becoming the next Fist, and I'm not going to let my chances slip away because you idiots can't deal with such a minor problem!" He screamed, as he then knocked the thug out with a mean right hook. The man dusted off his hands, as he stood back up right.

"Laa, la, laa," The woman on the couch sang, as she cleared her throat. "Please, Zangief, allow Sketch and I to deal both Shaz and the boy. La, la, laaaa; we have not failed you yet, and we shall not start now!" She proclaimed.

"No!" Someone yelled out, as the door into the space suddenly flew open. It was a bandaged up Taro who appeared in the doorway, as he entered into the room.

"How dare you show your face back here?" Zangief growled, as he eyed Taro in disgust.

"Boss, I know it looks bad, but trust me! If I can just get a second chance, I know that I can beat-"

"Siegfried, why don't you remind Taro of my golden rule?" Zangief smirked, as he picked back up his throne, and sat down to continue watching the action down below.

Siegfried smiled wickedly, as she got up from her seat, "Zangief..." the woman began to approach Taro, "does not give second chances."

"No, Sieg, come on! Please!" Taro begged for his life, as he nervously began to back away from the woman.

Taro's screams were drowned out for Zangief, as he began to think deeply on this newfound foe. 'Anybody can get a fluke on one fight,
but two? Three? Kiro Yamamura, just who are you?' He questioned, as he pictured the boy's face in his mind.

The doors to the dojo suddenly flew open, as Kiro exclaimed: "I'm ready!"

"You're in pretty high spirits today, kid." Bakusa laughed from the corner of the dojo, where he appeared to be enjoying his tenth bottle of sake.

"I can't slack off! I need to get stronger!"

"And just how strong do you wanna get, kid?" Bakusa laughed.

Kiro's look of determination turned into a look of embarrassment, as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well, uh," he turned towards Bakusa, "you promise you won't laugh at me?"

Bakusa turned more serious as well, as he answered: "Of course not! What kind of man laughs at another man's dreams!?"

"Then, you see," Kiro thought about both Shaz and Akita, "I wanna become strong enough to protect my friends." He explained. After what Shaz did for him, and everything Akita's done for him in the past, Kiro just wished to become strong enough to protect them, and everyone else, when the time called for it.

Bakusa started laughing uncontrollably.

"Hey, you said you wouldn't laugh at another man's dreams!" Kiro complained angrily.

"I wouldn't!" He laughed, as he wiped a tear from his eye. "A man would've said he wanted to be the strongest in the world!" Bakusa laughed.

Kiro sighed.

Rekin was under a tree reading nearby before he looked up from his reading to look at all the commotion "I don't think it's a stupid dream at all Kiro." he said before walking over to where Kiro was "Everyone came to this dojo to help accomplish their dreams, and even if some of us may not understand others, we still help them strive and eventually reach that goal!" Rekin said before putting his hand on Kiro's shoulder "It's a great dream Kiro, one I had when I was younger too." he finished, smiling, he felt he had lightened the boys mood with his words.

Shin blinked and sipped tea

"I heard that you had some trouble with a group of enemies, I guess I'll have to teach you how to defend against so many enemies." Rekin said before thinking on how to teach him "I got it, follow me!" the master said, slamming his fist into his hand before throwing Kiro over his shoulder and running to a more populated area a couple miles away. When they got there he put Kiro down and stuck close to buildings, looking down alleyways.

"No, please!" Kiro screamed, as Rekin threw him over his shoulder. "Asuka, don't let him take me! He's going to feed me to the alligators again!" He cried, but it was too late, the world around him became a blur, and the other masters were no longer able to be seen, as Rekin moved at unmeasurable speeds.

When they got there he put Kiro down and stuck close to buildings, looking down alleyways.

Kiro shook in fear, as if Rekin would have accidentally dropped him at any point, the boy would have certainly died. "Wait a minute," he calmed down once he began to look around, "this isn't the zoo. What are we doing downtown?" Kiro curiously questioned, as he followed closely behind Rekin.