Fan Fiction ❯ Fighter's Crusade: Project Epsilon ❯ Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

It was now mid December in Berlin. Hitomi attended school like any other girl her age, trying to make good grades in school, as well as good grades with her father while training with him. Running downstairs struggling to get a backpack over her shoulder and a tight fitting sky blue cap in her left hand, she snagged an apple from a bowl of fruit on the table as she quickly made her way through the kitchen. She reached the front door and struggled to put her shoes on, hopping on one foot trying to maintain her balance. "Hitomi you're going to be late if you don't hurry," she heard her mother call out from somewhere inside the house. "Hai, ikimasu," she called back and hurried out the door.

Outside a dreary weather pattern waited to greet her. A light rain and heavy fog cut her visibility, but she felt confident she knew where she was going. With a light jog Hitomi rounded the corner of the street and headed towards the bus stop. Usually she would just walk to school, but the rain today inhibited that, and she rode the bus on days like this. Grabbing the excess straps of the backpack she pulled them, reducing the slack of the backpack as it slid smoothly upward. It was much tighter now, and would be harder to take off, but it didn't bounce nearly as much. The concrete sidewalk was wet with the rain, her shoes started to get cold and her socks became damp on the bottom; the soles of her shoes worn smooth from overuse. Hitomi knew their traction would be hindered on the slick concrete. Coming into view of the street lamp that she used as a marker for the bus stop all she could see through the fog was the lamp's top glowing an orange color, indicating its distance from her. But as she neared the pole a set of red lights glowed out over the street. "Ach scheie!" she exclaimed, increasing her pace. Now in a full sprint Hitomi could make out one last person as they boarded the bus. Timing herself just right Hitomi stopped running and used the sidewalks temporary slick properties to slide towards the door. Balancing herself she used the hands to catch the frame of the open door and bring herself to a complete stop. The bus driver looked at her and smiled, as if he was expecting her to come sliding, like on an ice rink without skates, down the sidewalk. Hitomi jumped on the bus and took the nearest empty seat, placing the backpack in her lap.

Unzipping the small front pocket of the pack she pulled out the apple and wiped it on her shirt. The tight fitting, white, shirt bore a set of Kanji characters across the front, meaning, "love" and "strength". It was one of the many different cultural shirts she wore that her mother had either made or picked up somewhere. It wasn't often that someone in Germany wore a shirt with Japanese characters on them and it usually attracted strange looks from the other students, but Hitomi didn't care, they were her favorite shirts. After her attempt to clean the apple she took a bite. It crunched as she chewed and swallowed. A hand reached out and touched her on the shoulder. "Morgin Hitomi," a friendly voice chimed. She turned around to see Anaka in the seat behind her, smiling her a good morning. "Anaka," she smiled in return, "good morning."

It wasn't a long of unbearable ride to school if she had someone to talk to, but the day seemed to want to smite them. As if on cue the rain increased in intensity to the strength of a German pseudo-monsoon.

Anaka pulled herself into the same seat as Hitomi. The bus driver was clearly unhappy with her actions and accusingly called out to her. "Sorry," she apologized, scooting next to her best friend. "You want a bite?" Hitomi asked, holding out the red apple she had taken for breakfast. Anaka took a bite from the fruit. It tasted sweet and juicy, or maybe she just thought it that way because of her own absence of the morning meal. She tried to hand the fruit back to Hitomi, but Hitomi declined, "You can have it." Anaka looked at the fruit and took another bite. Again she tried to pawn the apple off on Hitomi, knowing her friend was just being generous, giving her the apple she had brought for herself. Hitomi refused the apple again, but Anaka was determined to give it back. She shook it towards Hitomi to emphasize the fact that she wanted Hitomi to have it.

Hitomi looked at Anaka, who had a mouth full of apple, and smiled. She knew her friend was trying to include her in the shared breakfast and would not give up until she joined her. Hitomi took the red fruit from Anaka, it's side battle scarred from the two girls devouring it.

"I hate days like this," Anaka complained.

"Why?"

"I just don't like them. Days like this just make me feel sad."

"It's been like this for a week," Hitomi mumbled, being playfully annoyed.

"Hey!" Anaka perked, she didn't seem all that sad, "how are you and that guy getting along?"

"Huh?"

"You know, that guy that's living with you. I heard he's pretty cute," she winked.

"How do you know about Ein?" Hitomi asked, surprised that Anaka knew about him after her family had promised to keep Ein a secret.

"Your mom told me," she smiled.

Hitomi rolled her eyes. "Mother," she sighed.

"So c'mon, spill it," Anaka encouraged while nudging Hitomi with her elbow, "tell me what you two have been doing."

"You're just as bad as my mother," Hitomi teased, squinting her eyes at Anaka in playful anger.

"But we've just been talking," she said shyly to her backpack, "nothing really. But he is fun to talk to."

"Oh?"

Hitomi had Anaka's full attention now.

"What do you talk about," she asked.

Hitomi sat in silence. She didn't want to tell Anaka that they had talked about Ein's recovery and probed his mind for anything that might bring his recollections to the surface. It was something she enjoyed talk about with him, although they never really were able to touch the memories of his previous life that she knew were in the deeper recesses of his mind; somewhere. Sometimes they joked around, all the while Hitomi hoped it would jumpstart his memory. But to Hitomi those times were still between her and Ein and she was hesitant to tell Anaka.

"Oh nothing," she said.

"Nothing? Or something you don't want to tell me about?"

"H - Honest it's nothing," Hitomi pleaded, trying her best to convince Anaka to stop nagging her about the subject, but choking on her words didn't help.

"Well, I know you two have done more than just talk."

Hitomi shot Anaka a suspicious stare.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh nothing," Anaka chimed with a smile.

"Well…" Hitomi started.

"Well what?" her friend interrupted her, jumping at the prospect of romantic tidbits of information from Hitomi.

"Well," she continued, "Ein has been training with father for the past few months since we came back from winter break. He's caught on to things really fast, it's almost like he's trained in Karate before."

"Oh?" Anaka said to encourage her friend to keep talking.

"Yeah," a smile of satisfaction found itself on Hitomi face as she leaned back in the seat.

"What?" asked Anaka, Hitomi smile bringing out one of her own in curiosity.

"Oh…" she sighed, "if Ein is ready like father said we might have a sparring match tonight."

Anaka smiled to herself again. Hitomi was trying to act as if her relationship with Ein was on a professional level, but she wasn't doing a very good job. Anaka could tell that Hitomi's feelings went deep than just what she told her. It may have been the constant smiling when they brought up Ein in a conversation or the stuttering of Hitomi's words when Anaka asked her questions about him. Hitomi didn't want to admit it, but Anaka could tell; it was obvious she had feelings for him.

The stopping of the bus drew Hitomi's attention away from her friend and outside the window. The falling rain blurred the school building. Adjusting the baseball cap on her head she nudged Anaka in shoulder and made her way towards the front of the bus. The rain came relentless, as if preparing for another forty days and forty nights of downpour. Stopping at the door she waited for Anaka to join her, but knew that she was just using that as an excuse to herself, for wasting time. She didn't really want to go outside in the rain. When her friend has joined her she ventured outside, facing the rain that she was so reluctant to challenge.

Her warm breath showed itself as it made contact with the chilling rain. The building was some distance from the bus stop but Hitomi walked towards the school with a steady pace, the rain making its presence known as it bounced off the bill of the cap. "Eeeek!" Anaka let out a squeal of surprise as she exited the bus and found the rain. In a girlish jog she grabbed Hitomi's arm and pulled her along towards the school. "Hurry," she said with a smile, "it's cold out here." They found themselves under the covered patio of the school, both of them dripping water. Anaka's body shook impulsively as it adjusted to the sudden temperature change from the warm bus to the rain. "Phew," she sighed, "it's cold." Turning to Hitomi, who seemed unfazed by the cold. Her hat dripped water from the front and sides of the bill, but she still held a smile. "Yeah, let's go inside," she said.

x x x x

Inside their classroom the two made their way over to Hitomi's desk. Taking her seat Hitomi sat her backpack on the desk. With a sigh she laid her head on it. "What's wrong Hitomi?" asked Anaka, pulling the chair from her desk over to Hitomi's. Hitomi gave no reply. Anaka looked at her silent friend and sat down in the chair. Putting her elbows on her knees she bent over bringing herself down to Hitomi's elevation on the desk. Anaka dawned another smile as she looked at Hitomi's face. It had a disappointed expression, one that she knew all too well.

"You're not sad," Anaka told her.

"Humm?"

Anaka took the blue cap off Hitomi's head. The portion of her head that it had protected from the rain had been smashed down closer to her head, of if it was scared of the rain.

"You're in love aren't you?" her friend smiled.

"Humm?" Hitomi responded, but the words of Anaka's last comment were unable to reach her conscious mind.

"Yes you are," Anaka reassured Hitomi and herself.

Anaka opened her purse and removed a hairbrush. Standing from the desk she pulled the chair around behind Hitomi, who was still slumped over in a daydream. "You may be in love," Anaka lightly scolded to her, "but your hair is a mess." She slowly scooted herself in the chair towards Hitomi and soothingly took her hair.

"Anaka," Hitomi muttered, unmoving from the pack, "what do you know about love?"

"Love?" Anaka asked softly, as if she didn't hear Hitomi correctly and smiled to herself.

"I know enough to know that you're in love," explained to her while brushing Hitomi's hair.

"I'm not in love…" Hitomi trailed off quietly, "I'm just tired."

"Yes you are," Anaka gently argued still brushing Hitomi's hair while sporting a sly grin.

The bell rang, to announce the start of class. It snapped Hitomi to attention and she sat up in the desk. "Hitomi, please remove your hat," Doctor Hankins told her as he entered the room. The shock of the question caused her to pause, until she realized she still wore the cap. Reaching up she pulled it off and shook her head to make her hair flow out smoothly behind her.

"Hitomi."

"Hitomi."

The voice of her best friend echoed in her head. It had been one month since Anaka's life had been taken in the club. She tried to the best of her ability to save Anaka, but Hitomi efforts were inevitably in vain. Laying her arms out on the desk she buried her face in them. Her thoughts of that night and seeing her best friend hurt pained her. But not more than the fact that she was unable to do anything about it. Hitomi felt like she was being ripped apart from the inside. "No," she thought as she tried to summon the strength from within herself, "I will not cry." Hitomi felt the warm tears flow down her face. Ashamed of herself she wiped them off her desk and bit her lip to hold back a sniffle. "No," she said aloud, forcing herself to hold back the tears, the tears of the emotions she knew were making her weak, "I will be strong."

x x x x

The springs in the bed squeaked as they gave under the weight of Hitomi's body. Slipping off her house shoes she laid down on the bed pulled the blanket over her. Normally around this time her and Anaka would undoubtedly be doing something together but now; now she was forcing herself to continue. It's what Anaka would have wanted her to do. A knocking at the door took her attention away from her state of depression.

"Hitomi, I'm coming in."

She turned and saw Ein coming into her room, shutting the door behind him. "Ein," she said, stretching out, his face alleviating her of the downed state of mind, "what's going on?" A smile stretched from ear to ear on his face and that was all it took to vanquish any of the broken fragments of depression that remained. "What?" she asked happily, Ein's smiling bringing out one of her own.

"Father says that I can spar with you tonight, if you feel like going a few rounds."

"Eh?"

"That's what he said," Ein smiled.

"What did he mean by `if you feel like it'?"

"Oh. Well, he didn't really say that, but you seemed a little depressed, so I thought that it would be best if I gave you a choice. I'm sure father would understand," he said as he took a seat on her bed.

She looked at Ein. His face was clearly concerned; concerned about her. She tried to hide a smile but it found its way to the surface. Hitomi sat up the bed, with Ein on her right.

"Well," Hitomi said playfully punching him in the shoulder, "I won't go easy on you."

"Good," he said with satisfaction, "I wouldn't want it any other way."

He rose from the bed and walking towards the door took one last look at Hitomi. The Kanji on her shirt caught his eye. "I hope you put some of that strength to good use," he smiled to her and left the room.

x x x x

Opening the door to the back yard of their house Hitomi stepped barefoot outside. It was generally late and the sun had long since set. Ahead of her however the windows of her father's dojo were lit from the inside. Her feet became aware of the weather that had taken place earlier that day because the grass was cold and wet. She grabbed the legs of her karate gi and pulled them up so they weren't exposed to the muddy ground. Her father would be upset if they got dirty. Letting the pant legs go Hitomi opened the door to the dojo and went inside. A towel hug on a clothes rack next to the door and she dried her feet. Some of the grass had clung to her ankles and she brushed it off with the towel.

On the hardwood floor in front of her she saw father going over a last minute review with Ein. She took a place by her father and listened in on the review, hoping to pick up something up that she hadn't learned already, but it was all old maneuvers or lessons she had been taught already. "Okay. Hitomi, Ein," her father addressed them, "go get the practice mat and set it up." They walked over to the far wall of the dojo. A big blue and yellow gymnastics mat was folded upon itself to save space. Hitomi took the top fold of the mat and pulled it out across the floor. Ein grabbed the next fold and took it across. The rest of the folded mat unstacked and followed them as it was pulled. Hans folded his arms across his chest and watched the two as they worked. They seemed to have a level of teamwork and understanding like siblings, an understanding that maybe even rivaled twins. The two set up the mat quickly. Hitomi took a section; Ein moved it into position and secured it, while she retrieved another piece.

After they had spread out the mat Hans walked over it and stood in the center. The other two joined him. Hans turned to his daughter who had begun stretching. "Now listen Hitomi," he said sternly, "I told Ein not to go easy on you. Hopefully he'll go all out, but I want you to prove to me."

"Prove to you?" she asked. It seemed like he had stopped in mid sentence.

"Prove to me that you are not weak."

"Weak?" Hitomi said, offended. "I am NOT weak," she emphasized and took a fighting stance.

"Prove it to me."

Hans took one more look at his students. Hitomi had her hair under a backward, black baseball cap. Her white gi was clean and unstained, the large phoenix that he had embroidered on the back displayed itself proudly.

"Here."

A pair of red and black padded gloves intruded her view from the left. Her father was holding them out to her.

"Why do you want me to wear those?"

"Because I don't want you to hurt Ein."

"So you don't think I'm weak," she grinned.

"No," he denied, "Ein looks and acts healed, but I don't want you hurting him. He could still have some soft spots."

"Okay," she said taking the gloves from him and putting them on.

Securing the Velcro she took a fighting stance. "I'm coming for you Ein, she smirked. "Good," he replied and took a fighting stance. Ein's gi was white, like Hitomi's, it was also clean and unstained but also pressed and neat. It showed a level of discipline that had impressed Hans, Ein had developed it so quickly. He was shirtless underneath his gi and had rolled the sleeves up to expose his wrists and hands. They had been wrapped with athletic tape to prevent muscle strains and pulls. His brown hair came down below his chin and flowed evenly around his neck but he had brushed it back behind his ears to keep it out of his face.

Hans positioned the two on the mat; Hitomi on his right and Ein on his left. "Now," he commanded, "bow to the instructor." The two bowed to Hans as a show of respect. "Now bow to each other," he instructed, and so they did. Satisfied, Hans took a few steps back but left his right arm forward to divide the two.

"Go," he said taking his arm away.

Hitomi took the initiative. She stepped forward closing the gap between them. Hitomi brought her knee up to Ein's side with incredible force, ready to smash any organs it encountered. He caught her knee and put his arm under it. Now he held her knee and Hitomi was off balance. Pushing her backwards he threw her knee away. Before she could regain her balance Ein kicked Hitomi's only supporting leg out from under her. She fell to the mat, landing on her rear.

Her father watched, critiquing every move, but stood emotionless, his back against the wall.

Hitomi stood back up. "Owww, you're faster than I thought," she said rubbing the point of impact. Ein smirked and reset his stance. Setting her feet she brought her hands around, ready to face him again. He took a step towards her and swung a power right leg towards her head. Hitomi saw it coming and easily blocked it. She didn't see his left fist. It connected with her stomach and sent her rolling backwards on the mat. Hitomi gasped for air. Struggling to her hands and knees she held herself where she had been hit. "Hitomi." Her father was loosing his patience. Hitomi knew her father expected her to perform better than this. "No!" she yelled to the floor, frustrated that she wasn't performing like she wanted either. Punching the mat in anger she screamed, "I am not weak!" Standing back up, Hitomi took her fighting stance once more. Ein came at her again and she readied herself. He tried to hit her with the strong right kick again, but she caught it. Watching for his left punch she swept his left leg out from under him. Ein crashed to the mat. Hitomi knelt on one knee and raised her right fist. With a yell of energy she brought it down towards Ein's nose. He braced himself for the impact. Nothing. He was left in suspense. Opening his eyes he could see Hitomi's fist dominating his view. She had a silly grin on her face. The fist slowly made contact with his face and turned it aside. "Tag," she smiled, "you're it."

She stood back up and helped Ein to his feet.

"Okay, I've seen enough," he father said.

"But we just started," Hitomi protested.

"I know, and I've seen what I've needed to see."

"Do you want us to continue?" Ein asked him.

"No, I don't want you to risk hurting yourself."

"Alright."

Hitomi was disappointed. She was clearly expecting more of a fight than that.

"But…but…father," she whined.

"No."

She decided not to argue. Hitomi knew there was no way she could win.

x x x x

Stepping out of the shower Hitomi wrapped herself in a towel. Taking a second towel she started to dry her hair while searching for a hairbrush. In her search she opened the cabinet above and sink and pushed various bottles aside. A blur caught her eye as the object fell from the cabinet and bounced off the sink. With a plastic thunk the object skipped across the floor and came to rest against a wall. As she bent down to pick up the hairbrush her abdomen pinched in pain. Grabbing herself she sat down on the toilet. Hitomi opened the towel and took a look at her stomach. In the middle was a purple and blue spot. Poking at the spot caused her in writhe in pain. It looked to be the same place where Ein had hit her. She could feel a slight smirk form on her face. "Good," she said to herself, "at least he hits hard."

x x x x

The Saturday morning was damp and soggy; it set a depressing environment. Hitomi tiptoed across the grass, holding up the legs of her gi, to the door of her father's dojo. Sliding the door open she quietly went inside. In the open room she could hear Ein's energetic yells as he ululated his kicks and punches. Slyly poking her head around the corner Hitomi could see him practicing a routine throwing kicks and punches into the air in front of him. He seemed so disciplined, his skills honed to a level of experience maybe even surpassing her own.

When Ein finished his practicing he sat down on a bench against the wall of the open practice area in the dojo. Taking a towel out from under the bench he wiped the sweat from his forehead and hung the cloth around his neck. He laid his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, trying to slow his breathing back down to a normal rate. Hitomi sneaked over to the bench, being careful to stay out of Ein's field of view. Hitomi sat down next to him, and felt her feet knock against something plastic under the bench. Taking Ein's plastic water bottle from under the bench she looked at him. His head was still against the wall, his mind in deep thought, or else he would have sensed her sitting down next to him. He habitually reached down below the bench to take the bottle, but was unaware that Hitomi had moved it. Not finding his water he sat up and looked under then bench. The white cloth of the legs of a gi caught his eye. Sitting back on the bench again he could see Hitomi smiling her cutest smile possible.

"Here," she said handing him the bottle.

"Thanks," Ein replied, but he didn't seem too happy as he took the bottle from her.

He took a drink from the container. He tried to relax as he squirt some water onto his face and wiped it clean with the towel. Hitomi shifted nervously on the bench. She wanted to ask him questions. But it was a little embarrassing, she knew that she should keep to herself. But Ein was more like family now, maybe it would be okay for her to ask the questions that had been on her mind for a week, ever since Ein had defeated her. It made Hitomi anxious to know how he learned so quickly.

"Ummm, Ein?" she muttered in his direction.

"Yes?"

"Did you ever take any sort of Karate training before?"

"Well, not that I can remember."

Ein turned to look at her. Hitomi's face was clean and she smelled of bathing soap. She must have just finished a morning shower and now that she was fully awake, came to spy on him and his self-training. Her hair was pulled pack with a light blue headband. Under her gi was a tight-fitting black shirt, which bore the phoenix in a golden-bronze color.

"Why?" he asked.

"Well, you beat me last week, but you haven't been training for nearly as long as I have and yet…" Hitomi trailed off, obviously embarrassed.

"Don't sweat it," he said smiling confidently at her, "I must have some natural gift or something."

"Maybe you were a Karate master in your past," she chimed.

"Or a ninja," Ein chuckled.

They both laughed at his absurd comment. When the laughter had died, Hitomi stood from the bench.

"C'mon go a round with me Mr. Ninja," she teased.

"I dunno," Ein hesitated, "I laid you out last week."

"That was last week," she informed him, "and I've practiced a lot since then. I think I'm ready for you.."

"Oh you do, do you?" Ein smirked.

"Yes, I do," Hitomi replied confidently placing her hands on her hips and slightly jutting out her chest to try and intimidate him.

x x x x

The two stood on the blue mat again. Ein stood directly across from Hitomi, six feet between them. He had rolled his gi sleeves up again, showing his taped up wrists and ankles. He bowed to Hitomi and took a ready position; as she did the same.

"I'm not going to go easy on you," he told her.

"Good," she smiled and set her arms in position.

He charged her and quickly threw a punch towards her face. She could see it coming, but knew her reaction time was way too slow. As she waited for it to connect she braced herself for the pain. Her shoulder started to shake.

x x x x

"Hey shorty, you okay?"

Hitomi felt her shoulder being gently shaken. She sat up with a start. "Huh?" Lee stood next to her and she realized she was lain out on the couch.

"What's going on?" she asked him.

"Huh? You tell me. You were explaining about some Ein guy and fell asleep."

"Oh," she mumbled and hung her head in realization. It seemed so real, like it wasn't a dream and now she felt disappointed.

"Sorry," she apologized.

Hitomi looked around and rubbed her head attempting to push the blood back into the parts that had drained while she slept.

"Here."

She looked up to see Lee handing her a glass. She received it and drank greedily as the cool liquid flowed into her mouth and down her throat. A little trickle flowed from the corner of her mouth and down her chin. As Hitomi set the glass down on the coffee table in front of her, she wiped the escaped water away from her mouth with the back of her hand. "Arigato Lee-chan."

Hitomi looked around the room. To Lee she seemed lost and out of place. "What's wrong?" he asked. "N- Nothing," she choked. It was apparent to Lee that "nothing" was something. She looked like she was in a mild state of shock.

"Hey, you want something to eat?" he asked, trying to break her of the daze.

"Sure."

Moving into the kitchen he went to work.

"Lee?"

"Yeah?"

"What ti-- ," she stopped mid sentence at the sound of the front door opening.

Leifang came inside. "Lee," she called happily, "I got back from--." She stopped short at the sight of Hitomi on the couch. Leifang glared an ugly look towards her and shut the door. "Lee," she repeated, bouncing into the kitchen where he toiled away, and she took a folded piece of paper from her pocket. "Look," she commanded, unfolding the paper and giving it to him. Lee looked at the blue flyer.

"Whoa," he muttered.

"See! See!" Leifang exclaimed and pointed to the flyer in excitement.

"Yeah."

"C'mon let's do it," she encouraged.

"No."

"No?" Leifang was clearly expecting another answer.

"I have to watch short stuff until she gets better," Lee explained.

"I am better!" Hitomi yelled into the kitchen to correct him, turning both Lee's and Leifang's heads towards her.

"Check your arm," he told Hitomi.

She looked at her right shoulder. A familiar white gauze was wrapped around it. Poking it softly she writhed slightly from the pain.

"Pleeeease," Leifang pleaded, trying to get Lee to cave.

"I'd love to stomp your ass again," he smiled, "but I'm taking care of shorty."

"Then let her in it too," she suggested.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, I mean, I'm sure she could do well," Leifang smirked, a devilish thought it was indeed.

Lee's expression blanked at the suggestion. He knew Leifang was joking around, but she had no idea that Hitomi knew how to fight. It might be fun to let her enter and watch Leifang's expression as Hitomi leveled her opposition. But the fact still remained that Hitomi's shoulder would not heal in time for the competition and letting her fight could rip the wound open. Then again, Leifang didn't know how to fight either, at least not that he had seen. Lee figured that she just distracted her opponents one way or another then smacked them when they weren't paying attention. He was dumbfounded as to why she wanted to enter, other than to try and defeat him, which Lee knew he wasn't going to let happen. But he wanted to see Leifang's expression at the sight of Hitomi's Karate.

"Alright," he said, "I'll let shorty go. We'll see how she does."

"Eh?"

"Yeah, why not?"

Hitomi's attention was pulled away from her shoulder and towards the kitchen at the mention of what now seemed to be her nickname.

"What?" she called curiously into the kitchen.

"Nothing," Lee promptly replied and Hitomi went back to poking the bandage.

Leifang was clearly disgruntled by Lee's answer, but looking at the girl sitting on the couch poking a bandaged shoulder, restored her confidence.

x x x x

Sliding a chair out from Lee's little kitchen table Hitomi sat down. Lee was setting himself across from her and slid her a plate of food. Hitomi looked at the plate. A pile of rice with a side of brown beans. It wasn't anything like what she was accustomed to eating and Lee had made it. "Are you sure it's okay to eat this?" she joked. Lee seemed a bit offended. "My cooking isn't THAT bad," he said defending his meal, "eat it, or go hungry." That was a little harsh from Lee. It surprised her, but she was not hurt. Clasping her hands together she chimed "Ikimasu." Taking the chopsticks next to her plate she began to pick away at the rice and beans.

It was strange. The meals they ate were almost always silent. A deadly quiet. To Hitomi it was nerve-racking. Lee's dinners were always alone. It made no difference to him if she said anything or not, it was always silent when he was by himself. But tonight he knew that he would have to get Hitomi's approval to put her in the contest, and that would require breaking the silence. He always found that to be the hardest and most awkward thing for him to do, breaking the silence. But he knew she would agree to the contest without much hesitation, she sure seemed determined to beat him up when she woke up from her "mini-coma".

"Hey," he said in an attempt to get her attention, a glass of water to her lips.

"Humm," was her response as she looked at him through the bottom of the clear cup.

"Do you know what me and Leifang were talking about?"

"No."

"She brought a flyer for a fighting tournament."

"Really?" Hitomi interest was already bursting at the seams. She had leaned across the table as if getting closer to Lee would help her know more before he actually spoke it, but it was actually bringing her shirt closer to the plate of beans in front of her. Lee could see that convincing her to enter would not be hard.

"Yeah, and I was thinking about entering."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, and since I can't leave you by yourself, I thought about signing you up too."

"Seriously?" with that last sentence Hitomi's level of excitement had increased ten-fold.

"Yeah, but it's next week, I don't think your shoulder will be healed by then."

Her enthusiasm stopped. Sitting back in the chair she looked at the loosely woven white cloth around her shoulder. It seemed to sneer defiantly at her.

"So you're not going to let me enter," Hitomi mumbled. It was obvious that her own conclusions had disappointed her.

"I didn't say that," he replied, the response perking her head.

"I want to practice some before the tourney and I figured you could help me."

Hitomi's full attention was on him now.

"If you practice with me and prove to me you have what it takes to compete, then I'll sign you up. But I don't want you tearing your shoulder open in the competition."

With those words she tried to be serious about this new information and kept a straight face, but shifted nervously in her seat.

"I understand," she acknowledged.

"Good," he replied taking a fork full of rice, "Leifang doesn't know you can fight. If I think you can hack this tournament I'll expect you to stomp your opposition."

"No problem," Hitomi said with a smile.

"Besides," he continued, "I want to see the look on Leifang's face when you lay her out."

x x x x

The bath water was warm and filled the bathroom with steam. Slowly setting herself down in the bathtub Hitomi let out a sigh of pleasure. But it was also a sigh of relief; a sigh that let out all her pent up frustration. Frustration that had become bottled up inside after realizing that all her nostalgic memories of Ein were nothing. Nothing except memories. Piling on top of this stress was the fact that in the next few days she would have to perform for Lee, possibly better and stronger than she had ever done. It would not be easy and Hitomi knew that, not with her handicapped shoulder. Think about the shoulder, she looked at it. She had taken the bandage off to take a bath and it left the gash exposed. It was about the same length as he pinky finger, it was hard to believe it had bled so much, from what she was told. Taking some water from the tub in her hand, Hitomi placed it above the wound letting some of the water run down her shoulder and over the gash. Her skin around the cut started to tingle and she grit her teeth, ready for the pain, but was surprised as the wound didn't hurt. She was slightly pleased with herself. Maybe it was the fact that she would get a chance to spar with Lee and possible go to a fighting tournament. Or maybe it was because her handicap had stopped paining her. It could be her thoughts of Ein that made her smile.

Hitomi slumped down in the tub until the water came up to her chin and thought of the events ahead, hoping she had brought her karate gi.

x x x x

"Let's go shorty, or I'll leave you behind."

"I'm coming, " Hitomi replied as she struggled to get into her gi.

Hopping on one foot she slid her leg through the last pant leg and rushed out of Lee's bedroom with the gi jacket in hand. Barely catching a glimpse of Lee as he headed out the door, she followed. Parked outside was Roger's car and Lee was climbing into the front seat. She opened the back door and slid herself across the seat, pulling the jacket in with her. Roger was at the wheel.

"Thanks for picking us up," Lee said.

"No biggie, we're not going cross-country so I don't mind," Roger replied.

Hitomi kept quiet during the ride. She didn't know where they were headed, but it was not her place to intrude into their business.

"God Lee, the Shakedown's gotten way out of hand since you've been gone," Roger told him.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, Adams brought on this temporary guy to watch the door, but he really sucks."

Lee grinned a bit at the vocalization of his superiority.

"Really," he toned to encourage the story.

"Yeah, it we didn't tell him he'd let friggin' thirteen-year-olds in."

"Hah," Lee laughed in a quick show of satisfaction.

Roger continued with his story.

"It's been really crazy. These kids come in thinking I'll sell them some alcohol, which then I demand their ID and they never give it up. But just the other night this one girl showed up. A real cutey; she had this little girl face. Anyway, she took a seat at the bar and tried to order something. When I got her to hand over her ID she was seventeen, I was just stupefied."

"What did she try and order?" Lee inquired.

"I can't remember, but it wasn't anything she couldn't have. I couldn't believe she looked so young. She was foreign, some Asian girl, I had a hard time pronouncing her name or even getting her to talk."

"Always the ladies man," Lee smirked.

"You know it," Rodger replied, proud of himself.

"Did you ever get her name?" Lee asked, trying to antagonize him.

"Yeah it was Ka…Kaso…I dunno Kas- something."

"Kasumi?" Hitomi asked.

"Yeah, that's it!" Roger exclaimed, correcting himself by pronouncing the name, "How'd you know?"

"Well…I…"

Hitomi was somewhat ashamed for listening in on their conversation.

"It's a Japanese name," she explained, "I spent a few months in Japan. The names are so unique."

Lee was intrigued by Roger's new flame and he pressed Roger to tell him more.

"Did you ask her why she was at the club?"

"Yeah. Something about looking for her brother or something, it was hard to tell what she was saying with her FOB accent."

"Next time you see her, I'll translate for you," Hitomi laughed.

The car pulled into position and the sound of the transmission being put into park took her attention out the window. Lee started to exit and she did the same. "I'll pick you up in an hour," Roger said through the open car door. "Okay," Lee acknowledged as he shut the door.

Hitomi stood in front of Genzo's grocery. "Why here?" she thought. A small grocery was no place to practice their skills.

"Why are we here?" she asked Lee.

"Because it's Genzo's place," he explained.

Hitomi squint her eyes in frustration at him.

"It's a grocery," she emphasized by mumbling.

"So? Don't worry about it," he said waving his hand as if to blow off her annoyance and started inside.

She followed him inside and greeted the familiar cashier.

"Is Genzo here?" Lee asked her.

The cashier said nothing but pointed in the direction of the vault door. "Thanks," he said heading off in the direction. Hitomi matched pace with him on her right. "Good job, you're learning," she said slightly impressed.

"One more of those `looks' from you and I don't think I could live with myself."

"Awww, am I really that scary?" she said in a playful tone while nudging him in the arm, but Lee didn't reply.

Instead he knocked on the vault door with the back of his hand.

"Hello?" came a call from inside.

"Genzo, it's me."

"I'm coming," the voice replied.

The door squeaked open as the man appeared in the doorway.

"Ah, good to see you two again," Genzo said sounding relieved, "come in, come in. I don't get many visitors these days."

They entered the foggy pool-hall again. This time Hitomi took more time to look around. The pool-hall may have once been a storage room that had been converted with a bar, stove and refrigerator added.

"I need to talk to you," he whispered to Lee, "but I don't think she needs to know."

He emphasized his third person reference towards Hitomi who had begun wandering around the room examining the photographs and hangings on the wall.

"Do you want a snack or something?" Genzo asked in he direction to get her attention.

"No, but thanks," she replied.

"I think you need to go get something to eat," Lee told her.

Hitomi was young, but she wasn't stupid. She could tell that two wanted some privacy. Behind the bar she looked around. Many elaborate glass bottles lined the back shelf accompanied by drinking and shot glasses. Below the bar was a small refrigerator. Opening it revealed treasure trove of food. Eggs, bacon, milk orange juice, were just some of the some of the items contained in the cooled environment. Shuffling some of the items aside revealed a few apples huddled together, as if trying to seek protection from the other inhabitants of the refrigerator by staying in a group. Hitomi chose one to isolate.

x x x x

"Now listen Lee," Genzo told him, "I pulled some strings and this is what I have on Red."

Lee listened with care as he explained.

"They're nothing except we know them to be, a large smuggling ring. But they also have an ulterior motive."

Lee didn't say anything, but continued to listen.

"Red 32 is supposedly backed by a big-time technology firm in Japan called Donovan Advanced Technologies. Well, I wasn't given the actual name, just DOATek, but Donovan Technologies is the only big firm in Japan, so it was the only logical choice. Now what I was told was that Red 32 is a source of well….under the table income to fund some, " he paused to search for a word to use, "underground projects."

The strange information didn't faze Lee.

"Like what?"

Genzo stopped to recall what he had been told.

"Honestly, I don't remember," he said, "but it was some strange stuff."

Lee was satisfied with that answer.

"Well, we haven't had any problems with Red since a few days ago," he told Genzo.

"Good."

"But they're probably looking for her. Are they still as organized as they were two years ago, before we busted them up?"

"They're better Lee. If they want to find her they will. You know as well as I do that they've got a punk at every corner with a picture in one pocket and a pistol in the other."

"I know," Lee replied.

"Good. Just make sure you keep an eye on her, I don't want another incident like what happened to Kim."

"Hey! You leave Kim out of this!" he yelled.

"Then you keep an eye on that girl!" Genzo retaliated.

The two men were now in a vocal superpower match.

"I've been doing that! You didn't have to bring Kim up!"

"If anything happens to her you're going to regret it!"

"Fine! But she can take care of herself."

Genzo stopped in mid-argument. He had forgotten that the reason Red 32 was after the little girl was because she had succeeded in defending herself against them.

"Really…" Genzo trailed off, but picked his sentence back up, "then I'd like to see you two go at it. I know what's why you're here."

Lee smirked to himself. "Well…" He had no defense. His other true motive had been exposed.

"Okay," Genzo laughed, "help me move the pool table and you two can have at it. I know you came here because you don't have enough room in your dinky apartment and this is sort of a safehouse for you. I know you better than that Lee."

He listened to Genzo's scolding as he went behind the bar and searched its cabinets for a pot. Finding the cooking utensil he filled it with water and sat it on the stove. After setting the water to boil he reached into his pocket and removed a U-shaped piece of plastic. Washing it off under the bar's sink he dropped it in the pot.

x x x x

Lee pushed the pool table against the wall, clearing a spot big enough for them to spar. "Here," Genzo said holding out a pair of padded training gloves. Lee took them, but didn't put them on.

"Hey Lee, what are you cooking?" Hitomi asked, curiously looking down into the pot.

"It's a mouth guard," he said walking over to her.

"Wear these," he commanded giving the gloves to Hitomi.

"Why? Are you afraid I'll hurt you?" she smiled.

"No, I don't want you to hurt yourself."

Lee slid a drawer open and took a pair of tongs. Fishing out the plastic that had become soft and limp he looked at Hitomi.

"Open your mouth," he said.

The command seemed strange and caught Hitomi by surprise, but she did as she was told. Carefully holding the guard by his middle finger and thumb he placed it inside Hitomi's mouth.

"Bite down on that."

She exerted obvious effort into the soft plastic.

"When it cools you can take it out. I don't want you ruining your perfect complexion," he grinned at her.

"Hai."

The plastic muffled her reply.

"And put those gloves on."

"Hai."

Hitomi pulled on the fingerless gloves. Their feel and smell attempting to resurrect more nostalgic feelings. She found the Velcro straps and secured the gloves around her wrists.

"Okay Lee, I'm ready," Hitomi said pulling on her gi jacket and tying it up with the belt.

Lee stood in the middle of the space he cleared and started to unbutton his shirt. He beckoned to her with his hand and she approached. Stripping himself of the shirt he tossed it on the pool table.

Hitomi was impressed. Lee was built better than she thought. She was expecting a long and thin Chinese man, but was pleasantly surprised at his muscle mass. Hitomi smiled at him, a reaction she was unaware of, but Lee thought nothing of it. "Stretch out," Lee said, pulling his arm over his head. Hitomi followed suit and stretched the same.

After the two had finished their precautionary exercises Lee set himself in a fighting stance. See he was ready Hitomi set herself into position.

"I want you to hit me hard," Lee told her.

"But…" Hitomi was reluctant to strike with all her might. She knew that she could easily injure him with a well-placed blow.

"You want to go to the tourney?" he asked sternly.

"Y - yes," she shly replied, her words catching on the words in possibility that she could be denied entrance to the tournament.

"Okay then, hit me."

Hitomi shifted her feet, stabilizing her stance. "Ikimasu," she said taking a step forward. She struck quickly at Lee's shoulder. He easily turned it aside. Hitomi realized she missed her chance. Lee struck her square in the chest with the palm of his hand. The blow had the effect of a powerful shove and she lost her balance. Stumbling backward Hitomi regained control. Setting herself again she assessed her opponent. He bounced lightly back and forth before settling down to his stance.

"C'mon, hit me," he challanged.

Hitomi reached up and adjusted the mouth guard. Rushing towards him she kicked towards his mid-section. Quickly thwarting her offense he pushed the leg away. Gathering her balance she kicked towards his knee. "You'll have to be faster than that," Lee said as he caught her foot. He pulled her foot towards him. Terrified, Hitomi fell on her back and slid towards him. Raising his foot, Hitomi could see Lee's eyes. They were serious, determined. His strength not just physically but mentally was unwavering. As his foot came down Hitomi was sure of the pain to follow. She watched the foot and closed her eyes. But the pain never came. Opening her eyes a leg, the instrument of the should-have-been pain, stood next to her head. "You lose," he said helping the defeated to her feet.

"Dammit Lee, you scared me with that foot thing! I thought I was going to die."

"It wouldn't of killed you, but you would have been in a world of hurt."

Hitomi playfully pushed him aside, giving enough room between them to take her karate stance again.

"Again?" she asked.

"You sure?" he said setting himself across from her, "I wasn't scared of you at all."

Hitomi was offended. Bringing her arms together in front of her she took a step forward with her left food. Turning her left hand down she extended her left arm in front of herself at an angle. Her right hand was turned upward and the right arm extended behind her, up at the opposite angle as her left arm. It was if she had been possessed by the phoenix emblazoned on the back of her jacket. Bringing her arms back together in front of her again Hitomi let out a yell of power.

Lee stared at her. He was amazed. Slowly, he started to grin. The grin turned into a smile. Moments later he was doubled over laughing uncontrollably.

"What?" she asked.

Lee's only reply was more laughter.

"What?" she asked again with more urgency.

"Nothing," he forced out while gasping for air, "that was just so funny."

Hitomi became annoyed with him and crossed her arms over her chest as a show of her disappointment.

"Sorry," Lee said as the laughter slowly left him.

"You weren't supposed to laugh."

"Was I supposed to be intimidated?" Lee asked, while starting to laugh again.

Hitomi gave him half of one of her infamous stares. Her face showed of anger and disappointment. He stopped laughing.

"You won't beat me this time," she told him taking her stance again.

"Oh, you think so, huh?"

"And you're not going to get me with that stupid foot thing again."

"Bring it," Lee taunted, motioning with his hand.

Hitomi shifted her feet. The hardwood floor below her feet was a familiar battleground.

Taking a step forward she punched towards Lee's midsection. He blocked the attack with ease. Pushing her away Lee administered a powerful kick to her stomach. Hitomi found herself falling.. Her vision blurred momentarily; the back of her head burned in pain as it collided with the floor. Gasping for air she recollected herself. The hardwood floor was all she would see. But Hitomi was losing. At this rate there was no way Lee was going to let her enter the tournament. She was well aware of this. Righting herself Hitomi shook her head to try and rid herself of the pain and disorientation.

"Ich werde nicht verlieren!" she yelled at Lee in her native tongue.

"Ooooh, I see I've struck a cord," Lee antagonized.

"Ich werde dir so eine verpassen, das du so schnell nichtmehr aufstehst!"

Hitomi was clearly angry at Lee's ability to stop everything she threw at him. Getting ready in her stance once more she took a deep breath. The anger was converted into determination.

Lee looked at Hitomi's metal focusing.

"I don't know what you said, but those were some scary words from a not-so-scary little girl."

Hitomi charged him once more. Taking a shot at his stomach with her left arm he easily blocked it. Pushing her arm aside, he didn't see the right one come up from under his chin. Hitomi uppercut caught him by surprise. As she followed through with the punch Lee felt his jaw strain under the pressure. His feet left the ground. The energetic yell she vocalized only reinforced his perception of her power. Lee was now at a forty-five degree angle in mid-air, becoming more horizontal as he fell. He tried putting his arms below him to catch himself as he met with the ground. But he had too much velocity. Lee's arms became tangled below him. He let out a grunt of pain as his body weight crushed the joints at odd angles. A sharp pinch from his left shoulder informed him something had gone wrong. He struggled to his feet while Hitomi readied herself for Lee's retaliation. But she didn't have to defend against him. He didn't attack; instead, stood holding his left shoulder. Hitomi let down her guard and went over to check on him.

"What's wrong?"

"I fell on my arm and dislocated my the shoulder."

"Owww."

"Yeah, but I'll be okay."

"Lee," she said, her voice full of concern, "you need to go to a hospital."

"No, I'm alright."

"Yes you do," she argued, "you have to get a doctor to reset the joint."

"Nah, I'm okay."

"No you're not," she continued getting a little angry at his defiance, "I've had a dislocated shoulder. It hurts."

Lee grabbed his left arm. With a grunt pain he elevated the arm above his shoulder, before Hitomi could protest and stop him. A sickening pop was all the girl heard as she watched him, and let out her own whelp of pain.

"There," he sighed while moving the corrected ball joint around, "no problems."

"Ewww, that was nasty."

"I think I'm done for the day."

He went over to the pool table and retrieved his shirt, but struggled to put it on. It was clear that the shoulder still hurt him. Hitomi went to his aid, helping his arms into the shirt. Straightening out Lee's collar, she started buttoning up the black silk shirt.

"She sure acts like your girlfriend," Genzo teased him, though loud enough for both of them to hear.

Hitomi could feel her face getting warm. She knew it was turning a shade of crimson from embarrassment.

"Well-I-erm," was her response as she tried to come up with a response.

"No, that's okay," Genzo stopped her, "I understand."

Lee watched the little fighter as she left the bottom two buttons unclasped.

"There," she smiled with satisfaction while giving his shirt a tug to smooth out any wrinkles.

Lee walked over to the couch and took a seat, but Hitomi didn't follow him. Going behind the bar she filled a drinking glass with water. Joining him on the couch she offered the water to Lee. He tried taking it with his left hand, his shoulder reminding him of the futile movement. Changing hands he received the glass. "Thanks," he said taking a drink.

"Wow Lee, she knocked you one pretty good," Genzo smiled.

"Hey, I rolled her across the floor."

"Give her a break, she's half your size."

Hitomi placed her hand on his forearm to get his attention.

"It's okay Lee-chan," she smiled, "I've learned from my mistakes, it won't happen again."

"Good."

Trying to look away he could tell she was not content. Hitomi stared at him with a wanting, like a child after an unobtainable candy.

"I suppose you want to know if I'll let you go," he concluded.

"Yes," she replied, his question perking her head.

"Well, there's still a few days left before the tourney, but I want to practice a little more."

Hitomi facial expression slowly drooped to one of disappointment.

"Don't worry," he assured her, "you did well today. Just keep it up and I'll let you go."

Her reply was a smile of joy.

"But I'll warn you," he continued, "if you slack off, and I get a lucky hit in, I'm not going to let you go."

"I understand," Hitomi acknowledged, "I will not disappoint you."

German-something to the effect of "Oh no!"

FOB- Fresh Off The Boat

German- translates to an angry "I will not give up!"

German- translates to "I'm going to hit you so hard, you'll go down in one blow!"