[Fall – Parso]

An open shoji door welcomed in the dark night's breeze for instructor Fujeh Yorokobi as he sat cross-legged. He would gently turn the page of his prized book at his personal work desk, within his picturesque bedroom. Not a mess could be found.

An elder holding high rank within his Agi-focused, martial-arts community, he always had an earnest look upon his face as if learning was a never-ending experience. Perhaps the gray facial hair with scattered black hairs that defined his goatee made him seem a much wiser man than was the case. Although his business of teaching Agi abilities could be seen as a smart business decision, his name was more bonafide nationwide for his teaching accreditation and his graduates’ prestigious reputation. It was depicted that he molded the finest of the next generation Agist.

As he turned another page in his devoted reading session, he lifted his head the slightest amount. As he peeked his vision over to the opened sliding-back door of his bedroom, Jennings had appeared within its frame, his stare fixed on Fujeh. Blinking became an unnecessary action. Fujeh closed his book daintily and stood from his chair, paying close attention to Jennings' lack of movement.

He prolonged his stare at Fujeh as if silence was his weapon of choice. He broke his own noiselessness by asking the elder Agist a question.

“Do you know who I am?”

The old man nodded his head to imply acknowledgment and affirm he was aware of his fugitive status.

“Good,' replied Jennings. “So you know that I'm not leaving here tonight without answers right? Even if it costs you your life.”

The man once again nods gently, yet to speak a word to the outlaw. That changed when Fujeh decided to ask his own question for Jennings with a soft-spoken, feint Shushian accent.

“What would you wish to know about, young outcast?”

“I'll be askin' the questions slick.” replied Jennings with a bothered tone.

“I'm in agreement, young man. You are the person that found their way to my bedroom door and interrupted my studies. I see you take after your father in some ways.” implied Fujeh.

Jennings attempted to mask his emotions on the topic but let an aggravated glimpse appear upon his face, a heavy-lipped sneer. Satisfied with his assumption, Fujeh teetered closer to Jennings. The criminal asked something else in his mind.

“So is what Isiah told me true, that he spent his excess money on this here type of Agi style to finally get me for good?”

“That's correct.” asserted Fujeh simply.

“You wanted to know what I want to know right? … So what's your role in this?” continued Jennings, beginning to pace around Fujeh’s den. He swept his hand across every accessible surface, hoping to accidentally come across a sign on leverage, but his fingertips swayed over items to no avail.

The older man replied once again in a calm manner.

“I am what I am sir, only an Agi teacher to these young men here at my facility. I take jobs to pay dues, then retire here in my spare time. I have no wish to bring your further pain here tonight.”

“Isiah hired you or them to kill me, and you want peace when it fits your plans, am I right there?” examined Jennings, refusing to give the benefit of the doubt to this stranger.

“No!” the man projected sternly. “As I said, I am a teacher, I'm not a killer for hire, unlike what I've heard from your colleagues.”

The outlaw believed the man. Judging a person's character was something life on the streets from a young age taught you periodically, if you were lucky enough to survive to adulthood.

“Well Fujeh, I've been known as a responsive man. So if bastards try to kill me, I respond by killing them first.”

“Ahh I see.” said Fujeh in response. “So if I'm not attempting to kill you tonight, then I risk no danger, correct John?”

Jennings replied, “I didn't say all that. I think I need more answers, and I think you holdin’ out.”

Both men remained on guard, however Jennings started an altercation by lunging at Fujeh with an ice-emitting blast, centered from his fist. Meanwhile, Fujeh immediately predicted. As the aggressive Jennings leapt forward, Fuji spun, reciprocating the force of Jennings with a pair of swirling, shadow Agi filled palms to the abdomen.

After an intense yet brief scuffle that would have rivaled most gladiator struggles, the momentum was clearly not in Jennings favor. He was now positioned in a recovery pose, focusing his efforts to maintain balance on a single knee and almost entirely out of breath, while Fujeh gawked back continually like a hawk scouting its prey from some advantageous height. It wouldn’t be farfetched to assume his maturation when it came to his fighting style. It was unorthodox enough to barely be believable from Jennings perspective. The wanted man calculated that if the fight were to persist at this pace, he wouldn't make it out alive to avenge his brother's death with his own hands.

The thought of expelling his final breath before fulfillment was more terrifying to him, much more than the expected outcome of the current predicament. He was in his own head and he knew it. After several winded words of a depleted bargain, Jennings escaped into the dead of night bloody and beaten, but alive.

Fujeh looked on, living up to his word of not trailing JJ Cool for a final blow, at least for this evening. After he was certain that Jennings had left the area, he returned to his seated position and reopened his book. Before diving back into his literature, he paused and thought aloud to himself.

“I have some details to consider.”