*Boom*

The spinning elbow landed flush on the polymer visor, bashing on his opponent`s head through the helmet. The guy stumbled a few steps backwards before tripping on his own feet and fell to the ground. Kyoya dropped his stance and kneeled down to help him.

“Mou! Onii-chan can`t even last five minutes against such a small guy like him. What a weak Onii-chan I have!” Kirishima sneered, looking definitely displeased.

Taking off the helmet, he coughed:

“Bah! Your friend`s too strong! You try to spar against him before talking!”

“You know well how good he is, but still tried some funny stuff. Onii-chan should just stick to Muay instead of trying something you don`t know.”

“Cheh! It was MMA rules. You wouldn`t last a minute.”

“I-It`s fine really! I just got lucky. But anyway… What do you think about my elbow strikes now, Onii-san?“ Kyoya interrupted.

“You learn real damn fast alright. Only been more than a week and you`ve mastered what took me years to perfect.”

“Hora! His face`s so pretty and he`s so lean that if we dressed him up as a girl he`ll be cute as an idol! You`re just lazy, Onii-chan~” She sneered again, this time more jokingly.

“Arg! you aho [stupid] girl! You`re supposed to support your onii-chan!” He said, giving her a little punch on the head.

“Kyaa~”

“Anyways, why don`t you try fighting in some amateur matches, Kyoya?”

“Eh… I`m still a student… So I don`t really have time…”

“He`s excellent at school too, oni-chan.”

“Shaddap! It`s rare to see students getting so into martial arts these days. Haaa Muay is losing popularity… now people watch MMA instead…” he said, looking depressed.

They rested for another while, before seeing Kyoya off. The Saturday was still in its afternoon hours. Kyoya went home and did his daily tasks. Today he didn`t need to do the 300 reps of elbow strikes anymore, since the results from Kyoya`s previous sparring match.

Of course, he would do it again on another day, in addition to all of the Taekwondo combos. Just that he needed the rest for that night`s special event. He would be half of the main attraction at the show.

The second half was his opponent, the one titled “champion” of the underground arena. All Celestyna told him was that this guy uses Shotokan Karate.

“Why are there so many people thinking that Taekwondo is derived from karate? Their kicks are stiff.” He mumbled to himself.

Time flew, and before people realized, it was already late in the evening. Kyoya took the train he usually did, with the tracksuit already worn. Once again, when darkness started crawling all over the streets, he arrived at the casino.

“…with me as your commentator and referee… Aaaaand now! For tonight`s main attraction!” Fuyuko shouted at the top of her lungs “A man that this arena knew too well… a man that dominated others with his traditional karate… FIGHTING! Out of the red corner, Ryuuuuuuken!”

Random Japanese music played, and a figure emerged from the dark entrance. The lights gradually shined on his tall stature, accompanied by the long and stringy limbs. Muscles fibers as tight as spiraled steel cables were showing through his rough tanned skin.

“Sensei!?” Kyoya gasped. He was still waiting in the dark corridor.

What he saw on Ryuken`s face was his master`s. From afar, Kenichi suddenly threw him a gaze. Disappointment painted his deep eyes, and Kenichi shook his head in sorrow.

Kyoya`s breath became panicked. He frantically blinked and rubbed his eyelids. This time, what he saw was just an unfamiliar face, a tad too young to be Kenichi.

“Triple stripes” was introduced, and Kyoya stepped into the ring. The man eyed him, showing no judgment.

“Take your stance!” Fuyuko excitedly shouted.

Kyoya swallowed. He squared up into a pump stance, covering his already covered face with a high guard. Meanwhile, Ryu stood wide and balanced, very similar to a Gubi in the rarely used forms of Taekwondo.

“HAJIME!”

The floor underneath Kyoya`s feet nearly exploded from the sudden impact, as he launched himself forward, his right arm cocked. Suddenly, it struck what felt like a metal bar.

Ryu blocked Kyoya`s overhead punch with a traditional outward block. Kyoya`s pupils expanded, then he instantly ate a front kick to the gut. Ryu spun into a back kick, making Kyoya dodge to the side.

But it was only a feint. Ryu`s leg instead stomped the ground as he switched stance, powering the fist towards Kyoya`s face.

*Twack!*

The sharp knuckles dug into Kyoya`s forehead through the gloves, shoving his nape into the fence wall. Kyoya was shaken and not yet hurt, but as soon as he looked up, he saw his opponent flying at him, back first.

Like a flash, his front leg moved into a side stance and leaned back, simultaneously chambering his power leg.

Ryuken`s tornado hook kick grazed the air in front of Kyoya`s face, while he saw Kyoya`s leg snuck under his.

*Boom*

The Moldova kick slammed Ryu on the floor, immediately he had to roll away. Kyoya`s heel landed on the mat, going boom just a few inches from his liver.

Standing up straight, Ryu had to jump left and right to avoid Kyoya`s flurry of strikes. A kick to the head was blocked, still almost shoved his head onto the ground. Losing his balance, he rolled with the momentum, sending his leg right at Kyoya`s face.

Right as Kyoya turned around to recover from the roundhouse, from below, the rolling thunder nailed him in the jaws. His mouthpiece flew out, stopped by the bandana and stuck inside.

Kyoya was knocked down, his breathing became chaotic. However, Ryu did not enter right away. The rolling thunder was performed incorrectly, resulting in his head hitting the floor hard.

Dazed, Kyoya mustered his legs up as defense. If his opponent managed to bring grappling into the fight, Kyoya would be in big trouble. Yet Ryuken had no intention to close in. He stood outside of Kyoya`s range, but close enough to stop him from getting up.

The fight stagnated. Both stopped moving, but their eyes became glued to eachother. Ryuken noticed Kyoya abruptly holding his breath, avoiding the kip-up kick. Kyoya was in the punching range of his opponent.

In the side stance, he slipped the jab, rolled under the hook, and quickly bashed Ryuken`s thigh with a kick. Ryuken replied with a cross straight in the face, and Kyoya dashed in to clinch.

They struggled, with Kyoya being swung around multiple times. When he finally released it, Kyoya drove a spinning elbow at his opponent`s face, which instead struck his arm. Blood dripped from the cut, but Ryuken didn`t even notice.

(This small guy is good!) Ryuken thought as he slipped out from another exchange. Kyoya slowed down slightly after the rolling thunder, but since then he fought at the same pace.

(He must be very tired now, throwing nothing but kicks like that. I`ll wait until he uses up his stamina) He thought, and changed into a side stance.

They danced around eachother with resembling footwork techniques. As expected, Kyoya`s kicks were gradually losing form. He couldn`t throw the special Brazilian roundhouse anymore, and used more fast snapping jab kicks. Some struck, but dealt inconsiderable damage.

“Well, what do you think?” A female spoke in Russian.

“He`s hired. You are sure that he`s obedient, aren`t you?” Boris replied

“I can`t wait to see how much we earn from this fight.” Celestyna smiled.