“Huff… Huff… Huff”

*Bam* *Bam* *Bam*

Ryuken kicked Kyoya away, before dashing backwards himself. He was wheezing. His vision was starting to blur, and he had trouble keeping his eyelids open.

(How many exchanges has it been…)

The fighter lost count awhile ago.

(Just who the heck is this guy…)

Kyoya`s mouth guard has been sitting on the ground for a while. Blood that came out from his nose and lips stained the bandana crimson red.

(How many more times do I need to hit him…)

The little fighter in the smeared tracksuit charged again.

“Kuso!” [fuck]

Ryu retorted, and took a momentum step. Kyoya`s leg slipped past his torso, but the kick never had any power. Ryuken revolved on his pivot leg and chambered for a hook kick. Right then Kyoya cranked his core hard, switching his hips. Using all of its muscle fibers, Kyoya`s thighs accelerated at the target rapidly.

Despite the circular motion of Ryuken`s hook kick, his superior range enabled it to travel just as fast as Kyoya`s. Simultaneously, the two touch back kick and the spinning hook kick found their targets. Kyoya`s head felt like it was chopped off, and his body spun into an brutal crash against the floor. Ryuken`s ribcage was fractured, its cracks spread as he dropped onto his knees.

Pain like he has never felt before ran through Ryuken`s body like electricity. The kick missed his liver, but struck his ribs head on. His face twisted into an anguished expression and the mouth piece fell out of his mouth. Hyperventilating, Ryuken teeth grinded, pushing his legs up straight.

(What the actual fuck…)

Pain soon turned into terror when Ryuken saw Kyoya rushing at him. He caught the kick, but Kyoya closed in, driving an elbow into his face. At this very moment, Ryuken made a deadly mistake. Not only did he let go of the leg, he let himself stumble backwards.

Kyoya`s pupils expanded. A dazed enemy is right in his D4 zone. Push kick, followed by a roundhouse, using the rotation for a back kick, lunging at the downed enemy and raising the power leg up high.

“I forfeit!” Ryuken shouted.

The axe kick exploded right beside his head. Both fighters relaxed their body, and Kyoya stepped back. The crowd burst into cheers and screams. Fuyuko ran into the ring, and Kyoya`s arm rose to the sky. Celestyna waved at him from above.

In the changing room, Kyoya was about to take off his bandana. Suddenly, the door opened.

“Oi.”

He turned around to find Ryuken leaning on the doorframe.

Having a hard time posing his body straight, he bowed at Kyoya:

“Osu!”

“Hey! You`re injured!” Kyoya closed in.

“I`m fine. No bones were broken. You`re still wearing that mask?”

“…”

“Damn… After all these years, I have finally found someone that can teach me something. You are so strong despite your age… Too strong for your age…”

“…”

“Heh… Not the talkative type eh? Well remember this! Someday I`ll beat you! Using my Karate! Then I can prove the strength that comes from training this art!”

“…Strength… Is that what you seek?”

“Yea. I want to become stronger! I don`t need money from participating fancy Olympics tournament… That does not reflect even the tiniest aspect of true fighting. The reason why people don`t take Karate seriously anymore is because they consider it a sport! In the dojo where I used to teach, there were more than 10 kids wearing black belts! Can you imagine that? And what will happen to them if they would ever get in a real fight? The belt doesn`t mean anything, and it`ll only make them delusional, putting them in danger! I need to… prove... that what people are doing with traditional martial arts is wrong!”

“…”

“Oh… Sorry… I ran my mouth a little too much there.”

“You should do what the rest does.” Kyoya spoke as his sorrow poured into his eyes ”You`ll end up dead if you follow this dream of yours. Even my sensei… couldn`t survive… He was the strongest man I`ve ever known… Someone like you… I`m sorry, but you should really go back to your dojo, and live a normal life.”

“Eh?”

Kyoya walked past him, towards the door.

“Also, you should consider eating a healthy diet. Your body is conditioned much longer and better than mine, but you still lost in the endurance competition… It might be because you`re not eating well…”

“… Wow, now that I think of it, you`re right!”

Kyoya turned, his bandana pulled down. Looking at Ryuken, he smiled:

“Try cooking for once. You`ll love it before you realize.”

(What the… this guy`s too pretty!)

“Are you a girl!?”

“No I`m a boy. A young boy.”

With that, he walked out of the room.