“Who is that girl, Dan?” Old Man Jake asks me.

“She is my student, Izumi Roka.” I say with a smile.

“I gotta go, Old Man. I can’t leave her alone.” I say.

Old Man Jake nods.

Damn that girl...Taking away my glorious moment. I was supposed to be the one that was supposed to hit The Little Princess.

I smile as I get near Taani, “You okay?” I ask her.

“What do you think?” Taani asks as she holds her left arm.

I think so I will have Horrell treat her arm, “Let’s get you to the infirmary.” I say.

“You dare to stand in my way?!” It seems that The Little Princess has lost her control.

Izumi is walking towards The Little Princess.

“Izumi let’s go, leave her be.” I say.

“No Sir Dan, this is something I must do.” Izumi say.

“Izumi?!”

“I know you won’t harm your students and I know you won’t be a harsh Sir. I know you will always be the kind Sir you are and guide them in the kindest way possible and that is why...I must take this step for you.”

*Slap*

Izumi just slapped The Little Princess. What the hell?! That same Izumi who was afraid of The Little Princess’s pressure?! The same kind and loving Izumi who is always smiling and never gets angry?! Am I looking at the same girl?!

“YOU BITCH!” The Little Princess screams anger.

“SHUT YOUR MOUTH UP, KAILEEN!” Izumi screams.

“This is quite an interesting development.” Tarand says with a smile.

“Kaileen, I don’t know what has happened in the past month or so but this isn’t you! This isn’t you in the slightest bit! The Kaileen I know is my friend, she is someone who I have spent my last 3 years with and you...You aren’t her.”

Izumi right here...She’s like a totally different person.

“That is why to bring back the person I know, I will fight you when the time comes and you better be ready for that fight and don’t you dare lose to anyone because I will be the one to defeat you and bring you back to your senses because talking to you isn’t going to be of any good.” Izumi backs off.

“Damn Dan...I didn’t know you had such a brave student within your ranks.” Taani says to me.

I smile...

“I didn’t know about that myself.”

I can see that The Little Princess isn’t saying anything but there is clearly some kinda anger in her eyes for Izumi. Tsch! It’s my entire mistake...If only...If only...

Izumi stops before coming towards me, “Another thing, you made Sir Dan sad after doing what you just did.”

Izumi’s eyes were cold, they were dead, it was as if she wasn’t the hunted but this time it seemed like she was the predator, “Just like you dislike Sir Tarand getting angry at you, I don’t like looking at Sir Dan’s sadness, if it ever happens again, I will definitely kill you without even thinking twice.”

Those words that I heard from Izumi were scarier than some of the ghost stories big brother used to tell me during my sleep...

The Little Princess...I noticed that she was sweating. Did Izumi overwhelm The Little Princess with her own pressure? Was her pressure really that strong?!

XXXXXX

I take Taani to the infirmary, “You kids wait here, I will treat her wounds.” I say as I take Taani inside the infirmary.

All of Taani’s students nod. That’s right. There will be no more rounds because they got disqualified. After all, we interfered in their match.

I asked Izumi to go get Horrell for the treatment while I place Taani on the bed, “I heard the doctor of our academy is on a vacation so, I got someone else who will help ya.” I say as I take a look at Taani’s arm.

“Kie!”

Taani seems to be in pain as I hold her left arm.

“That’s your dominant arm, right?” I ask.

Taani nods.

“Dan...”

I look at Taani as she calls my name. There seems to be sadness in her eyes. It seems that she is disappointed at the defeat.

“I couldn’t set a good example for my kids as their teacher.” Taani says to me.

There was sadness in those words of hers. I could feel that she felt guilty because she wasn’t able to win against The Little Princess even though she is supposed to be a teacher and she lost to a student. It would let anyone down.

“I am weak...” Taani says.

She looks to be disappointed. I pad her left arm and begin to wrap around bandage around it, “Ee!” Taani seems to be in pain.

“You have grown, Dan...” Taani says with a smile to me.

She looks at me, “Tell me, Dan, back then when we fought...You held back, right?” Taani asks me. She had a smile on her face...It was a smile with sadness written all over her face with tears in her eyes.

“Yes...” I say as I look at Taani who has tears overflowing in her eyes.

“You shouldn’t have...You shouldn’t have...” Taani is rubbing her eyes with her right hand.

“I would have worked hard, I would have given it my all and then maybe...Maybe...”

I continue wrapping the bandage around her arm, “Your magic...” I speak.

Taani looks at me with tears in her eyes, “Your magic is quite a unique one and quite a strong one and yet you didn’t use it. Weren’t you the one who was holding back? Back then and even now...” I say.

Taani’s eyes widen. It seems that she realized something.

“Huhuhu!”

Taani seems to be chuckling, “Seriously though...When did you grow so much? Last time I saw you, you were a young boy who was as silent as they come.” Taani says.

Yeah...Back when I went to the Middle-East Kingdom with my brother, Taani always used to ask me why was I so quiet or why I never talked to anyone.

Well...I think one of the major reasons that I changed a lot was because I met Taani. She was always so talkative even though I never spoke to her. She always tried to speak to me even when I didn’t want to.

At first, I thought it was annoying but soon it became a habit and then after that...We became friends. I stayed in the Middle-East Kingdom for only about two to three months but those days were fun. She was an amazing person.

“You know, you are quite a kind person unlike me. I think that’s the reason you lost and I don’t think by any means that is a bad thing. I just think...You are too kind to everyone.” I say with a smile as I am done wrapping Taani’s left arm.

“Dan...I think you are the kindest guy I have ever met. If I was a few years younger, I would have definitely fallen head over heels for you.” Taani giggles.

She didn’t need to say that...

Yeah, Taani is too old right now for me...Most people won’t believe it but she’s actually, 34 years old and she is still unmarried for whatever reason...

“Anyways, I will be cheering you on for the next three days, Dan. You better win.” Taani says with a smile.

“You betcha!” I say with a smile.

Soon after our conversation, Horrell arrived.

She treated Taani’s wounds. She said that she has fixed her injury but her injured arm needs to rest for a few days before she can use it again or else the injury might appear again.

Horrell definitely can heal people and bring them back from near-death circumstances but a wound is still a wound and for it to heal you do need a few days. It pretty much the same case as mine, I still have the wounds from the battle of Umba. I hope that they don’t slow me down because tomorrow will be another important day.

I decide to call it a day off. It doesn’t seem like big brother came to watch the match and Carly has gone home early. She said that she has household chores to worry about.

So I am on my way home.

XXXXXX

Before I went home something unexpected happened...Horrell and Izumi stood in front of me.

“Sir Dan...Can I stay at your house?”

“Eh?!”