The sun hasn't even risen when Sasha was preparing herself to go to school, Selena ready to depart as well. They were standing in the front yard, just standing and doing nothing when Selena hugged her cousin with a warm smile.

– You should call me, you know. – She says. – I missed you in these past three years, so think about buying a phone, alright?

Sasha nods with a hum, soon breaking the hug. Selena gives her a final kiss to the forehead before walking to get her airplane back home. After another minute or so, Sasha nods to herself and goes to school.

In the meantime, Marina, Shinda's mother, was watching her son's obsessive training section from a safe distance.

She had her son's face (or the other way around, since she was his mother) except older, dark skin, curly hair, and light gray hair. Unlike her husband, she didn't like faking her age with ink.

She always said her husband should consider adding morning classes, but he always said they weren't necessary and that his morning was his and no one else's. Because of it, the dojo was almost empty, if not for Shinda training with nothing but elastic shorts.

Something Marina, his mother, noticed in her son was how big his hair is if compared to a month ago. He would always keep it extra short, military-style, but it was now quite big and curly, like hers. Still short if compared to regular women, but still.

– Dear – She says while approaching him. – , why did you come down here to train, again, if we still didn't go through our daily class? I'm pretty sure we already talked about this.

He stopped kneeling a punchbag to address her. – I know, I know. I'll end this real quick and go up so we can...

– No – She cuts him, annoyed. – , you'll come up now. Your father and I talked about that Yinsak guy and what he did to you and I understand that you want to do something to stress out, but it has been over two weeks now. Besides, I think you're just using this as an excuse to skip class.

– No, mom, I'm not. – He now turns his body to her. – I'm just taking my training more seriously like dad always wanted.

– Taking your training seriously doesn't mean skipping your daily classes, eating, and resting like you did a few times now. Now, let's go up and go through with your class. And I won't say it again.

With that, she walks upstairs, leaving her son to think if he should risk an extra minute or just oblige. Choosing the latter, he goes upstairs and bumps into his father leaving the bathroom with his emerald green bathrobe.

Once in his bedroom, Shinda changes into his normal clothes and calls his mother, soon starting his homeschool. But, of course, his mind wasn't there.

As Marina taught him something geography-related from a book she was reading, he was thinking about how his time would be better spent if he trained. He let that appear in his face as his mom scolds him.

– I know what you are thinking about, Shin. You better pay attention to the class or I'll smack your head with the ruler.

Scared to contradict her, he nods and tries to pay attention to what she's saying but soon drifts to inside his mind again. As she said, Marina hurls her wooden ruler against him, knowing full well he would either catch it or dodge. To her surprise, he didn't either of those as the thing hit his forehead with a thud, slightly tilting his head back.

– I'm sorry, son. – She quickly rushes towards him, her thumbs already rubbing the hit area. – Did it hurt?

He laughs a bit while placing her hands down. She holds his shoulders and shakes him back and forth violently. – Don't scare your mother like this! I thought you would dodge that.

– Sorry. I was spacing out a little.

– A "little". – She repeats, a bit annoyed. She then stands up and goes back to her book.

The following three hours go by as he does his best to take notes on what was being taught. After it ended, it was lunchtime. Dedalus didn't bother in waiting for his family, a plate of spaghetti and meatballs already being dug down.

An hour later, Dedalus opened the dojo to greet his students and prepare the daily training. Shinda, naturally, was among them in his gi.

After the usual warm-up, Dedalus separated them into two groups where one would train their bodies and the other would practice their techniques. Shinda was on the latter, so he didn't waste time in picking someone to spar with. His father warned him before he could do anything else.

– Take it easy on them. Last time, Brian almost knocked his head hard against the floor because of your little stunt.

– I know, I know. – Shinda mockingly waves his hand, dismissing any need for warnings. He then readies his stance and taunts his partner, who does the same.

At first glance, there wasn't anything wrong with their training, but Shinda was struggling to hold back. Again. It didn't take long for D. to realize something was wrong with the expressions Shinda's partner was making every time a blow struck.

– Son, I think you had enough training for a day. Chris, you can go. – He dismisses the boy, who gladly runs to somewhere else. Shinda frowns at his father's suggestion.

– What do you mean? I barely started.

– And you almost sent another one to his house with a broken rib. Honestly, ever since Yinsak did what he did to you you've been doing nothing but training and we already discussed how overdoing anything isn't healthy. – He rubs his brown beard with a frown. – I'm afraid I'll have to prohibit you from training altogether if things don't change.

Surprised ad his father's comment, Shinda grows desperate and annoyed at how his father is treating him like some lowkey rookie that doesn't know what he's doing.

– If they can't handle me, maybe I should...

– Or – He is cut by his father, who seems a bit angry. – you could try your luck with something a bit harder. I think I've been taking you lightly for way too long now and I don't plan to keep with this for longer.

Shinda flinches with his father's sudden stance. Not knowing how to react to this, he just stands there with a dumb face.

– What are you doing, dad?

– If you eager so much to grow stronger might as well sooner than later. – He drags himself forward, not taking his feet off the ground. – And I'm not willing to let you hurt your friends, my students, for the sake of some cheap training.

– You think I'm stupid? – Shinda sarcastically asks while taking a step back as his father drags himself even further. – I don't stand a chance against you.

– Neither you do against Yinsak and that didn't stop you from trying your luck against him, did it? Now come.

– But, but... – Shinda tries to find an excuse to not fight with his father of all people, but not because he knew how powerful his father was, it was because of how relentless he could become when he was heated up.

At the age of twelve, Shinda invited Sasha and Magatsu to try and fight his father. He was confident the three of them could force him into giving up but he soon regretted his poor decision making when his father failed miserably to hold back despite they still being kids. Sasha didn't leave bed for the rest of the next day, Magatsu dislocated his arm, and Shinda himself was unconscious for three days.

Naturally, Dedalus learned how to hold back against opponents like them. What happened only happened because of a miscalculation from his part.

Shinda, however, neither did know or care. That also somewhat influenced his decision to not take part in the trial to graduate from Dedalus' dojo.

But his pride was bigger than his fear and that wouldn't let him back off now, not in front of so many people who stopped doing what they were doing to see what would happen.

– You, my son, is scared? – Dedalus asks with a mocking tone before laughing. Some other people laugh as well, making Shinda muffle a growl.

– I don't think so. – He answers while taking the stance he shares with Magatsu.

Right now, a lot of things were racing inside his mind, but he couldn't afford to worry about them, not now. One second of distraction could cost him a broken arm or another three days in the dreamland.

Dedalus dragged himself once more, but this time was properly corresponded by his son, who took a step forward of his own. Now centimeters from being withing punching range, father and son look at each other in the eyes before Shinda took the initiative by dashing forward with a left punch ready to be thrown.

Dedalus catches the flying fist with his own left already flying towards his son's face, who barely manages to lower his head in time to dodge. When he tries to pull his fist back, he is instead pulled towards Dedalus, who repeats the previous attack, this time landing in his cheek with force.

Not wanting to take another blow like that, Shinda tries to knee his old man's thigh, but the attack is parried by his own knee. He tries again, and again, failing both times. He decides to use his free hand to throw another punch, but (somehow) didn't see his father's reaction coming. Now with both hands rendered useless, Dedalus headbutts his son, who yelps.

Dedalus can see that his son struggles to think straight and go all out, so he lets him go.

– I can see something is wrong with you. Either you talk or I punch my way through it.

Shinda realizes what his father is talking about and almost smacks himself for being so reckless and stupid. He then leaps a few times while loosening his limbs and neck while trying to focus on the task at hand: fighting his father, who was far from being a pushover like his old man's other pupils.

Now taking things seriously, Shinda triggers his Affinity, soon surrounding his entire body with a persistent blue veil of energy. Some of his colleagues do awe faces at the sight.

Knowing he won't be able to hold this thing for long, Shinda doesn't waste time in dashing forward, this time much faster than before. His father wasn't taking him easily and predicted his next series of attacks, properly parrying and dodging all of them:

Shinda went for a quick and short flurry of punches, followed by a right hook, a left uppercut, a leap with a kick, while still mid-air a spinning kick with the side of his foot, and finishing with a right jab while still mid-air.

Now smiling, his father finds himself satisfied at the exchange and decides to end the match by using his open palm instead of his closed fist to suck all air from Shinda's lungs by hitting him in the gut and pushing him backward with high pressure.

To Dedalus' surprise, his son didn't fall, instead, sliding while standing slightly curved forward with a pained face and both arms on the hit area. Now smirking proudly, Shinda readies his stance and calls for his father with a hand motion, who obliges.

Their fight kept going for another five minutes where powerful blows were exchanged but in the end, Shinda couldn't land even a single successful hit on his father, who kept dodging or parrying his son's attacks.

Shinda, who was dead tired from having to keep up with his triggered Affinity for so long, drops on the floor from over-exhaustion. Dedalus went to take him to his room while his other students kept training, where he had a long time to rest.

While still standing there, watching his son recover from the spar, Dedalus thinks about just how much more powerful his son managed to get in just a few weeks, and by himself nonetheless.

And all thanks to Yinsak's "help".

And speaking of which.

– So – Yinsak asks a tall man wearing an overcoat, a hat, and sunglasses. Where they were was quite cloudy, so the sunglasses were probably there to just hide his face even further. – , did you find what I asked you to look?

– Not yet. – The man says while moving around the chair he was on. – The Astarosa family doesn't tend to leave traces of their more shady work and digging in without getting caught is as hard as it sounds.

Yinsak was staring at the mirror of his apartment and couldn't agree more. Still, he would find a way to teach them a lesson for what they did to him years ago, even if it took his entire life.

– By the way, Russ – He addresses said man with a confused look. – , why are you dressed like a clown? If you want to go unnoticed, you should blend in, not stand out.

– But I do look cool, right? – He asks while messing with the tip of his hat. Yinsak shrugs nonchalantly.

– Just do your job, weirdo.